quacks ->> president obama spoke about willing to seek a diplomatic deal. more on what is next and the fate of syria, just ahead. today marks 12 years since the world trade center towers fell. we remember those that died that day and some of the first responders and volunteers are still struggling with health issues. also, more of the nsa's

innerworkings are revealed. shedding light on the top secret court and how your privacy is being compromised. it is wednesday, september 11. you are watching rt. we begin with the united states senate where they were expected to hold a vote. but as president obama noted in his primetime speech last night, that vote has been delayed at his request while he and secretary of state john kerry confer with russia to see if there diplomatic solution to compel syria is viable. secretary kerry is expected to

meet tomorrow to go over all of this. requiring assad to give up his chemical weapons. any resolution that threatens military force against syria, forcing them to disarm. the u.s. says the only way to get them to disarm is with the threat of military force. president obama insisted that military force is still very much an option. while he is pursuing a diplomatic solution, he has a gun on the bargaining table. >> i have ordered the military to maintain the current posture to maintain pressure on assad and be in a place to respond if diplomacy fails. the u.s. has been the anchor of global security for decades. this has meant doing more than

forging international agreements , it meant enforcing them. >> the president continues his strong embrace of u.s. military in syria, he tried to make the case that the u.s. is not the world's policeman. >> america is not the world's policeman. terrible things happen across the globe and it is beyond our means to right every wrong. but when, with modest effort and risk, we can stop children from being gassed to death and thereby make our own children safer in the long run, i believe we should act. >> do congress and the american people think the u.s. should act gecko -- act? one that hinges on all diplomatic measures being exhausted first before any targeted u.s. military strikes. a resolution may be able to attract more support where

lawmakers have received an earful from their constituents. a new poll shows that two thirds of americans are confident that a diplomatic solution will prevent a u.s. bombing campaign in syria. the international commuty weighs its options, syria itself continues to deal if the orders of its civil war. one that has pitted the syrian government against a diverse opposition of rebel groups, some moderate, others focused on jihad. those fighters that came to syria to fight on behalf of al qaeda. >> this may look like an ordinary farewell among friends, but the man is a suicide bomber leaving on his final journey. this is his last conversation with his brother. a car is supposed to take him to the walls of the central prison in aleppo.

sending him to paradise, according to his beliefs. they were found taken from one man seen in the footage who is now in a syrian prison. he says he came to syria from the former soviet republic to fight. >> a group approached me a year ago and convinced me that muslims in syria are being oppressed and killed and that i should take up arms against assad for world jihad and establish an extension worldwide to europe, america, and everywhere. >> he came to syria through turkey. two men met him in syria where he joined a large bombing brigade. >> my job was to prepare bombs for cars. our teachers showed us how to make bombs, which ingredients to

use, and how to cook it. >> the man you saw in the farewell video is driving the car. they say after the father dies, the sun should continue. >> we have to finish what we started. >> next to a military airport in damascus. the prisoners here are charged with either terrorism or spying. this newly built unit can accommodate 1200 people and it is almost full. an officer tells us not to get too close as the prisoners can be dangerous. there are people here from egypt

and palestine, but many came from europe as well. the algerian has spent most of his life in france where he married a french woman and led a normal life. he was recruited by an islamic group. >> i went to turkey and i met a lovely group. we illegally crossed the border in syria. >> as a fundamental muslim, he had to get involved. >> i saw my brothers suffering here. the other channels that kids are also suffering, but when i came here, i did not see the enemy. >> they show us weapons

including handmade bombs and grenades. these are the instruments of global jihad that chose syria as a battlefield. the prison might be full, but we remain free to continue the fight. >> with the cameraman, today is september 11.

>> we love you and miss you so much. >> an amazing father. jose munez castillo. [singing choir] ♪ >> some of the most iconic images are of first responders running toward the chaos, toward the danger to save lives. for many, losing their own life doing so. 12 years after 9/11, they are suffering from the consequences of their heroic actions. many are now receiving the help they need.

>> rebuilding a site of horror and tragedy. the new tower marks the new york skyline. rebuilding the lives of those that were here to help 12 years ago is moving at a glacial pace. >> we lost 41 people this year to 9/11 related illnesses. we are closing in on 1400 since 9/11. >> first responders and volunteers, tens of thousands are still waiting. struggling with inhaling toxic air after 9/11. people like tj martin and ken george. >> if we were the criminals, i am angry at the way they treat us.

>> he has the lungs of a senior citizen. >> i can't take enough oxygen in and let enough out. this machine helps me breathe and gives me the extra oxygen i need. >> he has to take 33 pills and almost a bottle of cough syrup every single day. the first responders wearing sunglasses because the steroids give him chronic headaches. they have also caused him to have a heart attack and gain dozens of towns. he considers himself lucky. >> each year, there are more of my 9/11 sicknesses. >> guilt is a major part of his life.

>> i could not find anybody alive. >> he struggles with ptsd, breathing is a daily struggle. monitoring is health is a full- time job. >> it is like 9/11 every day. they are getting sicker and there are 1500 people with cancer right now. >> 9/11 is yesteryear, let's not worry about it. but people are sick, dying, they have cancer. they are not exactly healing from this and getting better. >> a former construction worker also has not been able to work for the last five years because of his disabilities. >> i have woken up tonight with acid coming out of my throat and i am choking. >> we met him shortly after the health and compensation act was passed two years ago promising financial aid to sick 9/11 first

responders. since then -- >> i have had to sell my house and whatever i had because the victims compensation wasn't really anything. the nodules in my lungs have grown. if they stay where they are, they will be fine. if they grow anymore, they have to take out a lobe of my long. >> the world commemorates the lives lost on this historic day. >> first responders are yet to receive the compensation and help they reserve a mind- boggling 12 years after the tragedy. >> there are others that remain affected. today, many muslim americans took to the nation's capital.

they are met with counter protesters. >> it was renamed million american march. protesters here want to bring attention to the plight of the muslim american community after the 9/11 attacks. >> people want to come together as a human race. whatever your religious views or philosophy. look, we don't agree with everything. they talked about not even trusting the government. >> i have been discriminated against, but i don't blame them. they react according to what the media puts out there.

>> we must be against the violence and hate. and we muslims are just like all americans who want to work hard to build this country. >> definitely louder demonstrations, this protest struck anger against conservative groups. they came out on their bikes today to make their voices loud and clear. they originally applied for a permit so that they have traffic signals but the permit was not approved. here is what they had to say. >> support for 9/11 victims, a lot went on here at the pentagon. >> today is about 9/11, those that died, those that lost their

lives, the families and troops still fighting for us. that is why we are here. >> the 9/11 memorial, for people that died. >> honoring all who lost their lives on 9/11. >> a lot of different points of view being displayed signaling that 12 years later, some of the decisions and policies post-9/11 remain divisive. on both sides, there is a message of unity. >> today marks one year since the terrorist attacks on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. it took the life of four americans. marking the anniversary, a powerful car bomb was detonated today.

there are no reports of casualties. this is the latest act of violence in a nation that is trying to find stability following nato intervention. the massive spying program, edward snowden's latest leak shows that the nsa is handing over huge amounts of raw data to israel. it has been sifted through without any safeguards. according to an nsa memo, this intelligence sharing program began in 2009. it stressed the need for analysts to respect the rights of american citizens. the reality is that israel has access to raw intelligence for communication data. and trying to stay in front.

they released hundreds of documents. these releases came in response to a freedom of information act request. included in them are previously classified documents that show concerns from the court over how the nsa is searching through americans own communications. >> they took the senate floor to boycott a four-year extension for one of the most controversial pieces of legislation. >> i served for over a decade and i want to deliver a warning this afternoon. when the american people find out how their government has secretly interpreted the patriot act, they will be stunned and

they will be angry. >> the words would foreshadow an inkling of the disturbing revelations to emerge regarding the americans right to privacy. they began to ask questions about how the government had been interpreting one very questionable provision of the patriot act. it vastly expanded the government's power. referring to it as sensitive programs. the lawsuit from the american civil liberties union and the electronic frontier foundation, we finally have answers. the office of the director released approximately 1800 pages of documents that shed light on the constitutionality of the domestic surveillance program.

we now know more details of a program that started in 2000 one that allowed for the government to collect phone records in bulk. the nsa received daily transfers of customer records from the nation's phone companies. those records included incoming and outgoing calls along with the call duration. documents reveal that they have been running an automated alert list. about 18,000 suspicious phone numbers. senior officials now say that of the phone numbers, more than 15,000 of them or 88% were wrongly included. according to the documents, they did not understand that this activity was a violation of their own internal regulations. the washington post voted one

official saying that there was no single person with a complete understanding of the business records syste. it led to a small lack of communication. between 2006 and 2009, the nsa divided faulty information to the pfizer court. they tried to continue the bulk surveillance program but in 2009, the court while he came down on the nsa when district judge reggie walton that oversaw a u.s. spy court wrote a blistering opinion about the use of power. the judge almost shut down the government's domestic surveillance program after he "lost confidence in the ability to operate it in the right way. " he ordered the nsa to conduct a review of its policies. this might sound familiar for

those of you following the fallout of the nsa scandal in which the president's major action has been calling for its own review board. >> to dive deeper into these documents, i was joined by an investigative reporter. i asked her, what do these documents released yesterday tell us about the oversight mechanisms in place at the nsa and the pfizer court. >> this program, when it was put under the court operated for 2.5 years before a judge came along and started figuring out what was going on. the judge that initially approved it was a judge that was in the white house during the

nixon ford transition that means you probably knew cheney. it was stunningly bare. that was march and august of that year. it kind of told the fisa court what it was doing and it wasn't until 2008, the timing of this was incredibly important. so literally, the transition between the obama administration and the bush administration, the judge took a closer look. laying the groundwork for why this was legal in the first place. they come to them and say they have a problem.

there is the 2.5 year period, the people doing the audits themselves. the director lames that they had no idea. there wasn't one person that knew the architecture of this entire program. what was at issue was the legal advice. when alexander spoke about that, he very carefully used that it appears to be nobody knew what they were doing. his claim that nobody knew -- that no one person knew

everything. it didn't address if people understood the legal issue. he carefully couched his language because he was making a it is completely unbelievable that they did not know what they were doing. they were in charge of the rogue ram in 2006. >> i want to move on to the latest leak. doesn't this further show that even with these minimal safeguards, claims are in place and they are essentially meaningless. that they have free reign to share that information with our government?

>> that document was from 2009. it pretty explicitly say foreign governments are only supposed to get this stuff for translation purposes. what was envisioned was far broader. if you stumble upon a u.s. person's data or, god forbid, an official that is an executive branch official or a congressperson, please get rid of it. as if any government would get rid of it. it is those procedures that the fisa court has seen and the document signed with the israelis that are incompatible. >> an investigative reporter, thank you.

take a look at this video. you are seeing dashcam footage from august 10. she was driving drunk and crashed into a house with three foreign exchange students in the backseat. this routine arrest turns anything but when police begin using force. they slam her head into the police car and into the pavement before one officer places his knee on the back of her head. this is what she looks like after the arrest. her cheekbone was broken and has since had two surgeries to repair the damage. they kicked him in the groin and the leg. he tried to rub feces on a nurse caring for her and the attorney

plans to file suit for unwarranted brutality against his client. finally, one florida death row prisoners date with destiny has been postponed. as the state attorney general has more pressing matters on her plate like raising a bunch of money. she was sentenced to die for the murder of two individuals in the 1980s and the execution date was yesterday. but today, gore is still alive. the execution date was rescheduled. governor rick scott delay the execution while she had the opportunity for cash. acknowledging that the decision was a mistake. there was nothing more important than seeing justice done,

especially when it came to the unconscionable act of murder. they had already stated twice and we absolutely should not ever quest that the date of the execution be moved. it is slated for october 1. that does it for now. check out our website and you can follow me on twitter and see you back here at 8:00 p.m..

welcome to nhk, it's thursday, september 12th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. it's been 12 years since the 9/11 terror attacks in the united states. people have gathered to remember the victims and reflect on the day. on the day