right now, the president is on capitol hill where he has spent the past few hours meeting with senate democrats and republicans. the president discussed the plan for u.n. talks with the leaders of france and great britain before traveling to the hill. the proposal would require syria to put its chemical weapons under international control. the u.n. security council is expected to hold an emergency close door session around 4:00 p.m. eastern time. meantime, syria's foreign minister spoke about the potential breakthrough in an exclusive interview with keir simmons in moscow. >> but unfortunately we started to raise some voices and britain and france and inside the united states, people who believe only in war. we believe that when we accept this proposal this means we put an end to the war. >> earlier on capitol hill,

tempers seemed to flare as secretary of state john kerry testified before the house arms serviced committee. >> senate has already delayed because they don't have the votes, mr. secretary. that's why they delayed. you know that. >> actually, no i don't -- >> well, i do. >> glad you know something. i think this is not -- this should not be a political discussion about whether votes or not -- >> i'm not being political, mr. secretary. it's the truth. they don't have the votes, read any newspaper in this country and you will find that out. >> look, do you want to play politics here or get a policy in place? >> nbc news capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell joins us now live. quite a moment that we saw there. give us some perspective here as far as the tone which we often talk about as relates to what the american people are saying in a new poll and what's happening, the action on capitol

hill? >> reporter: it is a day standing out. it is one of those days where the president comes here to meet with senators from time to time and members of congress. notable today there is more security. there is certainly high stakes at play with members of congress not really sure where the next steps are going. and that's unusual because typically they have a sense of what's in front of them. that isn't the case now. the tension you saw playing out when secretary kerry and secretary hagel were testifying before the house arms serviced committee, there were plenty of substance but there were the flare-ups were members were reflecting the frustrations that people back home have and some of the questions about what comes next. john kerry pointed out he's not in politics anymore, he's not the vote counter. he was trying to argue the case for the administration, still wanting the authority for a strike while at the same time being open to these new opportunities diplomatically that could involve the russians and french and so forth. but kerry was also very cautious

about not getting too far ahead on that path, not certain assad or russia could be fully trusted if not fully vetted. an unusual day. the president is still here talking with senators. we expect when those meetings break up, we'll get another sense of where the moment is right now. senators i have talked to have spoken to the president over the last few days have said it's been very substantive and the president has been listening and there's a real disagreement among some what the next step should be. >> part of the next step is a consideration of alternative congressional resolution. that essentially would give the president what he's asking for, authorization, for military strike, but in this case, the caveat would be, if syria does turn over its chemical weapons to international inspectors or international authority, joe manchin and heidi were on in

past hour. >> we believe we have a great proposal that says 45 days join the world, join the chemical weapons convention. be part of 191 countries. identify, secure and destroy and quit manufacturing any of these horrific weapons. it's a pretty easy thing to follow. it gives the president at the end of 45 days if they don't comply, he has the basically the ability to use the war powers act he has no. >> kelly, these alternative resolutions out there seems to be giving hope on capitol hill that if there is such a thing as meeting -- or both sides being happy, considering this harsh topic and the repercussions that this might be it. >> there's also a sense of getting off of the resolution that was likely to not pass. remember, the one that was in front of us was already a revision, it was not the one originally sent over by the administration. a couple of different groups are working on these alternatives. in part that's a serious, honest

progress trying to come up with some sort of compromise. it also in terms of pure politics takes some of the heat off. as you know, senator reid has put on hold an actual vote. this time in between where the president is still working to make his case and international developments are happening, senators who have a lot invested are trying to come up with some way in which the congress could give the president some type of authority and set some limitations that would get the support of the international community. but the tough thing here, tamron, we don't know what kind of support even those new alternative have. just one day ago, i asked about the manchin idea you were just talking about there and reid's office was not even going to consider it for a vote unless it had to. things are changing quickly, even more so than our day to day lives here on capitol hill. >> by the second. let me bring in loretta sanchez, a member of the house armed services and homeland security

committee. thank you for your time. you heard kelly o'donnell speak to how everything is rapidly changing. you were undecided but leaning no to the resolution that has been highly discussed. where do you stand at this hour as we await to hear more from the president this evening? >> well, i just emerged from the house armed services committee where we had secretaries hagel and kerry and joint chief of staff dempsey. i asked them very pointed questions. quite frankly got muddled answers or not very good answers back to the real question of what is our true interest now, why now, why this. how come? as most americans are asking and so i have not heard what i need to hear in order to be a yes for them. so i'm still leaning no and on the other issue of russia and syria and maybe this alternative, i believe that many of my colleagues are looking forward to trying to see if we

can't make sure that that is a possibility. >> we heard in that armed services hearing a strong pushback from secretary kerry saying the delay in the senate was not a result of the public sent. that the votes were not there. that was essentially playing politics. but in your estimation, it seems and numbers show, the votes are not there to support the president and this resolution and perhaps this door opening regarding syria turning over its chemical weapons, that it is yets to even admit it has. would in a sense allow the administration to save face here. do you agree or disagree with that? >> i would suggest that at least in the house where i work on a daily basis, the votes are not there but it's a possibility they could be, depending on what the resolution would look like and how much time and how affected the president and others can be to actually let us understand why the heck we would do this -- on the senate. >> obviously this is just being talked about at this point, this

resolution that would allow the u.n. security council to condemn the actions, basically verifying what happened there to be awe thenty indicated and set a deadline for syria to turn over the arsenal. if these are not met, they would authorize the use of military force. this is one of the proposals. is that something you believe you could get behind? >> it depends what comes out of the u.n. i would look forward to having the u.n. actually say, let's work on this. we did find weapons here. we believe assad has used them. but if the security council does not say if this doesn't happen, if we don't secure these weapons, if it doesn't say that we can use force, then i think once again, the president has some real problems on the legal framework of why we would attack a country without having a u.n. resolution. >> so you believe there's a question of legal authorization

here? >> absolutely. it's very difficult to go in on your own and we certainly -- why the united states can do that and not other countries, we've signed the same treaty as others, it's our law, national law under article 6 of our constitution. i think he's got some wobbly legs on that framework of legality. >> thank you so much. let me bring in our special panel, ian her, a associate professor of political science at northwestern university and wrote a "new york times" open-ed, bomb syria, even if it is illegal. and a fellow at the institute for policy studies in washington and wrote "striking syria, illegal and immoral and dangerous" and lived in and written several books on the region, thanks for your time. ian, let's start with you, because of the last thought from loretta sanchez, was questioning besides everything in the

components, the legality, whether this would even be legal for the president if a military strike were to happen. >> well, she's right, the use of force internationally is illegal unless it's authorized by the security council or in self-defense. we don't know what's going to come out of the security council if anything on the new diplomatic initiative. we need to see the details of that first. >> when we last spoke last week, you had discussed a number of other solutions you felt should be followed. a diplomatic solutions that would avert a military strike and yesterday it came as a surprise at least the way the media was reporting. the possibility of syria turning over its chemical weapons but here we are, pointed out to the congresswoman, syria has yet to admit to having this arsenal, some reported 42 sites. how could this be promising if the recognition of the weapons hasn't even started? >> well, it may be promising if it signals a change in the position of the russians and of the americans a little bit. may have shifted it.

if they are willing to make an agreement, it might mean russia was backed away from the absolute support from assad and u.s. backed away from its overemphasis on military strike as the solution. both of those things might be promising signals. you're right, in itself, assad promising to give up chemical weapons doesn't mean very much but it's what goes along with it that matters. >> zachary, you've written several books and already the developing news within the last hour is that the rebels are saying this proposal from russia is just political maneuvering, that they are trying -- that putin is trying to shield the syrian government in an effort to just stall rather than deliver. >> well, i'm sure there's some element of truth if that. if you took four days ago when putin said i don't agree with his arguments and he doesn't agree with mine. if you thought russia would be the broker of a potential solution, you would have been -- no one would have believed that. in the region there's just as

much division in the middle east right now as there is in the united states and u.n. there are people who feel the united states should act and others feeling any action the united states take would be a sign of yet again kind of a western imperialism against the region. the rebels of course are going to say, look, it absolutely does leave assad in just as much a position of power post whatever happens as it did pre. >> and it also speaks to at least some of you what you were discussing, any action there, does not erase the humanitarian crisis and what congresswoman sanchez was alluded to. you had 100,000 deaths over two years. >> right. >> so this -- if this chemical weapons, this arsenal is put into international custody, that does -- >> does nothing about the shelling of aleppo. >> and refugees dshz. >> it's clear it is purely

military strike designed to enforce an international convention against chemical weapons and does very little, if nothing -- maybe even makes it nor aggravated to the civil war conflict. >> phyllis, let me bring you in "new york times" brings up, they are one who have yet to sign that bans the use of stockpiling these chemical weapons. given that fact at alone, are you optimistic that the proposal will result in at least slowing this down in an authentic way, perhaps to avert a military strike and not say stall tactic? >> i think we have to separate a couple of things. if this is a move that will get syria to join the rest of the countries that have signed the international prohibitions on chemical weapons, that would be terrific. too many countries have chemical weapons, syria is one of them.

the u.s. has still about 10% of our arsenal left to be destroyed. we haven't done that yet. that would be a very good thing. that's not going to bring the war to an end. we've been talking about the 100,000 people that have been killed over these two wars. according to the syrian observatory for human rights which is an anti-regime and more or less pro-rebel outfit in london, who many of the press outfits here rely on, they have said that according to their figures, 43% of those 100,000 are regime and militia soldiers that only about 17% are rebel soldiers and 35%, 36% are civilians. that 35% is the most -- the most horrific of all of this. the civilian deaths here. but to end those deaths, it's not just about suppressing the regime, it's about stopping a war. this was a civil war that has

become a broader regional and in fact threatened to be a global war with at least five separate wars being fought in syria. i think what we're seeing right now is massive u.s. opposition at the public level and in congress from the positions that congresswoman -- sanchez just mentioned about the concerns about the legal issues, many concerns about moral issues that people are likely to be killed by cruise missile strikes into syria. it's not going to end the civilian suffering xgt the question now becomes is this an opportunity for serious diplomacy. i think it is. this gives me some hope right now. that we're seeing new motion in the general assembly and the security council of the u.n. we're seeing motion between the u.s. and russia, ats least the possibilities of talking, which two days ago didn't look like it was on the table. and we're seeing members of congress say, you know, i can't go back to my constituents who are running 95 to 5, 99 to 1, 98

to 2 against military strikes. the danger that we have to watch out for is that we don't see another resolution that looks very much unfortunately like what president bush did in 2002 when he got a resolution through congress that said, i need the authorization for force in order to have more powerful diplomacy. that was the resolution that he then used to go to war. i hope that congress remembers that precedent. >> to your point, we are hearing a bit of that, at least i have over the day where you have individuals who say, well, syria now has come to this agreement because of a fear of repercussions and military strike from the united states or led by the united states. at the same time there is now information that putin and president obama discussed this at the g-20 as a sideline conversation. you do have this convoluted storyline that exists to phyllis' point, could ends up

being a reflection of what we've seen in the past. >> the basic equation is the russian government has been willing to support assad with money and military resources and political cover. more or less without end. the question is there some way to separate that support. i think that the unilateral american military strikes were having the opposite effect, giving putin more reasons to support assad because that was a way to defend the security council veto for russia. by taking military -- the unilateral military option off the table a little bit. there might be a bigger opening where we can see that putin has interests which are not particularly aligned with knows of assad and only as that separation opens that we'll be able to find a political solution. >> quickly here, china has already said it would back this blue print idea, which is also significant. >> i was going to mention china as well. the chinese are opposed, you don't interfere in a sovereignce

of war. there is a treaty against chemical weapons but it doesn't say if chemical weapons are used you invade or bomb the country. it is not an internationally accepted one. a response is an internationally accepted one, not a military one. >> we'll hear from more from the president on what he would like to layout here if military action is what follows. i appreciate this panel. coming up we'll talk to roger simon, out with a new article pleading with the president to quote, listen to america and just say no. plus, so-called pink slime back on the menu at some of our nation's schools. which states ordered up more of the ammonia treated beef that caused so much controversy just last school year. >> you can join our conversation on twitter, you can find me at tamronhall and my team at newsnation. d ♪ ♪ every now and then i get a little bit hungry ♪ ♪ and there's nothing good around ♪

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as the president prepares for tonight's white house address, he faces an american public moving away from him when it comes to military intervention in syria. a new poll shows 44% favor military action, even if it's limited to using cruise missiles launch from u.s. naval ships. that is down six points from an nbc news poll released less than two weeks ago. politico's chief columnist roger simon sums up public opinion. we're weary, mr. president, suspicious, mr. president, listen to america, mr. president, just say no. roger joins me now. more with his thoughts on this. i think what is intriguing about this poll, even as we were hearing and seeing the administration ramp up and

sending out all of its voices to make the president's case, the numbers were ticking down. >> yeah, that's true. you know, i think the president is acting out of the best sense of morality in what he is doing, but i think it's the wrong path. the presidents have great weights of responsibility on their shoulders but do live in a bubble. i think where the president miscalculated was not of the terrible things assad has done. but i think he miscal lated on just how tired we are of wars. how we have seen what they have led to and how they have not solved the problems that they were supposed to solve. and how also they seem to be endless. we're still in afghanistan. long after all of our goals have been met. how long did we stay in iraq?

how long if we start bombing syria, will we stop bombing syria? and what will that accomplish? >> let me read a bit of what eugene robinson put in his op-ed. the use of poison gas a forb forbidden weapon should shock the conscience. if assad faces no consequences, they'll draw the conclusion they may use chemical weapons with impunity. other tyrants will be tempted to follow suit. this president discussed rwanda and former president clinton discussed the lack of reaction from the world and this country as it relates to rwanda. i think no one wants to see us go to war, but are there cases where the pain and scars that still very much exist, loss of life in iraq and afghanistan, should never be forgotten, but are there ever or will there ever be a situation where the

voice of leadership from this country needs to be heard and needs to be the loudest? we're looking at 400 children killed and thousands others there with them. >> i think you're right, tamron. there will be cases and there are cases. but if the united states is going to assume its role of policement to the world, which is what we're talking about and moral leader to the world, which is also what we're talking about, then we're going to have to step up as a nation and say, i am willing to pay the price both in the loss of u.s. lives and in the millions to billions to trillions of dollars that this will cost. >> right. >> u.s. military leaders told president obama in january, to seize the chemical weapons in syria would take 75,000 u.s. troops on the ground. well, he didn't want to pay that

price and i don't blame him. that's more than we have in afghanistan. the public would never have gone for it. >> let me play -- i want to pause you to flay what the president said to our own savannah guthrie regarding the first lady sentiment on this. >> if you ask somebody -- if you ask michelle, do we want to be involved in another war? the answer is no. people are weary about it, understandably. >> and as you wait to hear the president tonight, it really is that sentiment that has to be a part of whatever he says in this address. i believe it's the ninth time he'll address the nation. >> first of all, let me say, god bless the first lady, i hope the president listens to her. we are -- we are the most powerful nation on earth. but there are limits even to our power. we cannot do everything

everywhere. we have to use nonmilitary means wherever we can. and this is why this inspection proposal as thin as straw as it might be, is worth grasping, because it leaves a certain breathing space for everyone, assad gets to get away without really being bombed. putin looks so good he might be nominated for the nobel peace prize and even president obama can say, see, there will be no further chemical weapons used, i won. letting everybody save face on this and disengaging from a military reaction, i think is the most we can hope for. >> roger simon, thank you very much. still ahead, sidelined overse syria. the clock it ticking on legislation to prevent an october 1st government shutdown, not to mention immigration

reform and military sexual assault crisis. we'll talk with raul reyes and a twist to a story we reported yesterday. a 7-year-old who was forced to switch schools after her hair style became an issue. f there's a change at that charter school. we'll give you an update. a look at how wall street is performing after news that bank of america and hewitt packard and alcoa are being dropped from the dow. ♪ ♪ hey lady! noooo! no! [ tires screech ] ♪ nooo! nooo! nooo! hey lady, that's diesel! i know. ♪

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you're looking for a place for your life to happen. with congress back from summer recess, syria may be at the top of the ajep da, but there's still the fight over

immigrati immigration. before lawmakers left much of the conversation was over gop threats to use the budget to cut off funding for health care law. with only a limited working days for congress, the time is winding down for a prolong the debate on immigration raul reyes joins us. i want to play with john mccain said. he was asked if syria could effect any motion or movement on the front of immigration reform let me play it. >> i'm very concerned about that because this issue must be addressed. we have a proposal that i believe is acceptable to the majority overwhelming majority of the american people. and we should reflect the will of the people and get this up and get a bill to the president of the united states. >> do you have the same concerns? >> yes, very much so. the problem right now for immigration reform is two fold. there has already been a precedent to keep kicking this

issue down the road. that's why we are where we are today. it was supposed to be one of obama's legislative priorities coming in then we had a national debate over gun control due to the newtown tragedy and the sequester and in fact the announcement of the senate immigration bill was delayed by the boston bombing and now the crisis in syria. there's that precedent already exists and second danger is that unlike the other issues like, for example, the budget or the fiscal cliff debt ceiling coming up, immigration reform does not have a fixed deadline. there's no hard point at which it must be decided and that gives cover to some -- for example house republicans who may not want to deal with the issue. >> it's interesting too, the o boston bombing situation and syria debate that is happening, you cannot plan for, unforeseen. for obvious reasons priorities. but it does remind us when there is an opening, there needs to

be -- there need to be lawmakers in congress who will deal with these issues. and there was plenty of time it seemed to deal with immigration. >> especially this summer. look how much it's changed. coming into before the august recess of congress, immigration reform was at the forefront. flfs a lot of momentum and gop house republicans were coming out in vote of it. now there was time lag and all of a sudden this situation -- our international situation has changed so rapidly. so mccain is right on when he says, we live in a world that's very fluid and things happen. we cannot wait. the lawmakers should not -- >> there are moving parts. nancy pelosi held a dinner at her home with a dozen of house democrats for a conversation focused on immigration. there's slight movement happening as they do keep their eyes on this major issue with syria. >> and also the immigration -- pro-reform crowd they are absolutely keeping up the pressure. i think they are starting to be some disappoint, disill lugsment

with the timetable, they cannot change the timing, what they can affect is the pressure. they are continuing the activism and many events in support of reform. >> thank you very much. >> my pleasure. >> we'll talk toe democratic congressman who was undecided against syria. >> last hour, apple unveiled not one, but two new iphones and look at the new features and of course, the price tag. is really made of cheese? [ crisp crunches ] whoo-hoo-hoo! guess it was. [ male announcer ] pringles, bursting with more flavor.

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♪ [ male announcer ] some things are designed to draw crowds. ♪ ♪ others are designed to leave them behind. ♪ the all-new 2014 lexus is. it's your move. we have breaking news to report. ap is the reporting that syria's foreign minister has indicated that president bashar al assad will declare its chemical weapons arsenal and sign the chemical weapons convention. according to this information, syria is ready to cooperate fully to implement a russian

proposal to put its chemical weapons ar seanal under international control and stop producing chemical weapons. this is happening right now as president obama remains on capitol hill where he is meeting or has been meeting for the past several hours with democrat and republican senators ahead of his address to the nation on syria tonight. meantime, secretary of state john kerry is participating in a google plus hangout where he revealed -- just talked by phone with russia's foreign minister. >> mr. lavrov had interesting observations about the ways he thinks we might be able to achieve us. they'll be coming in formally in the course of the day. we'll have an opportunity to review them. as the president has said, if we can in fact secure all of the chemical weapons in syria through this method, clearly that's by far the most

preferable and be very significant achievement. >> joining me now live, bill pass quer ral. thank you for your time. >> tamron, how are you? >> i'm great. we just heard secretary kerry reiterate it appears that bashar al assad will declare the country's chemical weapons arsenal and sign this convention. it had been one of five states that refused in the past to sign this convention. this seems to be a big development here. >> i think it is major and i think due to the president's resolve and secretary kerry's great work, we are at the point that we are at. let's hope we can resolve this particular issue without using force and without attacking any parts of syria. we hope we will have to val date to make sure we're on the right course. >> if this turns out the development that many hope it is

and syria does honor this chemical weapons convention and turn over its arsenal. is it still necessary to explore this alternative resolution, there are some members of senate who discussed still allowing for the opening of military strike as the president has sought under the conditions however that these factors are met. as i pointed out, you were undecided before. but if this were the deal to emerge, that something you could support? >> well, i'm only going to support obviously -- i'll get to a point when i have a vote. i'm undecided not because the evidence isn't in lock step. the evidence is there, i've seen it with my own two eyes and heard it during the briefings we've had, but this is a very difficult decision to send our troops even if they are in the air over to another sovereign nation. we know that assad is at the bottom of all of this.

if he's trying to take a step back and trying to give us a few more seconds of air time and to relax the situation, that's good. that doesn't mean he's removed as leader of the country of syria. but i just met with george saver, the president of the syrian liberation movement. everything but al qaeda, thank god but he is in washington to get support. on one hand we're trying to reconcile in a peaceful way. on the other hand we realize that most of these rebels are fighting for a great cause. most of these rebels are well intentioned. i've talked to muslim syrians and christian syrians. they were in my room today, just a few moments ago. and they are resolved that assad has to come down -- >> with that said -- i have to ask you then, given as you

pointed out at the beginning of your remarks here with me, you believe that the evidence is there and it's clear that it was assad's regime and president assad behind the chemical attack. you met with rebels and opposition and see valor in their cause there. this leads some to wonder if democrats were prepared, are prepared to band on the president who has made his case as to why he believes that not just the united states but the world should be outraged by what happened on the 21st of august and that action is necessary. >> tamron, we are. but that doesn't mean we're abandoning the president of the united states. he's the commander in chief. we only have one at a time. and the fact is that that is not the only path that we need take. and that is to bomb syria or parts of syria or whatever the strategic points that the generals decide. that's not the answer to the solution. we need a diplomatic solution.

this may bring assad to the table. we hope it will. i'm forearming those rebels who are legitimized in our own foreign policy plans. that's what i believe is necessary in order to remove assad. i feel no differently about that today than i did yesterday. but the president is going to have breathing room and that's what he's going to talk about tonight. we're not going to have a vote this week. >> there appears to be the case with these developments. thank you so much and to reiterate, syria's foreign minister says the country is prepared to flas chemical weapons in the hands of representatives of russia and other countries and the united nations. this being reported now by the associated press. coming up, senior political editor mark murray will join us with the first read. it is about the president's big speech later this evening. we need a new recipe. hmmm. let us consult the scroll of infinite deliciousness. ♪ oh! perfect. [ wisest kid ] campbell's has the recipes kids love.

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just 24% of americans believe military action in response to syria's use of chemical weapons is in the national interest. and nearly 3/4 agree with the statement that the u.s. should focus more on its domestic problems than promoting domesticcy and freedom abroad. that's a huge change from before president obama took office. joining me now mark murray, it's great to have you on. let's talk first about the breaking news, new information from syria's foreign minister regarding the assad regime being willing it says to declare these chemical weapons and sign the chemical weapons convention. how does this impact what we will hear from the president in several hours from now? >> i'm sure it will be a big component of his speech. the administration this provides them a way out of a very tricky situation. the poll numbers that you just showed, with a very reluctant american public getting involved in syria, this allows president

obama to have a way out. it's not only a way out for president obama but a way out for the syrian regime, as well as the united states congress and of course, the big caveat here, whether this is credible and all of the news we continue to hear actually is verified and followed through. this is a very big potential break for the obama white house. >> and it could be -- how does this factor in if this is credible and we move forward with the u.n. security council's actions and resolutions here, how does this at least right now appear to affect the relationship with the president and congress moving ahead here? >> well, of course, there's so many big battles going outside the syria debate, whether it's over the debt ceiling or health care or funding of the government. and of course, every single battle we've had in over the last two years has been pretty darn ugly when the obama white house is butting its head with congress, syria situation has

been no difficult. it will be interesting to see the more information that we get out of this potential breakthrough, and whether this kind of eases things. but what has been so fascinating, at least over the last couple of days, how we've seen the normal partisan lines develop, but also, from one of the very first times the democrats very skeptical democrats, president obama and that really is a first that we've seen over the past three or four years. >> mark, we greatly appreciate it. to breaking news that you likely will be a big part of the president's speech tonight. the unveiling of the highly anticipated iphone tops our stories today. the iphone 5s and 5c, the exterior design isn't very different but it will come in gold as well as gray and silver inside. it's almost completely redesigned from a new processor and upgraded camera.

the 5c is being marketed as the cheaper alternative which will retail between 100 and $200. the phones go on sale september 20th. the so-called pink slime could be making its way back into school cafeterias. last year thousands of schools across the country stopped serving the ammonia treated beef. with schools facing tighter budget, some are opting for the controversial meat product. according to politico, on their website today, this month at least seven states are facing tighter budgets have put in orders to the usda for about 2 million pounds of this. still ahead, leaders of congress just moments away from honoring the four little girls killed in the 1963 birmingham church bombings. how they are being remembered 50 years later. woman: everyone in the nicu -- all the nurses wanted to watch him

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there's a lot going on

today. in just a few minutes, congressional leaders will present the congressional gold medal to the little girls killed in birmingham alabama, the four young girls were killed when members of the kkk bombed that church 50 years ago this sunday. a bell from the church was rung at the march on washington commemoration event last month. that is a very important thing we wanted you to know before we end this hour. now for "news nation" gut check, can a diplomatic solution be reached on syria? go to facebook.com/newsnation and tell us your thoughts. we hope to read them tomorrow after the president's speech. yesterday we told you about tianna parker, the 7-year-old child who was forced to change schools because she was told her hair style was unacceptable. tianna was sent home last week after showing up with locks, which the school had said was a

violation of its dress code policy. after the story and a lot of outrage the last week on social media, last night the charter school voted to change the policy as it pertains to hairstyles, the amend policy focuses on hygiene. that does it for "news nation." a reminder, msnbc will have live coverage of the president's address on syria, beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern. "the cycle" is up next. i'm ready. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. i knew that i could smoke for the first 7 days. i knew that i wasn't putting nicotine back into my body to try to quit. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems,

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it's a hard sell at home with congress and allies overseas. 60% want their congress person to oppose the use of force. this was conducted before syria warmed to the proposal of handing over the stockpile to international control. syrian's foreign minister spoke about it exclusively to nbc news. >> we are ready to the plan that between us and russia. this means we put an end to the war and put our track in syria on a peaceful solution. >> france is making the formal proposal to the u.n. security council today. a white house spokesman says the president supports the potential u.n. res lags. a closed door meeting starts next hour. secretary of state john kerry who floated this idea as an off the cuff remarked on monday,