the obama administration prepares to respond to what it characterizes as the undeniable evidence of a chemical weapons attack in syria. >> our sense of basic humanity is offended, not only by this cowardly crime, but also by the cynical attempt to cover it up. california fire crews are slowly making progress against that massive wildfire near yosemite national park. and a nation's hero. sergeant ty carter receives this country's highest military honor for his actions during the war in afghanistan. this is the "cbs morning news" in afghanistan. this is the "cbs morning news" for tuesday, august 27th, 2013. captioning funded by cbs good morning, good to be with you, i'm anne-marie green.

this morning, the united states is considering military action against syria after what secretary of state john kerry described as undeniable use of chemical weapons. without mincing words, kerry said there must be consequences for the attack. susan mcginnis is here in new york with the latest. good morning, susan. >> anne-marie, it is clear that the u.s. is moving closer to a military response, officials say the white house is still considering how to respond to this deadly gas attack. on monday, secretary kerry made it clear the president believes there must be accountability. >> what we saw in syria last week should shock the conscience of the world. it defies any code of morality. >> reporter: kerry was responding to last week's attack outside damascus, the video of suffering men, women and children is difficult to watch. they were exposed to what experts believe was nerve agents, hundreds died.

>> the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, the killing of women and children and incideno women and children is an obscenity. it's inexcusable, despite the equivocations that some have manufactured it is undefinable. >> reporter: kerry accused the syrian regime of failing to cooperate with u.n. inspectors. the administration is expected to make a more formal announcement today. as it considers possible military action. four navy warships are already in position in the mediterranean. a british airship is considered to be in position. a missile attack would almost certainly be launched in the middle of the night when most civilians off the streets. the assad government continues to deny use of chemical weapons and vows to defend itself against any attack. since the uprising against assad

began 2 1/2 years ago, more than 100,000 people have been killed. now kerry also accused the syrian government of trying to hide evidence of a chemical weapons attack. the state department has postponed a meeting scheduled for tomorrow at the hague with russian officials concerning the situation in syria. anne-marie. >> susan mcginnis here in new york. thank you, susan. united nations inspectors are in syria, gathering evidence of any chemical weapons attack. yesterday, a u.n. team was fired upon when they traveled to one site. holly williams reports. >> reporter: the inspectors came under fire as their convoy sped toward rebel-held parts of damascus. the syrian army and the opposition blamed each other for targeting the u.n. team. the convoy finally made it to the scene of the attack on the outskirts of damascus. the inspectors were taken to a makeshift hospital where survivors are being treated, and they were able to take blood and tissue samples. in videos posted on the internet of the aftermath, many of the

victims are children. i'm alive! i'm alive! screams this girl who appeared to be in shock. opposition groups say both of her parents were killed. the u.n. inspector's job is to determine whether chemical weapons were used. not who used them. but time may be running out as evidence is lost or degraded. this doctor works in one of the areas the inspectors haven't reached yet. he told us his medical units treated more than 900 victims of what he believes was a nerve agent, and said he has blood samples to prove it. >> we had to deliver these samples to investigation as soon as possible because chemicals in these samples may get less and less with time. >> reporter: the weapons inspectors were supposed to be in syria for two weeks to

investigate three earlier alleged strikes, but wednesday's strike appears to have been much bigger in scale, but we don't know when they'll release their findings. holly williams, cbs news, istanbul. the massive wildfire near yosemite national park continues to get bigger. but firefighters report progress in containing it, and the danger to san francisco's water and power supplies is lessening. teresa garcia is near yosemite national park. teresa, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, anne-marie. now, we're in the mountain community of tuolumne city. it has been under evacuation for many days now, causing firefighters to set up a major base camp here. but while there has been some success building these containment lines, the fire is still running overnight fast. and overnight crews have been battling three spot fires. the concern was evident last night as hundreds of people packed a sonora, california, church to get the latest news

from fire officials. >> these are pretty tough people that live up here. pretty independent people. and they're going to want to protect their homes and property, above everything else. >> reporter: they got good news, firefighters have established containment lines along the southeast edge of the blaze. the area with the biggest population. >> on the west areas of the fire where it was safe for crews to continue to put in containment lines, we upped that containment to 20%. >> so that's good news. there's some progression? >> there's some progression, yeah. >> reporter: one of the most important parts of the fire is pushing eastward to yosemite park. one of the top concerns is how close it's getting to hetch hetchy reservoir, just about two miles away. the reservoir supplies 85% of san francisco's drinking water. so officials are keeping an eye on how much ash falls on it. so far, so good. >> we're monitoring water quality and we have seen no change in water quality which is why we're continuing normal water operations.

>> reporter: but concerns of water quality will continue long before the fire is out. rainfall could sweep ash and debris left over from the fire into the reservoir. this is really proving to be a costly fire. the heavy reliance on aviation resources just to slow the fire's progress. but the enormous number of fire personnel, nearly 4,000 people out here on the line is really running up the bill. $27 million here on day ten. live in tuolumne city, teresa garcia. back to you, anne-marie. >> teresa garcia, thank you very much. well, extreme weather is baking the nation's midsection, a late summer heat wave has turned farmland to dust in north dakota. and puts many crops in danger of wilting before harvest. in iowa, fans helped students beat 90-plus temperatures yesterday. but many midwest schools let students out early. the heat reaching triple digits

in some areas is expected to last the rest of the week. in the southwest, the problem is flooding. heavy thunderstorms on monday washed out a major road in the las vegas area. more than two inches of rain fell in some places. mud slides were reported in california. treasury secretary jacob lu said the federal government will round of money by mid-october unless congress raises the debt ceiling. the nation's borrowing limit is capped at $16.5 billion. payment for social security, military salaries, medicare and other programs would be suspended if the debt ceiling is not raised. republicans want to sharply cut spending to reduce deficits. democrats have proposed tax increases and spending cuts. congress returns from summer recess in about a week and a half. u.s. army sergeant ty carter was awarded the medal of honor, the nation's highest military honor for heroism during one of the worst battles in the afghan war.

president obama presented carter with the medal yesterday at a ceremony. carter risked his life to bring aid to fellow soldiers. he supplied his comrades with ammunition and gave first aid during an intense day-long battle at a remote base four years ago. >> because you urged -- you've had the urge to serve others, at whatever cost, so many army families could welcome home their own sons. >> the enemy was behind us, all around us. we were cut off, surrounded, out-numbered, outgunned low in ammo. everybody who was friendly or in sight had wounds or dead. >> charter is receiving treatment to recover from posttraumatic stress disorder. coming up on the "cbs morning news," going offline. china gets hit by hackers in the biggest cyberattack ever in that country. this is the "cbs morning news." d by a heart valve problem. that puts jim at a greater risk of stroke.

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it almost hit a customer. it happened just after midnight on sunday. the driver just backed out and drove away. but he was arrested later. on the "cbs moneywatch," a major shareholder pulls out of jcpenney. and a major cyberattack in china. ashley morrison is here. good morning to you. asian markets were lower as the situation in syria unfolds. tokyo's nikkei fell half a percent while hong kong's hang seng also fell half a percent. a new report says orders for manufactured goods plunged more than 7% last month. that is the steepest drop in nearly a year. the dow fell 64 points while the nasdaq slipped a fraction. china's internet was hit by a massive cyberattack. the state agency says it is the largest of its kind ever in chien. the attack happened sunday and

targeted websites with the dot domain. jcpenney's largest investor is bailing out. william ackman says he's telling his 39 million shares. just two weeks ago, ackman resigned from penny's and it sent the stock spiraling 3%. if he can to lose his shares now, he could lose $450 million. and the national do not call list, well, it isn't working that well. according to the federal trade commission, complaints from consumers on the list up 60% since 2011. the robocalls, i've been hit with a few recently. it is frustrating. there isn't even a person on the end.

>> always dinnertime, too. ashley morrison, thank you. strait ahead, your tuesday morning weather. and in sports, forget small ball. oakland gets down and dirty against detroit. cheese best of. that moment you enjoy it at home. then you'll love lactose-free lactaid® it's 100% real milk that's easy to digest so you can fully enjoy the dairy you love. lactaid®. for 25 years, easy to digest. easy to love.

it can only be called black silk. from folgers. a taste you can enjoy fresh brewed one cup at a time or on the go. black silk from folgers. here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. new york, morning fog today. miami, thunderstorms. it's a hot one in chicago. 92 the high. 98 the high in dallas. los angeles, 85. time now for a check of the national forecast. a dome of heat continues to bake the midwest. temperatures will run 10 to 20 degrees above normal.

it will be dry across most of the northeast and south. scattered showers and thunderstorms are likely across florida and texas. and also parts of the southwest and rockies. in sports, the st. louis cards are now in sole possession of first place in the national league central division, and they pulled out the big bats against cincinnati to do it. in the third, matt holliday went deep with a three-run blast. and then in the seventh, allen craig rocks his first career grand slam. cards beat the reds 8-6. and a devastating blow for the new york mets, their ace, matt harvey has a torn ligament in his right elbow. he'll likely sit out the est of the season. against the phillies, the mets went down swinging 2-1 for the fifth straight loss. in detroit, miguel cabrera is on the hunt for another triple crown. he launched a towering home run against the a's. his 43rd of the season. in the sixth,daric barton slaps

a single up the middle. they wave big nate fryman home. a's take a bite out of the tigers 8-6. and in the first round of the u.s. open, the williams sisters are looking pretty strong. venus didn't seem hampered by illness or injury on monday. she's ranked 60th, but blue past kirsten flipkens 6-1, 6-2 and her sister beat francesca schiavone 6-0, 6-1. when we return, top story and newly released video of president gerald ford as he testifies about the attempt on his life nearly four decades ago. twice the protein of regular low fat yogurt. that's what makes it so thick, rich. oh,.. this is kate...

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a nightmare? it's about to get a whole lot worse. what you need to know to avd commuter chaos.. when the b bridge closes. join us for kpix 5 news this morning... beginning at 4:3 ,,,, here's a look at to forecast in some cities arranged the country. washington, d.c., thunderstorms today. atlanta, partly cloudy, a high of 96 in st. louis, thunderstorms in denver, showers in seattle.

♪ and here's another look at our top story, president obama could announce as early as today how the u.s. will respond to an alleged chemical weapons attack in syria. military action would most likely involve cruise missile strikes against syrian targets launched from navy warships. and we have some sad news here at cbs, longtime news correspondent bruce dunning has died. dunning spent most of his career reporting from asia. he retired in 2005 and passed away monday in new york. he was 73 years old. in 1975, dunning reported on one of the most memorable stories in television news. here's scott pelley. >> thousands of people were roaming da nang air field. it was march of 1975, the southeast city of da nang was

falling to north vietnam and bruce dunnan was aboard the plane. >> as soon as the air fire was over, they started to stampede the plane, from the cockpit the pilots reported by radio that the situation was out of control. >> the mission was intended to rescue women and children but dunning, cameraman mike mayer reyot and soundman mike van nook captured the scene. the heavily armed men were menacing, they left their wives, their children their aged parents on the runway while they forced enlisted men. the stewardesses dragging them on screaming all the while, where were all the women and children? >> dunning watched the head count. >> 268 were on board. among them five women and two or three small children. >> and he listened as the flight crew with the help of an escort, examined the plane, damaged in the mad scramble. >> there's something hanging

down, from the rear doors, it may be a body. >> bruce dunning covered many stories from tiananmen square to the gulf war but none was more memorable than this. >> bruce dunning, cbs news, back from da nang. in september 1975, squeaky fromme tried to assassinate president ford. he saw fromme push through the crowd and point a gun at him. >> the weapon was large. it covered all or most of her hand, as far as i could see. and i only saw it instantaneously, because almost automatically, one of the secret service agents lunged, grabbed the hand and the weapon. >> ford wasn't hurt. fromme was released from prison in 2009.

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the japanese government said monday it would take charge of efforts to stop leaks of contaminated water at the fukushima nuclear plant. the plant was crippled by an earthquake and tsunami two years ago. seth doane visited a radioactive area near fukushima with a former resident. when homes located inside a nuclear danger zone, returning there becomes about checkpoints, equipment and protective suits, only residents are allowed in. we so asked akita okawara to be our guide. homeowners can make just ten trips a year, no more than five hours each. >> and these are streets you've come down your whole life. what goes through your mind now driving toward your own home? it used to be a very beautiful place, he told us. it makes me very, very sad.

vegetation has reclaimed the roads near his home of 50 years. >> this is your house right here? the only sounds were insects in the eerie kicking of our radiation meter. nearly 2 1/2 years later, bills sat unopen, in this house occupied by animals. there's a newspaper from 2011. is this march -- oh, my gosh, march 11th, 2011. this was the day of the disaster. okawara and his family thought they'd be gone only a few hours. pictures of his three kids laden in radioactive dust hang in the living room. i want people around the world to understand what fukushima is facing, he told us. and how we're still suffering. with so many reminders, he told us, it was hard to move on.

the train hasn't rumbled through here in years. laundry sits unfinished in the local laundromat. there were around 115,000 people here in the town a cloud of radiation just about two miles from the fukushima power plant. okawara still waits for a decision from tepco, the company that owns the plant, regarding compensation for his home. i passed the stage of being angry. what would change if we were angry, he told us. i feel like i'm just giving up now. okawara and 275,000 others are still living in temporary housing. for him, it's a cleanup that is going painfully slow. seth doane, cbs news, new york. well, coming up after your local news on "cbs this

morning," the latest u.s. reaction to the crisis if syria. we'll go to the white house. plus, a look at what's behind falling gas prices as we head into the labor day holiday. and we'll show you how doctors are using google glass in the operating room. that's the "cbs morning news" for this tuesday. thanks for watching. i'm rarg anne-marie green. have a great day. people go to a mattress store and essentially they just get sold something. we provide the exact individualization that your body needs.

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the show starts. >> good to see you. got a great day ahead. we are going to see temperatures a little warmer outside. some patchy fog to begin with. not seeing the drizzle this morning. temperatures in the 50s and 60s. we'll talk about that coming up. >> and as usual, this time of the morning, no big hot spots. overnight roadwork including at the bay bridge toll plaza. enjoy one of your last trips across the old eastern span. we'll talk about that coming up. >> nostalgic. >> bittersweet. we begin this morning with some news, one teen killed and two others badly hurt in this nasty crash. it happened in danville. happened the night before the first day of school just before 9:00 last night. the car hit a tree on el capitan drive. the driver in the hospital in critical condition. the rim rim is now 20% contained nearly three times the con at the same time from 24 ur