>> dana: the show has been a roller coaster. >> eric: you know what that means? >> bob: get out. >> eric: got to go. see you tomorrow. ♪ >> bret: late changes in the charlotte convention. fundraising appeals about being outspent. is the obama campaign in a tough spot? this is "special report." ♪ ♪ >> bret: good evening. i'm bret baier. president obama has another deficit to contend with. despite rampant fundraising appeal, the obama re-election campaign is spending quite a bit more than it's raising. on top of that, the democratic convention was forced to move to a more modest venue for the opening day. chief washington correspondent ed henry looks at what is happening. as president obama took his two-day fundraising tour down

south -- >> hello, atlanta. >> a couple hundred miles up the road in charlotte, woes for the democratic national convention piling up. faced with $27 million fundraising shortfall, the host committee today pulled the plug on using the charlotte motor speedway for the big labor day kickoff. raising more questions about whether a lack of enthusiasm will prevent the president from again carrying a key battleground like north carolina. >> number one, a bad economy makes raising large sums of money more difficult. number two, it's no secret the president is not as popular in many parts of the business community. >> the host committee has been hamstrung by a self-imposed been a on direct corporate contribution. convention officials downplayed the money, stressing they move the kickoff to maximize accessibility, transportation, and proximity of all guests. that guest list, however, will not include a growing number of top democrats. with endangered incumbent senator claire mccaskill today announcing she will skip it. denying she is worried about standing with the president. the staff says she prefers to

be in missouri when she is on the ballot. mccaskill is the ninth no-show so far among office holders across the country, including pennsylvania congressman mark crits, whose office bluntly notes internal polls in a district show the president down double-digit to presumptive republican nominee mitt romney. >> they will say, you know, the economy is bad. it's obama's fault. and because times are tough and because they're spending the ungodly sums, this is going to be close. >> reporter: while the president did not complain about big money last time when he enjoyed a massive edge over republican john mccain, his campaign aides say romney may raise $100 million this month alone, which is why the president today penned a fundraising letter warning supportersly be the first president in modern history to be outspent in his re-election campaign. not for a lack of trying. the president has now done more than 100 fundraisers this

year alone. that is triple what george w. bush had done at this minute to 2004. the problem for the obama camp is they are spending vast sums of money. although, they hope it leads to the organizational strength that will help get out the vote in november. bret? >> bret: ed henry live on the north lawn. thank you. governor romney had new things to say about the u.s. supreme court and job creation. while campaigning in the old dominion. here is chief washington correspondent james rosen. >> reporter: buoyed by more than 1,000 supporters in salem, outside roanoke, obama offered to take the white house and offered preview of the supreme court ruling on the healthcare law. >> if obamaary is not deemed constitutional then the first three-and-a-half years of the president's term will have been wasted on something that has not helped the american people. if it's not -- if it is deemed to stand, then i'll tell you one thing, we will have to have a president and i'm not one that will get rid of

obamacare and we will stop it on day one. >> reporter: also, romney spoke on camera for the first time about the high court ruling monday in which justices struck down some part of the arizona controversial immigration law and demanded the rest to a lower court for further review. >> what we are left with is a bit of a muddle. but but know that the president failed to leave. >> noontime event at the machinery for construction vehicles designed to give romney new forum to tk about the job creation. the obama-biden campaign is hardly ceding that terrain. >> we don't need outsourcing pioneer in the oval office. >> president opened another front on the private equity career at bain capital and seizes on a "washington post" article reporting that romney and bain invested repeat lid in firms that specialize in relocation of american jobs to foreign shores. the latest round of obama-biden ad and videos presses the themes. >> does virginia want outsourceer and chief in the

white house? does iowa want outsourceer and chief in the white house? >> reporter: the romney campaign circulated report that obama-biden campaign paid companies headquartered in canada and philippines more than $80,000 for telemarketing services. bret? >> bret: james, thank you. president obama's campaign is recruiting thousands of lawyers to handle disputes that may pop up from now until election day. the campaign says it's particularly concerned about new voter i.d. laws. republicans also have legal teams but the level of legal support on the other side is unrivaled. an already tense situation revol offing around the fast and furious scandal has escalated in the final days before congressional showdown. the white house and congress see executive privilege very differently. the limits of that privilege could have an impact on the fate of attorney general eric holder. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel has more.

>> it was business as usual today for attorney general eric holder who attended event with the boys and girls club ahead of thursday's contempt of congress vote. house oversight chairman darrell issa wrote this letter to the president who claimed executive privilege over justice documents. issa asked if mr. obama or the senior advisors were managing operation "fast and furious" and fall-out from it, including a false letter in february 2011. then issa wrote "or you are asserting presidential power you know to be unjustified for purpose of further obstructing congressional investigation." >> the letter to the president is something in which we'd like to makeure the president fully understands is contempt because we are getting outright refusal. contempt is not, i repeat is not because we want everything. >> the white house quickly responded to the letter arguing its position is consistent with executive branch legal precedent for the past three decades spanning administrations of both parties.

spokesman eric schultz said the courts routinely considered deliberative process privilege claim and confirm the right of the executive branch to invoke privilege even when the white house documents are not involved. republicans jumped on that saying the president didn't claim deliberative process. he asserted executive privilege, which is designed to protect internal white house decision-making. also defending holder, a group of civil rights leaders today suggested the first african-american attorney general is being held to unfair standard. >> we are also here to address finally, what has only been inferred heretofore. that is the fact that the issue of race is subtle factor in this effort. i >> in comes after democratic leader nancy pelosi suggested holder is a target because of the efforts against voter i.d. laws. republicans call that is a bizarre and ridiculous claim. bret? >> bret: a big day thursday. mike, thank you.

senate minority leader mitch mcconnell say he and harry reid worked out a student loan deal pending approval by house republicans. compromise could be a test to the transportation bill that is also nearing completion. senior g.o.p. aid tells fox that they agreed on all big things in the transportation bill but it is still unclear if the keystone pipeline will be part of that proposal. federal funding for road, bridge an rail projects and up to 3 million construction jobs expires on saturday. law enforcement officials in arizona are incensed about the supreme court's ruling on sb-1070. they think their ability to do their jobs has been compromised. correspondent shannon bream explains. er >> what they said to arizona is drop dead, arizona. drop dead and go away. >> reporter: within hours of the supreme court decision upholding a key provision of the arizona immigration law, the department of homeland security directed immigration enforcement agents in arizona not to take action.

with respect to any individual local or state police identify as an illegal immigrant. unless that person is considered a high priority target. such as convicted felon. >> i'm going to have to try to work around this. coome of my own ideas. within the constitution. and the laws. but this is, you know, the government is now trying to cut our throats here in arizona. >> in addition, d.h.s. terminated so-called 287g agreements with arizona, which allowed police there to perform immigration enforcement actions in some cases. >> i would think that the american people would think long and deep about what the federal government is doing and why aren't they abiding by the rule of law? it's just unconscionable. >> the move comes on the heels of president obama admonition for lawmakers to view the supreme court decision as a wake-up call, to get moving on immigration legislation.

could the administration get a boost from language in the majority opinion by justice anthony kennedy? portion seems to track language in the dream act that would offer path to citizenship for many people who are in the u.s. illegally. kennedy wrote, "the equity of individual case may turn on many factors, including whether the alien has children born in the united states. long ties to the community. or a record of distinguished military service." court watchers warn that language shouldn't be interpreted any more broadly than it was intended. >> i'd be careful not to overread that provision. it seems clear that what the court was talking about was how you exercise discretion in individual cases. that's actually the language that they use. individual cases. >> today, three house republicans sent a letter to the head of immigration and customs enforcement, saying the agency's decision to stop fully enforcing immigration laws in arizona will put citizens there in "grave danger" and asking the agency to reconsider. bret? >> bret: thursday. we expect the big ruling on

the president's healthcare law from the supreme court. whether it's upheld or not. there has already been a great deal of money spent implementing it. do we know how much so far? >> parts of the bill rolled out, the law has gone in effect. that will cost money. estimate puts this at $14 billion already paid out to private employers, hospitals, pharmacists, other groups, including the states that have to set up the exchanges and be ready if the law is uphold. thursday, we find out if for the administration it's been a good use of money. >> bret: a big day. thank you. >> it's like a scene in "caddyshack." switch out gofers for another rodent and nobody is laughing. that is later in the grapevine. up next, syria's increasing violence against a key u.s. ally. [ female announcer ] you can make macaroni & cheese

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♪ ♪ >> bret: now to international news. american officials say the syrian regime is maintaining troop loyalty by keeping paychecks coming, even as food

and fuel run out in the rest of the country. president bashar assad will need every one of those soldiers if the civil war turns in to a multi-country conflict. senior foreign affairs correspondent greg palkot is live in damascus, with more on what appears to be the country's collision course with turkey. hello, greg. >> reporter: bret, in comments made a short time ago, syrian president bashar assad declared "we live in a real state of war from all angles." clearly one of those angles is from the outside. as evidenced by syria's shooting down last friday of a turkish jet. what officials here still describe as an act of self-defense. the downing of the reconnaissance plane was subject of an urgent session of nato. no action was taken on behalf of nato member turkey, the words were strong. >> we consider this act to be unacceptable.

and condemn it in the strongest terms. >> turkey's prime minister spoke of a toughening stance against the increasingly hostile neighbor. >> we will never tolerate or leave unreciprocated, he said, "any security threat created by the syrian regime on our borders." meanwhile, the fighting rages on. syrian security is conducting a major offensive against increasingly well-armed rebels. the clashes are even happening in damascus suburbs. all this kept the u.n. observer mission grounded. with the risk too high, patrols are limited to humanitarian trips like this one to damascus hospital. mission head, norwegian general upset about the violence. >> obviously, it's disappointing, because i come from a position in which more violence simply leads to more violence again. so it's a circumstance that we have to break. so for all of the stakeholders inside syria and outside syria, that is the main challenge. >> and today, syrian president

bashar assad presided over the swearing in of a new cabinet. claimed to be more inclusive. winds of civil war sweep closer to the center of power. and more comments made by assad, at a swearing-in ceremony. he seemed to brush aside calls to step down from foreign countries. referring to the west, he said, they always take, they never give. some people might say a lot is being takeen away from the syrian people today. bret? >> bret: greg palkot live in damascus early wednesday morning there. thank you. egyptian court ruled that military police and intelligence can't arrest civilians anymore. critics felt the rule was akin to martial law. the government can still appeal. meanwhile, ahmed shafiq, the loser of the presidential runoff pled for the -- fled for the united arab emirates. there are allegations he wasted money serving as the prime minister. senator john mccain and other top senator republicans

are livid about national security leaks and say they are determined to find the source. who will do the hunting for that source is a point of contention as well. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge has the story. >> full house vote on contempt looms through the attorney general, republican senators piled on the pressure. >> any attorney general of the united states is held in contempt, whether it be republicans or democrats, it's tremendous blow to the individual's credibility. >> describing an avalanche of national security leaks more than 30 republican senators signed a letter demand nothing administration should be expected to investigate itself imparly on a grave and sensitive matter in the midst of an election. >> where is the outrage in the this administration? >> the letter singles out the white house national security advisor. >> can't even confirm whether the programs exist.

yet, you have the national security advisor talking about a covert action program. >> the justice department says the u.s. attorney have a proven record of independence, they question whether they can be objective. the vetting of vice presidential candidates. >> political appointees of the obama administration are tasked with doing investigation and reporting to guess who? to attorney general eric holder. >> senior intelligence official says the leaks endanger op t operation and lives. >> we are looking to prosecute those who we can prosecute, but limit information sharing. >> democrat feinstein told fox "the process has begun." the process should run, adding she is unlikely to change her mind unless the u.s. attorney failed to identify the source of the leaks. bret? >> bret: thank you. still ahead, they just did

away with "don't ask, don't tell." now the pentagon is hosting an event that has some inside and outside the military saying it may be too soon. first, wildfires are wreaking havoc in the west. all multivitamins give me the basics. they claim to be complete. only centrum goes beyond. providing more than just the essential nutrients, so i'm at my best. centrum. always your most complete. but they can also hold you back. unless you ask, "what's next?" introducing the all-new rx f sport. this is the pursuit of perfection.

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>> bret: this just in, sports fans. fox news alert. the bowl championship series is near its end. just announced, starting in 2014, after current contracts expire, there will be a national playoff in college football. there are still a lot of moving pieces in the new post season process. including who, when, where, and how much money in the of the-criticized b.t.k bcs reigner 14 years and now the bcs will end in 2014. brutal wildfires and triple-digit temperatures are causing misery from montana to

new mexico. correspondent alicia acuna is live in denver, colorado, with the latest. >> reporter: hi, bret. the u.s. forest service is keeping tabs on 2 large uncontained fires in 1 -- 29 large uncontained fires. eight burning in colorado. the waldo canyon fire west of colorado springs is where more than 4,000 people are evacuated right now. it's about five miles from the air force academy. all of the firefighting for the state has been costly. coloradans are already frustrated with the state budget crunch and the governor who has a business background is mindful of that. >> trust me, i'm not sure there is anybody any cheaper than i am, more frugal. i'm concerned about costs like anyone is. i treat the budget like it's my own, you know, life savings. >> we're in this together. and we are going to keep fighting fires and protecting people's homes and making sure everybody is safe. as hard as we can. we're not wasting any money.

>> hickenlooper says there will be a partnership with the federal government with some cost sharing. north of denver, the high park fire is burning near fort collins. 257 homes and 87,000 acres have been destroyed. more than a dozen vacation spots are closed. there is concern over colorado i'lcolorado's $5 billion tourist industry. some of the rafting companies that would normally run trips along the river are helping firefighters get across the inaccessible areas for mop-up operation. on top of this, there is a primary today. some of the people who had to be evacuated had to go get new mail-in ballots because they never received theirs. back to you. >> bret: live in denver. thank you. home prices are up. in nearly every major city. more indication the housing market is making modest progress, even while the job market continues to slump. on the plus side, gas prices are at the lowest level in five months. national average below $3.40 a gallon. prices peaked at $3.94 in

april and steadily fallen since. stocks were up today. dow gained 32. the s&p 500 added 6. the nasdaq finished ahead 18. ♪ ♪ checking america's election headquarters. several states are holding primaries today. republican utah senator orrin hatch is facing his first primary challenge since winning office in 1976. hatch looked vulnerable several months ago but he is now viewed as the heavy favorite tonight against former state senator lillenquist. new york democrat, jennifer chas rangel is running for a 22nd term. first time he faced voters since house censure. changing demographics in the redrawn harlem district could pose a challenge in a five-way race there. democratic illinois congressman jesse jackson junior has take an medical leave of absence and is said to be getting treated for exhaustion. spokesperson for jackson said the leave started june 10, but

would not offer details, any additional details. although jackson has not been charged, he has been the target of a house ethics investigation. regarding president obama's old senate seat. last week, long-time friend was arrested and pleaded not guilty to unrelated charges. this just. in we are getting word that proceedingsric holder has failed. house republicans moving forward with it now. all of this has failed in a last ditch effort. officials saying they are going to move forward with this vote. imagine your child was blistered with sun burn because of a law. we'll tell you why. prairie dogs. grapevine is next. [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be cool

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>> bret: now some fresh pickings from the political grapevine. the donor to president obama's campaign whose name was picked to win a dinner with the president has been disqualified. because he is one of the obama campaign's staffers. the staffer wrote to donors saying he is evidence that their chances of winning the contest are good. he said, "i donate at least once every time we do these contests, just to check that the website is working properly." a mother in washington state wants to change state

law after her daughters came home from a school field trip sporting blistering sunburns that sent them to the emergency room. this is jess key mihioner's daughter who was not allowed to use sun screen because the state considered it over-the-counter drug requiring docker to's note. she said it's obsud and one of whom commented on the burn didn't make an exception or let the girls call their mother for approval. the sun screen rule actually is common. although enforcement varies widely across the u.s. california is the only state that allows sun screen in schools. without a doctor's note. utah residents are fed up with the endangered species act which protects a local nuisance, the prairie dog. the animals tear up land but residents say they can't do anything about it. because prairie dogs despite the current prevalence were listed as a threatened species 30 years ago. the airport runway in parajuan

drew a lot of attention, become something badly torn up, it was so longer faa compliant. faa funding helped build a fence, buried six feet underground which seems to keep the animals at bay for now. this summer, wildlife officials will allow trapping and relocation of airport prairie dogs and senator orrin hatch introduced the bill to allow a hard-hit cemetery to exterminate the animals. it's gay pride month. for the first time ever the defense department is celebrating. along with other government agencies. while some are excited about that, others fear it could be too much too soon for the military. national security correspondent jennifer griffin is live at the pentagon tonight. hi, jennifer. >> reporter: good evening, bret. less than a year after the repeal of don't don't, it was standing room only -- "don't ask, don't tell" it was standing room only to mark gay pride day. >> as we recognize pride month, i want to personally thank all of our gay and lesbian service members, lgbt

civilians and their families. for their dedicated service to our country. >> i went in to work on the 20 of september thinking my life was going to change. and i went in and i sat down at my desk around i braced myself on the desk, waiting for everyone to come and ask me if i was gay. [ laughter ] and believe it or not, nobody did. >> marine captain matthew phelps says the repeal still makes news but for him it's business as usual. the marines expressed the most reservations about the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" when surveyed in 2010. but have since taken the lead in the transition. the marine corps commandant spoke exclusively to fox news. >> i have spent a lot of time thinking about how we had done as a marine corps integrating or bringing in the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." i'm pretty proud of the marine corps. i look at how we, how we come

and where we are today and to be honest with you. it's -- i don't see the issues. >> what happened to the promises that gay personnel only wanted to serve quietly in the military. now we see a gay pride celebration. next year we are going to see mandatory attendance, we're going to see this at military bases elsewhere. this, again, it's inappropriate. >> this was the first gay pride event at the pentagon. the cia has been hosting a similar gay pride day for 13 years. bret? >> bret: jennifer griffin life at the pentagon. thank you. the federal authorities say two dozen hackers were arrested in a worldwide sting operation targeting illegal trafficking of credit card investigation. two-year operation prevented 200 million on potential losses of hundreds of thousands of compromised credit card. venue change and other signs of perhaps disarray for the democratic national convention. that plus fundraising, the fox

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>> bret: i if obamacare is not deemed constitutional then the first three year of the term was wasted on something that beneficial to the american people. if it's deemed to stand, i will tell you one thing, we're going to have to have a president that is going to get rid of obamacare. i'll stop it on day one. >> the method will be simply. the economy is bad enough, it's obama's fault. yeah, they suffer a little bit of amnesia, so they don't remember all the stuff that happened before i was sworn in to office. but that is, that is going to be their message. >> bret: president obama today in atlanta meantime just a couple of hundred miles north of there in charlotte, north carolina, site of the democratic national convention, word today they are scaling back a bit. they're not going to use the

charlotte motor speedway for the big labor day kickoff. also, there is a $27 million fundraising shortfall for convention overall. convention officials say they want to move it downtown to make it accessible. and have better transportation and proximity for all guests. others look at it and said it's a bad sign for the dnc. this comes as a growing list of democrats are now announcing that they are not going to be there, including today. we heard from missouri senator claire mccaskill, a prominent obama supporter. she was a primetime speaker in the convention of 2008. there you see the list of other democrats who have already announced they went be there. mark critz in pennsylvania said polls are just upside down for the president in his district. that's why. let's bring in the panel. bill kristol, eder tor -- editof "weekly standard." charles lane. and charles krauthammer.

ominous sign for the charlotte convention? >> i guess conservatives complained that the last convention was sort of over the top with the greek columns and everything. maybe scaling it back is a good sign. but this north carolina convention has been sort of star crossed for a long time. the whole venue of north carolina is not particularly favorable. because the woes of the democratic party of north carolina, the troubles the for has been having. the unions were upset because it was a nonunion state. they started to raise issues. it really just, it seemed like a good idea at the time because north carolina is a swing state. the party thought if we bring the convention, there it will help us carry. the president came out and advocated same-sex marriage. at the same time the state was turning against that. he has pretty much lost, most people would say whatever chance he had of carrying it. what we're hearing today is the icing on not very tasty cake. >> bret: surprised by claire mccaskill's announcement early she is not going?

>> disappointed by her ungratitude, the leader of her party. barack obama leads the democrats to a great and glorious victory in 2008. highest percentage of the popular vote since lyndon johnson. they pick up a ton of senate seats and house seats. they are deserting him. i'm personally disappointed. i would like -- they should go to charlotte and stand with their man. i will go to charlotte. let me say that. claire mccaskill will not stand with barack obama but i will be there. >> bret: bill kristol will be in charlotte. >> i'll say that right now, on whatever day this is. end of june. you will be in charlotte, right? >> i will. >> we're not deserting barack obama. if only claire mccaskill and the others were standing with him the way we are. >> i am deserting him. i will not be in charlotte. surprise. and i think the reason they're scaling back from the extravaganza and the pomp of, what was it in colorado in 2008, is not because of any dimunition in obama self-regard is because they're

running out of money. i think they also understand there will be very little interest when you recorenate a president, there is nothing to attract an audience. the first time around the person is new, you haven't heard him. it could be exciting. with obama it was exciting for a lot of hisser to rick reasons. but this time -- a lot of historic reasons. this time, people have seen obama on so many times on national television and i think it will be hard to draw an audience for the three days let alone for the four. i think the interest will be on the republican, which will be a challenger. romney is relatively new on the scene. of course, there will be a number two that nobody has probably heard of until now. or at least will not have been exposed to until now. >> bret: making the charlotte motor speedway look filled would be a challenge. i think for the best nascar event anyway. chuck, let me ask you about fundraising. the president held more than 100 or during attended more than 100 fundraisers trip the

amount george w. bush had at this minute to his re-election. we had a letter, obama sent out a letter saying i would be l be the first president in modern history to be outspent in his re-election campaign. take a look at the numbers. may 2019 for the obama campaign. raised a little more then $39 million spent $44.5 million. you see spent 113.9% than it took in, in may. the totals, they still have cash, what they raised and spent overall in 2011-2019 cycle. let's compare that with mitt romney in may 2012. raised $23.4 million. spent $15.6 million. there is the percentage. the total of 2011-2012 cycle $123.,500, $106,500. what about the numbers and where the campaign stands? >> i t balance is a little different than what -- i think the balance is different from what shows. cash on hand with the numbers

i have seen, obama has $890 million cash on han -- $90 million in cash on hand. romney has $40 million. $50 million. romney victory fund not reflected in the numbers. we had reporting in the post that suggest he is has more cash when you think of that. what that shows is the gap between the two, in terms of cash on hand has been shrinking in recent manhattans. i think that worries about obama campaign. that is why they are sending out urgent letters and asking people to give up the wedding gifts and send in cash instea instead. this letter he has sent out is alarmist. he has no idea whether he is going to or not. it reflects the urgency they feel at the reduced gap in terms of cash. >> bret: bill, we were talking the other night with joe trippi and karl rove. joe suggested that people make fun of the dollars or $2 to have dinner with the president deal. come the fall, if they put out the e-mail and say we need you

to put in $20 in one week, it could turn around in a gigantic shift quickly with online donations. >> yeah, i asked one of the romney team, when i was at this romney donor event in park city, utah. will you outspend president obama? they said well, we are doing very well. they have a huge event in utah. obama is not doing quite as well as 2008. the obama team, the obama campaign has a huge e-mail list of small donors. that is what joe trippi is talking about. he can go back to them time and time again. they're below the limit. get another $10 or $20 -- they have 3 million e-mails. romney has fair number of small donors but they are more dependent for big donors. i think romney team at least is not, does not believe it will outspend obama and is not over confident on the fundraising side. what they want to do is hold it even. obamacare in some states in 2008, especially north carolina, northern virginia,

outspending mccain a lot. i think this year will be a fair fight. >> bret: charles? >> i agree. if you add up what each party will raise on the presidential side from the party and from the super-pacs, i think it will end up rather even. it's poetic justice for obama who is the first presidential candidate to break his own promise, actually. to stay within the federal limits in 2008. he took advantage of the fact he was able to raise a lot and he just crushed john mccain on fundraising. so, this time we're going to see an even match. >> bret: next up, syria and the wrath of turkey.

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we continue to follow the

situation closely. and with great concern. nato allies will remain seized of developments on the southeastern border of nato. and let me make this clear. the security of the alliance is indivisible. we stand together with turkey in the spirit of strong solidarity. >> bret: nato secretary-general speaking today about standing up for turkey, after a turkish military jet was shot down by the syrians. the syrians are saying now publicly that it was an act of self-defense. turkey is not saying that. they are obviously increasing the tension between the two countries as violence continues in syria, at amazing rates. we're back with the panel. charles, the fighting rages on. it seems like this tension adds another development,

another side to this. >> i'm impressed by the way the president of turkey is handling this very slowly and methodically. when his plane was shot down he could have retaliated in open way and he was smarter than that. what he has now done, he made a declaration today of any approach of the troops to the border of turkey will be seen as provocation and met presumably with a military response. assad is already losing control of the northern areas of the country. and what this is doing, this allows turkey to essentially proclaim the northern parts of syria, which are on its frontier. protectorate of turkey. a little bit like the kurdish area was protectoratte of united states in the turkish war. that allows him to move the headquarters from inside the turkish border, where it is now, in the camps, in to northern syria, itself, and

you've got to understand that he thinks long range. she nostalgic for the sway of the empire over the arabs which was 400 years. if he, if syria ends up in a revolution that brings assad down, and the sunni rebels win, he will then be the patron of the new syria, which will make him the strong man in syria. in lebanon, have influence in jordan. begin his aspiration to be the hedge of the sunni-arab. long-range strategy. methodical and clever beginning it now. >> bret: chuck, prime minister says he will defend turkey at all costs obviously, but the situation inside syria suggests that the u.s. is not doing and cannot do anything. is that the sense? >> i think so. i think we are pretty much out of the picture with the exception of the covert machinations that you hear.

part of what he was trying to achieve by going to nato is bring the u.s. and the other western countries more on his side in this. send a little message to russia, which is obviously the biggest power on the other side, if you mess with me, you are messing with the united states and so forth. we are a long way from any kind of u.s. intervention. notably, he did not go to nato under section five of the treaty, the mutual self-defense. but the other article iv, which is a matter of mutual consultation. so he hasn't really ratcheted this thing up as high as he could. >> bret: bill? >> i talked to several veteran policy experts and they had contradictory views of what is happening there. one is appalled at the failure of leadership that we are letting turkey pursue the outage here. where is the u.s.? can you imagine, he said henry kissinger, or madeleine albright being this absent from a major crisis and nation where we have an interest in toppling the government and ally of the greatest threat to us and the region, iran?

this veteran was appalled by our sort of doing nothing. the other one is also somewhat appalled but he said look, in getting nato involved is very important. he's not just speaking as prime minister of turkey. that was the nato secretary-general we saw there. nato is the entity that ultimately intervened in libya and intervened in the balkans and this fellow thinks it's quite possible in a month or six weeks we i'll have a nato intervention in syria that will follow from what charles described for now, securing the border. and that we could end up with assad being gone quickly. i have no idea whether we're feckless and pathetic or southerly working with the nato allies to get rid of assad. >> suddenly we're making him the proxy in the region, maggot region. he's not reliable ally. it could be a problem in the future. >> that is it for the panel. stay tuned for the continuing search for campaign slogan. it's very important to understand

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>> finally tonight, both parties continue the search for catchy campaign slogans for the general election. forward. believe in america. our best days are ahead. well, one late night show insists it spotted an effort to try out others. >> i'm not a person of core values. i don't have a core. >> won't ever you can't. >> guess what? i made a lot of money. >> i can't do that. i can't do that. >> i believe that america is just another place on the map with a flag i declare i'm a totally bumbling idiot. >> guess who is going to pay that? not me, i'm gone. >> i am ashamed. i am so ashamed. >> bret: i