>> good morning. i'm morgan radford and these are some of the stories we're following at this hour. key testimony from the secretary of state, president obama accepts john kerry to face a powerful senate committee in his quest to persuade congress to authorize a military strike against syria. >> syrian ref fees surpassing the 2 million mark. >> turning the tide. firefighters gain the upper hand with better than two thirds of the massive fire at yosemite national park under control. >> microsoft makes a major acquisition struggling for a larger share of the smart phone

market. >> we're watching two stories developing overseas this morning. egyptian helicopters fired rockets at militant in the sinai peninsula. a security official saying 13 rockets were fired near the gaza border and the strike targeted militant weapons stores. 18 people were killed. attacks have increased since mohamed morsi was ousted from the the presidency. an israeli missile test caused international alarm. the objects fell into the mediterranean see. it tested an anti missile system carried out by the u.s. >> in a matter of hours,

president obama takes his case to the house leadership. house speaker john boehner and minority leader nancy pelosi will join the president. the president is pushing to punish syria for the august chemical weapons attack that killed more than 1400 people. also today, secretary of state john kerry will testify before the senate foreign relations committee. he has been the white house point man. senators john mccain and lindsey graham met with the president. mccain who has long been in support of taking military action in syria said lawmakers must act. >> if a resolution like this was rejected after the president of the united states has already committed to action, the consequences would be catastrophic. >> mccain said he's meeting with the president with candid and he

stressed the very importance of degrading the assad's regime capabilities and upgrading those of the opposition. the president has a lot of work still ahead of him. >> senators john mccain and lindsey graham at the white house monday to hear an people directly from president barack obama. they say his plan doesn't go far enough. they want him to topple the assad government. the president said that's not his plan. what he wants to do, launch cruise missiles add syrian military targets, sending a warning message to president bashar al assad. the senators seemed to indicate they might vote for authorization if the president agrees to give more help to the opposition. >> i think it's encouraging. we have to have concrete plans and details, and we have to be assured that this is a dramatic difference from the last two years of a policy of neglect, which has led to the deaths of with 100,000 people. >> for many members of the

congress who received a classified briefing sunday, the bigger question seemed to be should the u.s. do anything at all. one issue, the evidence. they absolutely do not know anything from inside the regime. >> another question, the impact. >> clearly, he's someone who is functioning or i believe he's functioning in his own self interest. i don't see how that's going to change by this attack. >> others wonder what are the risks. >> will it be effective? it's not clear to me what response might go undertaken by iran, against israel, against us in the realm of terrorism. >> the most common question, why should the u.s. get involved. >> what is the relationship to the united states? in other words, is there a threat. >> many in congress say they agree with the president's reasoning. >> i think if this goes unchecked, it will invite every thug and terrorist organization in the world to feel that they can use poison gas against their own people with no repercussion.

i don't think that's something that we really want. >> some argue that's not credible. in the past when the u.s. didn't intervene with force after chemical weapons were used, it didn't lead to widespread use of chemical weapons. the u.s. penalty promised to act. there are those who say if he does not, that more than anything will hurt u.s. national security in the long run. that is expected to be a big issue as congress begins to debate on tuesday. >> aljazeera, washington. >> while the obama administration drums up support for a military strike, the president still has to make his case to the full house and senate once they return from summer recess on september 9. today, top members of his national security team are bringing their agenda to the foreign releases committee. paul beban joins us live from washington.com. >> the administration's top

national security and defense officials are going to be going to that key senate foreign relations hearing today, secretary kerry, secretary hagel, as well as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, martin dempsey, a very important meeting. the report is divided, a lot of democrats don't want any action at all. on the other side, you've got senators like mccain and graham pushing for more action. the president really going to have to be threading a needle here between these two different camps. >> you mentioned more action, paul, but what exactly is the administration bringing to the committee? are they just debating whether to strike or asking how forceful those strikes should actually be? >> that's an excellent question. it's going to be evolving. secretary kerry is going to be making the case. again, a lot of what we've been hearing, that not acting against syria is going to embolden syria and other adversaries in the region, iran, potentially even north korea in their quest for

nuclear weapons. as far as the details about the strategy, not clear if that's going to eherges from this hearing. the president is going to be traveling to russia. a lot going on between now and then. >> what can we expect from these talks? >> well, again, these hearings over the next two days, the senate foreign relations and house foreign affairs, we're going to hear testimony from top administration officials who are going to bring more details about the reasons, but as far as the plan, that's probably going to be discussed in top secret classified hearings. >> thanks, paul. >> in just six days, congress will officially take up the debate over whether to take military action against syria. on capitol hill, those talks have already begun.

joining us now is christopher swift. good morning, professor, how are you? >> good to use, morgan. >> you've worked on the hill, seen the mythica political mane. >> there are four factions in congress that are going to have a seat at the table in this debate. those factions are within the parties' themselves. on the republican side, you have a sort of strong, national security conservatives like mccain who haven't seen a war that they wouldn't support, but you see individuals like rand paul out of kentucky arguing for more libertarian and isolationist stance towards syria and towards the world more generally. on a democratic side, you have individuals who have never seen a war that they didn't oppose who nonetheless are quite loyal

to president obama and then you have a cohort of people who sort of agree with the strong interventionist standpoint that the president has put forward but may be particularly cautious in this particular instance. a lot of the debate that's going to go on is not going to be between the parties, it's going to be within the parties. it's my understanding that much of that debate is going to happen before congress returns on the ninth. >> you mentioned the republican side. senator mccain essentially said not going after assad would make the u.s. look weak. what would a no vote mean for u.s. credibility? >> it would look very much like parliament's vote in the unit kingdom. it would put the executive in a very difficult position in terms of moving forward. the president does, in my opinion, as a lawyer, have the authority to move forward on his own if he chooses to do so, but because he doesn't have an international contingency, because we don't have allies lining up with us the way we did

in interventions in libya, it's much more important to have congressional backing for this sort of thing. without it, it becomes more difficult for the president politically, not necessarily legally, but politically to move forward. >> you said obama could go forward alone. does that mean coming to congress is more about self protection and forcing them to go on record? >> well, there's oh two things going on here. the first is building a political case in the absence of a strong legal case. i think that the administration recognizes that they're going out on a limb in terms of international law and want to be sure that they have a solid political foundation here in the united states if they are going to act overseas. there is clever politics involved here, there's been a lot of howling from the president's loyal and opposition, they now have a say in the process.

it will be interesting to see whether the republican party and democrats side with the president on this sort of intervention. more interesting will be the question of whether congress looks at what happens the day after such strikes. i don't think there's a lot of strategic thinking going on within the administration. it would be my hope that congress would push the administration to think strategically about the implications of even limited strikes in such a complicated country. >> thank you so much, christopher swift, adjunct professor of national security studies at georgetown university. >> the tide of syrians fleeing the war torn country shows no signs of slowing down. the latest report on syrians show them being force said at their country, 5,000 syrians a day abandoning their homes. new report from the united nations released this morning brings to light the full extent of the hardship the war is inflicting on its citizens.

one year ago, the number of syrian refugees stood at a little over 230,000. one year later, that number has swelled to 2 million, a six fold increase. >> these needs they have are extremely basic, food, water, shelter, access to education and health care. the needs are enormous and the funding that i guess needed to support those refugees is absolutely massive. >> lebanon and jordan received refugees. more are displaced within the country. more than 6 million syrians have been separated from their homes, neighborhood and family members. it's a staggering number in a country of 22 million. perhaps the most difficult statistic, over a million children now without homes, many suffering from malnutrition, often separated from parents.

>> ministers from iraq, jordan, lebanon and turkey will all meet with u.n. officials in geneva in an attempt to bring international attention to the refugee crisis. stay with us here. aljazeera will have live coverage of the senate foreign relations committee in washington. our coverage gets underway at 2:00 eastern time. >> good news for the thousands of firefighters battling colorado's rim wildfire. cooler weather and humidity is helping them in their fight. the fire has threatened hundreds of homes, as well as yosemite national park. more than two thirds of the fire is now under control. it could still take more than two weeks to complete knock it out. following wet weather in some parts of the u.s., drier conditions will be moving in. for more on the morning national forecast, lets bring in dave warren. >> dry weather will be here and it's cooler as well.

we have thunderstorms in new york, this line moved through. showers and storms could develop this afternoon, leading to the possibility of being severe. we'll be watching that for the next few hours. things are quiet on the forecast, light rain moving through maine in the next 24 hours. after we get an isolated shower today, it is dry and cooler. the temperatures didn't drop too much. they won't be quieting much, either, as cooler air is coming in from the great lakes down to new england. 83, a warm day, then wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday, dry and comfortable, temperatures dropping into the mid 70's for a high temperature by the middle of the week here. radar and clouds at the southeast showing the showers and storms are till here and the humidity is here, as well. the temperatures will climb today into the 90's. there's that rain, see that sharp kit off. that's this front moving south. behind it it is cooler and dry, ahead of it, it's warm.

97 in houston, 90 in birmingham, 90 in atlanta. the heat and humidity are across the northeast. there's the line moving to the south, behind it it is comfortable. it was very hot last wreak in iowa and the northern plains. relief from the heat there. getting rain in the southwest, not a terrible amount, but enough where it could hit or force california. we need the rain. the southwest all has seen more showers and developing today so they could pop up today. the heat is going to be above 100 degrees in the southwest. the tropics are all quiet, caribbean clear, mexico is quiet. any storms are not holding together, so the you know, are not favorable, but this time of year, we see things winding up here in the tropics, so keeping a close eye on that.

>> japan will spend nearly half a billion dollars to clean contamination from the fukushima nuclear plant. >> microsoft goes mobile and wants to gain ground in the heated smart phone market. >> is it the last hurrah for roger federer, the former number 1ko's in queens. this marks the first time the swede has gone an entire season without making a grand slam final. that story next in sports.

on techknow, our scientists bring you a sneak-peak of the future, and take you behind the scenes at our evolving world. techknow - ideas, invention, life. the young folks. >> what are the laws going to begin to take effect? >> reporter: the laws do not go >> the japanese government will now spend $470 million to clean

up fukushima. the effort comes two years after the earthquake and tsunami destroyed the nuclear reactor. water treatment will remove radioactivity from the water that's been the most contaminated. the cleanup announcement comes just at tokyo makes a bid to host the 2020 olympics. a decision is expected in the coming days. >> major merger, microsoft to buy nokia. the deal is subject to approval by shareholders. >> speaking of smart phones, verizon is buying out its partner for $130 billion. >> they have been partners in the wireless business for 14 years, but it's been a rocky relationship marked by sporadic

talks over full control by verizon. under the deal approved by the company boards, verizon will pay a total of $130 billion, including the biggest cash payout in acquisition history, almost $60 billion. the deal frees verizon to invest researches in faster mobile networks. that will help verizon hold its own in a competitive u.s. market where it controls nearly a third of the market share. it's a reward for vadafon shareholders, many pension funds. the u.k. government by law will collect no taxes from its rich cash haul. >> it's going to have to go back to the company. they're going to have to pay back an enormous amount of debt. >> all the talk at the moment is about shareholders, very little about consumers. if the voice and data networks are improved, customers should get a better deal.

>> since verizon already controls the business, it's unlikely to meet much resistance. aljazeera, washington. >> analysts say the two companies were close to a deal in april, but the price of the deal was the major sticking point. speaking of sticking point this morning, a month long standoff is finally over. cbs reappeared on the cable provider. the dispute over transmission fees affected 3 million homes in new york, los angeles and dallas. >> turning to sports, so much for the final round match up. we have the latest from the u.s. open. >> that would have been the first time they would have met in new york. it used to be that you saw roger federer's name, you pencil in the dates for the final. no other player has spent more time as number one and he holds the men's record for grand slam titles at 17.

he is 32. that can be the backside of your career. his fourth round match delayed four hours because of the rain, federer probably wishing it would have kept coming down. he lost the first set tie break and would continue to struggle. in the far court there, bounced back out of the second round, he would bounce out of the fourth round. 43 unforced errors, didn't help his case. the loss marks his earliest exit since 2000 threap after the match, he admitted he self destructed. >> i started badly, but was able to come back in that one. it's true, i mean i struggled throughout, which is not very satisfying, to be honest. tommy did a got job to keep the ball in play and make it difficult for me today. so many opportunities and rhythm was off, and yeah, when those things happen, clearly it's always going to be difficult.

>> nidal loft the opening set, but then the spaniard flipped the switch and would go on to win in four sets and advance into the quarter finals. the 2010 u.s. open champion had to battle tough conditions, too. >> it was very, very tougher conditions today out there, very humid, you know, i sweat too much. he had good chances, the first day, he played great, in the second, he had a few chances, feel lucky to be threw. i think i fight a lot to come back to this match and for me, to have this victory here in this stadium before the crowd, i thank everybody for the support. it's just amazing. >> to the gridiron, the washington redskins's robert

griffin three rome has said he'd be ready for the season opener. finally making it official, the washington coach gave the green light to tart in the opener monday night against the eagles. rg3 a rookie sensation leading the redskins to their first title in 13 years in 2012 is coming off reconstructive knee surgery. the redskins have been very careful with their franchise player. he didn't play a single snap in the preseason. >> yasiel puig is the huge reason why they have the second place in baseball behind the braves. he appeared to tweak his right knee sliding to third base on this play. he would later score on the sacrifice fly. he would leave the game with a

strained knee. the dodgers have a 12 and a half game lead in the nl west. that is a look at sports this hour. >> dodgers in the lead. >> it's a party in the streets! the annual celebration with the largest caribbean community in the entire u.s. >> live here, a new bay bridge is now open to the traffic. back years after the earthquake damage, and the new improvements we have for you and the steep cost to get it back in service. >> an interesting debate. coming up, a school where students don't read books. instead they use ipads almost why some critics say the school is setting the kids up for failure.

>> following years of delays, increasing costs and unending debates, san francisco's bay bridge has reopened. the new bridge replaces the one damaged in the 1989 earthquake. the bridge opened late last night, connecting oak land with san francisco. the total cost of reconstruction, $6.4 billion. >> there's almost always a party in brooklyn, but none quite like the west indian day parade. hour own juan carlos was in the middle of it all. >> it's a labor day celebration

caribbean style. the parade in new york city, a carnival of color, music and costume. dionne lives across the street. it's just a short step out her front door to watch the festivities. >> it is important. we do not want this cult u. to die. we want it to continue in this country here. >> hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets in brooklyn to see the parade. they're here to celebrate caribbean culture. the real star of the parade are the costumes. >> some people spend months preparing for this event, making the costumes by hand. many of them not leaving much to the imagination. while the parade route is filled with participant and watchers, vendors selling food and other items packed the side streets. the five day festivities leading up to and including the labor day parade pumps hundreds of thousands of dollars into the

local economy. >> this culture will be bringing in a lot of revenue in this neighborhood, with all the different people flying in and people at different hotels and rent a cars, it's a lot of money for the city. >> there's a huge police presence here. more than 1,000 officers were on hand. over the years, the celebration has been overshadowed by shootings and stabbings. >> stuff's been happening for a few years and they're here for a reason, it's what it is. >> for most everyone here, labor day tradition is all about having fun and letting loose. aljazeera, new york. >> about a million people are estimated to have taken part in the festivity the. >> that will do it for this edition of aljazeera news. news at the top of every single hour. in the meantime, you can always visit us at aljazeera.com.

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