hello. i'm morgan and these are some of the stories we're following at this hour. >> i will seek operation for the use of force from the american people representatives in congress. >> the president presss for military action in syria but asks cons to bring back the idea first. looking for evidence of a chemical attack, u.n. inspectors are out of syria and spend the next few weeks focusing on what killed more than a thousand people. the national debate over intervention is growing even louder. we'll look at the o ongoing protest across the country.

moving a consensus or passing the buck. president obama's permission to seek on syria is met with disapproval and met with praise. patty reports from washington. >> as inspectors are back at the head of syria, a u.s. missiles strike seems imminent sending syrians fleeing across the border. a small group of protestors outside the white house urgeed restraint. their chants heard faintly in the rose garden as barack obama came out he wants to strike. he's great but now wants congress. >> while i want the authority without congress authorization know the country will be

stronger if we take this forth and our actions will be more e e effective. issues are too big. >> reporter: but it won't happen soon. the president is not calling congress back in to session. some politicians will return in the coming days. there won't be a full debate or both until after both houses have returned from summer recess on september 9th. it came as a big surprise since members of his administration started talking tough on syria they have avoided questions about seeking is a congressional vote. >> we are engaging in what we believe our responsibility is here to consult with congress. >> we'll consult with congress. >> it important for his administration to consult with congress in a very robust way. >> the administration did ask for permission before for taking much broader action in libya. they said they didn't need approval. air strikes and missiles there didn't qualify. now they believe congress should

weigh in on syria. a body which hasn't been able to pass a budget or bill with broad public support. the majority of americans don't want to intervene with syria taking this vote a tough sell according to analyst bill schneider. >> i think a third of congress is ready to support the president. a third will not support the president and that includes conservative republicans and liberal democrats. and about a third are up in the air including some democrats. they're just up in the air. they want evidence and demand a high standard of evidence after the experience in iraq. >> reporter: the administration will like i will have to answer questions it is so far avoided like what is the legal justification? the national interests, potential and consequences. until those questions are asked and answered and if nothing chances on the ground in syria it appears for now u.s. enter srepbs is on hold. al jazeera, washington. the president caught many

this by surprise when he asked congress for approval to launch strikes on syria. reaction has been mixed and the senate form relations committee now begins to debate on syria on tuesday. the rest of congress won't return from break for more than a week. >> reporter: the president's steped in to the rose tkpar den and delivered a political shock. >> i will seek authorization for the use of force from the american people representatives in congress. >> reporter: 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 accused of chemical weapons will depend on votes in the senate and house. today, i'm ask caning congress to send a message to the world that we are ready to move forward together as one nation. >> reporter: law makers who demanded immediate aggressive action against syria were stunned. peter king accused the president of quote advocating his responsibility. senators john mccain and lindsay

graham said the president will not get their vote because the attack the administration is seeking approval will not change the battlefield's momentum. others detebgtd political weakness in the president noting the white house did not seek approval two years ago before launching crews missiles in libya. by learning the democratic and republican help now to take against syria the president is taking a huge political risk. they acknowledge a feed in congress would under line there president's credibility and that of his top officials including secretary of state john kerry. it can also turn president obama in to an early laying duck by signaling to both parties that his ability to move his agenda forward is gone even on what he calls a moral imperative. a win will give the obama administration momentum heading in to nor votes in raising the debt ceiling. the president urged law makers

to put politics aside. >> i ask you, members of congress, to consider that some things are more important than partisan and differences that what is scheduled than month. >> they are set to start as early as september 9th. >> house speaker john boehner is the seeking in for approval. in a statement he said: >> the u.n. inspectors who listen to th use of chemical weapons in syria are now in the netherlands. it can take several weeks for findings to be made public and we are in lebanon where syrian's are reacting on president obama's decision to hold off on military strikes at least for now. >> reporter: they completed their mission in syria. now the u.n. weapons inspectors will take the evidence as fast

as they've gathered to laboratories. it will determine if chemical weapons were responsible for the deaths of hundreds in the damascus suburbs. the u.s. asked the west to give them time before reserving to military action. it's something that some syrians are asking for as well. >> translator: my message to the west is to -- it was a beautiful country. the only way now is to hold and reach a compromise. >> reporter: the cost in syria have effected the lives of so many and what could come next could cause more suffering. that's why thousands of syrians are threeing to lebanon in anticipation of western strikes against the regime. many know those strikes won't necessarily end the war. >> translator: the out come of all this is that they are killing each other. brothers are killing brothers. it's a shame. >> reporter: many of these cars have damascus license plates.

the people whose resolution strong hold will be here. >> reporter: authorities say they are ready to retaliate against any attacks. they didn't say how but it seems they have repositioned their artillery and moved their men from their pa their barracks. the army and families have been moved in to schools where the displaced used to live. other reports say detainees have been moved in to military bare racks. in the damascus suburb is also seen as an army effort not to lose control of the capitol. it's a strategic area it boarders military airports and other loyalists positions including the presidential palace. that is why some in the opposition believe the army wants to keep rebels as far away as possible so they can't exploit the impact u.s. strikes could have if indeed they do happen. those strikes can weaken the defenses in the regime's center

oh of power. one u.s. allie is concerned about the president's decision on syria. south korea is worried that north korea might be more included the to attack with k-pl call weapons if they believe it won't be any consequences. kraeucraig joins us from hong kong. how realistic are the fierce of a chemical attack now? >> reporter: the administration says that south korea is very well. it said the top lead expressing concern the to chuck haguele defense secretary when he was in a meeting with his defense minister counterpart just last week saying that any inaction could convince north korea that chemical and biological weapons could be used unchallenged. is north korea likely to do that? it had the leadership there and

is capable of doing right now. what we have seen in the past and historically speaking is that that's been very ready to attack south korea. it launched a missile off the island in south korea in retaliation and moveers operation that were happening there. south korea has the ability, though. it is said to have 100 and several thousand tons of chemical weapons. stockpiles ready to be used. so, he does have the capability, will it use that? south korea seems that's a possibility. >> you mentioned the residence to attack. even if the u.s. does take action in sout syria. how likely is that north korea will care?

>> well it's an allie for some time it works very closely what the u.s. will do and how far it will push its wish the to punish syria for what it sees as using the chemical attacks. turkey stopped a ship going from north korea to syria which had military hardware on board and also marked. so certainly north korea has been aiding and abetting syria with its current military operations there. so it's watching very closely one would suspect in the direction that the u.s. takes against the syrian regime. >> now, craig, south korea's neighbors china think very differently. if the u.s. doesn't do anything the, how much will it tharpl america's credibility in asia? >> reporter: well, some would say that it wouldn't harm america's credibility yet. china wants a political solution

swards the foreign minister walked out of the u.s. security council last week saying that a political solution was the only way forward and that in fact an attack would conflict with the kphart ter and that can be the problem that we're seeing in the middle east at this point in time. china certainly wants to see the u.n. weapons inspector report come out and results from that report show whether or not syria, the regime was responsibility. so, i think that it would have support from countries like china or certainly russia if it does not go ahead with an attack. thank you so much craig, live from hong kong. >> . reactions of the president's announcement was sweupt here in the u.s. in fact, anti-war protestors were marching outside the white house at the exact moment the president was speaking in the rose garden.

the spread of the attack brought protestors out from coast to coast. >> to go no to the war with syria. maybe they will start but nobody knows how the war will end it will be horrible for the region. >> reporter: protestors want to see an end to the conflict in syria but says u.s. military strikes are not the answer. they weren't alone. in los angeles -- [ crowd chanting ] >> reporter: nashville. >> no more war! >> outside tampa t florida and outside the white house. >> we say no war! >> now in washington debate's attacking syria. these protestors hope far diplomatic way out. >> the policy is difficult. i understand that, but you have to have that as your mission. you need peaceful resolution to these kinds of conflicts. they're political.

they're very difficult and we need a humanitarian response. >> reporter: they are less than two weeks to make their case. w>> we say no! whether it comes today, tomorrow or monday! >> reporter: many of the protestors we've spoke with in times square say they're afraid the u.s. is headed for a prolonged confrontation with syria and they don't want to repeat the iraq war. al jazeera, new york. and keep it here on al jazeera for continuing coverage on the crisis in syria. you stay up-to-date on our web-site, al jazeera.com. >> the wild part yosemite national park is burning out of control. we will tell you why it's harder for firefighters to battle the flames. plus a battle save a different kind of forest. what they are doing in indonesia

from keeping the rain forest from disappearing. temperatures feel like they are in the triple digits. details coming up in your forecast.

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leak spreading radioactive liquid. the wildfire near and around the yosemite national park is bigger than the city of dallas. the fire is one of the worst in california's history. >> hi, i'm meteorologist rebecca stevenson. it's going to be another hot day for places around dallas, forth worth, objection objection stickers and in to kansas. we're eb expecting highs to getn to triple digit and around houston and memphis an 98-degrees in tennessee. we're going to to bring in some showers too because some of these placeless have the shower cool you off. than will happen farther north. as we get in to the day

throughout 88 for chicago, 98 for memphis. labor day is the day that temperatures will drop a little bit especially as we get to mind indianapolis. you have been getting a lot of showers in indianapolis and downpours around chicago where a high on monday will be 78-degrees. some of that cool air will start to filter its way towards new york but staying on the humid side on labor day for new york. it won't be until the actual middle of the week that we'll get that cool air moving in. you can see on the clouds and radar. we've got two tpr-pbts that we're dealing with. the first one is along the east coast this morning we're seeing it track in with lots of rain and this' going to move in to the virginia area and across the carolinas but the second front is the one that's causing the severe weather in to the upper midwest. that will bring in all that rain as we get in to later sunday and in to monday. so, we'll be tracking those storms, the forecast can shows the amount of rainfall coming down will be mostly to the

eastern side of the country over to the west will stay on the drier side. so, when we look at the probability of rainfall the darker green area shows the most likely spots will continue with the showers. for the southwest it will continue with the showers mainly to the northwest of phoenix. phoenix has a drier forecast and triple digit heat for the next few days. t*bs t bs stays dry then we get in to the southeast and florida still gets showers and thunderstorms coming down with most like hi areas from alabama and georgia to the north. atlanta has a risk of thunderstorms for the next couple of days. that's when you start the to dry out in those low temperatures overnight gets back in to the more comfortable area with less humidity. in to northeast it will get soggyer and soggyer especially sunday night in to monday and that's what we can expect going in to parts of upstate new york and maine getting rain showers here. new york will have the risk of thunderstorms rolling through especially on monday.

notice how it starts to cool off overnight. that's going to feel so much bet nor northwest. it's the place that this have a drier labor day weekend. even monday's chance to the shower is mainly over the rain forest in the o oh peninsula. now we have an environmental story with a twist. it's a struggleing the rain forest with too in trees. were in at the national park in indonesia. >> reporter: it's a rare sight to. they are cutting down trees to put back the forest. these palm trees had been illegally planted and after pressure the company handed them over to the government oh. cutting them down means the original forest gets a chance to grow back. in the last 20 years large parts

of indonesia's jungle have been transformed in to a new kind of forest. 10 million of palm old trees. for the economy, -- it's good for the economy put bad for the rain forest it' used for food, fuel and soap. the trees are causing draft and making the land less fertile. >> translator: this palm is cole colonizeing our country. our land will be dead. nothing will grow here. >> reporter: it's on the island of sumatra it' now covering 80% of the land. it will be a lot less despite the successful efforts by the government to try to save the remaining rain forest, economic pressure is quickly threatened what is left. this was the national park until the local government recently allowed companies to grow oil.

environmentalists say there are plans for 1.2 million to be cut down despite a government ban on logging. the government says it's a lot less than that. >> translator: >> this is our last remaining forest. samatra really needs to be saved because this is the last place where elephants, tigers, rhinos can freely roam around. >> reporter: the destruction of indonesia's rain forest have put indonesia in to the third largest of green house gas in the world. in an e effort to stop this the government expanded the on logging in two more areas for two more years. >> translator: people know there will be a punishment but if there's logging still going on we have to see if this is happen aning in the area where the ban is active. if this is the case the punishment will be stiff. >> reporter: although other

environmentalists are happy with the ban they fear it will not be maintained in the long run. trying to restore the forest by cutting down trees the might be more effective although it will take at at least 20 to 30 years to grow back the trees that were cut down in just a few minutes. so we're here in one of the last remaining protected rain forest in southeast asia and surrounded by wild life. this here you can hear the sound of monkeys and protected species here in the local park. it's about the deforstation is chasing those animals away and not only chasing the animals away but chasing the people away, too. floods have been cause tpweud thcause bid therainfall. people have been chased away. villages have been destroyed. that's the main reason that people should become more aware

thar they should protect the rain forrest play they call their hope. they are urging the government to be a lot more serious in protecting this. exactly how have companies been able to plant so many trees illegally? >> reporter: that's a very good question because it happens here when you pay money. of course there's a lot of corruption. a lot of companies have been planting these trees illegally and the environmentalists have tried to bring them the to court but there was no success whatsoever. they started and the judges have all base economy backed off from it. and, it's a serious reason why this happened but the environmentalists blamed corruption. everyone is making a profit. >> live from indonesia. thank you. >> still to come a shake up at the vatican. why pope francis replaced a top leader of the church. ç]

tpoep francis appointed the new top aide. arch bishop is part of a major

reshuffleing at the vatican. he's a young experienced vatican diplomate and among one oh of a expected appointment. it's part of pope francis' plan to reform and modernize the papal court. rereplaces batoni and from the former pope benedict. he was caught up in several pretty embarrassing scandals. and ruth baiter made history becoming the first justice in history to officiate a same-sex wedding. she presideed her long time friend. she voted in favor of gay marriage during the ruling that repealed the defense of marriage act in june. >> and di ana is back in the swim. the 64-year-old is once again trying to swim from cuba to

florida. this is now niya's 5th attempt at the 103-mile crossing. previous efforts have been cut short by jelly fish stings. if she encounters them again. niya says she will put on a body suit and face mask and keep on swimming. that will do it for this edition of al jazeera news. i'm morgan bradford. thank you for watching and of course for the latest headlines at any time you can always log on to our web-site at al jazeera.com and you can follow us there at any time. and, of course news at the top of every hour. feel free to join the conversation because as always there's more to the story. i look forward to seeing you again at 4:00 eastern time and again at 7:00 eastern and we look forward to the seeing you then. thank you so much for joining us. .

wouldn't believe there is a farm inside of it. >> hello, i'm richard gizbert and you're watching a special edition of the listening post. every week on this program, we take a close critical look at the global news media. this time, we're doing something different. we're going to talk about a man who coined a phrase we often repeat but seldom stop to explain. you may have never heard of marshall mcluhan, a canadian professor of literature turned high priest of media theory, but you're probably familiar with his most widely quoted adage - 'the medium is the message'. in the 1960s, long before anybody had a facebook page, posted their whereabouts on twitter, uploaded images on youtube or exposed government