arked i never -- white house i never think of the worst white house. the kerry harrison found white house in terrible condition. the structure was bad and the walls were in bad shape. moved out,oosevelts the germans moved into a pretty beat up house. the furniture was taken by the roosevelt. it was their own possession. things were beat up. it had been 13 years. it was pretty run down. that is not why truman remodeled the house, though. no president has time to do the house over. they had a requirement for it. the security was the basis of this with german. not the fact that it was shabby. the secret service said that it was too dangerous. the house was a house of would, primarily. one firebomb could ignite it. truman was presented a report that was done a week or two after pearl harbor. it was the safety of the president. when it was finished, truman finished remodeling it in 1952, it was the safest place in the world. it was concrete blocks and steel. every room was and caged in steel. steel.ged in bombs could go off and they thought that nothing coul

. >> the worst white house? i never think of it as the worst white house. the complainer was mrs. harrison. mrs. kerry harrison. she was found in terrible condition and disliked it a lot. structurally it was bad and the walls were in bad shape. and actually after the roosevelts, the franklin roosevelts went out, the trumans went to a beat up house. 13 van loads of furniture taken by the roosevelts. their possessions. there were white squares where the wallpaper where pictures had been -- you know, 13 years. and they -- that was -- that was pretty run down. that's not why truman remodelled the house, though. no president has time to take off and do the house over. they had it as a requirement for him. and the security was the basis of this. with truman. not the fact that it was shabby. but the secret service and all of a sudden it's too dangerous. this is the wood primarily inside with the lamp and all that, one fire bomb could ignite it. truman was presented with a report that had been done a week or two after pearl harbor when they begged roosevelt to leave. he said i love old ho

at the white house. >> right. so what was life at the white house like? >> crowded. ts and lots of entertaining. the evening was absolutely absorbed with it. remember the office was in the house. at the other end of the hall from the family quarters. so it was -- there were about 15 servants as i recall. most federal employees from the agencies and they are paid from the agencies and all these children and the routine of the private house, plus the public activities, it was a very busy place. >> we mentioned at the outset that the first lady was an artist and we're going to learn a little bit more about the kind of art she particularly loved but first let's do a few calls. we'll talk to horace from philadelphia. before ask you the question, would you mute the volume on your tv? we're getting feedback. >> sure. thank you for taking my call. i've been watching the series right along. i'm enjoying it very, very much. can you tell us about her background? who were her parents, where was she raised? long before she met her husband, can you tell us about that? >> sure. can

in the white house, one before the white house, and one after the white house. todd was left who was like at family and who was a cold as a fish. ice cold. and he offered her no comfort or anything. tad had been the one she was so close to. typical thing that happens to widows, maybe the first two years. terrified and being of not having enough money. the man has managed everything. that.e never done and people -- they think people are taking advantage of them. understandable. but they would drag on because they couldn't leave anything. mixed one the white house staff in funny ways. -- and there was a green house attached to the white house. for the son in john nter and a lot of -- gardner got close to her and she was a cook. he got close to her and she would tell him too much and he access to the office and then took one of lincoln's speeches and gave it to another unscrupulous person that she associated with. >> quick question on this. a couple more when we finished. robert todd lincoln and abraham lincoln ii are buried here. the entire family is in springfiel

she is alone in the white house. she refers to, on the day before what was going to be the last day of the white house, august 14, 1814, i hope i have that day right, and she is waiting for her husband to come home while she is preparing for the worst. she is writing this letter for her sister and running up to the roof looking for a husband. she is observing how badly the battle is going. she is also packing things, she is packing silver and what she considers the people's possessions, and she sends them away in carts. and finally, the word comes and it is time to go. >> the british were coming. >> how endangered was she? >> if she waited any longer, she might have been captured. that would have been a huge prize of war. she knew she had to leave. she wanted to wait for her husband to come home, but she knew she had to leave. and then they reunited a couple days later. apparently she had the table set for dinner, and the british came in and thought that was wonderful. but she did save the pour trait of washington whi

but the whole white house, the atmosphere in the white house was brilliant. i don't think there had been anything like it since dolly madison. he had a flurry with julia tyler but he was only around for eight months and past that, the white house didn't really sparkle, but under buchanan, it sparkled. >> the woman responsible for coordinating life in the white house was harriet lane. who was harriet lane? >> she was the niece of james buchanan. she'd been orphaned at an early age and he took her under his wing. when her father died, i think he was made aware -- made it her guardian. >> buchanan was her guardian. both her parents died when she was about 9 or 10 and he was her guardian. >> legal guardian. >> he took care of a bunch of nieces and nephews. he was a bachelor. >> for the pennsylvanians out there we should mention he was pennsylvania's only president. >> from lancaster. >> we will be visiting the home he built in lancaster, pennsylvania, as the segment continues. as a reminder, we'd like you to be involved. it's more fun when you ask questions. you c

she married the president in a white house ceremony, the only white house ceremony for a first lady. e bodice, filled in with a neck piece. this goes around it and creates a softening effect. it was a longsleeved dress. and this wonderful long train on the underside, trimmed in lace. even the underside of his clothes you don't see had this beautiful trimmed. and this sweeping train. the collection contains more than clothing. at their wedding, we have public and personal pieces. one of my favorite things in the entire collection, this cake box. each of the guests at the wedding were given a satin covered box, painted with the bride and groom initials, to hold a piece of wedding cake. before the wedding, grover and frances signed a card for every cake box. inside, wrapped in lace. there would have been a piece of cake. this particular cake box was given to the minister who performed the wedding. byron sunderland. the minister at the first presbyterian church in testament , d.c. to the public fascination of frances cleveland. this is a piece of sheet music, the cleveland's wedding march

we are working with the white house historical association throughout the series. as we look at this white house of 1846, sarah polk brought some innovations to the white house. central heating and gas lighting. >> she didn't actually bring them. let's say they arrived. central heating and asked lighting, she didn't hold out when they put in the gaslight and insisted the oval room of the white house be left with candlelight. when they turned on the gaslight, when they shut it down for the light, the whole white house went dark. the oval room was still lit with the beautiful candlelight. there were experiments. it ultimately failed the presidential family a lot of money. they had to keep the white house out of that $25,000 salary. these efficiencies did come in, starting with the polks. >> central heating in the white house must've been a great nnovation. >> it must've been a joke. [laughter] i don't think you would have been very warm. >> other than the alternative. >> got it. >> you wonder, the nice warm fireplace in the right room keeps that room warm. what you ar

the white house condemned it and the white house is warning of grave risks. forhis is a pivotal moment all egyptians. the path towards violence only leads to economic disaster instability and suffering. the only sustainable path for one towards a political solution. >> a political solution in egypt is difficult to see. the security forces went in hard because the army chief wants little or no space left for the muslim brotherhood after bringing down its leader, the elected president, who tried to clip the general's wings. the muslim brotherhood said that there victory was stolen when mohamed morsi was deposed but many egyptians think that mr. morsi's performance lost him support. his move towards islamic rule moved people to protest against him as they did against the mubarak regime. does the scale of today's bloodshed risk tipping egypt toward something far worse, even civil war? one powerful leader in the region, turkey's president, points to that danger, pointing to syria. i fear that if egypt continues on this path that it will descend into chaos from whi

once they were in the white house? not to that degree. the sociables were informal, there was music, there was often dancing. once they get into she white house, the entertainments are much more restricted, they're open to a lot of people, essentially they're drawing rooms, but they're not that kind of dancing -- until actually the end of their term, as they're on their way out, the last great drawing room she holds, they actually have music and dancing and people stay until 2:00 in the morning and talk about how gracious the adamses are, knowing that they are -- that they have failed in re-election and it's probably one of the greatest entertainments they had in the four years. >> next a question from leroy in kentucky. >> yes, ma'am. really enjoying this, this is great. >> thank you. >> were the adams family, john quincy and his wife, were they god-fearing >> were the adams family, john quincy and his wife, were they god fearing people, did they attend church and teach their children things of the lord? i'm a ministe

well, doesn't that give you a nice picture of life in the white house? certainly does not tell you about the opposing political factions in the white house itself. so franklin was very supportive of her efforts. she was careful not to do things that would upset and. [inaudible question] >> u.s. >> he did not have a strong genius and advancing. ahead of him if you want to put it that way, and awaited he was not always happy about. >> to think that's very true. to what degree she used these press conferences to advance the liberal causes and to what degree she used my day to do that was within the context of a wife speaking out. roosevelt could laugh it off by saying that is just my missus. of course there was the prevailing ideology that women are supposed to be better than men, so it is all right for them to be more moral. eleanor went around visiting day care centers and having her picture taken with a lot of african americans at a time when the segregationists in the south objected to that greatly. certainly that helped the roosevelt coalition in the no

set the stage for us as the grants come into the white house. guest: well, grant's election started off with the campaign -- "let us have peace." people were really looking to grant to kind of bring some peace and quiet to the white house and to the nation after the war and the years of the johnson administration. so, those were grant's initial efforts as he took office. host: those were the themes -- we were looking at his first inaugural address -- these were the themes he struck when he spoke to the nation for the first time? guest: yes, and he had the added advantage of being a hero, famous even in the south, if he wasn't beloved, but everywhere else, one million young men tried to imitate this particular stance he had. he was wildly popular and clean. there was nothing dirty attached to him. i think he was a natural. host: the country was ready for him. so, talk about the first lady herself. she had been the wife of the general. that brings a certain skill set along with it. what did she bring to the role in the white house? guest: she broug

he opened the white house up. they began to try to engage in a public conversation and tackle the issues that tarnished the republican party. the corruption of the grant administration when he said there would be civil-service reform. when he really pledges to pull the remaining troops out of the south. assuming that the governors, the government in new orleans and columbia will honor their commitment. he is trying to extend an olive branch to people, saying, i hear you. and i'm only going to serve one term so let's figure out how to make the most of this together. >> how did lucy help in this effort? >> she understood how politics work and how to entertain. she understood how to facilitate conversation between people that were difficult. she understood how to really bring people at the table in a way that would advance her husband. she was charming and everybody loved her, despite the no alcohol. she was able to do things in a way that made him seem approachable and ethical and blunt. >> she was the first first la

does that give you a nice picture of life in the white house? it certainly doesn't tell you about the opposing political factions in the white house itself between franklin and eleanor. so franklin is very supportive of her efforts and she was careful not to do things that would upset him such as talking about subjects like birth control that were no-nos to a political conclusion including a lot of women catholics. [inaudible] >> she was. >> advancing liberal causes that for political or other reasons he did not have interest in advancing. and if you want to put it that way, in a way that he was not always happy about. >> that is very true but to what degree she used these press conferences to advance these liberal causes and to what degree she used my day to do

that from the white house just a few moments ago. working on getting the sound to you from president obama. again, no decision yet on military action in syria. we're going to take a quick break. when we come back, we'll continue our conversation. we'll also bring you those comments from 1600 pennsylvania avenue. 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. [ female announcer ] at 100 calories, not all food choices add up. some are giant. some not so giant. when managing your weight, bigger is always better. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant help the gulf when we made recover and learn the gulf, bp from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. i can tell you - safety is at the heart of everything we do. we've added cutting-edge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a state-of-the-art monitoring center, where experts wat

the white house's result is the u.n. or not there was a chemical weapons attack not who is responsible for the chemical weapons attack. that's why you saw the president, secretary kerry come out yesterday and build their case to the american people. that's why they are briefing members of congress today. they're argument is their intelligence shows with a high level of confidence this was the work of bashar al-assad. they believe that because of u.s. satellite images which captured the rockets launched from strongholds and because of intelligence communications that were intercepted that revealed the planning of that attack that took place last week. that is the white house's art but certainly this is going to be a pall over the g-20 summit. i would be surprised if we saw any military strikes while president obama is traveling abroad but this will be a topic of conversation. >> he's hoping whatever he would do would be done by that point to which i want to bring in general general mccaffery. what is the possibility it co

we are told by the white house official this is an address to the nation. this is not officially announcing, according to the white house official. commencement of military operations. instead it is the president giving the american people, giving the world, an update on where he's in his dlibation and where we are with the situation on the ground in syria. obviously the u.n. weapons inspectors have wrapped up their work. they are waiting here inside the white house for that to finish before any potential military operation could begin. number one. number two, as you have been -- saying, there were more briefings here today at the white house via conference call. where you had top national security officials, adviser to the president, here, briefing there conference calls, senate democrats, senate republicans, told by the congressional senior congressional producer, that house members are going to get a briefing as well from the national security aide sunday. we are told, of course, the arab league is expected to meet on sunday as well. just putting all the

[laughter] she also brought dancing to the white house. >> right. e brought the polka she brought a number of things to the white house. but i think that when you're starting -- you're starting to get into the perceptions of that. it does work both ways. especially with the growth of the abolitionist press. that the abolitionist press starts to see these things that julia's doing in the white house, this level of extravagance, as being yet another example of the corruption of the slave parties. particularly in a distressed economic period, how could they be doing that? the only way is because they are gathering all of their wealth and benefits from the fact that they own other people. so in terms of the growth of that abolitionist press and the abolitionists send people just to keep an eye on the tyler white house and report back on things like this. what julia is doing is in fact in some quarters very detrimental to that broader image while in other quarters, you know, it's very beneficial to supporting the idea of the impeeferial -- imperial presid

on twitter -- guest: she lived in the white house with her brother. st: how protective of they've were they of the little girl? guest: part of the reason arthur kept her away from the white house for nearly one year making sure that she lived either at her home, his home in new york city, and he was having that remodeled, so she went to live with an aunt and there were two other girls, jessie and may, who came to live with their mother in the white house. host: what is your question? caller: if president garfield had been shot in our modern times with our technology, do you think he would have been saved? guest: i would just venture a guess to say yes. the simple removal of a bullet, he would be able to detect where it was in the system. host: arthur may have been severely depressed by the loss of his wife, but they entertained lavishly in the white house and he undertook an amazing redecoration of the white house that was don by louis tiffany. if you think of a tiffany lamp with all the colors, think about that in the white house. what did it look lik

she married the president in a white house ceremony, the only white house ceremony for a first lady. dice, filled in with a neck piece. this goes around it and creates a softening effect. it was a longsleeved dress. and this wonderful long train on the underside, trimmed in lace. even the underside of his clothes you don't see had this beautiful trimmed. and this sweeping train. the collection contains more than clothing. at their wedding, we have public and personal pieces. one of my favorite things in the entire collection, this cake box. each of the guests at the wedding were given a satin covered box, painted with the bride and groom initials, to hold a piece of wedding cake. before the wedding, grover and frances signed a card for every cake box. inside, wrapped in lace. there would have been a piece of cake. this particular cake box was given to the minister who performed the wedding. byron sunderland. the minister at the first presbyterian church in washington d.c. that testing to the public fascination of frances cleveland. this is a piece of sheet music, the cleveland's weddi

this is houston. >> hello, neal and buzz, i'm talking to you by telephone from the oval room at the white houseto be the most historic telephone call made from the white house and as you talk to us from the sea of tranquility, it inspires us to redouble efforts to bring peace and tranquility to earth. for one priceless moment in the whole history of man, all the people on this earth are truly one, one in their pride in what you have done. >> armstrong is on the moon, neal armstrong, 38-year-old american standing on the surface of the moon on this july 20th, 1969. >> that's one small step for man, one giant leap for man kind. >>> a typical day for me, haldeman would pick me up around 7:15. the car would get bob, then it would get larry higby, bob's aid and then it would swing by my house and then into the white house. i am responsible for the scheduling and also for the president's daily activities. our thing was a machine, and i knew my place. it really reflected a lot about richard nixon, the degree to which he wanted things controlled. >> it literally was from 6:00 in the morning until 9:00 a

does the white house need to change its tune? if definition of "need" is therefore things will change in egypt, no, because again, nobody thinks things will change in egypt. certainly, the president left that door open to suspending aid at the very least. if we continue to see the kinds of scenes that we saw, of those crackdo crackdowns, where 700, 800, the numbers, if you know, are fairly unreliable, hundreds of egyptians died, if we continue to see that, i suspect he will do it. it needs to be kept in some kind of perspective. $1.5 billion over the years, the u.s. has given a lot to egypt. but now, other countries give a lot more. secondly, the money to egypt, as far as i understand it, has already been doled out for this year. so it would take effect next year anyway. >> candy crowley, thanks so much. host of state of the union. >> thanks. >>> is san diego mayor bob filner going to show up at work tomorrow? we'll tell you about the latest effort to remove him from office. you know throughout history, folks have suffered from fr

how did the white house change? >> in the jackson administration, the north port co-was added which is the major piece you see sticking out from house. a major addition to the white house. put in plumbing and central heating. he blue room is first called the blue room in the van buren administration. a lot te house changed too. >> jackson spent a lot of money basic repairs.on theme if you fall the history is it starts out a certain way and gets run down break as it does for your own house. they put off repairs. they're do them, pretty much needed, badly needed. especially if you're andrew jackson bringing 20,000 people in your house. davenport, iowa, you're on the air, welcome. i was wondering why did they relatives?ry their >> okay. isabella, can i ask you how old are? >> 12. >> are you learning a lot program?this >> yes. in thee glad to have you white house audience. thank you for your question. settlements, a limited number of people, oftentimes the the only ones really available to you. uncommon at all. it wasene

they arrive at the white house. t the scene for the election and how tumultuous politics were. >> the political process had broken down. there were four parties that ran in 1860. the democratic party that was the one truly national political organization split into northern and southern wings, divided over the issue of slavery. stephen douglass, lincoln's longtime rival and at one point romantic rival for mary's hand is the democratic nominee from the north. vice president breckinridge is the southern democratic hig party.the w nominated someone named john bell from tennessee, middle-of- the-road to support the constitution platform. that left this new party, the republicans, who were defined as being anti-slavery, but not radically anti-slavery. they were all about containing the spread of slavery. lincoln along with 40% of the vote, the news of his election reached the state's almost immediately to secede. firste white house that the lady inherited had been the domain of harriet lane, who was much beloved in washin

but first, on a lighter note, the white house soup of the day is white chicken chili.little fallish this morning when i woke up, it was in the 60s so okay, i'll live with it. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] made just a little sweeter... because all these whole grains aren't healthy unless you actually eat them ♪ multigrain cheerios. also available in delicious peanut butter. healthy never tasted so sweet. 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 ] in all purpose and bath. that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supple

and, again, how do you fight it off if you're in the white house today. you say -- you talk down to people and you belittle them and say there's nothing here. let me be clear as the president often always says. you don't know what you're talking about. move on. is it working? no, it is not. >> but it was the white house itself when it first erupted that it was serious enough to warrant investigation. the president said, quote/unquote, we'll get to the bottom of this because it can never happen again and then he stan was a kid when watergate broke but it wasn't -- it was woodward and bernstein but then it was everybody. >> us that with a republican president. >> i tell you, that's the scary part. this really does underscore the sort of media bias. the good thing is there are other outlets out there. the oth it was just a couple. the main strooechl media holds the sway. most tv networks in america get their talking points from the new york times. that's one of the problem with this story. it's hard to pick up steam when the establishment won't go after the p

vice president joe biden is here at the white house. chuck hagel, the chairman of the joint chief, martin dempsey, so all of that giving an indication that the president is close to making a decision, but because white house officials are saying this is not about imminent or commenced operations, perhaps we will be hearing about something else. we should also note this administration was set to start briefing members of the senate today, members of the house tomorrow, to fully get them up to speed on what is happen ng syria and so, it will be interesting to find out whether or not the president's comments have any impact. the other thing we should point out and this is just a small, minor thing, is that according to a note distributed to reporters here at the white house, a telepromter has been set up in the rose garen for the president's address. i only say that because yesterday, his comments were very much off the cuff. he had some notes in front of him, but he was not reading from prepared remarks, but this statement indicates that p

what was the mind set in the nixon white house that led to watergate? re was a mind set that led to watergate. the president is out of office. men in the nixon white house went to jail. what was the mind set? what happened? >> that's the problem. i don't know what happened. >> burglary had nothing to do with richard nixon at the time it occurred. if he kept distance between himself and that whole episode, he didn't know about that in advance. i never heard anybody come forward with evidence that he did. if he had kept distance between himself and that episode and just said, you know, those guys did it, they will have to take their punishment, that is what could have saved richard nixon i'm persuaded. quick surgery, but he was the compulsive man. he had to get involved. he had to -- he had to dabble in this -- in this conspirator spy stuff, and he pulled it all into his office. what is the dumbest thing you did? the dumbest thing i did was not to go to him when i realized this and say look, if you don't go out there and make a clean part of this thing, i'

it is a 5 minute drive from the white house to the state department. >> yes, we are on the west side th the national security council has been briefing this morning, going over the options according to the white house, what we have been doing over the last few days, and as the white house continues to sell the contact with foreign leaders. and the british parliament, angela merkel dealing with challenges of an election nature in her own -- and the french and turks as well have mentioned there above some type of response to what are charges of the use of chemical weapons in syria. there's a lot of play in domestic politics, international politics on the domestic front, a number of members of congress saying they wanted concrete plan from the president, some say they don't want to get entangled in the middle east more than the united states has been over the last decade. there is opposition on the international front, there's opposition domestically and we talked a little earlier about the talk of red lines from a while ago from the president and this consideration at the white house is

. >> i had the rare privilege for four years serving on the white house staff under one of the greatest presidents. >> former white house chief of staff h.r.haldeman found guilty today on five counts in the watergate trial. >> do you regret what happened and what you did? >> oh, sure. the country lost motion, a lot of the good things we were working on in the way of domestic reforms were lost in the mess. you can't help but regret aftermath of that. a lot of good people had their lives spoiled in the process. >> john ehrlichman has finished his statements. he was then returned to the holding room, rather a strange phrase. the holding room gives you an idea they are holding a chemical or bacteria or something. >> former white house domestic affairs adviser, john ehrlichman, four counts, guilty. >> the references to like an era of criminality or like people there were trying to, you know, rape the country of its democracy, i mean, i just don't see it that way. >> chapin was linked to the watergate case, alleged sabotage of the dnc democratic campaign. >> i don't think you can take that li

however, the white house press is a joke. on friday, jessica yellen, who is the cnn white house correspondent, is tweeting out that, you know, sources are telling her that the white house is going to react in a big way to more transparency with -- when it comes to the nsa issues. that source is a white house person telling her that they are just taking what the white house says and just regurgitating it. >> i see you weighing in on this. you want to weigh in. let me read something quickly. it is an op-ed from "the wall street journal." it says the disconnect lies in the failure to appreciate while al qaeda central has been badly weakened by u.s. counter terrorism efforts the group was never close to being extinguish and adapted. anyone else in the media see at this time same way. >> i think that's correct. just not what we were told last year. look, i mean, the president got away on jay leno saying we don't have a domestic spying program and media took that, too. nsa does not exist. tom bloomer at news busters caught a great e

now the white house plans to brief congress about the intelligence tomorrow. ident obama has just spoken a few moments ago about the crisis in syria and a possible u.s. response. our ed henry live at the white house. ed, is the president any closer to a decision today? >> it seems like he's getting closer, harris. you noted that fox has learned that the white house tomorrow will brief key lawmakers about the intelligence they have. what we have not got yet, though, is a public report on some of that intelligence declassified so the public can see what evidence the white house, the president, does have before potentially launching military action. the other thing we have not seen is the president make any sort of public case for military action, some sort of address to the nation. he's edging closer to that in his interview tonight with pbs wherefore the first time he hints at military action. remember late last week he did an interview with cnn where he focused much or on the united nations, working, going slow. tonight while he insists he hasn't made a final d

bush, when i covered the white house. last scene of the movie, there was an actor who played you, actually meeting the butler, eugene allen, at the white house. what struck you about him when you first saw him? >> thank you, susan, it's great to see you again. but when i first met mr. allen, it was in 2008. and very distinguished gentleman, but very humble. i had already heard about his background. the story had not been written about him yet. and so he came to do his oral history at the white house with three other former maÎtre d's. and so i was more honored to meet him, i think, than he felt he was honored to meet me, being the first african-american to be a chief usher. but i had heard about him, and just to be in his presence was just amazing to me. >> and you know, times have changed, because in the movie, eugene allen, he was discovered serving at a hotel. you have served in the military for 36 years. you had nine interviews before you actually got the job. how did you end up inside the white house? >> i walked thr

the nfl's only undefeated team in history finally makes it to the white house. bout it. >>> and during the dog days of summer, the white house tries to make it sunny. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm jake tapper. and you are in "the situation room." >>> president obama held a cabinet level meeting today on the future of u.s. aid to egypt. the administration is reviewing its financial help as egypt reels from violence. no decisions have yet been made. >> that review that the president ordered in early july has not concluded. and reports to the contrary that reports -- published reports to the contrary that suggest that assistance to egypt has been cut off are not accurate. >> but some officials on capitol hill say they were told that aid to egypt is on hold. let's bring in jessica yellin. jessica, what are you learning about that? >> reporter: well, jake, one u.s. official tells me although the administration will not call events in egypt a coup, they're behaving as though that's exactly what happened and withholding assistance to the country. as you know, the white

for these guys in assisted of going to the white house -- instead of going to the white house to participate in shaking the president a ease happened just go to the watergate hotel and put a little tape on the door and recreate history jie. what position did you play? >> d tackle. >> what he said. >> i am guessing you played nickleback like you do on your i-pod. that was a good joke. >> that was a good joke. >> i am proud of that joke. >> imogen, not many people get to meet the president. should you go if you are invited out of respect for the office if not for the man? >> it is america, but this is a problem -- i love the constitution and i love when people ask me why does royalty exist in britain? the queen is above politics. she has a 90% approval rating and she is there as a symbol of national unity and pride, the head of $2 -- of 2 billion people. it is sad when people can't separate the office of the presidency and the president who is the president 6789 it is the nature of the beast. >> i met the president a couple of times, and it is not that exciting. >> oh, mr. big shot. >> it is j

but even as efforts towards an international consensus unravel, the white house is still pressing its case here at home for a military strike. in a conference call this evening, members of the president's national security team are briefing congressional leaders in what the white house believes is the syrian government's role in an attack. and the military response with or without international partners. we have reports from washington, as well as inside damascus tonight. andrea mitchell starts us off from washington. andrea, good evening. >> good evening, lester. tonight the president is losing momentum for quick action against syria, and thinking of the real prospect if he does act within days, he may be doing it alone. something the white house said today it is willing to to. u.n. inspectors were still collecting evidence today of last week's attack and now plan to leave syria saturday. their mandate is only whether a chemical attack took place, not who did it. the british jets landed in cypress. the british government said an intervention would be legal on humanitarian grounds. bu

the white house position is that this is foot dragging and just obstructionist. ticipate, of course, but it won't change might go. they see the u.n. as a dead end. does the president have the legal and political power to go to alone and to do something limited in nature as he has described it without waiting for the brits and the u.n.? >> well, the president may have the power to do that, although it does raise constitutional issues as to whether or knonot he'll get support from the congress. but i think it would be wise it go to the u.n. security council with the evidence that both the vice president, secretary kerry have said is pretty overwhelming that points to the syrian government's use of the chemical weapons. put that in front of the security council, layout the evidence and then if the russians veto taking any action, you can then hang on the russians the fact that they're supporting the gassing of women and children with chemical weapons. and really bang that drum loudly. so i don't think just dismissing it and saying we don't need to go to the security

the white house wants to indicate that it's consulting. a lot of democrats are saying we need you to come and bring this to us before you do anything. the request from the republicans -- >> will that happen? will they take it to a vote? >> i think probably not. the war powers act gives the president 60 days into the start of an operation before he has to go to congress for a vote. it's not clear where whatever we do will take 60 days. like basically every administration since the war powers act was passed, the obama administration says it's unconstitutional and they're not mandatory to go for a vote. >> also ft. meade yeah, definitely for congress both of whom who said in iraq, go ahead and do whatever you want. we don't want to check you what we should. in retrospect, a tremendous amount of regret on both sides. now they want to check the president, push back. "new york times" a 1 story saying, there's no smoking gun directly attaches to assad to these attacks. maybe it was a rogue unit under his control and not actually him pushing that b

the white house press is a joke. on friday, jessica yellen who is the senior white house core responsibility, that sources are telling her, correspondent that white house is going to react to more transparency when it comes to the nsa issues. that is a white house person telling her. they are taking what the white house says and retelling it. >> kelly: let me read something quickly. an op-ed from the "wall street journal." disconnect lies in our failure to appreciate that while al-qaeda central has been badly weakened by counter-terrorism efforts, the group was never close to be extinct wished. >> that is correct. the president got away on jay leno, quote, we don't have a domestic spying program. media sat there and took that, too. but tom bloomer at news busters caught an example, on the tonight show he was talking about the geography of ports and charleston and savannah are on the atlantic ocean. and ap words to come him on that. president says media didn't jump on that either. >> kelly: we have to go on to somethin