>> hello, and welcome to al jazeera. our top stories at this hour. >> this international norm cannot be violated without consequences. >> secretary of state kerry said the u.s. is now convinced that syria has resorted to using chemical weapons. as the white house considers a response. u.n. inspectors search the attack site near damascus for evidence of chemical warfare. >> i would be gone if i live there had, i would be gone. >> homes and wildlife are at risk as fires burn through yosemite national security. >> schools in chicago cope with

budget cuts. >> the obama administration now says there is compelling evidence that syria has used chemical weapons against its own people. secretary of state john kerry calls last week's attack i in te damascus suburb as a moral obscenity. >> ii can't get the image of the man holding up his dead child with chaos swirling around him.

>> what appears to be the game changer are those images that kerry referred to that so repulsed and moved on international television. the use of those chemical weapons outlawed years ago is a moral obscenity, and said the

president will hold the assad regime accountable. what that means starting to look more and more like some sort of military response. a question of when and not if the u.s. will respond militarily. that opposite has really gained steam over the last 48 hours, tony. just this friday, last friday night i was standing here on the north lawn reading a tweet from susan rice, national security adviser, insisting the assad regime allow the u.n. inspectors in immediately. but then the obama administration said there it is too late and there is no doubt that the assad regime is responsible for the chemical attack. kerry said it out loud. now it's too late. the question is not if but when there is a military strike. let's listen to more what secretary kerry had to say. >> we know that the syrian regime maintains custody of

these chemical weapons. we know that the syrian regime has the capacity to do this with rockets. we know that the regime has been determined to clear the opposition from those very places where the attacks took place. and with our own eyes we have all of us become witnesses. >> reporter: tony, this just in, speaker of the house according to a spokesman has notified reporters that they have been in contact with the speaker of the house. they characterize it as preliminary communication on potential u.s. response. so the gears are turning now clearly the united states and the administration getting if not on a war footing, certainly leaning that way. >> when not if. mike viqueira for us in washington. thank you. the obama administration has a number of possible military options that could be used against syria.

there are reports that the navy increased the number of missile carrying destroyers in the mediterranean sebringing the total number of warships to four. earlier this year the u.s. left f-16 jets in jordan. and the u.s. operates two air bases in turkey which could be used in any future attack. u.n. inspectors in syria are pushing on with their work despite coming under sniper fire. the investigators were able to interview witnesses and collect samples. the secretary general of the u.n. ban ki-moon say the u.n. is satisfied that the team is able to collect the samples it needs despite being a week after the attack took place. >> our team returned to damasc damascus, and and proceeded to to the suburb of damascus to carry on the investigation.

>> so let's bring in ryan crocker, former ambassador to syria, and dean of the george bush school at texas a&m university. ambassador crocker, good to talk to you. from the speech today from the secretary of state, have we reached a point where the politics have moved ahead of the actual investigation? >> i think the push for military action is clearly growing, and in terms of the investigation, as secretary kerry noted, what the inspectors may be able to determine is whether chemical weapons were used. the secretary said they will not take a position on who used them. so i think we can all kind of o

here. the rebels don't have this type of equipment, and the regime does. the investigation will tell us what we know. chemical agents were used. they won't tell us who used them. >> the secretary also mentioned that the united states has evidence of this attack, evidence that may not be in the hands or won't get to the hands of the investigators. before any action is taken, does the case need to be made? the evidencary case need to be a made in terms of putting all cards on the table. >> i think it needs to be made. it's been apparent since the day of the attack that chemical agents were used, and only the regime has the delivery system to use them in that manner. i don't think there's anyone in the world that would think otherwise. now, of course, some have said

well the rebels actually did do it. i don't believe that, but no one is saying that it didn't happen. >> should the response then to an illegal action, we're talking about the chemical attack in syria, about a military response that as you know the russians are saying today would be illegal? >> i think there would be a military response. i would imagine that the obama administration is going to work very hard to insure that we are not doing this alone, that there is a coalition, if you will, perhaps n.a.t.o. that there is some form of endorsement perhaps from the arab league. if security council will remain stead locked as i suspect it would, but i think first there will be a response. second, that we will try and

have as many partners in this effort as we can. >> let me try one more before i lose you. how unpredictable, you know this region, is the outcome of any military strike in syria? >> tony, it's a great question. i think the most likely form a strike will take will be tomahawk missiles in the eastern mediterranean. they may do some damage, but they certainly are not going to break the back of the regime. so then comes the now what question. how will the regime respond? if it continues to pursue it's offensive against the rebels, what do we do next? having already introduced military force. there will be pressure for

escalation, and as we saw from the letter to the chairman of the senate armed services committee a week ago, those escalated options could cost us a tremendous amount in blood and trigger. >> ambassador, good to talk to you. >> thank you. >> former ambassador to syria, and dean of the gorge bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university. and we invite to you stay with us for continuing coverage of this rapidly developing story. we'll have updates throughout the evening as the events warrant. emergency crews battling one of the largest california wildfires ever say they're making progress slowly. let's check out the map here. the details exactly what firefighters are actually up against. the rim fire covers more than 230 square miles, and it's right

on the edge of the yosemite national park. the flames are right on the edge of the reservoir that provides drinking water for the san francisco area. we're on the front lines of the fire, catherine, what's the latest? >> well, john, right now i don't know if you can see this water truck behind me. that tells me how dry it is. they're just damping down the grown to keep the dust from blowing, but its peak burn time and today conditions are not good for firefighters. it's very hot, and winds are picking up. now so far in this fire there have been 11 homes destroyed, 12 outbuildings destroyed and four commercial structures damaged. while the fire has burned some part of the yosemite national park it is not the popular parts of the yosemite.

>> reporter: flames and scorched land cover 150,000 acres, similar to the size of chicago. 30 to 40 mph winds are whipping the fire sending embers flying: it's area is a venerable tinderbox. homeowners watch from a nearby ridge. >> we'll see it on the ridge and it will make a run to is he nora. >> reporter: listening to radio traffic between helicopters and firefighting ground cruise. >> i'm concerned. i've got animals, so i need to get them out. >> reporter: the fire only 15% contained is one of the worst in california history. the jumping blaze is now threatening major roadways. more than 3,000 firefighters are on the ground hoping to save some 4500 homes and businesses. inaccessible terrain makes fighting this fire all the more arduous. three ancient sequoia trees are

not at risk and they're working to save them. despite the fires' immensity it has not hit the popular parts of yosemite national park. the forest service said they'll do everything to preserve this national treasure. still the intense blaze continues to threaten the area to the hydroelectric generators that provides power to san francisco. >> reporter: we drove out a short while ago to look for ourselves. and you can see the power lines sagging nearly down to the ground as the fire burned through them. california's governor jerry brown had the potential to interrupt electric and water services to the city of san francisco, but again i caution that has not yet happened. >> catherine we're talking about a fire that is 15% contained. how significant of a number is that for firefighters.

>> reporter: they feel confident that they've secured the very important areas and let it burn into more wild and uninhabited areas. they say of those 4500 homes that we mentioned threatened, they believe they've secured the safety of 2500. later today there could be more evacuation advisories issued. >> we appreciate it, katherine. when 19 arizona firefighters were killed in june that district was left shorthanded. now half of the remaining volunteers have resigned. the district's finances are suffering because 100 homes were destroyed in that fire, wiping much of the community's property tax base.

>> meteorologist: the rim fire can easily be seen from space it's so large. take a look at the image behind me. we're looking at a very large smoke plume extending all the way to nevada as well as idaho. here is the rim fire right there. you can see the winds are blowing from the south to the north. this was taken two days ago. the weather pattern has stayed the same. you can see the proximity where sacramento as well san francisco. now if we get any movement of where the smoke goes, any change of the atmosphere, then these areas will be affected by the smoke. if you have respiratory problems this is a major problem for you there. as you can see it's going north at the moment. now the rain, we have quite a bit of rain down here starts the southwest. not affecting the fires. unfortunately, causing a lot of havoc in areas of san diego up through nevada, las vegas saw some flash flooding. we're looking at flash flood warnings and advisories across

the region. where we need the rain is towards the west, but unfortunately, tony, i don't think we'll see that any time soon. >> thank you, kevin, we appreciate it. the students are streaming back to the classrooms and they're facing unique challenges. we'll highlight some of those coming up next. and orders of durable goods things like toasters and washing machines, even cars dropping sharply last month. what that means for the economy when al jazeera continues.

what happens when social media uncovers unheard and fascinating news stories? >> they share it on a stream. was not me. check us out 24 hours a day on

>> more troubling signs for the economy. the july report for durable goods falling by more than 7% compared to the previous months it is the steepest drop in a year. ali velshi will be talking more about this in "real money with ali velshi." but we want to talk to him about it right now. is this really? >> well look, durable goods are interesting. everything we spend in our economy divides in three buckets, services. everybody knows what they are. consumables, which is what i mostly eat, and durable goods which are things that in theory last you more than three years. so i happen to think, look, it doesn't have the cache of unemployment or these housing numbers that we talk about all the time, but to be informed about the economy you have you do have to follow all of these little windows into the economy, and durable goods is one of them. that's why this caught my attention today. that number is down more than we might have expected. >> is there an impact on jobs by

this number. >> more than half of the drop came from civilian aircraft orders. that's very volatile. one of the things about this normal is that it's volatile. services stay roughly the same. this is the what you goes up and down because of a big aircraft order or big sales in cars. most of the drop came from aircraft orders. 20% drop in computers and electronics. i'll trying to figure out if that is not regular people buying regular computers. so that was a slow down. if these continue, then you worry about a drop in job. i never look at just one month. >> that story and what else. >> bit coin. i'll admit to you i do this for a living, and i've had a trouble getting my head around this bit coin frequency. if you watch my show you're going to know the answer of this question, do i get a piece of

the action or do i run the other way. 7:00 p.m. eastern everything you need to know about this, i don't know what it is. bit coin. >> whatever it is. >> whatever it is, i'll tell you all about it at 7:00. >> ali, appreciate it. see you at the top of the hour. all this month students and teachers have been heading back to school. in louisiana they are suing to distribute vouchers. the louisiana voucher plan calls for a transferring of low income students in low rated schools to private schools at taxpayer expense. in minnesota students had been sweating it out in swelter classrooms, a record heatwave is blanketing. school rooms have no can i

conditioning, can you imagine. anand a north carolina middle school that was shut down by a devastating tornado reopened today. the students walked through the halls for the first time since the 2011 twister that left the place in ruins. teachers were working out of mobile classrooms for the two-year reconstruction periods. >> a lot of kids were not happy with the modular units. now that we have a gym we can have dances and clubs that we didn't have before and different sport activities that will boost morale. >> so chicago started the new school with 50 fewer schools and a bunch of cutbacks for their closure. john, the schools are now closed for the day? how did it go there? >> reporter: well, it was an usual day in chicago history.

it looked like something out of a war zone. this is the northern side of chicago, and this morning security officers in black jerseys were walking these children into school. if you look behind me you can see the remnants of the police corcorp that were out here. police and firefighters lined the road. it was almost a militaristic-looking scene. they were creating so-called safe passage zones. that's an idea of the mayor rahm emmanuel to make the streets a little safer. in many neighborhoods it has gotten quite dangerous, and after they closed 50 schools in this city there is concern that these kids have to walk through dangerous and unfamiliar territory, territory where there is often gang activity. we talked to many parents, and here is what one of them had to say. >> teachers today had a lot to deal with. there was always crime when i

was coming up, but a lot of stuff that my children and other kids have to deal with now that we have to deal with that when we were coming up. this is chicago. it's always been violence here. but what's going on now is kind of like, you know, it's at epic proportion. >> john, i have a quick question for you. >> back on north side of chicago--yes? >> in the neighborhood where you are right now, what is the violence like there? >> this is a comparatively safe part of chicago. it's on the south and west side that you have the heavy violence, but right down this road on a safe passage route five people were gunned down just last week right where these children are walking to school, on the route. it's supposed to be safe. there is a lot of concern about the safety of these children.

nevertheless, former gang members tell us that they believe the gangs will respect these routes, and that's because they don't want the city to be cracking down on them, tony. >> okay, in chicago, john, good to see you. thank you. let's get [♪ music ] >> let's get a big preview of what is ahead in sports. michael eaves is here with that. >> reporter: yes, tony, injury in the news. after suffering a torn ligament in his elbow, matt harvey couldl be heading to the disabled list and he could be facing a tommy johns surgery. he could be out in as much as a year. in tennis, james blake announcing today that he will be retiring at the end of this u.s. open going on in new york. he turned pro in 1999 and received a career high ranking

no. 4 in the world on two career singles titles but he never won a major. despite an 4483 record, the houston astros are on pace to make a new record. they'll turn a $99 million profit in 2013 marking the largest in major league baseball history. that profit, 9 million dollars is nearly as much as the previous six world champion teams combined. despite having the worse record in baseball they're making the most money. >> explain that. well, the diplomatic maneuvering to syria breezes. snipers try to drive off chemical inspectors. and in california we try to find out how some of the blazes might be avoided in the future. that's next in al jazeera. ç]

>> i'm tony harris. the nation's biggest forest fire is now threatening more than 4500 structures in california realize a portion of yosemite

national park. the flames have destroyed 230 square miles. chemical inspectors are investigating exactly what took place in the attack that occurred last week in damascus. the obama administration is promising a and a response to te ago, and secretary john kerry said it's undeniable that chemicals were used by the assad regime. james, a number of points to take up with you. any reaction from the u.n. to the very strong statement from secretary of state john kerry. >> no one is saying anything at this stage publicly, but privately people are looking at these words from john kerry and seeing them as the strongest language from the obama administration at any point in the last two and a half years since the crisis started.

many diplomats tell you privately they believe the u.s. is now at its closest to getting involved in military intervention than at any point in the crisis. no one expects the u.s. to invade syria with boots on the ground, but words coming from washington coordinated from other capitols, most notably london and paris, there could be some short targeted campaign using cruise missiles. look back at 1998 when bill clinton was president of the u.s. and dealing with saddam hussein's iraq and the issue then was getting inspectors access, and bill clinton launch operation desert fox, four days

on command centers and areas that they felt weapons were being kept. i think diplomats are suspecting that is what the obama administration has in mind. we're told by the white house that no decision yet has been made. no decision on what exactly is going to happen, and the final decision is on the timing. one useful bit of information that i've come across in the last few minutes following a phone call.

>> the u.n. continued their mission. they took their samples, they interviewed their witnesses. so that investigation is underway. one very important caveat to all that is to remember the mandate for this investigation of those inspectors. they have been told to find out whether chemical weapons have been used. they are not supposed to determine who used them. in many ways the investigation can go on, but it doesn't help us in what happens next. and it seems to me that the obama administration and some of

the western allies now believe a route other than the u.n. is needed. >> u.n. diplomat i caic editor, james, good to talk to you. the agreement of 1997 bans the stock piling of chemical weapons. there is no reliable information on how much it has. the u.s. declared a large chemical weapons arsenal, and 75% of that stock pile has been destroyed. russia declared a bigger stock pile the same year and announced they have destroyed 60% so far. and sout south korea said it has destroy it's stock pile, and china for its part says its

program has now been dismantled. roads and campgrounds in yosemite national park remain shut down as the rim wildfire rages out of control, firefighters are on the scene trying to save homes and businesses. winds have pushed the rim fire dangerously close to major roads and highways surrounding yosemite. the fire has destroyed 250 acres and is 7% contained. from the university of colorado let's bring in dr. lloyd burton. dr. burton, look, it's good to talk you. what have you found? >> well, i found that as many other researchers the fires have gone in size and intensity as well as in number. and due largely to climate

change we're looking at 200% to 400% increase between now and the middle of this century. >> why climate change? aren't droughts cyclical? >> we're have sustained droughts accompanied by high temperatures in some states of arizona, new mexico. this that we have suppressed naturally occurring wildfires in the forests in the last century makes them exceedingly dangerous placing to be. we combine that with the fact that there is increasing residential development right up to the borders of these national forests, and it's a recipe for disaster. >> people are not going to want to stop living in those highly didesirable areas, what is the

answer? >> when asked, i've lived in the mountain west for most of my adult life, when asked people always say move here because we want to live close to nature. the problem is they want to live close to nature, they want nature.

>> then along comes a major natural disaster, and rapidly outstrips the ability of local government to deal with it, and then it's the federal government called in to do the response and recovery work and all the taxpayers in the nation pick up the tab for disasters that were to some degree caused by local government decision making. >> what is the best thinking now on the management of fires? what is needed now? what needs to happen? >> well, it's helpful to think about--to get down to a more

granule level in the mountain west. we have two distinct kinds of forest ecosystems. one is called the chaparral, and then we have the big fires in the high countries. for instance in california earlier this summer we had chaparral fires that destroyed a lot of homes. right now we're dealing with one of the worse high country fires moving right into yosemite national park. and again we're dealing with the century's worth of fuel build up, not letting the forest build on an annual basis. the debate right now is where do we want to focus our efforts in terms of mitigating the occurrence of wildfires in the future? the rearight now at a time whene united states forest service desperately needs more resources not just to fight fires but to

mitigate against the future ones, to thin the brush and conduct control burns the congress has see queste has seed the the funds to, and all that is doing is making the likelihood of catastrophic fires even greater. >> that budget will continue next month. dr. burton from the university of colorado, good to talk to y you, professor, thank you. president obama has given out the nation's highest military honor in a ceremony at the white house. army staff sergeant ty carter was awarded the medal of honor. the sentencing phase for major nadal hassan is underway. hassan is the gunman responsible

for the fort hood shooting rampage in 2009. he was found guilty on friday on 13 counts of murder and 32 counts of attempted murder. a military jury will hear impact statements from the victims' families over the next few days. heidi zhou castro is following nadal's sentencing and joins us live from fort hood. today is the first day we're hearing the impact statements. what are survivors saying? >> absolutely heartbreaking stuff today tony. today we heard from ten family members and coworkers of these 13 that were killed. one of them, the widow of major labardo how hard was to explain to her two-year-old son that daddy was never coming home. it took him weeks for him to realize what death meant. she kept her husband's voice

mail message for years, up until a couple of weeks ago. and then she discovered that the cell phone carrier accidently deleted that message. and then the teenage daughter who tried to take her own life as a result. not a dry high except for nadal hassan, himself. he was emotionless today just like every day of his court-martial. did he not cross examine any of the witnesses. his only response was to ask for lunch, if you believe it. >> so no remorse at all. even as we were hearing these-- >> no, absolutely no remorse. just that straight blank face that we've become used to seeing. everyone is wondering what is

going through this guy's head. he's a convicted mass killer. i'm not sure we can rationalize at this point, but legal experts are saying perhaps nadal hassan is waiting for this final moment after the defense has presented all of their witness, victim impact statements it will be hassan's turn to have his stage. this is the only part of the court-martial where he can say anything he wants. he doesn't have to fear being interrupted by the judge or cross-examined by the government. we know from covering this case for years what he wants to say. he said he found himself on the wrong side of the war of terrorism, and he needed to kill americans to protect muslims in afghanistan. those words never entered th, te judge struck that down.

but tony, let's keep it all in context. hassan will not have the last word. the last word will be justice. >> all right. heidi zhou castro in texas. this technology finally has a name. and one of the young pitchers in baseball could be heading to the operating room. matt harvey next in sports.

>> a city in columbia could soon face food shortages farmers are striking against free trade agreement and al jazeera alessandro talked with the protesters. >> reporter: in it for the long haul. for a week farmers in colombia have been blocking roads leading to entire regions cut off. coffee and potato growers, say this is the only way that the government will hear their complaints. >> we grow potatoes but every day we see the cost of raw

materials going up while the market is flooded with product because of free trade agreements.

>> the president should resign. >> with the strike entering it's second week some towns are facing shortages of food and fuel. the government said had not negotiate until all the roadblocks are lifted. something that these farmers are refusing to do. al jazeera, colombia. >> this is my cell phone. i never go anywhere without it. that's almost completely true. you know, a lot of people are actually terrified about being without theirs so much so that it now has an official disorder declaration. we're in london with that story. >> reporter: it is an all-too familiar feeling. you realize something is missi

missing. forgetfulness, absent mindedness, call it what you name, but there is an official name, it's phone phobia. half of the u.k. has experienced that feeling, the anxiety you get when you realize you don't have your mobile phone with you. it's not just telephone calls but text, e-mails, apps, games, camera and music. and for some it doesn't bear thinking about. such is the fear of missing out that 17% of us will work on our phones when we're in bed. rarely restful and hardly romantic. women will look at theirs while on at date. half of u.k. will look at their while at the beach when the weather is good enough to go. and much of the country shares this obsession. >> when i'm on holiday, class, train, everywhere, i always have

my phone with me. i'm always checking it. >> it's like living without a breath if i go anywhere without my phone. >> reporter: mobiles of the future try telling the experts who say we need to look at the past. they don't make manners like they used to. >> you wake up, the first thing you do is has anyone tried to get hold of me. is anyone saying good night or wants me to speak. it needs to be a discipline introduced so people are not living for a mobile phone. they're living their lives. >> so addicted to your phone there is an app for that. there are several for when you just can't switch off and you really can't switch your phone off. we live in an ever connected world. the question is at what cost? al jazeera, london. [♪ music ]

>> meteorologist: boy, this is the last bit of news, we're talking about the mets. >> reporter: one shining light matt harvey, and now he won't pitch for the rest of the year. matt harvey was placed on the disabled list with a partially torn ligament in his elbow. it could lead to tommy john surgery although the mets are hoping the ligaments will heal on its own, harvey sits at 191 strikeouts. if he does under go surgery it will take 10 to 12 months before he's ready to pitch in the major leagues. after suffering another concussion. kevin cobb may never pay another down in the nfl. he suffered concussion type symptoms. and another injury sidelined

cobb in 2010 and 2011. this year's tennis grand slam getting under way in flushing, new york, and former number one rafael nadal took the courts for his 13th grand slam title. he comes on a terror after winning cincinnati before coming to new york. 646-4, 6-2, 6-2. and on the women's side two time champion venus williams made short work of her first round match winning 6 6-1, 6-1.

williams has never lost in open round match at the u.s. open. less than a week an russian officials sent a letter to the international olympic committee reaffirming its commitment to holdinholding up changes to the anticipate gay law. several athletes have spoken out against the law, including pittsburgh forward captain sydney crosby. >> yay, i mean, it's not something that we've discussed a whole lot, but for me growing up in canada, my view has always been that way. you know, to--i think that everyone has an equal right to play, and i think we've been more than supportive of that.

so with the olympics and the controversial around that, i think those decisions or those laws aren't necessarily something that we might agree with. i done agree with personally, there are laws and there are their views. >> in soccer the english premiere league has produced a huge upset in the second week of action playing it's only second play since being promoted to the epl. fraser campbell led the way for ththem with two goals. and clint dempsey made his debut sun after leaving the epl to return to major league soccer. 67,000 fans were on hands as they hosted their rifles the portland timbers, but they could not stop eddie johnson, the only

goal in the contest. the 1-0 win in dempsey's much anticipated debut, the second largest crowd ever in major league soccer ever. >> thank you. we have your tuesday forecast, and coming up in just minutes on real money. >> coming up on real money. orders on goods dropping for the the year. drawing questions about the economic recovering. and the triple threat in the battle for water. drought, thirsty cities and industries. and the bit coin is an online phenomenon. why there is so much buzz, and if it belongs in your virtual pocket. ç]

my name is jonathan betz. i'm from dallas, texas, and i'm an anchor for al jazeera america. >>my name is ranjani chakraborty, i'm from houston, texas. >>i'm kim bondy. >>nicole deford. >>and i'm from new orleans. >>san francisco, california. when i was a little kid, i just really loved the news. >>news was always important in my family. >>i knew as a kid that was exactly what i wanted to do. >>i learned to read by reading the newspaper with my great-grandfather every morning. >>and i love being able to tell other people stories. >>this is it, i want to be a part of this. >>this is what really drove me to al jazeera america.

>>a. >> >> >> meteorologist: well, we're going to update quite a bit of weather around the united states as well as mexico. i want to take you to california. we're still looking at some intense rain towards the south. unfortunately, it's not getting over here towards the west where we need it, where the wildfires are burning, but for california,

nevada, as well as parts of montana as well you're seeing quite a bit of rain, and flash flooding is going to be a major issue for you over the next 24 hours. look at this green bull's-eye, we've seen flash flooding in las vegas and san diego. major problem and a lot of rain is coming out of this weather system. last night we were talking about tropical storm ferdinand, it has been deadly. 13 people now reported dead because of the flooding going on across the region. even though the storm has been down graded to a tropical depression, it's going to be moving inland, really weakening rapidly but still a lot of rain in that area. now speaking of the tropics we're getting to that point where the waters are extremely warm. 86 degrees where ferdinand was all here, we're looking at 85. what is going to be happening in the next couple of weeks we do think we're going to be watching

out here towards the atlantic for these tropica tropical wavee their way to the west. it's these waves that interact with the warm water that becomes the tropical system. for the next few days the temperatures are going to be unbearable. we see dallas at 95 degrees. and look at the highs, 104, and as we go towards thursday, the holiday weekend we expect to see a heatwave in place especially in the northern planes. we're talking about 95 degrees in minneapolis. fargo at 85. omaha at 94 degrees. and we do see a lot of warnings and advisories in affect because of the heat. please take care. if you're outside, this is going to be a major issue. we look at your headlines coming up right after this.

wildfires have destroyed more than 230 square miles. un inspectors in syria have reached the site of the of suspected chemical weapon's attack. this afternoon john kerry said that it is undeniable that chemical weapons were used, and said all signs point to the