>> i'm richelle carey. here's the latest from al jazeera. president obama is growthed with miles by russian president vladimir putin. the key issues behind closed doors members of congress discuss and debate potential military action against syria. egypt's minister survives an assassination attempt. workers across the country call for better working conditions and higher wages.

president obama and other world leaders have come together for the group of 20 summit. officially they're in spush to talk about the global economy but the debate over syria is dominating the summit. put the host of the summit, russia. mike vic viqueira, the presidens are not on good many terms. >> that's right. the setting is certainly ornate but he faces opposition from members of his own party and members of congress. pope francis weighing in, opposing military strikes, that president obama is here to gain some sort of consensus, if not consensus at least support around the margins of this

meeting which after all is supposed to be economics. the president began his day with a bilateral meeting with the vice president of japan k shinto abe. even there at the traditional photo op, president obama brought up the issue that he is here to talk about. >> i also look forward to having an extensive conversation about the situation in syria. and i think our joint recognition that the use of chemical weapons in syria is not only a tragedy, but also, a violation of international law that must be addressed. >> and the president will also meet with the french president, francois hollande, backing the president on their syria policy, and although shi has backed russia in his opposition.

the president is talking to vladimir putin. you saw them greet outside the ornate palace, some 300 years old. the smiles and sunshine and commodius feelings. the president for his part fresh off his comments in stockholm where he said russian relations his relations with vladimir putin and the russian government have, quote, hit a wall. richelle. >> clearly they are miles apart when it comes to syria. any chance they would make any progress here? >> well, that's a good question and after vladimir putin gave an interview to the associated press and another organization on the even of this summit, some saw daylight that perhaps he

could change his mind. a top administration official telling reporters they are highly skeptical of any change of heart on the part of vladimir putin. they don't expect any consensus to emerge here, does the american government and keep in mind richelle that this really hangs in the balance in congress and of course officials here are keeping an eye back at home on the deliberations there, house of representatives a very open question some people betting the house will not have the votes to approve the president's plan, richelle. >> mike viqueira, thank you so much live from st. petersburg. u.n. president ban ki-moon is asking the u.n.'s specialist, to address world leaders. >> i have asked joint special envoy to join me in st.

petersburg to press for the convening of geneva 2 conference. there is no military solution. there is only a political solution. which can bring peace and end this bloodshed right now. >> the conference was initially put forward by the u.s. and russia in may. it looks like it will take some time for congress to authorize military action in syria. here is some of the key events. the g-20 summit in russia ends tomorrow, where mike viqueira is. senate members will hold a brief session to place the resolution on the calendar. both house and senate are scheduled to return to work next week but not clear when they will have a resolution. the obama's administration plans to respond to last month's attack in damascus.

paul beban joins us live from washington covering that part of the story for us. paul we are now hearing from members of congress who are in and out of these briefings all day. what have you been hearing? >> that's right, richelle. as you mentioned the resolution did clear a key hurdle yesterday, passing through the senate foreign relations committee. today another round of meetings, the big one, senate intelligence committee, we have heard that a few of those members have started trickling out. not making comments to cameras so far but we did hear before the meetings started from republican susan collins of maine. let's hear what she had to say. >> i am concerned about america's credibility. that is an argument on the other side that i'm weighing carefully. i'm worried about the faculty that the president of the united states drew this line in the sand, he clearly did so without having a carefully considered strategy and plan in mind for

what would happen if the line were crossed, which i think was inevitable. >> so we'll try to catch up with senator collins and some other senators as they come out of that meeting here today. try to learn more about what they heard during this important intelligence briefing. richelle. >> paul let's talk more about the senate. is it looking like this will pass in the senate, i know that's a tough question to answer but what's it looking like? >> the prediction business is a bad one these days [ laughter ] but what we do know is that senator rand paul who there had been reports that he was considering a fil fill filibust. let's tell you something from

thehill.com. the senate handicap, of 10:00 a.m., yes leaning yes 22 senators, no, leaning no they had 13, and not clear another 22, adds up to 57, which leaves 43 completely unknown so pretty far off from any predictive look of what we've got there in the senate. time will tell as they say. >> and certainly more difficult to predict in the house? >> well, the house again even more skeptical republican-controlled of course and we had that very testy heated hearing yesterday in the house foreign affairs committee. that committee still working on the language of its bill and it will then of course present it to the full house. the house not expected to take up that measure until the week after the senate. senate looking now like it's going to be taking up the measure on wednesday, that would be september 11th. richelle. >> quite a few days away, paul beban live from capitol hill.

some senate and lawmakers said they were concerned with, some of the groups that make up the syria opposition which is a broad term. former ambassador richard murphy says those concerns are valid. >> the danger is as time goes on the opposition attracts more and more of those we call extremists. and i think secretary kerry has been making those points that the need to act is now, as quickly as possible. >> secretary of state john kerry says what he calls extremist makeup 20 to 25% of the opposition. walmart workers are protesting in more than a dozen cities across the u.s. they are demanding higher wages and better jobs, they are calling on walmart to undue the firings of workers that took place in the previous strike.

john, in valley stream, new york, how are the protests going on out there? >> hey, richelle welcome to sunny valley stream, getting underway at 1:00 probably but you can see some of the early protestors who have turned up in recommendation of what's going to happen. in the meantime many more of them have been busy in manhattan. fifth avenue offices of chris williams a board member for walmart and there they delivered a petition with 200,000 signatures on it calling for a minimum wage and better working conditions for all the staff. today two previous walmart workers were arrested in manhattan. a current walmart worker was arrested by police. they are on their way here, minus though three, to do their protest. there's to be a rally involving the two previous walmart workers

who will speak. richelle. >> john, have you gotten a kneeling for how effective this will be, whether they think this is more symbolic than anything? >> you know, i think right now, they think it could be a bit of an uphill battle. but there's a trend developing. look at the fast food workers, there have been at least two strikes involving them and their grievances now. this isn't the first time walmart workers protested. black friday, last year there were protests at walmart store in 100 locations around the country. and it was as a result of that, that 20 workers were let go by walmart were let go for taking part in those protests and part of today is to try and get those 20 reinstated. there's a trend among low paid workers to try to go something about their conditions,

richelle. >> custom of questions, first as you have been out there have you been able to hear from any walmart customers to see how they feel about this and have you heard anything yet, any response from walmart, the company itself, because we've been trying on our end. >> we have been trying since yesterday. walmart i don't think are going orespond. there's no real reason for them to if you think about it. they may issue a paper statement later in the day. yes, when you think about the customers showing up here, they are all unanimously in favor of giving walmart workers what they want. what you have to remember is they also want the low prices that they get here at walmart and that is this 21st century conundrum that we're facing. because if you can put these in simplistic terms, walmart is a good thing and a bad thing. it gives us cheap goods and cheap food. it employs a lot of people but a bad thing, squeezing farmers of

america, cutting their margin to an absolute bare minimum. when walmart moves in the mom and pop stores move out, very often and the communities can be damaged. walmart doesn't see it that way but these people do. that's the issue being fought at its core, michelle. >> you sum that up so nicely john. if you ask someone, do you want low prices? the answer is of course, if you ask them, do you want the workers to make a living wage, the answer is yes. >> the walmart model -- >> go ahead. >> the model is buy them in volume, sell cheap. you can't get around that. >> walmart gloi employs 2.2 miln

people, 1.1 million in the united states alobe. the company controls more than 900 million square feet of retail space, roughly 34 mimes, the area one and a half times the size of man hat april. coming up. details from our reporter in cairo. plus taking the pulse of the american job sector. helping to pump life in the latest job report.

>> welcome back. president obama and other world leaders are in russia for the group of 20 leaders.

the syria issue is dominating. members of congress will get briefing on syria. tomorrow the house and the senate are scheduled to return to work next week. but it's not clear when the vote on a resolution. a convoy carrying egypt's interior minister was the target of an explosion on thursday. interior minister mohamed ibrahim survived but there were deaths and injuries. we are not naming our correspondent for his own safety. what do we know about this explosion? specifically how close was this explosion to killing the interior minister? >> you mo what? i think it was a very close thing. if you look at the footage that's come out on state television, and from what eyewitnesses said as well, i.t. was a very large blast. the -- it was a very large blast. the interior ministry is saying

the initial indications suggest the car was parked near the residence of the interior minister. as he was coming out, sorry as his convoy was passing the residence he was in a vehicle and the explosion happened. whether or not it was a car bomb hasn't completely been confirmed. but he said it was a very large blast, and we've been able to see the damage destroying many cars and several shops in the area. the interior minister himself said many of his guards had pen injured in the what he is calling an assassination attempt a devious attempt on his life and at the moment everyone is exactly wondering whether this is going to be an isolated incident or not. >> an attack on his life by whom? >> well, nobody has pointed the finger directly so far and nobody's come forward to claim

responsibility for the bombing which happened around 10:30, in a residential area so it was a brazen attack if of course it was an attack which is what it seems. the president 60 has put out a statement that egypt won't allow terrorism which it defeated in the 1980s and 1990s to rear its ugly head again. in the meantime the muslim brotherhood or i should say the anticoup alliance and other religious, mainly religious group who want moam mohamed mori reinstated, warned that the israeli government could use events like this to extend the state of emergency. every night at 10:00 people have to be off the street. they are worried that this could lead to more security obstacles like that. >> the damage is certainly

massive that's for sure and thank you for that update. new ref lairgses and talks between israel and the palestinian. according to the israeli press, the ap says the information comes from a palestinian potential despite an agreement to keep the talks secret. calls the statement unacceptable to the palestinians. business news a couple of reports show steady but slow improvement in the job market. the labor department says weekly jobless claims fell nearly 5%, a weekly low, most of those jobs came in the service sector. economists say the numbers are encouraging but the job recovery still has a long way to go.

interest rate on jumbo mortgages, are lower than the conventional loans for the first time in history. interest rate volatility, government policies and banks with lots of cash to lend for a change. the mortgage bankers association said last week jumbo mortgages averaged 4.7, while conventional 4.71. ironically j.c. penn j.c. y. was locked in a battle with macy's. 30 day buildup where yahoo

showed up the different designs online, ceo mel it's sa mayer said, while it's time for a change it's not something we could do light. still ahead on al jazeera, the technology california is turning to to meet its growing water needs. dave with weather. >> we have fire concerns and flash flooding concerns. the national forecast coming up next. that's all i have an real money. victoria azarenko

>> growing water shortage around the world is increasing demand here in the country. that demand along with recent drought conditions, has led to soaring costs. but california the country's most populace state, is turning to technology to meet the ever-growing need for water. the story from san diego. >> we live in a world of water. oceans give us food and a place to play. but the irony is the sea can't give us what we need most, the water to drink. that's the promise of desalinization comes in. taking the salt out of saltwater.

>> we have the world's largest reservoir at our doorstep. >> in carlsbad, california, hope for a future lies in the largest desalinization plant in the western hemisphere. when it's completed in 2016, it will provide 300,000 people with fresh drinking water. peter mclagen says it's time to drop our straw into the pacific ocean. >> the problem is we have two-thirds of the rainfall in the northern part of the state and two-thirds of the population in the southern part. the disconnect between supply and demand. desalinization has become affordable. >> an 8% rate hike, the san diego water authority which last agreed to buy po poseidon's product.

>> large desalinization plants are operating in the middle east but the west is slow reluctant to adopt the technology. with some water policy experts saying on the surface desalination, there are a number of unresolved issues that must be addressed before we can say "pass the salt." >> we would consider it an option of last resort when you've exhausted all the preferable alternatives. >> joe geder is with the marine life association. >> degradation of marine habitat, enormous energy demand, so expensive it crowds out other alternatives. conservation, storm water capture, recycle waste water. >> basically we're looking at it as an investment in an insurance policy. this is one supply that is truly drought proof. it's worth a little bit more.

>> if desalination remains a prickly issue, means california is not only running out of water, it is out of time. >> we're talking about a little bit too much water in the northwest. storms there causing flash flooding, flash flood watches are in effect, lightning on some very dry ground. that could lead to fire problems. storm on the oregon-idaho border, seeing flooding flash flood watches all the green, red is the red flag warning for fire danger there. lightning with a little bit of rain could lead to more fire problems with the very dry ground, very dry situation there in oregon, wach and nevada. now the flash flood watches will continue and they are dealing with a lot of very heavy rain especially up to the north there

around washington, oregon, idaho and montana. temperatures are quite cool in the eastern united states as very cold air has moved in. temperatures will really drop at night as the skies are clear and not much is happening in the northeast, in fact temperatures could be so cold that we are seeing numbers in the 50s and 60s, dropping tonight into the 30s and 40s, could be near the freezing mark or even hitting the freezing mark. that could lead to frost or freezing temperatures. lighter color is frost advisories, not get down to freezing but frost could develop. freeze warning overnight and tomorrow morning. temperatures in new york up to 71 tomorrow, nice comfortable cool in the morning but nice and comfortable in the afternoon getting warmer saturday sunday and monday but stays dry. tropical depreparation gabrielle has weakened but expected to give a lot of rain to puerto rico and part of dominican republic. starting to turn northwest to

north and over the atlantic ocean, down graded the structure has weakened a little bit, continues to be investigated by the national hurricane center but for now what was a tropical storm is a tropical depression moving over the caribbean and turning north over the atlantic ocean. dave thank you. actress betty with the white can add guiness world record holder, longest career for a female. became the oldest person to host saturday night live, remember, that happened because fans got on facebook and made it happen. i'm richelle carey, keep it here, for al jazeera inside story. have a great day.

>> the united nations called it a disgraceful humanitarian calamity. the syrianar has caused millions to leave their country. we'll examine the risks and the grow crisis. >> welcome, every day 5,000 syrians cross their country's borders seeking refugee from the escalating war. the suffering and displacement has been called un paralleled in recent history, al jazeera's correspondents are covering the story across the middle east. we begin in iraq . >> this is the camp, and let me show you how much it's grown in the last couple of weeks. when i arrived here two weeks ago it was a murder full. take a look at it now. it stretches all the way up across that hill. you can tell the new attempts here because they're the ones with less dust on them, but the ones that have been here for a whiler are caked brown with the dust here. so far some 54,000 refugees have arrived in the last few weeks. the total refugee population is 200,000 to 210,000 people. that means that these people are facing a life in this camp, and they don't know when they're going to go back. i've spoken to many syrians here. and they said, look, it feels like we could be here for a very long time. we don't want to be. we want the west to act. we want our situation to change, and we want to go home. >> we have more on how lebanon is doing with the influx of refugee refugee. >> 1 million syrians now live in this country. one out of five people is a syrian, and it has caused tensions in this country. syrians live among the local population. the lebanese are complaining that syrians are take thinking jobs. they're complaining that apartment rent has skyrocketed. some people really exploiting the situation. so