Im richard lui. Lawmakers are gearing up for the biggest Foreign Policy vote since the iraq war. Secretary of state john kerry making the case for military intervention in syria. Appearing on a series of sunday morning shows, he said syria used sarin gas on its own people killing more than 1400. Some members of congress are expressing sharply divided opinions on whether to give the president the goahead. I think we can somewhat but you have to be careful. You dont want to tie the president s hands. I know because the clarity of where all of this goes, that is still unclear. There are a lot of risks here. The down sides are great. Its important for america. Its important for the world. A nbcs tracie potts has the details from washington for us. And any indication congress will return early from their vacation, despite some commentary on the hill over the weekend . Reporter sure, well, some already have as you noted over the weekend. More than 100 members came in for that briefing, participated in that briefing. Today on labor day, were going to see senator john mccain and reportedly senator Lindsey Graham as well, two key republicans headed to the white house to sit down and talk about this. The game plan at the white house is this. Spend this week trying to get key members of congress to agree to authorize this military action. And that starts today with mccain and we believe graham will be there as well. Now next week we could actually see a vote and this comes as the Administration Says the evidence has never been stronger that sarin gas was used by the Syrian Government. Over the weekend we heard secretary of state john kerry talk about that saying there are now hair and blood samples that support it. But new this morning, russias foreign minister says hes seen that evidence and its not convincing. So we wait to see whats going to happen here on the hill. Before they come back officially for session next week, were also expecting a hearing tomorrow, the Senate Foreign relations committee, to talk about this openly in public. A lot happening there on the hill. Thank you tracie potts. Syria is reportedly taking precautions against a possible military action. Germany joining a list of nations opting out. Chancellor Angela Merkel and her challenger in the Upcoming Elections say they will not participate. Ayman moyheldin live for us this hour. The arab league overnight toughening their language. Reporter two very different narratives unfolding across the region. One coming out of the arab league in cairo issuing a resolution that calls on the International Community to take deterrent actions against the Syrian Government for its use of alleged chemical weapons. Theres no dispute within the arab league, at least from their resolutions as to who is to blame. They want the International Community led by the United Nations to live up to the charter of that organization to protect innocent civilia. The Saudi Foreign minister making the argument the International Community cannot hide behind the fear of Foreign Military intervention to absolve itself from the responsibility of protecting innocent syrian civilians. The allies of the Syrian Government here across the middle east, including iran and hezbollah striking a tone of defiance, saying this is an historic retreat and a victory for the Syrian Government which has vowed to retaliate and defend itself in the face any of military assault from the united states. Richard . Ayman moyheldin live for us on the story. More details emerge about falsified statements in the Naval Academy sex assault case. An investigator says the three accused men lied about their interactions with the female midshipman the night of the attack. All three said they saw the woman at the party. They are charged with Sexual Assault and falsifying official statements. The investigator testifying about a recollection from the accusers best friend. He told investigators she said, quote, what i did last night, i did it, and i wanted to do it, end quote. The hearing will determine if all three men will face a courtmartial. The final dave Music Festival in new york city was canceled after two people died of suspected drug overdoses. The electric zoo festival has been held on Labor Day Weekend since 2009. In addition to the two deaths, four other people were sent to the hospital. Police saying overdoses of the drug mdma, known as molly, may be the cause here. There were also three suspected drug overdoses at a different concert in boston this weekend. Firefighters gained a bit of a foothold against the twoweekold rim fire near yosemite this weekend. The 223,000acre fire may have become the fourth largest in california history, but firefighters believe the tide may be turning with fire lines holding and containment at 40 , many are now looking for the cause of the inferno. Some officials claim an illegal marijuana grove is likely to blame. Authorities detained a Migratory Bird friday suspected of working for French Security services. It happened nearly 300 miles southeast of cairo. Reports say an Electronic Device attached to the birds wing raised suspicions of a bomb or spying equipment. But after a close examination, officials concluded the device was a tracker used by french scientists to follow migration. Still no word on whether the bird has been released. Some states are a bit more xrated than others. A new Study Released by the adult site porn hub shows just how much time people spend online looking at pornography. People in the u. S. Spend about 11 minutes per visit looking at pornography. The state with the longest watch time is mississippi with almost 12 minutes and the state with the least, rhode island, with about 10 minutes on average. Heavy rains in taiwan triggered a dramatic landslide over the weekend. It was all caught on dash cam video. You have to see this. The earth just pouring over a white car. Pushing it across the road. Then when it clears, yes, a huge boulder coming to rest right in front. Amazingly, the two people in the car suffered just minor injuries. The torrential rains caused by Tropical Storm are expected to continue for the next few days leaving the possibility of more landslides. But look at that video. Flash flooding over the Holiday Weekend forcing dozens out of their homes in las vegas. The Flash Flood Warning has ended in the area, many roads are still closed. Thankfully no injuries but many homes and vehicles severely damaged. Residents now have to not only clean up the mess from the storm but they also have to find new places to live. Nbcs dylan dreyer is here with a look at the labor day forecast for us. Good morning. Thanks, richard. Good morning. We are going to see finally a cooldown in the middle of the country where a cold front is moving through. Its going to make for a pretty unsettled day up and down the east coast back through this afternoon and into this evening as well. But on the west coast, we are dealing with some of the residual flooding that las vegas saw recently with the heavier downpours weve had the past couple of days. It is still very unsettled in the southwest. We will see popup showers and storms and the possibility, especially parts of southern nevada, where we could end up with an inch or two of rainfall which could lead to more flooding in the area. In the pacific northwest, still unsettled with more off and on showers but it should be an inch of rainfall over the next 48 hours. Naturally across parts of idaho, into utah and into nevada, especially, we have flash flood watches and flood watches posted through the day today because of additional possibility of some rainfall. Temperaturewise, though, pretty nice. 76 in seattle. 71 today in san francisco. Still hot in the southwest. But some of that rain will cause some relief in that area. Thats a look at of arizona. So, richard, well have to keep an eye out for some flooding possible, especially with those heavier downpours as they redevelop later today. Hoping that folks will be enjoying the good weather in the west. Digital detox. Treatment for internet addiction. In and a major automobile recall to tell you about. Plus, got to look at this boat crash in the potomac involving a police boat. Youre watching early today. Stories in the news on this labor day for you. The United Nations is demanding an investigation into an attack at a large iraqi refugee camp that left 47 dead. Much is still unclear about that attack. The u. N. Is calling on the Iraqi Government to, quote, immediately investigate the facts. Former South African president Nelson Mandela was discharged from the hospital sunday after a nearly threemonth stay. Mandelas condition is still considered critical, but doctors say the 95yearold will receive the same level of care at home that he did in the hospital. A boat sank into washington, d. C. ,s Potomac River after a Police Patrol boat could not quite maneuver a sharp turn as you see there. All bystanders could do is watch as the unmanned boat went down. I ran on to the bow of my boat immediately behind it. Looking down on the boat, i could see the port side of the boat was cracked in half almost and sinking fast. The police boat was responding to a distress call on another part of that river. Russian president Vladimir Putin took a trip to the zoo sunday to feed the dolphins and make friends with some walruses. Also he watched as tigers were released into a new rehab center. His love for animals has been well documented over the years. Stock markets are closed on this labor day but ford is recalling still almost 400,000 cars due to a potential steering problem we are hearing. They include 2005 to 2011 crown victorias. Mercury grand marquis and lincoln town cars. There have not been any incidents or injuries reported. Sharing his multimilliondollar bonus, the ceo of lenovo, the biggest pcmaker, is taking his 3. 25 million bonus and sharing it with all his employees for the second straight year. About 10,000 employees will get a check this month for helping the company exceed sales. Hollywood is enjoying a huge summer at the box office. About 573 million movie goers shelled out about 10 more than last summer. This includes revenue for north america for the first weekend in may through labor day. Vodafone announced a deal to sell their 45 stake in Verizon Wireless to verizon which owns the rest. Verizon wireless is the most profitable mobile phone company in america. Internet addiction, its real and one Psychiatric Hospital in pennsylvania created a 14,000, tenday program that begins with a Digital Detox of 72 internetfree hours when patients are evaluated. So far, Health Insurance does not cover that treatment. Straight ahead for you it was a great weekend in sports. All your sports highlights coming up next. Some interesting facts about labor day for you. According to the u. S. Department of labor it was first celebrated in new york city in 1882 by the Central Labor Union to honor the contributions of workers. On june 28, 1894, congress made labor day a federal holiday. By then 30 states were already officially celebrating it. Its always held on the first monday of september with many folks across the country seeing it as the symbolic end of summer. Taking you to sports now. College football. Ohio and louisville, all eyes on the cardinals quarterback teddy bridgewater. Check out the scramble and beautiful pass to damion copeland. Bridgewater continued to impress. 355 yards. The cardinals dominated ohio, 497. Georgia football. Celebration takes a nasty turn after billings incredible touchdown run. Wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell jumps in to celebrate with his teammates but then tears his acl. He will miss the rest of the bulldogs season. Over to the u. S. Open. Serena williams managed to fight back against Sloane Stephens and her 100mileperhour serves. Williams takes is, 64, 61. And andy murray and meyer settling their first set in a tiebreaker. Murray wins, overall. In baseball, mr. Rocky gets his 2,500th hit. Colorados todd helton is now just the Second Player in Major League History with 2500 hits, 550 doubles and 350 home runs. Oh, by the way, not to mention the batting average over. 310. The pga deutsche bank. Sergio garcia sitting pretty before the final round. He ended with a 65 thanks to this tapin birdie. Rory mcilroy shot a 64 but is still 11 shots behind garcia. 11. In track and field, the diamond league. Stiff competition for usain bolt. Bolt wins with 9. 90. American justin gattlin rounding out the top three with 9. 96. Drama in the final lap of the canada 250 truck series. Ty dillon getting bumped out of the lead by chase elliott. Dillon crashing into a wall and elliott goes on to be the youngest winner. Both elliott and dillons crew had to be separated from officials. That didnt stop elliott from poking his head to dillons car. Even more drama. Max pappis and mike skeen collide. Pappis was slapped in the face by skeens girlfriend. That dislocated his jaw. All right. Thats sports. Just ahead, a huge 3 million payday for kanye. Chers incredible new pictures. Plus, which Labor Day Weekend blockbuster took first place at the movies . Well tell you when early today returns. Good morning. Welcome back. Were going to see more rain possible in the desert southwest. 83 in las vegas. 91 in phoenix. And temperatures will continue to warm back into the upper 90s to lower 100s. But the scattered showers and storms were going to see in the southwest could create more flooding like weve seen recently. In the northwest, just lighter showers in seattle. High of about 76 degrees for your labor day. Then as you head back to work tomorrow, still looking at scattered showers and storms in vegas and more wet weather in the pacific northwest. But, richard, flooding is going to be the biggest concern in the southwest again today. All right, dylan dreyer, thanks so much. The Box Office Race on summers last Holiday Weekend is going down to the wire. One direction this is us currently in the lead pew lee daniels the butler is poised to close out Labor Day Weekend with its third consecutive weekend. In an interview with 60 minutes australia, Katherine Jackson said his three children went to the morgue ten times before coming to terms with the loss of their father. Kurt russell in talks to join the fast and furious film franchise. Diane keaton has been tweeting plenty of eye candy. Shes been posting heart throb actors that make her hot list. And cher is still turning heads with her album cover. That is a tenyear class reunion party. Jack black reunited with the cast of his 2003 school of rock cast. Kanye wests turn as a Wedding Singer earned him a nice payday. He was reportedly paid 3 million to perform at the reception for the kazakhstan president s grandson. Finally Jennifer Aniston and the cast of we are the millers had a good laugh at her expense when they surprised her with a familiar tune while filming. Remember that one, too . Im richard lui. This is early today. We hope its just your first stop of the day on nbc. Leading the news in the Washington PostHillary Clintons gifts from foreign leaders more lavish than those for obama. Most notable, gold jewelry worth 500,000 from the king of saudi arabia which the former secretary of state turned over to the government. In the daily mail, taking the office stairs and getting off the bus early. The fast track weight loss tricks scientists claim are more effective than long gym sessions. Scientists say just one extra minute of brisk activity every day can help burn unwanted pounds. Also leading our news for you, all eyes on the capital as president obama will seek congressional approval for a military intervention in syria. Some are expressing sharply divided opinions about whether to give the president the go ahead. More tank leaks are found at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Part of the leak has escaped into the sea. Fukushimas radioactive plume of water will likely reach u. S. Waters in 2014, but will be significantly diluted by then. Diana nyads fifth and final attempt to swim from cuba to florida looks like its on the verge of success. Her team tweeting just the past hour she was making her approach on to key west. The 64yearold will be the first to swim from cuba without a shark cage if she is successful. Go, diana. A onemonthold not so giant panda made its debut at a zoo in Southern China this weekend. Zoo officials performing a physical and giving the little tyke the thumbs up. The first panda cub born in the Southern Region this year. Looking good. The beginning of football season, labor day, those are just two of the events that brings to mind one of americas greatest foods. The wing. The National Wing festival in buffalo, new york, brings together thousands of wing lovers to taste hundreds of different flavors of wings. This year included vegetarian alternatives of the football app. Ill go with the original, though. Millions of americans head home after the Holiday Weekend. More than 34 million americans traveled for the Labor Day Holiday and many of them will be on the road today. On this day in 1945, japans surrend are aboard the uss missouri. The japanese signed the document that ended world war ii. Happy birthday to salma hiyek, 47, actormark harman turns 62 and Terry Bradshaw is 65. Heres whats coming up on the today show. A promise from an American Woman and her son visiting a squatter camp in south africa has forever changed the lives of the children living there. Country stars Florida Georgia Line and nelly team up to perform live on the plaza. Im richard lui along with dylan dreyer. Thanks for watching early today. Have a terrific labor day ahead. The crisis in syria continues to hold the president s attention. Now he wants congress to act this morning. Just over 24 hours from right now, the new and improved bay bridge set to reopen to traffic. The final touches being put on as we speak. What caltrans is now saying about a possible early opening. Plus a look at the south bay, the lights gli