stu rothenberg, susan page, thank you both. >> thank you. s. >> brown: still to come on the newshour, teachers take to the picket lines in chicago; sectarian strife roils iraq; better futures grown on the vine; protecting the health of an ace pitcher; and tv news as therapy for asperger's. but first, the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan >> sreenivasan: congress returned to work today from the summer recess, but with muted expectations. major decisions were expected to wait until after the election. republicans running the house and democrats leading the senate did hope to agree on a six-month spending bill. that would fund the government operations and buy time to deal with major decisions on taxes and spending. the mayor of trenton, new jersey, will face federal corruption charges. the f.b.i. arrested mayor tony mack early today. he allegedly plotted to take bribes of more than $100,000. u.s. attorney paul fishman said the yor's so-called "bagman," joseph georgianni, was recorded comparing them to a notorious 19th-century boss

e'll find out in the debate and in the election. >> woodruff: susan page, stu rothenberg, thank you both. >> thank you. >> ifill: and we turn to syria, spiraling deeper into civil war. peace envoy lakhdar brahimi briefed the u.n. security council today for the first time since taking on his post. he said the situation is "bad and getting worse." we have an on-the-ground look at the conflict from bill neely of independent television news. he reports from the city of homs. reporter: he is ready to kill. a syrian army sniper aims through a crack in the wall. this is the hidden front line. from their firing point, they target rebel positions just 50 yards away. every day men die here. this is homs, the heart of the war, and here it is. the streets here are so deadly, we move through holes in walls and houses up to near darkness and another sniper. he waits in total silence. (gunfire). it's never quiet for long. these syrian troops are trying to take back whole districts the rebels have held for months. they are edgy. the rebels killed five of their men just hours earlier. in homs they run fo