jazeera.com. >> hello and welcome to al jazeera. i'm del walters. he's are your headlines at this hour. >> this is something that united states as a country need to do. >> they will support the president's decision to strike arrest i can't. john kerry going to capitol hill to talk about why the u.s. should intervene on syria's war. and detroit's bankrupt schools being sold for cash. >> president obama getting the endorsement this morning from

you congressional leaders for military action against syria. speaker john boehner speaking immediately after the whews saying that he will support president obama's plan, and he will call on his fellow republicans to do the same, but first this is what the president had to say just before the meeting started. >> the military plan that has been developed by our joint chiefs, and that i believe is appropriate is proportional, it is limited. it does not involve boots on the ground. this is not iraq. this is not afghanistan. this is a limited proportional step that will send a clear message not only to the assad regime but to other countries that may be interested in testing some of these international norms, that there are consequences. >> randall, it ahere's at this

hour the script has been written. >> a very momentous day for president obama as he gets support from congress to take action against syria. the president said he will take action, but it will be much stronger if he gets united action, and this morning he's getting it. >> this is something that the united states as a country needs to do. i'm going to support the president's call for action. i believe my colleagues should support this call for action. >> that was house speaker john boehner, one of the president's most ardent critics coming on board to make a very strong statement of support, and pledging to bring into line republican members who avoid opposition for any reason to military action in syria. one of those republicans who in the past has also been a very strong critic of the president is minority leader eric cantor.

he released a statement in part america has a compelling national security interest to prevent and respond to the use of weapons of mass destruction, especially by a terrorist state such as syria. and to present further instability in a region of vital interest to the united states, and he went on to say that he also will support the president's call for strikes against syria's leader assad for use of chemical weapons that killed more than 1400 people. the next step, the next step is for the white house to formerly submit a resolution in sport of military action against syria. the president is saying there will be debate, and he's hoping that both aisles of congress will take a vote, and a quick vote when they return from recess september 9th. >> randall pinkston joining us

live. that's half of the full court press by the white house, and in an hour from now john kerry and chuck hagel will suppress the white house. >> at the white house, a lot of strong statement and support of the president's call for action. and del, it's important to important to hear that we're called to action. speaker boehner's press secretary coming out with a statement saying that it's still up to the president. it's his responsibility to make his case to the american people, perhaps tempering that support a bit, waiting to see which way the wind will be blowing ahead of the huge meeting this afternoon. secretary kerry, secretary hagel going before the powerful senate security committee, and we'll see if the committee gets behind

it this afternoon. >> if two men know the senate well, it's both of those gentlemen, former senator john kerry and former senator chuck hagel. sherry from political co-,the white house must be smiling right now. oddsmaker would have said that this would not be the case. >> i think you're right, del. weekend when the president first announced this there was a struggle to rally the support in congress. i don't think he's entirely there yet in terms of making the case, and having the vote there, but having cantor and boehner is helpful. the president put out a

statement soon after the remarks this morning saying that this is a conscience vote for his members. not suggesting that he's going to twist arms. he said that the president will have to make the case. while boehner gave him a boost stay which changed the momentum that will help the president in terms of making his case, this is boehner putting it back on the white house saying you have to argue this case. he's offering support, but not a lot of back up. >> and cantor coming on board surprised some, but we have to remember that cantor hails from virginia with all it's defense mechanism there constituting his vote. is the white house concerned about the others coming on board, and is speaker boehner's position in jeopardy? >> cantor is a big supporter of

israel, and there is a certain strategic interest for israel in this whole equation, the idea of drawing red lines, sticking to them for foreign countries that doing things that they shouldn't be doing in the eyes of the united states, possessing chemical weapons, the idea that that could be turned back on the united states, israel, or others. that's part of the cantor equation. boehner took a little bit of a risk by doing this. there is a very real chance that the house may not support it because the tea party is weighing strong, it's a streak through the house republican caucus that if the president is on one side, many members really have to be convinced to be on the same side as the president when historically they would have be on the same side such as national defense issues. there is that part of this under current in this drama that

normally would support something like this. maybe the president was in trouble by coming out early in the process saying yes we should do this, he's putting a bit of his capital online. >> carcarri brown from politico, thank you for joining us. and now we'll pick up on what carrie was saying. >> i think in the end you'll see a crossing of party lines. there will be democrats who will be joined by republicans who will vote against the resolution. the president has a way to go. i would say as in the past when the president has gone to congress more often than not

they get the authorization. if they vote him down, yes, that makes the president look weak, but if it makes him look vulnerable in the next election, imagine someone running an ad and there may be another chemical weapons attack. and political opponents saying, look, this guy turned a blind eye. that could be very powerful politics. in the main they'll get what they need or very close to it. >> there used to be a saying that politics stops at the water's edge, and it did again. >> as you pointed out by cantor signing on so early, he has a greater relationship with the tea party, boehner less so, but the president turned to some of these leaders and said, look, i'm about to go to the g-20. i'm about to make a case for

france and for others to be on board. france is being a little shaky. they want their own vote in parliament. i need to rally the world in favor of this. if you under cut me, then you under cut my ability to bring allies on board. i would have thought that would be a powerful argument. >> jim walsh from mit. thank you for your perspective. as always we invite to you stay tune and stay updated with the help of www.aljazeera.com. well, children across the country are heading back to class today, but in bankrupt detroit dozens of shuttered schools are being told off to help alleviate the city's cash-strapped school process.

>> welcome back to al jazeera. i'm del walters coming to you from new york. we want to take you live now to the al jazeera america where u.n. general secretary ban ki-moon is addressing th and gig an update about the inspectors findings. he cautioned the white house to get approval from the international community before it proceeds with any military action in syria. we're watching the developments taking action in the u.n. and we'll bring them to you as they warrant. summer is over and kids are heading back to school. but for school districts nationwide money is a problem and budget cuts is a reality.

in michigan schools are being dissolved all together and 53 are in the red. bisi p onile. >> reporter: joe landry loves movies. here he runs the show. the movie theater, the entire building, is his, and it was once a detroit public high school. >> many thought the schools was for one purpose, and the schools would be torn down. but i came in and saw great space that could be used for any purpose. >> reporter: he has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars buying up several shuttered

detroit schools. one is a charter school. another is a music school. >> the rewards and the influence it has on other people. >> reporter: joel didn't alone. over the past four years all told the city has sold 46 school buildings. >> tammy dean runs the detroit public school district's real estate office. >> i was looking to see what was going to happen with the city, with the school district, the property. there is lots of property. >> reporter: sales have generated over $18 million, money that goes back into the budget of the city's cash-strapped school district. and a city whose population is half the size it was 50 years ago the sales have been largely uncontroversial. most of the buyers are local, but some are from out of state competing for the property. >> lots of offers, and people fighting over property, yes. >> reporter: 81 schools are still on the market, and more

schools here are expected to close. but some see that as just more opportunity. >> it's an educational and publicity job to convince people in this city that they have great futures, and the school structures had a great value, and to learn how to use it. that's one of the important missions i have. >> an important part of detroit's past could soon become part of its future. and if it's not for sale it could be for rent. right now the school district is also leasing many properties to local churches and non-profits. >> bisi. where do the children of these public schools go? >> well, i can tell you that there are still plenty of schools here in the district,

when it comes to leasing the property they are still being leased. they don't have a student body here to fill those needs so they still have quite a few schools here open. >> and are in the slate of opening them. >> not so far. the school district sees this as a positive so the buildings are not sitting vacant and attracting negative attention. >> bisi oniler-ere. thank you for joining us. >> explosions taking place across the capital city of baghdad. nine explosions going off in a shiite neighborhood and

explosions going off in a mixed neighborhood as well. prosecutors in germany are recommending you wa 40 war crime charges, this announcement following a lengthy investigation. somalia's president survived an assassination attempt. the convoy was ambushed. and those claiming responsibility to the attack have lengths to al-qaida. they safely reached their port city after that ambush. >> there are a pair of reports out that are raising the country's hope for economic

recovery. construction spending rose, the biggest gain they have seen coming from the business sector as the demand for office space and buildings increased. another good sign that factories are humming more, the manufacturing growing at its fastest pace in more than two years. from the big august employment report a new study saying that operators in the energy industry has the most job growth over any profession in the past decade. they found the biggest increase came from petroleum engineers, music directors and composers, interpreters and translators and massage thei therapists. the age in population bringing a

rice in these areas. the 17th consecutive month of gains, but the group's chief economist is saying th interest rates will change that in the next few months. the dow had been up for than 120 points but as we look life we see that it has dipped below, it is down 24 points based on the comments coming out of washington. not good for your 401k. still to come, egypt coming down on court orders to stop operations. >> meteorologist: we look at cooler temperatures moving across the country. we'll look at the numbers and the national broadcast coming

up. protestors. i'm morgan radford, you can see us again at 7:00 eastern. care of our family, take care of our children and to get 7.35 raise up to 12.35 or 15.

[♪ music ] >> welcome back to al jazeera. i'm del walters. following a meeting with the

president this morning house leaders now coming out in support of the white house proposed strike against syria. speaker of the house john boehner and nancy pelosi emerging from that early morning white house meeting and both giving unequivocal support. secretary of state john kerry and secretary chuck hagel are expect to begin their testimony in the next hour before the befe security committee. admissions of guilt. a killing in istanbul he denied sexually assaulting her. a turkish court ordered that he be put under observation for mental observation. she was reported dead after she

did not return home from a vacation in turkey. >> a verdict against some of ousted mohamed morsi. one person was sentenced to life in prison. 51 other defendants were given various terms anywhere from 5 to 51 years. they have been convicted of assaulting troops during riots in the portc port city of suez. they cracked down on pro morsi camps in cairo. in another legal move an egyptian court has also heard al jazeera's local affiliate and three other stations to stop broadcasting in that country, part of the government crackdown against media outlets that they believe support the muslim brotherhood and president morsi. causing worries for coptic christians here in the u.s. [religious singing ]

>> reporter: the pews in queens new york are more crowded these days. more than half of the people filling them came from egypt in the last two years many seeking safety because as members of the increasingly coptic minority are seeking help. >> it's not stable. >> reporter: in the past two weeks dozens of churches and christian-owned properties across egypt had been destroyed, and at least seven christians killed. the military government and some human rights groups blame former president morsi and the muslim brotherhood for calling for violence against christians and accused them of having a role in the overthrow last month.

a father said it's too early to know who is behind the violence. >> it is certainly not christians, and there are outlets who are reporting that it's the christians burning their own churches. >> reporter: in brooklyn, the imam of the biggest mosque of the area condemns the attack. >> the muslim brotherhood has never targeted a church. >> reporter: of the people who worship here, half are egyptian. the imam said that they support the muslim brotherhood and want morsi back in office. in this restaurant is a very different picture. one of clear support for the general who now rules egypt. owner is a coptic christian whose open support of the military government who replaced morsi has cost him customers. >> reporter: how much has it

affected your business? >> 50%, but that's okay. >> reporter: his clients still include egyptian christians and muslims, and he hopes that they all can live side by side in their homeland. an open shared by yosef. >> many people here at mitt they don't know how or when that will happen. for now they say all they can do is hope and pray. al jazeera, new york. >> many of are you getting wet. here is more on the rain. >> the storms came through new york, and you heard them in the middle of the night, and then more on the radar right over long island.

a few of these storms are severe, and the potential is there for more severe weather in the afternoon and evening. now it is leading to changing weather. the rain clears out followed by dry weather and cooler temperatures. 660s there across the great laks and that is a front moving south. it will be followed by cooler weather and you can see temperatures dropping in the 80s and 70s, nice and comfortable. that will push to the south. the southeast, and you can see the showers moving through western north carolina, south carolina line in a. the temperatures are warm head oaheadof that, and we'll see rad dry weather. the temperatures will be cooler itomorrow and the next few days but with high humidity in the southeast. it's clear and dry in the south

part of the country, a nice change there. and also changes in the southwest. there is light rain showers popping up exactly where we need them over the rim fire. maybe just light rain. cooler temperatures and higher humidity helping the fire situation there. not a whole lot with the rain and still a few showers and thunderstorms in the southwest that could develop this afternoon. the tropics are all clear for now and we're continuing to watch the satellite for any development. >> thank you for watching al jazeera. always much more news coming at the top of the hour. stay with us, and we continue to watch the situation that is developing in washington. al jazeera will bring you live coverage of the senate foreign relations committee in washington. our coverage gets under way just after 2:00 eastern time. the dow down about 13 points right now, so you probably are going to see less when you check your statement. i'm del walters coming to you

live from new york. as always the news comes to you at the top of the hour. ♪