military intervention in syria we'll tell you more next and in war torn syria the violence has reached a small town near the nation's capital it's a village that holds one of the all this christian minorities in the world growing concerns for this community coming up. and don't forget to put your best face forward the department of homeland security is putting together a huge database for facial recognition but does this really help law enforcement more on that in tonight's show. it's friday september sixth eight pm in washington d.c. i'm your i david and you're watching our t.v. we begin tonight with syria as the debate for and against a military strike continues in congress president obama cleared a major hurdle this week by gaining approval from the senate formally relations committee as they voted ten to seven on their own version of the military authorization however it hasn't exactly been easy for the administration to continue that momentum giving a full breakdown on the numbers behind the fight is r t political commentator sam sax i've long believed that our power is rooted jus

allen asked for syria. amanda, syria. nicole, please discuss syria. alia, and we are all watching about syria. this is a mass relevance map. it shows in real lifetime exactly all social media active ty about syria. these red dots, it's concentrated in north america. here is a trends map. here is where syria is being discussed all around north america on twitter. >> the words, the darker the black, the more people are talking about it? >> there you go. it's l.a. my beloved bay area all the way in mexico. texas, madison, wisconsin, the east coast. even florida. so the entire community. we have had some very opinionated passionate responses. here is ali: where was this indignation years ago? this is like six years. we have one more joseph phillips summarizes, i think, the opinion of americans. >> it is impossible to take any sides. there is no clear side to take. so you, the viewer at home, today, you are the third host of the show. as always, you have driven our discussion. throughout this show, tweet at us live using the hash tag ajamstream and join th

from syria. so this also has to play out but i think it can't play out for an eternity. >> sure. >> i think the commander in chief needs to set some parameters here. >> in the meantime, you bring up a good point here because there has to be some sort of timetable or guidelines here. this is put on hold, but congress still have to grapple with other business, if you will. you're talking about balancing the budget, you're talking about the dealing with the debt ceiling, implementing obama care. how does that all fit into what we're dealing with here? do they put that stuff on hold while they deal with syria? >> no. here you are, president obama. who would you rather deal with vladimir putin or are house republicans? it's kind of a tough choice for him. he has to deal with both at the same time, right? he's going to have to pursue syria, but on the other hand, republicans say they're going to be very, very aggressive on this quell of whether you -- how you raise the debt ceiling. there are some repu

action on syria. the syrian regime sorr refor its backing of iran, hezbollah and even china, that is in place against the world's only super power. the u.s., whe a coalition? a sit of allies? does it not seem strange to every senator, every representative in the house of representatives that this president has not been able to find a single leader who the stand shoulder to shoulder with the united states, germany said no, britain said no, france is waitining to see what congress does. then the matter in the president's goal in striking syria. in libya, united states had a clear mission. president obama struck, purpose was on thtake out moammar gadhae change, they were that, at least in this scope. our goals in syria, not regime change but punishment. president obama said any action will be limited and proportional as he put it, we do not know if those words have any means for president obama. >> president obama said that the red line is not his, he wants a limited proportion al-milh stare strike again

al qaeda affiliated groups fighting here in syria. against the regime of bashar assad but mostly for their own radical islamic state and it's known it's believed to be the best armed most successful and at the same time the most aggressive opposition force here in syria and it's listed as a terrorist organization by the you when u.s. and some other members of the international community and we can see that the tactics were also. very similar to those that terrorists all around the world use we know that. early on wednesday suicide bomber struck a checkpoint at the entrance of my little village and after a car exploded at the checkpoint the militants of just stormed and we have online and i hope you can see it right now showing the rebels. the. residents have been telling media that the same day the militants managed to take over a mountain top sophia hotel and they been firing from that strategic point what we know is that a village is a very special play. not only speaking. in terms of syrian reality but internationally speaking it i

military strike in syria? well, today a syrian official said if attacked, syria would not only strike israel but also jordan and turkey. raising the question about what happens the day and what happens if iran or hezbollah or syria strikes israel? what will the u.s. do then? a lot of concern in this region about a u.s. strike. jenna: a great question for the general coming up after the break. we'll continue that in a moment. conner, thank you. jon: so as we've been telling you, lawmakers are weighing whether or not to give president obama a green light on an american assault on syria. a senate resolution seems to give the president an out to act on his own and he's already signalled he might. military expert is here to explain what a strike by our warships, now off the coast of syria, could look like. also emergency vehicles rushing to a texas high school before classes even began this morning. what we're learning now about what happened. breaking details coming up. [ telephone rings ] heart healthy, huh? you

syria's best friend, russia, saying that, in fact, syria will sign on to that ban. and syria will allow the international community to take all of its chemical weapons and destroy them. and syria seems to be going along with what russia says here. and that is why everything changed today in washington, and that is why the senate has delayed its vote and the u.s. government and the president say now that the only reason this progress was made is because of a threat of u.s. military force seeming real in this case. and they're saying that is what russia and syria responded to. and if it is up to the guy who i guess saw this coming, then the senator, joe manchin pass out of here, the way forward is that the u.s. and the senate and the president should change tact to reflect this progress today. say yes to this offer from syria and russia. say yes to this offer from syria to come in from the cold and hand over their chemical weapons. lead the world in universal approval of that move. see to it that it happens and save the prospect of the use of force for if they don't f

military action in syria. with secretary kerry on his way to geneva, the administration's word of the day was time, as in any deal will take more of it. >> i'm not going to place a date or a time limit on it. i don't have a time line to give to you. so i expect this will take some time. >> reporter: the administration's made the basics of a deal clear, syria's chemical weapons must be secured, removed from president bashar al assad's control and destroyed. however, achieving those goals now relies on a negotiating partner in russia with a gaping trust deficit in washington. a point raised by cnn's elyse labott at the state department. >> you think the russians are doing this in complete faith. >> we have a long and winding history with the russians. we're going into this eyes wide open. >> reporter: in fact, even before negotiations begin, the u.s. and russia already have stark differences. on how long assad would have to give up his weapons, whether a u.n. resolution would be binding and crucially whether a d

military strike against syria. he promised to take that message back to washington next week and vote against the white house plan to strike syria. david hawkins, aljazeera, michigan. >> ahead, richard murphy speaks to us. for the latest, you can always go to aljazeera.com. >> a bomb has exploded in front of egyptian minister's home in cairo in a possible attempt on his life. six people were injured in the explosion. two attackers were killed by police. witnesses tell aljazeera a car bomb was set near the interior minister's convoy. >> the cleveland medical examiner confirmed that aerial castro hanged himself with a bed sheet. he had just started serving a life sentence as punishment for kidnapping and torturing three young women for a decade. those three women have not spoken publicly. we visited the cleveland neighborhood castro called home to see the impact his death is having on people there. >> on the 2000 block of seymour avenue in cleveland, flowers offer no hint of the painful history of the house that once

soldiers in syria. how could iran help me. >> charlie: supplies, weaponry. >> we always have this kind of of -- >> charlie: hezbollah fighters have been here. >> in the border -- only on the border where the terrorist attacked them on the border with lebanon. this is where hezbollah retaliated. this is where you have cooperation. that's good. >> charlie: hezbollah forces are in syria today? >> on the border area of lebanon where they want to protect and serve and cooperate with us. but they don't exist all overseer i can't. they cannot exist all overseer i can't. from any region that they exist on the border. >> charlie: what advice are you getting from the russians? >> about? >> charlie: this war. how to end this war. >> looking for a solution, we have this advice and we are convinced about it. >> charlie: do you have plan to end the war? >> of course. >> charlie: which is -- at very beginning it was fullly political when you have these terrorists the first part of the same plan which is political shou

they don't have any idea of a syria they intend to create. i am quite sure that that is simply not on the agenda to create a new syria or to fundamentally alter the present balance of power within the country they're talking about degrading certain capabilities of the syrian government. if they if they are serious about doing that of course that means a much more fundamental commitment to getting involved in war that they have exhibited so far so you know there are obvious contradictions here in the official position of the obama administration on one hand trying to emphasize the limited character of what they are planning to do and on the other hand claiming that somehow this will make a difference i don't know how they can square that circle. in washington as well when you square the circle. i'm not sure i can square the circle either but i can tell you that the l c c's position as the largest network of nonviolent activists in syria our position is that we would support airstrikes if they were to fundamentally degrade the capability of the

places mean syria. although because it will come you know large would continue to keep the relative peace for the this is why it's a symbolic religious a very cool term but not only. here. for a long period. of. oh. this may look like an ordinary farewell amongst friends but the man in the long as lama coat is a suicide bomber leaving on his final journey. this is his last conversation with his elder brother in a car that is supposed to take him to the roles of the central prison in aleppo syria and then explode sending him to paradise according to his beliefs these clips were found on a laptop taken from one man seen in the food age who is now in a syrian prison he calls himself rush on and says he came to syria from a former soviet republic to fight. a group called murat approached me a year ago and convinced me that muslims in syria are being oppressed and killed and that i should go and take up arms against assad for world jihad and help establish a caliphate that will extend worldwide to europe ame

over all crisis in syria. a mill industry solution is not an option. >> the arab league is due to meet in the egyptian capitol to discuss the crisis in syria but there's little unity of how they respond to the chemical weapons attacks. saudi arabia and other uniteed the emirates support military enter jennings but libya, iraq rule against using force. what is expected then from the the arab the league? >> reporter: on sunday, first of all the meeting will be at ambassador level and later in the day the foreign ministers consider a draft text put forward by the ambassadors. already we know that -- a lot are saying the arab league have as far last tuesday in an ambassador's meeting. an issue which con tkepls what it called the haoe news crime can carried out by prointernational prohibited chemical weapons. i laid it at the feet of the assad government of in syria. it was suspended from iraq t lebanon and al tkp*e ria. i think the feeling today is that there won't be any show of unity. there will be a discussion

intervention in syria. well as i said nothing official came out from the country so far we are certainly expecting some sort of joint statement during the day later on but judging by the statements made in the margins of the summit we can see which countries are supporting the strike and which countries are opposing it certainly the position of russia and china are staying the same on the case they are strongly against it just as obviously. the countries like argentina india indonesia several other states like brazil and probably mexico also not supporting the strike just as it's in the also said it would not support the military action against syria also we have a statement from the head of the european commission the mr barroso who sees no possible military solution to the problem only a peaceful solution he called on president obama to reveal his evidence of chemical weapons used by the assad forces as quickly as possible even though that hasn't happened yet as far as we understand also we have the state

reflection from damascus in syria. he's raring for war and president francois hollande says there will be no vote on the matter despite a recent poll suggesting that three in four french people want parliament to have a say on attacking syria and perhaps a wary or by u.k. like a defeat by lawmakers or loans administration insists he alone has the power to order an attack i'll choose to associate reports now on the french perspective. the french president a lot is constitutionally able to order over the top without a parliamentary approval but france along has been under a lot of pressure from opposition to to put this issue to a vote with the opposition and also pointed out that a lot is in a court of what he merely a position of having to wait for before acting i was spokesman from along the office said that the president hasn't yet decided whether or not to ask for a vote but what's interesting to note is that in the u.k. the prime minister is also able to work over the top without parliament the prime minister david

>> now in washington debate's attacking syria. these protestors hope far diplomatic way out. >> the policy is difficult. i understand that, but you have to have that as your mission. you need peaceful resolution to these kinds of conflicts. they're political. they're very difficult and we need a humanitarian response. >> reporter: they are less than two weeks to make their case. w>> we say no! whether it comes today, tomorrow or monday! >> reporter: many of the protestors we've spoke with in times square say they're afraid the u.s. is headed for a prolonged confrontation with syria and they don't want to repeat the iraq war. al jazeera, new york. >>> and keep it here on al jazeera for continuing coverage on the crisis in syria. you stay up-to-date on our web-site, al jazeera.com. >> the wild part yosemite national park is burning out of control. we will tell you why it's harder for firefighters to battle the flames. >>> plus a battle save a different kind of forest. what they are doing in indonesia from keeping the rain forest fro

boots on the grounden side syria. on the ground inside syria. the training would likely take place nearby in a country like jordan for instance or one of our allies. remember as the white house pushes for a potential military strike on syria, some lawmakers including john mccain say the u.s. needs to do more to both train the rebel fighters and arm them. it is the top story at the bottom of the hour. jennifer griffin is live at the pentagon. jennifer? >> shepherd, before the first tomahawk has been fired there appears to be mission creet. u.s. military trainers started setting up a program to train the syrian opposition in jordan in march. one of the major obstacles in launching this type of operation according to u.s.ish ifs is they are having serious problems with trustworthy groups, the main reason the cia has not provided weapons to the syrian opposition until now. the training of the rebels is not part of the limited airstrikes being considered. >> there are no plans right now, we are not contemplating the boots on the ground in syria. i wi

the dirty little secret here is that china purchases most of syria's oil, syria gets about $15 million or so every week from the oil which it uses then to pay off mr. putin's armed supply factories for the arm supplies coming in and being transported into syria from the russian navy and russian cargo fleet. >> very helpful background. thanks for spending time with us today. >> good to be with you, as always. >> we have russia as our next best hope for dealing with syria, which confused some people. we'll get into how likely that is to work out and what the rest of the world is thinking about this. more to come here on wednesday, september 11th. [ male announcer ] this is claira. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for her, she's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with her all day to see how it goes. [ claira ] after the deliveries, i was okay. now the ciabatta is done and the pain is starting again. more pills? seriously? seriously. [ groans ] all these stops to take more pills can be a pain. can i get my aleve back? ♪ for my pain, i want my a

we will be helping syria as we're already helping syria. we're going to supply arms. we're going to cooperate in the economics there. i hope ws also can provide humanitarian aid and support 0 civilians, civilians being hit particularly hard. >> the russian president also made clear as far as he was concerned, the g20 was broadly on his side. only five countries which were listed back to the american calls for a military strike against syria. ten minutes after his press conference ended, however, barack obama rose to make his case for action. arguing inaction in the face of use of chemical weapons was more dangerous then military action. as for figures, the white house suggested this evening 11 of those participating in the g20 today backed some form of strong military response. now, barack obama used his press conference to talk about the moods in the meeting and the fact as far as he was concerned, majority of those present believed bashar assad was behind the use of chems -- chemical weapons. >> for the first time in many years -- it was unanimous that chemical weap

syria's likely to loom large over the g. twenty summit in st petersburg where the world leaders split on how to solve the conflict and suspicions of the u.s. putting the notorious surveillance of the. white house and more advocates give the hard sell to american lawmakers on president obama's syria strike plan but the pentagon's call to backtrack on serious accusations against russia. plus some making money by so i have prize seeing a you'll prove a c week he beats reveals how tech firms up helping governments get inside online live imagine what they himan lives wreckage. from a mosque this is ard to you with me tom would say let's take a look at our top story this hour. five russia's historic city of st petersburg is hosting the leaders of the world's a top twenty economies where they'll take on some of the today's the biggest challenges. u.s. intentions are to get involved into syria's wall will no doubt dominate the sidelines of the g. twenty this year let's get more now from what's going on there right now with our team.

well with syria and syria isn't the only subject poisoning relations between the two countries right now xan i mean is it well know the two countries have had let's say there's been troubles with of the now famous reset one of the topics is edward snowden the president did have some choice words to say about that he said that u.s. intelligence messed up their efforts to try and capture snowden saying that they could have allowed him to travel to a country where his security was not insured or they could have just intercepted him made an error but instead they blocked access and stopped his travel which it was a mistake on their part he did say that snowden was in touch with russian officials as far back as hong kong but the president himself did not know that snowden was in route to russia until two hours before that flight landed he also said that he is not working with or that snowden is not working with russian security officials inside the country although russia did granted temporary asylum and although since snowden has been inside russia his visit has been shrouded in secrecy

there is confusion about what is happening in syria so as an expert on syria, tell us what is really happening. >> i don't know. i don't know. i do think that there is one thing i know for sure is. this if you. we have i guess. as what we so many and can we what wee have. that's what exactly. take that to the bank. >> i am sure i could. dr. payne. that is what i was afraid of. it a pores you are coaching the president on that. this is not dr. robert payyne. welcome mr. double talk derwood fincher. thank you for being here and great to have you back. well, i am glad that a strong contingent of republicans and democrats so the utter folly of the military action in syria. and sad that there are those who think that lighting the fuse to release the military bring the united states to an undefined mission and unknown outcome and untrustworthy administration makes sense. the only way president obama is transparent as he promised is the duplicity with which he has governed. without hint of shame he takes the position that suits his political ambition. he railed against the government as a s

you're covering syria now. are those comparison accurate or do you think that we're perhaps trying to fit something into a spot where it doesn't fit in terms of comparing those two different situations? >> i think maybe better comparisons are with rwanda and kosovo rather than iraq. also as a correspondent covering both, there's been such a difference in how open this conflict is. when i first got to iraq, we were excited because there was a blogger and we had river bend to read and how to there are thousands of bloggers and videos coming out. free syrian army has seven youtube channels. there's never been so much information in a conflict. in fact, on the morning of august 21st, i was certainly alerted that something had happened because all of a sudden my e-mail was filled have messages and videos and testimonials from the ground. this is a different kind of conflict and different way to cover it. we know more. we have to verify more because many of us can't go to damascus they are restrictive in giving out v

in particular i've spent an enormous amount of time on syria. the syria builtability act of 2003, which i authored, is the landmark statement of american policy towards syria and imposed sanctions on damascus in large part due to chemical weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. in march of this year i introduced a bipartisan bill that would authorize the president to arm vetted members of the opposition. when i talk about syria, i'm speaking from years of experience, hours of hearings and scores of meetings with u.s. and foreign officials. mr. chairman, we've all seen the images of the lifeless bodies of syrian men, women and children, at least 400 children neatly lined up in rows wrapped in white sheets. their bodies appear to have no out ward physical injuries, entire families killed in their homes in a blink of an eye. our intelligence agencies have assessed with high confidence that these innocent civilians were killed by sarin gas, a deadly nerve agent classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the u.n. security council and outlaw

all syria timeline everything you need to know it's all if we. well with america blaming the syrian regime for chemical attacks the u.s. national security adviser susan rice expressed concern that israel could also be at risk the use of chemical weapons also directly threatens our closest ally in the region israel where people once again have readied gas masks she's worn the chemicals could easily fall into the hands of terrorists he has received information from a number of sources that rebels active in syria are planning to launch a chemical attack on israel it would be used as a provocation against the syrian government and our correspondent has more from tel aviv. i've spoken to both the israeli foreign ministry is what is the army spokespersons units and i was asking them for a reaction to the reports we have that there is an imminent threat being planned by syrian rebels originating in territory in syria that is controlled by the syrian government against israel now the reaction was to quote one of the spokespeople for off aged the response

syria libya egypt television. gas fields in syria. so a company of. serious. question in the war on terror may be good for israel's expansion but the u.s. just gains new enemies. to speak to how can you as policy be against its interests traditionally the democrats got more than two thirds of the campaign contributions that flow into their federal elections from the aggressively israeli faction and that was earmarked support for israel was the condition of taking that money a clean break document was issued by then you mean and the neoconservative mostly americans who also happen to be dual citizens people like wolfowitz and perle scooter libby all of those people and this document proposed. regime change in these middle eastern countries. overthrowing all of these independent middle eastern countries and imposing imperial control these people really do want to create greater israel from the phrase israel working with its saudi partners. against the first democracy ever in the five thousand year history of egypt t

syria is the key. that's why you're seeing a lot of iranian troops in syria because they need to protect their investment in that part of the world, just like we do. >> diplomacy is everybody inner pretty. although it sounds pretty, it is messy. colonel, if you could stay with us. i have other questions moving through this program about these two countries, and it leads to this question -- the military. how is the united states maneuvering all of those big, heavy assets? ships, aircraft carriers. they can't just stay hanging out there forever. so what are we doing about it as we still maintain a threat over syria? first, though, today is september 11th, and there are memorial services throughout the country, and in shanksville, pennsylvania. in new york city. and in washington, d.c. and we will pause to remember, next. [ male announcer ] campbell's angus beef & dumplings. hearty cheeseburger. creamy thai style chicken with rice. mexican-style chicken tortilla. if you think campbell's 26 new soups sound

still to come here i speak to those making a pilgrimage to syria to fight in what they believe is a holy war. also the opening of a crew from the international space station successfully coming to an end. on the beautiful steps of. both. here and. he with me. thanks for joining us today it looks like president obama is toning things down after weeks of bombastic statements threats that the syrian government deserves a u.s. military strike. to his nation which according to recent polls is against america getting involved in a brand new civil war he agreed to give way to diplomacy for reporting from washington. we saw president obama engaged in verbal acrobatics with the message that many americans will find very confusing he was forcefully pushing the idea that strikes against syria are necessary asking the american people to support him at the same time he would say maybe they will not be necessary and maybe diplomacy can work he was referring to russia's proposal for seriously give up its chemical weapons take a listen it's too early to tell whether this offer will succeed in any agreem

strikes syria. the "wall street journal" is reporting that the orders call for an attack on the u.s. embassy in baghdad. a senior military source confirms the existence of the threat to fox news but warns that this news has not been fully vetted yet. official also said he was not aware of increased security at the baghdad compound. >>> the state department ordered all nonessential u.s. diplomats, as well as american citizens, to leave lebanon. citing growing security concerns as congress and the obama administration debate on a possible strike on syria. in south beirut with more on the fallout neighboring countries are seeing at this time. >> reporter: the war in syria's already hitting home in lebanon. this memorial, hezbollah stronghold of south beirut, the site of a car bomb last month that left 27 dead. people are already trying to make repairs, trying to fix this place up. the blast widely seen as retaliation for hezbollah's backing of the assad regime. experts tell us if hezbollah hits anythin

the majority inside syria is against. but outside syria, many refugees, you can find many people who say we must finish, we must finish, if you find a solution outside. you know, it is a reaction position. but it exists. our position as political responsible, from the beginning, was against any foreign military intervention. from jihadist, from hezbollah, from french army, from anyone. the most important thing for establishing a democracy is with a balanced force inside the country. >> the fear of collateral damage , that was the term employed in previous conflicts, this fear of civilians bearing the brunt of any outside intervention. >> i would like to come back on the point about the u.n. two points. the team of inspectors trying to determine the use of chemical weapons. it is not to seek who sent the rockets and who used the gas. this is the first important answer about the role of the u.n. as you know, france, in its tradition, has always -- whether the government is socialist, right wing -- tried to use the u.n. to f

says it should be the only one to establish whether there has been a chemical attack in syria itself to the us secretary of state john kerry claimed intelligence agencies have you prove. this as the world holds its breath over a possible intervention in syria as president obama calls for more military action but looks for approval from congress. while the russian president appeals to the american leaders and nobel peace prize winner warning him over the grave consequences of a campaign against syria. and the warring rise in radiation at the fukushima nuclear plant levels are eighteen times higher than previously thought which could prove lethal within. the note back at the top stories for the past seven days and the latest developments this is the weekly on. the u.s. president wants to launch a military strike on syria but he wants to win a domestic political battle for that to happen barack obama is seeking congressional approval for the attack and congress will consider it on september the ninth washington wants to punish damascus for an alleged chemical attack but the evidence so

syria? there is no relation between the chemical issue and the conflict within syria. completely different. move toward political solution, we can. but that's not related to the chemical agreement. >> i understand. but the fact that this chemical issue has brought the world together to finally pay attention, is this a moment you can build from? >> that depends to a large extent to the country that are supporting the terrorists in syria. >> before i go back to greg. there are a lot of countries involved in this process. not just the u.s. and russia. iran, israel, turkey, and even china so much depends on syrians proposition with the geneva process. are you prepared to make sure that this opportunity doesn't fall apart? >> we supported geneva process from the very beginning and we cooperated with the u.n. envoys that came to syria. actually, the one who put obstacles not syria or russia or china it was the united states for many different reasons one of the main reasons they don't have opposit

our subject is syria. what began there two and a half years ago as part of the arab spring has turned into an all-out civil war. now has come the shocking evidence of poison gas attacks. a fatal escalation that has led president obama to ask congress to authorize the limited use of military force. and if we take action, where and when does it stop? historian and analyst andrew bacevich is here asking those questions.[ a graduate of west point and vietnam veteran, he served in the military for 23 years before becoming a professor at boston university. his books include "the limits of power" and "washington rules." his latest, "breach of trust." andrew bacevich, welcome. >> thank you very much. >> well, i'm pleased to have this chance to chat with you for a lot of reasons. one, i don't know who else has more cred than you. what would a 23-year graduate of west point offer us now regarding the dilemma in which obama finds himself, regarding syria? >> well, i mean, if i could have five minutes of the president

syria where. this country you know the decision made thousands of kilometers away from these battlefield will affect the set up at this military theater but exactly how it is not easy to predict. asti from in syria. maria is giving all the latest updates on how that standoff is progressing on her twitter account she's just given us a report on the ongoing clashes indeed in that historic christian mark so do follow to keep up to date. the. regional elections are underway around russia and the key vote is taking place in moscow where candidates are battling for the post city may be incumbents is facing a strong challenge though from opposition hopeful alexina valley it is the first time in nearly a decade that muscovites is getting to choose their mess so we can get more on this now live from. he got people been voting since early this morning they've still got a few hours left to vote have things been going smoothly so far today well last choosing the mayor of the city was back in two thousand and

to attack syria, period. on the other, well, that's the point the president's top staffers stressed today before the house armed services committee. they say if syria is going to hand over its stockpile to international control, the u.s. needs to keep the threat of a strike very real. >> a lot of people say nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of a hanging. well, it's the credible threat of force that has been on the table for these last weeks that has for the first time brought this regime to even acknowledge that they have a chemical weapons arsenal. >> we must be very clear eyed and ensure it is not a stalling tactic by syria and its russian patrons. for this diplomatic option to have a chance of succeeding, the threat of a u.s. military action, the credible, real threat of u.s. military action, must continue. >> still, there is word that president obama is feeling less pressure to push for a strike as he's meeting with democrats and republicans today on capitol hill. here he was. and his address to

in syria. there are no good options, military options between the united states and syria. add iraq and afghanistan with the civil wars that have to be fought internally, and that political reconciliation cannot come from without. it has to come from within. that cannot be imposed by outside influences. we know that from our own history. the syrian civil war has caused 100,000 deaths in a country of 23 million. the american civil war caused 675,000 deaths. from a young nation of 34 million people. after spending 2 trillion-dollar in iraq and afghanistan representing $40,000 of debt for the american family, and the loss of thousands of lives, and iraq is as violent today as at any time in its history. and afghanistan is as poor as corrupt. the american people are sick and tired of war. it's time to nation build in america. invest in the growth of the american economy. bashar al-assad used chemical weapons on his own people, that is reprehensible for certain. he should be condemned by an internat

it's not only syria. because it will start in syria... >> rose: you'll do anything to prevent the region from having... >> al-assad: the region. >> rose: ...from having another crazy war? >> al-assad: yes. >> rose: you recognize the consequences for you if there is a strike? >> al-assad: it's not about me. it's about the region. >> rose: well, it's about your country. it's about your people. >> al-assad: of course, of course. my country and me, we are part of this region. >> rose: was there a moment for you as you saw the arab spring approaching syria, that you said, "i've seen what happened in libya, i've seen what happened in tunisia, i've seen what happened in egypt. it's not going to happen to bashar al-assad. i will fight anybody who tries to overthrow my regime with everything i have." >> al-assad: no, for one reason, because first question that i ask, "do i have public support or not?" that's the first question that i ask as president. if i don't have the public support, whether there's arab... wha

military action in syria. they both warped if congress votes against intervention in syria, there could be dire consequences worldwide. the resolution now before the senate expressly bars u.se of u.s. ground forces for combat operations in syria. >>> president obama has been meeting with congressional leaders at the whitehouse. after the meeting, republican john boehner and eric can't occur of the house said they support the president's plan. this was the reaction today from syria's ambassador: >> the united states of america, from outside this, who asked mr. obama to be the bully of the worl world? >> some of the toughest questioning during the senate foreign relations hearing came from senator rand paul questioning whether the white house had weighed the risks and uncertainties of attacking syria. >> you have three people who have been to war. john mccain who has been to war. not one of us who doesn't understand what going to war mea means, and we don't want to go to war. we don't believe we are going to war

and on to syria if you were trying to avoid more bloodshed. kevin look there's some singing as shadowy going on or because of that we are not seeing the obama administration has seeing the numbers don't have the votes in congress they have i would see eighty percent of world public opinion at least against them if not ninety percent d. so what happened that g. twenty meeting in st petersburg last week where the obama administration was completely isolated in fact apart from the brits france and the democratic kingdom of saudi arabia so they're trying to find a way out there is no question about it will dispute be part of this thread is this ng is burned our bush house of sell their big four idea that apac the israeli lobby is law. starting today monday congress for the war so who's going to. the peaceniks or these rarely house of cellblock and the other extremely disturbing bit of news we got from an a source close to the syrian conflict talking to r.t. today false flag or not we don't know but a false flag chemical attack was the theory by th

and john mccain playing video poker in a senate hearing on syria. syria. got a lesson for ♪ nothing says, "i'm happy to see you too," like a milk-bone biscuit. ♪ say it with milk-bone. it's a reality check. my reality check was when i started losing customers. i couldn't update them where my truck was. i missed a video chat in my own house. i couldn't download my music. i couldn't watch movies, and i couldn't play games. so it was time to switch. life with verizon now is excellent. we rely on verizon entirely. i love verizon. verizon's 4g lte is the most reliable and in more places than any other 4g network. period. that's powerful. verizon. get the nokia lumia 928 for free. >> with poll numbers showing seven percent of the new yorkers supporting him. you would think that anthony weiner might have an attitude adjustment. but earlier this week he showed that he just can't stay away with the headlines except for all of the wrong reasons. this is what happened when he got confronted by a voter in a brooklyn shop. very nice. in front of children. that is c

military action in syria. only 42% support it. then when you ask them what about military action without congressional approval, four out of five of those surveyed say no, that's not how we want it to go. that's why i think the president made a strong case for this strike, he doesn't want to say he's going to go ahead with it if congress says no. he was sort of signaling, not totally clear, that's not what he wanted to do. he said this wasn't a symbolic practice where he put this before congress. he talked to observers and they think if president obama gets both chambers saying no that he may not go ahead with the strike. this will be devastating to his presidency but there's the open question. if just the senate says okay will the president go ahead with that and that's where he's not committing. >> i'm curious about the dynamic between he and vladmir putin. mr. obama had hope to go there and do some convincing. it sounds like there was a lot less dialogue and a lot more just restating already firmed positions. >> reporter: that'

jordanian territory, not in syria. from an international law perspective it is not boots on the ground. >> is that us getting deep into civil war that somebody oh posed it if we are on the border handing out supplies? >> you know, at this stage it's the best we can do. the only alternative is to send a hundred cruise missiles against syria. that's not going to work. assad has the vanl frankly he can use without chemical weapons at the this stage. the best we can do is turn this rag the tag rabble of the free syrian army into real soldiers. we did it in dose voement why not georgia? >> we'll see. of course senator kerry will be meeting with foreign minister lavrov soon. there is a lot developing through the night. thank you, sir. >> thank you. >> one year ago tonight four americans murdered at our consulate in benghazi. why no arrests? you will hear from the mother of one of the slain americans and congressman trey goudy next. >>> david petraeus heckled big time. anti-war college students taunting the general on the str

from syria. now representing half of the world's population the shanghai cooperation organization will be looking at how it can lend its weight to getting peace in syria about to happen is thought iran will have to play a major role coming up here on our report on the organization summit that starts today in kyrgyzstan. and politicians straight with themselves in red white and blue as they call in the french compatriots to buy locally and keep their hard earned money in the country. and the rest of the wall. top headlines are just around the corner here on out. to gold. plates technology innovation called the list of belem inst from around russia we've got the future covered. this immediately below so we leave the people. by the sea potion securely play your party there's a goal. for shoes that no one is asking with the guests that you deserve answers from it's all on politics only on our t.v. . dramas that can't be ignored. stories others refuse to notice. food since changing the world lights ne

rich north sea from damascus in syria. one hundred thousand syrians have left the country since the united states and its allies pronounced that it may attack in all an astounding two million people have fled since the conflict began the un is warning that the situation is now a humanitarian calamity with about half of those displaced being children the chief destinations are countries near syria including turkey jordan iraq and egypt but they're all under severe stress to deal with this influx inside syria four million people have become internally displaced fleeing the fighting any way they can r.t. contributor of humor tansey says the war rhetoric is further exacerbating the flight the plight of the refugees when one looks at the number of american destroyers the number of missiles missiles the cost of all of that historians in the future will be saying why when there was a peace deal on the table to be discussed in geneva did obama destroy and torpedo the peace deal and leave the plight of the refugees to get worse and

and arab league envoyed on syria. lobby world leaders to distress that his view is that the only solution is a political solution, he was asked about the international legality of u.s. military action. >> i think the secretary general or myself would not express personal opinion. we say what international law says. and international law says that no country is allowed to take the law into their hands. they have to go through the security council. >> here at the u.n. nearly everyone you speak to is talking about syria but no formal meetings have been scheduled. everyone is looking towards washington and waiting. >> well, that's james bays reporting. and here to talk about president obama's challenges going forward al jazeera's contributor michael sure. glad to have you. >> pleasure to be with you. >> how difficult a decision it is, talk about the -- the pressure that's weighing on him internationally and domestically. >> let's start domestically because as randall pinkston said, as mike viqueira said that's where the p