t gonna give up what we love. and when the pounds still come off... we'll be like, "whoa!" weight watchers. join for free. because it works. hurry, join by september 14th and you'll get a free month. good morning. i'm chris jansing. pressing his case. this afternoon president obama will sit down for six network interviews ahead of his primetime address to the nation tomorrow. he'll make the case for military intervention in syria. but right now it does not look like the votes are there. so he'll really need to be convincing. >> mr. president, lay out the case. it's an important case for the future national security of this country. >> what lesson will assad learn if the international community shrugs to the use of chemical weapons in such a big way? >> here's where the president has frankly failed.

last week he should have delayed going to the g-20. he should have addressed the american people from the oval office. he should have sent kerry out to do what he did. he should have been very aggressive about selling the american people on this. >> now here's the whip count from the "washington post." 50 senators still on the fence, just 23 for military action. in the house, the numbers look even worse. 181 undecided, just 25 at this point for military action. the president will again try to twist some arms when he meets with senate democrats today. the administration has reached out to at least 85 senators and 165 house members. but syrian president bashar al assad insists the united states has no evidence he used chemical weapons. he compared the american case to when colin powell said iraq used wmd. an interview with charlie rose said a strike on syria is not in the u.s. interests. >> what do wars give america?

nothing. no political gain, no economy gain, no good reputation. the united states is -- their credibility is at an all-time low. >> i want to bring in an msnbc contributor, david is a pulitzer prize-winning columnist for reuters. if you watched that interview, bashar al assad says if the u.s. goes ahead with a strike, they should expect everything. >> you cannot expect -- it is difficult for anyone to tell you what is going to happen. it's an area where everything is on the brink of explosion. you have to expect everything. >> look, obviously he realizes members of congress, the president, the american people are watching. do you think, david, he made the president's case harder or easier? >> i think he made it harder but he's bluffing. of course he's invoking iraq. he doesn't want us to attack him. he fears this attack. i think the fear is that we're

going to be drawn into another ground war are overblown. given the difficulty the president has faced already, he is not going to send in ground troops. >> but the fears are very real. >> yes. >> it's fear among the american people and that's passed over to the congress. >> i've criticized the administration for the way they handled this but i still think a strike is the right thing to do. there's a variety of reasons we can talk about. yes, he's done a poor job handling it. this is an important moment and democrats in particular i think have to support the president on this in the days ahead. >> it is that slippery slope argument that's causing them a lot of trouble. john kerry is insistent that the u.s., one, has the evidence and, two, that assad used the chemical weapons. but he's making the case overseas that this is not iraq. let me play that. >> we're not talking about war. we're not going to war. we will not have people at risk in that way. we will be able to hold bashar

al assad accountable without engaging in troops on the ground or any other prolonged kind of effort in a very limited, very targeted, very short-term effort. >> even if he does make that case to the american people, and we talked about the fact that he's doing six interviews and will address the american public tomorrow night, he seemed to convince most of the american public about background checks and that didn't move congress. who's really in charge here? who's going to sort of be driving this decision in the end? >> i think the people, because when john kerry said this is not iraq, this is worse in iraq. in the case of saddam hussein he was hated by everybody in the region. we had allies, the international community. somehow, half of the arab leagues were forward into this but when it comes to syria, we have a proxy war and we'll be engaged with one side. we have the saudis backing us but they have a different

agenda. how can you expect from liberal monarchies to advance an agenda that is democraticization in syria. bashar al assad is desperate. this interview, he didn't give any interview for the last year or so, but now he's talking over and over and he's really desperate and really concerned. >> we've seen videos that dianne feinstein insisted get put together and i tell you, all you had to do was go on the internet and click over the weekend or watch the news and you saw these horrible scenes of the dead, including the children obviously, david. is the president missing a chance perhaps not to make a stronger case on humanitarian grounds? >> i think he is. robert ford, who's the u.s. ambassador to syria and a very well respected diplomat talked about a dissent in the middle east where people are using chemical arms against each other. he's not making a broad enough case.

israel wants a strike. apac will be flooding the hill saying this should happen. the israelis have said don't worry about retaliation, he wants to say iraq, iraq, iraq. he's saying we can handle whatever retaliation comes towards us. >> simple strikes, the way the president want to do it will not help and will not tip the balance of power on the ground. it will not actually topple assad. israel has done these strikes. they did it three times in the last two years. it didn't change anything. but assad was lying -- if that's the point, you need troops on the ground and you need the international community backing you. you need to sit on this and separate the two sides. >> i think you need to be more committed. i think you can arm the syrian rebels. the jihadis have grown. what have the saudis done? arm the jihadists. they are still members fighting assad. we need to fully back them. obama should have done that two

years ago. he has not. but we have to -- we can't ignore the middle east. there are moderates and we have to aggressively back them and arm them if they are willing to fight assad. >> hold for on for just one minute. i want to bring in congressman peter welch. always good to see you. good morning. >> good morning. >> at this point have you made up your mind? >> no, i haven't. there's three things. i think number one, most of us really do believe that assad did inflict a kchemical weapons attack on its own people. >> you have that most members of congress are convinced of that? >> the videos and the common sense test. they were launched from government side and landed in the rebel side. most of us do believe that the president has a legitimate argument that a strike is justified, but the third question that's really critical and really the gut-wrenching one, will a strike actually make matters -- a bad situation worse or will it make it better?

that's what we're wrestling with. the assad government is truly terrible, obviously. but that is chaos in the middle east. and assad does have some support because the minorities, the kurds, the alawites and the christians all fear what would happen with a radical sunni takeover. also there's really bad actors on the sunni rebel side. we see them executing soldiers in cold blood. we see them beheading rival factions. so that's a lot of what is causing some of us to ask the question how will this work and how will it be contained? how will it make a bad situation better? >> well, is the president's strongest argument maybe, congressman, the negative, that if we don't act we send mess ams to places like iran, to rogue nations or terrorist organizations, go ahead and use chemical weapons because there are no consequences. >> that's a very compelling argument and that's why this is such a wrenching decision. i'm glad the president came to the american people. it's a bad decision either way. if we let assad get away with

it, will he do it more? that's a real question and that's the president's point. on the other hand, if we launch this strike, will we have unintended consequences. things get out of control. once you launch that strike, we're not totally in control of the situation and the american people have seen that all the predictions oftentimes evaporate once the firing begins. >> i see two things and you're one of the people who's i assume involved in whipping votes for the house or at least that's your title. on one side you see a lot of reports that say this is dead in the house. the house is not going to vote for this. on the other side you hear members of the administration say, look, people are holding back. when push comes to shove, most of the members and certainly on the democratic side, supporters of the president and those who don't want to weaken his presidency or are concerned about weakening our standing in the world will eventually vote for. where do you think the vote stands, congressman? >> i really don't know. we're just back today. so we've all been reading this in newspapers. it's going to be a big deal for us. i'll go over and read the

classified intelligence reports. the president will be addressing the nation tomorrow night. all that will be really relevant. the thing that is a fact is the people in my district are overwhelming leo posed to this, they're very skeptical and they're obama supporters. but they're asking the question when you unleash the dogs of war, are we able to keep things nicely categorized the way the secretary of state is assuring us we will. and so that's the thing we're wrestling with. can you have a limited strike that doesn't have unlimited consequences or consequences that make things worse, not better. >> and you can't ignore the implications beyond syria because a lot has been written that if the president does not get what he wants here and he's expending so much political capital making all these phone calls, stopping by the vice president's house last night to talk to senate republicans, going to the hill tomorrow, rare appearance to talk to senate democrats, six interviews today, talking to the american people tomorrow on television, if it doesn't go through, what does that mean for these budget questions that you have and the remaining -- i think it's only

39 legislative days. what does it mean for immigration? what are the implications for his domestic agenda? >> well, you know, we don't know. in fact there probably will be implications and we'll have a big debate about it however this comes out. bottom line, and this is where i appreciate the president and also republican and democratic leadership, they're telling the members that you've got to dig deep into your soul and this has got to be your moral conviction about what's right. it can't be the political considerations. so i really respect the president, that he's come to congress, engaged us, but that in turn is engaging the american people. we've got to call this one the way we see it. it's a very serious question and can't be about what happens on other issues, important as they may be. >> once you hear from the president tomorrow night, do you think you'll make a decision in the next few days? >> i do. it's not like we're at the point where we're going to learn a lot more. i am back so i can read the intelligence reports, i can talk to my colleagues and wrestle with some of these pro and con arguments. bottom line, there is not a decision we're going to make that isn't going to have some

adverse implications. if we don't act, does it give a green light to assad. if we do act, does it unleash the dogs of war. this is a tough call for the country, and the president did the right thing coming to congress. >> congressman peter welch, always good to have you on the program. thanks owe much. >> thank you. >> i thought e.j. dion's column was interesting today. quote, the question now is whether congress really wants to incapacitate the president for three long years. my hunch is that it doesn't. this is why republicans, such as john boehner, eric cantor and john mccain, and democrats such as nancy pelosi all find themselves battling to give obama the authority to act. the inconsistency of republicans shouldn't blind us to the fact that others in the gop are taking courageous risks to avoid paralyzing the president. david, will he get the votes? >> he might in the end. i think the house is going to be a really tough sell. i think the president needs to broaden what he's saying there and give a credible strategy in the region. the strikes aren't going to aufl it.

americans are smart, they know that. arm the rebels and talk to iran. i know the president can't say that publicly. iran is the key backer of assad. the president wants a diplomatic solution, he doesn't want a collapsing syria. make a deal with the russians and iranians and try to ease out assad, but just lay out a broader strategy about why this matters and what are we doing in the middle east? what is the future american role? he has to talk about these bigger issues. if not, people won't buy it. >> and anecdotally people are talking about this and not just here in new york and not just washington, d.c. i hear from family and friends elsewhere in the country. people are engaged in this and you see this in those town halls. does he get the vote? >> i think we have intelligence coming over and over from the middle east, from turkey, from israel. this is what he needs also to do. to say that our allies in the region, turkey, israel, jordan, qatar, saudi arabia, these people are behind us. they are ready engaged in that war. directly or indirectly.

israel bombarded already, saudi arabia, jordan are receiving millions of refugees. they are engaged. if these people are behind us and with us we might change and tip the balance on the ground and i think we need to do that now because in two years -- today we have 10,000 jihadis. in two years we'll have 50,000 and we'll have hezbollah carrying these weapons. the weapons -- the attack will not only be in syria, it will be in lebanon and elsewhere. >> rula, david, great conversation. thank you both so much for being here today. ben gellis will make it official, he is stepping down as the head of the naacp. he was just 35 when he took the reins three years ago and now wants to give up his extensive travel. under jealous' leadership the donors grew to more than 132,000 last year n an interview with "usa today" he said he's the 17th president of the naacp and the 17th man, hinting that the

organization should look to a woman to be its next leader. com. come in where? welcome to my mom cave. wow. sit down. you need some campbell's chunky soup before today's big game, new chunky cheeseburger. mmm. i love cheeseburgers. i know you do. when did you get this place? when i negotiated your new contract, it was part of the deal. cool. [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right.

here's the reaction some people had to syrian president bashar al assad's interview with charlie rose. if you didn't know anything about him, you might say he was so calm, even reasonable in denying responsibility for the chemical attack against his people. but he made chilling threats of possible retaliation if strikes are carried out. assad's message versus his demeanor certainly begged the question, who are we dealing with? joining me now, former u.s. ambassador mark ginsburg and flint leveret. good to see both of you. good morning. >> good morning. >> ambassador, the average american couldn't identify, at least probably until recently, bashar al assad from

photographs. what do they need to know about him? >> well, he's an ophthalmologist, so this is a man who used chemical weapons who's a doctor, so that should really disturb them. he's also someone who took over almost accidentally from his father, because the older brother was killed in a race car accident. he was courted by many american leaders thinking that he could reform what essentially was a very tight-knit regime and also, i suspect action that this demeanor, however, masks what clearly is someone who is prepared to kill his own people at whatever it costs in order to retain power for the small cadre of people around him. so they should view him very much as a killer because he is prepared to kill his people to stay in power. >> professor, there was a time when he was first about to take over as president where he actually had the nickname "the

hope" from the syrian people. did something change? >> no. i think that ambassador ginsburg has given you essentially the neoconservative stereotype of bashar that circulated in washington. i'm not trying to deny the harshness of the way in which the syrian government deals with internal opposition, but i think you need to understand about bashar that he is a very intelligent person. over the course of his years as president, he became president in 2000. he definitely has in a way mastered his brief. he thinks he has it gamed out where if the united states strikes him, the united states is going to be the net loser in terms of its regional position. and he does not have a narrow base of support in syria. he has the support of at least half of syrian society behind him. i think it's probably larger than that. that's one reason why, when

president obama very foolishly declared over two years ago that he had to go, we've not been able to deliver on that because unless the united states is prepared to put massive troops on the ground and repeat the iraq debacle all over again, we are not going to be able to dislodge him by supporting this so-called opposition or by these what were promised to be targeted cruise missile strikes. >> well, what do you think at this point, ambassador, is he someone who is fearful of u.s. action, u.s. retaliation, or is he somebody who believes he's the one who should be feared? what's his mindset right now? >> well, notwithstanding what dr. leverett just said, it seems that all of us who he wants to put in a category of people, including secretary kerry who he doesn't agree with on this or neoconservatives who happen to be liberal democrats, the fact of the matter is that assad is afraid. he wouldn't be giving these

interviews if he wasn't. the infrastructure that he would lose here could tip the balance. he's now on the verge, and that's the danger here, he's on the verge of potentially winning a war against syrian democrats who wish to overthrow him. that doesn't mean, of course, that there are not very bad elements of al qaeda who are part of this. and let's recall here. the iranians and hezbollah are determined to keep him in power because this is, after all, a proxy war. but the fact of the matter is, is that if assad prevails here over the united states, he will feel that he has a green light to use these chemical weapons once again without punitive action from the west, and that would in effect tip the balance in favor of him. now, if mr. -- if dr. flynt believes that's the great outcome, so be it. there are those of us who believe that sear i can't yrian of this war and we need a peace conference to deal with this

issue. >> and that is part of the debate that's going on right now. ambassador ginsburg, professor leverett, thanks to both of you. the head of the 2014 sochi winter olympics is asking the olympic committee to help enclosure up russia's anti-gay law. that law allows russian authorities to fine, jail, deport anyone guilty of what they call gay propaganda. the government says the law will have no impact on athletes and spectators. today the nikkei jumped more than 2.5% on the weekend news that tokyo was awarded the 2020 olympics. think they're happy there? this is key for a country recovering from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. still facing concerns over contaminated water leaking from the fukushima nuclear plant. one more bit of olympics news, wrestling will make its return in 2020 after being taken off the roster earlier this year. if you've got it, you know how hard it can be to breathe and man, you know how that feels.

copd includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. spiriva is a once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that helps open my obstructed airways for a full 24 hours. you know, spiriva helps me breathe easier. spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe better. does breathing with copd weigh you down? don't wait to ask your doctor about spiriva. i save time, money,st, and i avoid frustration. you'll find reviews on home repair to healthcare,

written by people just like you. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. humans. we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. that's why liberty mutual insurance has your back, offering exclusive products like optional better car replacement, where if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. call... and ask an insurance expert about all our benefits today, like our 24/7 support and service, because at liberty mutual insurance, we believe our customers do their best out there in the world, so we do everything we can to be there for them when they need us. plus, you could save hundreds when you switch, up to $423. call...

today. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ 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 ♪ ♪ 'cause the rhyme is the reason ♪ ♪ break through, man, it doesn't matter who you're talking to ♪ [ male announcer ] completely redesigned for whatever you love to do. the all-new nissan versa note. your door to more. ♪

to politics now, where dennis rodman has discovered that north korean leader jim jong unhas a baby daughter. he held the baby on a recent visit and talked to his wife. he also says kim is a good dad. new survey shows 80% of hill staffers are satisfied with their jobs and that sounds pretty good, but fewer than half said they're actually satisfied with the meaningfulness of their jobs. and if you read only one thing this morning, word on the street is that the lendary "vogue" magazine editor, well, she was so turned off by miley cyrus' raunchy performance at the vma awards, she's cancelled her "vogue" cover for december. did she do the right thing? it's up on our facebook page. check us out, let us know what you think. ♪ and there's nothing good around ♪ ♪ turn around barry

♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ ♪ how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed much is the official retirement age. ♪ the question is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. ♪

this man is about to be the millionth customer. would you mind if toi go ahead of you?e years. instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. nobody likes to miss out. that's why ally treats all their customers the same. whether you're the first or the millionth. if your bank doesn't think you're special anymore, you need an ally. ally bank. your money needs an ally. some fascinating stuff going

on here in new york. there's a new poll in the city mayor's race, which is now, by the way, being compared to clinton/obama in '08. we'll talk about that. but it's taken a decisive turn just a day before the primary. the most liberal candidate, bill de blasio has taken a big lead with 36%, placing him within striking distance of the 40% needed to avoid a runoff. then there's anthony weiner, who led the polls earlier this summer. he's near the bottom, following raunchy revelations of a new sexting scandal. >> you have this fascination of making this a soap opera. but for citizens of the city of new york, a lot of them wanted this to be about the issues of the campaign and maybe i have that wrong. >> no american city mayor has the potential for more power and influence than new york. to talk about it, msnbc contributor and republican strategist, susan del percio, who we should say is advising republican merylal candidate joe

lohta and keith boykin. good to see both of you. it is interesting this political article that draws comparisons. first of all, quinn was the front runner. some people would say she was overly cautious. also the article points out, quote, clinton would have made history as the first female president. quinn would be the first woman mayor of new york. and neither woman openly played up her potentially historic candidacy until it was too late. de blasio shares many of the attributes as a campaigner. high is to deliver a mess annual and strategy and not waiver from it. i wonder, do you think it's a fair comparison, susan? it makes me think that inevitability is a bad thing. >> well, i think it's really hard to compare christine quinn to hillary clinton or for that matter bill de blasio to president obama. that's a big stretch in itself. the other thing is, don't forget about the curse of the city

council speaker. two previous city council speakers have tried to run. they have been very strong coming out of the box and then they just limp towards the end of the that being said, it is a race for second and it is extremely close and anything can happen. >> right now "new york" magazine is coming out, although these comments were out over the weekend that michael bloomberg had to clarify some things he said that led people to believe and the "new york" magazine is standing by the story that he called de blasio's campaign class warfare and racist. but, quote, i do not think he himself is a racist. it's comparable to me pointing out i'm jewish, attracting the jewish vote. but here he is, a guy who is married to an african-american woman, keith, who had what appears to be a very successful campaign featuring his african-american looking son with an afro. i don't know, does this help him, hurt him, put him back in the news?

do people like the anti-bloomberg candidate? what's going on in new york? >> i think bloomberg's words are actually a kiss of death for people who are aligned with him. and to be criticized by bloomberg is a badge of honor for bill de blasio. this is a guy who's behind the stop and frisk policies that have expanded from 100,000 annual stops to 700,000 annual stops during his reign. that's one of the huge issues in this campaign. that's one of the reasons why bill de blasio's son is able to make a campaign commercial that resonates so effectively throughout the new york city populous. >> i don't think we have it. i should have thought to ask them to get it. i think the reason that this works is this kid, he's a teenager, there's a realness about him that maybe some people feel is missing, whether it's in christine quinn or any of the other candidates. this is a very relatable kind of, it seems like to me, very relatable commercial.

>> for whatever reason, it's fair game if that's what you want to do, that's great. but what bill de blasio has done is also run a campaign on saying there's two cities. in fact in some ways saying there's manhattan and the outer boroughs. i don't think new yorkers are looking for a mayor who wants two cities. they want somebody who's going to lead for everybody. so i think in the end that argument may end up hurting him. >> but that's not the message he's communicating. >> it absolutely is. >> you're making the same point that mike bloomberg made. he accused him of class warfare for talking about two cities. but the reality is new york is two cities. people who live in park avenue don't have the same lives -- >> there we have the political ad. >> that's the ad that's resonating with people because the reality is as someone who's lived in new york for some time myself, the price of housing has become unaffordable for most new yorkers, health care costs have skyrocketed for new yorkers, the cost of living is extremely high for new yorkers. you don't get a sense that a

billionaire mayor has any sort of relation to that. nor do you get a sense that some of the candidates he would support have a relation to that. so to have somebody like bill de blasio talk like that really works in new york city. >> it works in the primary. >> well, in a city that's overwhelmingly democratic, it doesn't hurt to win the democratic primary. we shall see. big day at the polls tomorrow. coming up christine quinn will be the guest and anthony weiner joins us right here at 1:00. let's check the news feed. a faulty amusement ride sent a dozen children crashing into each other in connecticut. mechanical failure caused this accident. most of the injuries were minor with an 8-year-old being taken to the hospital. arkansas police are investigating the shooting of a 107-year-old man who was legally blind and nearly deaf. he got into a shootout with police after police say he threatened two people with a gun and then shot at police.

the s.w.a.t. team sent gas, assuming he'd surrender. instead he fired at the officers and officers returned fire, killing him. britain's prince andrew has accepted an apology after armed guards confronted him at buckingham palace. it happened two days after a man was arrested inside the queen's home. the duke's response, the police have a difficult job. sometimes they get it wrong. it wasn't a crash but the evacuations that caused 13 minor injuries after this plane went down in thailand. the landing gear problems caused this plane to skit off the runway and land nose down. more than 300 people were on the plane when it crashed. this morning the debut of a new painting by vincent van go gh. a norwegian man found the painting in his attic. he stored it there after someone told him it was not by van gough. it shows the ruins of an abbey

in france. what comforts would you sacrifice if you could have wi-fi on the airplane? according to a new survey, 42% said they'd give up snacks. isn't that already gone pretty much? 32% said they'd give up a seat that reclines. and then this is crazy. 13% would rather have wi-fi than a bathroom. no. another new study finds the average checking account today has an average of 30 potential fees attached to it with some listing more than 50. there are ways to avoid them, though. cnbc's kayla tausche is here with what's moving your money. 50 added fees, kayla? >> reporter: a lot is an understatement here. they're not just high in number, but standard fees like atm fees are getting costlier too and the quest to avoid them is becoming even more elusive. but a tried and true approach just might work best. calling and asking for the bank to refund them is what a lot of people are doing. a survey done by credit.com said 44% of customers who just called

up the bank and complained got a fee reversed. they had the most success with overdraft fees, which are approaching $35 a pop. these are the most expensive. you can avoid these by linking your checking and savings account together so some backup cash kicks in if you do overdraft your checking account. also the more loyal a customer you are with a certain bank, the more success you'll have in negotiating your way out of these fees. a bank will want to keep you happy because they'll want your long-term business. >> this is a little bit of shameless self promotion but our executive producer looks out her window and took a picture of something that looked like almost an alien spacecraft. it turned out it was the set in the middle of new york for this -- well, i guess the game show with the biggest prize ever, right? the "million second quiz." >> that's not just any alien spacecraft, that's our alien spacecraft. that's nbc's. for 12 days straight, about 1,000 contestants will play on their phones, their tablets or from their living room.

in a spot where time literally equals money. >> this is the million second quiz. i'm not on the air 24/7 but the contestants are playing around the clock. >> and the whole goal is to get here. >> this is it. this is the money chair. this is where they play around the clock, the 23 hours of the day that we're not on primetime and then they go upstairs. >> so if you're sitting in this chair, you're accumulating money? >> that was "today" show's savannah guthrie talking with ryan seacrest. contestants can earn up to $10 per second, $854,000 is what they're eligible to win in a single day. the four people who spend the most time warming that seat will go to the winner's row, cashing out their earnings and vying for a $2 million prize. total potential winnings, $10 million. i have to say, much more suspenseful than just scratching a lottery card in any case, chris. >> cnbc's kayla tausche. thanks, kayla. be sure to watch "the million second quiz" tonight at 8:00

eastern, 7:00 central on nbc. tv guide recently ranked its top game shows calling it the original reality tv. number five, "the price is right." four, "the match game" which had several incarnations since '82. "family feud" in third. trademarked, america's game "wheel of fortune" game in second. guess what number one is? "jeopardy." in syndication since 1984, 25 million people watch every week. a link to the full list at jansing.msnbc.com. [ crisp crunches ] whoo-hoo-hoo! guess it was. [ male announcer ] pringles, bursting with more flavor. 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!

humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance.

responsibility. what's your policy? 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? developing now, the russian foreign minister will push syria to give up its chemical weapons and put them under international control. according to the associated press, the russian official thinks the move might help prevent a possible u.s. strike on syria. we're going to keep our eye on that. that critically important decision on syria certainly has

people talking. and now nbc news has a fascinating and exclusive peek into facebook's worldwide user data. the states in the darker shades reflect where syria is being talked about most. washington, d.c., is number one, followed by new jersey, washington state and virginia. more than ten million posts mentioned syria between august 31st and september 6th. two-thirds of them came from the u.s. millions are talking about it, so how does the president relate his message to a very plugged-in audience tomorrow night? joining me is the chairman of 15 minute public relations, howard bragman. good to see you, howard. >> good morning, chris. >> the president has a very busy schedule. he stopped in at a dinner at the veep's house for republican senators. today he conducts interviews with all six networks. tomorrow a rare trip to capitol hill to talk to democrat senators and then he has the primetime address. this is a pr offensive. >> it really is.

and, you know, we're spin doctors. and you like to think that a doctor can fit everything but this patient may be terminal in terms of this issue. a pr person has two jobs, one is present his case to congress and the public. but the second job, and the job that i think his people failed at miserably is reading the mood of the american people. you have to understand, the people that like obama generally don't like war. the people who generally like war, don't like obama. >> and that's why we've had these weird alliances. >> with boehner. >> yeah. >> and mccain. >> but if there is one thing we know this president can do, he can give a speech. there have been times when he has just absolutely rocked it. and so tomorrow night, high consequence, i want to talk about that moment. how -- let's start with style, things like tone and delivery. how does all that play into the mess annuage and what do you ex

from him tomorrow night? >> i expect the most passionate president we've already seen. this is almost the speech of his life, certainly the speech of his second term. and if he doesn't win this, it's going to define his presidency and not in a way that he wants to define it. he has tripled down on this. first he drew the line in the sand on chemical weapons, then he said he's going to go to congress and now he's going to the american people. the challenge is, you were just talking about facebook. people were talking about the war on facebook, the potential for war there. i would say maybe the people i'm friends with, 80% to 90% of it is against going to war. the opposition to this has truly solidified. it's a very long process, which is not helping him. if he wanted to do it, and probably morally it's the right thing to do, he probably should have gone in, done his bombing and then talked about it. >> let me ask you a couple of

quick questions. first of all, the white house has not announced an exact location but typically he has three choices, oval office, east room, rose garden. it's in the evening so it's not going to be the rose garden. does it matter whether he's in the podium in the east room or sits behind the desk in the oval office? >> i'd go to the oval office. it's the only person in the world where you can sit in that and you know where it is. >> in our last 30 seconds, in crafting the message, are you a believer in take one point and drive it home ten times or take ten points, hoping to reach a maximum number of people with one of those arguments and mention them each once. >> i think he has three or four or five points he has to make about international norms. he's got to play the historical challenges and how we've gone to war and we've done the right thing even when people weren't for it. he's got to put everything on the line. so a handful of messages, extraordinary passion. he's going to wear the darkest suit with the reddest tie and the whitest shirt, look

extraordinarily presidential. >> all right. we will watch all of us tomorrow. howard bragman, always good to have you here. today's tweet of the day comes from greg sergeant. it doesn't matter what assad says, does now. the only thing that helps the white house case is explaining how strikes would improve situation. we need a w recipe. hmmm. let us consult the scroll of infinite deliciousness. ♪ oh! perfect. [ wisest kid ] campbell's has the recipes kids love. like easy chicken and cheese enchiladas. so good! can i keep this? you already have it at campbellskitchen.com. nice. [ blows ] [ gong ] m'm! m'm! good! i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80%

of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, it could save you thousands in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. i've been with my doctor for 12 years. now i know i'll be able to stick with him. you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and you never need a referral. see why millions of people have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp. don't wait. call now.

here we are almost 12 years to the day after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. the press is now getting a preview of the new memorial museum at ground zero. it's expected construction should be completed in the next eight months or so, but the past dozen years have seen some difficult and emotional journeys to turn the horror of that day into a museum that will never let future generations forget. joining me is alice greenwald, director of the 9/11 memorial museum. thanks for coming in. >> pleasure. >> the opening of any museum is a gargantuan task but here we

have family members involved, and the reality of how this has so changed the complexion of our country, of our world. was there, as you're looking at it now, one single thing that was the most complex, the most difficult? >> you know, i'm asked this often. and i think that the entire effort has been a challenge, but also a privilege. to be able to figure out how to tell that story, to open a museum barely a decade after an event of that magnitude, to understand that it was an event that was witnessed by an estimated one-third of the world's population on that day, you're dealing with an event of unprecedented global witness, collective witness. so we've had to take all of that into consideration and balance the multiple obligations of the museum, which is on the one hand commemorative to honor the memory of the nearly 3,000 people killed, but also to teach, to educate, to educate the generations that are now children who were born on 9/11 are 12 years old. there are children in grade

school for whom this is already history. >> and was there something that at least you all agreed on, those of you who were a part of this and many were family members, you said to yourselves, okay, when people leave here whether they were alive at the time it happened, whether they lived in new york or pennsylvania or washington, d.c., whether they're from the united states or elsewhere, here's what we want them to leave with. here's the mission of this place. >> right. >> what is it? >> well, it is by telling the story of what happened at the place that it happened that we want people to understand that human beings, while they are capable of horrendous things, and we know that, and we may never be able to prevent a terrorist attack, although god willing we can do our best to try, that what we really have control over is how we respond. and the way in which people responded on 9/11, helping each other, both civilians and first responders, the way people responded in the aftermath during the recovery, that impulse to help, to do whatever

one could in response, that sense of solidarity, that's the aspiration of this museum, to be -- to recognize, to be cause is in and the of the fact we live in a completely interdependent world and it's up to us the kind of world we want to leave our children and grandchildren. >> we hope you'll come back. it's fascinating to watch the pictures. come back closer to the time you're ready to launch. is the memorial, which is above ground now, is it the most -- i think it's the most popular or second most popular tourist atrak attraction in new york. >> we've been open for two years and had nearly ten million people in two years. >> alice greenwald. by the way, people who haven't been there, i think it's tremendous, very moving and very much looking forward to the opening of the museum. thanks for coming in. that's going to wrap up this hour of "jansing and company:" thomas roberts is up next. here's what on our agenda for the next hour. president obama will go

primetime tv from the white house to make his case for a strike on syria. what does he need to say to convince war-weary americans. he's also going to go to capitol hill to directly engage members of congress, but is he ready to go it alone if they don't back his plan? and as the world watches and waits for america's politics to play out, we bring you the very latest action from the region with reporters in turkey and lebanon. it all starts in just three minutes. man: sometimes it's like we're still in college. but with a mortgage.

and the furniture's a lot nicer. and suddenly, the most important person in my life is someone i haven't even met yet. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. as you plan your next step, we'll help you get there. 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. we know that his regime gave orders to prepare for a chemical attack. we know that they deployed forces. we know by tracing it physically where the rockets came from and where they landed. the social media exploded with videos that we also know could not be contrived. >> secretary of state john kerry remaining resolute about the evidence against bashar al

assad, but will it be enough to gain international allies for a u.s.-led strike against syria? hi, everybody, good morning. i'm thomas roberts. topping our agenda, the president's most pivotal week on syria and the next 34 hours which will culminate in a primetime address to the nation are absolutely crucial to building a coalition in congress. and this ask is an uphill climb. expect ray fluid day with a lot of fast-moving parts, starting with the united nations briefing in the next half hour. then at 12:30, national security adviser susan rice will deliver remarks and former secretary of state hillary clinton will make public remarks at 1:00 p.m. at 2:00, the senate where the president has the most support for military action convenes. at 3:00 p.m., the house armed services and intelligence committees will hold their own briefings. also this afternoon, the president will sit down for interviews with nbc and five other networks, hoping to blitz the american air waves at dinner time tonight. but it was this morning where syria's bashar al assad got