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>> the death toll is higher than originally estimated. more than 1400 people were killed, more than 400 children. thousands of protesters and muslim brotherhood supporters rallied across egypt, against a military coup. they stopped them by using tanks and armored police vehicles. at least six people were killed. those are the headlines at this hour. america tonight is up next. you can get the latest news online at al jazeera.com. i will see you at 11:00 eastern time. >> on america tonight, now it's all in the timing. washington sends its firmest signals yet that it intends to act. >> they are watching. they want to see whether the

united states and our friends mean what we say. >> back to school and adding up the risks. chicago students seek safe passage to class. >> it be glasses on the floor and the drugs. you have to walk through all of that danger and it's very carry. also tonight, losing control. a burst of heat threatens to fuel a new round of california wildfires. ♪ and good evening, thanks for being with us, i'm joie chen. while the timing remains a mystery, the white house laid down some clear markers about

the actions against syria. both president obama and his chief diplomat, secretary of state john kerry had high confidence that the syrian government used chemical weapons against its own people and set fairly clear guidelines in place about how it intends to hold damascus responsible. the president tossed in a small caveat saying he didn't make a final decision. sheila macvicar is here. is there a time line in place. well, it's saturday morning, very early in damascus. we expect that the u.n. weapons inspectors have all left syria. that's important because the u.s. would not carry out any military action while they were still in the country. >> we will talk more about the declassified but first to president obama being war weary. the president said he had not yet made a decision about what action or actions he would take. but he described the chemical

weapons attack in damascus as a challenge to the world, that violates american national security interests. the president also made clear he is thinking about limited, narrowly focused actions. >> we're not considering any open-ended commitment. we're not considering any boots on the ground approach. what we will do is consider options that meet the narrow concern around chemical weapons, understanding that there's not going to be a solely military solution to the underlying conflict and tragedy that's taking place in syria. >> the u.n. is now saying it will be about two weeks before the results of lab tests on samples taken on damascus will be ready. secretary of state john kerry says while the u.s. respects the u.n. and the bravery of the inspectors, waiting for the tests would not tell the administration anything it didn't already know. the inspector's job is not to determine who used chemical weapons, only to confirm that

they were used. kerry said the government's estimate of what took place is as clear as it is compelling. >> it matters deeply to the credibility and the future interests of the united states of america and our allies. it matters because a lot of other countries, whose policies challenge these international norms, are watching. they are watching. they want to see whether the united states and our friends mean what we say. it is directly related to our credibility and whether countries still believe 9 united -- the united states when it says something. we are watching to see if syria can get away with it, because then maybe they too can put the world at greater risk. >> for the first time, we have a u.s. estimate of the death toll. secretary kerry said at least 1,429 syrians were killed, including at least 426 children. he added that some first

responders, including doctors and nurses became victims themselves. as part of the case that rocket fire only game from regime-controlled areas and landed only in rebel-held suburbs, the government released this map. green areas are rebel held and brown regime control. the locations of at least 12 chemical strikes are marked. kerry also said that even after he had personally called the foreign minister of syria, the regime continued to shell these rates four times higher than in previous days. a bid to destroy evidence, he said. >> so sheila, what is the sentiment on the ground among the syrian people? >> well, in large measure, it does depend to a certain extent who you are. for regime supporters last night, for example, they had a victory parade in damascus after the british parliament voted no against the u.s. action. on the rebel side there was a lot of fear and apprehension. we cannot verify the

authenticity but the voices you hear are conducted by a journalist we know well. the syrian regime continued to pound rebel-held areas of damascus today. the same areas with poisoned gas last week. the dead were buried. we are told those who survived the attack are now feeling better. demonstrations against the regime are now a regular feature of friday life in the rebel suburbs. this friday, people focusing on what might happen if the u.s. strikes. remember, these people are against the regime. the very people you might think would welcome any attack on the regime. >> it's going to strike civilians. tomorrow ba share will -- bashar will attack and claim it was the americans and then the americans will attack and say it was bashar.

>> they announced these attacks five days ago and the regime has moved chemical weapons and scud missiles to different locations. the attacks won't help us at all. >> this is going to be an attack on us, and not bashar. this is going to be an attack on our kids and loved ones. >> today is friday and it's a holiday. >> this is a filmmaker who works often with western journalists. he spoke with us via skype. >> people obviously know the united states is talking about some kind of military strike against the syrian regime. what do people there think about that? do they think it will help them? >> people want to topple the regime in any means. i mean, they have been on the machine for two years and a half now and they are really very tired of these forces. so any talk about anything that might end this war, it will be

very excited and it will be accepted immediately. but the thing is, the americans tried, and it's just like -- just to -- to banish the regime, not to topple the regime. and this is a problem for them. i mean, people here they feel very lonely in their situation, in their tragedy, in their problem, and even more they just -- i mean, as i said, they are very worried about any attack that might even target them. one man told me yesterday that it's a war between russia and america, just on our soil. >> one more note about timing, joie. as i said, the inspectors are expected to leave very shortly. the president himself departs for stockholm on tuesday night. it would appear in the u.s. contemplating military action, it's a short window.

>> very short window over this weekend. joining us is mouaz moustafa. your organizations work together to bring u.s. lawmakers with moderate elements in syria. i wonder if what you have heard today, both from secretary kerry and the president himself, do you think the case is made, is it time for punishment by the u.s.? >> absolutely. i think it's overdue that the united states takes a greater leadership role in terms of addressing the many humanitarian crimes, conventional or chemical weapons. this is not the first time the chemical weapons were used by the regime, with unequivocal evidence that he had used them against the civilians. we have seen the chemical weapons increase in scale, as your colleague said over 1400 people were killed in 12 hours. >> so it clear to you that the appropriate punishment is military strikes and on what kinds of targets would be appropriate at this point? what would help? >> right. well, i think what is important is that there is some sort of

overarching strategy. even if we do limited strikes, and at the same costs that we're thinking about, obviously no ground troops and no sort of long engagements with the regime, but this must be some sort of effort in thinking strategically of how we can push towards a solution and push the regime into actually being serious about transitioning. >> and what is the current thinking? i mean the targets, will they be against the chemical depots. >> no, one of the problems on the ground is that the syrians have for the last five days been moving a lot of things around. so while the u.s. had a high degree of certainty just a few weeks ago that it knew where the chemical weapons were, it no longer has that certainty. there have been pictures taken by rebels, rebel scouts that have shown that scud missiles have been moved around. things that the u.s. thought were in one place may no longer be there. there is a risk of accidentally

hitting a chemical depot and releasing more gas. the point about overarching strategy, in a sense, that is the problem. while the president, secretary kerry insist that this is about getting to the negotiating table, there must be a negotiated solution, it's not entirely clear how these strikes or strike would play out to drive that. >> and would it? is there any way that you can see that that could be manipulated? >> well, i mean, absolutely. i think that if -- you know, you can punish the assad regime for what he has done and in doing that be able to also have some sort of strategic vision. so, for example, ending the capable of the assad regime of targeting civilians regardless of what sort of weapons that they are using or being able to take out the airports that are receiving constant resuppliment of arms from russia and iran on a regular basis. these things would help either rattle the inner circle of the regime. they can feel immune and help push him towards a negotiating table or ouster or at least limit his capability of

attacking civilians and i think that's something that we should, you know, keep in mind since we will be taking this step. >> and you do talk to u.s. lawmakers quite a bit, trying to work things out with the moderate elements as you said in syria. what do you hear now from them? what is their thinking? >> as far as members of congress? i mean, the members that have been very sort of engaged, the senior staffers that have been on multiple congressional delegations and have met with fsa, they are very much supportive. first of all, there must be a measure taken, because he will use these chemical weapons again. second of all, we can't trust them with these weapons even after this sort of punishment. i think he's being backed into a wall into using something like that. i see a lot of -- i think the same talking points in the sense that we should be looking at the entire crisis. we should be using this strike in one way or another to help push towards the political solution. and that's been the sentiment on the republicans and the democrats. obviously there's also the

political discussion of the authorization of congress and that's sort of a separate issue. >> and publish opinion as well. >> the syrian emergency task force as well as our correspondent sheila macvicar, thank you both. >> still here on "america tonight" seeking a safe passage on the first day of class. extra eyes following chicago kids back to school. make sure that stories don't escape them. >> every day a storm of views. how can you fully understand the impact unless you heard angles you hadn't considered. consider this, antonio mora brings you smart conversation that challenges the status quo. stories that matter to you.

what happens when social media uncovers unheard, fascinating news stories? >> they share it.

>> social media isn't an afterthought. america. >> al-jazeera social america community online. >> this is your outlet for those conversations >> post, upload and interact. >> every night, share undiscovered stories. >> the stream, tomorrow night, higher temperatures this weekend could erase gains made against that massive wildfire, which is still threatening yosemite national park. some 5,000 firefighters have been battling round the clock to contain the california rim fire. now it seems their work may not be over yet.

"america tonight" caught up with one firefighter who has been in the heat of the battle. >> my name is michael gallagher and i'm presently a battalion chief at carp summerland fire. i haven't been on anything this big in probably 20 years. we have been assigned night operations. we work all night long. come back, we get resupplied, refueled. we eat. we can, we catch a few hours of sleep and we go back and do it again. this is our eighth, ninth day on the line, and we're going to keep going until either somebody relieves us or we turn a corner on this thing and put it out. we were up in a division last night where firefighters put the fire on the ground, fought fire with fire. as the big fire burns this way, the smaller fire, we set burns this way and it eliminates all of that fuel so that the fire can't jump the highway or whatever line you are trying to hold. as soon as the fire was laid out on the ground, it got into 9 dry ground fuel and then

trees started to torch. so you would hear that crackle and this -- you knew we were going to get to some fireworks. you see colors and sounds and smells that you will never see anywhere else. all the smoke that this fire creates in the daytime when it's blowing up, an inversion layer pushes it down to ground level, which cuts down our visibility to 20 or 30 meters at most. when this fire blows through here, and burns the base of some of these trees, they go down and if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, you are going to be in a lot of trouble. so firefighting day and night is grueling work. it's physically exhausting and there's nothing else like it. >> good luck to california's hot shots. the rim fire has scorched 315 square miles, more than 4,500 homes remain threatened. the full containment of this fire is not expected for at least another three weeks. we will keep a close watch. on "america tonight" we also have been very closely following the violence that has

overwhelmed chicago neighborhoods. and this week, school kids headed back to class. so there was additional concern, understandably. budget cuts have forced chicago to close dozens of schools this summer and that meant many children had to walk new and often rough routes to class. the city hired police and monitors to guard so-called safe passage routes like this one around mollison elementary. the red dots indicate homicides in the same area over the past year and that's a reality that families cannot escape. "america tonight" sarah hoye whose grandmother decided to take a different route. >> reporter: it's first week of school in the windy city. but instead of being seated at a desk in school, irene robinson's grandchildren are seated on a curbside outside the shuttered doors of their former elementary school. >> what the board is doing is

wrong to our children. >> reporter: chicago native irene robinson took matters into her own hands this week. >> we will not let them destroy our children's futures. >> reporter: keeping her grandchildren home the most important day of the school year, the first day of classes. the city's cost-cutting closure of 50 schools in the third largest school district in the country due to under enrollment drew national attention. no longer up the street from school, robinson's six grandchildren now have to trek almost ten blocks to their new school, along vacant lots invitesy street corners. the city's answer, safe passage. a security program with 600-based community workers hired to get kids where they were closed to their new schools safely. robinson doesn't buy it. is the safe passage safe? >> no, it's not. it's not. they not going to -- they won't be able to protect themselves, let alone our children. >> reporter: this year chicago

public schools expanded the program to serve nearly 100 schools. according to the city, crime along safe passage routes was down 20% over the last two years. signs dot the routes. school buses also carry students to their new school. chicago mayor rahm emanuel spent part of money visiting two chicago public schools and says the city remains committed to the children's safety. >> i believe every child to live up to their full potential, every adult must live up to their responsibility. >> reporter: yet recent shootings sparked public concern about children's safety. community organizer g2 brown says the threat is real. >> they can't predict what is going to happen. that's why you see murders along these safe passage routes. would would roll the dice -- who would roll the dice and put children at risk, the possibility of young people walking a route where there have been murders? your camera wasn't looking, there were just two prostitutes walking right down the street past us.

who would make children cross that in order to go to school? that to set a child up for failure, to put a child in harm's way is evil. it's not even about bad policy. it's saying that have disdain for you. >> reporter: do you feel the community was left out of the process? >> yes, i do. i feel that they just went in and decided to do what they want with our children. they do not know what is best for our children or our community or our schools because they not here. >> reporter: in your opinion, are the students of chicago being set up to fail? >> yes. in my opinion, our black children and latino children are being set up to fail. and to me, that them knowing exactly what they are doing is premeditated murder on our children! >> reporter: robinson's 13-year-old granddaughter said she's afraid to walk to her new school. >> i don't know what will happen to us, as we walk through all the danger and the

drugs. >> reporter: are you scared. >> yes, i'm scared. if i don't get on the school bus or have no transportation, then i will have to go through a really dangerous part, because it be glasses on the floor, drug dealers and you have to walk through that danger and it's very scary. >> sarah, you were looking for a response from the city, did you get any? >> reporter: we did. and we were told there were no incidents of violence during this week within the safe passage zone. however, earlier this week, just outside of the zone, there was a shooting very close to an elementary school. now, we learned that the mayor of the city of chicago did address the safety workers and we have a statement. what 9 the -- the mayor told the safety workers:

>> yes. >> and that, of course is from the mayor. >> that sounds great, all of those things sound great, but how do the families feel? >> reporter: well, they are scared. you are talking about moving people who may have had to walk maybe one block to school and they are going, eight, nine, ten. they are not just crossing the street. we are talking about crossing busy intersections and walking underneath the el train and crossing gang territory. it's not an easy jaunt. >> sarah hoye "america tonight" correspondent. reporting from chicago tonight. the long road back from hurricane sandy. >> why should the rest of america care about spending the money to replenish the beaches in new jersey. >> because when crisis happened in florida, mississippi, alabama, or in iowa along the river or other places in the midwest, we don't ask, you

know, why would you want to rebuild that? we stand up for other americans. and new jersey is a donor state. we get 62 cents back for every dollar we send to the federal government. >> that was "america tonight's" adam may with new jersey's most famous resident, almost a year after hurricane sandy, governor chris christie says they must rebuild but at what cost? we will have that story next week. and still to come, a real life ironman suit that's changing lives one step at a time.

finally tonight, technology. for most of us, that means the latest app on a smartphone, but sometimes a piece of hardware can profoundly change lives. >> it's a bionic robot called xcel, a battery powered external skeleton that give her legs the power to do this. >> are you ready? >> three, two, one... >> blastoff!

>> and this. >> i'm walking, you guys! >> and even this. >> thank you. >> the technology is so cutting edge, that amanda is the first person in the united states to own one. >> the moment she stood up, i was just amazed because she's been sitting down for 21 years and that first feeling to stand up again is just -- i would have been thrilled to be in that position. >> it was an emotional moment for these kids who spent the past year selling countless cups of lemonade and raising money from generous donors to make it happen. >> that was, like, my dream right there. all i wanted to see was her walk. it was amazing. >> for jason geezer, xcel meant he could walk with karen, the day he made her his wife.

>> and she walks to me and we turn and walk down to get married together. and so it was the most amazing day. i can't even put words to describe how important it was for that day to happen just like that. >> that is a tremendous story from our friends at techno. you can hear more about the exo suit. and that's it for us here on "america tonight." if you want to comment on any of the stories you see here, log on to aljazeera.com/americatonight. you can meet our team and get a sneak preview on the stories we are working on already and you can tell us what you would like to know about our program. as well, you can join our conversation with us on twitter or at our facebook page. and we will have more of "america tonight" tomorrow.

♪ haiti, october 2010, at a hospital in a small, rural town north of the capital. these were the first victims of a horrific, unknown disease in a country still reeling from a devastating earthquake. patients were dying in the space of a few hours. children were especially vulnerable. al jazeera was the first news channel on the scene. in the following days and weeks we tracked the epidemic as it ripped across the country. leaving dozens, then hundreds, and soon thousands of haitians dead in its wake.