>> hello e everyone, and this is al jazeera. i'm tony harris from new york. the white house is getting ready to layout its syria action plan. and the numbers are in, and it is good news for the economy and the gdp beats forecasts. the irs said same sex married couples across the country will now be able to file joint federal tax returns. and the nfl have agreed to pay $17 million to settle a lawsuit to players who say they suffered

football-related injuries. >> discrete and limited, that is the response the u.s. is threatening to take against syria for the cue use of chemicl weapons against civilians. but whatever it says it will not be like iraq. >> the president has been cleared he's not contemplating open reaction. what he's contemplating is discrete and limited. >> the president has briefed the house and john boehner. >> i think we can be as certain as possible when we have a regime that has used chemical weapons on 14 occasions and is likely responsible for this large scale attacks, attack, anf

nothing is doing they will think they can do it over and over again. >> they are arguing whether reaction will destabilize the question. bashiral asha al-assad is respog to the military strikes and says, quote, the country will respond to any aggression. so the president medes with the speaker of the house, they have a conversation, what comes out of it? >> 123-4507 the speaker said he insisted on further consolation with congress. but one thing that he's not asking for, tony, that is worth pointing out, he's not specifically asking that the president come to congress and ask for a vote of authorization. many have said that.

to avoid foreign entanglements they have written the president and joined by a separate letter, 54 members of the left side of the political spectrum said that the president should come to congress for prior authorization. the way things are shaping up it doesn't look like that may happen. congress does not return until september 9th. with know that james clapper, the director of national intelligence, susan rice, chuck hagel anddown kerry, they're going to be briefing the leadership of congress tonight iin a conference call. will be the top leadership in the house and senate both republican and democrat. and the president spoke with angela merkel, the chancellor of germany, they're waiting to see what the president and david

cameron can come up with. and in the interview last night very interesting phrase. he may have tipped his hand. he said in a very clear and limited way we would set a shot across the bow seeming to indicate a punitive strike by the united states and whorallies it cawhateverallyies deck get o. >> he said core national interests are on the line here. what did he mean by that? >> this is another indication of which way the white house is leaning.

. >> reporter: there didn't seem to be any agreement on a new draft resolution by the united kingdom perhaps linked to that parliamentary vote that is about to happen there, trying one more chance to get the u.n. to approve military action. they came together again in the last hour, a meeting called by the russians. that meeting is now broken up, and no one is saying anything at this stage. certainly.

. >> that's a very important question. they do finish their work in the initial investigation on friday. we're told they'll be out of syria on saturday. now here among diplomats of the security council they're going to get reports from ban ki-moon. some are talking about an emergency meeting taking place on sunday. i have it from a very high u.n. source they don't have a mobile lab in syria. when they come out, the blood samples, the samples that

they've taken at the scene of the attacks, they all have to be sent off to laboratories in europe. i'm being told that that work, that laboratory work could take more than days. possibly weeks. and remember the british under this parliamentary motion that is going to be voted on shortly say that they have to wait for that report before they can join any action, and before they can have another parliamentary vote. it looks like the british won't be involved in any military action potentially for weeks. the u.n. is still expecting that it's possible that the u.s. and france could go it alone before that. that's from information that is coming from seen u.n. forces that they're trying to reduce the footprint of staff in syria. they're not evacuating anyone formerly, but u.n. staff who are thinking of leaving, if you want to take your vacation, it's a good time.

. >> apparently been in communication with angela merkel, and they agree that some reaction is necessary. apparently angela merkel talking to vladimir putin, and they agree a quick, unanimous international reaction is necessary. tony? >> you just mentioned the german reaction, as well. we'll continue to follow developments here and we'll get some kind of reaction from the british parliament vote, we'll get that to you as well. we'll look at what israelis are doing along the border to stay safe as well as refugee problems

in lebanon because of syrian violence. we have brighter news on the economy. a revision of growth figures show that the economy grew up .8% from from the original productions opropredictions of . and unemployment fell to 331,000, and john sums it all up. >> reporter: gdp takes all the output of all the companies and government departments in the u.s. put it in one basket and came up with 1.7%. not too good with the american economy who is capable of doing far better. today they revised it for the first time, and guess what, it was 2.5%.

much better than the economists have been expecting. one of the reasons for that can be seen over my shoulder. it's exports, things that we send overseas were up, and imports were down a little bit. of course, it wasn't all good news. government spending fell some more, that's the affect of the sequester, and consumer spending, that was pretty flat where it was at the time of the last report. one reason for that could be the disposable income is what people have have left after tax have been taken out, that's been down a little bit. of course, if the economy is strengthening, that makes it more likely that the federal reserve will end its stimulus program that has been propping up the economy, and that could make some people very nervous. >> morninamerican made, we are e

more on what it means to the workforce. >> reporter: the new ford fusion rolled off the line and it brings with it hundreds of new jobs. that's good news for a plant that not too long ago almost closed. new jobs and new investments for the first time ever ford will begin producing it's new fusion sedan out of the u.s. the new line which is produced in mexico has created 1400 new jobs in the plant located 20 miles south of detroit. this is the same plant that faced an uncertain future when the production hit a low.

. >> we are outside of the mcdonald's here at the world famous intersection of hollywood and highland. these workers are among the more than 180.

♪

>> a tax victory for same-sex couples can now file joint federal tax returns. the ruling comes two months after the supreme court validated key provisions of the defense of marriage act. ross murray is the director of news glad, here to discuss the new federal benefit. >> this is a really significant move and step from the federal government, from the treasury department. it's one of those ways in which section three of doma is really becoming real and tangible part of lgbt lives. that's very important. >> a federal appeals court

upheld prohibiting health practitioners of offering they are by for minors. counselors who support the practice or intrude on patients rights for their children. journal assist with the associated press revealed that police had been spying on several of the city mosques which the nypd has labeled as terrorists. >> i feel betrayed. we are the people who are trying to forge a cooperation between the nypd and our community and you come up being surveilled. >> new york police chief ray

kelly has defended the surveillance programming say it's all legal and in line with federal direction. with us is the ex-difficult director of the arab american association of new york. linda, it's good to see you. well to the al jazeera program. your organization was slapped with that label, terrorist organization. do you know why? >> i'm a social service agency providing english classes to immigrant women, and i believe the only lead that the police department has is a new designation that the nypd paid made up so they can--

>> that it made up? >> i never heard of terrorism enterprises, and there is nothing in the guidelines that says why the new york police department goes into the organization. that was in 2003. now it is 2013. it's ten years later. if you haven't found anything, get out of our mosque, get out of our organization. >> did the nypd try to infiltrate your group. >> yes, in the document, these do not belong to the associated press. they were created by the nypd. the goal by the nypd was to infiltrate my board, but not only to listen in on our events or access clients but want to take a position, an official position on the board of my organization. >> tell me about the chilling affect of that? >> you just don't trust anyone. how can you trust who you work with between us with our own

community. that's the country i was born in, and this is not why my parents came here from palesti palestine. >> i suppose i know how i would respond to this next question, how would you respond to it. if your organization is not doing anything wrong, what does it matter? >> i'm an american. i'm a new yorker. i deserve privacy just like any other new yorker. if they're planting people in the one guy who was planning to blow up an abortion clinic, they would be outraged, and that outrage needs to come from the muslim community. there is this alarming information of blanket surveillance of the muslim community in the northeast. >> labored a terrorist enterprise, and you're taking this all the way to the justice

department. >> thank you for having me. >> our coverage of serious work continues as citizens of syria are leaving their country. we'll have their story ahead. and preparing for attacks what steps the israelis are taking along the border. plus many are walking off the job, demanding higher pay, their fight and what it means for the business owners. that's straight ahead.

saudi arabia for that. ♪ make sure that storiesç]

>> i'm tony harris, and here are the headlines on al jazeera this hour. the u.s. economy appears to be better than expected. the economy grew 2.5% between april and june, however spending was flat, and government spending fell during that same perpendicular. the nfl has agreed to a settlement for thousands of former players. the players feel that the league failed to inform them of

problems related to concussions. the u.n. security council meeting ended with no resolution to the conflict. the rode between syria and beirut has been jammed with people trying to leave the war-torn nation. al jazeera's david jackson reports at the board between syria and lebanon. >> reporter: hot, dusty and streaming with refugees. the border means safety for those trying to escape the dangerous of damascus, it's only 20 miles away and seen as a certain target if the u.s. decide to strike as punishment for use of chemical weapons. those who support the assad regime say they would give their eyes to defeat america.

>> we're on the right side of the regime. >> you think assad is the right side. >> absolutely. >> you totally support assad. >> to the end, to the dead. >> reporter: these children are coming out of syria for their own safety, but many of the men crossing with them will be back today to support the syrian military regime. >> you're going to go right back and go back in. >> sure, surer today. we bring our families to a safe place. we need to save our children to make them fight america in another generation. >> reporter: this is a main border crossing from damascus to beirut. on several roads and paths it's believed that rebel supporters

are also on their way out. those people have left illegally never to return while assad remains in trouble. still others are passing the border reluctantly to visit relatives, only to go back into damascus to witness the event and pray for safety. >> you don't want to leave the family if they're in safety. >> yes, i'm in a hurry to come back, whatever it is, how much dangerous or not, we feel that it's very dangerous, but we can't do anything. >> reporter: nervous, absolutely. but resigned to a life in a war-torn city that certainly faces more battles ahead. david jackson, al jazeera. >> as the situation in syria continues to worsen, neighboring israel is taking precautions for its own citizens. jonathan betz is in jerusalem with more. >> reporter: here in jerusalem there are certainly a lot of tension and a lot of fear depending on what could happen in the next couple of days.

government is handing out gas masks to all citizens free. we actually went to one distribution center earlier today where there were hundreds of people lined up trying to get those gas masks for them and their family. the wait lasted all day. some people had to come back the next day to try to get them. there is a lot of fear about what may happen in syria because there's talk that if syria is hit with a missile strike, israel could be attacked in retaliation. chances of that, though, are low. the government is assuring people that they do not expect israel to be attacked. the country has not issued an alert, you there is nonetheless a lot of fear here. >> the syrian, quote, they will defend themselves against any aggression regarding a strike by western nations. it is not clear if assad would retaliate for any western strikes. trying to make sense of the situation in syria it is

critical to understand who is bashir al-assad is. yes, he is president but even though he practically inherited the position, it was not always his path. he has a degree in opt ophthalm, and he rose through the ranks and became an colonel in the 1999. assad's father died in 2000. a month laird basha later bashad president. he was viewed as a modernist with new views for syria before the up rising in 2011. you can follow more about syria's war through our website at www.aljazeera.com. this summer low-wageworkers have tried to tell their employers they're worth more by going on strike.

some feel a bit more respective at work but most are making minimum wage. we report from chicago on one woman's struggle to get by. >> reporter: the squeeze of living paycheck to paycheck is all too real for nancy and her two kids. coming home to a cramped one-bedroom apartment. >> we sleep here, and me and my daughter by the wall, and my son in the middle. >> reporter: there is no room in her budget for more space, and staying ahead of the bills is impossible. for ten years she has worked at mcdonald's never making more than minimum wage which here in illinois is $8.25 an hour. >> i get notice where i'm money. >> reporter: salagado does her best to cook at home buying rice and beans to save money but her mom expenses add up fast. rent is $750 a month.

natural gas and electricity $200. daycare, $150. her bills total more than $1,400. but her best case income $1,300 falls short and that's before taxes. the only public assistance this mother receives is for daycare. they went on a day-long strike in july. taking a stand for higher wages and more respect on the job. in chicago the movement has been >> if these workers were paid at least $15, these workers could give back to the economy. they wouldn't have to depend on the government for subsidies, for welfare, for food stamps. >> reporter: the fight for a living wage isn't new, but some economists say a substantially highigher minimum wage way not n win fall. some employers could find it

cheaper to automate tasks like ordering and payments and get much more selective about who they hire. alan anderson teaches economics. >> the average person who doesn't want to work at mcdonald's for 750 $7.50 an hour would certainly want to work there for $15 an hour. >> reporter: she keeps a smile. her situation may not change any time soon but she can't afford to lose hope. al jazeera chicago. >> both sides have something to gain or lose from these strikes. for more contacts we invite jeff callaway to join us, chair of labor relations, and he's joining us from ithica, new york, the average worker makes $15,000 a year. is that a reasonable demand in your estimation? >> well, it's a good start, but

it is ambitious. i think it's going to take a long time before it's $15 an hour. but the conscience raising and the social awareness is more important in creeping that wage up close for $15. >> you know, you've written about the working class plenty. you know, i wonder what is the argument that you make in regards to your work, your writing. >> we've seen the last days of the working class in the 170s. what we meant by that is the decline of that white male steelworker, auto worker, we no longer have a working class in our imagination. i think that's what is exciting about the fast food employees going out on strike and into the street, suddenly we're getting a

new face about the working class, and probably will be for quite some time. >> well, professor as you know we marked the 50s anniversary of the march on washington for jobs. are these workers fighting against history here? haven't these jobs always paid a low wage? >> well, actually they used to have fairly strong restaurant unions at the beginning of the turn of the century, but it's important to remember that those jobs that we regard high paying jobs, the auto, steel, electrical, gas, they were once pretty crummy jobs. they were exploited. low pay, long hours, but what changed that people got together and formed unions and improved their positions through bargaining. there is no saying that fast food workers could do that same thing again in our own time.

>> you know, we're focusing on these fast food workers, and a lot of these fast food workers work in franchises. are the owners in those franchises in a position to raise wage it is they want to? >> that's a very interesting question. one of the great legal questions is the relationship between the parent company and the franchise. and it's a bit of a legal quagmire for the national labor relations board and contracts things like this, as well as the capacity of some of these small businesses to pay higher wages. but we have to remember as well, you know, to own a mcdonald's franchise you're looking at $1 million to $2 million to pull this off. these are not tiny mom and pop organizations. these people have brought money into the game. if you have that kind of money you could probably share it. >> appreciate it, jeff callaway is the chair of cornell university labor relations.

and he joins us from ithica, new york. appreciate it. two states that have legalized recreation marijuana use. the government decided it will not stop washington and colorado from implement their new pot laws. the two states have been waiting on the decision because federal law makes marijuana use and possession illegal. a lawsuit has been formed by four boy scouts who say they were molested by troop leaders. the attorneys for the men say the civil suit is the largest case filed against the boy scout of america. they name 14 troop leaders as suspected sexual predators, and most of the abuse was supposed to have a happened at washington state scout camp. the boy scouts of america said while we can't comment on the lawsuit, we deeply regret that there were times that boys were

abused, and for that we are sorry and we extend our deepth sympathies to the victim. it was eight years ago when hurricanhurricane katrina hit te shores. andy gallagher introduces us to some of the creative people who have gone to the big easy to help drive it's revival. >> reporter: matthew has come a long way since helping his father fix up houses in vermont. he's now a respected furniture designer with a booming business. >> this wood is what makes my work beautiful to me. >> reporter: like many of the creative entrepreneurs he was drown to new orleans in the desperate stays following hurricane katrina. >> i visited and fell in love with the city. the music, the young people moving here who really had it in their heart they wanted to be part of rebuilding the city.

>> reporter: and the influx of the young and the talented is obvious across the city. shared workspaces in the heart of downtown are increasingly common, and new orleans is now ranked as one of north america's talent. >> what has rais raised the barf the city and what can they do here. >> reporter: it has helped new orleans stage a remarkable comeback. but when you come to neighborhoods like the lower ninth ward which was hit hard by the storm there are some problems that still endure. problems that sonny lee is keenly aware of. he grew up in the lower ninth and now runs a program that mentors fatherless boys. many people never returned to his hold neighborhood.

>> we're a family in new orleans. we're all a family. when you look across the street and not see your neighbor there, it's an empty feeling, a lonely feeling. >> reporter: the picture for new orleans is a slow but steady recovery. thousands never returned after hurricane katrina, but many more have and are proud to call the big easy home. al jazeera, new orleans. >> college football is set to kick off tonight, and mark morgan is live in south carolina with the preview. >> reporter: that's right. it kicks off in just over an hour. we have a live report up next.

. can you say stocktopussy?

but should you be made aware if you are consuming them. that's next on "consider this."

>> boy, this is surprising news from the nfl. >> it is surprising and historical. the nfl and 4500 retired players have reached an agreement on the largest sports lawsuit in history. the league shelling out $765 million. the claim intentionally withheld information regarding concussions for decades so players would return to action faster. they said in a statement today. commissioner goodell and every owner gave the legal team the same direction. do the right thing for the game and the men who played it. we felt it was more critical to get help to the families who deserve it rather than many years and millions of dollars on litigation. this is built on significant

changes we have made to make the game safer. i spoke to one of the plaintiffs from the lawsuit, former lineman leonard marshall why it was so important in his mind that the nfl act. >> people don't want to hear that you make $16 billion a year and doing nothing to help the indigent or those who help build the support. when i joined the giants, it's a $716 billion franchise. you tell me. most corporations when they hire a guy and a guy restories after 30 years they find a way to take care of that guy. they don't just give them a rolex. >> reporter: that's $170,000 a player. this is out it breaks down.

$5 million for alzheimer's disease. $4 million for diagnosed with cte, brain injuries, and former players with dementia can receive as much as $3 million. on the same day that all teams are getting ready for the schedule, mark morgan joins us now from south carolina. if you're talking about south carolina this season you're talking abou about damian. >> reporter: that's right. a lot of heisman trophy talk surrounding south carolina's

layer. we spoke with josh kendall. he covers the game talk for a local paper, and i picked his brain for insight on the upcoming game in south carolina. south carolina and north carolina kick off in columbia. josh covers the game talks for the state newspaper here in columbia. what are the expectation internally within the program and within the fan base. >> internally they're going to say we're going to take it one game at a time. we'll see what we can do and if it works out we'll go to atlanta. the fan base wanting to back to the atlanta. they've beaten georgia three years in a row, but the last two years they had to watch the bulldogs go to atlanta. they had to watch the bulldogs play for the championship. south carolina, i think, wants

some payoff what has been a historically run. jadeveon clowney. >> he's a speed guy. he's off the charts. we've talked about what a freak he is. if you watch him come off the line, if a big tackle doesn't get their hands on him quickly he's going to be gone. he's faster than anybody in college football, and he's 242 pounds and 6'6". >> reporter: how do you expect he'lthey will use they are team. >> there are many ways to move the ball as they can. connor gives more than dillon, but they'll retate quarterbacks as the top of a hat. if dillon plays well, then he'll stay out there, and we'll be

looking at a hot hand for the rest of the year. but they want number 14 to go all the way, i think. >> reporter: so some great insight from josh kendall. a lot of expectation surrounding the south carolina program. they want to get the championship game, first win the east division, get to the championship game and then take it from there spurier, 22-is-1 n season openers, 8-0. >> mark morgan, we'll hear from you throughout the evening here on al jazeera sports. college football kicking off tonight trying to get that run for the national championship. >> thank you. here is a look at the weather. >> meteorologist: we're looking at a tropical storm moving by china. we'll show where you that is going to move by tomorrow night, and where the moisture will go, if it hits the united states and when. that's next.

>> meteorologist: i'm meteorologist rebecca stevenson. we're tracking a storm that has been developing into a tropical storm. you can see it move right by

china. right now it's bringing more rain, gusting winds. and we have waves up to 16 feet that are moving right across the area of the coast line. so china has had it's fair share of these storms. this particular one is expecting to move to the north-northwest. in fact, maybe be it to taipei by the time we get into tomorrow evening. then it's slowly going to continue its track up towards the aleutian islands of the alaska and then around the top of the pacific ocean. that means it will be heading to the pacific northwest, but that's a week out. a week from now parts of british columbia, the moisture from that tropical storm will be coming your way. so we do monitor storms in that manner, see how far they are out towards china. watch them move across the pacific ocean, and tells us how much rain maying falling in the states. we've got some rain with a little disturbance. most of it is for seattle, and

oregon. this rainfall being that it's not that heavy in the mountains it's still going to be causing issues. we have these wildfires that we've been talking about still borninburning in washington sta. we have flash flood watches in affect for the north cascades. now this is going to condition overnight into the early morning hours. we go farther south to the rim fire outside of san francisco, that's where we're having big problems with air quality. when you look at the visible satellite you can see the smoke coming up off this particular fire. the rain fall is going to be fairly light for the cascades initially. we expect most of it to be north of seattle. then we take a look at the wide view. it's staying pretty dry in the midwest. in fact, it's continuing.