Strikes against the is asad regime. Chuck hagel and john kerry and Martin Dempsey facing the Senate ForeignRelations Committee in the first public hearing of the force in syria. Well tap into the Global Resources of cnn to bring you the most complete coverage of the crisis in syria. We begin this morning with Brianna Keilar live at the white house. Good morning, brianna. Reporter chris good morning to you. White house officials that ive spoken with feel positively about their prospects of hammering out an agreement with congress that would allow them to militarily strike syria but they admit there is still a lot of convincing to do. Two key republicans voicing new optimism about president obamas plans in syria after a meeting in the oval office. Senator john mccain, the president s former rival, now a key ally in the fight to get congress on board for military action. We want to work to make that resolution something that majority of the members of both houses can support. Reporter but its not going to be an easy road. We still have significant concerns. We dont want endless more. Reporter congress has key demands, a limited strike and no boots on the ground. The white house will continue to make the case today, behind closed doors in two briefings and in public. Secretary of state john kerry, chuck hagel and Martin Dempsey will testify before the Senate ForeignRelations Committee and president obama hosting a new round of facetoface meetings with lawmakers. House speaker john boehner, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and 12 other key members of congress, the white house hoping to articulate a Clear Strategy to avoid a defeat on capitol hill. The mood i respect is do not do this. I think well need to take a good hard look at the wording. Some of them may be lobbied from a different direction, russia, a friend of the syrian government, says it will send some of its representatives to meet with members of congress and russia is still questioning if chemical weapons were even used. Foreign minister sergei laugh love saying theres nothing concrete, no names and no proof. The white house this weekend sent a draft of the resolution that congress could use to authorize the use of force in syria, and as Congress Seeks changes, the white house Officials Say thats what they anticipated. We didnt expect congress to rubber stamp it. Thats what one official told me, kate. Well see if those changes can build consensus on capitol hill now. Brianna keilar starting us off in the white house now, thanks. Lets go to the region where syrian president Bashar Al Assad is denying he used chemical weapons on his people. Senior International Correspondent arwa damon is monitoring the latest developments live in beirut. Good morning, arwa. Reporter good morning, kate, and those comments coming in a french newspaper, the syrian president as defiant as ever, almost mocking the notion that his regime was responsible for that alleged chemical attack. He directly is warning the french not to get involved, saying that there would be retaliation against french interests and when it comes to the broader geopolitical dynamics here he says any strike in syria would be akin to setting off a tinder box, that the repercussions would be felt throughout possibly even catapulting the region into a civil war, though some would argue that we are already there, and while there is this entire bait going on, intensifying rhetoric on all sides the United Nations marking a grim milestone, 2 Million People are now refugees in neighboring countries and thats not counting those that have been internally displaced in all of this and the world is failing to be able to adequately finance the needs of those refugees and protect the most vulnerable amongst them, chris. Arwa, thank you very much for the reporting this morning. Continuing with our analysis, president obama is looking to Lobby Congress this morning to support a military strike in syria. Lets figure out the big bush points and bring in john king, always great to have you. What are the main points of contention and where is the administration in terms of their ability to answer them in. As we speak this morning, chris, Administration Officials and key house leadership aides tell you the president would lose if the vote were today in the house, maybe within the senate. Key pressure points the language of the resolution, they want to redefine it, define a limited mission. Key one. Number two, the president has a case to make, still some people saying do you have beyond a reasonable doubt to prove the chemicals were used and b the assad regime used them. When you have the inside game and outside became, the public hearings on capitol hill critical not only to answering the question questions but to shaping Public Opinion because right now a lot of lawmakers tell you the safe vote, unlike the iraq war vote the safe vote is a no vote so the president has to sway and the most important people hell meet with today are the house republicans. He doesnt have Good Relationships with them, very few personal relationships with them, they dont trust him or support his policy issues. He needs Speaker Boehner and the republican chair to lobby their members saying this is the right thing to do even if you dont agree with the president. The big word we hear is this is an urgent situation. Did they come back to take care of aboutis in. Theyre starting to trickle back. The key members, the Senate Foreign relationless committee will have a hearing today, a lot of the key house members from the National Security committees are making their way back. The white house is it flooding the zone. You want to talk to the president , call the president. You want to talk to the National Security adviser theyll schedule a call. Lawmakers are trickling back in, not scheduled to be back until next week but some are ramping up their schedules. Its interesting they all havent come back immediately with what were facing as a country. John king well have you back. Well talk with senator Lindsey Graham and senator john mccain, both met with president obama and well meet with van jones of crossfire, and newt gingrich. Stay with us for that. Back here at home, Labor Day Weekend, Labor Day Holiday celebrations that gave way to heavy, heavy rain and flooding for many along the east coast. Police and firefighters have their hands full rescuing stranded drivers in raleigh, north carolina. Lets get to meteorologist Indra Petersons here with more on this stormy labor day. What are we looking at . Bad timing. We saw record breaking rain yesterday in philadelphia, about two inches of rain fell in providence, rhode island, about three inches of rain in a short period of time, unfortunately that means one thing, you end up with flash floods. My neighbors door had blew off the hinges and was blocking the door. Reporter for these new england residents labor day was anything but fun in the sun. In cranston, rhode island, a fast moving flash flood flooded this entire neighborhood. I could barely get out. The water was rushing in this fast. The water was this high at my patio door and started coming in like a river. Reporter firefighters had to rescue 30 people by vote. The sixwall of water caused one uniit to collapse into the basement. In south florida a Lightning Strike killed one man and injured two others. The men tried to hide underneath the tractor trailer when it was hit by lightning. We went outside and all three were on the ground. One of them is deceased. According to rescue, he was taking his last gasp, there was nothing i could do. Reporter in philadelphia the downpour drenched shoppers dinner plans. Water rescue units arrived at this Bjs Wholesale Club where flash flood filled cars with water. Got my groceries in but the shopping cart started floating away. Right now my car wont start, its dead. It was up to the seats, in my coffee cup holder its still full of water. Reporter the wet weather didnt wash away the spirits of tennis fans after a fivehour delay at the u. S. Open and at yankee stadium, diehard fans stayed. Were still watching the same cold front, the only difference here is it pushes through the northeast, it will move offshore. In the southeast its expected to sag and last through the weekend. Sound familiar at all . All right well check back in. We want a different forecast next time. Ill try. A lot of other news, as we talk about syria another flash point situation, egypt. Making news this morning, mass protests are expected in egypt. Backers of ousted in the Mohamed Morsi are calling for a Million People to mark the streets of cairo. Its been two months since he was ousted. The rim fire burning Yosemite National park at 0 containment. Fire crews gained ground on the blaze which consumed more than 368 square miles and destroyed 11 homes. Most mandatory evacuations were lifted. Thousands of home remain threatened by that fire. Japans government laying out its plan for dealing with toxic water dealing from the fukushima power plant. The country will spend half a billion dollars to freeze the ground so theres no more radioactive runoff and tainted water. Massive leak sent some 300 tons of radioactive water into the ground. A bit of a scare there, Southwest Airlines flight makes an Emergency Landing after striking a bird during takeoff. One rattled passenger said it had a brutal takeoff and an enjoin started shooting out flames. After a few minutes everyone seemed to go into panic mode including the crew. All passengers were placed on other flights. Saturday beth trammels seem caught a 135 long gator, the heaviest captured in that state until two hours later when dustin bachmanns party pulled in one over 13 feet long, 720 pounds. Alligator hunting ends in mississippi september 9th, still a few more days to go so you never know. Thanks to the reality show swamp people. Every time i see swamp people i hear a voice in the back of my head saying shoot em, shoot em, shoot em. I watched an episode and it was like really in. 600 pounds but im just going to bend its head over the row boat and now all of it comes in. Great show. It happens. Thanks, michaela. Lets take a break on new day when we come back, two words, diana nyad. She did stg amazing, so big we make her look like the president. The 64yearold endurance swimmer finally making it from cuba to florida on her fifth try. 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I dbefore i dosearch any projects on my home. I love my contractor, and i am so thankful to angies list for bringing us together. Find out why more than two million members count on angies list. Angies list reviews you can trust. Welcome back to new day. Need inspiration to push on with the challenges of the day, how about diana nyad, the first person to swim from cuba to florida without a shark cage. She went 53 hours in treacherous waters, 112 miles total swim. This morning, she is inspiring all of us. Cnn chief medical correspondent dr. Sanjay gupta is live in key west, florida, where he got a chance to speak with nyad. Good morning, sanjay. Good morning, chris. This story is about this incredible swim. Weve been following diana for several years and the story is more about not letting go of a dream. I think anybody listening, yourself included, chris, has probably had dreams at one point or another, had doubts along with those dreams. This is a story of how it can turn out. Take a look. I wont get up, because i cant. Hi, honey. Reporter how are you . You know whats so great about it, sanjay, is that its all authentic, just its a great story. You have a dream 35 years ago, doesnt come to fruition but you move on with life. Reporter sunburned and still swollen, that 64yearold diana nyad speaking out about her incredible feat and its just been hours after swimming across the treacherous waters between cuba and florida without a shark cage. It was a dream, decades in the making. And it wasnt always a sure thing. I feel barely alive. Reporter that was dianas second attempt which was just a few years ago. I dont want to quit but i can barely make an hour right now. Reporter that time she did quit. In fact, she tried four separate times over three decades to do something that no human had done before, even each time she failed. Jellyfish stings that nearly killed her, waves that this rashed her. The first time she tried the 29yearold media darling looked like this. And it wasnt until her 60th birthday that an older, more determined even brazen diana nyad decided to try again. I was driving in my car telling myself you better seize the day, go forward and 60 isnt old. Reporter we have followed diana every step of the way and this past saturday, we were there again. This time she wore a full body suit, gloves, booties and a new silicone mask to protect against the gelry fish stings. 53 hours and 112 miles of actual swimming and then this. We should never, ever give up. Reporter but it was no surprise to those of us that know her that she agreed to sit down and talk to us just hours after getting out of the water. I dont wake up gay or even female or 64. I just wake up like a, get me out of another day, you know . Reporter if youre ever wondering what goes on in the head of someone like diana my whole mantra this year was find a way. You dont like it, its not doing well, find a way. Reporter ill tell you, chris, maybe thats something youre going to incorporate into your own life. I certainly will, when times get tough, when you got to dig deep, find a way. Thats what diana says. I met a lot of extraordinary people, chris, as have you. Shes one of the most inspiring people ive met. I love everything about this story, sanjay, sends all the right messages. From a medical perspective what do you find most impressive about what she was able to endure . Reporter when youre doing an event like this, these extreme medicine doctors weve been interviewing told us, you are in a race against your own body. You simply cannot keep up with your hydration and nutrition enough to sustain yourself. So this is tough to think about but shes in some ways digesting her own body in order to get through the swim. From a medical standpoint its extraordinary. You can do a few hours of swimming but 53 hours shes starting to digest herself and also its tough. She could not hold things down. She was throwing up the entire time. You see her at the end, you see her at the beginning but there was a long, long road obviously in between for us. Sanjay, you said you followed her and you followed her story and her for several years. How has she changed . It was probably quite a moment to sit down with her finally after she has reached this goal, few really thought she could pull it off. Reporter you know, its a good question because i asked her the same thing and i dont think she changed. I think that she always believed it and i will tell you even the closest people around her doubted her. Even the closest people around her refused to go on some of these swims at times and she would just get out there and go out there for 16, 20, 24hour swim, just think, its incredible. I asked her if she felt vindicated in some way, shes just not that kind of person. I didnt expect her to say yes but i think she feels more confident and wants to keep doing things to spread this message of anybody can do anything at any age. I think for at least a moment shes earned a day of rest before she takes on the next epic challenge. And sanjay, i know you have the triathlon, want to see a personal best in the swim. Reporter ill find a way. Im going to find a way absolutely. Sanjay, awesome story. Thank you for bringing us the interview. Well talk to you later on. Is great. Appreciate it, doc. Reporter any time. Sorry, sanjay. Coming up next hour well talk to diana nyad ref li