Wyoming, and they were there. Carrying their signs. And we conclude our series on governing in a time of gridlock with a look at how the entertainment world sees the nations capital. The question we ask is if someone is actually getting something done, do the ends justify the means . It is an interesting question to ask when washington is paralyzed by gridlock. That is all ahead on tonights newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by. Moving our economy for 160 years, bnsf the engine that connects us. And the Hewlett Foundation working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. And this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. The on to the world we are focused on washington and western capitals today amid rising expectations in an attack on syria is coming soon. The Obama Administration insisted again there is no doubt the assad regime used chemical weapons last week in a damascus suburb. Inside the white house, the emphasis was on laying the legal ground work for a possible military strike in syria. Spokesman jay carney pointed out that nearly 190 nations have signed a convention opposing the use of chemical weapons. There must be a response. Kerry made that clear at the president s instruction and im echoing it again today. We cannot allow this kind of violation of an International Norm with all the attendant grave consequences that it represents to go unanswered. What form that response will take is what the president is assessing now with his team. Whatever form it takes carney was quick to say the goal will be limited. I want to make clear, that the options that we are considering are not about regime change. They are about responding to a clear violation of an International Standard that prohibits the use of chemical weapons. As president obama pondered his options, defense secretary hagel visiting bruny told the bbc, the u. S. Military is set once a decision is made. Allies are partners, leaders all over the world have said lets get the facts. Lets get the intelligence. And then a decision will be made on whether action should be taken if action should be taken, what action or no action. But if you were to come you are ready to go like that . We are ready to go like that. Syrian president Bashar Alassad remained defiant. He told a state run news agency if the u. S. Strike it is will face what it has been confronted with in every war since vietnam, failure. Echoing that assads Deputy Foreign minister said his country would respond swiftly if attacked. We know how to defend ourselves. But the americans and the british and the french havep failed in afghanistan and iraq and other places, they will fail in syria and there will be a high price not only for them, but for International Peace and security. In britain there was a flurry of activity in and out of 10 downing street as Prime Minister cameron called parliament into session this thursday to consider action. Let me stress to people this is not about getting involved in a middle eastern war or changing our starts in syria or going further into that conflict. Its nothing to do about that. Its about chemical weapons and the use is wrong and the should not stand by. In paris, the president said his country favors action as well. The chemical massacre in damascus cannot be left without a response and france is ready to take a response. The arab legalsn an emergency meeting in cairo. It acaused syria of using chemical weapons without directly endorsing the use of force by western powers. I condemn the attack and call upon the International Inspectors from the United Nations present in damascus to go to the area of the attack to find the truth behind the crimes. It is an international vie laftion human rights and the ones who committed the crime must be dealt with according to the International Justice system. Reporter but it is syrian refugee camp in jordan many forced to flee their homeland said the rest can not act soon enough. We totally support an American Military strike against Bashar Alassad. We hope the Syrian People hope that a military operation will start soon. What are they waiting for . We support such a decision because countries have not supported us. The arab and western countries have failed us and let us down. But if they decide to interfere against Bashar Alassads regime, god bless them. U. N. Inspectors remained at a damascus hotel. A potential complication for western military planners. The team posn site of the alleged gas attack today citing security concerns. Margaret warner has been covering todays developments on this story and she joins me now. Before we begin we should tell our audience that the newshour will have an interview with president obama on tomorrows program. So what are you hearing behind the sceneszcz will wait to make a decision until the u. N. Inspectors finish their work . No, judy he will not that is what i am told. As one white house official said they are not hostage to the timetable of the u. N. Inspectors especially if it appears the regime is trying to delay them. That said, and its unclear when the inspectors will be done though im told by the u. N. Once they have concluded their report about what happened last week, they will issue that before they go on to other sites they were to look at. However, what the u. N. Inspectors find is important to the administration in terms of building an international case. Because they are looking not only at whether cw was used but what type, how widespread and potentially the delivery vehicles that if they want to build a narrative. So if you can determine what kind of weapons were used and say fragments of rockets for example that only the assad regime has that helps build an international case. What has been going on behind the scenes . You know, judy in the public statements they did not advance the ball at all. Behind the scenes im told what they are debating is what course of action militarily needs to defined objectives and limited objectives not to get involved in the civil war as we have heard everyone say but to punish also deter and prevent the assad regime from using chemical weapons again. Now, that sounds easy, but as its described its not so easy. If you are going to prevent future use of chemical weapons that means attacking some of the military assets involved in this. Is it command and control . Is it the units that delivered them . Is it the kind of delivery sites rocket sites that were involved . That naturally will degrade assads ability on the battlefield. So its trying to walk that fine line. And to that end, they are consulting with allies, military and political allies and also on the hill. A lot of consulting. Do they have a point . Well, i think these are straws in the wind but jay carney said the timetable for the president to issue the white house to issue the u. S. Intelligence assessment is by the end of the week. And a diplomat in one of americas allies countries said their understanding it would come in the next day or two and before british Prime Minister cameron has his special meeting of the parliament on thursday, where they will debate this. So they are paying attention to what the British Parliament does . Oh, yes. But you can see this isnf onetwo step. You have haig, the british secretary comes on the today show and hagel on the bbc. They are working in tandem. And we know there is a rising crescendo of members of congress saying its not enough for the president to consult with congress he needs congressional authorization. Well, from what i hear, there are not many call for authorization. Speaker boehner did not say that. Senator talked about appropriate consultation there is one congressman from virginia a republican who talked about authorization. But what they have been doing is stepping up their calls im told senator kerry talked to the Senate Foreign relations chairmanqfwt mendez and levin hd of the Services Committee though im told that congressman rodgers has received only a sketchy briefing not really a full phone call not from a Senior Member of the Administration Like senator kerley and owes does not feel he has been consulted. So the consultations are ongoing. I think they are ongoing. Margaret, tell us a little bit more about what4 are saying. If there is u. S. Action, which allies will be onboard . Who wont . What about the arab nations . Judy if you start with the premise which i think the administration is, that a u. N. Resolution authorizing this is unlikely. 10 they have to build an international coalition. Which the way they did going into kosovo years ago. They are counting on the british and french we can hear the leaders say that today. The question is can they get some regional actors involved . The arab league as you pointed out, said this was reprehensible and assad did it but did not endorse military action. The gulf states are behind this. Neighbor turkey is behind this. Probably will be part of a coalition as a nato member. But there are other states in the region who are nervous for example, egypt no love lost with assad with the Egyptian Military regime but said it is a sensitive subject for us with our public. So the case has to be made internationally which is why the u. N. Inspection report is important. Israel, of course, is getting ready for retaliation because they have done everything from the syrians or hezbollah. I mean i dont know that it will happen but they are prepared so they have upgraded gas masks. And quickly no waiting for the u. N. To discuss this and debate . No. What i do not know and i dont know if its unclear, undecided or not known to us is whether the administration will feel it needs to make at least the effort, go to the u. N. , propose a resolution, get voted down and then act. Margaret warner great reporting once again. Thank you. Thanks. Still to come on the newshour, john liu business reflects on the march on wash wab and how political paralysis plays out in entertainment. First with the other news of the day here is kwame holman. Talk of u. S. Military strikes on syria rattled wall street. Stocks sank on fears of unstability in the middle east. The dow jones lost 170 points to close at 14776, the nasdaq fell 79 points to close at 3578. In addition, the price of oil in new york topped 109. The highest in a yearandahalf. Firefighters in california claimed advances today against the huge fire nearhea Yosemite National park. Its 20 contained. The battle against the expanding blaze entered its 11th day as fire crews worked to grow the containment lines around more of the perimeter. With that progress, the enormous wildfire burned more of the Stanislaus National forest spreading to 280 square miles. Its not growing like it did in the earlier days. But it is still active. Its still b0 moving. Its still giving them fits. Nasas satellite images showed smoke plumes reaching for miles. Officials hoped the forecast cooler temperatures and higher humidity starting tomorrow will allow crews to get the upper hand. We are starting to get a handle on this. Its been a tiger. Its been trying to bite its own tail and it will not let go. But well get there. The wildfire has expanded eastward in recent days moving deeperoe parks backcountry but most of the park remains open and unaffected. Flames also have come within a half mile of the reservoir with supplies 85 of san franciscos drinking water. But officials today were more confident the fire would not disrupt hydro electricity made by the reservoirs dam and the danger of ash tainting the water supply was avoided by a new gravityoperateed pipeline that moved water to Holding Basins closer to the city. Elsewhere, the fire has consumed stands of thick oak and pine as it closes in on the city west of yosemite. Going up and down the canyons we dont know where its coming up and we dont know from daytoday which community is threatened. So little spooky. The rim fire now is the largest on record in californias Sierra Nevada mountains. Investigators are trying to determine how it started. The u. S. Secretary of Homeland Security said her agency is better prepared to respond to natural disasters and to terrorism. Janet napolitano gave her Farewell Speech today and touted the dont handling of hurricane sandy, the Gulf Oil Spill and the Boston Marathon bombing. Each of these challenges tested us in new ways. They presented new opportunities for us to learn, grow and get better at what we do as a department and as a nation. Im proud of our accomplishments and the men and women across dhs that made them possible. Im proud of how far weve come over the past fourandahalf years. And im proud to have played a role in guiding the department to a more mature and stable state of operations. Janet napolitano departs washington next week. She is leaving to become president of the university of california system. A former j. P. Morganchase trader was arrested in spain today for allegedly covering up 6 billion in losses. Javier martinartajo turned himself into police in madrid and said he will fight any attempt to extradite him. He and another trader face u. S. Criminal charges of falsifying bank records. Both men have denied wrongdoing. For the first time, the public can see then president gerald ford describe an attempt on his life. It happened in sacramento, california in september, th 197. Two months later, mr. Ford fr would be assassin, lynette squeaky fromme, a follower of charles manson. Yesterday, a federal court released the videotaped deposition and the Sacramento Bee newspaper posted it online. In it the president calmly tells how fromme tried and failed to shoot him. The weapon was large, covered all or most of her hand as far as i could see. And i only saw it intaniously because almost automatically one of the secret Service Agents lunged, grabbed the hand and the weapon and then i was pushed off by the secret service detail. Fromme was convictedsf releaseed from federal prison in 2009. Mr. Ford passed away in 2006. His testimony was made public at the request of a sacramento historical group. A philadelphia hospital today released sarah murnaghan, the child who sparked a National Debate about the organ transplant system. She suffers from Cystic Fibrosis and was at the bottom of the priority list for a new adult lungs because of her age until a federal judge intervened. Today she arrived home. Her parents said they hope their story serves as an example for others. You can really make change and if you really the most important thing is always advocate for the child. Always. And if there are things that you dont think you can accomplish, they can. They can. And people will come behind you and support you to do that. Yes, there are more amazing people out there o than than you can imagine. E 11yearold child had been hospitalized since february. She received her new lungs over the summer. Those are some of the days major stories. Next we turn to a series of conversations about the 50th anniversary of the march onc ge washington. Leone dukes from upstate new york was a student at virginias Hampton University in 1963. These are major, 200,000 plus people just in unity and harmony and listening to the people doing the speeches and singing. It was just awesome. We talked about it. Everyone was coming back on the bus. We were singing and laughing and talking about the future and talking about things will change you know. And people say one day we will have a president who is going to be africanamerican and people were just foretelling the future because of their excitement that took place. It was scattered and left, you could feel the vibration that america now is getting used to the changes. You know what . Something was going to happen and something good was going to happen. We didnt know when and how but something was going to happen. That was leone dukes from latham new yorkment can you find his story recorded for the web series memories of the march produced by Public Television stations around the country on the pbs website, black culture connection. John lewis was the youngest to address the crowd that day. He remembers the experience like it happened yesterday. His Capitol Hill Office is a living museum, the walls covered with photographs and memorabilia from the civil rights era. We talked about his experience as one of the socalled big six leaders in the movement. Congressman, thank you for joining us. I want to take you back 50 years to the day the march on washington. You were 23 years old. And you are now the last, living speaker from that day. What was that day like . E u werr herossism on at that time day, i was blessed. I felt like i was tracked down by some force or spirit. I will never forget said im not i now present to you young john lewis, the student coordinating committee. And i went to the podium, and i looked to my right and i saw many, many young people, staffers from the student coordinating committee, volunteers. Then i looked to my left, and i saw young people up in the trees, trying to get a better view of the podium. Then i looked straight ahead. And i saw so many people with their feet in the water trying to cool off. And then i said to myself this is it and i went for it. You were standing on that stop if you go to the Lincoln Memorial today there is a disk that shows where speechers were given looking down the mall to the capitol. And that was a moment in time. What led up to that that brought the drama. Your speech was not universall