. >> u.n. chemical weapons inspectors brief leaders on their findings in syria just returning from damascus. >>> president obama is about to make a statement from the white house regarding syria. the president's address will take place as he decides what action to take against syria following last week's chemicals weapons attack against civilians in a damascus suburb. let's go to paul who joins us live from washington. paul, what can we expect the president to say? >> reporter: what we've learned is this is not an announcement that an attack on syria is imminent. it's important to emphasize he won't come out and announce an attack is imminent. what he is going to talk about is talk about his decision-making process, what's been going on about the intelligence, about his consultations with congress, perhaps, consultations with allies. again, it's about his decision-making process toward any potential action in syria. >> so basically i guess it's safe to say what we heard yesterday from secretary

u.n. experts arrived in damascus to investigate previous reports of chemical weapon usage. rebel forces have been accused of using toxic gas. activists are now urging the u.n. team to investigate the latest incident. but in the last two years in syria there have been many claims and countered claims on the subject of chemical weapons. it means that people may never know the exact truth of what happened, or how these people were killed. al jazeera. >> well, earlier the military chief of the free syrian army spoke to al jazeera. over a thousand people have died in the attack. >> the criminal regime committed a master at dawn using chemical weapons in ground-to-ground missiles which, and it led to is thousand 6 martyrs and hundreds more injured. many of them including women and children, are in critical condition. >> well, the u.n. security council emergency meeting on syria is due to start in under an hour. we're at the u.n. headquarters and we'll go there shortly, but first to patty in wash

let's not get the thoughts of a former u.n. assistant secretary general who is also the u.n. humanitarian coordinator for iraq and yvonne spawning showing us live from germany so delighted to have you on the program from spain where this so it's the waiting game no than until saturday as far as france and britain are concerned they said they'll wait for that u.n. inspectors' report but end of the day is it going to make any difference is frozen america's concerned or the bigger picture. well i would say in the back room but decisions have been made but neither washington nor london or paris can completely ignore the dark shadow of the rockets that hangs over the national discussion i think. the need all the opposition in the house of commons really brown told me was right when he says the key word in all this is evidence we need a button before we can debate what's next and we should not i think it's very dangerous if we know. that the swedish chief is all here and team and the mass and weapons inspectors will be able to bring total transparency in there about the question wh

the u.n. team are all doing their work as i've said they are but there we have to be realistic about what we can achieve it's not with him. through apportion blame it is to try to assess scientifically what has happened but i think we're very clear we've been very clear from the outset. where blows. all of the evidence points and one direct from. washington london also stressed that the u.n. investigation will not determine who used chemical weapons only whether they were use nato chief just said that any use of chemical weapons in syria quote cannot go on and search syria says it wants the u.n. investigate it wants the u. . and to also investigate who carried out the attacks and not just whether they were carried out the syrian ambassador to the u.n. also said he he had. he had requests that u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon that these one thousand investigating the alleged use of chemical weapons to also investigate quote story more locations where the syrian soldiers inhaled the nerve gas

u.n.nvoy suggests that a chemical weapon was used. the chorus of other international voices weigh in. british prime minister david cameron drafted a resolution on syria to be presented to the u.n. security council today. all members of u.n. security council especially russia are urged to back the resolution. russia warns against a strike, saying any intervention without a resolution would have "catastrophic consequences." iran has also weighed in, lawmakers issuing tacker warnings to the u.s. and allies saying war with syria would lead to retaliation on israel fanned by the flames of outrage. >> the u.s. is a driving force for an any intervention. we're hearing a decision could be made any day now. what's the latest? >> the official line is that the president is still consulting with top members of his cabinet, top security advisers. members of congress are being called, allies overseas culted. it's taken on animated tical and almost ritualistic approach as the president and white house tr

calls to hold fire to wait for the results of the u.n. investigation and as the u.n. secretary general said to give peace a chance we hear the drums of war loud and clear in washington we know that the u.s. has aligned its warships along the syrian coast preparing for a possible attack and yet president obama when he set down for an interview or said i have not yet made a decision from what he went on to say one should not assume that there will be no strikes take a listen we can take a limited tailored approaches not getting drawn into a long conflict not a repetition of. iraq which i know a lot of people are worried about but if we are saying. in a clear. and decisive but. very limited way we send a shot across the bow saying stop doing this that can have a positive in fact on our national security over the long term and may have a positive impact in the sense that chemical weapons are not used again on innocent civilians of course it begs the question what's a tailored approach in an environment of a violent civil war where you have sides blaming each other for hor

won't necessarily be bound by what the u.n. inspectors are saying and also britain's made clear that it would consider going ahead without a u.n. resolution foreign minister william hague says that the use of chemical weapons contravenes international law and its own account say that is reason enough to go into syria downing street has confirmed that british forces all ramping up in preparation for a possible military strike in line with that we've heard reports from cyprus which has a u.k. base that's about one hundred miles from the coast of syria so very close ideally positioned people there are saying that war planes and military transporters have started to arrive well interestingly we haven't heard anything from the european union as a whole but for all on hold for a reaction of force against the use of chemical weapons and said that the u.n. security council could be bypassed under certain circumstances turkey obviously a key regional player agrees with that the rest of the european countries slightly less gung ho about

and others brushoff this this u.n. investigation here's what the u.k. said. the u.n. team are all doing the work of the day we have to be realistic about what they can achieve it's not within the mandate to apportion blame it is. to try to assess scientifically what have happened but i think we're very clear we've been very clear from the outset. where the blame lies on that remains because all of the evidence points in one direction. but it's important to note that the u.n. investigation will not determine who used chemical weapons only whether they were used and we heard nato chief say that any use of chemical weapons in syria cannot go on answered with the question of who did it is what divides the u.n. security council because i mean the attacks the images that we that we saw shocked absolutely everybody that the u.s. and its allies say the assad government was responsible for the attacks the assad government says they would be the last ones to benefit from such an attack especially with the u.n. investigators on the ground at the time when the attacks have happen

boxcar bringing me who is the u.n. envoy and of the arab league envoy on the situation in syria spoke in geneva on wednesday saying that any military action in the world should be carried out only with the u.n. security council's sanction as stipulated by international law very clear and direct in his message he did say that evidence suggests that some chemical substance was used to killing hundreds in syria but that they did not on the ground examine any proof that shows that it was of the syrian government behind those chemical weapons attacks and of course one thing that has been reiterated time and again is that this team that is in syria from the u.n. there to determine if chemical weapons were used but not assign blame it certainly has been a very busy week in the united states with the meant momentum shifting towards the idea of a military intervention obama has made at least eighty eight phone calls to world leaders about the subject of syria two of those have been to david cameron the prime minister of the u.k

that's as u.n. inspectors had to the scene of the alleged attack but it's convoys targeted by sniper fire that syrian officials say came from the rebels. freshly exclaimed the americans and a state even spied on the united nations have waters while across the atlantic washington surveillance scandal threatens to influence the chambres german election . and try and from triumph to despair we'll look at how libya has resurrected the same control methods used by the toppled regime as the country's dragged back into chaos two years after the revolution. this is our day coming to you live from the russian capital i'm marina joshie welcome to the program while a foreign intervention in syria looks more likely than ever with countries including the u.s. britain france and turkey considering military action following last week's alleged chemical attack they blame the assad regime for the assault despite a found that u.n. inspectors are still yet to yog line their findings from the site meanwhile the vehicle

as i understand it, u.n. personnel -- there are about 100 that are serving in syria, international staff, are being encouraged to take leave at this time. they're being told this would be a good time for you to take your holiday. i'm told that u.n. staff apparently are outside syria. do we want to extend your leave, you can. the reason for that is they're worried that there could be strikes, and they want to reduce the footprint of u.n. staff inside syria. other preparations are being made, if there were air strikes, i'm being told, by sources, that they're getting ready for even more refugees who could be fleeing syria if there were to start to be air strikes on damascus. they're making preparations at all the borders including preparations for medical facilities. remember, there already are close to 2 million refugees in the neighboring countries. >> james, thank you as ever. james spade is there with the latest from u.n. headquarters in new york. in the u.k. the british prime minister is telling members of

the u.n. arab league envoy to syria lakhdar brahimi says there is evidence suggesting that some kind of chemical substance was used in an attack near damascus a week ago but sad there is no proof that the government is responsible but such an assault in itself could be enough for the u.s. and its allies to launch a military offensive against a war torn country the spy warnings from russia and the u.n. r.t. shaun thomas reports. boxcar brahimi who is the u.n. envoy and of the arab league envoy on the situation in syria spoke in geneva on wednesday saying that any military action in the world should be carried out only with the u.n. security council's sanction as stipulated by international law very clear and direct in his message he did say that evidence suggests that some chemical substance was used to killing hundreds in syria but that they did not on the ground examine any proof that shows that it was of the syrian government behind those chemical weapons attacks and of course one thing that

or its allies in the syrian conflict without a u.n. resolution would be what he called a very grave violation of international law and risk repeating past mistakes so he also sort of raised some questions about the timing of the incident and why there was such strong international pressure on action now as opposed to earlier when the reports of the alleged chemical separate chemical attack incident had arisen the syrian foreign minister spoke in damascus he lashed out at the international community saying that syria would defend itself with what he called available means that the tapped unclear exactly what that be he accused the british foreign minister giving the wrong information to the public about this he also claims about the u.s. secretary of state john kerry had no evidence that syria sanctioned the use of weapons so i'm unclear if those remarks are going to make much of a difference in the. international decision making process at the moment but those are some of the things that he said in that press conference well it's prett

u.n. weapons inspectors leave damascus after examining the sites of suspected chemical weapons attacks. vladimir putin sdmandz to see evidence that chemical weapons were sgloid. >> as for the position of our american colleagues and friends who say they have evidence, let them present it to the u.n. inspectors and the u.n. security counsel. >> in india, rape trial, convicted of the fatal gang-rape of the woman who sponsored nationwide uproar. >>> a new technique that let's you see and feel the grand masters. >>> russia's president has criticized the u.s. threat of strikes against syria. vladimir putin says the allegation is utter nonsense. he said using military force against it would be unacceptable and violate international law. >> common sense speaks for itself. the syrian government forces are advancing. in some region options, they have circled the rebels. giving a card to those who call for intervention is utterly nonsense. it does not fit any logic. i am convinced it is just a provoc

the u.n.hemical weapons inspectors are finishing their work but won't reveal their findings until a full analysis is carried out. >> violence in egypt as people are tear gassed during protests against the military. >> i'm in london with some of the rest of today's news including a banned group providing relief to pakistan's flood victims. >> the world's biggest germ is discovered in greenland, deep beneath the ice. >> before the first time the u.s. government has laid awesome details of what it knows about the chemical attack on august 21 near the syrian capitol and blames the syrian government. u.s. secretary of state john kerry said 141,400 people were killed, including 426 children. the u.s. is considering a military strike on syria to remove chemical weapons capabilities. >> the united states government know knows at least 1,429 syrian were killed in this attack, including at least 426 children. even the first responders, the doctors, nurses and medics who tried to save them, they became v

u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon is delivering a speech from the hague to mark the 100th anniversary of the u.n. peace palace. reports that u.s. and allies are preparing for a potential attack. we'll keep our eyes on that. also coming up on today's show, we'll be out in berlin in a few minutes. we'll hear from a senior met of the social democratic party after angela merkel says greece should never have joined the euro. blamed her spd predecessor gerhard schrader for the mistake. have the gloves come off on the german campaign trail? our latest offering of south korea is an exclusive interview with ceo of samsung. why they're betting big on wearable technology. and tune in at 10:40, we'll learn how the french government plans to plug a euro deficit. at 11:05 cet we'll set aside some brazil and be joined by a guest who says the country's central bank could hike rates as they struggle with a weakening currency and imported inflation. jpmorgan's list of legal challenges gets longer. we'll ge

u.n. security council has been divided on syria. now one more try by the british to get military reaction. but away from the chamber down the corridor the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the council, the u.s. u.k. france, china and russia. there has been no comment. the western allies may have no option but to go ahead with military strikes without u.n. authorization but the special representatives was clear when asked about the legality of that. >> i do know that president obama and the american administration are not known to be trigger happy. what they will decide, i don't know. but certainly international law is very clear that security council has to be brought in. >> reporter: he's not the only u.n. official potentially causing problems for western military planners. u.n. weapons inspectors continue their work taking evidence and samples of the site of the chemical attacks, and no less a figure than the u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon i pleading r them to complete the

u.n. inspectors on the ground as the u.s. considers strikes and moscow counsels restraint. >> in china, party leaders urge a heavy hand in deciding the fate of bo xilai. >> and a blast from the past as justin timberlake dominates the mtv music awards last night. >> you when chemical weapons inspectors have interviewed and taken blood samples from the end of last week realm apparent gas attack in syria. he did so in the rebel held part of damascus where they came under fire from snipers. >> the u.s. and allies have been meeting in jordan for what could the a council of war against syria. but china, russia, and countries like brazil are lobbying against military action. >> vladimir putin has told david cameron that the west has failed to provide proof that the asad regime used chemical weapons in the attack. >> the syrian opposition says this is one of two areas where as many as 1300 people were killed in chemical attacks last week. after intense international pressure, syria has granted access to the crowd -- to the site. russ

as he put it, the u.n.ecurity council has failed to shoulder its responsibilities when it comes to the syrian crisis and given the urgency, the gravity of the humanitarian crisis, britain felt it would be reacting within the confines of international law to take action. the practicalities and whether it can be done i imagine will be on the table at the meeting at downing street tomorrow. >> as always, we have it you to stay with us for continuing coverage of the developments in syria, as the u.n. weapons inspectors begin their investigation under fire, as we have been reporting, and as always, we urge you to stay informed with the help of aljazeera.com. >> roads and camp ground in yosemite national park are shut down as the wind driven flames have forced many to evacuate. 134,000 acres have been scorched and the windy dry conditions mean the fire will likely spread more. aljazeera's melissa chan has been reporting for days. >> this is as close to the fire line as we could get. that we watched team bottle th

will act without a u.n. mandate if it comes to that. >> by the definition of their own mandate, the u.n. can't tell us anything that we haven't shared with you this afternoon or that we don't already know, and because of the guaranteed russian obstructionism of any action through the u.n. security council, the u.n. cannot galvanize the world to act as it should. >> let's talk with cnn's nick paton walsh at the u.n. nick, talk about the u.n. mandate that is just simply out of reach for the u.s. >> reporter: well, what you heard john kerry delineate yesterday was how simply a russian veto here at the united nations historically meant that all syrian resolutions here are blocked, that the u.s. really never gets its way here, and that's certainly i think what has been blocking any progress in the past few days in the u.s. mind. we have a complicated time table ahead of us here because, as you mentioned earlier, u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon will be briefed by angela cane who you saw arriving at jfk in new y

he said there was nothing to gain from the u.n. report, because the u.n. doesn't have the mandate to make a connection to who did chemical attacks. that might be an indication that the americans want to act before this report is published. >> max hoffman in washington, thank you for that. president obama was speaking the day after david cameron's attempt to get approval for military action in syria. >> the u.s. has support from france, who says it is per pair to go ahead with possible airstrikes. president francois hollande said that the chemical massacre should not go unpunished. >> inspectors are in the final stages of completing their mission in syria. >> some of the u.n. inspectors have already headed off. the last of the team is not expected to leave until saturday. the sample for have gathered will be analyzed in european labs -- samples they have gathered will be analyzed in european labs. turkey says it is already convinced who was behind the poison asset tax last week. >> -- gsa tt -- gas attack last week. >> there is no doubt that the regime is r

so the use of force without the sanction of the u.n. security council is a severe violation of international moral and i'd like to highlight even if we leave aside the legal moral and ethical aspects of the direct consequences of an external intervention without the permission of the international community will the situation in the country and lavrov went on to say is what we're witnessing now is a massive fear mongering campaign something that we have seen before using it as an example ten years ago in iraq something that did not end well drawing the united states into a drawn out quagmire there one thing whatever i've said it is that it's an illusion to think that regime change in syria would end of the civil war also that bombing infrastructure would simply lead to more bloodshed and actually that western strategy in the region is aimless this is what. had to say was in the pit many key players started to take sides and act based on the principle of winner takes all betting on those who they saw reese potential winners but then the

mandate and the findings of this u.n. investigating team before any conclusions can be drawn as to whether or not a an attack carried out was carried out using chemical weaponry and b. who was behind it oh speaking of that a u.n. mandate i mean how much support does this idea of an un also rise invasion have among nato countries. well countries will certainly split what we're hearing from the french from the british and from the turks is that they will act they can act without any kind of u.n. mandate germany has said that a side needs to be punished but as of yet we haven't heard any indication from germany that they want to get involved in any kind of military action as for norway and italy they have said that he needs to be a united nations mandate and then austria has indicated that it will not allow fighter jets over its airspace to serve me not a consensus in terms of the international community and that might be part of the reason why the latest word from the american president barack obama is that he hasn't yet ma

the u.n. within their reach they could they could have some kind of control over them and i mean they have been said to surveil pretty much everything in the world in the last month and so why don't into the u.n. and as well they clearly have lost sight of what they're actually fighting against what they're actually trying to do to get a hold of kind of information. they have so many information they cannot. until the end of the days they can really. go through all the information they have they clearly have lost sight of how much information they want they actually want to have and which kind of information so this is actually following their own kind of logic right mr reid had i'm so sorry but i've lost all track of time i wanted to speak to you a little bit more on this and how this aggressive way of america trying to get information how it's coming out in the world thank you very much for your time here on our team now there was a fog the rain had member of the pirate bay in the. strive an

the u.n. says its inspectors should be allowed to complete their mission in syria before any us-led attack. >> britain wants the un security council to approve military action but says talks could take several days more. >> the united states marks 50 years since martin luther king's famous speech. >> the un's secretary-general is calling on the u.s. am a britain, and france to live weapons inspectors more time to do their work in syria. after discussions today, russia called the british initiative premature. >> the u.s. says it has intercepted communications that prove the assad government was behind a chemical attack. but the syrian ambassador to the united nations denies the charges and says the u.n. inspection will prove it was in fact rebels who launched gas attacks. >> meanwhile, people in damascus are stocking up on supplies out of fears that any u.s. attack would hit civilian areas. >> the u.n. inspectors have resumed their work in a damascus suburb, determining if chemical weapons were

ask that the u.n. come in and look at whatever documentation they might have so i think that this is a very serious development and what's happening is that the regular media is just assuming that it's the it's the syrian government when in fact they're being fed information from the opposition so i think everyone has to be very careful and certainly policymakers need to be very careful before they take any action it's going to be very very difficult to really get to the bottom of this latest episode well the turmoil in syria and across the region is proving fertile ground for radical it's groups and that's adding a new dimension to the u.s. war on terror is what he's got to check on now explains. while washington says he has crippled al qaeda in afghanistan and pakistan wising from the ashes of the arab spring is new all different affiliated groups metastasizing in the middle east and africa feeling more and more comfortable in countries torn apart by terror in the north of syria in the territories pr

the u.n. investigative mission which has just landed in syria on wednesday has already called these are statements coming from a weak opposition highly suspicious as well as isabella other people who have been following the events in syria over the past several several years but you shouldn't . and i'm going to moscow thanks very much indeed for that update. allegations of this attack came shortly after u.n. inspectors arrived in syria as arena was saying to look at earlier claims of chemical weapons used by both sides ortiz correspondent in the region paul asli it takes a detailed look at current and previous accusations. media reports are citing the syrian revolutionary command council which says that government forces loyal to the syrian president bashar assad were flying over the area after the bombardment using chemical agent now this is a test happened in the rebel held area of eastern damascus in a place called eastern ghouta the area has witnessed heavy fighting between opposition figh

the u.n.aid they were confident they would get any evidence despite it's a week's passing since that attack. we have more on the inspectors and the attack. >> reporter: united nations' chemical weapons investigators leave their damascus hotel to inspect the site of last week's attack. but an u.n. spokesperson said unidentified snipers deliberately shot at the first vehicle to approach the area. this shows the 4 x 4 that was targeted. bullet hole in the windshield. no one was injured but the team was forced to go back to the syrian army checkpoint. it took four days of negotiation before the syrian government would allow the u.n. investigators access. the assad government has repeatedly denied all responsibility. but senior u.s. british and french officials among others say they have little doubt over ho carried out the attack. >> from accounts that we and some of our partners around the world have, what is certain is that this massacre originates from assad's regime. we'lthat's what will be de

at this hour, u.n. inspectors are encould you tell to examine the site of the chemical weapons attack. and wind could hamper firefighters in northern california. they are already deployed in yosemite park trying to keep a small number of trees that are believed to be the oldest on the planet earth unburned. >>> and there is serious flooding in china. soldiers moved in on saturday to move villagers to safety. >>> and nor a look at the weather across the nation, we now turn to jalelah. >> the weather across the nation pretty dry while we continue to see a lot of rain across florida. unfortunately we will not be seeing that in the northwest. red flag warnings in effect till tomorrow. very drive terrain, brush, fuels instigated by the wind. across the southwest, the heaviest moisture up the i-17 and i-40, expected on into the early afternoon and evening hours as far as stability. use precaution if you are traveling there. as we make our way to the southeast, you will see showers across the eastern part of t

he went so far as to say the u.n. which had not finished inspections yet, there is nothing they can tell the u.s. that it does not already know. the question now, he say system whasays is what the united united states will do. he said what matters is the united states is trying to rid the world of chemical and nuclear weapons & a striking phrase, the security of u.s. and allies including israel are just a stiff breeze from damascus, emphasizing the imagery of chemical weapons being used in syriaa and on its neighbors. >> the state department will call on you shortly as we continue to go through some of what it is the secretary of state said. let me bring in my guests. what struck you, we are about out of time. you want to make this point. >> it builds on what paul said. he made a powerful case and was it almost too powerful? if you have a limited strike and the intention is to deter assad from using them again, he made a case for getting rid of them. he said we cannot allow countries to have these chemicallchemical we

they see the u.n. as a dead end.sident have the legal and political power to go to alone and to do something limited in nature as he has described it without waiting for the brits and the u.n.? >> well, the president may have the power to do that, although it does raise constitutional issues as to whether or knonot he'll get support from the congress. but i think it would be wise it go to the u.n. security council with the evidence that both the vice president, secretary kerry have said is pretty overwhelming that points to the syrian government's use of the chemical weapons. put that in front of the security council, layout the evidence and then if the russians veto taking any action, you can then hang on the russians the fact that they're supporting the gassing of women and children with chemical weapons. and really bang that drum loudly. so i don't think just dismissing it and saying we don't need to go to the security council, go to them and put them on the line. secondly go to congress and say where he ne we nee

u.n. investigators to inspect the site of an alleged chemical attack the statement follows demands from russia a u.n. official is also expected in damascus on saturday to negotiate government permission to look into the reported so let's get more now from authors and in english joins me in the studio so you know this latest statement from the opposition what's the impact will that have on any investigation well we can expect probably very little impact because you have to understand that the statement came from the syrian national council which is essentially based in turkey and it's a bunch of men in suits and they're notoriously disjointed there has been a lot of criticism about their actions they can't seem to come to an agreement at the same time we also have to understand that we're talking about syria which is at this point penetrated by a whole number of rebel fighters a lot of who are actually associated with al qaida who are not exactly working together with the s.n.c. so this is

secretary of state at that time presented to the u.n. security council as proof led to disastrous consequences will history repeat itself . r.t. moscow and to war activists time barry explains why washington's idea of intervention in syria isn't finding much support among american citizens. for the last twelve years the united states has been fighting. a war of choice in iraq it war of choice in afghanistan that turned out to be longer battle that a longer fought war than then the vietnam war which also was a war of choice the american people are war weary we know that what's going on inside syria americans even the average american know it's a proxy war we know we're not going to get the correct information from our government and we know that our government officials are only interested in continuing what would be a fear tactic of a continuation of war after war after work to keep the american public in check but warner going to buy into it. a mess of flooded russia's fly isa's schatz's a community says thousands of forces say goodbye

we don't expect the u.n. inspectors to come up with any definitive findings for a consideconsiderable time. the other problem facing the president is the man that the western nations always supported and they like what he's doing in his mission, and he was the the way forward, the representative of the united nations. he'll be briefing the reporters in just a short amount of time. a problem give the words we're hearing from london, paris and washington, and i don't think will halt action if that's what obama decides. >> thanks. on the or side we have a close ally of syria, iran, warning against military intervention. now it says an attack would threaten region stability. iran spokesman said that any attack would only engulf the region in further conflict. >> u.n. security council has no issue on this regard and is not going to issue any. >> with more international reaction with go to al jazeera fred, who is in moscow, the other supporter of syria. syria is almost a lone voice. saying it's going to be having c

while the u.n. investigation has some time to report on its finding, we will insist that an atrocity committed with chemical weapons is not investigated, it must be confronted. i don't expect every nation to agree with the decision we made. privately, we have heard many expressions of support from our friends. but i will ask those that care about thor and national community to stand publicly behind our action. finally, let me say this to the american people. i know well that we are weary of war. we ended one war in iraq and ending another in afghanistan. the american people have a good sense to know we cannot resolve the underlying conflict in syria with our military. that part of the world, are ancient sectarian differences. changes will take many years to resolve. that's why we are not contemplating putting our troops in the middle of someone else's war. instead we will don't support the syrian people through our pressure on the assad regime and commitment to the opposition, care the pursuit of th

while the u.n. investigation has some time to report on its findings, we will insist that an atrocity committed with chemical weapons is not simply investigated, it must be confronted. i don't expect every nation to agree with the decision we have made. privately, we have heard many expressions of support from our friends, but i will ask those who care about the writ of the international community to stand publicly behind our action. and finally, let me say this to the american people. i know well that we are weary of war. we ended one war in iraq, we're ending another in afghanistan, and the american people have the good sense to know we cannot resolve the underlying conflict in syria with our military. in that part of the world, there are ancient sectarian differences, and the hope of the arab spring have unleashed oceans of change that will take many years to resolve. that's why we're not confident putting our troops in the middle of someone else's war. instead we'll continue to support the syria

u.n.pons inspectors inside syria say and they won't be finished with their work until saturday. simon mcgregor wood is in london. this is a vote, simon, which is a difference motion than cameron had hoped to approve. what do we expect to see in parliament? >> he's been knocked back from the original motion specifically tailored toward this fast track, if you like, forwarded military action. he's had to because of oppositions from the labor party, main opposition party and significant -- we're very skeptical about the time table to strikes against syria. tonight's vote, it will be much later this afternoon after what we expect to be a heated debate, will simply be -- >> all right, that was simon speaking to us from just outside the houses of parliament in london where members of parliament are convening in just about a half hour's time. i do apologize for that technical glitch with i'm son. >> in the united states, b. gave an interview to u.s. television. he said that he hadn't decided on w

secretary of state at that time presented to the u.n. security council as proof led to disastrous consequences will history repeat itself . well. william hague's refused to hold the possibility of military intervention in washington can fully or britain support. well foreign secretary william hague said this morning that the west could take military action against the assad regime without the backing or support of the united nations security council now he was speaking to b.b.c. radio four s today programme and he said that the united nations security council has not been united on syria and has not shouldered its responsibilities on syria and on the question of whether it was possible to act without complete unity on the united nations security council he replies oh dulcie yes it is now no firm decision has been taken on what the response will be or indeed when it will be but the timetable if you like for the next couple of days is this prime minister david cameron has cut short his holiday and he'll be returning to lungs and that's it

ask that the u.n. come in and look at whatever documentation they might have but so i think that this is a very serious development and what's happening is that the regular media is just assuming that it's the it's the syrian government when in fact they're being fed information from the opposition so i think everyone has to be very careful and certainly policymakers need to be very careful before they take any action it's going to be very very difficult to really get to the bottom of this latest episode. from moscow it's r.t. and still to come for you this hour more pain before all of us of the stricken city of skid prepares for record flooding as volunteers and emergency crews fortify defenses and evacuating more people away from the bursting of the river details on that very soon. are ten minutes past the hour here in moscow for the meantime on the program two hundred days of force feeding coupled with alleged abuse by prison guards have failed to break the resolve of dozens of hunger striking detai

ask that the u.n. come in and look at whatever documentation they might have so i think that this is a very serious development and what's happening is that there are regular media is just assuming that it's the it's the syrian government when in fact they're being fed information from the opposition so i think everyone has to be very careful and certainly policymakers need to be very careful before they take any action it's going to be very very difficult to really get to the bottom of this latest episode . well i ten minutes past the hour here in the russian capital a two hundred days of force feeding coupled with alleged abuse by prison guards have now failed to break the resolve of dozens of hunger striking detainees at guantanamo bay and the protests that began in february went on to involve most of the captives at the facility it's put fresh legal and public pressure on president obama to finally deliver on his promise to shut down the prison which are currently holds one hundred and sixty six pe

u.n. authorization or it's in self defense. u.n. authorization is not going to come because russia will the self defense, we can't argue self defense because there were no americans nothing and there is under international law that allows collective self defense who wereferent people attacked by their own government so there are people who say we change international law to allow for the responsibility doesn't exist it yet. >> that's why john kerry said -- threate's a throat to israel, turkey, jordan, that is a threat beyond his own borders. gwen: the president has said be a threat to us, could be. >> that's a critical element, be he made the point in the interview with you and also today, he's trying to tell the yes, this isle, bad, this is a humanitarian crisis but i'm not doing it just for that. for you, i'm doing it for us as a country and that's a critical distinction he drive home. gwen: because he doesn't think there's a moral case to be made persuasive? >> he knows there's a moral

the u.n.gainst intervention. the china said u.n. investors must be able to complete their investigation. all parties should avoid pre-judging the results and not push the security council to take action. syria's closest ally is send two navy ships to the mediterranean. president putin said the ships are needed to secure military presence. they've had a presence in the region for decades. >> reporter: it was the height of the cold war that the deal was struck. in 1980, the leader brezhnev led agreement with the then syrian president. it was strategy that immediately turned the soviet union and then later russia into a major player in the tinderbox of the middle east 04 year 40 years ago. what does russia get from the deal today? they have a naval base and russia's only military base outside of the former soviet union. lucrative arm sales. 10% of all russian arms going to syria, $1.5 billion a year. and lastly unparalleled access to syria's military apparatus. little surprise in the u.n. securit