>> "consider this" will be right back. ♪ ♪ [ music ] helicopter and welcome to axis. i am del walters. these are your headlines tus hour. the white house is pushing for action in syrian. secretary of state john kerry appearing on the sunday morning talk shows. >> officials now want to know about radiation levels at the fukushima radiation levels. >> the a and m marching band of florida ready to take to the field nearly two years after the hassi hazing death of its drum major. the debate over military action against syria turns to

congress now after president obama asked members of the senate and the house for their authorization to strike that country. a short time ago, secretary of state, johnkerry said new tests show sarin gas was used in syria. >> this morning, a very important recent development that in the last 24 hours, we have learned through samples that were provided to the united states that have now been tested from first responders in east dam after the damascus in blood and hair samples testing positive for signatures of sarin this case is building and this case will build and i don't believe that my former colleagues in the united states senate and the house will turn their backs on all of our interests. >> al jazeera's paul beban has more on kerry's comments today. he is joining us live from washington. paul, this congress has been a difficult partner for president obama to say the very least and it will almost certainly be

divided over about to authorize a military striking. do we have any further insight today as to why the president en decided to go to congress in the first place? >> well, del, yes, we do. what we are learning is that the president was very concerned that if he didn't go to congress now, for this authorization, what happens in the future if he needs authorization for a future strike against other adversaries such as iran? >> we are in a bit of a dilemma here because i think senator lindsey graham and i and others will be wanting a strategy, a plan, rather than just, are we going to launch some cruise missiles? and that's it? and even more, you even worry more when the president's chief -- chairman of the joint chiefs says it doesn't matter when we strike. well, that's not a military action then. that's a symbolic action. >> reporter: so, yes, you hear there from senator mccain. he is concerned about the

policy, about the end game of any plan for an attack on syria, again, looking forward to concerns about future strikes and action in the region. del? >> paul, did the lack of an international collision, the fact the british said no, did that have anything to do with putting this one, i guess, in the hands of congress? >> yes, our understanding is that the president felt that was a terrible setback and he was very concerned about the u.s. looking isolated on this action. so he wants to further legitmize the process by taking it to congress. >> paul, i guess the question is: does anybody expect congress will break the political deadlock we have seen there for the past several years on the issue of syria? >> reporter: i think, del, that remains an open question. as you mentioned earlier, this congress has been terribly divid divided. certainly not an easy working partner for in white house. how they are going to work together on an issue that has so much political -- political credibility riding on it, again,

it's going to be a very interesting week or two here. >> paul beban joining us live from washington this morning. thank you very much. joining us now is geneb bobdu. thank you for being with us, ms. abdu. >> thank you for having me. >> are we looking at a situation in syria, i guess, where there are no easy answers either for the white house or congress? >> yes. it's a bit puzzling why president obama decided to make this announcement. as your report suggests and as senator mccain suggestios, firs of all, he is giving assad a warning of we don't know two or three weeks. there doesn't seem to be a plan b. and i think that it probably is going to be very difficult after an attack occurs if it indeed does to justify this to not only western governments who don't think this is a good idea but to societies in the middle east

because i think from the region, people are wondering what is to be gained by this attack when obviously it's not really going to change the dynamics of the war in syria. so i think that the president has not been able really to articulate either a real purpose for this attack and what comes the morning after. >> are we seeing, i guess, from the white house and, in some instances, congress, the device iveness of this particular issue? i have heard it described two ways, the american is war-worn, and also, war-wise. is it wrong for us to go into afghan and for the american public who watched us to go into afghanistan for one r.n. and iraq and for them to say why do we want to get involved especially if after all the bombs are dropped, nothing really changes? >> yes, and i think that that's probably one of the reasons that president obama has decided to take this to congress is that he

doesn't want to be solely responsible. there is very little appetite within the united states, within american society for the united states to get involved in another war, especially because of the unknowns. we still development know, for example, how iran might respond to an attack. we don't know how hezbollah might respond to an attack, and there is some risk, although i wouldn't say the risk is all that high, if the attack is as limited as president obama has laid out. but i do think there is still some risk that we could get involved or spark a regional war, which would be extremely, of course, destabilizing in a region that's in complete chaos even now the. >> genieve abdo, thank you for joining us >> reporter: thank you. >> at the stimson center in washington. thank you for being with us.

syria refuge easy are still fleeing. the u.n. saying 52,000 people have arrived there since officials relaxed the border controls back on august 15th. those numbers, by the way, are expected to go up as world leaders now consider how best to respond to the suspected chemical weapons attack in damascus. >> the syrian/iraqi kurdstan border. see on the other people waiting to get through. about 700 people have arrived here already. they are brought here and a number of ngos and refugee agencies have set up medicines here there, that's the unhcr tent. you can see a few people waiting. the majority have been registered and taken off. see the buses over there? >> the buses that take them to the refugee camps also, any children in danger are taken to unicef. at the moment, it's syrian kurdish people coming across the border. the iraqi kurds and syrian kurds

have a common language, a common history. it's much easier to absorb them into this society. the real fear for the iraqi kurds is syrian arabs coming across the border in great number. >> that's the fear for the unhcr as well, not because they are syrian airabs but because of the shear numbers. the un refugee agency say they are facing a funding shortingage which means they will struggle with any new influx because of any potential military strike. >> keep it here to al jazeera for continuing coverage of the crisis in syria. you can also stay up to date 24 hours a day at our website, aljazeera.com. the latest readings at japan's troubled fukushima power plant show radiation levels are 18 times higher than once thought, levels that could kill a person in just four hours. the tokyo electric power company says the measurements were taken near the bottom of a storage tank during inspections on saturday, they also say they found new radiation leaks around

the tanks storing toxic water. nelson man dela arrived hole in johannesburg today. he remains in critical condition. man dela's home has been set up to provide the intensive care that he still needs. the 95-year-old is with his family and with the same medical staff that treated him for that recurring lung infection all last summer in a statement south africa asked to accept their national hero is growing old and frail, saying all they can do is pray. al jazeera's tania page has been following the story from j johanesburg. >> there is an ambulance on standby outside nelson man dela's house in case his condition deteriorates and he needs to be rushed back to hospital. he's been transferred home where they say they have fit up an intensive care unit for him. they have also moved all of the medical staff that have been attending to him in the pretoria

hospital here to his home. the conditional, they say, is still critical. at times, it is unstable and they need to perform what they describe as medical interventions. they are not really giving any detail as to exactly what that means or what there is and that really is just to protect the former president's privacy and that of his family as much as possible. a huge level of interest in the health of nelson man dela, a man so beloved, not only here, but all over the world. the focus really returning back to his home now that he is being discharged from hospital. >> legendary broadcaster sir david frost has died. he was 74 years old. his family released a statement saying he died of a heart attack on a cruise ship. his journalism career spanned decades. most recently he hosted a series of hour-long interviews for al jazeera. in the 1970s, frost gained international recognition for his revealing post-watergate interviews with then president

richard nixon. for the first time since one of its members died in a hazing incident, the band will be on the field. the band was suspended after the drum major robert champion died. they are playing against mississippi valley state. environmentalists in gone ease i can't are taking unusual measures, trying to protect the jungle for trees that are good for the economy but not so good for the earth. details are straight ahead.

christopher reed.org. >> what happens when social media uncovered fascinating news stories. >> they share. >> social media isn't an after thought, i draws the discussion across america. >> the social media community, on t.v. and online. >> this is your outlet for those conversations. lap

>> within to al jazeera. there is a battle over the indonesian rain forest brewing with environmentalist taking unusual measures in their protecting the rain forest. >> reporter: it's a rare sight and environmental analysts with chain saws. i roncally, they are cutting down trees to protect the forest. the palm oil trees have been illegally planted and after pressure from environmentalist,

the country handed them over. it means the original forest gets a chance to grow back. large parts of indonesia's jungle have been transformed into 10 million hechtors of palm oil trees, good for the economy but bad for the rain forest. worldwide, the oil is used for food, fuel and soaps but community leaders say the palm oil trees are causing droughts and making land less fertile. >> this palm oil is col onizing our country. if these trees are being planned for 100 years action our land will be dead. nothing will grow here this is called indonesia's last frontier covering 80% of the land. this soon will be a lot less. despite successful efforts by the government to try to save the remaining rain forest economic pressure is threatening what is left.

this was a national park with protective forrists until the local government recently allowed companies to grow palm oil and environmentalists say there are plans for 1.2 million hecht arizona to be cut down despitet despite a government ban on logging. the government says it's a lot less than that. >> this is our last remaining forest. the trophy of sumantra needs to be saved because this is the last plates where he will fants and rhinos a freelly roam around. >> the enormous destruction and yearly forest fires that go with it have turned indonesia into the third largest emitter of greenhouse gas. so there has been a moratorium on logging for two more years. >> it's effective because at least people now know there will be a punishment, but if there is logging still going on, we have to see first if this ask

happening within the area where the ban is active. if this is the case, the punishment will be stiff. >> although agrees peace and other environmental -- greenpeace and other environ mentalists are happy, they fear it will not be maintained. cutting down trees might be more effective although it will take 20 to 30 years to grow back the trees that were cut down in just a few minutes. >> that's al jazeera steph bossson repeating. >> one major platform will be energy reform. on saturday, thousands of people in mexico city protested the president's controversial plan that would end the government monopoly of oil and gas ex flooration. pemex has become a source of national pride there. for the plan to pass, mexico

would have to change its constitution. mexico says it can achieve energy reform without changing the constitution which put pemex in place in 1938. ford motor company] is recalling three popular sedans, lincoln towncar, mercury grand marquis and the ground vic you often see used by police. they were manufactured between 2005 and between and it amounts to over 300,000 cars sold in the united states and canada. the problem seems to be corrosion of the steering shaft which could cause drivers to lose control room. ford saying on a statement on saturday, it is unaware of any accidents or injuries that have been linked to the issue. one of the world's largest land ma'amals could be in trouble of disappearing forever. poaching in kenya has put the elephants on the verge of extinction. >> on the move across the midwest that will bring refreshing air, we are going to see damaging winds and also a bit of hail.

stay tuned. we will have it all coming up very soon. stay with us. stay with us. stay with us. stay with us.

>>,to axis. i am del walters. deposition smoke is limiting crew's he was. smoke was so sick on saturday fire fighting aircraft were grounded. it blocked yosemite's mountain views for those visiting for the

holiday. they were asked to scale back on their out door activities it has burned almost 350 square miles. >> footage of a driver in taiwan coming this close to being crushed by a boulder. the couple inside escaped with only minor injuries. that was triggered by days of rain from tropical storm konrai. snow stores astanding thousands of people in rural farms. many animals have died. most of the position in the area earn their living from farming and raising livestock. the government says it's trying to help feed the animals dying from cold and starvation. this unusual cold weather is expected to continue over the next few days. back to the united states, julilah is here to tell us what

we have to look forward to. >> look across the south 70 tralt plains, particularly in texas, dallas climbs to a high of 104 degrees. typically at this time of the year, they are around 94, not to mention of a heat. the humidity is going to be playing a role. the next several days all the way back into new orleans into corpus crihristie, this heat is migrating toward the north. we will see potentially severe storms. look at temperatures in minnesota. today, yesterday we were in the upper 80s be pushing 90 drivers but luckily cold front did swing through as they said, we are going to see this cold front continue to sag toward the south and certainly into the east and potentially vital storms as we track into the next 24 hours. continue to watch these storms is that will continue to push across missouri. we have a strong to severe thunderstorm pushing across central missouri right now just south of jefferson city. if you are traveling on the roadways, i want you to use precaution. it's this front that's going to make its way into the northeast

as we track into tomorrow and the next 24 to 48 hours. right now, mostly cloudy, overcast skies. a flash flood wash over boston. that has pushed off but tomorrow, going to be a major problem out there along i-95 for your labor day travel. i want you to use precaution if you are on the roadway. travel safe, travel slow in the rain. del, back to you. >> thank you. conservationists situate a recent surge in elephant poaching threatens the animals. they sar they are too well financed and organized to go defeat without tackling asia's growing demand. peter gresti has our report. >> each pair of these tusks represents a single fant. some were old matriarchs whose families depended upon them for leadership. others were from old bulls, the smallest from juveniles too young to breed. the authorities found more than

4 tons of ivy bound for asia. it was worth billions of dollars >> this is organized crime, and it's not something that is being done by small guys. whoever is doing it well connected, has resources. >> this is what's driving the trade: the growing demand for fine ivy, mostly in asia. conservationists argue there has been far too much emphasis on stopping the supply and not enough on reducing demand for what is purely a decorative system. >> if you by an avery bang, you don't want to hide it. you want to wear it. it's a status symbol. so that's the opposite of what we would need to achieve. you want to reduce the demand. >> the south area of this has been much worse here. >> in the meantime, conservationists are using increasingly sophisticated technology to protect vulnerable

herds. save the elephants tracks some of the biggest animals uses dollars linked to the mobile phone network. we used the system to find flober, a fiercely protective mother but save the elephants know she probably will event be killed if demand keeps prices high. >> it's worth an enormous amount compared to local incomes here the tusks of a single mature bull in this region in 2011 were worth 15 years of salary for an unskilled worker or one and a half year's salary for a well-paid wildlife ranger. that's quite a temptation. >> too much temptation for the would-be poacher who shot sylvia in the jaw. she survived but with an infected wound that still causes her great pain. >> figures from 2011 show that in that year alone, africa's he will facts declined by more than 7 per. all signs are things are worse now. if things keep going at this rate, within the next 10 gears,

poachers will have destroyed more than 70% of africa's elephants. >> sol conservationists say this crisis could drive elephants to extinction unless something is done to stop both the supply and the demand. >> detroit is the largest city in the u.s. to declare bankruptcy, but now the motor city is getting some help from a group that calls itself hostel detroit. the local non-profit is serving as an ambassador to those who want to see another side to the troubled city. >> amidst the decay a laurel organization called "hostel detroit" is working to change public perception and show tourists a great time. >> the next of hostel detroit is to make sure travelers coming to detroit have a cheap, affordable place to stay and that when they come here, they have an experience that allows them to

see detroit the way detroiters see it. >> the key concept of hostel detroit is paring volunteer ambassadors with visitors for free cultural tours of local art, architecture, music and the hidden gems of the motor city. as the largest city in the country to declare bankruptcy, it takes special locals to show visitors the bright side. the hostel has hosted over 2000 people since opening in 2011. >> you are welcome to come take a look around. >> stops on these tours include the lincoln street art park, previously a burned out lot revised by several local artists. the heidelburg project, a youth-based art installment covering two blocks of what was rubble. and the historic bell isle, a city park along the detroit river. >> our goal with the ambassador program and with the hostel is to show people a great experience in detroit and to change people's minds about

detroit one person at a time. >> and their message has traveled halfway around the world, attracting travelers from austria to australia. >> the ambassador program enables you to get to know people who are involved in the development of the city and they provide you with a lot of information on how to -- how to discover the city on your own. >> it was like being with friends showing places and stuff. >> showcasing street art and other bright spice of culture around town the am bats dors hope to leave a better impression than that of a dying city. >> we have the opportunity to take positive things and create a super wonderful and vibrant city and we are right at the edge of that moment. >> despite bankruptcy and pictures of decay, hostel

detroit is determined to do its part in reclaiming pride of place. bisib bisi onlie-ere. >> justice ruth bader beginser married michael kaiser and john roberts in a wedding taking place in the kennedy center for performing arts. kaiser is the president of the center and a close friend of ginsburg. in june, ginsburg voted in favor of gay marriage. pope francis has appointed a new top aide, the appointment is a part of a major reshuffling. he is a young experienced vatican diplomat and is one of a number of expected appointments. the new young staff are part of pope francis's plan to modernize the papal court. the new aid replaces a cardinal appointed by the former pope. he was a controversial figure in the vatican caught up in several

embarrassing skaelingdzn scandals. diane nighad is back in the swim of things. trying to swim from cuba to florida, this is her 5th attempt at the crossing. her previous efforts have been cut short by jellyfish stings. she is wearing a body suit and face mask to fend off the creatures this time around. that could take more than two days to complete. she is being followed by a supreme court crew of four boats and three people to help navigate the swim. witness you to stay tuned for the latest on the situation in syria. follow us 24 hours a day on aljazeera.com where the news never stops t thanks for washing al jazeera. much more at the top of the hour, but first, en slavery bonded. generations working to pay off locations where governments are failing to enforce their laws against such bonded labor. stay with us on al jazeera. slavery bonded is next in the

news is always not too far away. >> an interesting debate. coming up, a school where students don't read books. instead they use ipads almost