>> jeff: tonight syrian president bash ar al-assad speaks. the interview is with charlie rose. in it assad rejects responsibility for last month's deadly chemical attack. >> he denied that-- that he knew, in fact that there was a chemical attack. >> jeff: margaret brennan with secretary of state kerry has the u.s. response. wrestling holds on to its place, don dahler has more on the olympic vote today. a royal mess at buckingham palace. why didn't security guards recognize prince an druchlt charlie d'agata is in london. and haitian americans helping relatives back home. gift of technologies that's lighting the way to better lives. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> jeff: good evening, i'm jeff glor with a western

edition of the broadcast. his country is split by a brutal civil war. he stands accused of a horrific chemical attack and faces the prospect of an american strike in the weeks to come. he also hasn't spoken to an american television network in nearly two years. but today bash or-- bashar al-assad sat down with charlie row, i spoke with him a short time ago from dubai as he makes his way back home. >> the president of syria ago technology-- acknowledges that chemical weapons are as bad as other weapons of mass destruction. but believes that he can make the case that he did not do it. and says he's not even convinced that chemical weapons were used, he's not seen the proof. he does not believe that the administration has shown the evidence they have that his government was responsible. >> jeff: charlie you have spoken to president assad before what struck you most about this interview. >> i thought he was remarkably calm and

conversational. i think he made a commitment, perhaps because he's his father's son, that all he had to do was just go all out. that in order to save the regime he had to go all out. he took note of the fact that war is ruthless. and that in war you have to do everything you can to survive. >> jeff: does bashar al-assad believe he will stay in power. >> i think he doesment i think he knows the risk. i asked him about that i said you saw what happened to qaddafi, what happened in tunesia, in egypt. will say and he argues in this conversation, he's been able to prosecute this war for two and a half years because he has the support of the syrian people. charlie rose, we can't wait to see more tomorrow morning and tomorrow evening, thank you. >> thanks, jeff. >> jeff: and you can see extended portions of charl yee rose's interview with syrian president assad first thing tomorrow on cbs this morning. >> in london today secretary

of state john kerry continued his effort to build international support for u.s. strikes on sirria. he offered his first comment on assad's remarks. margaret brennan is traveling with the secretary r9 secretary kerry dismissed assad's denials and said the evidence speaks for itself. earlier today in paris, the secretary made the case to arab leaders that they should support a u.s. lead strike on the assad regime. >> he has one of the largest stocks of chemical weapons in the world and at the moment he has no intention of really negotiating. so it is certain if he is threatened, he will use them again. >> reporter: kerry said that saudi arabia was convinced and decided to endorse the u.s. strike. he expects other arab countries to issue statements of support within the next 24 hours. but few are expected to say that they will join a military strike. kerry got a similarly

hesitant response from the european union yesterday which urged the world to send a clear and strong response. but asked the u.s. to delay any action until the u.n. weapons inspectors finish their report. secretary kerry came here to london to discuss middle east peace. but this decision on syria is dominating. here in a country that has already decided that it will not be part of any military action. >> jeff: margaret brennan in london, thank you. several hundred thousand christians in syria fear an american attack could lead to their widespread persecution by weakening the assad government and strengthening islamic rebels. many of them linked to al qaedament elizabeth palmer has more on that from damascus. >> reporter: the civil war has not so far disrupted the ritual of sunday mass at al zeitouna catholic church in damascus but the father and

every member of this congregation are deeply worried. they've seen the videos posted on-line and heard the news that islamist rebels pushed past the syrian army and invaded one of the hoeliest chistian sites in syria, maalula. the syrian troops claim they are back in control of the town. worshippers pray that's true but the threat still feel very close. just two weeks ago four mortars were fired into this christian neighborhood in damascus where everyone knows everyone. and a local man agor was killed. >> it is a sad-- really. >> reporter: christians in syria have flourished under the protection of president bashar al-assad but there's widespread fear that era has now ended as muslimist extremists gain power within the armed opposition.

>> they're trying to force us to go out or die, if we try to stay, we will die. >> reporter: no one is saying ethnic cleansing yet. but they are thinking it. >> and that's not just christians. it's all religious minorities here. they may not have agreed with bashar al-assad's dictatorship but at least it kept them safe. now they think what's coming will be a bloodbath, jeff. >> jeff: liz palmer in damascus, thank you. scott pelley interviews president obama on his syria politics tomorrow am you can see that tomorrow night during the broadcast of the men's u.s. open final and later on the "cbs evening news." a crushing heat wave continues in california this weekend. temperatures hit the hundreds again this weekend in the san fernando valley. the yosemite rim fire is now the third worst in california history. officials say it is 80% contained but nearly 400

square miles have burned. in utah heavy rains caused more flooding and mudslides in alpine, the same spot for the third time in three weeks. ibm announced it is losing its medicare eligible retirees off its company health insurance and will give them money to buy insurance on private health care exchanges. late this afternoon we learn time warner will do the same. for more on the story we are joined by cbs news contributor med-- lod hobson. is this a good or bath thing in your estimation. >> over the short term it shouldn't be good or bad but neutral. the reason it will be neutral, ibm is saying the health-care coverage should be the same or better for the retiree. over the long term its goal is for it to be good. the reason ibm says it's doing it as wells a lots of other companies is because health care premiums for the retirees are expected to triple by 2020. by going to an insurance exchange, ultimately the goal is to lower these cost. >> jeff: you believe more

companies will start doing this. >> for sure. 300 companies have already done it ibm is joining caterpillar, they're joining all sorts of other companies, dupont, again time warner just made the announcement. i think we're going to see more and more of this. the dom foes have started to fall. >> jeff: the question a lot of people might ask is does this mean my insurance rates are going to go up? >> so here's the unknown are young people. so the estimate is for 7 million people to sign up for this new kind of health coverage in the next year. two to two and a half million of those people need to be healthy, 18 to 35-year-olds. because basically what they will do is subsidize the cost of the older retiree. if they don't go in, if they don't enroll, the math will not work. >> jeff: mellody hobson, thank you very much. he is one of the original olympic sports but earlier this year wrestling was dropped from the game, a move that surprised many. today the international olympic committee changed its mind voting to put wrestling back in 20920

games. as don dahler explains many believe this not only restores the sport's reputation, they think it will make the ancient practice even better. >> reporter: the wrestling fans awaiting the international olympic committee's decision in a downtown manhattan bar, this was a gold medal moment. >> -- (cheers and applause) we just want a match, a big match. >> reporter: billionaire and former wrestler mike was one of many around the world who spent their own time and money to convince the ioc to reinstate wrestling. >> we worked our tails off for the last six weeks, made changes at the international organization, made changes domestically and also to raise awareness. >> wrestling needed 48 votes, it got 49ment but that was enough to defeat intense campaigns by both squash and a combined effort of baseball and softball. last february the ioc shocked the sporting world by voting to drop wrestling

from its 2020 olympic line-up because of low ratings and attendance in past games. critics said it just wasn't exciting. that left olympic hopefuls like 16-year-old jake barry grappling for answers. today his dream was revived. >> when the decision was being made my heart was pounding through my chest. i like couldn't breathe. i knew what was on the line and i was just so, so happy that it got voted back in. >> reporter: being pinned to the matt forced wrestling governing body to modernize this ancient sport. the new rules will make wrestling a faster sport that rewards aggressive action. the number of weight classes for female wrestlers was also increased to bring pore gender equality to the sport. >> i think the changes we made are great changes. that part is a positive. this might have ended up being a really good thing for the sport. >> i think the bad scare was a very good thing for the sport. we probably got better press in the last six months than in the last 16 years. >> reporter: the new rules will be in effect in the 2016 olympics. don dahler, cbs news, new

york. >> jeff: later on the auction block, james bond's submarine car. and the security lapses at buckingham palace when the "cbs evening news" continues.

most famous cars is up for auction. the lotus submarine car from the spy who loved me could fetch more than a million dollars. the cardiss appeared after filming in the '70sment years lathe are someone bought a storage unit on long island and found. bond would never let this happen. first there was a break in at buckingham palace, then the authorities mistakenly stopped a prince in the royal garden. charlie d'agata in london tonight has more on a royal mess. >> reporter: two days after the palace's worst security breach in years, british police fumbled into another royal mess. they busted prince andrew, the queen's son, in the palace garden mistaking him

for an intruder. tabloid headlines said prince andrew held at gunpoint. the police said no guns were drawn, and apologized for the mishap. the prince saw the funny side in a statement that read the police have a difficult job to do balancing security for the royal family and deterring intruders and sometimes they get it wrong. i'm grateful for their apology and look forward to a safe walk in the garden in the future. security officials are still trying to figure out how a burglar slipped past guards at night and reached a state room which is open to the public during the day, not far from the queen's private apartment. it's one of the most heavily fortified buildings in the world. the entire palace is surrounded by these high fences. there's security cameras everywhere. armed guards patrol the grounds 24 hours a day, yet apparently this intruder was able to scale a fence, kick down a door and he was in. the queen wasn't there. she's in scotland enjoying the end of her summer vacation. intruders have struck before,

in 1982, michael fagan reached the queen's bedroom while she was still in bed. in 2004 a protestor in a batman suit managed to scale the walls of the palace. but the recent break-in has renewed calls to stiffen security. >> yes, we could tighten telephone up. we could be shot down. we could raise the perimetre fence. the whole point is the queen and-- queen and royal family want to be accessible to the comment. >> reporter: there's no comment from the queen. of course it is safe to say when her majesty gets back to her london pad, heads will roll. charlie d'agata, cbs news, london. >> jeff: up next more than a dozen children hurt when an amusement yard swing loses power.

power at a carnival in norwalk, connecticut, today. police say 15 people were injured. >> the accident occurred at the annual oyster festival in the harbor city of norwalk when the swing ride appeared to lose power. witnesses said it suddenly stopped and the swings crashed. this man saw the whole thing. >> it seemed to be going like its normal and all of a sudden i heard like a thunder or like a bang. i watched the kids like swinging wildly, smashing into the steel supports ton. >> reporter: 15 children were injured, a dozen went to hospital. at least two were described as having serious injuries am but most of the injuries were minor. doctor neil flock was there. >> i happened to be a trauma surgeon in town, so i saw the kids at the time and no

one seemed really injured. all the kids were moving their extremities and everything. >> everything here came to a stop and inspectors went from ride to ride checking them out. by late afternoon the attractions were back in action. all except for the swing ride. still off limits. >> it was just shocking. and i think, you know, they should have closed all the rides off for the rest of the day. >> the word amusement, the swing ride operator said its rides are inspected every day, connecticut state police blamed the accident on mechanical failure,. cbs news, norwalk, connecticut. >> jeff: still ahead, brightening lives in haiti.

>> it is something many of us take for granted but in haiti electricity is rare. especially since a devastated earthquake three and a half years ago. only 25% of haiti's people have access to the national power grid. leaving more than 7 million in the dark. as we saw in a recent visit, there is one potential solution getting alots of attention. >> at wilny's house there is always a light on. a small solar lamp lets his daughter study late at night. >> michele says he used candles until a fire burned his house. he told us the solar lamp makes the family safer. and gives off more light. the lamps come through a money transfer company called sogexpress each month thousands use it to send money to their relatives back home. at shops like this one in miami's little haiti customers cannot only wire money but also send a lamp. >> you can have up to 12

hours of light. >> reporter: sort of a western union for solar power. shop owner joslyn saintjuste. >> like i'm participating in something for my country because i know the situation and when somebody send a lamp to someone to a friend or family, i know how happy the people are when they receive the lamp. >> the country is so far behind them for energy. i think solar will play, could play a very important role. >> frank lanoix is the vice president of sogexpress. he says the cost of solar energy has begun downs it has become a viable option where infrastructure is a major problem. >> look at the sun hitting us right now. and it is there, it is to the going to go away. >> at this state of the art teaching hospital in the rural thrall platteau, 1800 solar panels power everything from surgical suites to x-ray machines. g gabou mendy is the medical director. >> i think to show -- >> the sol or power in haiti

is still in its infancy, it is already being used to run everything from street lamps to irrigation systems. and just a year, sogexrress has sold and distributed 6,000 personal solar lamp, a bit of light in an otherwise uncertain night. >> coming up, these boats can fly.

not just it is flots just hardened sailors at the helm. here's carter evans. >> this 72 foot catamarand keeping for america's cup are a technological marvel, they essentially fly across the san francisco bay.

>> 52.9 miles an hour. >> gliding on hydro foils that act like underwater wings lifting the 7 ton boat entirely out of the water. >> that enables to us get space up there, about a 60 mile an hour. >> jimmy spithill is skipper of team usa. >> are you concerned with a boat like this it's gone a little too far away from what the traditional sailor can associate with? >> i don't think so. i mean should we be listening to the traditionalist or the next generation youth and kids of the day. >> they love seeing the technology, they love seeing the speed. >> certainly not crew member roam kirby. >> you're 24 years old. >> just turned 24. >> and you're on one of the fastest sailboats in the world. >> yup, prepretty cool. >> in his named for america, kirby is only one of two american crew members on team us, a. the rest are mostly kiwies and usies taking on their down under rivals team new

ze land. >> i don't think our country fully, you know, embraces sailing. >> do you think this boat could change that? >> i sure hope so. >> if it catches on, the more familiar boats, long associated with the race, could be left in their wake. >> it would be hard to go back to a traditional single hull boat. >> that's what we're all saying, after the cup is over and going back to sailing monohulls 's going to be bored out of our mind. >> fueling a need for speed turning this age old sport into nascar on the water. carter evans, cbs news, san francisco. >> jeff: that is the "cbs evening news" tonight. later on cbs "60 minutes." i'm jeff glor, cbs news in new york. scott pelley will be here tomorrow. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

another fire in sonoma coun sends flames and thick black smoke into the air. mandatory evacuation ordered as a fire races at the base of mount diablo. flames and big black smoke goes into the area. the beginning of the end at candlestick park which uh, i dunno. i, i guess i'm just hoping for a caring and nurturing relationship, you know, one th...one that's going somewhere. uh, like i, i take them where they're going and they buy me chevron with techron. i mean, yeah, you know, what can i say, i'm a, i'm a romantic. [ male announcer ] your car takes care of you, care for it. chevron with techron. care for your car. alright, now i just look desperate.

been seeing all afternoon. a large plume of smoke resembl a mushro this is kpix5 news. good evening. it put many in the bay area -- it was what many in the bay area has been seeing all afternoon. a plume of smoke resembling a mushroom head. burning at the base of mount diablo. people in 75 homes are being told to get out. the fire charred hundreds of acres since it began just re