i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> japan's prime minister has stepped into the spotlight at the u.n. general assembly to weigh in on some of the world's most pressing foreign policy challenges. shinzo abe gave his take on the situation in syria and the threat posed by north korea. we have details. >> reporter: like many leaders, prime minister abe took up the prolonged turmoil in syria. he started his speech condemning the chemical weapons attack against civilians in the country. he said the japanese government strongly supports efforts of the international community to destroy the stockpiles of these weapons. abe also promised more humanitarian support for syrians inside and outside of the country. >> translator: i would like to announce that the government of japan will newly provide additional humanitarian assistance to syria and surrounding countries of approximately 60 million u.s. dollars and implemented right away. >> reporter: abe also brought up japan's neighbor, north korea which he said remains as a thre

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> leaders will discuss and debate a range of issues but will talk about the civil war in syria. us president barack obama and leaders of other nags are expected to weigh in on a u.s./russia agreement to eliminate the country's chemical weapon's arsenal. members of the u.n. security council have been discussing a resolution the make that agreement legally binding. western leaders want to include possible military action and other sanctions if the administration of syrian president bashar al-assad doesn't comply. u.s. secretary of state john kerry met with officials from egypt and the united arab emirates to drum up support for the resolution. russia and china are expected to oppose it. u.s. leaders accuse forces loyal to assad of carrying out a poison gas attack last month in the suburbs of damascus. hundreds of people died. if president blames rebels trying to overthrow his government but he admitted in an interview his country has been stockpiling chemical weapons for years. >> tra

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us. . . captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> woodruff: battle lines hardened over federal spending today, a bill to fund the government looks set to clear the senate, but house speaker john boehner warned his chamber may block it. good evening, i'm judy woodruff. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. also ahead, iran and the u.s. held the highest level face-to- face meetings in more than 30 years, each side reaching out to break the diplomatic ice. >> woodruff: and in film, in journalism, even on the farm, the interns work hard. paul solman reports on the legal debate over whether they should get paid.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> russian leaders use their influence with counterparts in syria. foreign ministers sergey lavrov urged the syrian leaders to turn over their chemical weapons saying it might help to avoid a military strike. >> translator: in the establishment of international control over chemical weapons in that country would allow avoiding strikes, we'll immediately start working with the syrian government. >> lavrov urged syrian government leaders to join the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons. he presses argument in a meeting in moscow with his syrian counterpart. and they said the government welcomes russia's proposals but he said they're concerned about the security of the syrian people. the united nation's secretary general said he might ask them to transfer the chemical weapons for a safe place for storage and destruction. he said a political solution is the only viable way out of the syrian crisis. he pressed for an international meeting on syria as soon as possible and u

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. . >>> north korean leaders pushing to restart talks on their nuclear program and have the backing of a powerful ally. the chinese for when minister wang yi has urged the united states to agree to the resumption of the suspected six-party talks on north korea's nuclear program. >> translator: i look forward to having a deep discussion with secretary kerry and explore how we can work together to relaunch the six-party talks. negotiators from north and south korea, the u.s., china, japan and russia launched the talks in 2003. the north koreans and the chinese want to re-open the talks without any preconditions. but officials from the u.s., south korea and japan want authorities in pyongyang to take concrete steps towards denuclearization before they renegotiate. u.s. eresearchers said a north korean nuclear reactor that's been shut down for years may be back up and running and say the facility is capable of generating weapons' grade plutonium. >>> caroline kennedy says if she becomes the u.s. ambassador to japan, she'll work to bolster bilateral ties in l

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us. ♪ >> ok. welcome to the woodrow wilson center. for today's presentation young and undocumented, the new american story. more on that in a moment. first some business. my full time job is that i am the executive producer, managing editor and host of our weekly program dialogue at the wilson center. i am curious how many are visiting the wilson center for the first time? ok. a significant amount of

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> i see some repeaters in the audience. this is the fourth event of five that we are hosting to celebrate the centennial of woodrow wilson's inauguration as president in 1913. we had a dinner last night at wilson house, which included an interview with the chairman of the house foreign affairs committee, ed royce.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> it's been 12 years since the 9/11 terror attacks in the united states. people have gathered to remember the victims and reflect on the day. on the day in 2011, terrorists hijacked four planes. they flew two of them into the twin towers of the world tried center in new yorkity. another plane crashed into the defense department in washington. a fourth plane went down in a field in pennsylvania. in total, almost 3,000 people were killed in the attacks. people observed the minute of silence at 8:46 local time, the exact moment when the first plane hit one of the towers. victims then read out the names of lost loved ones. the victims' names are inscribed around the monument. u.s. president obama and vice president joe biden marked a moment of silence at the white house, obama then attended a ceremony at the pentagon. >>> and president obama has addressed the country about his plans for syria. he laid out the rationale for a strike against the regime of president bashar al assad and he

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> u.s. secretary of state john kerry is still trying to get support for a military strike against syria. the top diplomat says inaction sends the wrong message to iran and north korea. kerry has been trying to convince arab leaders. >> assad's deplorable use of chemical weapons, which we know killed hundreds of innocent people including 426 children on this occasion, this one occasion, this crosses an international, global red line. >> kerry was referring to last month's chemical weapons attack in the suburb of damascus. he earlier met with arab league foreign ministers. kerry said no reaction would be like sending a signal permitting the government of syrian president bashar al assad, the iranians, north koreans, and all terrorists to use chemical weapons. >>> arab league members are divided over military action against syria. khalid al atia attended the conference. he said that arab nations will soon issue their own statements on the situation in syria. earlier, kerry met with his counterp

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us.  >> good evening. as president of the american bar association, it's my pleasure to welcome you today to this special law day program entitled constitutional equality for women in the united states. i'm especially pleased to be here because i have a vested interest in the topic. this is our 12th annual public program to commemorate law day and our fourth year connecting us here at the woodrow wilson

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us. xxxx Ñi captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> ifill: at least 12 people were killed in shootings at a naval building in the center of the nation's capital. one gunman is dead. it's unclear if others were involved. >> we're confronting another mass shooting. >> woodruff: also tonight, the united nations confirmed sarin gas was used in the august attack outside damascus, as the u.s. pressed ahead for a strong resolution to force syria to relinquish its chemical weapons.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thank you very much for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> welcome. this is a place where the

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the world's of the leading economies are fathering to confront the financial challenges they share. they can find themselves debating a military strike on syria. u.s. president barack obama is expected to push for military action at meetings of the group of 20 nations in st. petersburg, russia. he laid out the case in talks with the swedish in stockholm. >> the prime minister and i are in agreement in the face of such barberism, the international community cannot be silent and failing to respond would increase the risk of more attacks. the possibility that other countries would use these weapons as well. >> sweden believes that serious marries concerning international peace and security should be handled by the united nations. i also understand the potential consequences of letting a violation like this go unanswered. >> obama believes syrian forces used chemical weapons were used to kill humans of civil knowias. they need to confront actions to violate common humanity. obama is expec

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> managers at fukushima daiichi have been trying to resolve a problem that has been hampering their work. every day more and more waste water accumulates at the plant but the people in charge say they'll soon begin testing a system that could filter out most radioactive substances. officials with tokyo electric power company want to decontaminate the thousands of tons of waste water by march 2015. they say the advanced liquid processing system is the key to their plants. engineers had planned to begin using the system last month but they postponed their decision after they found water leaking out during a test run. they say chemicals may have corroded the system. so they've reinforced it with the corrosion-proof material. workers will begin tests again on friday. they hope to have the system up and running by november. the filters cannot remove all radioactive eye oisotopes. managers still expect they'll be able to treat 500 tons of contaminated water every day. >>> tepco is struggling to resolve that buildup of radioactive water at fukushima. over the

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> japan's leaders have drawn up a plan to address the crisis at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. they've watched as workers have tried to deal with the buildup of radioactive water. they're earmarking about 21 billion yen, $210 million to try to solve the problem. they'll use the money to decontaminate the water and to try to contain leaks. they plan to do that by freezing soil around the damaged reactors. chief cabinet secretary yoshihide suga will lead a panel overseeing work at the plant. the panel will take charge of decommissioning the reactors. the members have promised to improve communications with workers and officials from plant operator tokyo electric power company. prime minister shinzo abe is scheduled to meet with his cabinet on tuesday to authorize the plan. >>> now the head of japan's nuclear regulation authority says it will legally oblige tepco to address the leaks. he criticized people at the utility for continuing to make quick fixes. shunichi tanaka addressed the concerns about leak of water from a dank last month. he said rep

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> u.s. president barack obama has called on the international community to support military action against syria. obama made the request in a meeting with swedish prime minister fredrik reinfeldt in stockholm. the u.s. president is to attend the g-20 summit in russi >> the prime minister and i are in agreement that in the face of such barbarism, the international community cannot be silent and that failing to respond to this attack would only increase the risk of more attacks. and the possibility other countries would use these weapons as well. >> sweden believes that syria's matters concerning international peace and security should be handled by the united nations, but i also understand the potential consequences of letting a violation like this go unanswered. >> obama says he believes the u.s. congress will approve military action. he said that with such congressional support, his administration will be able to send a stronger message to syria. >>> members of the u.s. senate foreign relat

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. world leaders are set to discuss a range of international crises as they meet in new york for the united nations general assembly. it could end up being one of their most meaningful gatherings in decades. the civil war in syria will be at the top of the agenda. leaders from 193 member states are scheduled to attend when the annual general debate opens later on tuesday. they're expected to focus on the use of chemical weapons in syria. many believe government forces used poison gas last month to kill hundreds of civilians in a suburb of damascus. u.s. president barack obama wanted to bypass the u.n., and carry out punitive strikes on the regime of syrian president bashar al assad. now he's expected to call for a united response. the syrians entered a strategic alliance with iran and many are waiting to hear what rowan hassanny will say. the security council is set to discussion a resolution urging the syrian government to scrap its stockpile. japanese prime minister shinzo abe is sched

it's wednesday, september 4th, i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. u.s. president obama is trying to persuade lawmakers, privately and publicly. he has won the backing of some of the most influential politicians in washington. obama met with 16 republican and democratic leaders at the white house. he wanted to convince them to prove military strikes against the regime of syrian president bashar al assad. he told them an attack would hinder assad's ability to use chemical weapons. >> i think it is appropriate we act deliberately, but i also think everybody recognizes the urgency here and we're going to have to move relatively quickly. >> the republican speaker of the house of representatives has opposed obama's policy since he took office. but john boehner said u.s. forces need to act. >> i'm going to support the president's call for action. i believe my colleagues should support this call for action. >> secretary of state john kerry and secretary of defense chuck hagel are also backing the president. they made their case at a hearing of the senate foreign

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us. we'll be back with more at the top of the hour.  - coming up, a balanced take on china's security challenges. - we do try to look at the world from beijing's point of view, and we see a very challenging environment for beijing. - columbia's andrew nathan discusses china's security concerns both inside and outside of its borders and how the united states fits in. it's just ahead on "global ethics forum." our speaker is andy nathan, and he's an old friend of the carnegie council, so i'm delighted to welcome him back to this forum. as one of our country's most widely respected china scholars, whenever andy writes or speaks about chinese politics or american policy towards china, his remarks are always worth playing close attention to. today he will be talking about a new book

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> it's been 12 years since the 9/11 terror attacks in the united states. people have gathered to remember the victims and reflect on the day. on the day

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> the group of 20 leaders are meeting in the russian city of st. petersburg and the crisis in syria is expected to dominate the talks. the two-day summit began on thursday. u.s. president barack obama, russia's vladimir putin and other leaders are discussing the global economy. but the meeting is being

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the heads of the world economies have gathered in russia to chart a path towards growth. they are talking about military action in syria. many of those around the table are pressuring u.s. president barack obama not to authorize strikes. nhk world has a report. >> the g20 summit chaired by vladimir putin began on tuesday. the crisis in syria dominated the talks. the leaders discussed the issue in a dinner in the evening. president obama is believed to have asked for the understanding of u.s. military action against syria once it is approved boy congress. he is also believed to explain that the u.s. has evidence the syrian government unleashed a chemical weapon attack. some leaders including britain and france are possibly supporting the u.s. stance, however britain's parliament rejected a proposal to join any military action. many other members are openly against the u.s. plan. russia and china are strongly opposed to military action without a un security council resolution. the two n

i'm catherine kobayashi in to goy. >>> syrian leaders are taking steps to give up their chemical weapons. ment ba smar al assad has endorsed a proposal. and he said his country is applying for membership in the international treaty t

i'm catherine kobayashi in toke yes. >>> north korean leaders are considering shutting down a diplomatic program that has helped people in japan connect with their past. a foreign ministry official told nhk the country may stop visits by japanese whose relatives died on the korean peninsula toward the end of world war ii. au

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. leaders have drawn up a plan to address the crisis thea the fukushima plant as workers try to deal with a build up of radioactive water. they are ear, maing $210 million to solve the problem. they will use the money to decontaminate the water and try to contain leaks. they try to freeze soil around the damaged reactors. the chief cabinet secretary will lead a panel overseeing work at the plant. the panel will take charge of decommissioning the reactors. the members have promised to improve communications with workers and officials from plant operator tokyo electric power company. the head of japan's nuclear regulation authority said it will legally oblige tepco to address the leaks. he criticized people for continuing to make quick fixes. they discussed the leak of 300 tons of radioactive wastewater from a tank last month. he said reports on what caused it and how it happened and how much water got out are only estimates. he then suggested one possible approach. >> translator: we migh

i'm catherine kobayashi. >>> managers at the damaged fukushima daiichi power plant are trying to resolve a problem that's been hampering the cleanup operation. they say they'll soon test a filtering system that could remove most radioactive substances from waste water

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the people at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant have another problem on their hands. fi officials say the levels of radioactivity in a storage tank have risen. more leaked last month of a tank. it is thought to have seeped into the soil. monitors have assigned more to -- they say the level of tritium rose to 64,000 becquerels per liter. more than twice the reading the previous day. the well is not located near where ground water is flowing and managers say most of the tainted soil around the tank has been removed, so they don't know how the water is getting con tame that ed. workers planted ground water and reroute it into the ocean before it passes through reactor buildings, but their latest finding may change that. the crisis has made headlines around the world, now, the french weekly newspaper has care a ried a car yakture mocking the crisis. a cartoon shows wrestlers fighting about. one wrestler has three arms and the other has three legs. two people in protective gear referee o

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> workers at a utility company in japan have taken the country's only functioning reactor offline. for the first time in about 14 months, none of the nation's 50 commercial reactors is generating power. and there's no firm date for when any of them will restart again. kansai workers began lowering the reactor on sunday evg.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> u.s. president barack obama has called on the international community to support military action against syria. obama made the request in a meeting with swedish prime minister fredrik reinfeldt in stockholm. the u.s. president is to attend the g-20 summit in russi >> the prime minister anar

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> a rebel group affiliated with al qaeda has overrun a northern syrian town following heavy clashes with western backed opposition forces. >> translator: we had fierce battles with al qaeda linked militants in the town of asaz and around the border checkpoint. >> an official of the free syrian army said the militants killed several of their men in the northern town. they said fighting began when the al qaeda group attempted to detain a german doctor. they also said asaz is now almost entirely controlled by islamic militants. the ssa had controlled the town since last year. officials said the militants also attacked an area near a checkpoint on the furcalish border. the fsa has led the al qaeda forces but recently extremists clashed with fighters. the united states and other western countries have been providing military aid but observers say the situation may become complicated as al qaeda rebels increase their presence there. >>> the russian president vladimir putin says he is not sure it will be successful but he says he hopes a plan to destroy syria's

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. world leaders are set to discuss a range of international crises as they meet in new york for the united nations general assembly. it could end up being one of their most meaningful gatherings

it's wednesday, september 4th, i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. u.s. president obama is trying to persuade lawmakers, prily

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the world's of the leading economies are fathering to confront the financial challenges they share. they can find themselves debating a military strik

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. leaders have drawn up a plan to address the crisis thea the fukushima plant as

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> u.s. secretary of state john kerry is still trying to get support for a military strike against syria. the top diplomat says inaction sends the wrong message to iran and north korea. kerry has been trying to convince arab leaders. >> assad's deplorable use of chemical weapons, which we know

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the people at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant have another problem on their hands. fi officials say the levels of radioactivity in a storage

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> russian leaders use their influence with counterparts in syria. foreign ministers sergey lavrov urged the syrian leaders to turn over their chemical weapons saying it might help to avoid a military strike. >> transr:

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the heads of the world economies have gathered in russia to chart a path towards growth. they are tng

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. . >>> north korean leaders pushing to restart talks on their nuclear program and have the backing of a powerful ally. the chinese for when minister wang yi has urged the unit

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> a rebel group affiliated with al qaeda has overrun a northern syrian town following heavy clashes with western ba

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> japan's leaders have drawn up a plan to address the crisis at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. they've watched as workers have tried to deal with the buildup of radioactive water. they're earmarking about

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> the united nations inspectors handed in a long-awaited report on the use of chemical weapons in syria and found what they called clear and convincing evidence that such weapons were used to attack civilians. secretary general moon says the report makes for chilling reading.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> leaders will discuss and debate a range of issues but will talk about the civil war in syria. us president barack obama and leaders of other nags are expected to weigh in o

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> japan's prime minister has stepped into the spotlight at the u.n. general assembly to weigh in on some of the world's most pressing foreign policy challenges. shinzo abe gave his take on the situation in syria and the threat posed by north korea. we have details. >> reporter: like many leaders, prmi

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> japan's prime minister has stepped into the spotlight at the u.n. general assembly to weigh in on some of the world's most pressing foreign policy challenges. shinzo abe gave his take on the situation in syria and the threat posedy

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> managers at fukushima daiichi have been trying to resolve a problem that has been hampering their work. every day more and more waste water

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> the united nations inspectors handed in a long-awaited report on the use of chemical weapons in syria and found what they called clear and convincing evidence that suc

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> workers at a utility company in japan have taken the country's only functioning reactor offline. for the first time in about 14 months, none of the nation's 50 commercial reactors is generating power. and there's no firm date for when any of them will restart again. kansai workers began lowering the reactor on sunday evening. it stopped generating electricity at 11:00. workers restarted two reactors at the ohi plant last year. they took one unit offline earlier this month for maintenance before generating the unit that just stopped generating power. the regulators began safety inspections from july, the process is expected to take about six months. local municipalities must also give their approval before reactors can be restarted. so at this point, no one can say when japan will be using nuclear energy again. >>> crews at the damaged fukushima daiichi plant are scrambling to protect the facility from the weather. sa veer tropical storm man-yi is heading their way. workers are inc