>> welcome to aljazeera. i'm del walters in new york. russia makes an offer it says could avert a u.s. strike on syria. >> back on the hill and facing pressure from the white house, congress getting ready for a vote on the issue. >> swimmer diana nyad taking on scenics that are questions her recent feat. >> russia is now offering and idea that it says could

forestall military action on syria. russia saying that it could urge syria to put its chemical weapons under international control if that would avert military strikes. in an hour, congress goes back to work in washington. tonight, president obama will be making his case to the american public in 6t.v. interviews. with start with london. phil, first, what do we know about this plan? >> coming out of moscow, we didn't hear too much, just the idea being floated. we did hear secretary of state john kerry saying in an off hand comment that assad could avoid to strike if he gives up all his chemical weapons, but he's not going to do that. where we are hearing a little bit more of the specifics is

actually coming out of the united nations, and the head of the united nations has made a comment here in which he said that he has actually been thinking about this for days and could possibly bring this to the u.n. security council or unsc and propose that the syrians would gather up all their chemical weapons stock piles, put them in a central locations, consolidate them and then the u.n. would send in teams to destroy it. >> for a number of days, i have been considering our proposals in particular. i'm considering urging the security council to demand the immediate transfer of syria's chemical weapons and chemical precursor stocks to places inside syria where they can be safely stored and destroyed.

i urge again that syria should become the party to the opcw. >> it is the organization for the pro bigs of chemical weapons. this would be an 11th hour possibility that the russians are floating, and they are in meetings with high level syrian officials in moscow. they have been today at least. we are hearing word already that the syrian foreign minister has welcomed this russian proposal. del. >> phil, i guess the question is perception, is it being perceived in london that it is now the united states versus syria and the international community seems to be saying wait. >> absolutely. the international community has been reluctant to get onboard any kind of white house plan to strike at syria.

this would allow everybody to potentially walk away from the situation and cool things down, is a mentioned, secretary of state kerry did say that that's the only way assad could avoid a strike was to hand over all the weapons, he said within a week, and said that's not possible. but again, it was kind of an off hand comment apartment it's interesting to see the russians running with that, taking what kerry said and running with with it. now in addition to that, the u.n. also proposing it. the international community does not want a strike. this potentially could be a way out. del. >> phil, it should be pointed out that is exactly what zambrano hussein said leading up to the war in iraq, that he would turn over his weapons, as well. phil, thank you very much. >> syrian president bashar al assad saying if president obama strikes syria, he will only be

helping al-qaeda. in an interview with cbs this morning, assad depend that his regime launched that chemical attack. >> our forces, our police, our institutions don't think this, how could you talk about what happened if you don't have evidence? we're not like the american administration we're not social media government. this war is against the interest of the united states. why? this war has gone to support al-qaeda and the same people that killed americans on the 11th of september. >> so we go live now to the white house where we are covering the president. the white house released a statement saying more countries have signed on to support u.s. action in syria. are these countries supporting military action or just spoke support for the u.s.? >> well, it's a strongly worded statement, but written in the language of diplomacy.

14 countries, plus the 10 that were announced at the end of that g20 summit with the president in st. petersburg, russia last week brings a totally to 24, plus the united states brings that to 25, saying we condemn in the strongest terms the chemical attack. the evidence clearly points to the syrian government. we call for a strong international response to send a message. what's lacking is specific language that would call for a strong military international response. as it stands right now, france and turkey stand with the united states in that reward. >> it does look like the united states is swimming alone on this one, i guess would be the way to phrase it as now you have the united nations, russia, syria, great britain, the public at least and parliament saying no to a military strike. the united states seems to be pushing against the tide of public opinion here, as well. >> there's clearly the perception rightly or wrongly that president obama has put

himself in this box first a year ago painting that red line and secondly just in the last seven weeks saying in the in the core national interest for the united states to attack to destroy and degrade through a military action. there had credibility on the line, credibility of the united states in terms of its world standing. the president's surprise announcement to send this to congress has led oh an all out lobbying effort on the part of the president and top administration officials on down the line, briefings for dozens of members have been going on boss classified and unclassified, the president doing six interviews, underway right now with television networks to air this afternoon and evening. tomorrow, he heads to capitol hill to speak behind closed doors, keeping up the pressure. it looks like it's going to be largely up to democrats to carry the president through this if there is to be a vote granting authorization at least in the senate. last night, the president also made the trip up to the vice president's residence to

immediate privately with republican senators who were dining there with joe biden. a few steps from me a few minutes on the ground, we saw hillary clinton enter, here for an unrelated event with her daughter chelsea. she is expected to speak today at that unrelated event about the need to go forward with the president's plan. pulling out all the stops is the white house at this point, del, unclear whether it will get the president the votes he needs. >> mike, thank you very much. the white house not likely to like these latest poll in connection. in a new national survey by the pyre search center, 63% of americans say they oppose any u.s. air strikes on syria. that is up from 48% just last week. only 28% support those air strikes. now those numbers are weighing heavily on members of congress

going back to work today, the house and senate both in session at the top of the hour. we are live on capitol hill. paul, what do we expect to hear from congress today on the issue of syria? >> well, del, as you mentioned, those poll numbers are going to be weighing heavily on the shoulders of lawmakers as they return to the house and senate this afternoon, in about an hour, they will be formally gaveled back into session, and of course, syria at the top of the jeb da. we are expected to hear speeches on the senate floor this afternoon about syria, moving toward that first vote, pole on wednesday, senator reed, the majority leader promising a final vote, vowing a final vote by the end of the week. >> the question has to be asked and it may be early for capitol hill to react, but there seem to be so many developments, this seems to be such a fast-moving story. are members of congress as glued to this issue as the rest of the country? >> absolutely.

they absolutely are. of course, these developments we've been talking about this morning with russia putting this new proposal on the table could change the calculus and time line in the house and senate. is there an alternative, a way out? certainly many senators and many in the house have been looking for those alternatives, so again, very fluid and rapidly changing situation here, as the house and senate prepare to come back into session. >> the first vote on this issue could come as early as wednesday. there is no video out that may provide evidence of iranian involvement in the syrian civil war. a video was released that it said it found after fighting. >> iranian fighters on syrian soil, despite being foreigners, it appears they are the ones calling the shots in a war that has become as much about them as it is about sirens.

at this command center, syrian soldiers and other militias, iranians control the communications ordering where to fight and when. these are the first pictures to emerge, giving an insight into how they operate. according to the rebel group which posted this video, the foot acknowledge was filmed by an iranian fighter, whose camera they captured. those who appear know they're being filmed and speak freely. >> i've been in syria for almost a year. i fought all across the country. we've managed to take control of the south of the city now pushing northwest. >> the video shows just how in control the iranian fighters are.

they drive through freely and when they drive past a checkpoint, it's clear that the army has little say about what goes on. >> where are your fighters? >> don't worry, don't be scared, we deployed our forces everywhere. if there's an attack, we will confront it quickly. please, also just so you know, we've set up a check appointment over there, too, to secure the road. >> a memo posted on the base announces that a syrian soldier is being punished for driving too fast and damaging the vehicle. another syrian soldier pleads with the iranian commander to grant him and his cam address a holiday in order to boost their morale. there are dozens of other bases run by iranian mercenaries. if this video is going to go by, it should appear that syrian's civil war is more of an international conflict.

aljazeera. >> syria's war and gas prices. we'll tell you how the debate in the u.s. is affecting you at the pitch. marathon swimmer diana nyad takes her critics to task over accusations about her recent cuba to florida record-breaking feat. >> just to be able to defend the title for once will be awesome, and i've done so well here the past few times i've played, getting to the semis or finals. it's been really, really exciting. i'm happy that i've been able to consistently do well here. >> australian cricket captain michael clarke led his team to

victory against england, scoring his first tonne. england were bowled out for 227 in pursuit of australia score of 315/7. >> and now take a look at this young man who has more than a few expectations to live up to. this is argen tendulkar son of sachi, in his father the highest run scorer.

>> welcome back to aljazeera. i'm del walters. authorities in argentina say a man from uruguay was lost in the

andes mountains. he went missing in may trying to cycle between chile and argentina. he said his bicycle broke down and he tried to finish his trek on foot. he told authorities that he lived off of sugar and raisins that he had with him and the rats that he managed to trap. >> the u.s. led war in iraq lasted eight years and devastated that countries infrastructure. today, the final report is released. we have more on the findings. >> the special inspector general for iraqi reconstruction has released its final report, just before it goes out of business on september 30. it says that part of the problem with rebuilding iraq after the invasion was that there wasn't any plan to actually monitor the money that was spent to try to restore iraq to some sort of

normalcy. out of some $5 trillion that was spent on the war effort, and some $60 billion spent specifically on reconstruction projects, some yea billion dollars cannot be accounted for. that said, 639 cases were prosecuted in which people were brought to account. it saved the u.s. government and taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars money that could have been used to improve the well being of iraqi citizens and restore some sort of sense by the american people that its country can actually do good work overseas. >> the threat of a u.s. military strike in syria is being felt by the americans at the gas pump. the gasoline research

organization said prices jumped two and a half cents over the past two weeks, pointing to a recent spike in oil tied to fears of an attack in syria. fierce are said to impact middle east crude supplies. oil prices down on any speculation that any u.s. military action would not happen for sometime. the average price for a gallon of unleaded is $3.58. >> billionaire investor carl icon is throwing in the tall in his effort to control dell, saying he can't stop founder michael dell and silver lake from winning a vote to take the computer company private. he believes the $25 billion takeover price undervalues dell. >> still to come, an ancient find uncovered in israel. the details when we come right back. >> where can you find happiness? there's a new study out that has the exact location. >> speaking of location, the

heat is building in parts of the country. we'll show you where it's headed. we have all the numbers in the national forecast, coming up. ç]

>> russia appears to be pushing for a diplomatic solution in

syria, suggesting that syria place chemical weapons under international control. >> the white house is holding briefings to press for action against sir are a. bashar al assad threatens retaliation, telling cbs news that a strike would help al-qaeda. >> swimmer dyan nyad influence meet with scenics of her swim. some swimmers believe she received help during the 110-mile swim, saying she broke the english channel rules by using a special suit and mask to protect her from jelly fish. she said she was helped by a swift current, not a support boat. >> a chicago photographer is on a quest to document some of nature's smallest creatures. her goal, she says is to photograph all 483 endangered species in illinois. she's been at it for 10 years

and still isn't halfway through. in her own words, carol freeman tells us about her journey, my quest is to photograph all 483 threatened endangered species in illinois. the habitat is comprised of all these flowers and sages and grasses. you can't have one without the other. that's why it's important to photograph them all. we had a very hard time finding good quality images of those species. i realized i didn't have pictures of them antreally grad photographers in the areas don't have pictures of them. i realized there was a need for somebody to go out and document beautifully these images. >> i always like to get the eye if i can. >> i think i'm over 140 right now. it's taken about 10 years to get that far.

my favorite story for the most difficult species to mind is the heinz emerald dog gone fly. i would go out every other week during its flight season looking for this dragon fly. it took me three years and i finally tracked it down and got photos of it. she was beautiful. she flew right in front of me, landed on some cat tails. it was so exciting to finally see it and photograph it and have such good shots of it. my goal is never to go out and get the picture first. it's always about my appreciation of nature. if i get a good picture, that's a bonus. the fact that these species are so rare, i'm one of maybe a handful of people who have actually gotten to see them, and they're in my own back yard. i didn't have to travel thousands of miles. i think so many people have lost

touch with that, and take it for granted, and they say oh, you know, i've seen that, there's no point. i go to the same little prairie five minutes from my house and every day, i see he something that i haven't seen before. it's truly amazing. >> the world's happiest countries are in europe boarding to a new report. the world happiness report measures the well being of 166 nation. denmark is the happiest, followed by norway, switzerland, the netherlands and sweden. the least happy are in sub saharan africa. taking a look at the middle east, where political unrest is rampant, egypt and syria can be found in the bottom 17%.

jeffery sachs is the research behind the report. thank you for joining us. i guess the question is why are these happy countries so happy? >> well, thank you very much. scandinavia has ranked at the top just about every time people have looked at this. these are prosperous societies, but not just driven by making money. they have very good health. they have good balance for family, good social support systems, corruption is very low. what we find in this report statistically is that happiness or technically, how people reward their satisfaction with life, because that's the question that's actually asked of them, are you satisfied with your life, that's related to about six main factors that i've mentioned. income per person discount, surely, but so does health and

the social support system, the perceived generosity in the society, the level of corruption and scandinavia puts it all together. these are good, balanced, healthy places and they reflect it. >> the united states is referred to as the most prosperous country on the planet and is number 17. why? >> the u.s. has had a three time increase of income per person since 1960, but it hasn't budged on the happiness level. this is a well-known phenomenon. the best evidence is that while the u.s. is getting richer, the social support systems are falling down. the trust in the community is declining. the health care systems massively overpriced and there's widespread perception that the government has become more and more corrupt. by the way, that's a perception

i share, unfortunately. it doesn't make americans feel better about their rising income. it's a very consumer oriented society, but not balanced in terms of looking after these other components of a good community, life and honesty in government. >> thank you very much for joining us. yes, you do appear to be a very happy person. >> i am and i'm happy to be with you, thank you. >> also happy to be with us this hour is dave warren with our national forecast. not everyone's smiling. >> depends what you look for. we have a little bit of everything happening across the country. we'll start with the east, building up in the midwest here, minneapolis seeing a heat advisory, temperatures climbing into the 90's. we had problems with school closings because the heat build up. omaha 93. 78, minneapolis. showers move through, they'll clear out and temperatures could

climb to 98. showers were severe but cleared out, moving through the great lakes, skies are beginning to clear up. up to 95 with an isolated shower or storm. tomorrow, maybe a few more showers and thunderstorms, 95 down to 80. the northern plains seeing temperatures more seasonable, where they should be, about 75 here, although friday seems to be a little warmer. heat will build and spread east. the northeast will be dealing with that heat, just for one day. big jump tomorrow, 91 on wednesday. showers and storms thursday, temperature of 84 dropping to 74 on friday. just a peek there with that heat and humidity on wednesday, up to 91 degrees. del. >> thank very much. a european museum has discovered a priceless painting hidden in the attic of a home for years.

the vincent van gogh museum unveiled the sunset to the world today. it was stored for years, thought to have been painted by someone else. >> a research investigation, and a reference to the painting from van gogh to his brother confirmed that the painting is the real deal. >> an israeli archeologist made a discovery at the temple mount. dozens of gold and silver coins dating back to the seventh century. the find also includes a gold medallion with a menorah etched to it. it may be the oldest torah ever found. >> thanks for watching aljazeera. as always, much more news at the top of the hour, but first, talk to aljazeera is next.

>> >> ron paul former republican congressman, 3-time presidential candidate - he's opposed to american intervention in syria. >> i can't imagine any moral justification for us getting involved in another war. >> on domestic issues he favourites hands-off government. liber tarian - he's critical of both parties.