takeaway is our company emerges from a time of war that i was elected in part to end. buzz we really want to turn away from taking appropriate action in the face of such an hello, everything, i am david schuster, welcome to al jazeera. here are the top stories we are following this hour. >> i will seek authorization for the use of force from the american people's representatives in congress. >> the president says he will seek approval on capitol hill before taking any military action against syria. the question is whether congress will give him what he wants. world reaction from france to australia, america's allies stung by the presidents decision to delay weigh in. in russia, vladimir putin says a u.s. attack would be nonsensical. plus looking for evidence of the chemical attack. u.n. inspectors have now left

syria. we'll tell what you they focus on and when their final analysis will be complete. ♪ ♪ president obama said today in the white house rose garden he has made a decision on what he wants to do to syria after that government's alleged use of chemical weapons. >> after careful deliberation, i have decided that the united states should take military action against syrian regime targets. this would not be an open-end the intervention. we would not put boots on the ground. instead our action would be designed to be limited in duration and scope. but i am confident that we can hold the assad regime accountable for their use of chemical weapons. deter this kind of behavior and degrade their capacity to carry it out. >> before that can happen, however, the president said he

will seek congressional approval. mike joins us live now from the white house. given that the president himself, mike, said today that he has authority to act without congress, take us behind the white house strategy and thinking in terms of risking a poise believe congressional defeat. >> reporter: well, you heard it from the president. he says the case against assad is rock solid and the military is ready to go. but after today's announcement, military strikes will have to come later, david, if they are to come at all. the president began by once again making the case for military action. >> but i am confident that we can hold at sawed regime account rostislav account araccountablef chemical weapon weapons and detr action and degrade their ability to carry it out. >> reporter: then the surprise he said he would go to congress for approval. >> i know the country will be stronger if we go this course and our actions will be even more effective.

>> reporter: republican house leaders welcome the move. but it is a bitterly divided congress. not only between the parties, but within each party as well. on the right, the tea party. many there take an isolation stance and oppose intervention. but mccain and others want the military action to go even further. they say they oppose any action that, quote, change the momentum on the battlefield. this as many liberal democrats also oppose attacking syria. for days, it appeared the president would bypass congress. >> it is not in the national security interest of the united states to ignore clear violations of these kind of international norms. >> reporter: mr. obama and top officials had ruled out waiting for results for u.n. inspectors and laid out their case against assad and for military action. >> a thug and a murderer like assad -- >> reporter: now a military move pick on his a vote in congress

which is not scheduled to return for more than a week and where approval is an open question. aids say the president made this decision late last night. he informed that the debate lasted in to the morning and we saw the president in the rose garden about 2:00 eastern time this afternoon here in washington, david. and one other note, we have been given a draft of the legislation that the president is proposal that's been sent up to congress, we'll see how many sponsors the legislation actually gets. >> mike, any acknowledgment from white house officials this is a pretty big political risk given that they are giving it to congress and congress could say no thanks? >> reporter: i think that's well understood. i mean, after all, this is a congress that can't pass a farm will. a congress where the speaker of the house laid down the predicate the standard of behavior not how many laws we can pass, but how many laws we can repeople the dysfunction in congress certainly no secret. this is certainly a gamble. both a political and military gamble on the part of the president. >> and, mike, is the political pay off if the vote does happen, it's approved, is the pay off

that then congress also shares in responsibility if this doesn't work in syria? >> reporter: that's right. and conversely, if the congress can't pass it, then the president can say, look, i tried. i proved my fail at this to the congresseconstitution and i fole letter of the law, gave in to demands of congress, congress didn't want to do it. he can blame it on them. but if that were to happen, david, i think there would be a whole host of repercussions, again, both political and military. >> mike, you were mentioning earlier there were a whole host of the issues they are trying to get approved this fall, immigration, budget issue says, raising the debt ceiling what sort of impact might this vote that might super charge washington what potential impact may it have on another issues still to come? >> reporter: these are all very pressing issues. if you look it the calendar, the political calendar it sounds cynical to say, this may be the president's last best chance to get any significant legislation

passed in his second term, next year is midterm election, the year after that presidential lex start and everybody will be spec lading about vice president biden versus hillary clinton, for example, and looking at the republican side. he had those things you mention approximated. he has those things you mentioned, immigration, which was to be his signature second term achievement, that's hung up now. there is the fight over funding the government, republicans threaten to go shutdown the government in the process defunding obama care. but if the president were to emerge victorious in this, the thinking is his hand could be strengthen the. but, again, the o opposite is ao true. if the president were to fail and it really is an open question at this point whether or not conga proves this, then he would be significantly weakened heading in to these other fights, david. >> al jazeera's mike ma kara at the hoyte house, great work as always, mike, and thank you. >> reporter: okay. >> senior white house officials say that they believe congress will vote in favor of the strike. however, house speaker john boehner says that chamber will not consider the measure until

the week of september the 9th, that's when congress returns from their summer break. there is some discussion of returning earlier than sketch you would. tonight harry reid said a vote in the u.s. senate on authorization will come no later than the week of september the 9th. with more reaction, we are joined now by al jazeera's libby casey. the white house formally sent to congress the pape work and request for law make toers authorize military action against sear yeah. take us through the reaction to the president's decision today. >> reporter: well, as you must mentioned, we heard from the leader in the senate of democrats, harry reid of nevada that there this vote, this anticipated vote no later than the week of september 9th. vigorous debate next week regardless of how many members are in washington or where they are located. we saw so much reaking on 30. it's been a really interesting

moment for the sigh bronze i of social media -- vibrancy of social media. with congress gathered all over the place, remote alaska and rural kentucky this is a way that they could make their viewpoint known and communicate with both constituents and those in washington who are watching for the reaction. so we have seen a really wide range. it's not just democrats versus republicans. it's nearly that simple and really running the gamut. the union identified voice is most members are saying the president has done the right thing by coming to us and asking us for our input. >> libby, we have seen a number of political analysts pointing out as mike just did, that the president's second term is riding on this. if he loses this vote, a whole host of issues he could be a lame duck for that the power of the president if he cannot make an argument on moral grounds as he has and win, how will he win anything else. >> reporter: are you getting much reaction from the republicans about this is their grand opportunity now to really ruin this president if they want?

>> reporter: we'll certainly see that comma across i come come aw days. the positioning of the questioning of the moral authority and whether or not the u.s. should get involved in what's happening overseas, a lot of members are talking about what their constituents are asking them not to do. they are hearing a lot of war weariness which the president and secretary kerry have talked about this past week. they are listening to people back home. but there are also some interesting divisions happening in inside the republican party as we have talked about, some of the hawkish members line john mccain is saying the suppress not going far enough. we'll also watch some of the libertarian members, like rand ball to see how they positions him solve this. but you are absolutely right, david, this is a key moment for the president to see what kind of power and authority he has. and he is sitting up an equation here, saying to congress, if you don't vote for this, you are essentially continuing, you are allowing the continuation of international breaking of law

and killing of innocent children. the question is, if congress will see it quite that black and white or if they will be a much muddier water that they are wadeing in to this next week. >> libby congressman peter king a big supporter of military action in syria, accused president obama of ab did ab did indicating his -- a ab did indicating his responsibility. >> those are serious words, making it harder for future presidents to use the oval office. that's -- those are some fighting words. we are seeing reaction like that from republicans but it runs the gamut. we are seeing a unified moment of saying, it's our turn, you did a good job of turning the ball to us. i think congressman king is an out lie never that respect. what happens next is crutial and how the debate moves forward. will republicans in the senate

be unified with republicans in the house or will they take different strategies how much whipping will be done. how much will they try to get a unified voice, it's hard to do when everyone is spread far apart and there is also a real difference of opinion especially among republicans about how they will vote to proceed. >> libby cas casey, thank you. we joined by heather holberg the executive director of the national security network and a speech writer and advice fore president clinton. president clinton fired cruise missiles in to the sudan, what do you think about what president obama is trying do with syria? >> it's a reflection of how much more polarized our politics have gotten since i served in the white house and how difficult it is even on this most serious responsibility of a commander-in-chief. you can't take the politics out it have. in some ways, president has actually called congress' bluff

and said you want to jump with me, okay, here we go. let's jump. >> but isn't he inviting the politics, the president himself said he could have act the without congress the authority. but once congress votes, whatever the vote, is then it's either clear that everybody is in together or i think there is a possibility their previous analyst didn't mention is the senate votes with the president with a significant number of republicans voting with him. in the house you have just like we have seen on so many other domestic issues. if the house doesn't go along, then it it a lame duck president or a lame duck house? >> if there was such a moral imperative to react. wouldn't that argue figure to tag the politics out of it? in other words, not risking that congress may not do the right thing at least in the deal with the white house? >> if you take the view that the only way to be sure that you dropped politics is to not let the people's representatives in to it. that's a pretty catastrophic invitement of democracy in our country say. >> why didn't bill clinton seek

congressional approval for military attacks in sudan. >> nobody was asking him to as i recall. >> a lot of people in congress were not asking, some were saying, president obama we need to you do. peter king and others felt the president just on the to act and take this action if it's that important, why muddy this up by going to congress. >> with all due respect, i think there is a difference between urgent and important. in this case once you lost the element of surprise in, say, the first 48, 72 hours after it happened, ther there is a strong argument for and the president made this really explicit. showing the world this is how a deliberative democracy does its business. so there is a way that, and i don't think it's guaranteed it will come out this way, because our politics are what they are, there is way it gives the opportunity to put tremendous legitimacy both here and by giving more time for our alis and partners around the world to look at the evidence and think about what they think to sort of work on what's a shared respon response. and end one more legitimacy if

cruise missiling were hitting there tonight. >> doesn't it work the other way. if the president goes to congress, they decide, no, we are not going give this approval. then the united states in terms of our legislative body have handcuffed the president. this is something the world doesn't care about. >> when the people's representatives want to weigh in a question that they are constitutionally en titled to, that's the risk you need take rather than show the world that you have abandoned your deliberative democracy. >> do you think the president will get the votes to pass this? >> i do. >> health, he thanks for think doing in, we appreciate it. >> great to be with you. >> good to have you. overseas, u.s. allies are respond to go president obama's remarks and his decision to delay. philip is live in london and joined us now. phil, the french government as advocated for military action. the president rereceived a call about the delay soon after the

president's remarks, what has been the french reaction today? >> reporter: well, the french president has responded to the decision by the obama white house to take this to congress in a positive marijuana by saying, basically, they understand that each country has to go at their own pace. the french will be meeting next week to also debate this. but we have heard from inside the government sources saying that even if the french parliament does agree to use some sort of military force in syria, that they will still wait until congress is aoeupgter on board or not before they take any action. so the french have responded positively, but with a little bit of caution and also understand that go this is going to be a democratic process in each and every member state that may take part in some sort of military action. david. >> great britain's prime minister was publicly humiliated

this week when he put action against syria to vote and the parliament wednesday against prime minter cameron's request and voted against military action, how is the british prime minister reacting to press obama's reaction? >> reporter: david cameron didn't waste any time in respond to go that speech in the rose garden he tweeted almost immediately that he supported president obama's position. as you mentioned there, david, prime minister cameron really took a beating this week, both domestically and it's thought here within public opinion in britain that by cameron forcing this issue you so quickly, and losing so badly that he damaged the u.'uk's standing internationally. there has been talk that should congress agree to allow military fors in syria, they might go back to parliament. but that's highly unlike, there is a lot to play when it comes to britain and the syria

situation. much it have domestic. so while there is some talk that they may go back and maybe change their minds, it's highly unlikely. >> fill up, live in london, phil, thanks for the update, we appreciate it. russian president vladimir putin is speaking out against possible military action in syria. he's also expressing doubts that the assad regime was behind the attack. >> common sense speaks for itself. syrian government forces are advancing, in some regions they have circled the rebels under these circumstances, giving a winning card for those that constantly call for military intervention is utter nonsense, it doesn't fit any logic especially on the day of the arrival of the u.n. inspectors i am convinced it's a provocation by those wanting to pull in other countries gaining support from powerful international players, first of all the united states. >> at the united nations there can be no resolution against

syria without the approval of each security councilmember, including russia. diplomatic editor james bays reports from the u.n. >> reporter: president obama has made it quite clear he's not waiting for the u.n. in any form, neither from the approval and authorization of the u.n. security council or for the report of the weapons inning speinspectors, but their work continues, they are in the base -- or one of the bases of the inspection team, they will take the sample that his they have gathered, blood, yo you are inning and hair samples taken from the victims and some of those who were injured in the chemical weapons attack. as well as some residue they found at the scene to laboratories in europe. the u.n. won't give details of how long the work will take. they believe it will be days, possibly even weeks, possibly even a number of weeks, they say they'll work as fast as they can.

but this is scientific analysis that needs rigorous assessment by the team before they come up with their final report. >> thank you, james bays. still ahead on al jazeera, a look at today's other news. this picture off a roller coast never atlantic defining the aftermath of hurricane sandy, knew new jersey's new unofficial motto is now stronger than the storm. we'll look at how the coastline is coming back. rebecca. >> thunderstorms are coming through we have plenty rolling across the united states tonight. coming up i'll show you where they are, where they are falling apart and where we expect more tomorrow. ♪ ♪ al jazeera america - a new voice in american journalism - >>introduces america tonight. >>in egypt, police fired teargas at supporters of the ... >>a fresh take on the stories that connect to you. [[voiceover]] they risk never returning to the united states. >>grounded.

>>real. >>unconventional. [[voiceover]] we spent time with some members of the gangster disciples. >>an escape from the expected. >>i'm a cancer survivor. not only cancer, but brain cancer.

same champs as english and arabic channels. disorder in a mexico court. why this judge lost his cool. saudi arabia for that. ♪ ♪ ♪

>> less than a year ago hurricane sandy battered new jersey's shoreline, business as cross the state lost a total of $30 billion. the effort mating cleanup costs were almost 40 billion. but now the shoreline is back on its feet just in time for the summer's last holiday weekends. al jazeera's john reports. >> reporter: surfers riding the breakers. families on the beach and the boardwalk. it's labor day weekend and this is the way life is supposed to be on the last holiday weekends of the summer. 10 months ago it was all so different. that's when hurricane sandy hit hard. a massive storm, sandy the second costliest hurricane on record came roaring ashore, pounding beachs, smashing homes, uprooting trees, downing power lines, wiping out storefronts and restaurants and even sending the roller coaster at casino pier in sea side heights in to the ocean, turning it in to one of the best known images of the disaster. this is where the roller coaster once stood.

there are plans to replace it, but for now, residents are just glad that pass casino pier is back. >> it was associated with the rainy season that we didn't have rides open but we had the water park but this was a slow start. the rides opened up in july. but we missed two holidays. luckily we still have labor day this weekend and are looking for a great turn out. >> reporter: for those who make ph*pblnew jersey's coastal townr homes, some homes are still being repaired, others have clearly been abandoned. the beach at belmar is full. but not so at poor old sea bright which is used to mopping up after storms and was devastated by sandy. woody's restaurant was under three to four feet of water whet the parking lot became a campsite for phraoepblgin peoplr

hot food and clothes. the chef said when they reopened after four months people came from all over the country and the summer has been solid. >> seeing the counsel where it was and desolate, it was like walking in to a desert we are rebuilding right now. and that's what the sea bright rising is for, we are rebuilding. >> reporter: behind woody's restaurants, the lifeguards patrol the beach. the beach manager says with 50 to 60% of the town still out of their homes, beach income is down this year. but they still have lent i of visitors. >> it was a great summer. people came back. they came and people came from all over just to support us. >> reporter: why? >> because it's a great little town by the beach. there is no other place like sea bright. >> reporter: when the beaches close after labor day and the families go back to their lives, the people of the jersey shore will be left to reflect on their first summer after the hurricane. the they'll be hoping sandy is the last storm of her size they see for a very long time. john, a at the jersey shore.

>> a new effort is underway to put the site of a levee breach during hurricane katrina on the national register of historic places. the national park service rejected a previous effort by levees.org because one of the sites it pushed for was owns by the army core of engineers. this time the organization is focusing on a site not owned by the core. ♪ ♪ i am meet kwralgs rebecca ma stevenson. so many of us or grateful for the army core of engineers because they control damns and when we have heavy rainfall we get rivers overflowing. a lot of flash flood ago long the southwest burk the flooding in the midwest tonight, severe storms. we have some thunderstorms that are focusing in parts of the midwest were try in dex, it's ts

the heat that's the problem there. that's what the warnings are for, up in minnesota hail reported the size of golf balls, also getting quite bait of lightening strikes, excessive lightning strikes including the southwest too. we are seeing those storms track their way towards places like chicago and downtow down in to indianapolis, we'll have more details on the storms and how long they will be with us tonight in to tomorrow come can go up next. >> all right, remember car. 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit china today. killed four people, the quake hit the southwest part of the country 600 buildings fell with another 5500 damaged. the quake triggered landslides and cut off power and telephone services. over 9,000 people were affected. here with your sports headlines and, ross, a business day in college football. >> you gotta love it. johnny manziel back in the spotlight and continues to make head lines, good and bad. your heisman trophy winner had to sit out the entire first half because of his autograph scandal. in the second half johnny

football getting his groove on against rice. he unleashed three touchdown passes but midway through the fourth quarter, he got bench bide his head coach for unsportsman like conduct after yapping at some rice players. but despite all of the johnny drama, texas a & m would win big, 52-31. tim tebow looking for a job. that's because the patriots cut the former heisman trophy winner today in order to get down to their 53-man rost he were. now, tebow has struggled this preseason completing just 33% of his passes. let's make ideal. the pittsburgh pirates traded for former almvp justin morneau today in exchange the pirates sends outfielder alex presley to the twins. pittsburgh currently tied with st. louis for the top spot in it the n.l. central. ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ >> welcome back to al jazeera, i am david schuster, the top stories we are following at this hour. antiwar protesters marchs in the united states today. al jazeera's kimberly reports on what they were doing. >> reporter: the threat of a u.s. attack on syria brought protesters out from coast to coast.

hundreds raised their voices in new york's sometimes square. >> to go in to the war with syria, maybe they know how to start the war, but nobody knows how the war is going to end, it will be horrible for the region. >> reporter: protest heres want to see an end to the con there i can in sear yeah, but they say u.s. military strikes are not the answer. they weren't alone. in los angeles,. >> one two, three, four, we don't want your racist war. >> reporter: nashville. outside the u.s. central command in tampa, florida. and outside the white house. now as washington debates attacking syria, these protesters hope for a diplomatic way out. >> diplomacy is difficult, i understand that. but you have to have that as your mission, you need peaceful resolutions to these kind of conflict. they are political and very difficult. and we need a humanitarian

response. >> reporter: they have less than two weeks for make their case. >> we say no. whether it comes today, tomorrow, or monday. >> reporter: many of the protesters we spoke with in times square said they are a afraid that the u.s. is headed for a prolonged confrontation with syria and don't want a repost iraq war. >> president obama's decision to delay any military action against syria was not what much of the world had been expecting today. it also came as a huge surprise for members of congress who now find themselves on the receiving end of the president's political punt. the president stepped in to the rose garden and delivered a political shock. >> i will seek authorization for the use of force from the american people's representatives in congress. >> that means there will be no attack on syria for at least

nine days. and it means any u.s. response to the syrian government's alleged use of chemical weapons will depend on votes in the senate and house. >> today i am asking congress to sends a message to the world. that we are ready to move forward together as one nation. >> lawmakers who demanded an mediimmediate media aggressive reaction were stunnedded peter king accused the president of abdicating his response. john mccain and lindsay graham signaled the president will for the get their vote because of the limited attack the president is seeking approval for would not change the battlefield momentum. other lawmakers said they detected political weakness in the president, noting the white house did not seek approval from congress two years ago before launching cruise missiles at the qaddafi regime in libya. by relying on democratic and republic help to take action, the president is taking a huge political risk. administration officials acknowledge a defeat in congress would undermine the president's

credibility and that of his top officials, including secretary of the state john kerry. it could also turn press obama in to an early lame duck by signaling to both parties his ability to move his agenda forward is gone everybody what a calls a moral impair t a win would give the obama administration momentum. heading into difficult votes later this fall on immigration, the budget and the debt ceiling. the president urged members to put politics aside. >> i ask you members of congress to senior that some things are more important than politics at the moment. >> reporter: they will debate as early as september the 9th. >> the president and congress could share credit, or blame for whatever the united states end up doing regardless of how it's rifle on the world's statement or or received by the american people. adam smith is the ranking democrat on the house armed services committee.

congressman, the president has used moral imperative to get congress to act on health care, immigration, guns issues where the republicans have said no thanks. do you believe he will be able to get republicans to go with him this time around? >> well, i mean, it's difficult to say. i mean, there are so many different political aspects to this. but at the end of the day, you have to put all that have aside and ask the question is it in the best interest of the united states to launch a military strike on syria. that's the debate that we have to have. you can't get in to well, the republicans are going to be there, partisan politics, how does it affect immigration order budget. this is a stands-alone decision, it's the most important decision that, any elected official can make. >> if it's that important, if it is in the united states' interest to launch this attack on syria, was it a bad decision by the president to risk inaction by going to congress where he may not get the votes? >> yeah. no, but i mean president bush went to congress for iraq, it's a difficult decision. i think the president makes a

fair point. that if we are going to commit u.s. forces, we need to make sure that we have the support of the united states people. and we have the support of their congress. >> with all due respect, he's not saying that u.s. forces are going to be involved, we are going to be firing missiles, the reason the president said that he believes he has the authority to do this is because there will be no u.s. troops in harms way or any danger, that we will be firing cruise missiles from off the coast of syria and no boots on the ground. >> with all due respect to you, i disagree strongly with that assessment. the notion that we are firing stands-off missiles and not putting u.s. trips at risk is unbelievably naive. syria has already said that they will defend themselves and hezbollah is involved in this fight a known terrorist organization that knows no borders including attackin attad killing 19 u.s. service people in the towers attack in what they perceived as response to iraq, you are absolut absolutelg if you just saying fire miss

tpr-lgmissilesis not putting tr. >> we are not talking about u.s. troops in syria, are we? >> the to user was u.s. troops in saudi arabia. we have u.s. troops in ca wade. the ships firing the missiles can receive incoming firing as well. we have citizens all over the world on our behalf. so, mine, this is a minor point, but for you to say that, you know, this has nothing to go do with, you know, putting u.s. troops at risk, it's just incorrect. >> i am not saying that, it's the president, the leader of your party is saying u.s. troops will not be at risk. the beef would be with him, right? >> you just made the point. i am simply argue with you, that's something that i will consider. if the president was going say to me, this is great, no risk to u.s. troops i disagree with that too. that's the most concerning aspect of this decision is if we

launch this military strike, what happens if syria or hezbollah or iran all of whom are going to be on the receiving end of these missiles to some extent strike back. and they have a variety of different ways in which they could strike back. and if they strike back against us, then do we have to retaliate? and do we find ourselves in to a downward spiral of conflict between syria and hezbollah that we can't control and doesn't have a positive result? these are some of the questions that i will be asking the president's people in the next nine to 10 days to figure out whether or not this is a wise course of action. >> congressman, if you had to vote today, would you support the president on this? >> i don't have to vote today. so i am going to take the time that is afford today me and give the president his chance to make the case, as you can tell from my earlier remarks i have my skepticism about whether or not this is the right thing to do. clearly, you know, assad is doing something that is unconscionable, but he's hardly alone in that regard. you know, that's been a lot time working in the democratic

republic of the congo where over 5 million people have been killed in a variety of different wars in the last 16 years, the question isn't whether or not what assad is doing is hideous and awful, the question is whether or not us taking military action is likely to improve the situation. whether or not we have the power to simply fix it with a few cruise missiles. as you can tell i am skeptical as to whether or not that will improve the situation. it's a big challenge because the rest of the world seems to assume, you know, i was just in jordan and i met with some of the syrian refugees and they expressed the opinion if the united states wanted to they could stop this tomorrow and that's not true. >> we have to stop you right there. ranking minority member house armed services committee. democrat congressman, thank you so much for being with us, we appreciate it. joining us now to talk about all of this is political analyst and al jazeera contributor anchor, reporter, michael shore. michael, you heard the congressman there, he has some questions. he wasn't sure that the president's said there would be

troops not in the harm's way even though that's the president's rational for saying he has the authority to do this without the congress. >> this is the age-olded dilemma. congress sees it one way, the president sees it other way, it's why it's so inning frequent you see a president bring a decision about going to war or bringing it to congress, it's unusual people weren't expecting it today. it's exactly what the president did. i spoke with two congressmen today, both democrats, who said that they are going through exactly what congressman smith is going through right now. they are trying to figure out thousand approach it. their constituents are not in favor of this. but they are in support of the president both the constituents and the president's people. i didn't expect adam smith to answer your question where he stands right now. because the president did afford him time. it's one of those situations

that's very difficult for the members of congress right now. >> michael as you have reported so many times this president happen been burned by by moral imperative arguments, immigration, guns, do you think it has anyway now with republicans the votes needs to get in order to get it passed regarding action on syria? >> you know, david, it's interesting. i don't think he does have any and i he puts them up against the wall a little bit. but i don't think that this is what that what it's about and what you are looking for with the president. i don't think it's about swaying republicans as much as it is about swaying democrats, you have some members of the democratic party, the piece anythings and, you know, not just the peace knicks, not just the people like john lewis saying, no, to any kind of military innin envision at any . people -- intervention and people are going in their districts listening to constituents, saying don't go. don't go. it's a dilemma of being a congressman, you have to think about what your scan stitch went

went -- constituents want and what your conscience says, it's weeding out the ones that just say no because it's president obama. newt gingrich just two days ago wag saying that they should tie syria and keystone in an up our down vote. what is unusual is that he did go to congress. what congress does is more interesting now. again, this is unprecedents, david. you have four members of the top administration from the press to the vice president. four former members of congress it has something to do with why they are put it on the other side of the capital. >> great catch by michael shore of al jazeera. thank you michael as always, thanks for coming on. >> you it, david. >> gottyou got it. >> joined by a fellow wolf rear mean, what do you make of the president saying, okay, i could do this on my own. but i am letting congress get

involve. >> the president's case internationally chances. went in i think hoping for some regional support. the arab league, some intimate national support, maybe the european union or nato, at the very least our allies, france and britain and one by one they fell by the weigh side arab league didn't call for an inter intervention, nato is not on board and the british parliament is not on board. i think the president felt he had to involve the other institutions of government if he goes forward. >> doesn't it get more difficult as time goes and the memory of what happened in syria fades and some republicans might become internationalists because the international community is not with us we are not going to support the president. >> it's entirely possible. it's a very risky thing to do. but, on the other hand, if obama had struck today, as some people thought he might, all by him certainly, isolated in the

world, the chances for blow back from that were very great. i think he's taken the cautious approach. >> how big i've setback would it be, historically, if this president doesn't get their approval after going to congress? >> i don't think that it would have a lot of downstream impact. first of all, as everybody is saying it's unclear that lobbying a few tomahawk cruise missiles onto syria is going to change anything. it's a shot across their bow, the president said. but it could well be inconsequential and so, if it doesn't happen, it's not clear that that will be consequential. >> but if the medicine i think is we have to put the world on notice and syria on notice that you cannot fire chemical weapons without some kind of response and all of the sudden the president has his authority under nined by congress and there is no u.s. response, doesn't that take things in the other way? >> the things that concerns me is that everybody think of a

upon as a military response. there isn't ant international will for a military response. the united states have twisted people's arms around the world to prevent eye ann rain vinnie banks from operating, there are 12 syrian banks operating approximate evenly well. other things obama can do to punish syria other than a missile strike. >> professor cole, thank for coming to new york to join us in studio, we appreciate. >> you are welcome. >> a suicide bomber killed six people near a checkpoints in southern afghanistan. it killed four civilians, one police officer and one private security guard. authorities say the attacker was on foot when the bomb exploded no group has claimed responsibilities. go ahead, touch the art. experts are going high-tech to reproduce every brush stroke of priceless paintings. coming up, the finished products and how they are being used to help the visually impaired.

and a big day for college football and an ventsful day for johnny manziel. ross will explain coming unin sports. al jazeera america - a new voice in american journalism - >>introduces america tonight. >>in egypt, police fired teargas at supporters of the ... >>a fresh take on the stories that connect to you. [[voiceover]] they risk never returning to the united states. >>grounded. >>real. >>unconventional. [[voiceover]] we spent time with some members of the gangster disciples. >>an escape from the expected. >>i'm a cancer survivor. not only cancer, but brain cancer. . can you say stocktopussy?

wouldn't believe there is a farm inside of it. ♪ ♪ >> here with our sports headlines, college football. ross, michigan 59, central michigan. >> unfortunately we didn't get to watch the met york. while david's eyes were on michigan everyone else's wise were on johnny football. he might wants to change his name to johnny drama. he had to sit out the entire

first half because of his autograph scandal but after getting in to the game he got benched again. johnny football playing cheerleader in the first half, as the aggies hosting the owls of rice and if you give a hoot. the owls took a 14-7 leads. charles ross, you are going to loss the game, david. ross powers in for the score, but johnny manziel's backup would rally the troops, laying it out for ricky fields-jones who seals the deal. get n aggies took a 28-21 lead in to the break. in the second half. here is johnny. johnny manziel working his magic on a second drive. hooks up with mike evans for the 23-yard score. manziel putting his signature all over the game. throwing for three touchdown passes aggies hammer rice 52-31. but midway through the fourth quarter, johnny drama got benched by his head coach after he got called for unsportsman like conduct. you see, johnny was yapping at some rice players.

>> i thought he was pressing a little bit early. first play, he missed a read, but, you know, couple of touchdown drives, couple of scrambles, and a foolish penalty at the end. and you know, no matter what the comments are or what -- you know, he's going to face that every week with people chirping and that's not okay. and obviously i addressed that on the sideline right after the play. and that's something he has to deal with every week. >> reporter: were you planning on taking johnny out even before that penalty? >> nope. >> all right, number two ohio state airing it out against buffalo. on their opening drive, braxton miller unloads a ramirez rainbow to devin smith for a 47-yard hookup. miller threw two touchdowns on the day. when do they play michigan? [laughter] >> buckeyes would go onto win big 40-20 is your final. now, the fighting irish of notre

dame have a lot of holes to fill this season manti te'o is playing for the charge, he everett goal zone their quarterback dropped out of school. no worry, tommy rees is filling the void scoring three touchdown passes against temple as number 14 notre dame took care of business giving head coach brian kelly career victory number 200. speaking of kelly, he got a few 5-year deal today keeping him in south bend through 2017. elevator, what do you think, will tim tebow ever play quarterback in the nfl again? >> no. >> the patriots cut the former heisman trophy winner today in order to get down their 53-man roster. buffalo might wants to keep an eye on them. tebow struggled this preseason completing 33% of his passes while throwing two touchdowns and two interceptions, tebow mania hit an all-time high two years ago in denver burk ever since, it', but eversince it's e clearance you have to wonder if any other team will give him a shot to play quarterback.

after getting released tebow tweeted that he will continue to pursue his lifelong dream of being an nfl quarterback. on to the big three, tiger, phil and adam scott teed it up again. mickelson stole the show yesterday. cashing in with an 8 under par. today lefty very some issues. oh, boy, mickelson around the trees and in the rough stuff. i feel your pain, lefty. mickelson still at 8 under, tiger woods' back is ready to go after the back spasms, he was dialed in. he carded five birdie on his the day and 7 under par, six back of the leader, who is sergio garcia, the man they call el nino birdied five of his first seven holes and finished off with an eagle on 18. stenson and one back.

the pirates haven't made the playoffs since 1992. the pirates going all in in hopes of end that go draught. the pirates continuing to upgrade their rost by trading for former a.l. m.v.p. justin morneau in exchange, pittsburgh sent outfielder alex presley to the twins. but morneau, who has 17 home runs this season, will definitely add some pop to the pirates an lineup, pittsburgh tied with st. louis for first place in the n.l. central. and over at the u.s. open, roger fedser taking center stage tonight, but earliere earlier tl continued to dominate. he hasn't lost a single match on the hard courts this season and that trend would continued today. nadal wins in straight sets, he will be facing philip who pulled off the big upset today by knocking off number 13 john isner, and on the double side, serena and venus williams paired up to win their doubles match today. serena also playing tomorrow on the singles side against fellow american sloan stephens.

and, yes, michigan beat central michigan. >> a lot of our viewers may not know that you are quite an art afficionado so this it story is for you. a knew see up is taking art to another level it. has a 3d replica of paintings by vincent van go, as philip reports, the high-tech imitations are so detail, few people, even ross would be able to tell the difference. >> reporter: look, but don't touch. the golden gallery room. 10s of millions of dollars worth of art in that frame alone. no ones they are oil masterpiece is well protected from oily fingers. not this one, though, spot the difference? it's very difficult to do so. almost impossible. the one on the right is a a 3d replica where ever stroke has been recreated by brand-new technology. 19th century art, 21st century style. >> to make one it takes about three months of production, so it's also gives a little best a hint how difficult it is. you can only do it if you have

access to the real painting. so the real pointing needs to be scanned, which is, of course, also, you have to do it -- really handle with care. >> it's aimed at two different market, first of all the people that want to physical experience the art. don't forget this painting is 124 years olds. you cannot touch it. but you can touch this. the idea is that these will appeal to those who want to feel the art. those who have visually impaired students, people who really want to touch a masterpiece. and then you've got the people who want to own the art. an original like this is worth somewhere in the region of $50 million. and it's not even for sale. the these are not cheap either, though, if you want one of these or these, you need to find around $30,000. however, for those who can afford it, it is probably the nearest they will ever get to owning a genuine article. great for them, but great for

art in general, it's the critics that need convincing. >> some nba some way he devalues the originals, if you could see a great reproduction in the world for a lot less mon, why would you still go to the knew see town the see the original. >> reporter: despite the similarities this is one major difference here. this is not actual oil, it's the paint? >> no, it's a kind of really special -- well, describes best as a kind of ink. >> reporter: which makes is pry for what you are getting but also incredibly unique, only a small number are being produced most have to set follow a significantly smaller, significantly cheaper print instead. phil, al jazeera, amsterdam. >> a special edition of america tonight starts at the top of the hour. but rebecca stevenson will have your labor day weekend forecast after a quick break. ♪ ♪

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>> welcome back, i'm meteorologist rebecca stevenson. here we are in the last day of august, and now we've got 22 days left of summertime.

here it is lake or day weekend and we've got hot temperatures, and a lot of showers and thunderstorms too, as you can see they are moving in to the northeast. we have a lot of rain that's going to be developing over the northeast. over the remainder of the holliday weekend and some of this rain is going to come down extremely heavy at times. we have been seeing rain totals very heavy over places like ohio down to florida. we look at our accumulations so far here, you can see in the northeast, those have been mainly for new york state. upstate new york, clothes to .4 of an inch for syracuse, florida the winner is panama city where they had heavy showers over the last 24 hours. the rain total here is coming in around 3 1/2, not quite. almost .2 for determining ham where showers have been scattered off and on all day up in to georgia and kentucky as well. when you look at our radar and clouds together here across the state, you also notice all of the showers and the southwest, a lot of lightning coming down here in the desert southwest.

but the showers are hit and miss and some of these are bringing in flash flood warnings, they pop up and then go way as quick as as the showers move in and out. we'll be tracking this. as we look at the enhanced satellite. we have two front that we are watching. one is lined up right along the east coast, that's going to bring us the showers tonight through tomorrow. the second one is the one with the powerful storms in minnesota. that's going to go in to the east as we move in to sunday. there is more rain on the way for the east and it will dry a little more for the northwest, but high temperatures those are going to slowly cool. now, today hot in the midwest. in to the 90s, a lot of humidity out there too. but tomorrow, we'll see things drop by a couple of degrees and evening more so on monday on labor day. now coming up in another hour, we are going to have more on tropical storm kiko that just formed. ♪ ♪

>> welcome to al jazeera, i am david schuster, here are tonight's top stories. >> after careful consideration i have decided that united states should take care action. >> he wants approval from congress first, congress is expected today debate and vote on the issue when it comes back from recess on september 9th. president obama says we are required to strike wherever we choose. a wildfire around yosemite park is now brith than cities of size of dallas and smoke is making it hard for crew to his battle the blaze, the fire is one of the