the british prime minister says the world must stop the use of chemical weapons and the u.s. agrees. where does it go from here? plus. >> when do we want it? now. >> this is happening in 50 city as cross the country today. fast food workers are calling for better wages. we'll have a live report. victoria duval is riding high after her amazing performance at the u.s. open. she is only 17. she sat down with us to talked about what got her life, about her life, on and off the court. this is "cnn newsroom." i am suzanne malveaux. it is the biggest crisis facing the world now.

we're talking about syria. we're expecting to hear from the white house any minute. you're taking a look at the press briefing room, reporters likely to push for answers on what is the administration's plan here to respond to the chemical weapons attack which president obama blames squarely on the syrian government? jill dougherty is standing by at the white house and, jill, i want to ask you a couple questions here. first of all, we heard from the president. he says no doubt the assad regime used chemical weapons on its own people here. he will be briefing members of congress later in the evening. what do we expect to hear from the president today? >> well, we may not hear anything specifically publicly. this, they have presented at least they have this intelligence estimate, this i should say intelligence report that musters whatever evidence they have that the regime as they would argue did use chemical weapons. they're presenting that to the members of congress.

this would be presumably a classified report, and then it is unclassified for the public, and we have been promised that will come out this week. so today is thursday. one more day after this. then they have to decide what to do. suzanne, that's where it gets more complicated because every minute they have to be -- if there is to be a military response, they have to be analyzing what is going on in syria, where are the regime troops, and what targets would they hit, et cetera, and that can change as let's say chemical weapons or any other type of weapons are moved around. it is supposed to be a limited strike and there is reason for that because of their legal justification which also we should hear something about that they have -- they would say because it is such a serious thing to use chemical weapons that they have to do this in order to prevent future attacks.

>> big debate in the country whether or not this should even happen, whether or not there should be a military strike or the u.s. should get involved and whether or not you understand and believe the humanitarian crisis but is it a quagmire if the u.s. gets involved? i want so show you the latest polls. if you take a look at the latest one, asking if it would be justified if the syrian government used chemical weapons, back in may 66% said yes. military action would be justified while only 33% said no. there is a course of people, jill, who are thinking that, look, you could be getting into something that is really a larger regional conflict that the u.s. could not pull out of and could pull in and draw in israel, one of our closest allies. >> yes, suzanne, no question. it is syria is a very big country. it is very strategically located, and don't forget of course overall of this is the shadow of the iraq war. and the proof that the united states presented that turned out not to be correct, people were

burned by that here and also in the u.k. and in other countries they don't want to do it again. so whatever they present has to be as tight as they can get it without revealing sources. and then also what could happen? let's say they do use military force if they were to hit a chemical weapons storage place which could be a temporary one? what happens in that case? you could cause more harm 6789 what happens if iran decides to retaliate? what is the rationale? what is the thinking of president assad? what will he do. >> thank you. i want to bring in wolf blitzer out of washington to talk more about the analysis and, wolf, i have to ask you here because you have a timetable. we talked about it earlier in the week, the president is scheduled to go to st. petersburg, russia, for the g20 conference on tuesday and we have been watching the british parliament, the debate taking place, and they have a couple of votes processed to go through before they sign off on whether

or not there will be a military strike. what is the president, what is his timetable here? is it even possible that could be completely moved and at a later date after the g20 summit? >> he could do it whenever he wants obviously. he could do it without the british on board. he could do it before the g20 summit in st. petersburg, russia, and wait until he gets back at the end and very end of next week, and it is very interesting, suzanne, the british prime minister david cameron in parliament today he said before britain were to go ahead with any military strikes and be involved in any operation, he wants to get the final report from the u.n. weapons inspectors still in damascus. we don't expect them to leave until saturday, give their report over the weekend to the united nations secretary general. cameron says after that he wants one last shot to go back to the united nations security council for a meeting and the russians probably would veto any serious resolution and the chinese as well but he wants to give the

u.n. security council one more shot. that could be monday or tuesday. as you point out, there is the g20 summit. cameron also said if there is no security console resolution he still wants to go back to parliament one more time, so it looks to me assuming that the president doesn't want to do anything together, do anything without the british on board, this could be delayed a week other ten days if you assume that timeline of if he doesn't want to do it while in russia and he wants to wait to get the british on board, that could be at least a week if not ten days. >> wolf, thank you. appreciate it. the white house is getting ready to brief the key members of congress on the syrian crisis. there is a conference call scheduled for 6:00 tonight and lawmakers say they don't think the briefing is enough. 116 members of the house, this he have signed a letter calling on the president to get congressional approval for any military action. they say anything else is unconstitutional. there is also concern in the senate as well. here is what virginia democrat

tim kaine had to say this morning on cnn. >> i definitely believe there needs to be a vote. whether or not the congress needs to come back early, the inspectors are still on the ground in syria. they're not scheduled to complete their report until over the weekend and then they will issue the report. we are scheduled to come back in session a week from monday. i think there is ample work that the president can do in consultation with the congressional leadership about this until we're back. i do think we'll be back soon and it would be completely consistent with the president's prudence up to this point for him to continue to have that dialog. >> and just ahead, one vocal critic of possible u.s. military action in syria says there are eight really good reasons not to launch a strike. we'll tell you what those are at the bottom of the hour. and in one of the most beautiful parts of california, fire now has burned across more than 192,000 acres. watch this.

just listen. hearing this fire just as powerful, almost as seeing it. it has blackened thousands of acres inside one of america's natural treasures. yosemite national park. for now the tourist attractions among them are now safe. thousands of fire fighters, they are struggling just to keep it that way. this is a view from space, pretty cool view actually. we'll fly you down to northern california, about 200 miles east of san francisco. this is into the sierra nevada mountains. this is home to yosemite and gary tuchman actually takes us inside. >> reporter: we're standing in the northwestern portion of yosemite national park, this part completely closed to the public and the reason is because of what's behind me, tens of thousands of acres of yosemite are now engulfed in flames and this is our very first look at

the rim fire coming into the national park. you can see the huge cloud. it looks like a cumulus weather cloud created by the fire spread into the park and you can see the brown and orange. that's the fire. you can see the trees being fully engulfed by the smoke and tens of thousands of acres of this beautiful park, one of the most beautiful places on earth, have now been destroyed. that part is wilderness. the part of the park where the tourists go is still open, blue sky and the goal is to keep that away from the rest of the park. this area where we're standing now backfires will soon be set to keep the fire away from the rest of the park. most of the news is good with this rim fire. the containment numbers are going up. the humidity is going up which is a good sign. the winds are down. nobody has been killed, no serious injuries and that is good news. the negative news is what's happening in the park because this fire continues to grow and it is very dangerous. there is an awful lot of concern about what's happening in this, one of the most beautiful spots on earth.

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the ford fusion will roll off the line today happening at the revamped plant in flat rock just outside of detroit. this is a big deal for ford, the auto maker hired 1,400 more workers to build the fusion. the company just couldn't keep up with the demand for the mid-sized sedan. until now ford built fusions only in mexico. well, now ford completely transformed the flat rock plant to make fusions and mustangs on the same assembly line. fast food workers are on strike today pushing to be made more, about $15 an hour. most make about $9 an hour and they want the right to union eyes without retaliation. alison kosik has the story.

>> my name is shenita simon and i work at kfc in brooklyn and i make $8 an hour. >> i i make $9 an hour. >> tale of two people and one story. they're just two of the 3 million workers living on a fast food wage. >> pay my light bill, should i pay gas? i never could pay it all at once. >> pamela loves her job. >> fries, fries, fries. >> says she has to prioritize. >> right now the gas is off. i have had lights to be cut off, too, but it is kind of hard to live without lights. >> how do you make ends meet? say you go to the grocery store. >> i have to sacrifice. i eat today and my husband eats tomorrow or just to make sure my kids eat. >> they both work less than 40 hours a week. neither of them get benefits. >> kind of hard to build a future if you don't know what it

is going to bring you. next week. you don't know what's going on this week. it is hard. so that's like a big struggle for me. >> because that far struggle fast food workers across the country are taking to the streets. in july there were strikes in seven cities including chicago, new york, and st. louis and they're spreading. >> we don't want handouts. we don't want pity. we just want everyone to understand our reality. >> the average fast food worker makes just under $19,000 a year. the government's poverty threshold for a family of four, 23,000. the national restaurant association tells us these jobs teach invaluable skills and a strong work ethic that are useful for workers throughout their professional careers. we welcome a debate on fair wages but it needs to be based on facts, and the facts show that the majority of workers who earn the minimum wage in the united states are not employed in the restaurant industry.

as for shenita and pamela, they're hopeful. >> i want to own my own business, fast food business. i love food. and i like dealing with people. >> i could never stop dreaming for my children. they want to be dancers and we cannot pay for it now but we'll give did to them one day. >> all right. want to go directly to the white house briefing. josh is taking questions, the first one about the intelligence report that would be handed over to congress regarding the chemical weapons attack in syria. let's listen in. >> the reason is quite simple. as the president contemplates what kind of response is appropriate to the situation we have seen in syria, the president believes it is important for us to consult with congress. we have done that in a robust way. that has involved reading out some of the conversations that the president and others have had with our allies around the globe, that has involved the sharing of some intelligence although that's difficult to do in this setting because as i mentioned the conference call is unclassified. it also includes the

conversation about some of the options that are available to the president in terms of a specific response to the syrian regime's use of chemical weapons. so this call is something that we have been working to schedule for a number of days now. it is just part of the on going robust consultation this administration believes is important for us to have with congress. >> are we going to see the same classified report? is the public going to see the same unclassified report? >> we have separate from the conversation that they're having today, we have discussed our commitment to producing for you and for the american public to review an unclassified version of an intelligence assessment about the assad regime's use of chemical weapons in syria. it is my understanding that that report has not been finalized as of this moment, but that we are

still on track to produce that report before the end of the week. >> not today? >> i am not ruling out today. >> can you set expectations for this intelligence, several officials say that this is not going to be a slam dunk, there is no unimpeachable proof in the intelligence that the chemical weapons attack last week was carried out by bashar al-assad or his senior advisers, so what should the public be looking for? what should lawmakers be looking for if there isn't a slam dunk guarantee in this intelligence? >> well, there are a few facts that we already know. we already know from a previous intelligence assessment that the assad regime used chemical weapons against civilians in syria. we know the assad regime maintains stock piles of

chemical weapons in syria and we indicated over the course of the last two years the assad regime would be held accountable for the security of the chemical weapons and held accountable if the chemical weapons were used. we also know that it is the regime alone that has the capability to use the chemical weapons that were used in the attacks we saw on august 21st. we also know that the assad regime was engaged in a military campaign targeting the specific regions where this chemical attack occurred. there are a lot of relevant important facts we already skpn we know them for a number of reasons, previously intelligence assessments we made public. we're also aware of the reporting conducted by independent journalists on the ground in syria that have documented the horrific nature of the attack. we are aware of reports from non-governmental organizations on the ground in syria trying to

meet the humanitarian needs of the people. they have been a witness to the attacks and to the people who have born the brunt of those attacks. there is a lot of publicly available information we already know that is very convincing. >> everything you are referencing is largely circumstantial, and what i am wondering is, is that circumstantial evidence enough to have the president make a decision to go forward with military action or is there going to be something in the intelligence we will get later today or tomorrow that goes beyond circumstantial evidence and definitive proof these attacks originated from high levels of assad's regime? >> based on the facts i laid out there is a preponderance of publicly available evidence to indicate the assad regime carried out chemical weapons attacks in syria. it is what the president has said, the vice president said that, the secretary of state said that, we have also seen our partners all around the globe say that,

everybody from senior officials in the u.k., france, even the arab league put out a statement to this effect. i want to read you a piece of relevant information to this question you are asking. there is a difference between what can be provided publicly and what classified intelligence assessment is available. producing a public intelligence document, we have to be conscious of protects sources, methods, and other diplomatic sensitivities frankly. we have talked about the intelligence sharing relationship we have with a number of countries around the world and countries in the region. all of that information is combined to provide a new assessment. that assessment provided publicly has to be necessarily different from the assessment provided privately. that may lead to you ask about the quality of the aclassified

assessment. i am not in a position to talk about it from here. i have seen statement from two people that have seen the classified intelligence assessments, the first is the chair of the senate select committee on intelligence, senator feinstein. she says i am briefed by the intelligence committee on last week's chemical weapon as tack in sara and i believe it points to the attack by the assad government and i would direct you to a statement from the vice chair of the senate select committee on intelligence and this is a republican senator chambliss, a gentleman that not shied away from contradicting the president in public on a wietd range of issues, and however in this case his assessment is similar if not the same as the assessment reached by the president. senator chambliss said based on available intelligence there can be no doubt the assad regime is responsible for using chemical weapons on the syrian people. roberta. >> how does the intelligence

maybe completed classified version of its assessment. >> i am not in a position to talk about it from here. >> whether it is completed or not. >> i am not in a position to talk about it from here. >> how if congress hasn't been provided with the classified details of the assessment? >> there are some classified details that have obviously been provided to congress, at least if you believe what senator feinstein and senator chambliss say. >> right. the meetings -- >> i would make the case to you that robust consultation with congress involves more than just sharing intelligence. it involves some insight into the perspective of our diplomatic partners around the globe. it involves a reading out conversations that the president and others have had with our allies. it involves a review of the option that is are available to the president as he considers an appropriate response, so there is a pretty wide range of topics that should be covered in any

robust consultation with congress and that will be the case and it will take place in an unclassified setting and there is information that can be shared and we're working to share that information. i don't want to also -- i don't want to leave you with the impression this conference call is the first or the last medium for consulting congress. it is not. there have been a range of other conversations that senior administration officials have had with congressional leadership, with the leadership of the appropriate committees and with other members of congress who demonstrated an interest in this topic, and there will be more conversations. some of those conversations are classified. some of them were unclassified. some of them covered intelligence issues. some of them covered diplomatic issues. some of them even included conversations about different capabilities, so there is a lot of consultation that's on going.

this conference call at 6 p.m. this evening is certainly an important part of that robust consultation. >> what is your reaction to what's happened in the u.k., the unexpected delay and the british parliament deliberations and what are you going to be able to tell congress or us about whether that hampers deliberations here? >> well, a couple of things about that. i don't want to get involved in commenting on debate that is are on going in the british parliament. i have my hands full commenting on debates in the u.s. congress. that said, we certainly do appreciate the strong words that have come from senior leaders in the british government about what's taken place in syria. have you heard both the prime minister and the foreign secretary articulate their strong objection and

condemnation of the use of chemical weapons. we have heard them talk about their desire to see the assad regime be held accountable for its actions in carrying out this chemical weapons' attack, and we have also seen an acknowledgment from the foreign secretary about the united states' right and ability to make our own foreign policy decisions that are in our national security interests. let me read a brief segment of the foreign secretary statement. he said the united states are able to make their own decisions, of course. we will remain closely coordinated and in close touch with them as we are every day. i speak to my counterpart of day and have done so this evening. so of course they will be able to make their own decisions, but we will continue tore determined the world should reject the use of chemical weapons and the united kingdom has a role to play in that. we certainly welcome the role the united kingdom has to play

in that. >> just to bounce off roberta's question, is there a concern about waiting too long that delays could make the mission more complicated? if you wait until after the g20 visit, for example, have you given the syrians plenty of time to position themselves for any kind of response that might come. what about that concern? >> you have heard the president talk about in other settings outside of the situation in syria. talking about the conduct of foreign policy and how that relates to our use of military authority. and how these are some of the most difficult decisions he has to make as commander in chief and he takes the requirement to make these decisions seriously and he is carefully considering the circumstances before him, and he is doing that in a reasoned, brobust way and doing that in consultation with members of congress and close

consultation with our allies around the globe. he is doing that in close consultation with his national security team. there is a role for a number of people to play here as they assess the situation. and the president is going about that in a reasoned and orderly fashion. now, i would also point out that the president acknowledged in an interview with your network that was taped one week ago today where he acknowledged that there was a compressed time frame in which a decision needed to be made. part of that is driven by the idea that there is an international norm against the use of chemical weapons. it is important for the assad regime and other totalitarian dictators around the globe to understand the international community will not tolerate the indiscriminate widespread use of chemical weapons, particularly against women and children as they're sleeping in their beds. >> jsh, to follow up on that, speaking of that interview, i

appreciate the segway, he also said in that interview that there are questions in terms of whether international law would support a response and when he was talking about that, he was talking about whether or not he would have some sort of international partnership in taking some kind of action against syria. would the united states at this point given there are delays overseas on the other side of the atlantic go it alone? >> i don't want to presuppose what kind of judgment the president reaches about the appropriate response in this circumstance. however, the president did acknowledge in that interview the role that international law would play as he assesses an appropriate response, and that is a factor considered among all of these other things that have gone into making this decision. we have also seen pretty clear statements from our allies around the globe, from the arab league, and others who have said that the assad regime needs to be held responsible.

and the opinion of other world leaders in this situation matters. >> absent a u.n. mandate, some sort of resolution at the united nations, absent some sort of definitive word from our key allies in great britain, those i guess words of encouragement, those votes, those separate statements that have been made by the arab league and others, might that be then sufficient, is that what are you saying? >> what i am saying is that i am not in a position to offer up any sort of legal justification for a response that has not been decided upon. however, it is relevant that a wide range of other international leaders and international bodies have weighed in on this situation. they have weighed in a way generally speaking of condemning the use of chemical weapons and using chemical weapons against civilians and articulating a

requirement that the assad regime be held accountable for its actions. those viewpoints are relevant to this discussion. one part of my answer important for you and your viewers to understand, the president of the united states is elected with the duty to protect the nation alle al interests in the united states of america and the decisions he makes about the decisions that he makes about our foreign policy is with our national security interests front and center. >> just to follow up on that quickly last night in the mbs interview, he said that there is a chance that chemical weapons might be turned against the united states and i was just curious, he said that was part of his national security deliberations. did does he really this i that syria is capable of launching

chemical weapons at the united states? what does he mean by that? >> i think what we're very concerned about is the willingness the assad regime demonstrated to use chemical weapons. it is apparent that they did so on the night of august 21st on a large scale that had horrific results. it is also been assessed by our intelligence community, something we talked about a lot this summer, that there have been a number of other occasions admittedly on a smaller scale but important nonetheless where the assad regime used chemical weapons. we know they're sitting on a large stock pile of chemical weapons. they have demonstrated a willingness to use it. they -- in violation of clear international norms and the president believes firmly, and he said this in the interview he did with chris cuomo and said this in the interview he conducted last night, that these international norms are important, and it is not

appropriate for toe ttalitarian dictators to flout them with impunity. it is something the president cares deeply about and also a norm that other world leaders are very concerned about having been violated. there are a couple of other ways in which our national interests intersect here. we're talking about a volatile region of the world and about maybe the most volatile country in one of the more volatile regions of the world. so that instability is a cause of significant concern to the president. he also mentioned in the interview that this country borders a nato ally in turkey and one of our most important partners in the region, jordan and in close prox i am it i to israel, a country whose security we vow to protect. there is a wide range of interests. that doesn't even get into military bases and other interests that we have in the region. so there are a number of ways in

which the national security interests of the united states are at stake in a pretty big way here. >> i want to bring in wolf blitzer out of washington and jill dougherty outside the white house to give us analysis on what we have been listening to and, wolf, i want to start with you here. there was something that i noticed. it was a beautiful dodge by josh earnest there to our own jim acosta's question talking about the compressed timetable here, if the president goes off to the g20 summit and comes back from st. petersburg russia and that window of opportunity to attack might close and that might give assad an opportunity to move things around if you will, those targets that they planned to hit and what is the position that the obama administration is in now, the pressure if you will, to act quickly if they're going to act at all? >> there have been reports, you're right, that already elements of syrian military moving forces around and moving people out of various command and control centers and

warehouses and with stock piles of weapons and potential targets in other words for the u.s. if tomahawk cruise missiles or air strikes were to begin against those targets and that's a serious concern as far as the u.s. military is concerned and i have heard over the past 24 hours some military analysts saying why is the administration talking about all of this so much because it does give the syrians an opportunity to readd just their capabilities if you will in anticipation of this strike. i don't believe the u.s. is going to strike in advance of without the british at least the number one ally of the united states, the government of britain on board and the british prime minister is making it clear, he has a number of steps he wants to go through before he were to be on board including another meeting of the u.n. security council following the report from the u.n. weapons inspectors and another meeting with the british parliament. this could be a few days at least if not longer and if the president decides to wait until after he comes back from the g20

summit in st. petersburg, we're talking a week or ten days before the u.s. were to launch strikes. they could do it in that time but it does give the military an opportunity to readjust. >> jill, i want to ask about this. you talked about national security interests here and the pbs interview yesterday suggesting syria would have the intention or even the capability of using chemical weapons, launching chemical weapons, directing them against the united states. i didn't hear a clear answer there was evidence that was possible. could the concern be more about our u.s. ally israel being in the line of fire here? >> i definitely think, suzanne, that's more the case. i mean, u.s. national interests can be affected by what happens to the allies of the united states. and it is very dubious that syria could ever launch some type of chemical weapons directly against the united states. as you mentioned, they could launch them against israel and jordan and any other place that is close by and/or take other

action or there could be let's say iranian involvement, not with chemical weapons but in some other ways, so that i think is how they're defining that. >> all right. jill dougherty at the white house. wolf blitzer in washington, thank you so much. appreciate it. going to be following the story closely in the hours and the days to come. ahead on "cnn newsroom," as the u.s. and the u.k. build their cases for military action in syria, our next guest gives us distinctive reasons why the u.s. should stay out of the conflict, his case up ahead. [ phil ] when you have joint pain and stiffness...

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the crisis in syria has rig triggered intense debates in major capitals around the world as you can imagine. british lawmakers took a stand against striking out just yet. some of this debate is beginning with comments from the british prime minister himself, david cameron. >> the question before the house

today is how to respond to one of the most abhorrent uses of chemical weapons in a century, slaughtering innocent men, women and children in syria. it is not about taking sides in the syrian conflict. it is not about invading. it is not about regime change or even working more closely with the opposition. it is about the large scale use of chemical weapons and our response to a war crime, nothing else. >> we have to assess over the coming period in a calm and measured way not in a knee jerk way and not on a political timetable whether the advantages of potential action, whether it can be done on the basis of legitimacy in international law and what the consequences would be. >> listening to this speech, any reasonable human being would assume that the gentleman is looking to divide the house for political advantage. what has happened? what has happened to the national interests? >> i have to say that

intervention is not worthy of the honorable gentleman. >> the move in the u.k. was driven by the public because lawmakers were flooded with e-mails and phone calls urging for some space to find out more events, more about the events that are actually taking place inside of syria. right now this is still a war of words. the u.s. seems to be inching closer to some kind of military action against the syrian regime. in the capital damascus things may look normal enough. today president assad meeting with a delegation from yemen giving the impression it is business as usual. this is the first time that we have seen the syrian president since allegations of the chemical attacks against the rebels that surfaced last week. also today in an open letter from the speaker of syria's parliament to britain, he is warning against joining any kind of attack against the regime. he said it would, quote, automatically strengthen our common enemy, al qaeda and its

affiliates. president obama says he is not yet made a final decision on using military action against syria. he is convinced that the assad regime gassed its own people and should pay. >> if in fact we can take limited tailored approaches, not getting drawn into a long conflict, not a repetition of iraq which i know a lot of people are worried about, but if we are saying in a clear and decisive but very limited way we send a shout across the bow saying stop doing this, that can have a positive impact on our national security over the long-term and may have a positive impact in the sense that chemical weapons are not used again on innocent civilians. >> so we have looked at why the u.s. might hit syria but what

would be the down size of any type of military action. senior editor has written a provocative piece called eight reasons not to go to war in syria. he joins us from washington. good to see you as always. map this out, the case you're making for us not to get involved. >> there are several reasons why we should be we're ow weary of strikes in syria. one, there is really no end game. the white house has not articulated a clear plan for what happens after the limited strikes we heard about. another is that it is not clear what the actual effect of limited strikes that we have heard about would really be. you know, even president obama admitted in the interview yesterday that it wouldn't stop the assad regime from killing civilians in his own country and the final reason is that it is really not clear that the united states has any interest in either side winning. the rebels here have close links to al qaeda, the assad regime is closely linked to anti-american

forces in iran and would increase iran's influence in the region if they were to win, so the united states just doesn't have an interest in getting involved. >> so, peter, explain to us here because the president says that there is this international norm if you will that it is unacceptable to gas its own people, to use chemical weapons in the case of syria, and that there is a point to be made in that. do you think that is legitimate here, that even sending a signal or a message is important? >> i notice he is talking about international norms, not international law. there are serious legal questions about strikes here as well. remember, that this red line talked about of chemical weapons on civilians is really more of a gray area and as we saw at the white house press briefing recently just a few minutes ago, the white house actually thinks assad has used chemical weapons before, so it is not clear why this instance would not deciding

factor. it is very murky line to draw. >> the white house would argue i think jay carney and the president would argue it is on a much grander scale and much larger massive scale than previously seen but i want to ask you this. what would be the alternative here? do you think there is a plan where you would have instead of sticks carrots to the assad regime that would bring him back to the negotiating table in some way with the syrian rebels? >> it is really hard to say, you know, what the united states could do to help there, but the thing we could do is not intervene in a way that would hurt, in a way that is not likely to stop the killing of civilians in the country and it is not likely to further any clear american interests either and the thing we can do is condemn the horrible actions we have seen, the killing of civilians, and we can look for alternatives rather than striking which is likely to make the situation worse. >> do you think that the u.s. has any credibility, any kind of

cache with either russia or china to work more closely with them to push them in some way to get involved because of course they are the strongest allies that the u.s. at least has relationship with to syria? >> they may prove to be routes where we can at least get communication through, but u.s. relationships with russia is of course quite fraught right now and any attempt to negotiate with russia or to negotiate with syria through russia are obviously going to be pretty complicated. >> all right. peter, appreciate your perspective. still ahead, we all know texting while driving, not good, but now you can actually be charged even if you are not behind the wheel. we can explain up next. here is a look at what you're going to see on saturday in the next list. >> this week on "the next list" we talk to two remarkable innovators, ben coukoffman,

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right now in texas, an oil rig fire continues to burn. fire commanders tell our affiliate there they will just let the flames burn out. no one knows what caused last night o night's explosion and fire as crews were drilling. firefighters from houston two hours away were called in to help. the fire was too intense to do much more than just try to contain it. here's an eyewitness. >> my husband was asking, what's wrong? what are y'all doing? what are y'all running from? nobody would say anything. they didn't tell him to run or anything. he grabbed my son and took off running because he knew something was wrong. then it started -- the rig blew up. >> thankfully no one was hurt in the fire or explosion. a court ruling in new jersey raised the stakes on texting and driving. the person who causes an

accident can be held liable. they sued the driver and the young woman with whom he was texting. and they won. this is not a popular decision with everyone. >> just because they know you're driving doesn't mean -- you know, it really doesn't mean they know you're looking at it. >> even talking to the driver could distract them. are they going to arrest us if we talk to somebody who's driving? i don't think it's right. >> the judge says he hopes the ruling will make people realize there is a price to pay for texting a driver. george zimmerman's wife has pleaded guilty now to a misdemeanor charge of perjury. when she did yesterday, zimmerman was not in the courtroom. we are talking about shellie zimmerman and her troubles that stem from the trayvon martin trial. she lied tu ed during a hearing set her husband's bond.

shellie zimmerman told the judge the family was broke. in fact, they had collected at $135,000 in donations for the website. here she is on abc. >> i can rationalize a lot of reasons for -- for why i was misleading. but the truth is that i -- i knew that i was lying. >> shellie zimmerman was given a year's probation. she also has to perform 100 hours of community service. ahead on "newsroom," she could be the future of tennis. victoria duval, wowing fans on and off the court. only 17 years old. she is pretty awesome. we ought up with her to hear her story.

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strong performance at the u.s. open by tennis great venus williams falls short. the two time u.s. open championship lost in three sets to zheng jie of china. the match lasted three hours and two minutes. the 33-year-old williams has been struggling with an energy draining auto immune disorder as well as a back injury. asian american teenager victoria duval back on the court tonight two days after staging an upset win over 2011 u.s. champion sam stosur. we caught up with duval and her family in new york. >> reporter: she is the surprise sweetheart of the u.s. open.

but unlike so many of the pros, tennis was not always the dream for victoria duval. >> i wanted to be a ballerina. >> we're the tennis players in the family. what happened? she was going to be a ballerina, right? >> yeah. she started off wanting to be a ball rhee wra. i guess she just wanted to be like us. she wanted to follow in our footsteps. >> reporter: at just 17 and ranked 296th in the world, she pulled out a stunning upset, overcoming 11th seat samantha stosur, a former u.s. open champ. >> she's done it! >> she won the crowd over with her jubilant celebration and charm. >> i'm really excited right now. >> it's a good feeling. ten years watching and waiting for that moment. >> this is a dream. this is something that, you know, this is a passion. i'm happy for her.

>> do you remember hearing your family in the snantands? >> no. the whole crowd was going nuts. >> reporter: victoria has overcome the odds before. as a young child she and several family members were held hostage at gunpoint during a robbery in haiti. then in 2010 her father, a physician, was in port-au-prince when the earthquake struck. they dug him out of the rubble. >> having the work pay off on such a big stage, i was just glad that god gave me that opportunity. >> reporter: on the surface, you would never know what this family has been through. they are close knit, joyfully celebrating vicky's win. her brother wearing a t-shirt with the letters d-o-n. >> dreams over nightmares. >> reporter: tell me what that means to you. >> reporter: -- >> i just look at the dreams.

>> reporter: no doubt, this teen is one step closer to making her dream come true. >> i love her. duval ranked 296th in the world. that's it for me. have a wonderful afternoon. brooke baldwin takes it from brooke baldwin takes it from here. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com syria vows to defend itself should the u.s. attack. and as tensions rise, some experts say taking action could be a huge mistake. you'll hear why. i'm brooke baldwin. the news is now. fears grow that syrian hackers may target u.s. companies online in a cyber war. plus, fast food workers across america demanding 15 bucks an hour. will they get it? and if you're texting someone who's behind the wheel, watch out. you could be in trouble with the law.