>> good morning. i'm stephanie sy. these are stories we are following at this hour. sabre rattling over sir yes, a report that russia is sending two ships not far from where vessels from where the u.s. fleet are stationed. >> ready to wrap it up, u.s. investigators search a final damascus suburb for weapons the day before heading home. >> anticipation gross over whether the president will pull the trigger on attacking syria. >> drones in yosemite, how exhausted firefighters are using sophisticated technology in their effort to detect new flames in that mammoth fire.

>> why fast food may be anything but today. the strike that could seriously delay customers who want fries with that. ♪ theme >> president obama is deciding whether to launch a military strike against syria. he is expected to meet congressional leaders today to layout his proof that syrian president bashar al-assad was behind last week's chemical attack. hundreds of people died and western leaders are demanding a response. the u.n. security council will not approve action and britain's parliament seems to be scaling back its calls for an immediate strike. in a pbs interview, president obama expressed he has no interest in an open ended

conflict with syria but said that assad's regime has dough employed chemical weapons. >> if we are saying in a clear and decisive but very limited way we send a shot across the bow saying stop doing this, that can have a positive impact on our national security over the long term and may have a positive impact in the sense that chemical weapons are not used again on innocent civilians. >> again, we should stress obama has not made a decision yet on what the administration will do. that decision, though, could come within days. joining us now, white house correspondent mike live in washington. does president obama need permission from congress if he decides on military action in syria? >> that's an interesting question and even congress doesn't agree whether or not he needs permission. last night, speaker john boehner wrote a letter to the approximate the raising issues

that have been raised by experts and international ally approximates. he wants to know what is the result you are seeking. a remarkable phrase the penalty used, a shot across the bow, confirming this is a punitive action and another question boehner wants to ask the president is simply that if this is a punitive action, and you are punishing the regime and somehow degrading his ability to deliver those chemical weapons, aren't you tipping the balance in favor of the opposition forces and opening up a whole can of worms in syria that people no less than the chairman of the joint chief of staff has warned against? one thing that john boehner is not doing, stephanie, he is not calling for the penalty to come to congress and ask for a vote to authorize any military operation. he is stopping short of that. he wants to raise objections and questions, but a lot of members

of congress don't like to go on the record with votes like this one. >> the leaders of france and germany agreed there must be some international reaction but like britain are waiting for the u.n. report. is there any chance the u.s. would take military action on its own? >> i doubt it. i think that the american spiel is they have enough international backing at this point to go ahead. it's just a question of going through the motions, if you will, talking to the international allies. there are problems, yes, in the u.k., prime minister david cameron having problems with parliament. they don't want to go along. the arab league is not on action backing the military action but calling the deployment of chemical weapons a heinous act white house aides are going to be on the phone with leading members of congress leadership today, leaders of the relevant committees, international

relations committees, defense and intelligence committees and the report that has been talked about by the secretary of state and by white house aides, there are signs, indication that is that will be out today. according to leaks, white house is down playing the significance and nature of the evidence. it's not going to be quite as hard as it was originally indicated. >> no smoking gun. thank you, mike. now in view of all this, assad's main ally russia is sending support to the region, two naval ships being moved to the mediterranean sea. peter sharp is in moscow. what can you tell us about that report from interfax? >> they are basically saying a large anti submarine vessel, which will be joined later by a

rocket cruiser are moving in the direction of the mediterranean. it pains to point out that this is part of a planned rotation and not linked to the crisis in syria, but look, let'sing honest, this is an opportunity for the russian navy to fly the flag to remind the americans and their presence is growing daily in the eastern met terrainian that this is not an american pond. the russians had had a base on the port of tartus in syria for the last 30 years and operate a maintenance and supply facility there and this is very much their patch. of course, that's one of the reasons why they're building up this presence in the eastern mediterranean. they are saying they are not going to expand their permanent force there. >> why have we not heard anything from president putin on the matter recently?

>> well, we haven't because i don't think really he has much to say anymore. at the moment, he's 6,000 miles away in eastern russia. if he went further east in china, he's looking at flood defenses. this is a calculated, i think display of indifference to the threats of american strikes in syria. basically, putin has only mentioned syria back in june at the g8 conference. there's more he can say. he knows these strikes are almost certain to go ahead and there's nothing he can say, because it's not going to be coming in front of the u.s. secretary general a at a resolution there. there's nothing he can say at the moment, so he's keeping quiet and letting his foreign minister and others carry the can on this one. also, it is not really a very big issue in moscow, in russia. there was a poll that came out yesterday that showed that 39%

of the people pod didn't even know there was war on in syria and it doesn't really focus on leads or television bulletins. >> peter, thank you. we turn now to the syrian border, where thousands of reef gees fleeing the country to escape the violence. the international border crossing between lebanon and syria is where we take you. with all this talk of possible military strikes, are you seeing a change in the flow of refugees or mood? >> there's a little bit of a change, stephanie, it is true, people are concerned coming out of syria. we are near the border point between lebanon and syria and you see the cars are leaving the nation of syria, most of these cars are syrian. it has not been a large number of people today, an in flux this morning that was substantial,

13,000 people crossed this border yesterday. it will be considerably less than that today. i talked to a couple of different people coming out who said there is no panic in those leaving, in fact, there are a number of people in syria that they know, plenty who feel that they have time on their hands, that they're not leaving yet. they don't want to be away from their homes for very long and want to wait until the last moment before they leave the country. they are aware of the fact that the united nations is set to leave on saturday and they think people will leave syria in larger numbers after that. i did talk to a couple members of the united nations team that works in the area between syria and israel and confirmed the fact that the rest of the u.n. will leave syria saturday. they were headed back, depending what happens after that date. >> david jackson reporting from lebanon, an important perspective at the border of

syria and lebanon, david, thank you so much. >> as the obama administration continues to weigh military strikes against syria, behind the scenes, diplomatic maneuvers are at work. joining us now for a look at those maneuvers is send year fellow at the council of foreign relations and foreign policy planning official under secretary of state colin powell. you probably heard our reporters talking about the latest developments. given the latest, how likely do you view outside military action in syria at this point? >> well, the momentum has slowed somewhat since a couple of days ago, when secretary kerry described what he called the abseenty of the mossive human rights violation with the use of chemical weapons. the united states has no desire to go alone and prime minister

david cameron has promised a parliamentary vote on the use of force on next tuesday and they'll wait for the outcome of the chemical weapons inspectors. however, i think that it's still very much in the cards the united states is going to put together a coalition of the possible and launch limited but powerful strikes against military elements of the assad regime. >> mr. patrick, what kind of behind the scenes diplomacy is going on now to figure this all out. is there intelligence sharing going on, for example? >> absolutely. certainly there is always intelligence sharing between the united states and its closest partners, in this case, you don't get much closer than britain, certainly with the israelis, as well, certainly with the french. there is also diplomatic consultations ongoing with

ornate toe allies, also with the turks. if there is no security council resolution, turkey is prepared to join a coalition of the willing. at the united nations, i think that most u.s. officials conclude that the british effort to try to get a u.n. security council resolution is going to go nowhere but at least covers some bases so that the united states can say look, we tried. there is domestic diplomacy going on so lay the groundwork for ground support for whatever the president decides to do. >> we are not quite seeing that broad public support yet according to the polling, but we're out of time.

stewart patrick, senior fellow at the council of foreign relations, thank you for joining us. >> egypt's military backed government may be easing its stance against the muslim brotherhood. in a televised interview, he said the parties should not be dissolved. the staple is a reversal of the crackdown after weeks of protest of the removal of president mmm. it is suggested that the brotherhood be allowed to operate under government monitoring. >> for nearly two weeks, fire crews in california have worked non-stop battling the rim wildfire around es mile national park. crews are using a predator drone to fly over the massive blaze and discover flames that are breaking out. there are more than 4,000 firefighters trying to get a handle on this wildfire. it is 30% contained and wind

conditions will improve today. six firefighters have been hurt since the fire started. >> while wildfires scorch the west coast, severe flooding affects millions across asia. dozens of people have died in china, dealing with its worst flooding in more than a century. some of the worst hit areas include the northeast along the russian border. thousands have been evacuated, more than 100 are missing. >> in pakistan, monsoons have caused widespread flooding across that area of the country. more heavy rains are forecast next month. in 2010, the worst floods in pakistan's history killed almost 1800 people. >> back here in the u.s., some parents of the country are dealing with excessive heat, but relief may be on the way. for more, lets bring in our meteorologist, dave warren. >> we'll start with the flooding here. it's monsoon moisture along the

east coast, dealing with a lot of this rain in india and pakistan. you can see the moisture coming in off the ocean and dumping in india. that's one place where there's a lot of flooding. the next is tropical storm conray, a slow-mover, dumping a lot of rain over taiwan and eastern china. that will impact japan. juliet off the baja peninsula moving slowly up the coast. part of the storm is over land, the rest over the ocean. it continues to hold its strength and dump a lot of wind and rain and give a lot of wind to that area. >> here in the u.s., we are talking about severe weather. north decoupage is a watch and few warnings, big cluster of storms moving west to southeast. there's also excessive heat. the temperatures are down into the mid 70's now, 80 in minneapolis in this hour. it's going to be another hot one by this afternoon. factoring in the humidity, that is heat index values above

100 degrees, so this area again dealing with the heat, might see some relief by the weekend as cooler air moves in. the cooler air is trying to move in to the east. the radar has heavy flooding in west virginia yesterday. right now it's all clear. the future computer forecast shows the rain will stay in canada, maybe a few light showers across the northeast with drizzle. temperatures are into the 70's, climbing into the lower 80's today, so nice and comfortable here in the northeast. >> death by lethal injection, that should be the fate of nidal hasan, a military jury delivered the verdict for the former army major who killed 14 people at fort hood in 2009. >> you may want to allow more time to get your fast food today with that workers set to walk off the job, protesting low wages. >> i'm john henry smith. college football star johnny

moon zeal received his punishment, but was it really a punishment at all?

launched a new and needed voice

in journalism. the new york times calls it "serious, straight-forward news". "accurate, responsible" says the washington post. and the baltimore sun says, "instantly engaging and powerful". al jazeera america, there's more to it. >> what are the laws going to begin to take effect? >> reporter: the laws do not go >> convicted killer major nidal hasan is facing years of mandatory appeals. wednesday, a court martial jury sentenced him to death years after the shooting rampage at fort hood. his sentence came less than one week after conviction. it was november, 2009 when he opened fire on his fellow soldiers. 13 people died and more than 30 others were injured. >> investigators say a north korean ship was carrying weapons in violation of u.n. sanctions. there are reports a ship seize

said in panama last month contained cargo including missile launching equipment from cuba. that and other military hardware were found hidden under sacks of sugar. cuba responded that the ship contained obsolete equipment being sent for rare. >> tens of thousands of fast food workers are going on strike in dozens of cities across the country, part of a nationwide push to get chains to pay workers higher wages. today's strike is expected to be the largest nationwide according to organizers. workers want $15 an hour. many earn the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, earning $15,000 a year. >> an emotional night at the u.s. open as a crowd tournament says goodbye. john henry smith has that story. >> they let james blake hear the love. >> i'm sorry to have missed that match.

>> despite constant rain in flushing new york, it was an uneventful day. to sad vans, blake needed to 11 more set. he came close down the stretch, but could not get it done. james blake loses, his first loss in 12 first round open matches. with that, he retires from tennis. >> i don't know when it's going to hit me. i don't think i'll be sleeping much tonight. thanks for staying for everyone. i can look at the clock, it's after midnight and still got a lot of people here supporting me, and you know, it's hitting me now that i'm never going to have this again in my life and i need to appreciate every single one of you for being here. [ cheers and applause ] thank

you. >> well deserved applause for an excellent career. blake's match lasted past midnight and the women's draw sloan stevens' second round match started just before midnight. she must have wanted to get to bed. she took 58 minutes to dispatch her opponent. the 11:53 start time was the second latest start time for an open match ever. >> if you're a parent, sometimes you've got to lay down the law with your kids before bad behavior becomes truly destructive behavior. it looks like that's what's going on between don mattingly and yasiel puig. after drying to break up a double play, he slammed his bat in disgust. he caught a flyball, whipped it into the stands. you may remember last week, he

showed up late for a game. don mattingly had seen enough, pulling him from wednesday's game in the fifth. afterward, puig said it's a good decision. >> another day, another home run, home run leader chris davis. this gives him 47 on the season. that not only puts him in the top spot by four over miguel cabrera of the tigers, it gives him the third best season in baltimore orioles history. >> as a result of the ncaa's investigation into his autograph signing, johnny manziel will have to sit out for 30 minutes of game time. he was suspended for the first half of the season opener saturday against rice for violating ncaa rules signing autographs poor money. the school considers the

violation "inadvertent." the ncaa once suspended dez bryant four games for lying about having dinner with deion sanders and another for selling his own ohio state memorabilia. >> a full slate of college games are on tap, 17 to be exact, including one pitting heisman trophy candidate and the south carolina game cox against north carolina. >> same-sex marriage licenses issued after the state district court rules it constitutional. find out why the battle in new mexico is just beginning. >> it's one of three pieces of art worth millions and it could be yours for the right bid. ç]

>> new mexico's most populated county, home to half the state began issuing same-sex marriage licenses this week. a group of represent legislators plans to file a lawsuit to stop the licenses from being issued, arguing it's up to the state

legislature with the consent of the governor to make laws, not county clerks or district judges. dozens have been granted so far. >> qatar plans to launch its first satellite into space tonight. the hail one communication satellite is schedule would to take off in french gee anna. once deployed, it will transmit over 100 television stations, including aljazeera, providing communication services across europe, the middle east and africa. >> florida is under siege from a slimy crawling creature. it's the second time in the last 50 years the state has done battle with the giant african land snail. it's happening again. >> no blade of grass is left, no leave left unturned. >> it's like a real life easter

egg hunt. it means a lot when you find one, because it not gust an egg or prize, it's a pest trying to hide. >> 120,000 giant african land snails have been in testing miami dade county. they're like a ticking bomb on a vital source of income. >> an entire nature depends on florida agriculture. if these snails were to get into agriculture producing areas, it could wreak havoc upon the industry, second only to tourism. >> it was an expression for me, very impressive. >> it carries meningitis that have killed a dog. they eat more than 500 types of plants and will munch on paint antstucco if need be. >> i knew snails could wreak havoc, but a smile that size could do far more damage.

i grow tropical plants, almost their preferred food. >> they can hatch up to 100 eggs a month. that's why the state and federal government devoted almost $8 million to the fight to kill almost every last one of them. >> there's a mystery surrounding these giant african snails. how did they get here? >> the mystery may never be solved. this will be a long and costly war of road occasion. during an infestation in the significant's, it took almost a decade to wipe them off the map in florida. >> the department of agriculture says they've contained those snails in 20 separate locations in the area. >> an ancient porcelain obama is expected to be sold for more than $10 million. an auction will be held featuring chinese art including this bowl, dating back to the 1500s approximate. that will do it fastball edition

of aljazeera news. i'm stephanie sy. thanks for watching.