From nbc news, this is today with lester holt and erica hill live from rockefeller plaza. And welcome to today on this sunday morning. Im erica hill. Glad to have you with us. Im kraig melvin. Filling in for lester. Jenna on maternity leave. Dylan dreyer just a few blocks away in front of the new nbc studio. Much more on that coming up in just a bit. We want to begin this morning with what could be the most important 48 hours of president obamas time in office. Hes pushed for congress to approve military action in syria. We just showed you some of the horrifying video, the aftermath of those alleged Chemical Attacks against the syrian people. We know the video itself very, very difficult to watch especially on a sunday morning, but it is part of what the administration is using to try and make its case to congress and the american people. And we want you to have all that information as well. Peter alexander is live at the white house with more on this for us today. Peter, good morning. Reporter erica and craig, good morning to you. These videos are among 13 youtube clips that were provided to nbc news by a u. S. Government official. They were shown to members of the Senate IntelligenceCommittee Last thursday during a classified briefing. And before we play them, again, we warn you, these videos are quite disturbing. They appear almost lifeless, frozen in fear and pain. Rows of bodies, many of them children. The only sounds, the groans of victims and prayers for the dead. U. S. Government officials tell nbc news the Intelligence Community has authenticated the videos as evidence of Chemical Attacks with the nerve agent sarin in a dozen damascus suburbs on august 2 1st. Nbc news cannot independently verify the videos authenticity. Diane feinstein requested a compilation of the videos. Its whorrendous. Reporter theyll be shown to classified Committee Members tomorrow. Everything ive seen points towards a chemical weapon. Reporter two days before the president s crucial national address, the white house hopes these videos will help shift congressional and public opinion. We cannot turn a blind eye to images like the ones weve seen out of syria. No more war reporter but its an uphill battle with protest from atlanta to indianapolis this weekend. In europe, secretary of state john kerry is trying to shore up french support and is meeting today with arab leaders also divided on how to respond to syria. This concerns every americans security. This is not remote. This is not some far off place where something happened. Reporter in the coming days, the president will become his own best advocate. White house aides say hell call members of congress today. And tomorrow hell sit for a half dozen interviews to air on the eve of his remarks to the country. If he can convince everyone that there is a plan and if things go wrong theres a plan b, i think he can actually sell people on this. Reporter and this week the president will also get an assist from the proisrael lobby, apac, theyre expected to send hundreds of lobbyists here in washington, erica, to press lawmakers to support action. So the administration is hoping these videos could be a gamechanger, but are they seen as actually being one . Reporter i think thats a good question. The administration certainly hopes they will help change minds, but be very clear, none of these videos do anything to change the fact that they dont indicate who is responsible for the attack. Both syria and its ally russia claim the rebels may have manipulated this. The Administration Says it isnt possible. But whats really at stake right now, the question for most lawmakers is what the u. S. Response should be, whether in fact u. S. National interests, national security, is at stake and whether u. S. Intervention would make things better or make them worse. All right. Peter alexander at the white house this morning. Peter, thanks. David gregory is moderator of meet the press. David, good morning to you. Good morning, craig. You just heard pr peter that the president is going to be picking up the phone personally calling members of congress. Take us inside that lobbying effort. What can president obama say . What is president obama perhaps going to be saying to these members of congress in an attempt to win congressional support . I think its a limited message. I think hes saying, look, we cant allow Chemical Attacks to go on and have them unpunished, even in a civil war this crosses a red line. The president s own red line. It is simply too grave of circumstances to go unpunished. I think the followup will be, and i understand what im saying, i dont want to intervene in the war, i want to limit it to that. But we have to send a very strong message. To win support, the white house has launched a very aggressive campaign, a p. R. Campaign, a lobbying campaign, six interviews tomorrow, the primetime address on tuesday. There are some who are saying that this politically is about more than syria, that if the president loses this, this may be a hit from which his administration cannot recover. Is that an accurate assessment or an exaggeration . When the president goes to congress to get authority to strike another country militarily and he doesnt get it, that would be a huge blow. So its an enormous test for the presidency. Its an enormous test for his political standing as he tries to get other things done. But its also a test for america right now in terms of our role in the world. And i think the president s trying to make the case he wants to do something very limited in nature. Americans are saying, hey, why are we going to start another war . I think thats the perception a lot of people have. And how do you limit what the United States does . I think thats the real skepticism hes up against. If the president , david, does not win congressional approval, whats the likelihood that he orders a strike anyway . I dont know the answer to that. I dont think anybody does. The president s made a couple things clear, he doesnt need congress authority to act. Thats his view. Second is, hes made the case to say that americas credibilitys on the line. Hes made references to the holocaust during world war ii. Hes created an imperative to act that i think has put him in a real predicament even if Congress Says no. David gregory, a big thank you to you on this sunday morning. Well check back later for a preview of whats coming up on meet the press. Excitement at an alltime high in japan this morning with the news late yesterday that the olympics are coming back. It was a hard fought battle to get them, but tokyo will host the 2020 summer games. Ann thompson is live in tokyo this morning with the reaction there. Ann, im going to guess its a pretty good one. Reporter it certainly is, erica. The banners here along the famous ginza shopping district proclaim tokyo as a candidate city for the 2020 games, but it is indeed the host city and point of pride for the 9 Million People who live here, most of whom were sound asleep when olympic president Jacques Rhodes made the call from buenos aires, half a world away. It was the moment japan had been waiting for. Tokyo. Reporter back at home, pandemonium. The International Olympic committee has given not just the city of tokyo, but the entire nation of japan an absolute shot in the arm. Reporter a shot in the arm for a nation facing a crisis from the Fukushima Daiichi crippled plapt. The aftermath of a tsunami years ago. People have rallied around that part of the country that was destroyed. Sports has actually caused people there to really rethink their priorities. Its been a bandaid of sorts. Reporter madrid and istanbul made strong presentations with videos, but japans pitch was hard to top. The country has the experience hosting two winter games and the 1964 summer olympics also in tokyo. It is one of the worlds most sophisticated cities in a sportscrazed nation. And one more thing, japan has deep pockets offering olympic officials the kind of Financial Support they just couldnt pass up. The japanese invited the ioc on a date and said we got 4. 5 billion, you want it . Hello, yes we want it. Reporter now, later today the Olympic Committee will have to decide which sport will be added to the 2020 games. The choices are wrestling, squash or baseball and softball. Erica. Big decision to be made. Ann thompson in tokyo for us this morning. Bring on the squash. Squash . No, bring on baseball. Thomas roberts is here with a look at top news including some severe flash flooding out in utah. Yeah, were going to talk about that and much more. Good morning, guys. Good morning, everybody. This dramatic video is out of utah this morning. Heavy rains in the town of alpine are causing these severe flash floods. Now, residents were forced to evacuate their homes to escape the dangerous and fastmoving waters. Other nearby neighborhoods were put on high alert. Two separate skpr and dramatic shootings this morning, the first took place in arkansas where a 107yearold man was killed by s. W. A. T. Team officers. The man locked himself inside his bedroom, when the officers busted in on him, he shot at them and they fired back. And a teen in colorado was accidentally shot and killed by her friend after she jumped out of a closet to try to scare him. Police arrested the shooter on unrelated charges. A new study out finding Electronic Cigarettes work just as well as nicotine patches, thats helping smokers kick the habit. First major piece of Research Showing products can benefit smokers. The report comes just days after a study showing the number of High School Students who have tried ecigarettes is doubling. Okay, so did you watch this . The top season tennis from the mens and womens sides, theyre going to try to take down new york. Because number one semifinal wins on saturday. Today, Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka will meet in the open finals. Williams beat azarenka in the final set last year. We say happy birthday to the san diego zoos giant panda. The cake is made of ice, bamboo, fruit and pureed yams. The zoo says it took four weeks to make. That is the news now. Send it back to erica and craig. Hope hell share. You never know. Its a fivefoot tall cake. Put it on the giant roller coaster in mission beach. Were not done with you yet either. Thank you for the news. Youre also going to be doing the weather for us as well. Hold on, i have to leave now no, yes, i am going to be doing the weather now. I told dylan i was watching the Weather Channel incessantly. Maybe youre sabotaging dylans shot. We take another crack today. Watch for strong storms in the Northern Plains and record september heat going to send temps to near 100 in parts of oklahoma and texas. And we need to warn for the flash floodings in Desert Southwest areas. Nice conditions for most of the east coast. That is a check of your national forecast. If dylan dreyer that is a look at your weather. And we will try to get dylan back. She has not quit this job to become a contestant. Maybe thats what happened. Maybe shes thrown her earpiece out and say im going to win this game. The heck with you people. Yeah. Thanks, thomas. Now to a startling look at the future of america. A recent Anonymous Survey sent to incoming freshmen at Harvard University show nearly half admitted to cheating at some point in their academic lives. As Michelle Franzen tells us, its a growing problem for high schools and colleges across the country. Reporter a troubling snapshot of tomorrows leaders at one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Harvards campus newspaper the krimson conducted an email survey over1600 incoming freshman. What they found is sure to upset any educator or parent. Prior to college 42 admitted to cheating on a homework assignment. 17 admitted to cheating on take home work or papers. 10 say theyve cheated on an exam. Its a reflection of what experts say is a national epidemic. Right now the Community Pressure is, hey, its okay, everybodys doing it, why not. Reporter earlier this year a survey from one National Profit showed between 2008 and 2012 there were confirmed cases of widespread cheating and test manipulation in 37 states. Over at yale, student andrea tor res says cheating was accepted among her high school classmates. I know friends i gave them my homework occasionally i might have taken a few homework answers from other people. Reporter the news from harvards newspaper follows an investigation into a cheating scandal at the school last year involving dozens of students who shared exam answers. The Renowned University says that its educating harvard professors and students to foster a culture of honesty and integrity setting the tone that is better to make the grade than fake the grade. For today, Michelle Franzen, nbc news, new york. So we put this question to you ask at today. Com if youve ever cheated in high school or college. Thanks for your honesty. 52 say you did, 48 said no. Im a rule follower, but as my motherinlaw will test you, im not a fence washer. I do think the internet, especially with smartphones have probably made it considerably easier to cheat. Absolutely. Im not saying a word. Hes not saying a word. No. Your silence speaks volumes. Interesting. Well, no, i will just say the boys that have worn ties since first grade, you will know if you put where to hide the cheat sheet . Helping children all over america. All the parochial kids out there, if you wear a tie. Learn something new every day. Forecasters started talking about how many hurricanes we could expect for this year, we were told so brace ourselves. Well, so far weve been bracing, not much is happening, and frankly, no ones complaining. Heres dylan with a look at whats going on. We have Tropical Storm gabrielle. Barry, dorian, gabrielle, never heard of them . Thats probably because they never made landfall. Theyre just a few of the more than half a dozen storms that have fizzled out this Hurricane Season. Weve had seven named storms so far in the atlantic, but on average we see about six. So were about average on the number of named storms, but what we havent had in the atlantic is a hurricane. A lot of the water has just been whipping its way across. Reporter by this time last year several hurricanes had already swept through. Storms likerr ernesto. Scientists at the National Hurricane center predicted this would be another active year with as many as 11 hurricanes. On average there are about six hurricanes a year, so why are things so calm . Its likely a combination of strong winds and dry air at the midlevels of the atmosphere. Reporter but with half a season left to go and the warm surface temperature on the ocean, experts say were not out of the woods or water just yet. What we do know is that typically our busiest part of the Hurricane Season is the latter half of the season. So good reminder for residents not to be complacent. By the way, it latest weve gone without a named hurricane hitting the u. S. , september 11th, which is of course just three days away. Could break a record. Knock some wood here, we could break a record. Yeah. All right. Up next here on today, we are going to introduce you to the High School Football player who skipped the locker room halftime strategy talk meetings. He went for a Little Something else. That story right after this. That you find yourself at the corner of a little flu shot and a world of difference. Now through october 14th, when you get any immunization at walgreens, well help provide a lifesaving vaccine to a child in a developing country through the u. N. Foundations shot at life campaign. Together, we can supply up to three million vaccines. Its easy to make a difference at walgreens. Simply get a shot. And give a shot. At the corner of happy and healthy. Woah what . Its called a smoky eye. [ female announcer ] you may not be the best at new trends but you know whats best for your kids. So we listened when you said gogurt should have only natural colors and flavors and no high fructose corn syrup. Thanks, mom. And im here to talk about your bums. These are bumwipes. Do you think that would be quite an interesting addition to your dry routine . Yes. So you like using them . I do. Because you feel. Ultimately clean, i guess. Youre welcome to borrow my container. Its new, look at that. Would you ever use these . I think i should. Would you like to have a go . Yeah, we could do that. Its awesome [ cherry ] nothing leaves you feeling cleaner and fresher than the cottonelle care routine. So lets talk about your bum on facebook. Where to next . So it is a bit unusual for High School Students to do a lot of Extracurricular Activities on their plate. These days you need them. This Football Player is taking things to the next level because when had it comes to game time, hes not just wearing pads. He puts on another entire uniform at halftime. I love this story. The teenager who is doing double duty under those friday night lights. Am i excited for the game tonight . Is im excited. Reporter in the halls of the Episcopal School of dallas im well rounded. Reporter he is 63, 335 pounds. But the senior is known for his huge personality. Armond has tried every different hat that he can try. So then its 55 sent meters per second. Reporter hes a stellar student and actor. He cried half the night. Reporter and then theres his voice. Reporter you c