greg. >> is this something that will die? >> it will never die. it is not going to die. "special report" is next. make sure you stay and watch. thanks. >> a civil war in another country. the concern -- this is a fox news alert, i am bret baier in washington. you're looking live at the senate foreign relations committee on the president's plan for military strikes in syria is about to wrap up at any moment. we will talk live shortly with one of the members of that panel, senator marco rubio. you can watch the end of this hearing, go to foxnews.com, see the live streaming video there. first, here, we will give you headlines, context, analysis. it could be the most important sales pitch of his term. president obama met with leaders and sent teams to capitol hill to continue the hard sell. chief congressional

correspondent mike emanuel says it may be a harder sell than he anticipated. >> reporter: a key component of the obama administration push for congress to authorize military action against syria is u.s. ground troops won't be involved. >> the military plan that has been developed by our joint chiefs and that i believe is appropriate is proportional, it is limited, it does not involve boots on the ground. >> reporter: at a hearing before the senate foreign relations committee, john kerry didn't want to rule it out entirely. >> i don't want to take off the table an option that might or might not be available to the president of the united states to secure the country. >> reporter: that sounded an alarm with the top republicans. >> i will say in response to your answer to senator menendez, i didn't find that a very appropriate response regarding boots on the ground. >> reporter: then kerry tried to clarify. >> let me be very clear now because i don't want anything coming out of this hearing that leaves any door open to any

possibility. so let's shut that door now as tight as we can. >> reporter: foreign relations chairman bob menendez says loss of american credibility and further humanitarian disaster are consequences of inaction, that america's allies are watching. >> the decision we make, resolution we present to the senate and votes we take will reverb rate around the world. >> reporter: for the administration, the bigger challenge is winning over the american public. a pew poll shows opposition to air strikes is up 19 points over those in favor. an abc, "the washington post" poll shows those against are up 23 points. before president obama announced saturday he would seek congressional organization, kerry argued forcefully for military action. >> the question is what do we collectively, what are we in the world going to do about it. >> reporter: ahead of today's hearing, corker said they were close on how much authority lawmakers would give the commander in chief. >> my sense is that senator menendez, we met privately with the president after the meeting

that we had, and i have a strong sense that we will be able to come to terms fairly quickly with what an organization ought to say. >> reporter: before convening a classified meeting of the senate intelligence committee, its chair woman expressed support for taking action. >> i think it is key, critical. i think it is important to the security of the world and particularly the middle east. >> reporter: although even after receiving classified briefings, some lawmakers say they want to know what the military mission would be. >> i want to know where we're going with this, what is the objective here, and i still keep hearing the objective is well, we have to do something. that's not good enough for me at this point. >> reporter: there was a suggestion today the resolution should be broader to make sure syria's chemical weapons don't get into the hands of our enemies. with the public skeptical of a wider mission, that seems unlikely. bret? >> mike emanuel, thank you. the president pushes for

u.s. military action in syria, the promised military support for rebels in syria has not yet materialized. chief white house correspondent ed henry tells us that is not helping the president's cause on capitol hill. >> i'm going to be working with congress. >> reporter: a rare move for president obama who kept lawmakers at arm's length for nearly five years, often bypassing them when it suits his interest. yet now he is on defense and needs congress to help authorize a u.s. military mission in syria, so he's finally starting to make his case. >> i made a decision that america should take action, but i also believe that we will be much more effective, we will be stronger if we take action together as one nation. >> reporter: the president said he's confident the resolution will pass, though behind the scenes his aides are still worried about the potential for a crushing defeat. fox learned some of the top campaign advisers like anita

dunn and stephanie carter visited. the president himself didn't attend, but white house staff got advice from david plouffe and former white house press secretary robert gibbs, with one attendee telling fox they kick around ideas like whether mr. obama should do a more formal address to the nation. attendees included the white house speech writer, and former white house national security spokesman. the white house got a boost when republicans figure john boehner backed mr. obama. >> i am going to support the president's call for action. i believe that my colleagues should support this call for action. >> reporter: yet it is a politically risky move for boehner, it is unclear how many republicans will follow, especially since his spokesman quickly downplayed that endorsement, declaring now it is the president's responsibility to make his case to the american people and their elected representatives. one big bone of contention,

republicans are furious the president's aides promised in june to arm the rebels, yet months later, no weapons have arrived. >> it is to some degree humiliating to be in a refugee camp when our policy has been that we are going to train, we're going to equip. yet when you sit down with the people coalescing around, very little of that has occurred. >> reporter: the president indicated he has heard the message and will not just aim to degrade the syrian military. >> we have a broader strategy that will allow us to upgrade the capabilities of the opposition. >> reporter: while boehner gave his backing, senate republican leader mitch mcconnell facing a tough election bid at home will not. former secretary of state hillary clinton is now giving her backing to the president's idea of the mission, saying she supports a, quote, strong and targeted response.

>> ed henry, thank you. one factor that hasn't received attention, how much military action against syria will cost. remember, this is the age of this question. national security correspondent jennifer griffin runs the numbers for us tonight. >> reporter: the pentagon plans a limited strike on syria, relying on as many as 160 tomahawk missiles, fired from navy destroyers in the eastern mediterranean. that comes at a cost. a four day campaign could exceed $200 million. even though general dempsey warned congress in a letter on july 19th these kind of standoff missions can cost billions, depending how long they last. >> is the congress of united states ready to pay for 30 days of 30,000 air strikes to take out and is there legal justification for doing that. >> reporter: republicans hawks and budget cutters on a collision course as they face debt ceiling negotiations, budget cuts and a month to defund obama care, while being

asked to authorize another expensive military operation abroad. >> if we attack, we're open for escalation, and the first briefing i have on this a couple months ago i asked if we get into this, are you going to be serious, how far are we going to go. remember, we're still at war in afghanistan and we have cut about a trillion dollars out of our defense over the next ten years. we're asking them to do more with less. >> reporter: the republicans on the armed services committee suggest escalating costs could require going back to congress for more money. senator james inhofe quoted general dempsey from sequestration hearings earlier this year, he said our military is put on a path where the force is so degraded and unready it would be immoral to use the force. >> reporter: former defense secretary leon panetta wrote the wounds caused by sequestration are weakening the united states' ability to respond effectively to a major crisis beyond the war zone in afghanistan. bret? >> jennifer griffin at the

pentagon. thank you. the situation with syria has many questioning what is president obama's foreign policy. senior political analyst brit hume is here with some thoughts. welcome back. >> thank you, bret. the predicament facing president obama on syria can be traced to two notions that shaped his foreign policy from the start. one is his evident belief that america and its foreign interventions are a big part of what was wrong with the world. the other was or is his apparent view that his mere presence in office would change the attitude of the world, and especially the muslim world, toward the u.s. neither of these ideas has proved out, but the president who is thought a bright fellow has been slow to learn that. unfortunately he was quick to pick up on another notion that congress should be bypassed on recess appointments to immigration laws to the employer mandate in the health care reform law. now he goes hat in hand to congress to obtain authority he said he doesn't need to engage in unilateral intervention he

once decried, in a middle eastern country whose leader shows no regard for mr. obama himself or his red line warnings. it would be comforting to think syria is proving a lesson to the president about the u.s. and its exceptional place in the world, but seems the president is prepared to act only to vindicate his own spurned warnings on chemical weapons. in other words, once again, it is all about him. bret? >> brit, we talk about the sales job, what the president has to do on capitol hill. as you see it now, just counting heads, where do you see this vote comes down? >> if it were done today, it wouldn't make it. it is not going to be done today. i note the speaker has come out in support of the notion, nancy pelosi is backing it. he'll lose votes in both parties. but my sense is that in the end he'll probably have enough senate democrats to combine with some republicans to get through the senate. the house will be tougher. on these votes where the stakes

are high, presidents tend to carry them. it might not, but i think on balance it will. >> another live look at the hearing room, senate foreign relations committee has just come to an end. just gavelled it closed. some members are making their way to the microphone, you see teresa heinz kerry and secretary of state kerry there. brit, this hearing, has it helped or hurt the administration case? there was one moment whereas you pointed out earlier, secretary kerry was asked about boots on the ground, said there could be an option. >> it is important to know what he meant by that. i think he was referring to a situation which say an american pilot were shot down. >> or chemical weapons. >> or chemical weapons were found and to secure them, we might conduct special operations. what he is not talking about is the insertion of american troops to participate in the civil war, and he has ruled that out. in the end, authorization depends on how congress chooses to write it.

they may write a more ironclad prohibition, or nonauthorization of use of american foot soldiers. >> brit, thank you. again, senator marco rubio as he makes his way from that hearing room live on "special report." up next, big troubles for big labor over obama care and here is what some of our fox affiliates across the country are covering. wdvd, fox 40 in jackson, mississippi, reports on a 724 pound alligator, caught in the first weekend of hunting season there. that was a record until this gator broke it an hour later. ktvu in oakland, opening of a $6.5 million opening of the eastern span of the bridge, replaces a structure damaged in an earthquake in 1989. and a live look from philadelphia, wtxf, big story there, policy in one suburban school district to take money from children that don't have

lunch in their accounts. they used to get a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, now nothing. kids that qualify for free lunches still get them. those are the stories covered there. that's a live look from "special report." we'll be right back. this is for you. ♪ [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor [ male annouer ] let's go places. but let's be ready. ♪ let's do our homework. ♪ let's look out for each other. let's look both ways before crossing. ♪ let's remember what's important. let's be optimistic. but just in case -- let's be ready. let'go places, safely.

we told you yesterday about the growing rift inside organized labor over the president's health care plan. tonight, chief national correspondent jim angle reports increased resistance to obama care is not confined to union membership. >> reporter: the long shore union is so angry over the cadillac tax which imposes a 40% levy on general health plans, it is breaking from the aflcio, sending a letter to richard trumka, complaining about many things, including the tax, saying quote, president obama ran on a platform he would not

tax medical plans and that the 2009 convention you stated labor would not stand for a tax on our benefits, yet the federation later lobbied affiliates to support a bill that taxed our health care plans. the tax is also pushing employers to change the insurance they offer. >> that is a big, big factor. every employer as soon as the law was signed said we're not going to pay the cadillac tax. >> reporter: which takes effect in 2018. pricey union plans and benefits required by obama care push premiums in that direction, so employers are cutting costs with high deductible, less expensive plans. >> deductible could be 3, 4, $5,000, below that, the consumer is responsible for expenses. they're often coupled with what are known as health savings accounts. >> the employee controls the money, makes a lot of his own decisions. we're always more careful spending our own money than

spending someone else's money. >> reporter: what whole foods provides all employees. >> they all manage their own health care dollars. every two years or so, employees can vote to go back to the old hmo way or some other form of insurance, they can do that. >> reporter: they don't and other workers and unions better get used to it, too, it is the fastest growing area of insurance. 72% of large employers offer at least one high deductible plan, and for more than a fifth of employers, that's the only plan available, all aimed at avoiding the cadillac tax. >> think of that as the sort of damage. it is a whopping tax on someone that hasn't controlled costs. >> reporter: with current union health benefits, the city would pay more than a half billion dollars in cadillac taxes in 2022, which of course would have to come from the taxpayers. bret? >> jim, thank you. home prices jumped almost

12.5% in july from a year earlier. construction spending increased six-tenths of a percentage point from june to july. stocks up today, dow gained 24, s&p 500 finished ahead 7, the nasdaq up 23. still ahead, the humanitarian crisis of 2 million syrian refugees. first, syria, chemical weapons, what the united states should do about it. [ metal clanks ] ♪ this is the age of knowing what you're made of. so why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? [ gears whirring ] talk to your doctor about viagra. 20 million men already have. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away

if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. [ cellphone beeps ] this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor.

as we told you at the top of the program, administration officials were on capitol hill this afternoon, pushing president obama's plan for limited strikes on syria. pushing that at the senate foreign relations committee.

florida republican senator mark roe -- marco rubio was on that panel. thanks for joining us. there could be a draft resolution and even possibly a vote tomorrow. knowing what you know, after the hearing today, how would you vote? >> first of all, let me say this syrian situation is a mess because of the president's actions leading to this point. this conflict has been going for more than two years. there was a time early on, assad was on the ropes, the u.s. should have engaged finding moderate rebels, helping the syrian people get rid of them. he led from behind. now we have very few good options available to us at this point. so your question is how i will vote on the resolution. let's understand what it is. first of all, it is for military action. i don't believe we should take military action unless we have a clear, achievable goal in mind. one of the clear goals of the action he argues for is to impede assad from using chemical weapons in the future. i am highly skeptical, we have a closed hearing tomorrow, classified information will be

discussed, and i will wait to make judgment. i remain skeptical that the attacks they're contemplating, limited attack, will achieve that goal of preventing assad using chemical weapons in the future. the reason he uses those now, according to john kerry, he said this today, number one, because he doesn't think obama will do anything about it. number two, he wants to survive. i am not sure he is going to be deterred from using chemical weapons in the future in order to hold onto power simply because he's afraid of two or three days of missile strikes. >> you don't think potentially it goes far enough, you would like to see something bigger, broader. >> the problem with it, i go back to the point that we have few options available, there are problems associated with bigger strike. if assad were removed from power immediately, the likely outcome is a new civil war, islamists fight modern rebels, you could see sectarian cleansing and christians and others attacks. all of this because for two

years the president led from behind. many of the radical islamists are foreign fighters, not syr n syria syrians. they poured into the country because they weren't able to consolidate power, hold sections of the country, they weren't argued and didn't have the capability to do it. >> i understand the point about not being to this point because of actions of the administration and your criticism of that in the past, but we are where we are now. so if it is president rubio, what are you doing? >> first of all, again, i think that we have to outline what should have been done, that's important. we have to understand, if i had been in charge, someone else hopefully, we would have never gotten to this stage. so we inherited this mess we have now. i think our obligation is to try to figure out what's the least worst option available to us, they're all bad. part of that equation, i can't tell you now until we go through the intelligence briefing tomorrow because one of the key questions we have to ask ourselves is who are the moderate rebels on the ground in syria, are they capable of

taking control of the country, giving us a rational, secular, stable government. that's a key question. >> here is what you said in february at the washington institute for middle east policy about syria and the rebels in particular. quote, the problem we have is that the best organized, best armed, best equipped elements in syria are the most radical ones, the most anti-democratic ones, most anti-american ones. there's the real risk that when assad falls, and he will fall, the largest most well kweepd best organized groups in that conflict will be the people who quite frankly are against our national interests. >> secretary kerry and others argue those circumstances may have changed. we want to go through the briefings to figure out if the evidence supports that. but that's a concern i continue to share, that the islamist elements, particularly consolidated in the north and east part of syria are still the best organized and best trained and quite frankly, best effective fighting force on the ground. that's not in our national interest. that may be the reality of the

president's inaction. we'll learn more about that tomorrow. >> what you've seen so far, is there any doubt in your mind it was assad regime that launched chemical weapons against its own people? >> i believe it was the assad regime. that's the assessment of our intelligence community as well. i haven't seen credible information that proves otherwise. i believe it was the assad regime that carried out the chemical attack. the question now for us, what can we do in response to it, and unfortunately the president has left us with very few options here, because of his inaction over two years. >> one of the things secretary kerry was pressed on in that hearing in which you were a questioner was about the boots on the ground possibility, and at one point he did say he didn't want to take off the table an option if chemical weapons fell into the hands of al qaeda or some other group that would be against u.s. interests. what about that answer and what did you take from it. >> first of all, i think there's

zero percent support for response to chemical attack. aside from that, irrespective of the whole debate about the resolution, if at any point in time we felt that either the syrian regime was transferring weapons to islamists like hezbollah or iran or if we thought they were falling into the hands of rebel forces that would use them against our forces and our allies, the president had the right to act quickly in a situation of that category to prevent that from happening, but that's separate and apart from the debate of whether boots on the ground as they say, whether ground forces should be engaged in an operation now. i don't think there's any support for that. >> a fellow senator on the panel today, senator rand paul, said this in his questioning, suggesting it could make things worse if the u.s. acts. take a listen. >> will israel be more likely to suffer an attack on them, a gas attack or otherwise or less likely? i think there's a valid argument for saying they'll be more

likely to suffer an attack if we do this. iran, more likely or less likely to be involved with this. if iran gets involved, more likely or less likely that israel launches a reprisal attack on iran. there are all kinds of unknowns that i can't tell you absolutely the answer and neither can you. >> what do you make of that line of questioning? >> furthermore, two separate points. number one, should the u.s. have acted in the past, not militarily, but if we gotten gauged early in the conflict, identifying rebels that are moderates, worked with them, it would prevent the islamists coming in, would give us more options. not getting involved, disengaging from the conflict created this mess. the fundamental question we face now, is it too late. has the time for that sort of action now passed. is the option we want, replacement of assad with a moderate, stable government passed. i think that's a fair assumption

given what happens happened to this point. >> thank you for being here. no grapevine tonight. ahead, two million syrians without a home and with no good options. from z there's nothing like that feeling

of getting something new. and now, with verizon edge, you can experience that new phone thrill, again, and again, and again. phil can you close your new phone box, we're picking up some feedback. every time you're ready to upgrade. having what you want on the 4glte network you rely on. that's powerful. upgrade to the motox by motorola with 0 down payment. ...amelia... neil and buzz: for teaching us that you can't create the future... by clinging to the past. and with that: you're history. instead of looking behind... delta is looking beyond. 80 thousand of us investing billions... in everything from the best experiences below...

to the finest comforts above. we're not simply saluting history... we're making it.

. the u.s. and israel say the test of the missile defense system had nothing to do with the syria crisis. correspondent leland vittert has that story from the middle east newsroom in jerusalem.

>> reporter: israeli leaders either didn't think of the implications or wanted to make a point when one of their jets launched a sky work, simulating a ballistic missile inbound against the jewish state. the same system tracking a dummy missile would be tested for real if the syrians made good on their promise to retaliate against israel for a u.s. strike. most likely in the form of russian or iranian skud missiles. israel and the united states invested billions into a defense system that includes the iron dome, now deployed to protect tel aviv. israel has remained on the sidelines of the syrian civil war, but today's test made clear the threat of the neighbors is top of mind. we will continue to develop and research and to equip the idf, said the country's defense

minister, with the best systems in the world. while the u.s. supports and promises to defend israel, the russians are still firmly behind the syrian regime. in fact, the first indications we had of the test came from russian early warning systems operating in syria. those are the same systems tasked with picking up an american attack if and when it came. >> leland vittert, thank you. the number of syrian refugees passed the 2 million mark, about 10% of the prewar population. and it is leading to a humanitarian crisis outside syria's borders. the daily average of men, women and children leaving the war torn country now stands at nearly 5,000. senior foreign affairs correspondent greg palkot is there. >> reporter: millions fled to

lebanon, over 700,000 here now, more than anywhere else. it is really hard and sad the way we live here, this refugee says. there are no massive syrian refugee camps in lebanon, just rows and rows of makeshift huts like these. no plumbing, no running water. the folks left the hell of war for another kind of hell. an overwhelmed lebanese government has done little to provide proper shelter for the syrians and are just trying to keep up. in a place near the border, the population doubled, families moved into places little more than cardboard boxes with open sewage and garbage around, conditions are unsanitary. for this family that had to leave a hot spot of homes, at least it is peaceful. it is safer here, we have no bombing, this man said. we have no choice. more than half the refugees children, education and other social services are strained. >> it is always the children that are paying the price. children are the most vulnerable.

>> reporter: the refugee flow only getting stronger, 13,000 came in the last week, spurred by military strikes by the u.s. some shell shocked refugees are wary. this man says the most important thing is that the war ends and we go back to our country. two things there is consensus on, desire for peace, return home. greg palkot, fox news. the other side of the world, japan will spend almost a half billion dollars to create an underground ice wall to stop leaks of radioactive water from the crippled nuclear plant at fukushima. the facility has been leaking hundreds of tons of contaminated underground water into the sea since damaged by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011. the hard sell continues over syria. will the president get his way. we will ask the fox all stars when we come back.

by doing so, you announce in advance your goal is not winning, and i think the last 50 years of secretaries of defense would say. >> people ask do you want to go to war in syria, of course not, everybody, 100% of americans would say no. we say no. we don't want to go to war in syria either. that's not what the president is asking for here. general, do you want to speak at all to that? >> no, not really, secretary, thank you for offering. >> pull the rug out from under. >> we think he said pull the rug out from under me. >> secretary kerry and chairman of the joint chiefs, general dempsey, at a hearing today, senate foreign relations committee as they're making their case to congress, trying to get that vote to move forward with administration plans for a limited strike in syria.

one of the big questions is boots on the ground. the president has said there will not be boots on the ground. the secretary of state has said that numerous times. asked about it specifically today, secretary kerry added this, however. >> in the event there was a threat of a chemical weapons cache falling into the hands of he will news ra or someone else and it was clearly in the interest of our allies and all of us, the british, french, and others to prevent the weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of the worst elements, i don't want to take off the table an option that might or might not be available to the president of the united states to secure our country. >> later, he came back to it saying he is closing the door on all boots on the ground. let's bring in the panel. joan a goldberg from national review.

ab stoddard, and syndicated columnist, charles krauthammer. charles, i guess that's the biggest question. people wonder in you go in with some limited strike, all of the uncertainty that surrounds that of other things that can happen. >> well, i think that's one of the reasons to the resistance to the plan because as outlined by the president, it has really no objective of any importance. they say this is a demonstration strike, a shot across the bow. a shot across the bow is a warning if you don't stop, we're going to do something real. obama says openly this is one shot, then we go home. so i think you've got to ask yourself yes, but the other guys have a vote on when the war of the opposition between us stops. and what happens if hezbollah responds by raining rockets on israel or attacks a u.s. ship? what happens if syria does, if iran attacks american assets or attacks israel? and the worry a lot of people

have, given the mumbling, hesitation, zig zags of obama's policy up until now, which is entirely incoherent, do you trust him to be the one who will respond adequately, wisely, if and when the response happens, because once you sign onto this, no matter what's in the resolution, you've signed on to obama conducting the operation and the follow on which could happen. the assumption is we do it, we go home, nothing happens. could be true, but is unlikely to be true. >> the point of secretary kerry there is that if let's say the strikes go further than just degrading assad and lead to the crumbling of the regime and those chemical weapons depots are left unguarded and al qaeda is all over that country, who's going to be in there to protect the chemical weapons? >> the problem is -- >> very few choices on the multiple choice.

>> both sides think this is not going to work. so whether you don't want to do anything or do more than this, both sides, this is a bipartisan agreement that this is not going to work. so if you're in the camp of senator mccain and some others, you think well, we don't want him to be hemmed in a war, you don't tell the commander in chief your tailored plan is great, do that, it will be 36 hours and get out, because of unintended consequences, the unknowns. so you really have this consensus between the two sides about the fact that he's waited too long, he's doing something too restrictive, and it really won't be effective no matter what. >> as you look at the polls, abc, "the washington post," united states missile strikes against syrian governments support 36%, oppose, 59%. then you ask allied missile strikes, if we have allies on board, it goes up a bit. 46% support, 51% oppose.

>> this is one of the reasons why all of the talk of isolationism is overblown. the guys that don't want to go into syria, they're not necessarily isolationists, what they are are people that first of all, a, war weary, b, tired of getting involved in the middle east, and c, utterly distrustful of the administration. you can tell how polling is effecting. i listened to most of the hearings today. at one point you had john kerry say we're not asking the american people to go to war, said it point blank. two seconds later in opening statements, chuck hagel says we recognize the seriousness of america going to war. couldn't even get set up talking points right. later, john kerry says this is not a war in a classic sense, like it is the new coke of wars or something, war mania, the simulation of it or something. so it is very strange. then you have this bizarre parse

from the president asking for authority for something he has authority to do. >> the exchange rand paul had with secretary kerry, if we don't give that authority, will the president then not go. and secretary kerry did not answer that. >> the white house has sent a lot of signals, including from president obama, that they very well may do this anyway, and this cuts to the core of the unbelievable rye at of amateurness, whatever adjective applies to the word amateur, to this whole situation where you have the president asking congress to approve something, as a last resort, after he couldn't get the u.n., arab league or the british to help him, then says maybe i'll go to congress for political cover. now what happens, if congress says no and he does it anyway, he creates an unnecessary constitutional crisis. >> we should point out chief washington correspondent james rosen reported that first saturday, that they were

actually considering going to congress, acting if congress says no. we will continue with another element of the syria question. what's happened to rebel support? where is the aid up until now? ♪ [voice] hu-rry up, is cold in here. [jelly bear] relax. we're checking the manual. [jelly animal] whoa,this minivan is loaded! ailable forward collision warning,pandora compatibility, available lane departure warning and what!?! [jelly animal] this sucks. [announcer] we understand life in a minivan. introducing the first minivan with an available built-in vacuum. starsomething special in the redesigned odyssey from honda. [ crashing ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast with tums. heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact and goes to work in seconds. ♪ tum, tum tum tum tums!

♪ i am very aware of all those things. what i'm unaware of is why it is so slow and actually helping them with lethal support. why has that been so slow? >> i think, senator, we need to have that discussion tomorrow in classified session. we can talk about some components of that. suffice it to say want general dempster to speak to this, maybe secretary hagel. that is increasing significantly, it has increased in its competency. i think it's made leaps and

bounds over the course of the last few months. >> general dempsey and secretary hagel did not speak at length as to why aid hasn't been making it to the rebels. "wall street journal," front page, since june when small arms were supposed to be going to small fighters, it hasn't happened according to that reporting and essentially the officials were confirming that. back to the pam, charles, what about that? here's the first time syria crossed the red line and the backup never went. >> and remember how unserious was the presidential announcement. he didn't come out and announce it it himself. he had a deputy assistant secretary of state announce that we'd be shipping arms and that would be the game-changing event. of course, the game hasn't changed, and the weapons haven't arrived. not a rifle has arrived which put in question the promises obama had made to the hawks,

mccain and graham and he is saying, i know you're saying and graham and mccain are right in saying this a demonstration shot will do nothing. it's worse than nothing, so mccain is saying, he's trying to appease them and says, okay, i'll upgrade the opposition meaning i'll really send weapons. this time i promise with a cherry on top and i'm going to degrade -- i'm going to have a strike that won't only be a demonstration, and to the doves, he says it's a limited strike, it's all we'll do, hit and go home so he's trying to sell this contradiction to each side. on the democratic side he succeeds because democrats will not allow the president to be humiliated. >> i do think it's an entirely different question to try to use a proportional targeted strike to punish and everyone is questioning on both sides whether that would be the case and could happen but then to arm the rebels. to say in june they'll go from n nonlethal to lethal aid and

never arrive. what does that imply? the policy wasn't stalemate answer weren't interested in a victor and they weren't committed to the rebels and were too afraid of how many -- how much of al qaeda and other extreme forces had infiltrated the resistance, so at this point when you hear mccain and you hear senator -- i mean secretary of state kerry say they are moderates, they are moderates, they've never made the case to the congress, the american people that they're sure they're moderates. the bulk of the population of the resistance so until -- for that to all of a sudden be part of the bargaining deal is really going to lose democrats and i think lose republican, as well. >> to that point, jonah, you know the policy of this administration was to see assad out. the president said it numerous times. he needs to go. he needs to leave. well, here's what general dempsey said about what he's been told about this mission so far. >> i have never been told to change the momentum. i have been told to degrade

capability. >> so not change the momentum for rebels on the ground but degrade the capability. i mean, it doesn't seem to all add up. >> yeah, i mean what -- where is that fine line between degrading capability and not changing -- >> aren't you changing momentum anyway? >> any meaningful degradation means changing momentum in a war and, look, a lot of my friends on the right like to think they can understand barack obama by looking at his childhood in indonesia or something like that. look at his sides in upper manhattan and he distrusts american power and remembers all the fights about the contras and all that kind of stuff and i don't think he had any emotional commitment to helping our allies about it >> that's it for our panel. but stay tuned for, well, "five tv." when i first felt the diabetic nerve pain,

of course i had no idea what it was. i felt like my feet were going to sleep. it progressed from there to burning... to like 1,000 bees that were just stinging my feet. [ female announcer ] it's known that diabetes damages nerves. lyrica is fda approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause rious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right ay if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in md or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, changes in eyesight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or skin sores friabetes. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't ink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem maye more likely to misuse lyrica. having less pain is -- it's a wonderful feeling. [ female announcer ] ask your doctor about lyrica today. it's specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain.

of getting something new. and now, with verizon edge, you can experience that new phone thrill, again, and again, and again. phil can you close your new phone box, we're picking up some feedback. every time you're ready to upgrade. having what you want on the 4glte network you rely on. that's powerful. upgrade to the droid ultra by motorola with 0 down payment.

busy day on capitol hill. finally tonight reporter live shots out in the field can be tricky. unfortunately, technical glitches are pretty common and unfortunately someone is always recording and putting it on youtube. >> just provided an update. melissa. >> what? right now? oh, hi, good evening. >> what? right now? thanks for inviting us into your home. tomorrow night special report online after the broadcast starts at 7:00 p.m. haven't been there before, check it out.

it's a little more relaxed. that's it for this "special report." fair, balanced. this is "the fox report." shelling a strike on syria. meetings at the white house, hearings on the hill. phone calls overseas, so who is backing the president? >> i want to thank the leaders of both parties for being here today. >> and some of them already say they're on board. >> i'm going to support the president's call for action. i believe my colleagues should support this call for action. >> mass destruction, deterring their use is a pillar of our national security. >> but not everybody is convinced. >> i want to know where we're going with this. what is the objective here?