>> good morning. i'm stephanie sy. in colorado, deadly flooding overnight, torrential rains hammering the state, sparking flash floods and forcing thousands to evacuate. south carolina jay cutler is in geneva for two days of high level talks on the syrian cries. will the u.s. and russia be able to reach a deal? >> just hours before the talks, a power play from russian president vladamir putin, warninging against u.s. strikes on syria, saying it would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism. >> in the philippines, hundreds

are held hostage and thousands forced to flee as armed muslim rebels and government troops face off in intense fighting. >> in boulder, colorado, at least two people have been killed and flash flooding overnight has caused evacuations including five students from a nearby university told to get out. we have the latest. >> dozens of people were rescued from their homes as floodwaters rose overnight. water gushed down these steps and passage ways in boulder, where torrential rains caused major flashed floods. >> if that retaining wall comes down, we're in trouble. >> a mandatory evacuation is in

effect for jamestown where a number of homes collapsed. colorado university, boulder will be closed today, the school sent students text messages to alert them of the floods. >> i've seen roommates getting more nervous because of all the sirens and alerts. >> studentsing living near a creek were told to head to higher ground. >> maybe there's an inch between the foundation and actual ground level where our floor starts, so we're a little bit nervous. we've got everything off the ground. we've got everything, you know, we've lifted our beds, some things on bricks. >> authorities warned drivers to stay off the roads. >> we are joined on the phone by tamara banks of aljazeera from denver. flooding is called extremely serious. what is it latest. >> these are extremely dangerous torrential rains, flood warning in effect until 7:15 mountain

date time. four to seven inches of rain fell throughout the evening in boulder county in about a three hour period. that's a lot of rain for a small area. university of colorado and boulder will be closed today and students have been evacuated. the rain, this is big rain, from about how old you are all the way to colorado springs. life boats are being sent to the flooding areas. heavy rain will start up again in the next couple hours. it's the last thing people want to hear in that area. much of downtown boulder is submerged, the intersections and cars complete underwater. a number of homes have been swept away. there are reports that two people now possibly dead. boulder county police and fire officials say the water is as high as the first floor windows in some parts of boulder. this is extreme. dive terms have been disparked

to rescue people trapped in cars, homes and other structure. we're going to stay on top of this story and bring you the ververy latest. >> thank you so much. we'll check in with you again later. let's bring in meteorologist nicole mitchell for the latest forecast in colorado. >> dangerous situation here. really, we've had this for the last few days, we're already saturated. let's look at the broad picture. as we look across the country, you can pick up the frontal boundary through the midwest. the tail end of this is into the four corners region and the southwest. then we also have a low pressure area that is going to be built, actual surface low is in california. we're going to see that upper level span more into nevada, and then high pressure in the southwest or southeast. what that does, the circulation around the low, around the high. as you put this into motion,

there's that low i was talking about. this funnels the moisture in. we get situations like colorado where you get rain that is lined up and going over the same places. the whole region, anywhere, especially new mexico and colorado have had those areas of rain, the cooler temperatures, so denver, where we've been in undated, 65 degrees. you get outside of that cloud cover, phoenix is 98. if you've been watching from the last hour, you've seen all these areas of watches and warnings have expanded. almost the entire state of new mexico is under some watch or warning because of the flooding. geography place a factor. you can see concerns that we had in colorado are just outside the mountains. sometimes it rains in the mountains, funnels that rain and causes flood concerns. of course, another inch or two, but localized heavy apartments

today. back to you. >> no let up anytime soon. nicole, meteorologist, thank you so much. russian penalty putin, sounding off on syria. in a new york times op ed, mr. putin cautioned the u.s. against military strikes. putin said he felt compelled to speak directly to the american people about the dangers, saying saying: >> his message was delivered just hours before. secretary of state john kerry and russia's foreign minister are meeting in geneva. the report by adjustment inspectors on the use of chemical weapons in syria is set to be released next week. it will not include speculation on who deployed the weapon.

as the world waits for that report, we are hearing about possible signs of another chemical attack in the eastern district of the capitol. activists posted this video, showing a doctor treating one of the victims of what he describes as a chlorine attack. aljazeera cannot independently verify this video. >> as we mentioned, secretary kerry is expected to meet with his russian counter park this afternoon. what are we expecting from these talks? >> we're expecting them to try at least try to bridge the divide between the two positions. the russians in particular do not want to see a u.n. resolution which states that if syria does not agree to get rid of its chemical weapons or just not follow through in get ingrid of its chemical weapons that immediately, military

intervention would happen. now, washington wants that, but russia doesn't want to be pointed into a corner, and agree to a resolution, which would de facto lead down the path to a military strike. that is the biggest divide between moscow and washington. there are others. a french author resolution includes blaming the assad regime for the august 23 attacks and calling for those who are responsible for those attacks to face justice in the international criminal court. moscow doesn't want to see that, either. there are strong divides, but these two parties have come to geneva to talk and traveled long distances. kerry has come back abruptly after having left europe last week, so they are sitting down and talking. they do have officials in their delegations to talk about real tangible ways with get ingrid of

chemical weapons, but those issues still out stand about punishing those who caused the attacks and potentially still leaving the door open for a military strike. >> there is not a clear cut deal apparent. syrian rebel leadership issued a statement rejecting russia's proposal. could that also affect the talk? >> certainly. moscow has for a long time called the opposition the problem. they're saying that they're terrorists and al-qaeda backed. vladamir putin in his op ed that you mentioned there indicated that they still believe potentially that it was actually the opposition who caused those attacks on the 21 of august. there is no love lost between moscow and the opposition. them having contributed or put out this statement may very well cause further divisions between washington and moscow, but those

divisions are still going to be exacerbated by just real clear differences between the kremlin and white house. >> clearly. >> any potential plan to dismantle syria's chemical weapons stockpile is fraught with challenges. johning us is christopher hill, former ambassador to iraq and a host of other countries, as well as former assistant secretary of state. thank you for being with us. you're a career diplomat. secretary of state kerry is meeting with his counterpart from russia today. how can this work out between the interested parties? >> it's going to be a very interesting couple of days. obviously president obama made no secret of fact that he was not happy with conducting air strikes. at the same time, he is very

unhappy at the idea of not doing anything about the use of chemical weapons, so i think the russians came forward with this proposal. the sirens, first of all, for the first time acknowledged the existence of the stockpiles. secondly, they seem to be prepared to discuss get ingrid of them. it's kind of a major development, if it can happen. now, secretary kerry has taken an enormous team with him to geneva. part of that will be technical people to look at the question or compare with the russians our understanding of where the chemical weapons are, how many caches they have of these chemical weapons. there are a host of technical issues to be resolved. secondly, as your set up piece suggests, there's a huge issue within the u.n. about whether this would be a so-called chapter seven resolution, that is the failure to comply would authorize member states to use

all necessary force that is procedure to allow the u.s. if it wants to proceed with bombing, so that's going to be a major issue. over all of this is secretary kerry's interest working with the russians on so-called geneva two and trying to get back to the issue of finding some diplomatic time table plan in moving forward. i think everyone realizes that assad isn't going away soon and this conflict is going to continue and continue to spill over to its neighbors. >> how long would you expect this diplomatic process to take? give us some idea. i know you were involved in the six party talks with north korea. it dragged out for years, no resolution. given that there were originally punitive military strikes on the table, how long do we give this diplomatic push? >> well, i think we're going to

give it more time than some people think. i don't think it's going to be wound up in a day or two. i really do believe there are going to be a lot of technical differences on how many chemical weapons they have, where they are, et cetera. i think that is going to take up a surprising amount of time, but i think if there's some traction here, i think if there's some understanding that the russians really mean business, that they have some signals from assad, i think the obama administration will really be interested in pursuing this. now, you know, obviously, the obama administration would like to get out of the kind of corn it's been in on this issue with the congressional resolution, where there is support for bombing in the senate, there's not support in the house. i think the president would like to avoid this crisis within u.s. political terms, so probably as long as there's some traction, as long as the russians are

working on this, i would give it more than just a couple of days. >> ambassador christopher hill, joining us from washington. thanks. >> a vote in congress on syria is on hold while the president allows for a possibility for a diplomatic solution. i first want to ask you whether the white house is expected to react to mr. putin's op ed in the new york times. >> the white house has not i should a formal response. we heard officials saying that putin seems to be owl-in on this, looking at this as a test of putin's commitment, sincere as a way of working out control of syria's chemical weapons. we certainly will hear a lot of questions about white house reactions and we'll see what the press secretary will have to say. >> with congress standing down

on syria, do we expect congress to move on to other issues or will they continue to debate the issue of possible intervention in syria? will they continue to vote on measures? >> congress has many, many moving parts, a lot of committees dealing with the whole host of issues. form ally, there is nothing on the docket of the house of representatives. the house foreign affairs committee has not approved a resolution authorizing the use of force which it would then hand on to the full chamber for a vote. the senate foreign relations committee has approved such a document but there is a movement afoot to authorize an amendment of force. the president has asked both chambers to hold off on a vote while we see whether this diplomatic effort with the russians and secretary kerry in

europe in concert with what's going on in the u.n. has any measure of success. syria continues to be discussed and dealt with, meanwhile, there are other issues. for example, we are facing the possibility of a government shutdown by october 1 if there's not a continuing resolution to come up with the funds, also, obamacare, many there trying to defund obamacare, which is still a hot topic. >> a lot of other important issues on the agenda in washington. needless to say, randall pink to know reporting to us from the capitol. thank you. >> a vote by congress is on hold as the diplomatic efforts to seize president assad's chemical weapons proceeds. congressman hamilton, good morning to you. thank you for being with us. i want to jump right into it. was there any back room dealing

that washington did to get russia onboard with this syria plan on chemical weapons? >> well, i don't know. who knows whether there was back room dealing or not? probably important conversations between the president and president putin, probably discussions between the secretary of state and the foreign minister of russia. these things, the geneva meeting and others would not go forward if those conversations had not taken place. the important thing now is not so much how they got started, but what happens from this point on, and what the time line and time table will be, and that's what we have to keep our eye on. the important point i think is that potentially, this can be a turning point in the syrian crisis. i'm not sure that it will be, but it could be. my hope is that not only will they talk about chemical weapons, which they certainly

should, that's the major item of discussion, but as we go forward with those talks, the agenda, the political agenda will be expanded. first and foremost, let's get a ceasefire. let's see if we can stop the killing of people. it just goes on and on and on night after night, day after day. surely the international community can come forward to support a ceasefire, and of course beyond that, to begin to talk about a political resolution. at the highest point of the agenda, right after the chemical weapon crisis, at least, there should be a search by the diplomats to stop the killing r. killing. >> a great point to look at the broader issue, which i think is being missed here, that 100,000 people have died in a civil war that continues, regardless of the response to chemical weapons. president obama said in his speech, mr. hamilton, that what

makes america different is that it will intervene in situations like this where 13 are being in discriminately gassed and killed. do you believe the u.s. has the authority to play this role, do the americans want this authority? >> i do not think americans be tending towards isolationism. i think they are very wary as indeed they should be after vietnam, iraq, afghanistan, and other instances about our military involvement in other events. they see the limitation of those involvements and see the heavy burdens that most american families, not all, by any means, but most americans are now carrying just supporting their families, finding work, keeping their jobs, retirement and health care and all the rest. that's made them to some extend you are not inward. at the same time, i think americans are proud that america

plays a leadership role in the world. they're willing to support that effort. they don't want to turn back home completely, but they do not like the idea of military intervention. they've had some tough experiences with it in recent history, and that's a very understandable point of view. >> that's a great characterization of the internal conflict this country faces at this time. former indiana congressman lee hamilton, thank you for joining us. >> armed rebels storm dozens of homes in the philippines. >> hundreds have been taken hostage, hundreds more forced to evacuate. we'll have an update from the region.

>> in the philippines, the stand off between government forces and separatists demanding independence is in its fourth day. hundreds of held hostages and thousands forced to flee. we have more. >> it's been four days since fighting broke out between the philippine government and moral national liberation front. there seems to be no sign it will slow down. here in southern philippines, the city remains on lockdown. over 100 civilians remain hostage with fighters in several suburban village here. over the last few hours, hundreds of soldiers have moved in, government forces. we've spoken to u.n. rights observers saying this is increasingly a humanitarian concern. the philippine government is putting the number of those forced to leave their homes at

at least 14,000. there are families still trapped between the fighting, unable to get out. there are several bodies that have been decomposing since fighting broke out early monday morning. the muslim rebel i don't know was led in the 1960's. it's signed a peace agreement with the philippine government in 1996 that was never fully implemented. they said peace talks are not inclusive and does not represent the needs of the moral people. a peaceful solution is being looked at, but on the ground, the military have said they are making sure that these fighters, commanders will be held responsible for the assaults that they have conducted in the city. right now, there seems to be a disconnect between central government. there's no clear strategy as to how they intend to solve this

crisis. >> it's a condition that's been affecting women for centuries, now new hope for men suffering from so-called male menopause. >> coming up later in sports, reports of the legal benefits emerge days before one of the biggest college football games of the year. ç]

>> michael eaves is here with sports. college football season just started, we're already talking scandal? >> it seems to be a trend. college football scandals have been a bigger topic than actual games, and it could get worse. sports illustrated has a five part investigative report at oklahoma state involving cash payments of players as well as academic fraud, allegation that the school and coaches have denied. then comes a report from yahoo sports that agents were using a former alabama player to tunnel money to other schools including former alabama lineman d.j. fluker. johnny manziel has already been

punished this year for signing hundreds of autographs, which eventually ended up on ebay. >> in baseball, where derek jeter's comeback attempt is over, as he is back on the 15 day disabled list after reinjuring his surgically radar left ankle. ies entered last night's game against the orioles two back in the wildcard spot. new york had three home runs to beat the years in come from behind fashion 5-4. new york has hit eight home runs and winning two of the first three games in the four-game set. >> the red sox are running away with the a.l. east and making it hard for the teams battling for the wildcard spot. the rhett sox had a 7-3 win over

tampa. boston has seven pinch-hit home runs this season. red sox have a season high nine game advantage. the american wildcard standings right now, you notice the yankees moving past baltimore and cleveland and got closer to tampa bay with that win last night. one team not pictured here, kansas city went 26-18 in a stretch of 44 games in 44 days to climb within two games of the final playoff spot, so september push for the playoffs always exciting seems like it will be even more exciting as we go ahead. >> finally this morning, low testosterone may not be the problem for men going through male menopause. men receiving testosterone treatments may need estrogen. lower rates may lead to

exhaustion in men.