news conference at the g-20 in rusch announ russia announcing he will speak to the american people on tuesday. hello, everybody. i'm craig melvin. the president spent his last day at the summit engaging with other world leaders and, once again, making his case for a strike on syria. failing to respond to this breach of this international norm would send a signal to rogue nations, authoritarian they can use weapons of mass destruction and not pay a consequence. >> the president' new comments coming as security threats provert the state department to issue warnings in lebanon and turkey. the same that i "the new york times" is reporting that president obama has directed the pentagon to sxanexpand its list

potential targets in syria, targets that could -- secretary of state john kerry talked about this in an exclusive interview with chris hayes. >> i know the lessons of war. i don't believe this is taking america to war. i believe this is enforcing a very limited military action, not going to war, that will, in fact, stand up for the notion that you should not use chemical weapons. >> and 96 hours, that is how long our nbc news first team says president obama has to turn things around on capitol hill, where support for authorization appears to be crumbling. >> i worry that a strike makes the situation on the ground worse in syria, not better. it's a chaotic situation to begin with but if assad responds with more ferocious strikes against his own people or our

allies in the region hard to understand how that makes the situation better. >> all of this unfolding as a jittery american public worries about a strike combined with raising battles on the hill nen a rocky economy. new jobs numbers showing unemployment fallen and 169,000 jobs added in august. nbc news political director and host of "the daily rundown" chuck todd joins me live now from st. petersburg, russia is joining me now. do we know any more about that conversation that he had with russian president vladimir putin? >> reporter: we just know a little bit what he said and the putin side of things where he said they mostly discussed syria. interesting in the press conference, the president seems to think he has a chance of changing putin's mind at least on who is behind the chemical

weapons attack after the united nations comes up with their investigation. it seems clear the president, i had heard this behind the scenes, one of the points he has pushed with putin, with president putin is saying, okay if you think the united nations is only place you can go to discuss syria, you should believe whatever the united nations comes up with in its investigation then is the fact and the truth and they are pretty confident when they see the investigation is done, that it will also help bolster their case that this was the assad regime and not from the rebel side of things as putin has intimated there. the president on tuesday will try to make the case for the limited military strike. the fact that is coming together, the confluence of those events is only going to make his remarks probably more

pointed, harder, makes it a harder case perhaps to convince because it does bring back all of those memories for the american public about afghanistan, about iraq, all of the war weariness. so it provides that backdrop i think it was interesting to hear the tone the president struck and i think you'll hear a similar tone on tuesday night, trying to say, i get it, i hear you, i understand why there is so much skepticism. he is not disputing any of that. he pointed to a little bit of politics but when i pushed him on that, oh, you really think it's politics and then he backed off. i do find it's interesting that the one -- the most -- probably the most clearest answer he gave mission creep and target list are somehow expanding and he said it so many times about this narrow military operation that you got to think that now that that is their hope they will start pulling back on whatever

plans apparently, at least military officials, thought were ordered. >> i found it interesting what he said about -- what the president say about going ahead with the strike if congress does not authorize. again, earlier today, we heard from an adviser who said that would not happen, that he would not go ahead with that, but we didn't hear that from the president today. >> reporter: no. and i've heard from similar advisers who said they can't imagine a scenario where the president would go ahead, if congress rejected him, that the president would do this. unless somehow assad did something new, unless there was a new reason to go forward. but i did have somebody explain to me, i said why isn't the president said one way or another and they believe that if -- the thing the president could decide to go on his own. remember, none of his advisers thought he was even remotely going to congress for authorization up until he held a

meeting friday might and said i'm going to go to congress and that is why they have been so many caveats but there is a concern if he somehow definitively said whatever congress says, i'm going to abide by, that that could give momentum frankly to the opposition and make it more of a politicized vote in congress. >> chuck todd in saints petersburg traveling with the president, good to see you and safe travels. lawmakers back home are getting an earful from their constituents. >> i know it is enough. i'm not going to do that. >> john mccain there. he took a shellacking yesterday at three town halls and he is holding another one today. >> how much is the life of american servicemen worth? to me it's worth a whole lot more. >> there is no contemplation of putting a single american woman

or man in service right now. >> you can say that now. >> do you realize what you're getting our country into? this is what i think of congress! they are a bunch of marshmallows! >> you can do it by negotiating -- by diplomacy and not bombs. enough is enough! we do not want another engagement in the middle east! >> i would much rather use our taxpayers money to take care of our vets that are coming home from the two conflicts we have already been in. >> i don't think i need to be lectured to about veterans, okay? >> "the washington post" has been tracking the votes in congress. its daily congressional whip count. right now 25 are against or leaning no. 52 undecided. and 23 say that they support military force right now. meanwhile, in the house, 205 members on record opposing or likely opposing military force. joining me live is democratic

congressman matt cartwright of pennsylvania. president obama said a strike on syria was a matter of national security. congressman, take a listen. >> my particular task, looking out for the national security of the united states, requires that when there is a breach this brazen of a norm this important and the international community is paralyzed and frozen and doesn't act, then that norm begins to unravel. >> congressman, at last check, you were undecided. did you hear anything from the president's comments a few moments ago in st. petersburg that sways you? >> craig, i am undecided and i am undecided by choice. i don't intend to make a decision until next wreak when

the final classified briefing takes place at 5:00 p.m. on monday. i'll tell you why. you know, we just heard chuck todd talking about war weariness in the united states. a terrific representative from maryland, chris van hollen occurred to it as the overhang of iraq. i say to you, i think it's more than those things. it's anger. people are angry in this country, because we didn't just go to war. we didn't just suffer casualties. we didn't just see kids coming home with missing limbs and post traumatic stress order. we went through all of that because we were lied to. we were drawn into iraq because of an administration that lied to us. >> congressman, to those who would say that syria is different from iraq, and syria is different from afghanistan, your response to that would be

what? >> i am going to hear out the administration. i'm coming to you live from pittston, pennsylvania. this is the home of t.j. who in may of 2007 was a lieutenant in the army. he took a bullet across his face. it went through his eyes. he lost his eyesight. he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder. he is putting his life back together and everybody knows him here in pittston. he is an admirable young man. he just had his 30th birth. he is doing 5k races with his father. we admire this man but when we see him we get angry when we were lied to and drawn into that war for no good reason. of course, this is all together different. we have a president who is reluctant warrior and proposing limited missile strikes so i intend to hear out the

administration. >> let's say hypothetically, congress decides to refuse to grant the president this power. and the president decides to act any way. what then? >> i doubt he would to that. you have to understand, i have an enormous goodwill for our president. i think he means to do the right thing. he will do the right thing. i don't see tho consistent with what you're suggesting that he take it to congress, congress gives it the thumb's down, and then he did it any way. i don't see that happening. >> congressman matt cartwright, thank you. appreciate your time. i want to go live to beirut, lebanon. threats have issued the nonessential staff to leave the

embassey there. >> this is the first time the u.s. embassey rah hooshas reduc staff. it has to do with the overall security climate as we understand it. keep in mind we are approaching the september 11th anniversary. there is a high tense of anxiety here in lebanon given the fact it is a milestone that this country now has seen the influx of refugees the past couple of days, but, more importantly, concern that the violence in syria may spill over and there may be players in this country that want to harm or cause some damage to u.s. interests, including diplomats and their families. so the embassy has roofed its staff and how concerned the officials are about the overall security climate in the region. >> the rebels, we heard

president obama talking about moments ago, secretary kerry says there could be roughly a hundred,000 rebels in syria. in the simplest of terms here, what are the different groups and which one of these groups or not one of these groups, but which of these groups are tied to al qaeda, and do with we know? >> we do. the groups are more identifiable as specific units with specific ide ideoologie ideoologies. you have to make a distinctions between the political opposition that the u.s. and international community is engaged with. we are speaking about the rebels on the ground. there are a handful of groups affiliated with al qaeda and that is an ideological sense. they adopt an ideological of al qaeda and other jihadist groups that want a islamic state across

the region. these are the groups i think the u.s. are worried about. these are the ones that really appearing to be more potent on the fighting field and major security concern going forward for syria and for the region. i think they are the ones that are of the biggest concern right now. >> thank you, sir. that leads us to today's big question. has president obama made the case that a strike on syria is in america's best interest? you can head to thomas's facebook page to weigh in or tweet us your answer. meanwhile, unemployment is at its lowest in five years but could potential u.s. engagement in syria knock a fragile economy back off course? we are also following this. >> you could have broke the case right then and there. >> new interrogation tapes of

ariel castro when he talks about the times he could have been caught. joirks

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right now the markets are reacting to the lowest unemployment rate in nearly five years. this morning, the labor department said the economy added ruffle 169,000 jobs in august. that brings the unemployment rate down slight to 7.3%. this is how the markets are responding right now. doe up 25 and s&p up 4, nasdaq up almost 6. the news may be positive on the home front, the u.s. economy faces new risks because of syria. joining me live now is jared bernstein a senior fellow at the senior on budget and policy priorities. and josh barrow.

jarrett, take a look at the numbers here. good news and bad news from the numbers. first of all, people say 7.3%, that seems to, but the reality is a lot of folks have stopped looking for work, correct? there are two reasons why the unemployment rate can come down. one is because we added more jobs. that's a good thing. the other is because fewer people were looking for jobs. they dropped out of the labor force. in a sense, that artificially lowers the unemployment rate and that is what happened in august. tick down from 7.4 to 7.3% is not good news in that sense. it's a symbol of a continuing weakness in labor demand in the job market. the number on the payroll not the click we need to really get that unemployment rate down for good reasons, not for people leaving the job market. >> josh, you contend that the p

uptick. it my be something else? one thing the market is looking for this fall is when the federal reserve is going to start backing off the bond purchases it's been doing that bring down interest rates and encourage business investment. the thinking had been that the fed was going to stop that in the next couple of months but a weak jobs report like this might cause the fed to remain as aggressive as it is now. we have seen the ten-year treasury bond fall today and when that falls it's not surprising the stock market would be up. >> before we go to syria here, you're characterizing the jobs report as weak? >> yes. >> jared, do you share that characteristics? >> i do. the decline in jobs and participation in labor and downward decision to payroll jobs. >> this is what politico's ben

white said today. automobile sales hitting fresh highs and unemployment claims dropping and united states appears poised for stronger economic growth and once again crisis in washington could blow it all up. increasingly battle for barack obama to fire missiles at syria. should votes in the senate or house support strikes fail and fall calendar could fall. intregs threa or far more damaging debt default? josh is that an accurate assessment? >> i'm not as worried and ben white is. i think if the syria vote fails the question in congress who do be wbla we blame for this. republicans have to agree in fairly short order and about six weeks on a number of controversial things, including keeping the government open by

passing continuing resolution and raising the debt ceiling and nomination for the new chairman of the federal reserve. so i think if they feel the need to fight over something after syria falls apart it creates the risk at least we will get closer to hitting the debt ceiling. i don't think we will have a government shutdown. it's bad for the economy and bad for the markets if they even come close. which is what we saw in 2011. >> jared, how could a strike on syria impact the budget battles that are looming before congress? >> i see kind of two potentially countervailing effects. any time you're talking about geo political action or numbness in the middle east you have to worry about the price of oil which is a key input into our economy so that is one thing. syria is not a big player in that regard but it's a tightly supplied commodity so there could be trouble there if there is a strike. secondly you won if congress

might focus around fiscal policy if they are talking about a strike? syria. for example it seems inconsistent to vote for more military action at the same time that you're insdrdiscriminately cutting budgets through questions tra sequestration. >> you made your point at the end there that i was going to make. really quickly, josh, before i let you guys get out of here. we talked about a potential strike in syria and what that would mean for our domestic economy. what might it mean for the global economy? >> escalation in syria leads to more instability in the middle east i think it could drive oil prices up and that is negative for the global economy. i think that to the extent it remains a localized problem in syria, i think that is probably not that big economic matter for the world economy but i think not just with syria but with

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moments ago from saints petersburg, president obama will announce the public on tuesday from white house. what the president president might say and why at the end of the day it may not matter that much. the very latest on the crisis in syria right after this. 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

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process in congress, i knew this would ab heavy lift. >> that was president obama moments ago at a news conference in st. petersburg, russia. he will talk about syria on tuesday night from the white house. can he say anything to convince a war weary public and congress that military action is worth it? i want to bring in karen finney, former communications director for the dna and host of "disrupt" every saturday and sunday here on msnbc. the president is facing headlines like this. obama could lose big on syria in the house. that headline and mark halpern saying the momentum is against the president right now. he's not sure how he gets gets it back. anything the president can say on tuesday from the white house that tips the scales? >> it's unclear and i'll tell you why i say it that way. in talking to people on the

hill, part of what i'm hearing is for those members who have been in classified briefings, they are more convinced than what they have seen on the surface so the expectation is as more members come back, they get more of the classified briefing that they may be swayed. even though i think the american public, we are not going to have access to that information, he may find a way to pick up the vote. that being said, i think the american public is just we don't want war and i think we -- >> or anything that looks or smells like it. >> that's right. i think as much as people respect the president and i believe that he believes this is meant to be a limited strike. but i think we all, the rest of us kind of recognize from the wounds of iraq and afghanistan, it's really easy to have mission creep out of that. >> republicans and democrats alike now say that the white house is also handled this pr campaign very poorly, that there is no coherent game plan how a strike would be carried out. you saw the angry voters

confronting john mccain yesterday and protesters have been outside the white house now for a while. president obama talked about those during that news conference a short time ago. take listen. >> i was elected to end wars, not start them. i've spent the last four and a half years doing everything i can to reduce our reliance on military power as a means of meeting our international obligations and protecting the american people. but what i also know, there are times where we have to make hard choices if we are going to stand up for the things we care about and i believe that this is one of those times. >> you were a master of the message when you were at the dnc. is the white house bungling the message? is it more that? >> i don't think it's a

messaging problem. if you look at their polling, they know that when you talk chemical strikes and you talk about limited strikes and those strikes being from ships off seas that is when the numbers went up in their own polling and if you look what they have said publicly they emphasize time and time again that it would be limited and talking about a short time frame and all of that. i think what they have miscalculated, however, is the thing they can't control is what we are seeing on our television screens and computer screens and everything else what is happening in the region. when you see what is happening in the region, it's just hard to believe that an air strike alone is going to solve the problem. so then you have to think, well, how -- really no regime change some really no boots on the ground? and that is when it starts to feel like war. you say, no, we do not want that. >> politico compiled a montage of previous presidents getting

to behind their presidents. >> the life of all free nations, there comes moments that decide the direction of a country and reveal the character of its people. we are now at such a moment. >> the million somali depend completely on relief supplies but at least the starvation is gone and none of this would have happened without america's leadership and america's troops. >> no president takes such action lightly. this morning, i want to tell you what i did and why i did it. >> four times in the last 30 years, the arabs and israelis have gone to war and each time the edge has teetered near the edge of catastrophe. >> after each one of those addresses well, engaged in a military conflict. is this time going to be different? is he not going to get the votes in congress, despite a white house address, despite a very public campaign, despite pleading essentially overseas with leaders of foreign

countries? >> it's possible. it really is. look. politically speaking, having the president go out and give this address on tuesday is very smart because it does give members of congress some additional cover if they do choose to vote for these air strikes, despite what a lot of them are hearing from constituents where you're hearing numbers that like 5-1, people don't want us to go in and i think a lot of members are struggle, right? so the president is good at making his case, right? he is kind of the guy that comes in at the end and knocks it out of the park. that being said, i don't know what he could tell us that is different that is new that would change people's minds. particularly don't forget like we still have men and women in iraq and afghanistan and we are still seeing people coming home wounded and we don't want any more of that. >> karen finney, we will leave it there. be sure to catch karen as she hosts "disrupt" weekends at

4:00. >> one of the arguments against the strike on syria is we just don't know who the rebels are. ayman spent time speaking about this a few moments ago. they asked john kerry about this particular video "the new york times" obtained from a rebel group which shows rebels killing assad soldiers. the times said today the video was from spring 2012, not this year as originally reported. this is what secretary kerry said yesterday about this. >> we all know there are about 11 really bad opposition groups, so-called opposition. they are fighting assad and they are not part of the opposition that is being supported by our friends and ourselves. that is a moderate opposition and they condemn what has happened today and we are busy separating the support we are giving from any possibility of that support going to these guys. >> "the times" says the video

was smuggled out of syria by a former rebel. coming up, police interrogation tapes of cleveland kidnapper ariel castro. he talks about the times, plural, times, he could have been caught but wasn't. bjorn earns unlimited rewards for his small business. take these bags to room 12 please. [ garth ] bjorn's small business earns double miles on every purchase every day. produce delivery. [ bjorn ] just put it on my spark card. [ garth ] why settle for less? ahh, oh! [ garth ] great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. here's your wake up call. [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. choose double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase every day. what's in your wallet? [ crows ] now where's the snooze button? ♪ we go, go, we don't have to go solo ♪ ♪ fire, fire, you can take me higher ♪ ♪ take me to the mountains, start a revolution ♪ ♪ hold my hand, we can make, we can make a contribution ♪ ♪ brand-new season, keep it in motion ♪

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have you defining who i am. >> reporter: that was michelle knight on the day her captor was sentenced to life in prison for unimaginable crimes that spanned over a decade. >> i spent 11 years in hell. now your hell is just beginning. >> the investigators had no question about his guilt. within hours of his arrest in may he was ushered into this interrogation admitting what he had done. over four hours of tape, rarely showed remorse but at times he was tearful and seemed surprised what he had gotten away with describing a number of close calls over the years that could have led to his arrest. he said there were cameras that should have captured him at gene a dejesus school minutes before he abducted her. >> he could have broke the case right then and there.

>> when he first kidnapped michelle knight, castro said, he had a girlfriend who would visit the house. one day she noticed a tv on in the room where michelle was secretly held. >> reporter: but no one found out his horrible secret for years. even when he says he used amanda bangladeshy's cell phone to use her cell phone and tell her amanda was alive.

>> nothing led us to talk to him, you snow there were no indications that we should go talk to him. >> reporter: we spoke with vickie anderson in may. >> we canvassed the neighborhood and nothing led us to ariel castro. >> reporter: two hours into the fler gauge, castro hand stucuff and ate a slice of pizza and decided to pace. >> how can i manipulate to my hank advantage and the wheels going over and over had his head and see that in his body

movements. >> reporter: castro's daughter born in the house grew older she begging him to quit locking the doors. one day, he did not lock the door and that led to amanda berry's help to 911. i still can't believe what i did to put me in the situation that i'm in now, he wrote. >> everything he has done is indicative of a disorder. >> when the investigators searched his home in may they counseled a confessional note from 2004 in which he wrote about suicide. i want to put an end to my life and let the devil deal with me. >> what about suicide?

>> castro was supposed to be checked by guards every half hour in his cell. prison officials say they are investigating how he was able to hang himself ending his life and his life sentence. >> that was nbc's kate snow reporting there. the coroner in ohio says castro's family has claimed his body and his defense attorney has said castro's funeral will be private. we asked, you answered. fritz weighing in. no. how is destroying damascus help the syrian people in this one? ellen, this is not a good idea.

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new jersey's new jersey's top tough-talking governor gets tough love. chris christie turns 51 today in honor of his big day his office compiled a video of some of his greatest hits. >> i pick my words very carefully. >> baloney. >> no, i'm no hamlet. >> that's a real news flash. >> i wouldn't talk about whether i agree with going to the moon as opposed to mars. >> yep. congratulations. you're a ground breaker. >> fashion guru kenneth cole is getting thrashed for a tweet where he used the crisis in syria to promote footwear. cole tweeted this "boots on the ground or not let's not forget about sandals, pumps and loafers." in a statement "he said "i have

used my platform in provocative ways to encourage a healthy dialogue about important issues." and the colorado state lawmaker took a box of fried chicken to the state capital in denver this week. represent lori sane called it a silent protest in support of colleague vickie marble who got a lot of heat for bringing up fried chicken and trying to explain poverty rates among african americans. former congresswoman gabby giffords makes her instagram debut. here it is her first offering. this picture giffords holding up a sign simply saying "hello instagram." time now for go and do on this friday. this is where we feature an individual or an organization reaching out and improving the lives of others. we actually tried to tell you about this group last week. as you'll recall, team rwb is committed to uplifting the spirits of veterans returning from the iraq and afghanistan

wars. rwb stands for team red, white and blue. and group members are making it happen through social and physical activities. take a listen to how one member describes the experience. >> get out of the military, number one thing you miss is the brotherhood that you had with all your fellow friends that you met during your service. ever since i joined team red, white and blue, i have that again. >> blaine smith is a u.s. army veteran, also the executive director of team rwb. blaine, good to see you. >> good to see you, too. thanks so much for having us on. we really appreciate it. >> unfortunately we tried to have you on last week and had technical problems. how does this program work? >> team red, white and blue is a national nonprofit organization. but we deliver our programs mostly at the community level. when we thought about what we needed to build to enrich the lives of veterans and assist

with the civil transition when you come out of the military, we were convinced it needed to be local, community-based and consistent and inclusive. so what we do is we built chapters in about 55 cities around the country right now. we're working on about 30 more as we speak. those chapters are led by a great group of volunteers who plan and facilitate and execute consistent, frequent opportunities for veterans to meet up with members of their community and do everything from a running and a walking group to attending a ball game to yoga to cross fit. anything that's going to keep them active and get them connected, we want to inspire that. >> i would imagine it also helps to develop even more of a bond between various members of the military who are just back from war. >> it's actually a great point. we find that veterans, the thing they miss the most, speaking from my own personal experience, i really missed the camaraderie and the purpose and identity involved with being something bigger than myself. so we see the veterans connecting through our activities and bonding with each

other. more importantly we see veterans bonding with n bonding with nonveteran members of the community. we think that's the key to full integration and long term health and success. >> we're all familiar with the numbers and they are staggering. according to the pentagon more than 50,000 soldiers were wounded in action while fighting in the iraq and afghanistan wars. i imagine you, sir, have seen a great deal, a lot of injuries among these participants who enter the program. what kind of progress are you seeing as well? >> i think we see tremendous progress. a lot of times right away. just that ability to get out of the house, get connected and get involved in a positive activity, be in a comfortable environment around some fellow veterans, it's amazing. i see people in our local chapter here in tampa that it's like a light bulb goes off when they get around their fellow veterans and start getting active again and re-establishing that purpose in their life. not only is physical activity and exercise a great way to

connect, but it's also the therapeutic in and of itself. it's a great program because it's working on two levels. >> blaine smith, we'll leave it there. thank you, sir. do you know someone with the go and do spirit? you can tweet us using #goanddo. we may feature them in an upcoming story. that's going to do it for me on a friday morning. thomas will be back here monday at 11:00 a.m. eastern. i'll be back tomorrow afternoon with more news starting at 2:00 eastern. a quick programming note here for you as well. tonight at 8:00 eastern, the reverend al sharpton will be hosting "advancing the dream live from the apollo" it's a two-hour special featuring stevie wonder, magic johnson condoleezza rice and a look ahead to be done. all on msnbc tonight. now with alex wagner picks things up next. if we can pick her up.

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president obama is returning home today to make the sale. so far congress isn't buying. it's friday, september 6th and this is "now." a skeptical and divided congress, a war-weary public and a reluctant military. that is what the obama administration is up against as it sells intervention in syria. today at the g 20 summit, president obama was plain spoken about the difficulties at hand. >> this is not convenient. this is not something that i think a lot of folks around the world find an appetizing set of choices. but the question is, do these

norms mean something. >> the president did not say whether he would take action in syria without the support of congress, but said he would continue to make the case that it is the right thing to do. >> put this before congress for a reason. i think we will be more effective and stronger if in fact congress authorizes this action. with respect to congress and how they should respond to constituency concerns, i do consider it part of my job to help make the case and to explain to the american people exactly why i think this is the right thing to do. >> to that end, the president said he would address the american people this tuesday. but in making the case for military intervention, president obama is not alone. last night in an interview with msnbc's chris hayes, secretary of state john kerry pressed for action emphasizing over and over again the