. . >> hello and welcome to al jazeera. tommy haas in new york. our top stories at this hour. >> i didn't set a red line. the world set a red line. >> support overseas for a strike on syria. more on president obama's message as he tries to get help in europe. at home the president's team tries to convince law makers to give the okay for military intervention. a man who held three young women captive for a decade kills himself barely a month into his life sentence.

. >> an attack on syria moved a big step closer much the senate foreign relations committee voted to support the president's call for action. meanwhile syria's neighbours demand international help as refugees flood over their borders. president obama is heading for what is likely to be a stormy g 20 summit in st petersburg, saying the global community has to stand up against the assad regime. >> my credibility is not on the line. the international community's credibility is on the line and america and congress's credibility is on the line, because we give lip service to the international norms being important. >> randall is outside the white house. walk us through a dramatic set of events and hearings in

washington. >> yes, quick action before the senate foreign relations committee, president obama making some progress towards getting congressional support for a strike on libya. not so much in the house. the foreign relations committee - at times it seemed congressional courtesy was set aside. >> as the hearing began antiwar protesters held up red hands - a reflection. heated opposition officials faced from members of the foreign relations committee. in this exchange tom marino wanted to know who a strike would help. >> do you trust these people? >> that's not my business to trust anybody. >> it has to be the business because you are making decisions to go into war and put american lives at risk. >> we are not unaware of self-interest of different groups. >> excuse me, with all due respect, i think we are aware... . >> let me respond to that. the focus is not on good guys and bad guy, but a narrowly

drafted resolution, asking authorisation... >> i wouldn't think good guys would use gas. >> it was a contrast to the cordial reception by the senate foreign relations committee. house members, opponents of the barack obama administration went on the attack. south karolina representative jeff duncan dabbed john kerry, a vietnam veteran and former senator. >> you have never been one to advocate for anything other than caution in past conflicts. the same is true of the president and vice president. >> when i was in the senate - i'll finish. i am going to finish. when i was in the united states senate i supported military action in any number of occasions. including grenada, panama - i can run a list. i will not sit here and be told by you that i don't have a sense of what the judgment is with respect to this. the real issue is whether the

congress will stand up for international norms with respect to dictators that have only been broken twice until assad - hitler and saddam hussein. >> republicans were not the only skeptics. administration supporters insisted on limits. >> i hope my colleagues will join me in supporting an authorisation. but we should not give the president a blank check. the authorisation measure we take up must clarify that any strike should be of a limited nature, and they should absolutely be no american boots on the ground in syria. >> administration officials assured the committee that a military strike would not be aimed at resolving the civil war. as for what it will cost, defence secretary chuck hagel told the committee it could range into the tens of millions. >> the house foreign relations committee is expected to draft its own resolution which will

then go to the floor of the house for more spirited debate. >> randall pinkston outside the white house. and libby casey, live on capitol hill. i have to ask you - i'm wondering after a second day of testimony from secretary kerry are the members getting the answers they are looking for? >> well, they are certainly getting a chance to ask questions. you'll notice in a lot of these hearing exchanges members of congress start by giving a bit of a speech before getting to the heart of their question. it made twitter when liberal democrat allan grayson gave a speech, a preamble. they are asking questions from everything as to how much it will cost, how much of a commitment is it to the long-term strategic goals. i spoke to another democrat in the queens area, and he is not ready to commit to a vote.

he sat on the committee, asked some questions and has more. he expects to get answers behind closed doors in intelligence briefings. we'll pick up with them tomorrow. we won't see what is happening behind the scenes. they'll have a chance to ask more questions. it will happen tomorrow and again on monday. the congressman says he's wrestling with just what to do. >> the hardest vote for any member of congress, i know it is for me, is to determine whether or not to authorise the use of military force. that is therefore a vote of conscious, not a vote of trying to vote because the president is a democrat et cetera. it's a vote of conscience, of what you think is the right thing to do so you can sleep at night. now, you give the president - the president of the united states - you give him a head start because you believe - i believe - that the president of

the united states wants to do the right thing for the united states and he's not trying to hurry into war. i start at that premise. he has a headstart because he's the president of the united states, and he may have more information than i have. it's my job to seek as much of it as i can get so i can make a decision. even if my constituents disagree with me - whichever way i go i should be able to explain to them why i voted yes or no. >> and the congressman is preparing for the constituents to have questions as he heads back to his new york district. members of congress are saying they are not hearing many people at home who are supportive of what is coming, supportive of what the white house wants. they'll have to try to put what they are hearing behind closed doors together with what they are hearing at home. >> let's broaden it a bit. how significant was the vote by the senate panel, authorising the use of force against syria?

>> we can look at the numbers. 10 for it, seven against and one that voted present. in the numbers are interesting things we learn. it's not all democrats on one side and republicans on another. some democrats voted no because they have concerns about what the end goal of this will be. some republicans as well - i almost said congressman, sirnt marky - now he's a senator, holding the seat that john kerry used to have. now the secretary of state. it's an important seat in massachusetts. he said it is too broad. he said, "i won't vote no, i still have questions." we get back to the lingering concerns that most have. >> libby casey on capitol hill, and randall pinkston outside the white house , both from washington. >> president obama arrives in

russia for the g20 summit and is hoping to shore up support from other leaders for a strike against syria. he can't count on russian president vladimir putin. barnaby phillips has more on the icy relations between the two leaders. >> leaders arrive in st petersburg for a summit that may highlight glaring issues on the critical issues on the day. the g20 host, vladimir putin, is not talking like a man ready to compromise with the united states over syria. >> translation: i have watched the debates in congress, when they ask secretary kerry, is there al qaeda in syria. i say officially they are not there. the rebels, el nisra is a unit of al qaeda. kerry and the others know this. i don't like seeing this. we communicate with them. he lies openly. he knows that he lies.

>> the american president, stopping in sweden, spoke as if military action is inevitable. >> my credibility is not on the line. the international community's credibility is on the line, and america and congress's credibility is on the line because we give lip service to the notion that these international norms are important. >> in damascus itself, the syrian regime speaks, and in defiant language. >> translation: the syrian government will never change its position, even if the price is a third world war. we will never compromise independence and sof rep -- sovereignty. we have the right to reply. >> the formal agenda in the

summit concentrates on financial tie. in reality those issues are likely to be overshadowed by the syrian crisis. few here are optimistic that russia and the western powers can overcome the vast differences in their approach towards syria. it seems an impossible challenge for st petersburg. in two days of talks leaders will try to find a consensus, that has been eloosive in two long years of fighting in syria. >> an attack on syria is becoming more likely, fears of that are spreading across the boarders. robert ray is in beirut and joins me live. robert. >> tony, a growing impatience and anxiety in lebanon.

there's over 1 million refugees here. many here believe that that is creating a direct security and balance power in lebanon and many believe that the us should have struck last week in creating an intense anxiety on the streets of beirut. >> robert ray for us in beirut. appreciate it. coming up - a live sentence ends in suicide. the cleveland man who pleads guilty to more than 900 charges for the kidnapping and torture of three women - kills himself. >> the radiation at the fukushima plant could kill a person within a few hours. japanese officials are trying to convince the world they have a plan to get it under control.

hello, i'm metrologist rebecca stevenson. a relief for those in the north-east as humidity drops and cooler temperatures move in. it felt nice and cool for a lot of folks, even in ohio, when it was warm - it still felt a little better. less humidity. cleveland, pittsburg at 76. heading to maine. go north and you'll get a little cooler. maine - you are looking at temperatures in the 70s now. portland, maine at 79. you will be cooler in the next couple of days. look at the difference in the colours of the map. note how it gets a little green or blue the further north you

know. overnight temperatures will cool off. toronto - 53 for you. that will feel good. albany drops to 56. this is the beginning of a cooling trend on the way for another couple of days. we are, in fact, looking - by the time yes get to friday morning - for a freeze watch in northern maine. we'll get the temperatures dropping down chilly. the freeze watch, into the 30s. details on who else will cool off a bit and who will get a lot of rain, next. >> thank you. the cleveland man who kidnapped three young women and raped them committed suicide. ariel castro was found in his prison cell. an autopsy showed he killed himself. the former bus driver was serve a life sentence and 1,000 years in prison. we go live to cleveland ohio.

>> we understand the three women declined to comment about ariel castro today. members of the community had plenty to say. >> that's right. the women have nothing to say publicly about ariel castro's suicide. being out here today i talked to a few people, many are passionate about what happened in that gaol. take a look. >> ariel castro was found around 9:20 tuesday night hanging in his prison cell. the ohio department of corrections issued a statement saying: . >> upon finding ariel castro prison staff performed life-saving measures. it was too late. the 52-year-old was taken to this hospital and pronounced

dead. it's been over a month since ariel castro started serving life plus 1,000 years in prich, after pleading guilty to 37 charges, among them kidnap, rape. >> ariel castro abducted amanda berry, gina dejesus, and michelle knight between 2002 and 2004. their freedom came may 1st this year when amanda berry broke part of the front door of his house. ariel castro was arrested that day. his sentence hearing was one of the few times he spoke publicly following his arrest. . >> the former school bus driver showed no emotion when a tearful michelle knight spoke in front of the court.

>> in july all three women released a youtube video to thank the people that supported them. >> first and foremost i want everyone to know how happy i am to be home with family and friends. . >> thank you. >> the boarded home where ariel castro beat, tortured and raped victims for years, torn down as part of the plea deal. >> and just to give you an idea of some things i heard out here today - some called ariel castro a monster, by saying killing himself he got out the easy way and he should have spent years behind bars suffering. it's interesting the prosecutor in this case spoke out calling ariel castro a degenerate and calling him a cow ard. >> let me pick up on the first point there. are there questions raised about the security around ariel castro. he was in prison to be sure, but i am sure people are wondering

how this could happen. >> right. what's interesting is as i mentioned in the story, he should have been checked on every 30 minutes. sounds like there may have been a flaw in that system. what i do know for sure right now is the ohio department of corrections - they have launched an investigation. we should learn more about how all of this went down. >> appreciate it bc. in cleveland. >> radiation levels around japan's fukushima nuclear power station reached their highest levels since an earthquake crippled japan. with three days left to vote to pick the site for the 2020 olympics, japan is trying to ease concerns. >> 2,000 millilitres an hour - the latest readings - enough to kill someone at the plant in a few hours. the readings were taken near

containers storing radioactive water. the allegations made a day after the government released a plan. they are proposing to build an underground wall of ice. the idea is to prevent groundwater flowing beneath the reactors becoming contaminated before flowing into the ocean. a former designer of nuclear reactors says the measures proposed by politicians and tepco are not enough. >> translation: the government and tepco will not be able to solve the problem. we need to appoint more experts and form a project team. making an ice wall is one idea. whether it's the best is questionable. >> tepco says there's no evidence of new leaks at the facility, and conditions at the plant remain as they were. it says the higher readings are due to more sensitive equipment. >> recent developments can not come at a worse time for japan. the prime minister is pushing

for the reopening of nuclear reactors to meet energy demands. in a few days tokyo will find out if it's been chosen to host the 2020 summer olympic games. the government is eager to show it has the situation under control. >> translation: we are determined to take drastic measures so there are no problems by the 2020 olympics, seven years from now. >> that statement comes on the back of revelations and may offer little assurance. tepco admitted last month than 300 tons of groundwater is leaking into the ocean daily, and 300 tonnes of radioactive water leaked from a storage tanks. levels of radiation are higher than previously recorded recollects confirms that the clean-up may be more difficult than originally thought.

. >> trouble for lance armstrong. john henry smith is here with the headlines. >> a judge in texas is looking to get lance armstrong to testify under oath for the first time about his performance enhancing drug use. this is part of a lawsuit by a corporate armstrong accusing him of fraud. >> we know which rookie the bills will start at centre. >> manual has been given the nod to start against tom brady in the paitry ots. >> 6-time olympic gold medal sprinter usain bolt will retire after rio. bolt wants to be remembered among the greats like muhaman

ali and others. >> thank you. according to the us government 15 million people are insecure - meaning they are not sure where their next meal with come from. for many living in poverty poor quality foods - high in sugar and fat make up their diet. a partnership between farms and food banks is trying to change that, providing healthy food for people that need it the most. >> we have this report from sack ra mmento california. >> the rich soil produces a bounty of vegetables. many who live in this valley are poor. that is where a nonprofit farm and the sacramento food bank comes in. vegetables harvested by volunteers are sold or donated to the foodbark. john is the founder. it's an idea that we need to educate them about why they need

to eat differently and helping them to increase their accessibility to those produce and foods. >> it's the monthly food distribution day at a church in one of sacramento's poor neighbourhoods. a crowd of people came to load up on farm-fresh produce. there's a big difference between in and other food banks, says its boss, blake young. >> traditional food banking is people come, there's institutional lines, people are checked in and handed a bag of groceries. most of the groceries they are handed are things like twinkies, processed, coca-cola. >> there's no sugary snacks or highly processed snacks here. that is important. people living in poverty are more likely to suffer from obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. a healthy diet can go a long way

towards preventing the diseases. >> this food bank serves 20,000 needy people a month. the goal is to change the food they eat and help them live healthier lives much. >> food is a gateway. we introduce people to child care, prenatal care. we provide clothing for job skills interviews, technology training. our goal is to walk hand in hand with them in a dignified way to encourage them to take the next step. >> that is cynthia ryan chopping zucchini. she lives on a government disability payment - barl enough to -- barely enough to afford food and represent. the food from the foodbank allows her to thrive. >> i lost 70 pounds of unwanted because i am now eating healthy from the food bank. it would be almost impossible

for me to buy the quality of food i receive from the foodbank with my income. it would be almost impossible. >> creating possibilities and changing lives with the simple gifts of the good earth. . >> and up next - the cost of a refugee crisis. we take a look at how the exo does from syria is affecting economic conditions. and a series of bombings kills dozens in iraq. the death toll continues to climb higher.

welcome back to al jazeera, tommy haas, here is the headlines. an attack on syria has moved closer the senate foreign relations committee has voted to support the president's call for action. that means it will go to a full senate vote next week. president obama is in sweden, where he asked for international support on syria. countries around syria demand international help to deal with 2 million refugees who flooded across their borders. syria's deputy prime minister says his country would not give in to threats and defend itself

against attacks. russian president vladimir putin says the us congress has no right to legitimise aggression against syria. 5,000 syrians flee into neighbouring countries every day. one of which is lebanon. more than 600,000 refugees are already there. we have this report from beirut. the influx is creating friction between the newcomers and those that call lebanon their home. >> one in five in lebanon is a syrian. many have settled in poor, overcrowded neighbourhoods like this. they live among the local population, but can't escape the feeling of not being welcome. >> translation: the lebanese think we have taken away their opportunities, and feel we are doing jobs that should be theirs. >> before the turmoil in their county, thousands of syrians

worked in meanial jobs. new aarrivals create have created competition. the local population needs help too, they say. >> translation: their presence changed our lives for the worst. most of them are not refugees, but workers who brought their families there. the lebanese government is not taking care of us. >> not all syrian refugees are able to make ends meet. rental prices have increased. a small room in this slum costs around $300 a month. those that cannot afford to pay live in buildings under construction. >> it is clear after talking to people here that there are tensions between the syrians and the lebanese community. the government officials say the interpretations reached a dangerous level. the government is worried they'll have to deal with a new

influx of refugees if the west takes action against the syrian regime. >> the refugees have seen bombings, kidnappings - this country has not been able to stay out of the conflict. lebanon is divided. its people have taken sides in the conflict across the boarder. >> translation: we don't want to make problems. but many lebanese parties are creating problems and blame the syrians. >> some believe the presence of the syrians contribute to the problem. lebanon has imposed tighter controls, not just to manage the number of refugees, but syrians are looked upon as a security problem in a county under threat. >> joining me from washington to talk about the refugee crisis is a senior official with the unrefugee agency. when were you last in the region, and where specifically were you? >> i was there two months ago in

jordan and lebanon - in the camps and urban areas. >> what did you see? >> i saw a lot of misery. >> i went to the largest refugee camp hosting syrians. it's the sc second-largest camp in the world after a camp in kenya. i was in ayman. in lebanon there are no camps. refugees in lebanon are in 1400 individual locations. i visited a number of those. >> what's the impact on an entire family? you are seeing entire families move. i'm thinking - we are looking at pictures of young children. what has been the affect of this exodoes does -- exodus on children. >> children are half, and we are talking in many cases of young

children. i saw babies, and in some camps about 70 children are born a day. many are unaccompanied, having arrived losing fathers, brothers and other family members. others are with family members but don't live a normal existence. many are not attending school. for almost two years many have been out of school. host countries have generously allowing syrian refugee children to attend school, there's a lot of barriers. they are traumatised physically and mentally. >> in the next question i am not asking your opinion on whether a military strike should happen, but will any strike make a bad situation worse? >> if you look at the last few years in the war, a number of actions have caused the crisis to escalate and cause a

number of people to flee. about 50,000 syrians fled into iraq in a two week period. we have been doing contingency plannings since the war started and we will continue to do contingency planning. we assume the numbers will escalate. we may not know the exact numbers or where or when they arrive. we are prepared for a continued influx into the neighbouring countries. >> talk about the preparations - what are the food, water issues and shelter, for the refugees in the camps? >> my organisation unihcr leads and tries to help some of the internally displaced syrians. we work with 100 other partners in neighbouring countries. we do everything from running the camps, providing assistance in the camps to assistance in urban

areas. the attention tends to focus on the camps, because it's a visible sign, but about three-quarters of the refugees are not in camps, they are in urban areas ranging from aman to a dusty village. we provide a lot of support there. with our partners we provide food distribution, psychosocial services, cash when needed, services to help victims of gender-based violence, the whole gamut. it's not enough. >> jana mason is a senior official with the unihcr. >> citizens in the us speak out about the strike against the syri syri syrian government. heidi joins us from dallas much. >> we are in a town south of dallas where we expect a town hall meeting to begin.

constituents in the 6th congressional district will speak with joe biden as to whether the us should intervene in syria. earlier i spoke with a syrian relative in dallas, who is desperate for the us to step in to help. >> the images we are seeing are not the same place amad grew up. >> syria should be like a peaceful country, and we don't like to be involved in wars. >> this is the syria the world now knows. matab jirks -- matabi has been away from his homeland and lives in dallas. he leads an organise of ex-pats. >> women and kids have been killed. new generations are killed for no reason.

>> matabi ran a distribution business in syria. one day at work he came across government documents he knew he would be punished for seeing. so he fled. >> i took my wife and three children. >> instantly overnight. >> i took them on the darkest night and we flew to the united states. >> matabi is claiming asylum in the us. the assad regime, he says, tortured his brother. >> they broke his hand, arms, nose. >> and electrocuted his 72-year-old mother with a taser. matabi is not surprised assad would use chemical weapons on his own people. >> they do what they want to do. that's the rule over there are, their rules, not ours. >> he wants congress to approve a us military strike and an international coalition to oust

bashar al-assad. >> he says he would return to rebuild the country he loved. . >> now, while you hear people who are very passionate like matabi. ex-pats that want the us to intervene. others in texas and around the country are passionate in their opposition to us military intervention, we aspect to hear from them in the town haul in district 6. the represent difficult, joe barton said he would oppose most likely a us intervention in syria, but at the same time he has seep the same images of suffering, women and children in syria and publicly denounced the use of chemical weapons. >> heidi near dallas texas. >> other news - in iraq, of 0

members of a family have been killed in an attack. it follows a series of car bombs. it is part of a trend. imran chan reports now. >> if we thought iraq had moved on from the violent days of the past, we are being proved wrong. on tuesday a number of car bombs tore through baghdad in 11 neighbour hoods in all. in some cases the explosions went off in rapid succession, suggesting they were coordinated - targetting people who were out and about for the evening. >> translation: a powerful blast took place in 5:00 pm yesterday. >> translation: it targeted people working to earn their living, innocent people. >> it wasn't just this district, but districts in the north and west. one of the worst attacks

happened in the eastern suburbs. it was at a road restaurant and shops. >> translation: there was a checkpoint here and another there. how did the car bomb drive from here? did it come from space? i blame the government and security forces for the breach. >> the number of day-to-day attacks in iraq is rising. most is sunni groups attacking shi'a neighbourhoods. more than 800 have been killed in the last month alone. the war in syria is having a massive effect in this country. in baghdad armed groups are sending fighters into syria and are behind the car bombings we have seen over the last five to six months. there's a massive refugee crisis in northern iraq. both of those add pressure to a country that is already a tinder box. >> after 12 years heading the top agencies, fbi director has

stood down. he is credited with transforming the law enforcement agency to a threat-focused security organisation. former attorney general james cohen takes his place. >> more positive signs for the economy. sales of the big three auto makers are growing at their fastest pace since 2007. the federal reserve says hiring held steady or increased modestly. the us is becoming more positive. ali velshi has more at the top of the hour. great to see you. >> i heard music. do i get opening music? >> you do. >> i haven't heard it before, this is big time. >> you rate high ly. tell us, how is the us doing? >> you've been outside the united states. you may have a better

perspective. ask americans - they are not sure it's doing well. a new survey that comes out every year by the world economic forum rating global competitiveness - how competitive is one country versus another - places america in the fifth spot, up from number seven. we are getting higher every year. we took a beating during the recession. switzerland is number one, singapore, finland and germany are doing better than the united states. we are in the number five spot out of 148 countries. that's good in terms of global competitiveness. >> what you hear from others around the world is america will have to lead it. it will have to be america that leads the comeback. there are still some big weaknesses in the commip -- economy. >> a lot of weaknesses are that american companies complain endlessly about government inefficiency and interference.

the rest of the world thinks that america is a great free market and that that is what it's all about. american businesses think that the government gets in the way. when i travel to other places i ask how the government is doing, they say, "fine if the government gets out of the way". american, as with other big european countries - that is the chief complaint. government gets in the way of things being done. >> more at the top of the hour. >> we talk about obama care. i talk about the young invincibles without who obama care will not work. how do you convince kids to buy health insurance. you can't convince them to come home and keep their room in order. >> they just want to stay on the parents policy. i know know. on the top of hours - congestion

in venice - boats not car. >> and john henry has sports.

john henry smith is here and and we'll talk football. >> the leaves are changing, it's fall football. the buffalo bills will open with a rookie at quarter back. the bills named first round pick ej manual as their week one starter against tom brady in the patriots. that had been the original

before manual underwent knee surgery a little over a few weeks ago. that opened the door for jeff toole to become an undrafted agent to serve. that's is noting happening. manual's knee is now 110%. >> ej manual will not be the only starting rookie signal caller. the new york jets are starting the second round with gino smith. this is amidst reports that the jets moved on from embattled long tv time starter sanchez, who is nursing a shoulder injury. >> jessica tapp is coming up and talking about football. she will talk about how the ravens will fair without ray lewis and ed-read and defined

them. >> there's a lot of changeses on defence. ed-reid and ray lewis, it seems like forever since the two guys were not on the feel. it almost has been dash 2005 when both as injured and neither were on the field, the last time they weren't on the field together. 11 seasons they played together. there'll be a different look on the defence of the the balty more raiders. they are playing the underdog card, 7.5 point underdogs. they have joe flacker and should be a great game. >> speaking of the broncos, easier said than done. how is the defence going? >> paton manning is a tough one top handle. he's at home. he went 7 and 1 last season. really plays well in denver. he's only played there one season.

again, it seems like forever for him and denver. he did a good job as he always has. this year he was wes walker. mike shanahan named robert griffin the third to start against the eagles. do you see them using rg3. a little differently this year after seeing the knee injury last year. >> it takes three years for a quarter back to come back from an acl injury. adrian peterson played like superman and his knee injury came back. he almost set the nrl rushing record. when adrian says he'll be better than ever, it's hard to doubt him. you are right, we'll probably see him sit in the pocket a little more, rather than run, especially early on with the right knee. he'll wear a brace. it's been restructed two times.

it will be interesting to see how it holds up and how without the practice time he can get up to speed. >> final question - i know it's premature, but it's the question everyone wants to know - how about a super bowl prediction. >> i like the houston texans. they need the quarter back to play a little bitter. -- little better. they have the running game if the quarter back steps it up. nfc - contenders in the afc - the team i will go with, the san francisco 49ers, they are the team to beet. >> thank you. that was good stuff. nfl coverage continues. the season kicks off in denver. we'll have full coverage before and after the broncos match up. >> serena williams has been

dominant defending her title. today she and sister venus looked to advance in the doubles. they breeze the through their third-round match. they won in straight sets. >> baseball - a big night for the pittsburg pirates franchise. they broke a streak 20 years in the making. it came down to the top of the ninth. schneider with a pinch hit game-winning home run. the pirates won notching up an 83rd win of the season. the first non-losing scenes since the year 1992. >> and sprinter usain bolt says he's retiring from the track and field after the 2016 olympics in rio. among his goals until then are to win more olympic gold and

break his world record in the 200m. bolt knows he has to dominate his sport until his retirement if he wants to be remembered among the greats like mohammed ali and others. he doesn't want to too much. >> he wants to be in that category. >> he wants to be anicon. >> gondala traffic in venice is getting worse. the call for safety comes after a german tourist died in a crash. >> no matter where in the world you go chances are you'll never be far from these. the traffic jam is hated. in venice, it looks nice. you don't get anywhere unless you go by water. at the moment you won't go fast. >> translation: it's not safe in the city. especially for the smaller

votes. >> it's busy. the canals are suffering from congestion from traffic. damage from high speed motor boats, and reports of drunkenness on the water. despite the appearance of tranquility there are real problems, not just because there are gondalas and congestion, but larger vessels are getting closer to venice, making waves metaphorically and physically. they can be damaging, disrupting and dangerous in some cases. >> translation: we cannot ignore the fact that authorities pretent they want to solve the problem but are increasing the ferries on the water. >> this video shot in july shows a cruise liner coming within metres of the bank. a tourist in a separate incident - he was crushed to death on a gondala.

the city is covered by electronic eyes, but can't be used to issue speeding fines because of privacy laws. >> translation: we need to check the traffic so everyone is more disciplined, including the gondaliers. unfortunately they feel they own venice. >> an proposal is to introduce an official congestion zone. as the gondaliers clock off, they go home to rest, but will be back tomorrow - as with the crowds, congestion and frustration. >> still to come on al jazeera, rebecca stevenson is ahead with a second forecast and real money with ali velshi - he is on deck at the top of the hour. ç]

hi there. i'm metrologist rebecca stephenson. we are tracking a large storm in the pacific ocean that has gotten closer to the states and is spinning up a lot of showers and thunder storms into the

pacific north-west and into nevada and inland as well. on the satellite and radar shower activities are scattered to the east and rockies and ida hoe. it is the west, from kaz cades west wards that we are concerned about the next 24 hours. a lot of rain will move in as an area of low pressure, the low will move in to southern california and southern oregan. as it does that the bulk of rain fall comes into washington and o oregan and it's issuing a flood watch. we'll see the rain coming down quickly in the mountains, and running into the river system. they quickly rise. we get more and more fall storms - it's not fall yet - not officially - but we get more fall storms and we have concerns of flooding in the west. we'll watch for that and the

lightening bolts bringing in the chance of more fire starts. looking at the satellite picture you see an area of low pressure, spinning around counterclockwise, here is where it will track over the course of thursday and friday. if we go to the east coast it's a different story. in the central portion of the us it's hot and dry. in the east a little light rain coming into the north-east and cooler air moves in from the north-east first - where we get the rain, gradually working southward. high temperatures tomorrow - once again comfortable and nice and cool. we'll see the temperatures continue to drop. incidentally, we are watching the tropics too. we have tropical depression number 7 gearing up. 2013 - we are in line to potentially have the latest start to hurricanes. we haven't had any hurricanes yet. we are catching number

seven pretty closely. welcome to al jazeera, i'm tommy haas, here are the top storesies. the senate foreign relations committee is giving president obama the go ahead for a limited strike, limiting hostilities 60 or 90 days. it was a bipartisan vote. 10:7. secretary of state john kerry and defence secretary chuck hagel were on capitol hill, making their case before the house foreign relations committee. chuck hagel told the panel a military strike against syria would cost tens of millions. president ob