>> i'm richelle carey. here is the latest from al jazeera. president obama is greeted with smiles by russian president vladimir putin as g-20 gets under way in st. petersburg. walmart is the target of nationwide protests as workers across the country call for better jobs and higher wages. the national forest service said the hundreds of acres that burned around yosemite was caused by an hunter with an illegal fire.

[♪ music ] >> president obama and other world leaders have come together for the group of 20 summit. officially they're in st. petersburg to talk about the global economy, but the debate in syria is dominating talk on the sidelines at the summit, and it has put the u.s. at odds with russia. mike viqueira is traveling with the president. mike, vladimir putin and barack obama are miles apart on so many issues. >> that's right. this is supposed to be a meeting about the world economy, the president came here to make his case about strikes against syria. vladimir putin, you're right, the host of this summit, outside of st. petersburg built by peter

the great, constantine's palace, the first session among these group of 20 leaders has run an hour late so far. the dinner that was supposed to begin an hour or so is still on hold. we know that president obama has been making his case, his first meeting out of the box with shinzo abe, the prime minister of japan. he called again for strikes against syria because of the violation of international norms. a lot of this is overshadowed by the animosity between these two leaders. the president said that relations have hit a wall, and in retaliation putin said as a result of secretary john kerry's

testimony yesterday, putin called kerry a liar. comments even from pope francis who said any military action against syria would be a futile effort. secretary general ban ki-moon came along and spoke out once again against the military solution. so the president faces an uphill battle. there are those who agree or tacitly back him. >> how optimistic is the president that he'll leave with allies that he didn't have before? >> well, you know, there were positive signals from the japanese leader. obviously japan is not going to be backing any military action in syria if it were to come to that, if the president were to get his wish.

they're donating millions in humanitarian funds. there are a whole host of leaders who came to talk about the pressing economic issues of the day, and at the top of that what the federal reserve going to do? are they going to taper off the printing to bolster the economy. certainly, they say they're quote/unquote highly skeptical that vladimir putin is going to change his mind, richelle. >> this is something that mike had referenced. secretary general ban ki-moon is rallying a peace conference in syria. >> there is no military solution. there is only political solution

which can bring peace and end this right now. >> the u.n.'s syria envoy has joined ban ki-moon in st. petersburg to help push for diplomatic action. it could take some time for congress to approve military action. the g-20 summit in russia ends tomorrow. syria being discussed there. tomorrow senate leaders will hold a brief hearing to a place it on the calendar. it's still not clear when lawmakers will take a final vote. the obama administration is still briefing lawmakers. these briefings have been going on just a little after lump time.

the members of congress have been in and out of these briefings, what are they saying? >> well, actually, richelle, that is a good question. we learned that the senate intelligence committee meeting which started at 10:00 this morning jus wrapped up a minute, so three hours long. we hoped to catch up with senators about their feelings before and after the meeting. let's hear first from susan collins, republican of maine. >> i'm not ready to go to a resolution. i have more questions than i have answers, and i hope we get to those answers today and tomorrow. >> obviously some skepticism there. we're hearing from republican of susan collins of maine. we're hearing skepticism as well from democrats on that same committee. here we go, so let's hear from

susan collins, republican of maine. >> i am firmly undecided at this point. this is very serious. it's a very difficult issue. we have to look at the impact on israel's security. we have to look at the signals that it sends rogue states like iran and north korea if we don't attack. but we also have to consider the possibility that our acting would cause a further escalation of the violence in the region. >> so richelle, sorry for the confusion. we heard from senator mcculsk mcculsky, democrat from maryland, and then susan collins from maine, second. the bottom line is there is skepticism on both sides of the aisle. the senate intelligence committee just wrapping up a

three-hour closed door meeting. we hope to catch up with those senators and others to hear what they learned and what their decisions are now. >> there have been several days of briefing, some things have been public, some things have been behind closed doors, that's what you've been following up, right. so is the administration doing a good job selling their plan? so many members of congress still have so many questions. >> that's right. well, it's just going to remain to be seen how the votes are going to turn out. the administration cleared up hurdle, the senate foreign relations committee meeting moved the ball down the line, but again questions, a lot of questions still coming from the broader senate. we've learned that president obama has been working the phones even as he travels overseas on his trip to the g-20, speaking to five senators, bipartisan calls. secretary kerry also still

working the phones. so again they are still going full court press on this, but not clear yet which way the senate and certainly the house is going to break on it. >> what is the timetable looking like right now for votes in the house and in the senate? >> right, so tomorrow there will be a procedural move in the senate that will move it from the resolution to be scheduled for a vote, they expect that wednesday of next week, september 11th. the house still has to finalize the committee--the house of foreign affairs have to finalize their language, and so the timeline is a week to two weeks away from any sense of congress, where the wind is blowing on syria. >> paul, thank you. egypt's interior minister narrowly escaped an assassination attempt.

two people are dead and 20 people have been injured. >> the explosion happened as the minister's convoy passed by damaging his vehicle and destroyed four others carrying security details. mohammed ibram had been receiving threats. and according to reports the bomb had been remotely detonated. people i in the area describe a very loud bang that shook their buildings. >> when the minister was approaching, and the traffic police officers were starting to hold traffic, a small plaque car sped past us and a minute later the explosion happened. >> the explosion took place as the minister was leaving home

from the district of nasr city. the muslim brotherhood still have strong support here. there was a sit-in for six weeks until it was broken up, killing many demonstrators. a muslim brotherhood leader condemned the attack. >> thank god it was a cowardly attempt. the forensic experts are investigating and it appears to have been an explosive device. it destroyed four vehicles of my protection team and many shops in the area were badly affected along with a civilian car and a small child who had an leg am peamputateed.

>> the government has justified the current state of emergency by saying they are fighting terrorism. this attack marked a new wave in that battle. no one so far has claimed responsibility for the attack. al jazeera, cairo. >> let's go to the wildfire that continues to burn at yosemite national park was man made and against the law. a huge fire was sparked when a hunter allowed illegal flames to escape. the rim fire has been burning since august 17th. it has been 60% contained. google argues the right to continue to scan e-mail accounts. they plan to argue that it's legal because its plan to sell ad. all users of e-mail must be

subject to automated processing. >> taking the pulse of the american economy, job sector helping pump life into the latest job support. and surprising online message from iranian president on a a peculiar tweet that many are scratching their heads about.

hi, my name is jonathan betz, and i'm from dallas, texas, and i'm an anchor for al jazeera america. i started in a small television station in rural arkansas. it's a part of the country that often gets overlooked. but there are a lot of fascinating people there, a lot of fascinating stories there. i like that al jazeera will pay attention to those kinds of places. what drew me to journalism is i like the idea that we are documenting history. al jazeera documents it like none other. and to be a journalist, and to be part of a team like that? that's an incredible blessing. >> president obama and other world leaders are in russia for

the g-20 summit. congress is expected to get a members only briefing on syria. and tomorrow senate leaders will hold a brief session to place the resolution on the collar. manon the calendar. a surprising online president from hasan rouhani september a tweet saying this photo and saying as the sun is about to set i wish all jews an especially iranian views a blessed rosh hashanah. >> a couple of reports show slow but steady improvement in the economy.

in the jobs market. the labor department said weekly job else claims fell, and private companies added 176,000 workers in august. most of those jobs came in the service sector. the economists say the numbers are encouraging but the job recovery still has a long way to go. walmart workers are protesting across the u.s. demanding higher salaries and better jobs. they're calling on walmart to undo the firings of 20 employees who took part in a previous strike. the company has not responded. here is a look at the numbers. walmart ceo took only over $23 million last year compared to the retail giant's median worker pay of $22,500, below poverty level for a family of four. that's a ratio of 1034:1.

let's go to john who is reporting live from new york. >> the protests here at valley stream in new york is getting under way at this hour. but protesters have been busy in manhattan. they went to the board member of walmart chris williams and delivered a petition calling for a minimum wage of walmart of $25,000, generally better working conditions and benefits for all staff and reinstatement of 20 walmart staff who were let go the last time there was a protest of this kind on black friday of last year. the protest is getting under way here at valley stream right now. and with me is one of the protesters representing jobs with justice. i think you know this is going to be an uphill battle, but what do you hope to achieve? >> this walmart protest is one of many protests that have been happening over the past several months. these are people making really low wages and who are advocating

for their rights. they're willing to get arrested for it. they're willing to get fired for it. that's a statement of how committed they are. >> what if you get your $25,000 wage and then walmart brings their prices up. >> for those people we've had studies done if you go into the store and you do your average shopping, and the worker that is checking you out, earns a living wage, it would only increase your bill by $0.42. depending on how much a person spends at walmart, it's $0.42 really that much? i don't think it is. >> thanthank you for joining us. the protest will continue here aat valley stream.

>> native american leaders are gathering in north dakota to address issues of unemployment to healthcare. these are the same issues talked about when robert kennedy visited years ago. it seems that kennedy's legacy is still alive there. >> richelle, it definitely is. it was a big deal when robert kennedy came to bismarck. and at that time the plight of native americans had really been ignored. it was september 13, 1963 a tribal parade bound through bismarck followed by a picnic for 3,000 people. but it was the arrival of attorney general robert kennedy and his speech about the plight thaof the american indian.

>> to stay on his reservation or leave it, but that freedom amounts to precious little. >> reporter: among the strolls highlighted were poverty, under education, disease. [♪ music ] >> reporter: kennedy's words have been echoing through the united tribe summit this week where leaders from five reservation are discussing the same issues that the late attorney general discussed. the median put u.s. households at roughly $50,000. it's under $30,000 for native americans. a teenager when kennedy came to town, he was inspired by his words and he thinks native americans are making progress, but he says that it's been

tough. >> i think issues such as job discrimination historically were there and are still there to a certain extent. the stereotypes about us are still there. we have to break those stereotypes not only of ourselves but of those who employ us or those who are going to be business partners. >> making kennedy's words 50 years ago still relevant today. and we're on the grounds of the united tribes technical college. it has been working aggressively to train and in some cases retrain native americans for some of the jobs that are in high demand in north dakota. >> we know that north dakota is a hotbed for energy development. >> they say it's a great source of income in oil royalties and refining and could bring much needed jobs to people on the

tribes where unemployment is very h high. >> more news ahead on al jazeera including weather. >> meteorologist: we're looking at fire weather as well as rain all in the same weather. we'll have a look at that coming up.

>> recounting our top stories congress is expected a members only briefing this afternoon on syria. and tomorrow senate leaders will hold a brief session to place the resolution on the calendar. both the house and senate are expected to return to work next week but it's not clear when they will vote on a resolution. meanwhile, the ambassador to the united nations criticized the united nations for not helping civilians. >> for the past 20 years, the policy devised for this did not work. it did not help the children who were gassed to death. it is not protecting the stability of the region. it is not standing behind now an

internationally accepted ban on the u.s. of chemical weapons. >> and keep it here on al jazeera for all the latest that happens in syria. >> meteorologist: we have flooding problems and fire weather problems all in the same area. big storm off the pacific coast is causing this situation. you see the instant off the coast of oregon, washington, these are showers and storms. they're oriented from north to south and so you're getting lightening and rain over the same area. either lightening is causing fire problems or we have flash flooding. the red are fire warnings and the green is a flash flood watch. the area could see thunderstorms and heavy rain or lightening and fires because the ground is still very dry.

the heaviest rain through oregon, washington and montana. and temperatures are heating up in phoenix, but the biggest story is the lack of rain and cool air. now it's warming up, a little change this morning where we had a chill this morning. but this afternoon, nice and comfortable with the sunshine and very few clouds. the clear sky and cool air will lead to a cold night tonight across the northeast. this evening, 60 in albany, and the temperatures will quickly drop when the sun goes down. the temperatures could be in the 30s. portland in 49. the blue color could see temperatures dropping down to 32. the number of advisories in affect. we have a frost advisory, that's the lighter blue color. the darker blue is a freeze

warning where the temperatures get down to 32. the frost advisory may not get down to 32 but you'll see frost forming on certain surfaces. new england states will see temperatures climb back up to 80 with dry weather saturday, sunday, and monday. a comfortable weather pattern in the northeast. the tropics have changed. now it's tropical depression falling apart in the next few hours. the track, the front that came through the eastern united states will steer this storm up over the atlantic. it will move out over the atlantic and continues to move to the north. >> for the first time in 58 years. yahoo logo got a makeover. you may be expecting something drastic, so you might be disappointed. there is the hold. you know that. here's the new.

this comes after a 30-day build up where yahoo showed off the different designs online. they said, quote, while it was time for a change, it's not something that we do lightly. actor betty white has racked up many accomplishments to her career, but now she can add longest female entertainer. she has worked for 74 years. she game the oldest host for saturda"saturday night live." next on al jazeera, 101 east. thank you so much for your time. don't go anywhere.

china's one child policy has quoted controversy, from accusations of the state confiscating children, to forced abortions. today it is being blamed for a declining fertility rate and a major gender imbalance, with more than 30 million men, to women by 2020. i'm steve chow on this edition of 101 east, we ask if the days of china's one child polices is mi