Worlds most heinous weapons against the worlds most vulnerable people. The u. S. Urges closer to striking syria. Four u. S. Navy destroyers are close enough to launch a missile strike. What secretary kerry described as undeniable use of chemical weapons. How close is the u. S. Right now to using military action. Were getting closer every moment. The president should not have set a red line unless he knows what hes going to do. Firefighters making progress in the wildfire against Yosemite National park. Threatening San Franciscos water supply. Are you confident youll be able to keep the reservoir safe. Yes. Yes, i think so so. A massive dust storm through the phoenix area reducing visibility to less than 100 feet. Do you want to talk about miley . It was provocative, shocking. I dont even know what to say. Going to hell in a twerking hand basket. Now that George Zimmerman has been acquitted for homicide he wan florida to pay 2 to 3 million for his trial cost. Put on a mask of president obama. Are you a democrat or republican . Im a rodeo clown. The hug. Im surprised you didnt give him the racket. Welcome to the network. Wait, were doing this every night. All that matters. President obama the medal of honor. If you want to know what a true American Hero looks like you dont have to look too far. Just look at your dad. On cbs this morning. Three metro cops accepted a partygoers standoff invitation at the london carnival. Boy, did they have the moves. Quite a lot of twerking. Welcome to cbs this morning, charlie rose and Norah Odonnell are off today but Anthony Mason is here. Good to be back. Good to have you here. U. S. Military preparing for an attack on syria. The Obama Administration is making its most forceful case yet for action. The president is expected to reveal evidence today showing syria did use chemical weapons against its own people. Bill plante is at the white house. Bill, good morning. Gayle anthony, good morning. Theres no longer any debate here about military response to syria. The only question now is when it will happen. Secretary of defense hagel said this morning that u. S. Forces are ready and able to act as soon as the president gives the order. Secretary kerry called the use of chemical weapons by syria undeniable. The indiscriminate slauder of civilians, killing of women and children and innocent bystanders by chemical weapons is a moral obscenity. Reporter these all strongly indicate everything these images are already screaming at us is real. Chemical weapons were used in syria. Reporter on monikerry repeated the president s promises there would be consequences for syrias use of chemical weapons. Make no mistake, president obama believes there must be accountability for those who would use the worlds most heinous weapons against the worlds most vulnerable people. Reporter it was a year ago the president laid down his marker. There would be enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front. Reporter with little public support for any u. S. Involvement in syria, the president has been reluctant to act. Now after the horrifying pictures, hes reaching out to allies to build a coalition of support and he has ordered a declassified report to make the case to the american public. There are four u. S. Navy warships in the Eastern Mediterranean ready to launch cruise missiles within hours of receiving the order from president obama. A british submarine also reported to be in position. The problem is action to do what . Former pentagon adviser urges a strike against syrias chemical arsenal could backfire unless theres a longterm military and diplomatic strategy. If we simply punish him for using chemical weapons by destroying a few high value politically sensitive facilities and leaveunstated it will be a hollow message. A short strike seems to be what the administration is planning. The timing will be when u. N. Inspectors leave the country and when the president goes overseas next week. Thanks bill. Syrias foreign minister said his country will use all means necessary to defend itself against any american strike. The foreign minister also said he had a cordial conversation with secretary kerry on the phone after the alleged chemical attack last week. Holly williams on the turkeysyria border. Good morning. Good morning, anthony and gayle. Reporter good morning, anthony and gayle, as the u. S. Weighs military action in syria, united as the u. S. Wages action trying to find out conclusively whether chemical weapons were used in last weeks attack. The inspectors began their investigation yesterday interviewing survivors and witnesses and taking samples of blood and soil. We dont know how long their work will take and when they will deliver results. If they do find chemicals were used, its still not their job to say who used them. Just this morning weve been hearing from syrian foreign minister who refuted that his government has been hindering the work of the inspectors. The Syrian Government has always denied using chemical weapons and blames the Syrian Opposition for last weeks attack. Graphic internet videos of the aftermath has shocked people around the world and now several countries including britain, france and turkey have joined the u. S. In blaming the Syrian Regime and calling for some kind of military response. But if the u. S. Does intervene in syria, that will anger other countries including russia and iran, which backed the Syrian Government. Russia has warned the u. S. Not to make a tragic mistake by preempting the results. Anthony, gayle. Thank you, holly. Firefighters are gaining ground in california after 10 days of battling a huge wildfire in and around Yosemite National park. The most dangerous of all the western fires is now 20 contained but still poses a threat to San Franciscos water supply. Teresa garcia in tuolumne, california, with more on that. Good morning to you. Reporter good morning. Were in a town keeping constant watch on the fire because its edging threateningly close. Residents have been on evacuation advisory for many days now. Theres another key concern, which is San Franciscos water supply and the ash that has been falling into the reservoir. There are nearly 4,000 firefighters working this fire and it has already burned across an incredible 160,000 acres. Erratic winds and inaccessible terrain allowed the rim fire to largely set its own course forcing firefighters to be reactive as opposed to getting ahead of the flames. We cant be directly on the fires edge. It wont allow that. Whats frustrating, we have to let the fire come to us. The inferno has raged for the past 10 days destroying 23 struck yours. Two powerful dc 10s dropped 25,000 gallons of retardant. One homeowner in groveland, california, shot this video from the rooftop as the flames came within a half mile of his home. Thank you. With some 4500 structures still threatened firefighters are doing their best to stand their ground despite having firsthand knowledge of how dangerous this wildfire can be. This area on the National Forest has had history of fatality fires. Were very cognizant of the terrain and fuel conditions and fire behavior that occurs here. California governor jerry brown visited the fire zone monday. Like other officials hes paying close attention to the Water Quality of the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir that lies directly in the fires path. Burn down anything youve got a moonscape where floods could contaminate the waters. If theres any good news its that as the fire continues to burn to the north and east, the terrain becomes more rocky, the forest more sparse so theres less to burn. All eyes will certainly be on the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir for some time to come. So far Officials Say theres no indication of any change in the Water Quality. A major challenge with this fire lies in the record dry conditions across the state. The moisture level in those trees is only at 6 . So when the fire hits them they basically burn up like matchsticks. And the cause of the fire that is still under investigation. Gayle, anthony. That is a question. Thank you, teresa garcia. Stormy weather in the southwest is blamed for one death in california. Part of that storm sent a wall of dust hundreds of feet high through the phoenix area yesterday. This Twitter Photo shows a plane taking off just before the haboob also known as a dust storm over the phoenix airport. It was one of the last flights to leave before the airport was temporarily shut down. In las vegas heavy rains turned roads into rivers. One man tried to dig his car out of the mud but ended up pushing it back into the floodwaters. The midwest is sure feeling the heat today. A dome of High Pressure could push temperatures into triple digits today for parts of iowa and nebraska. At least six schools in at least six states schools that didnt have air conditioning have been forced to cancel classes. Aaa estimates 34 million americans will travel this labor day weekend, 29 million by car. Theres some good news for drivers this morning. The average u. S. Price for regular gas is 3. 54 a gallon. Thats 0. 20 lower than last year at this time. Chief analyst for gas money. Com which helps drivers find the lowest gas prices in their area. Good morning. Good morning. Weve actually seen crude prices go up why are gas prices going down brf crude prices are up basically because of the middle eastern violence and a fear among sellers that all hell could break loose and prices could go nuts for crude oil. Meanwhile traders in the u. S. Are looking ahead and they are looking ahead, we have had a great driving season people hit the roads. After that demand drops per day because most driving is work related. So were looking at lower demand and there is plenty of supply. I remember back in the day when gas prices jumped from 0. 50 to 0. 60 people were outraged. People were very upset. Do you think this trend will continue after labor day . I think so. The middle east is the major wild card. Were producing 2 million a day more than we were during the first arab spring. Were much less susceptible to events happening in the middle east or afc. More crude from canada. Theres a lot more crude coming down from canada. Without the Keystone Pipeline well see 5 Million Barrels of production later this decade. U. S. Refineries have really added to their capacity. Once we get past september 15th the formula for gasoline changes and its easier. Is this production trend an ongoing thing, tom . Are we going to continue to produce more oil and get more oil from canada and ease our situation here . I think so. Were really in a good situation not just for oil but natural gas. Prices are much cheaper than the rest of the world. The only thing that could really derail it would be a financial collapse like 2009. Technology and a fairly high price are leading to a lot of holes drilled and a lot more crude coming on. Did you say were less susceptible with whats happening in the middle east . Yes. You dont think whats going on in syria will affect us . I dont think if its contained within syria, and weve had some problems with libya and libyan expert, well be okay. If it blows up with global like russia, then all hell can break loose, not a probability but possibility. Lowest gas prices in three years. Lowest prices since three years and i think well see lower by thanksgiving and christmas. Thanks so much. Members of congress are getting ready for a full showdown over the federal debt limit. Treasury secretary jack lew asked congressional leaders to raise the debt ceiling allowing the government to keep borrowing money. Lew says the u. S. Will hit the debt ceiling in mid october. House Speaker John Boehner and other republicans say they want spending cuts first. White house Officials Say they will not negotiate. George zimmerman acquitted last month in the Florida Shooting death of trayvon martin. Now his Attorney Says zimmerman should be reimbursed for his legal expenses. Mark omara told Orlando Sentinel he will ask to pay 300,000 in fees. Omara says since zimmerman was acquitted, state law requires them to pay costs. Mtv video awards found an audience 10 Million People watching, more than that last year. Public outrage growing over miley cyruss performance. They called it inappropriate for children and criticized mtv for showing it. Billy ray cyrus, mileys father is on the Advisory Board of that group. Jan watching the fallout. Reporter good morning. For those of you who missed this and maybe i should say those of you who were fortunate enough to miss it cyruss number involved grinding tongue dancing suggestively in a nude colored bikini with robin thicke. They have a long history of shocking audiences. Music industry is wondering if it was totally over the top even by those performances. It was a performance that might have made Hannah Montana blush. There was miley cyrus, writhing twerking and being down right crass. A side of the 20yearold former video star most audiences are not used to seeing. After all she played a character so wholesome even her swear words were innocent. Sweet niblets. She went on stage and delivered an unprecedented hot performance. There were inevitable comparisons to Britney Spears at the vma when she was trying to shed her squeaky clean Disney Channel image, but that was before the age of social media. While cyrus was on stage she was mentioned 4. 5 million times on twitter at a rate of 306,000 tweets per minute many of them unflattering. The social space goes crazy with these sort of deconceptualized moments. Here is the shot of mileys butt not looking good someone in the audience seemingly not enjoying the performance, that becomes the Lasting Legacy of the performance. Then theres this. The scene was reminiscent of the racy video of Robin Thickes blurred lines scantily clad models while he suggests no doesnt mean no. I feel like miley calls his bluff. Here is this guy singing this super sexual song about blurred lines, hey women you know you want it. Miley cyrus said i want it. If he looked uncomfortable, i have to wonder why. The night other female headliners didnt draw nearly as much controversy. The opening act by the normally outrageous lady gaga looked tame by comparison. Katy perry closed the show with her empowering female anthem roar. As for cyrus she took to twitter with a message that and directed at her critics. Bangerz is a reference to her upcoming album. If you think her record label is upset with this bad publicity, think again. Cyrus, of course now has two of the top five hits on itunes. Im thinking they are not upset. Im wondering is miley thinking i crossed the line or do we need to lighten up. I think she answered that question. Jan crawford thanks. Time to show some of this mornings headlines. The wall street journal says big houses are making a comeback. The average size of a new home is just over 2600 square feet. Thats a record. 5 bigger than the average house built before the great recession. The new york city looks at the price of one of the most important parts of emergency medicine intravenous bag of sterile saline. Hospital markups can be as high as 200 times. High prices are attributed to hospitals relying on middlemen and failing to negotiate the price. Dallas morning news says jcpenneys largest shareholder plans to sell 39 million shares of stock. Bill ackman resigned from penneys board this month ending a threeyear relationship with the department store. The shares will sell below mondays price. Ackman plans to raise 500 million from the sale. Usa today say people who signed up for the national donotcall list are getting calls from telemarketers. Complaints jumped from two years ago. Much to blame on robocalls. I get those. Apple is reportedly ramping up tradein programs for old iphones. The new iphone is expected to be unveiled september 10th. The program would let people bring in used iphones for a discount on newer announcer this National Weather report sponsored by the jcpenney labor day sale. Style. Quality. Price. Japans earthquake and tsunami turned one town into a toxic zone. Seth doane returned. Good morning, we were with akira okawara wearing only a safety suit and a Radiation Detector. Also, do you remember when a giant sand dune swallowed up a 6yearold boy . Now on cbs this morning, Nathan Woessner and his family update us on what happened on that fateful day in july. Google glass could offer a lifeline to doctors, as we go inside the operating room to see the new view and challenges created by the hightech devices. The news is back in the morning here on cbs this morning. Stay tuned for local news. Announcer this morning sponsored by twizzlers. The fun you cant resist. Wherever your summer takes you. Twist the ride. With twizzlers. The twist you cant resist. Hello lemonade reminds me of sunny days. So do tire swings this is our ocean spray cranlemonade. Its good, oldfashioned lemonade. Only better whoa [ splash ] ocean spray cranlemonade. A bold twist on an old favorite. Max and penny kept our bookstore exciting and would always come to my rescue. 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