Wake. Death of Michael Brown. New questions as another black man is shot to death by police. Plus the fine print. A bookstore owner taking on amazon and risking just about everything. We begin with washingtons plans to take on the Islamic State of iraq and levant. The house voted this afternoon to train and arm syrian rebels, and president obama pledged again not to send american combat troops back to iraq. Secretary of state john kerry set the scene when testifying before congress. The pentagon warned air strikes may not be enough. Mike viqueira has more from the white house. Reporter president obama in tampa at the militarys central command, to go over war plans with top commanders, and before a cheering crowd, repeat the pledge he made time and again since announcing the new strategy. I will not commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another ground war in iraq. Instead, the plan calls for iraqi and Syrian Opposition forces to take the fight to i. S. I. L. On the ground. Many are skeptical. Including republican senators, who grilled secretary of state john kerry at a hearing. I hope you add a plan to will convince us that you are serious about doing what you said you would do to the American People and i. S. I. L. , because you havent done it until now. I really find it somewhat surprising for you to suggest that as the president of the United States talks to the nation and commits to take strikes to deal with i. S. I. L. , as we have come back from a week of serious meetings with nations around the world, all of whom are committed to this, that you sit there and suggest that its not serious. Reporter kerry deflected questions about the coalition and the role neighbouring arab nations will play. Others insisted the president must come to congress for a vote before Going Forward with an expanded campaign. The house passed a measure, giving the president the authority he needs to move forward on one element 500 million to arm and train the rebels. Despite misgivings, a majority of republicans backed president obama. I will not vote tore something i know will not work. I reject the calls for a perfect strategy from a perfect president from a perfect outcome in syria. Its not possible given the circumstances we face, due to inaction. Top National Security officials were on capitol hill, and they briefed members of congress on americas biggest threats, including i. S. I. L. , and recruiting efforts on u. S. Soil. Lisa stark has more from washington. Lawmakers were told the terrorism threat was more complex and diverse. That group, including the Islamic State of iraq and levant are using the internet to recruit and teach others. Reporter it is videos like this, i. S. I. L. s online propaganda tape that worries those assigned to protect the homeland. In this tape i. S. I. L. Threaten troops sent to iraq. Americans at home are attracted by this and other appeals. This one from i. S. I. S. , a glossy, in english its what i call my wall street journal op ed, what they call ji highlighted cool. The fear is lone wafl attacks in the United States wolf attacks, in the United States, like the boston bombing. Its not necessary to meet someone in al qaeda to get training and inspiration to conduct a terrorist attack in the United States. Someone can do it in their pyjamas in their base the fbi charged a rochester new york man with attempting to its i. S. I. L. He has been on the radar of the fbi since 2013. A naturalized u. S. Citizens from yemen, he was arrested in june, before buying two handguns and silencers. He was plotting to kill Army Veterans who fought in iraq. Fbi director james kony indicated these are the hardest threats to detect. They are homegrown violent extremists who can get all the poison and training to kill americans, in a way that is hard to spot, from the time they emerge from the basement and kill innocent americans. Reporter the threat from i. S. I. L. Is one of many concerns. In written testimony they flagged al qaeda and the Arabian Peninsula as the biggest threat. The group in yemen has been trying to pull off an airline attack. Global terrorism splintered into so many groups, that they are vying for dominance. The groups are in competition with one another for fundraising, recruitment, and a way to compete is to show that you are the biggest and Baddest Group out there, that could put america in the cross hearse. You will not be the leader in the global jihad without striking america. Lawmakers were told destructing the troop was challenge, and they were adept at changing tactics as need be. Another hot topic at the meeting was cyber security, it was called an evil layer cake from all levels, from former governments to predators. The fbi says it remains a top priority. Lisa stark reporting. Friday be tuned in for a special report fighting i. S. I. L. , an indepth look at the effort to stop the spread of violence in iraq and syria. That is friday, 8 00pm eastern, 5 00 p. M. Pacific. In three hours scotland will go to the polls to vote on whether to cut ties with the u. K. The Scottish Government says the 300yearold union is no longer useful, and an independent scotsman would be one of the worlds richest countries. The latest poll is too close to call. A turn out is expected. Facebook says there has been more than 10 million interactions on the topic. British Prime MinisterDavid Cameron has been working hard making emotional appeals for scotland to stay. Cameron joked saying assassination would be a welcome release from his campaigning. Cameron would be the first Prime Minister to lose a portion of the union since david lord george lost ireland in 1921. Andrew ross is a professor of social and cultural analysis at new york university, born and raised in scotland, educated at the university of aberdeen before emigrating to the United States and told me you are an american citizen, sometimes feeling a bit more scottish than american, depending, i suppose. If you were able to vote and you cant, because you are not living in scotland what would your vote be . I would be on the yes side. I always have been proindependence. I dont have the vote, but i have been following things closely. I have a lot of friends and Family Living in scotland. Over the last several weeks or so, i have detected a momentum towards the yes side of the vote. Even among people on the no side for a long time. What do you attribute the switch to, because when cameron approved embraced the permission to continue with the referendum, the thought was that scotland would be a part of the u. K. Forever. What happened. Well, there are many factors involved. I would say that people began to realise that their vote was going to count for something. And this happens rarely in elections. National referendum are difficult to predict, because every vote counts. And every vote will count tomorrow. Its particularly give to predict. Vote counting in the sense in which this is this a reel change can occur, it is rare in our democratic elections these days. Now, it is apparently permissible for 16yearolds to vote in this referendum. Ordinarily they are not allowed to vote in elections. Why the dropping of the voting age for this event . Well there was a lot of to and fro offer who would be allowed to vote. Whether scots who have not been resident, scots who hadnt been resident for longer. Opening up the franchise to younger people, i think, was the right thing to do. They are largely the people who have been most affected in the decades to come by the vote. The question could be raised whether they have the judgment to make such a decision. Yes. You could raise the question, and it has been raised. There are people on the other end of the age scale whose fact ulties could be questioned also. Okay. Lets stay away from the age think. A personal deal. Someone pointed out at the age of 16 you can serve in the military. If you can join the military, you should be able to vote. Lets talk about the economy. What currency would scotland use. The u. K. Is saying you cant use the pound as official currency, if you breakaway. Some of those things have to be decided if theres a positive vote for independents. Theres a great economic debate. They have been overplayed in the debate. Especially by the no campaign. They have been used as threats. Theres a lot of fearmongering going on about participation loss of the pound, the burden of taking on a large share of the national debt, the erosion of resource revenue from Oil Resources and so on and so forth. Real attempts to instill fear in the population, which have not worked for the most part. Is it not true that some of those issues are real issues that may turn out to be true. They are real issues, and if you stay in the u. K. Economic issues affect the population. Growing class polarization, theres an enormous amount of inequality in the u. K. The government is cutting social services and programs these affect the quality of life. It goes both ways. In a few hours, we will know what your homeland decides to do when they go to the polls and makes their decision. Andrew ross, thank you for sharing your insights tonight on Al Jazeera America. A team of german private detectives is trying to find out who shot down Malaysia Airlines flight 17, and are offering what could be the biggest bounty in history. The passenger plane crashed killing 298 people on board. The u. S. And europe suspect prorussia fighters. It has not been proven. Whoever is putting up the boundary is remaining secret. Even detectives dont know who is offering the ward. The centers for Disease Control made a shift from west africa. Three crew members are ill. The c. D. C. Is making sure they are not infected with ebola. Jonathan martin joins us live from new orleans, what are they doing with the sick crew members, is there an indication at this point whether they do, in fact, have ebola . Well, we dont know the answer to that just yet, but we know the three crew members are being treated and evaluated at the hospital behind us. One of the patients, crew members, is in critical condition, and the other two have a minor sickness. As far as specifics, we dont have word on that. This raised a lot of concern for the c. D. C. Because the ship originated in africa, making several stops, including at the democratic republic of congo, an area where that has had an outbreak of ebola. Out of an abundance of caution. The c. D. C. Met the ship as it made its way to the area, treating it as patients, in hazmat suits. The c. D. C. Does not believe that they are looking at cases of ebola. They issued a statement, ill put it up from the c. D. C. c. D. C. Believes the chaps is exceedingly chance is exceedingly low when we are looking at ebola. And are evaluating this. There has been speculation as to whether its malaria, ebola, but the tests happening now should likely reveal that and well know overnight, because they have been here for a few hours. Do you know whether the ship was allowed to dock at the normal port or whether it was held offshore at the port of new orleans. Well, the ship, again, as i said, made its way down to mississippi. It was supposed to dock at the port of new orleans. They stopped it short, here in an area outside of new orleans, at bell chase. We understand the ship will stack docked overnight and the other crew members, 15 others on board who were not sick, they been evaluated and likely allowed to go. Jonathan martin reporting live from new orleans on a ship that arrived from africa. Three crew members are ill. They are being evaluated to see if they have ebola. Firefighters battling a fire, the fire has burnt through nearly 28,000 acres outside sacramento, and is only 5 contained and is not alone. Another fire swept through the town, destroying 100 homes. Melissa chan joins us live tonight. The good news is the latest information we have is the fire is 60 contained. An improvement from 25 . With wildfire season in california, its a rare case. Usually the flames go through forests, you dont see so many homes destroyed. The fire devastated the tiny timber town of weed as it swept through. Whole blocks are gone. With a population of 3,000, the impact is huge. I mean, it was devastating. The people across the street, they were told to get out now, all they have is the clothes on their back, and childrens backs, and she was over here saying my home is just destroyed. Reporter the fire brought down the lumbar mill, the secondlargest employer for people in the area. Its not clear when it will get back online. I feel bad for the people ta will be out of work for a long time. Its an economically depressed area anyway. Reporter we see destroyed cars across down and melted pieces of metal. People tell us that the fire swept through in a few hours. In some places a few minutes, thats how little time people had to evacuate. Hot and dry conditions from californias worst drought turned this into one mighty fire season. The fire was spotting well ahead of itself. That dry vegetation is just igniting readily and easily. So three years of drought, everything is ready to burn. 6500 firefighters are battling 11 major wild fears. Strong winds made battling the flames difficult. For firefighters, they hope in the next few days the wind will let up. Well, what is interesting about the situation is that firefighters tell us that it is dangerous here. Chemicals could be up in the air. The flames have passed through. That will be a problem for residents, and it will be some time before residents can get through and go through the rubble of what is left of their homes. Well obviously some rain would be nice. The remnants of hurricane odile are hitting the u. S. , but not taking the rain to california, threatening to bring rain falls, however, to the states where it is, running through the southwest. Kevin corriveau is here with more. Thats right, it would be nice if it was out here towards the west a bit more. Its arizona, and new mexico that are seeing the bankrupt of what is left of Tropical Storm odile. Look at the video. People were filling sandbags to prevent flooding across the region, we are looking at a lot of watches and advisories across that area. Now, we do have some areas that have been the warnings have been dropped that is it nevada and western arizona. Most of the rain, the threat will be through the southeastern part of arizona, and over here towards southern new mexico. Silver city and other areas well watch you over the next 24 hours as the rain makes it way a little over here towards the east. Well see improvement towards the west. Things will clear up. Spotty showers by the time we get to friday. As we go towards saturday, most of the rain will be isolated and we are going to be getting out of that situation. The other storm down towards mexico, we dont think it will be a problem for the sworn part of the United States. Thank you. Coming up next another Police Department under the microscope after a deadly shooting. Plus, betting on books. Why one man thinks the chapter on independent stores is not closed just yet. A firsthand look at the ongoing battle against the isil threat. Bombs are cracking off in the distance. This is a booby trap in the Islamic State. A sniper around the corner here. From the front lines, josh rushing reports, on Al Jazeera America nowadays the literary well is filled with kindles, and ebooks, so much so that independent book stores are becoming a footnote. Companies like amazon make it difficult for them to complete. Bisi onileere explains. Amazon started out as an online book store . In 1994. And they expanded into a retailer for everything and anything. It changed the face of the company and reshaped the book industry. Since amazon was created, the number of in dependent book stores dropped by 50 . Seller major booksellers have gone out of business or closed down stores. The proportions of books sold through independent book stores is less than 10 of total sales. One factor is the electronic book industry, a category which amazon controlled 55 . What gives them an advantage . The Company Receives large discounts from publishers, upwards of 60 . When you consider the rising numbers of customers ditching physical stores, its difficult for individual stores to compete. Theres the addition of labour, amazon employs 14 workers for 10 million of revenue. For one new york book lover expanding the two book stores into a chain of book stores seems like the only way to fight back. Chris owns two book culture stores and plans to open a third in manhattan, the new location costing 35,000 a month. He has cleaned out his Retirement Savings to pay for the lease. I must arriving you isnt that risky . Yes, t its a big risk. We feel its something we have to do. You have the experience of owning two other stores. What has been the growth in sales steady, increasing, how would you. We have seen a couple of different places in the market. College sales are down, theres a change in the Academy Leading to more resources being used online and digital form at, but books themselves, trade books, novels and nonfiction are secure and rising. Everybody in new york nose this, you are in columbia university, teachers college, and other schools can get up and down broadway to the location. Previously what percentage of the sales would you say came from the College Craft . Well, i think over half. Furthermore, people came from all over new york and other universities to visit the store, and because of amazon, that has changed. So down from half to. The percentage is not strong, so much as over all topline sales have shrunk. Barnes and nobels. Struggling too. Why is it that an independent book store is better able to withstand the challenges than a barnes and nobel. Well, a barnes and noble is the same model as amazon, they are retailers, they are not necessarily evolving doing different retail. I feel the damage is done to the industry