10 smallest homes on the market

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(MoneyWatch) How much space do you need to live comfortably in a home?

Think 112 square feet will cut it?

Most people would reject a space that small -- it doesn't even have a bathroom -- but there are a growing number of homeowners that are willing to sacrifice space.

Tiny homes have popped up everywhere over the past decade, and the trend continues to grow. While you may think of the tiny home movement centering around the micro-apartments that cities like New York and Seattle are championing, there's a whole other trend in single-family homes that's taking hold.

These homes are typically less than 700 square feet. Think of them as two or three average-sized parking spaces. That's a lot less space than the average-sized home, which runs at 2,392 square feet, according to the new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The tiny house trend really started to pick up in the last phase of the housing boom, around 2005, when builder were looking at available land and not finding much, said Leslie Piper, a Realtor.com consumer housing specialist and an agent with 12 years of experience. "Over the last couple years, when the market turned, things were at a bit of standstill, but we're now starting to see the next push for these smaller homes," she said.

Why opt for such a small amount of space? It's all about lifestyle for these tiny-home dwellers. They want access to all the amenities of a desirable area. Whether it's a major city where prices for an average-sized home are through the roof, or unparalleled scenic views -- these tiny homes can be had for a tinier price. Frequently, they are used as second homes or vacation properties.

"There's also the younger generation, individuals under 30 years old, who haven't decided to do the traditional route," Piper said. "They are opting for quality of life over quantity of space."

Many are also interested in sustainability and reducing their carbon footprint by reducing the physical space their feet occupy.

Because there's so many different types of buyers, there's also many different types of small homes. Some are quite old, built out of necessity long before the trend took hold, while others are newer with all the modern amenities. Some are so small they have no bedroom or kitchen or bathroom, while others are large enough for two bedrooms and a living room.

There are thousands of small homes out there, but these are some of the smallest.

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Alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria

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Army scientists max out battery power to save soldiers' lives

ADELPHI, Md. U.S. soldiers carry an average of almost 100 pounds of equipment in the field, including between 19-and-30 pounds of batteries. At the Army Research Lab in Adelphi, Md., scientists are trying to lighten that load -- as well as the military's carbon footprint.

"Energy density, how long the battery lasts, is a direct function of the voltage," said Cynthia Lundgren, chief of the lab's electrochemistry branch. Noting that typical state-of-the-art lithium ion batteries produce 3.8 to 4.2 volts, she continued, "If we could get a 5-volt battery, then we could increase density by 30 percent, and lighten the load of the soldier by that much."

Dr. Kang Xu, senior research chemist at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, tests the additive he co-developed to stabilize the ever-reacting interface between electrodes and electrolytes in higher-voltage batteries.

Despite the odds, they've done it. Showing CBSNews.com around the lab's "dry room" -- which keeps humidity below .005 percent, enabling researchers to work with moisture-sensitive materials -- Lundgren explained that her electrochemistry branch has developed an additive to stabilize the ever-reacting interface between electrodes and electrolytes in higher-voltage batteries.

Another factor they have to control for is temperature. "At the Department of Defense, our batteries need to operate at a wide temperature range, and have to be safe in a ballistic environment," Lundgren said, adding that their batteries must be durable between -40 to 55 degrees Celsius.

The additives also enable batteries to survive more charging cycles before they're considered dead. Demonstrating a five-volt stable battery -- the first of its kind -- Arthur Cresce, a materials scientist at the lab, said it can endure hundreds of charges before dipping below 80 percent of its initial capacity.

"We can discharge the battery, recharge it - we can do it hundreds of times," he said. "And so part of stability is not just being able to do it once or twice, but being able to do it a lot."

Rechargeable batteries that can be purchased at a local pharmacy could very well feature the lighter, longer-lasting materials created by the scientists in several years. Right now, the lab is working with industry -- Saft America and the Nuclear Energy Institute -- to scale up their models in order to test them on what Lundgren said would be "a more realistic-type battery," on pace to be delivered before the end of fiscal year 2014.

"We yet do not know if this chemistry is safer," she said. "We need bigger batteries to be able to tell that."

This five-volt stable battery -- the first of its kind -- can endure hundreds of charges before dipping below 80 percent of its initial capacity.

Meanwhile, her team is working on multiple short- and long-term projects that would keep soldiers self-sustaining on the battlefield. "Resupplying the soldier, resupplying the forward-operating bases," she said, "is very expensive -- both in fuel and, especially, soldier lives."

One work-in-progress is the fuel cell for portable power. Though, due to peripheral outfits, they've "never been able to get it small enough to run on the soldier itself," Lundgren said, a fuel cell on a base can charge an entire squad's batteries. And through a contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the lab is working on creating a fuel cell that runs on propane to power drones.

"They have demonstrated extended flight time, from two hours with batteries to eight hours with a fuel cell and propane," Lundgren said. "And that's remarkable."

Of course, when talking about alternative energy, you can't forget the sun. "The soldiers love their solar power," Lundgren said, adding that while the Department of Energy is "looking for large solar" power, the Pentagon is "looking for portable solar."

Protonex, one of the lab's contractors, is in its early phases of selling to PEO Soldier its "Power Manager," which combines energy drawn from a fuel cell and a solar blanket to provide power in some of the most remote places in the world. "You can run your laptop off of it, you can charge a whole bunch of different batteries off of this - it has cables for everything," Lundgren said. "The soldiers love these."

The Army only started weaning off primary batteries in favor of rechargeable ones during the war in Afghanistan. But with 50 percent of troops now fully reliant on them, Lundgren said, the lab further down the road hopes to use its research to create a fuel product that would replace batteries and charging devices in the battlefield altogether.

"We want to take sunlight, water, carbonaceous waste, and make liquid fuel," she said. "Solar is great, except that you can't store it at night. That's why you have batteries, so you solar charge your batteries. If we can use that solar and convert it to liquid fuel, the fuel can be stored."

Lundgren said that, in freeing up the capacity for soldiers to carry more water or ammunition, her team is motivated largely by one thing: "Knowing that they're coming to work every day and that someday they might save the life of a soldier."

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10 fastest-growing companies named by Fortune magazine

(CBS News) Fortune magazine reveals their list of the Fastest Growing Companies on "CBS This Morning." Check out the companies the magazine named below:

1. Jazz Pharmaceuticals

Dublin, Ireland

Revenue at this biopharmaceutical company spiked 115% in 2012 from acquisitions and up-tempo sales of narcolepsy drug Xyrem.

2. HollyFrontier

Dallas

Oil refiner cashed in on price gap between U.S. and North Sea crude while it lasted; profits from gas and other refined products surged.

3. Questcor Pharmaceuticals

Anaheim, Calif.

The expanded prescription of its top drug, Acthar ($28,000 per vial), boosted this biopharma company's stock and revenue.

4. On Assignment

Calabasas, Calif.

This specialty temp-staffing firm more than doubled revenue after it acquired Apex Systems, a provider of IT professionals.

5. 3D Systems

Rock Hill, S.C.

The maker of 3-D printers has added layers of new capabilities through rapid-fire acquisitions and big investments in R&D.

6. CVR Energy 1

Sugar Land, Texas

A dip in crude prices helped this petroleum refiner and fertilizer company improve margins and achieve record profits.

7. Virtus Investment Partners

Hartford, Conn.

Diverse investment options and effective distribution channels drove rapid growth at this asset-management firm.

8. IPG Photonics

Oxford, Mass.

Demand for this manufacturer's high-powered lasers, especially in Asia and the U.S., pushed sales up 22% in the second quarter.

9. HFF

Pittsburgh, Pa.

The rebound of the commercial-property market meant record 2012 revenues for this real estate capital middleman.

10. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters

Waterbury, Vt.

Despite losing patent protection, single-serve K-Cups still jolt revenue as the coffee purveyor looks to percolate in new markets.

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Assessing "red lines" as Obama mulls Syria attack

A year after drawing a "red line" at the Syrian government's alleged use of chemical weapons, President Obama has spent the week teetering on the cusp of military intervention.

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It has taken last week's very public and graphic killing of 1,429 Syrians, according to a U.S. intelligence estimate released Friday, for the Obama administration to create a strategy to match the president's August 20, 2012 rhetoric.

What Mr. Obama said last year was: "We have been very clear to the [Syrian President Bashar al] Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. ... That would change my calculus. That would change my equation."

While the president didn't specifically lay out last year what the consequences were for Assad if he crossed Mr. Obama's "red line," it's clear the world will find out soon as the administration spent Friday publicly making the case for a potential military strike on Syria.

The genesis of the term "red line" was immortalized in the chorus of Rudyard Kipling's 1892 poem "Tommy." Referencing the 1854 Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War, Kipling wrote, "But it's 'Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll," describing the thin line of crimson coated Sutherland Highlanders soldiers, outnumbered and awaiting the enemy's charge.

Variations of the phrase have been used frequently in the past - "line drawn in the sand," deadlines, ultimatum - the effectiveness of such warnings resting on a country's resolve to follow through. The first real use of "red lines," in terms of territory, was the product of struggle between Israel and its Arab neighbors, Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told CBS News.

Other, unspoken "red lines" include the creation of nuclear forces, on both sides during the Cold War.

And most famously, per John Kerry's strongly worded condemnation of the Assad regime on Friday, the international community decided 100 years ago, "in response to the utter horror and inhumanity of World War I, that the civilized world agreed that chemical weapons should never be used again," a statement that leaves little room for interpretation.

"Red lines" have proven to be an effective deterrent but they also denote that everything short of the line is permissible, making it difficult to enforce in the face of determined and skillful opponent, the Washington Institute's Jeff White told CBS News.

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White compared the current U.S.-Syria tete-a-tete to "salami slicing"; the Assad regime inched closer and closer to the "red line" after a year of no reaction to numerous other alleged chemical attacks.

"The line moved from red to pink," White said. "When you start waffling and wobbling on what the 'red line' means and what you will do to enforce it, that will show weakness."

Cordesman notes that the term is always ambiguous. "No matter how you do it, it will always be somewhat arbitrary. It will always be something that can be argued, can be evaded, there will always be the question of: is this a strong enough event?"

While "red lines" have been effective as deterrents, they're not necessarily effective diplomacy tactics, especially when there is no strategy or end goal effectively communicated.  In recent days, what has been most clearly and repeatedly communicated publicly by Obama is his deliberate - some say too deliberate - decision-making process in terms of how to react the alleged Syrian chemical attack.

"So what I've said is that we have not yet made a decision, but the international norm against the use of chemical weapons needs to be kept in place," he said on PBS NewsHour on Wednesday.  On Friday, as well, the president repeated that he's "not made a final decision about various actions that might be taken to help enforce that norm."

The "international norm" against the use of chemical weapons has not been reflected in international response, however, in part due to the current perception of the United States.

"There are doubts about our credibility, our willingness to act, about even what our ability is to transform a strategy into action," Cordesman told CBS News. "It is a matter of neutrals, enemies and allies all over the world. So, in many ways this president faces a test that's far more serious than people who simply focus on the ripple effects in this region."

Cordesman points to Russia, bordered by Islamist countries and Islamist violence, as a country vulnerable to our decisions - decisions we have made against their advice.

Other international entanglements contributing to this sentiment: leaving Iraq without any military capability to fight Iran and leaving Afghanistan without having achieved any major strategic goals. Kerry reiterated these sentiments today: "It matters to our close friends Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon...It is about Hezbollah and North Korea, and every other terrorist group or dictator that might ever again contemplate the use of weapons of mass destruction."

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"Don't ask, don't tell" activist dies in traffic accident

PITTSFORD, N.Y. Darren Manzella, a gay combat medic discharged from the Army after criticizing the military's `don't ask, don't tell' policy in a 2007 television interview, has died in a traffic accident in western New York. He was 36.

His aunt, Robin Mahoney, on Friday confirmed his death. Manzella lived in the Chautauqua County town of Portland; he and his partner were married in July.

The Monroe County Sheriff's Office said Manzella was driving on Interstate 490 in suburban Rochester about 8:30 p.m. Thursday when his vehicle sideswiped a car. Deputies said he stopped his vehicle, got out and began pushing the car from behind. He was then hit by an SUV, pinning him between the two vehicles. He died at the scene.

Manzella's December 2007 appearance on "60 Minutes" from the combat zone in Iraq was followed by his discharge in June 2008 for "homosexual admission," a violation of the since-rescinded policy prohibiting service members from openly acknowledging they are gay.

After the television appearance and his return from Iraq, Manzella did media interviews, each a potential violation of the policy.

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"This is who I am. This is my life," Manzella said at a Washington news conference before his discharge. "It has never affected my job performance before. I don't think it will make a difference now. And to be honest since then, I don't see a difference because of my homosexuality."

Manzella said he first told a military supervisor about his sexual orientation in August 2006, while working in a division headquarters at Fort Hood, Texas. Three weeks later, his battalion commander told him an investigation had been closed without finding "proof of homosexuality." A month later, he was sent to Iraq.

His supporters said the overseas assignment demonstrated how the military was arbitrarily enforcing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy during the war.

Manzella enlisted in the Army in 2002. He was awarded the Combat Medical Badge for service in Iraq. When he was discharged, he was a sergeant serving at Fort Hood with the 1st Cavalry Division.

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2 kittens that stopped NYC subway service found

Updated 10:03 PM ET

NEW YORK It only took two kittens to stop the city's subway in its tracks.

Power was cut to the B and Q lines in Brooklyn for more than an hour after a woman reported Thursday morning that her kittens were loose in the nation's largest subway system, transit officials said.

The furry felines, one black and the other white with gray stripes, were finally found on the tracks and rescued about seven hours later.

How they got there was a mystery. But they were seen running dangerously close to the high-voltage third rail.

Their owner rushed to a subway station with cat food for transit workers dispatched onto the tracks to use to try to corral them.

Power was suspended between several stops — about half the Q line and the B line's entire service in Brooklyn — on the local and express tracks for 90 minutes, Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokeswoman Judie Glave said. The express line was stopped another half-hour while workers kept searching.

But the skittish kittens disappeared again before being discovered Thursday evening under the third rail of an above-ground express track. Police officers removed the kittens in crates, Glave said.

Officials said workers and passengers in Brooklyn's Flatbush neighborhood had been on the lookout for the kittens and train operators were asked to proceed with caution. If they saw anything moving on the tracks, they were required to stop and notify the rail control center.

Some passengers wanted to help by scouring the tracks but were turned down by MTA workers citing safety concerns.

While the effort on behalf of the kittens created delays for passengers, the Q operated a shuttle service between two of its normal Brooklyn stops, said transit officials, who couldn't immediately provide the cost of the extra service.

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Calif. launches drone to combat Yosemite wildfire

GROVELAND, Calif. Firefighters battling the giant wildfire burning in the Sierra Nevada added a California National Guard Predator drone to their arsenal Wednesday to give them almost immediate views of any portion of the flames chewing through rugged forests in and around Yosemite National Park.

The MQ-1 unmanned aircraft being remotely piloted hundreds of miles away quickly alerted fire bosses to a new flare-up they otherwise wouldn't have immediately seen.

"They're piping what they're seeing directly to the incident commander, and he's seeing it in real time over a computer network," said National Guard Lt. Col. Tom Keegan.

Previously ground commanders relied on helicopters that needed to refuel every two hours.

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The 12-day-old Rim Fire continued to grow, expanding to 300 square miles, and containment remained at 30 percent, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. But increasingly confident fire officials said they expect to fully surround it in three weeks, although it will burn for much longer than that.

"It's looking better every day," said incident spokesman Glen Stratton.

While unmanned aircraft have mapped past fires, use of the Predator will be the longest sustained mission by a drone in California to broadcast information to firefighters in real time.

The plane, the size of a small Cessna, will remain over the burn zone for up to 22 hours at a time, allowing fire commanders to monitor fire activity, determine the fire's direction of movement, the extent of containment and confirm new fires ignited by lightning or flying embers.

The drone is being flown by the 163rd Wing of the California National Guard at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside and is operating from Victorville Airport, both in Southern California. It generally flew over unpopulated areas on its 300-mile flight to the Rim Fire. Outside the fire area it will be escorted by a manned aircraft.

Officials were careful to point out the images are being used only to aid in the effort to contain the fire.

In 2009 a NASA Predator equipped with an infrared imaging sensor helped the U.S. Forest Service assess damage from a fire in Angeles National Forest. In 2008, a drone capable of detecting hot spots helped firefighters assess movement of a series of wildfires stretching from Southern California's Lake Arrowhead to San Diego.

The Rim Fire started Aug. 17 and quickly exploded in size, becoming one of the 10 largest California wildfires on record. Its progression slowed earlier this week when it moved from parts of the forest with thick underbrush that had not burned in nearly a century to areas that had seen fire in the past two decades.

But it will burn for months, possibly until California's dry season ends this fall.

"My prediction is it will burn until we see rain," said Hugh Safford, a regional ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service.

That means the smoke could continue to foul air north of Yosemite in the Lake Tahoe basin and neighboring Nevada, although residents received something of a reprieve Wednesday when for the first time in three days blue sky was sometimes visible through the haze.

The air quality index in the Reno area still had improved only to the "unhealthy" level and in Douglas County, Nev., school children were kept indoors again when the index registered in the "hazardous" category Wednesday morning.

The air was clear, however, in the tourist mecca of Yosemite Valley, home to the towering Half Dome and El Capitan rock formations and the 2,425-foot plunge of Yosemite Falls.

The Rim Fire has destroyed 111 structures, including 11 homes, and posed a threat to ancient giant sequoias.

The fire also has threatened San Francisco's water supply at the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, but Stratton said it was burning itself out as it approached and that crews were lighting back burns to push it back into the wilderness.

The dangerous blaze is bad for business, too, particularly during the Labor Day holiday weekend. CBS San Francisco reports that Yosemite National Park typically brings about 90,000 for the holiday weekend, but park officials estimate the fire could cut that down by about 20 percent.

Tori Moss, who owns a vacation home in the area, says Labor Day weekend is her busiest time of year. But she said cancellations could translate into a $20,000 loss.

"We've had about 20 cancellations, and we might have complete cancellation by the end of the week," she said.

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Intel chief to publish numbers of secret spying orders

WASHINGTON The nation's top intelligence official said Thursday that he'll now release figures every year on how many new top secret court orders and national security letters are issued and how many people are targeted because of them.

Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper said in a statement that the number of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court orders and national security letters authorizing spying will be published on a website established to show the American people how U.S. spy agencies work. The court orders and letters are tools authorized by the USA Patriot Act to pursue suspects related to terrorism and espionage.

Publishing the numbers is part of President Barack Obama's edict to provide more transparency and to try to convince Americans that they are not being spied on, after leaks by former National Security Agency systems analyst Edward Snowden revealed the NSA annually gathers millions of U.S. phone and Internet records and has scooped up thousands of U.S. emails mixed with those of terror suspects.

Several lawmakers have called for the court orders to be declassified, and have drafted at least 19 bills aimed at trimming the NSA's spying authority.

The NSA made public three formerly secret court opinions last week which revealed the agency was ordered in 2011 to stop collecting thousands of Internet communications from Americans with no connection to terrorism -- a practice it says was an unintended consequence when it gathered bundles of Internet traffic connected to terror suspects.

A judge had ordered the NSA to publish one of the court orders; the other two released showed the agency had changed its processes and received a legal sign-off by the secret court on a procedure to limit how long the mixed emails may be stored and how the data may be accessed when it is likely to include U.S. citizens' emails.

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Doctor: Valerie Harper's cancer close to remission

NEW YORK Valerie Harper's doctor says the actress' brain cancer is getting close to remission.

The 74-year-old former sitcom star had announced in March that she had an incurable form of cancer and was given as little as three months to live. She's still here — and working, hired for a TV movie that filmed this month.

Dr. Jeremy Rudnick said Thursday on NBC's "Today" show that Harper has defied the odds. But he says the problem is that Harper's prognosis can change at any time.

He and Harper agree that life is about buying time.

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Can Obama strike Syria without Congress' consent?

President Obama has yet to say what course of action he'll take to respond to the alleged use of chemical weapons by President Bashar al Assad's regime in Syria, but his administration has previewed the justification it will use if Mr. Obama decides to take military action.

Mr. Obama on Wednesday said he has "no interest in any open-ended conflict in Syria." However, he added, "we do have to make sure that when countries break international norms on weapons like chemical weapons that could threaten us, that they are held accountable."

To launch an assault against the Assad regime that meets domestic legal standards, Mr. Obama's actions would have to pass constitutional muster and meet the statutory requirements set by the 1973 War Powers Resolution.

Before taking over the executive branch, Mr. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden strongly asserted that the president's ability to use military force is constrained by Congress. Yet since Mr. Obama took over the White House, the administration hasn't shied away from unilaterally deciding to take limited military action.

Mr. Obama's approach follows one that presidents have taken since the end of World War II, when administrations started exercising their war powers more independently. Some administrations have argued the War Powers Resolution is unconstitutional, but the Supreme Court has never weighed in on the issue -- leaving the extent of the president's war powers an open question.

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"Part of the problem is these are legal issues, and legal issues are settled in court at the end of the day," James Lindsay, a senior vice president at the Council on Foreign Relations, told CBSNews.com. "And when courts choose not to adjudicate it, people are free to lay down their interpretation of the rules."

Predictably, when it comes to war powers, the president has the political advantage -- he is, after all the commander in chief. Congress, however, has the constitutional authority to declare war, so legislators do their best to keep the president's powers in check.

As a senator and presidential candidate in 2007, Mr. Obama said, "The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation. In instances of self-defense, the president would be within his constitutional authority to act before advising Congress or seeking its consent."

Biden, also a senator and presidential candidate in 2007, said he would move to impeach President Bush if he unilaterally attacked Iran because of its nuclear programs.

In 1998, Biden said on the Senate floor, "To be sure, the commander in chief ensures that the president has the sole power to direct U.S. military forces in combat. But that power - except in very few limited instances - derives totally from congressional authority."

Yet in 2011, the administration took military action in Libya without any congressional approval, prompting the Republican-led House of Representatives to vote to rebuke the president.

In its legal justification for action in Libya, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) argued that Congress' authority to declare "war" was limited by the definition of war. "This standard generally will be satisfied only by prolonged and substantial military engagements, typically involving exposure of U.S. military personnel to significant risk over a substantial period," the OLC wrote.

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Filner ends tumultuous tenure as San Diego mayor

Updated 9:04 PM ET

SAN DIEGO Bob Filner ended his brief but tumultuous tenure as mayor Friday amid allegations that he sexually harassed women, making no public appearances on a final day that came one week after a defiant farewell speech in which the onetime civil rights activist called himself the victim of a "lynch mob."

Interim Mayor Todd Gloria said Filner's last act as mayor was to halt a controversial remodeling of a neighborhood Jack in the Box restaurant. Gloria immediately overturned the decision, saying it exposed the city to litigation.

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The former 10-term congressman kept a low profile on last final day, ceding media attention to a mock celebration by accusers who gave him several parting gifts, including a mirror that attorney Gloria Allred said he can look at when asking who's to blame for his resignation.

Employees in the City Hall lobby said they didn't see the 70-year-old mayor on his last day. An office receptionist had no comment.

Before the scandal, Filner was true to his reputation as a workaholic. Followers adopted a Twitter hashtag — (hash)filnereverywhere — to chronicle his nonstop pace riding a bicycle to school with children, crashing the podium at the city attorney's news conference to denounce the speaker's positions, and marching to protest violence against women.

The city's first Democratic leader in 20 years turned into a virtual no-show after allegations surfaced last month that he sexually harassed women.

At a news conference, Allred displayed a farewell card that said she looked forward to seeing Filner at a deposition in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by former communications director Irene McCormack Jackson — the first of nearly 20 women to identify herself as a target of the mayor's unwanted advances. She is the only one who has sued Filner.

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Allred was flanked by two other Filner accusers.

"I was a victim, and now I am a survivor," said Peggy Shannon, 67. Shannon volunteers at the senior citizen information desk in the City Hall lobby and accused Filner of kissing her on the lips, repeatedly asking her on dates, and boasting of his sexual prowess.

Gloria, a Democrat, said he would interview Filner's staff and hoped to keep most in their jobs. On Thursday, he named McCormack, as she is known professionally, to be his communications director.

"The days of sliding backward are over," said Gloria, who is weighing whether to run for mayor in a Nov. 19 special election to replace Filner.

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The California attorney general's office has launched a criminal investigation of Filner, and the San Diego County Sheriff's Department has been interviewing his accusers and will deliver its findings to the attorney general's office for possible prosecution.

Filner leaves office as questions linger about how someone who acknowledged mistreating women for many years — but denied sexual harassing them — could have survived for so long in politics.

Those who know Filner say he might have been more easily exposed as the leader of the nation's eighth-largest city than as a congressman farther from the spotlight. His behavior also might have deteriorated after being elected mayor.

"There was a flood of community members who now felt welcome at City Hall, who felt welcome in the mayor's office after years, if not decades, of being shut out," attorney Cory Briggs said. "The speculation on my part ... is that there were an awful lot of people who wanted an audience with the mayor, and that provided him with an opportunity."

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Call it chimp art: La. primate wins in online contest

NEW ORLEANS A painting by a 37-year-old Louisiana primate who applies color with his tongue instead of a brush has been deemed the finest chimpanzee art in the land.

Brent, a retired laboratory animal, was the top vote-getter in an online chimp art contest organized by the Humane Society of the United States, which announced the results Thursday. He won $10,000 for the Chimp Haven sanctuary in northwest Louisiana.

A Chimp Haven spokeswoman said Brent was unavailable for comment Thursday. "I think he's asleep," Ashley Gordon said.

This undated image provided by Chimp Haven, Inc. shows Brent, a chimpanzee at Chimp Haven in Keithville, La.

/ AP Photo/Chimp Haven, Inc.

But as the society said on its website, "The votes are in, so let the pant hooting begin!" — pant hooting being the characteristic call of an excited chimp.

Five other sanctuaries around the country competed, using paintings created during "enrichment sessions," which can include any of a wide variety of activities and playthings.

Chimpanzee researcher Jane Goodall chose her favorite from photographs she was sent. That painting, by Cheetah, a male at Save the Chimps in Fort Pierce, Fla., won $5,000 as Goodall's choice and another $5,000 for winning second place in online voting, Humane Society spokeswoman Nicole Ianni said.

Ripley from the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, Fla., won third place and $2,500.

More than 27,000 people voted, Ianni said in a news release. The organization is not giving vote totals "to keep the focus on the positive work of the sanctuaries and not necessarily the `winner,"' she said in an email. The sanctuaries care for chimpanzees retired from research, entertainment and the pet trade. Chimp Haven is the national sanctuary for those retired from federal research.

Other submitted paintings were by Jamie, a female at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest in Cle Elum, Wash.; Jenny, a female at Primate Rescue Center in Nicholasville, Ky.; and Patti, a female at Chimps Inc. in Bend, Ore.

A profile of Brent on the Humane Society's website says he has lived at Chimp Haven since 2006, is protective of an even older chimp at the sanctuary and "loves to laugh and play." It continues, "Brent paints only with his tongue. His unique approach and style, while a little unorthodox, results in beautiful pieces of art."

Cathy Willis Spraetz, Chimp Haven's president and CEO, said she chose a painting by Brent partly because of that unusual method. She said she later held a canvas up to the mesh of his indoor cage so she could watch him at work.

Some other chimps use brushes or point to the colors they want on the canvas, but Brent comes up to smush pre-applied blobs of child-safe tempera paints with his tongue, she said.

"If we handed the canvas to them where it was on the inside, they might not want to hand it back," she said. "They might throw it around and step on it."

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Justice Ginsburg to officiate at same-sex wedding

WASHINGTON Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will officiate at a same-sex wedding this weekend in what is believed to be a first for a member of the nation's highest court.

Ginsburg will officiate Saturday at the marriage of Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser and John Roberts, a government economist.

"Michael Kaiser is a friend and someone I much admire," Ginsburg said in a written statement Friday. "That is why I am officiating at his wedding."

The private ceremony will take place at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a national memorial to President John F. Kennedy. The 80-year-old Ginsburg, an opera lover, is a frequent guest at the center.

Same-sex marriage is legal in the District of Columbia and 13 states.

"I think it will be one more statement that people who love each other and want to live together should be able to enjoy the blessings and the strife in the marriage relationship," Ginsburg told The Washington Post in an interview.

"It won't be long before there will be another" performed by a justice. She has another ceremony planned for September.

Kaiser told The Associated Press that he asked Ginsburg to officiate because she is a longtime friend.

"It's very meaningful mostly to have a friend officiate, and then for someone of her stature, it's a very big honor," Kaiser said. "I think that everything that's going on that makes same-sex marriage possible and visible helps to encourage others and to make the issue seem less of an issue, to make it just more part of life."

Justices generally avoid taking stands on political issues. The wedding, though, comes after the court's landmark ruling in June to expand federal recognition of same-sex marriages, striking down part of an anti-gay marriage law.

While hearing arguments in the case in March, Ginsburg argued for treating marriages equally. The rights associated with marriage are pervasive, she said, and the law had created two classes of marriage, full and "skim-milk marriage."

Before the court heard arguments on the Defense of Marriage Act, Ginsburg told The New Yorker magazine in March that she had not performed a same-sex marriage and had not been asked. Justices do officiate at other weddings, though.

"I don't think anybody's asking us, because of these cases," she told the magazine. "No one in the gay-rights movement wants to risk having any member of the court be criticized or asked to recuse. So I think that's the reason no one has asked me."

Asked whether she would perform such a wedding in the future, she said: "Why not?"

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Major quake recorded in Alaska's Aleutian Islands

ANCHORAGE, Alaska A magnitude 7.0 earthquake rocked Alaska's Aleutian Islands with a jet-like rumble Friday that shook homes and sent residents scrambling for cover.

"I heard it coming," said Kathleen Nevzoroff, who was sitting at her computer in the tiny Aleutians village of Adak when the major temblor struck at 8:25 a.m. local time, getting stronger and stronger. "I ran to my doors and opened them and my chimes were all ringing."

There are no immediate reports of damage or injuries from the earthquake, which occurred in a seismically active region. It was strongly felt in Atka, an Aleut community of 64 people, and the larger Aleutian town of Adak, where 320 people live. The quake was followed by multiple aftershocks, including one measuring magnitude 5.1.

The earthquake didn't trigger a tsunami warning, but Michael Burgy with the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, said the center is monitoring for potential tsunamis caused by landslides, either on land or under water.

The Alaska Earthquake Information Center said the primary earthquake was centered 67 miles southwest of Adak, about 1,200 miles southwest of Anchorage. Shaking lasted up to one minute.

The quake occurred offshore in the subduction zone where plates of the Earth's crust grind and dive. By contrast, California's most famous fault line, the San Andreas, is a strike-slip fault. Quakes along strike-slip faults tend to move horizontally.

In Adak, city clerk Debra Sharrah was upstairs in her two-story townhome getting ready for work when she heard a noise.

"I thought it was my dog running up the stairs," she said. "It kept making noise and then it got louder. So then all of a sudden the rumbling started."

The four-plex of townhomes was shaking and swaying as Sharrah and her dog, Pico, dashed out the door. It seemed like the building moved for a long time, but the only thing disturbed in her home was a stepstool that fell over.

"Nothing fell off my walls, and the wine glasses didn't go out of the hutch or anything," said Sharrah, who moved to the island community from Montana's Glacier National Park area almost two years ago.

In Atka, Nevzoroff manages the village store and expected to find goods had flown off the shelves. But nothing was amiss.

"Everything seems to be okay," she said.

The communities are located in a sparsely populated region and both played roles in World War II.

Atka residents were displaced during the war, relocating to Southeast Alaska so the U.S. government could demolish the village to prevent the Japanese from seizing it as they had other Aleutian communities. After the war, the U.S. Navy rebuilt the community and residents returned. Today, the community is a cluster of solidly built utilitarian buildings scattered over rolling hills that turned emerald green in warmer months.

Adak, 110 miles to the west, had been home to U.S. military installations that allowed forces to wage a successful offense against the Japanese after they seized the Aleutian Islands of Kiska and Attu. After the war, Adak was transformed into a Naval air station that served as a submarine surveillance center during the Cold War. Later, the facilities were acquired by the Aleut Corp. — a regional native corporation — in a federal land-transfer agreement. It became a city in 2001 and today retains its military appearance.

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Lawyer: Bradley Manning is doing well in prison

BALTIMORE A lawyer for Army Pvt. Bradley Manning, who now goes by the name of Chelsea Manning, said in a blog post on Thursday the soldier is doing well as he goes through processing at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth.

David Coombs wrote that he spoke on Wednesday with Manning while he goes through the three-to-four-week period known as indoctrination at the Kansas prison. Coombs, who lives in Rhode Island, also said he plans to travel there in the coming weeks to meet with medical staff and the leadership in the quest to allow Manning to receive hormone therapy and other treatment for his gender dysphoria -- the sense of being a woman trapped in a man's body.

Coombs went on the "Today" show last week, a day after Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for giving government secrets to WikiLeaks, to announce that Manning wants to live as a woman named Chelsea and begin hormone treatment as soon as possible.

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"These requests address a serious medical need of Chelsea and are consistent with the general medical community's practice of adequate medical care for those with gender dysphoria," Coombs wrote.

It is Army policy not to provide such treatment; soldiers diagnosed with gender dysphoria are administratively discharged. But Manning cannot be discharged until he completes his prison sentence and exhausts all appeals of his court-martial findings.

When asked by The Associated Press on Thursday whether Manning has yet requested treatment, Coombs said in an email it was too soon to provide additional information. He told the AP earlier in the week that if the Army refuses to pay for it, Manning would pay, but it is not clear whether the prison will allow that.

Army Medical Command spokeswoman Maria Tolleson said soldiers are allowed on a case-by-case basis to pay for procedures not covered by the military's medical insurance program, such as elective cosmetic surgery. Manning was diagnosed with gender dysphoria by two Army behavioral health specialists before his trial, but Tolleson said in an email that patient medical records are reviewed and prisoners are re-evaluated when they move to a new facility. She said Army providers use nationally recognized standards found in the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.

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Coombs wrote on his blog that he told Manning during their conversation Wednesday of the public's response to the "Today" show announcement, and of the decision by several news organizations, including AP, to refer to him by his new name.

"Chelsea was very happy to hear of these developments. She requested that I relay how grateful that she is for everyone's understanding and continued support," Coombs wrote.

Coombs also said Manning has already made some new friends at the prison "who accept her for who she is."

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Jail sentence overturned for man who may have helped in bin Laden hunt

(CBS News) ISLAMABAD - Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani doctor who may have helped CIA agents track down Osama bin Laden in 2011, won a faint ray of hope Thursday when a Pakistani judicial official overturned a 33-year-jail sentence passed on Afridi and ordered a retrial. However, western and Pakistani officials closely tracking the case warned that it was still too early to conclude if Afridi was on his way to gaining freedom.

A senior government official speaking to CBS News from the northern city of Peshawar confirmed the news and said Sahibzada Mohammad Anees, a government official in that city with judicial powers, had ordered the retrial on the grounds that the earlier sentence had been passed by a government official who did not have the authority to give the verdict.

"The retrial has been ordered because of a technicality" said the government official, who spoke to CBS News on condition that he will not be named because he was not allowed to speak to journalists.

"It is still early to tell if Afridi is any closer to winning his freedom than before," added the official.

U.S. officials have hailed Afridi as a heroic figure who helped pinpoint the location of Osama bin Laden, who was tracked and killed by U.S. Navy SEALs in May 2011. That ended Washington's hunt for bin Laden since the New York terrorist attacks of 2001 triggered the U.S. led global war on terror. Bin Laden emerged as the world's most sought-after terrorist in view of his role as leader of al Qaeda, the militant outfit responsible for the 2001 attacks.

Afridi's earlier verdict was handed down by an assistant political agent in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal areas along the Afghan border. A political agent and an assistant political agent represent the Pakistani government in the tribal areas -- a semi autonomous region where local tribesmen live under their own customs while the country's judicial system is not applied in its entirety.

"The assistant political agent ... did not have the authority to award 33 years imprisonment to Dr. Shakil Afridi," said an excerpt from the written judgment circulated by Reuters news service. "The assistant political agent played the role of a magistrate for which he was not authorized" it added.

Pakistani officials have accused Afridi of organizing a fake vaccination campaign whose representatives allegedly entered bin Laden's palatial residence in a suburb of Pakistan's northern city of Peshawar and collected blood samples of children to be matched with the CIA's knowledge of bin Laden's sample.

"This entire episode was meant to fully confirm the presence of bin Laden in that location. We still don't know if Shakil Afridi was the man who definitively confirmed bin Laden's presence in the Abbottabad house," said one senior western diplomat in Islamabad who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity.

"For the U.S., this man is so important mainly because he did the right thing, not because without his (Afridi's) help, bin Laden could not be killed," he added.

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Judge orders early release of '63 Ala. bombing victim's dad

Updated 11:42 PM ET

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. A judge sided with the Obama administration Thursday and ordered the early release from prison of a former Alabama politician whose daughter died in a racist church bombing in 1963.

U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith approved the release of Chris McNair after the Justice Department sought McNair's freedom on grounds of compassion.

The judge said the 87-year-old should be freed because of his advanced age and deteriorating health.

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McNair, incarcerated at a federal prison medical center in Rochester, Minn., should be released as soon as his health allows and travel arrangements can be made, Smith wrote.

Peggy Sanford is a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney in Birmingham. She said that McNair was released from prison hours after Smith issued her ruling.

McNair was part of the scandal-plagued Jefferson County Commission that made deals resulting in a then-record municipal bankruptcy over more than $4 billion in debts.

The administration's request for leniency asked a judge to reduce McNair's five-year sentence to the time he has served since entering prison in 2011.

The request said McNair's "serious and declining health problems are extraordinary and compelling reasons" warranting his release, but it did not mention his link to one of the most infamous crimes of the civil rights era.

McNair is the father of Denise McNair, one of the four black girls killed when Ku Klux Klansmen bombed the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. A bell from the landmark church was rung at the Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday during commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.

Lisa McNair, Denise's younger sister and her father's main caregiver before his imprisonment, declined comment on the chances of his early release.

A lawyer for McNair, former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment. Jones prosecuted the last two Klansmen sent to prison for the bombing, then went on to represent McNair during his criminal trial.

Chris McNair became one of the Alabama Legislature's first black members since Reconstruction when he was elected as a state representative in 1973. He never mentioned his daughter's death during the campaign.

He later served 15 years on the Jefferson County Commission before resigning in 2001.

McNair was among 21 people convicted in corruption cases linked to a more than $3 billion sewer project in Alabama's most populous county.

Citing more than $4 billion debts in all, the county filed what was then the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history in 2011. County leaders are still trying to emerge from bankruptcy.

McNair's commission duties included overseeing the sewer project, and prosecutors said evidence showed he collected bribes from contractors in return for government work.

McNair was convicted of bribery and conspiracy to solicit bribes in April 2006, and he later pleaded guilty to soliciting $140,000 in more bribes.

McNair entered prison after losing a bid to remain free because of his age and health.

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Judge delays ruling in Ariz. racial profiling case

PHOENIX A federal judge delayed a ruling in the racial profiling case against Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office Friday as both sides remain at odds over key remedies to ensure the agency adheres to constitutional requirements.

U.S. District Judge Murray Snow found in May that the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office singled out Latinos and deputies unreasonably prolonged detentions, marking the first finding by a court that the agency covering Arizona's most populous county engages in racial profiling.

Snow delayed a ruling in the case in June after parties indicated they wanted more time to reach an agreement, though it was clear during Friday's hearing that neither side would cave to the other's demands.

"I presume that you're now leaving it up to me to take your outline and create an order, and that's what I intend to do," Snow told attorneys.

The judge gave the lawyers until Sept. 18 to file additional briefs in the case and said he would issue a final order soon thereafter.

One key proposal that attorneys for the Sheriff's Office vehemently objected to is for deputies to note to dispatchers why they have stopped a vehicle before they make contact with the driver.

Given that the case arose after a small group of Latinos sued the agency for violating their constitutional rights, saying they were detained simply because of their race, the plaintiffs' attorneys said such a requirement is crucial to discern the motivation of the stop.

Maricopa County Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan told the judge it would be burdensome and risky since "traffic stops are one of the most dangerous things that deputies do."

"It takes less than a second to say, `I'm pulling this car over because it was speeding,"' said Cecillia Wang, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who is representing the plaintiffs, adding that such a requirement is needed "given the record ... of racial profiling of Latinos in this county."

Another key point of contention is the appointment of a monitor to oversee the agency's adherence to the judge's eventual order.

Arpaio says allowing a monitor means every policy decision would have to be cleared through the observer and would nullify his authority.

"Obviously, my client opposes the appointment of any monitor," Tim Casey, one of Arpaio's lawyers, told the judge.

Casey said in addition to usurping the sheriff's authority, the agency is concerned about how much power the monitor would have, and how privy the observer would be to sensitive information, including ongoing investigations and search warrants.

"Basically, the concern is one of safety," Casey said. "The more people who know, the greater the risk of being burned."

Despite the objections, Snow indicated that a monitor would be appointed and would have significant authority.

"It will be the monitor's obligation to determine when the MCSO is in full compliance," the judge said.

Arpaio's office also opposes the plaintiffs' proposal to create an advisory board aimed at improving the department's relationship with the Latino community.

Casey argued the Sheriff's Office already has a community outreach liaison, and that "the sheriff recognizes there needs to be some improvement."

"There's a positive effect if my client goes to the Latino community voluntarily," he said, adding that if it were court-ordered and coupled with an advisory board, it would appear as if the sheriff was being forced to build better relations, "throwing fuel on the fire."

ACLU attorney Dan Pochoda snapped back that the stance "reflects the sheriff's anti-Latino attitude."

Snow's May ruling doesn't altogether bar Arpaio, 81, from enforcing the state's immigration laws, but it does impose a long list of restrictions on the sheriff's patrols, some of which focused heavily on Latino areas in the county. They include prohibitions on using race as a factor in deciding whether to stop a vehicle with a Latino occupant and on detaining Latino passengers only on the suspicion that they're in the country illegally.

The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit last year that also alleges racial profiling in Arpaio's immigration patrols. Its suit, however, claims broader civil rights violations, such as allegations that Arpaio's office retaliates against its critics and punishes Latino jail inmates with limited English skills for speaking Spanish. Arpaio has denied the claims.

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Jodi Arias' attorneys want 2nd jury sequestered

PHOENIX Jodi Arias' lawyers are asking a judge to sequester the jury in her second trial to shield the panel from the intense publicity that enveloped her first trial, which ended with a murder conviction but without a sentence.

Arias was convicted of first-degree murder May 8 in the 2008 stabbing and shooting death of boyfriend Travis Alexander in his suburban Phoenix home. The same jury failed to reach a decision on whether she should get the death penalty, setting the stage for a second penalty phase.

While the judge has yet to set a new trial date, Arias' attorneys filed a motion this week seeking to have the new panel sequestered "to ensure that the jury is not exposed to community and/or media influence."

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The motion filed Thursday cites thousands of television news shows and newspaper articles about Arias throughout her roughly five-month trial, as well as a recent Lifetime movie about the case that attorneys said attracted 3.1 million viewers.

Arias' lawyers claim the same intense publicity will no doubt come with a second penalty phase and will hinder her ability to get a fair trial.

"This integrity is in the most danger of being compromised when the process is contaminated by outside influences," the attorneys wrote. "Given what took place in the last trial and the propensity for history to repeat itself, it is certainly beyond legitimate dispute that the threat to the integrity of the retrial is severe."

Prosecutors have not yet filed a response.

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The motion comes on the heels of several others filed recently. One seeks to have the retrial moved out of the Phoenix metropolitan area because of excessive publicity and to prohibit live television coverage. Another motion filed last month seeks to have the judge compel all jurors eventually seated in the second trial to reveal their Twitter user names so Arias' lawyers can monitor their accounts to be sure they're not communicating about the case.

Under Arizona law, while Arias' murder conviction stands, prosecutors have the option of pursuing a second penalty phase with a new jury in an effort to get a death sentence. If the second jury fails to reach a verdict, the death penalty would be removed as an option, and the judge would sentence Arias to ether spend her entire life behind bars or be eligible for release after 25 years.

Arias, 33, admitted she killed Alexander, but claimed it was self-defense after he attacked her. Prosecutors argued it was premeditated murder carried out in a jealous rage after the victim wanted to end their affair and planned a trip to Mexico with another woman.

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Meet a superhero with a soft touch

(CBS News) WILMINGTON, Del. - Jonathan Stoklosa is a young man who has incredible power - the power to lift your spirits and just about anything else. We met him "on the road."

Unlike most super heroes, Jonathan, 31, still lives with his parents.

"Come on!" shouted his mother from upstairs in their home.

During the day, Jonathan Stoklosa works as a bag boy for a grocery store. His boss said you couldn't ask for a better employee.

/ CBS News

And unlike most super heroes, Jonathan doesn't wake up ready to save the world.

"Were you sleeping?" his mother asked him as he came down the stairs.

And unlike most super heroes, Jonathan was born with Down syndrome. Nevertheless, he's still one, powerful crusader.

By day, Jonathan is a mild-mannered bag boy at the Acme grocery store in Wilmington, Del. Caped in a neon-yellow vest, he rescues stray grocery carts from the parking lot and hands out stickers to the kids he meets along the way.

He's tender on the inside yet a solid rock on the outside with his strong physique.

So how did he get that way? "I don't know," he said. "Work out."

And it's at the gym, where Jonathan unleashes his inner Hulk.

"Argggh!" he roared as he flexed his muscles to us. He does that every time he gets a win.

As a powerlifter, Jonathan Stoklosa competes in regular matches and can bench-press over 400 pounds.

/ CBS News

Jon is an incredible powerlifter. Not an incredible Special Olympics powerlifter - just an incredible powerlifter, period. He competes in regular matches, often placing in the top three. The guy can bench-press over 400 pounds.

"You walk away going, 'Wow." Or 'Did I really just see what I just saw?'" said Brandon McGovern, Jonathan's trainer.

He said he's constantly amazed at Jonathan's drive. "He's a competitor," McGovern said. "He strives to be as good as he can be at whatever he puts himself into."

Of course, the real heavy lifting was done years earlier by his parents, Liz and Frank Stoklosa. They never coddled Jon. They raised him same as their other boys. Great things were simply expected. Although they have to admit they do pinch themselves now at how well it all worked out.

"Not even ever thought of when you hold a little baby and they tell you he has Down syndrome," said Frank about Jonathan being admired by so many people. "Yeah, Jon changed our life."

They're especially proud that he tries just as hard on his job as he does at his sport. His boss said you couldn't ask for a better employee. Yes, he's strong enough to bend a cart, but he's never so much as bruised a banana.

We asked him if he never crushed some eggs? "Oh, please," answered Jonathan, laughing.

A superhero with a soft touch, who actually takes your groceries to the car. Damsels are gonna love him.

To contact On the Road, or to send us a story idea, e-mail us.

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Obama administration set to release Syria intel report

Updated 5:20 a.m. ET Aug. 30, 2013

WASHINGTON

The administration will release on Friday a declassified version of its intelligence report on last week's purported Syria chemical weapons attack, a senior administration official told CBS News late Thursday.

The official also said the administration would go public with its legal justification for taking military action against the Syrian regime if and when President Obama orders a strike.

Mr. Obama might do so even though it would have to come without the backing of Washington's closest ally, the White House has indicated to CBS News.

Hopes that Britain would join any U.S. military action were dashed late Thursday when Prime Minister David Cameron lost a non-binding vote in the House of Commons to endorse that policy -- a stunning rebuke.

The administration expects to have rhetorical support from many nations but no longer considers British military participation vital, feeling it is preferable, but not necessary. "We don't have to wait for them," a senior administration official told CBS News. "We want to be helpful, but we'll act on our own decision-making."

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British reticence places the Obama White House in an awkward position, aides conceded. It must now decide whether to carry out a military strike to uphold an international norm against chemical weapons use that even America's staunchest ally is unwilling to support.

Top officials said Mr. Obama's intent to carry out a limited attack -- "a shot across the bow" in the president's words -- means broad international support and congressional authorization are preferred but not necessary. The U.S. will seek as many allies as it can and consult regularly with members of Congress but will act rapidly, aides said, to drive home the point that the mass use of chemical weapons will always be punished.

"The use of weapons of mass destruction is a threat to our interests because it makes a mockery of international rules of the road that matter," a senior official said. "This isn't Iraq where we were trying to prove the existence of weapons to launch an open-ended ground invasion. This is chemical weapons use on a mass scale that we are considering a limited, targeted response to."

There is also a signal intended in the limited scope of the military attack on Syria, the senior official said.

"It's a statement of U.S. policy that frankly sends a message to the international community that we're not going whole hog here," the senior official said. "Even limited U.S. action has a big impact. We're not going to take Assad out. But anything we do is going to degrade him in a way that nothing the opposition does."

Earlier, the White House pushed back on skepticism about potential U.S. military action in Syria, saying the evidence that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against civilians is "very convincing" - and that the use of chemical weapons is a violation of a "critically important international norm" that must carry with it serious consequences.

Still, White House spokesman Josh Earnest emphasized that Mr. Obama is "not contemplating an open-ended military action," describing the responses under consideration as "very discrete and limited" in their scope.

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"We want to make sure that a response sends an unambiguous signal to [Syrian President Bashar Assad's] regime and to dictators around the world that living up to these international norms is the firm expectation of the international community, and that failure to do so has serious consequences," Earnest explained.

On Thursday evening, the administration held a conference call for members of Congress to lay out the unclassified intelligence report about chemical weapons use in Syria.

Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi issued a statement: "On the call, I agreed with Speaker Boehner and other Members who stated that there needs to be more consultation with all Members of Congress and additional transparency into the decision making process and timing, and that the case needs to be made to the American people.

"It is clear that the American people are weary of war. However, Assad gassing his own people is an issue of our national security, regional stability and global security. We must be clear that the United States rejects the use of chemical weapons by Assad or any other regime."

"Tonight the Administration informed us that they have a 'broad range of options' for Syria but failed to layout a single option," said Oklahoma GOP Sen. Jim Inhofe in a statement. "They also did not provide a timeline, a strategy for Syria and the Middle East, or a plan for the funds to execute such an option. Several members agreed with me that whatever is decided upon, it's going to take military resources that are at decreased readiness levels due to a lack of funding."

The administration expects to have rhetorical support from many nations because it no longer considers British military participation vital. It is preferable, but not necessary. "We don't have to wait for them," a senior administration official told CBS News. "We want to be helpful, but we'll act on our own decision-making."

British reticence places the Obama White House in an awkward position, aides conceded. It must now decide whether to carry out a military strike to uphold an international norm against chemical weapons use that even America's staunchest ally, Great Britain, is unwilling to support.

Top officials said Mr. Obama's intent to carry out a limited attack - "a shot across the bow" in the president's words - means broad international support and congressional authorization are preferred but not necessary. The U.S. will seek as many allies as it can and consult regularly with members of Congress but will act rapidly, aides said, to drive home the point that the mass use of chemical weapons will always be punished.

"The use of weapons of mass destruction is a threat to our interests because it makes a mockery of international rules of the road that matter," a senior official said. "This isn't Iraq where we were trying to prove the existence of weapons to launch an open-ended ground invasion. This is chemical weapons use on a mass scale that we are considering a limited, targeted response to."

There is also a signal intended in the limited scope of the military attack on Syria, the senior official said.

"It's a statement of U.S. policy that frankly sends a message to the international community that we're not going whole hog here," the senior official said. "Even limited U.S. action has a big impact. We're not going to take Assad out. But anything we do is going to degrade him in a way that nothing the opposition does."

Meanwhile, Earnest emphasized, as Mr. Obama did during an interview on Wednesday with PBS, that the administration has reached no final conclusion on the question of military action in Syria.

"I have not made a decision" on Syria, the president explained on Wednesday, but he said his administration has "concluded" that the Assad regime was responsible for the chemical weapons attack.

Earnest also rejected comparisons between the debate over intervention in Syria and an earlier debate about intervention in Iraq, which was attended by claims of chemical weapons possession on the part of the Iraqi regime that were proven untrue only after the U.S. had dissolved the rule of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. "We're not talking about regime change here," he said. "We're talking about enforcing a critically important international norm."

"There is not a military solution to the broader conflict that is taking place in Syria," Earnest said.

Pressed on reports that suggest some level of uncertainty about who deployed the chemical weapons, Earnest brandished on-the-record statements from the president, Secretary of State John Kerry, and members of the Senate Intelligence Committee that betrayed no doubt that the regime is culpable for the August 21 use of chemical weapons that left thousands of civilians dead.

"We already know from a previous intelligence assessment that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons against civilians in Syria. We know that the Assad regime maintains stockpiles of chemical weapons in Syria," he said. "We also know that it is the regime alone that has the capability to use the chemical weapons that were used...in the attacks that we saw on August 21st. We also know that the Assad regime was engaged in a military campaign targeting the specific regions where this chemical attack occurred."

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THE Dish: Rick Moonen's Lamb Osso Bucco, Greek style

(CBS News) Award-winning chef, restaurateur and cookbook author Rick Moonen has been called "the godfather of seafood," and his Las Vegas restaurant, RM Seafood, is always packed to the gills.

His new place on the Vegas strip is the Rx Boiler Room, inspired by steampunk Victorian fantasy, featuring his spin on classic comfort food and cocktails.

Special section: Food and wine

On "CBS This Morning: Saturday," Moonen shared a few treats from the new menu, including his ultimate dish "Lamb Osso Bucco, Greek Style."

All Kale Caesar

Yield: 6 servings.

Ingredients for the Caesar Salad:

1.5 pounds mixed baby kale1 pint Toasted Brioche croutons, 1/2 inch x 1/2 inch12 ounces Caesar dressing1 pint finely grated parmesan18 each Ortiz Boqurones filletsSalt and Pepper

Dressing:

5 ea egg yolks1 oz Dijon1 oz anchovies5 oz lemon juice5 cloves garlic, chopped1 oz capersTo taste black pepper5 cups olive oil1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 cups Parmesan cheese

Place egg yolks, Dijon, anchovies, garlic, capers, lemon juice, and black pepper into a food processor. Puree until smooth.

With the machine running, very slowly add the oils to form an emulsion.

Once all of the oil is added, add in the cheese and pulse to combine.

Check the seasoning and reserve the dressing.

To dress the salad:

Add 2 oz. of dressing to a large mixing bowl.

Add 4 oz. of kale

1 tbsp of Parmesan cheese

2 oz. of croutons

Salt and pepper to taste.

Gently toss the salad together and place onto a plate.

Top the salad with 3 Boquerones, chopped chives and grated parmesan cheese.

Mahalo Matcha Panna Cotta

(Yield: 6-8 servings)

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream2 cups buttermilk1/2 vanilla bean, scraped5T granulated sugar3 sheets gelatin1 1/4 cups white chocolate, chopped1T green tea matcha powder1/4 t kosher salt1/2 cup boiling hot water

DIRECTIONS:

1. Measure the cold buttermilk and pour into a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Cut the gelatin sheets in half with scissors and sprinkle evenly over the buttermilk to "bloom."

2. In a small pot add the heavy cream, vanilla bean and the sugar. Bring it to a boil while constantly whisking.

3. In a medium sized bowl, put the hot water and vigorously whisk in the green tea matcha powder. Allow to steep for 2 minutes to develop its natural flavor.

4. After the cream mixture has come to a full boil, remove it from the heat and whisk into the buttermilk/gelatin mixture to dissolve the gelatin. Add the green tea and whisk until fully incorporated. Add the salt and whisk until it has dissolved.

5. In a medium size bowl, partially melt the white chocolate and add to the liquid mixture. Whisk to melt pieces that haven't been 100 percent melted already.

6. Strain the completed mixture through a fine strainer.

7. Mold into desired bowl OR glass to your liking.

8. Refrigerate until set (about 2-3 hours)

Passion fruit Sorbet

(Yield: about 8-10 pints)

3 1/2 cups water3/4 cups glucose powder 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar2 t sorbet stabilizer 4 cups passion fruit puree (Les Vergers Boiron brand)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large pot, bring the water, glucose powder, sugar and stabilizer to a boil.

2. Add puree and whisk until fully incorporated.

3. Chill the mixture in an ice bath

4. Spin in an ice cream machine

Macadamia nut tuile batter

(Yield: about 1 cup)

3/4 cup powdered sugar2 1/2 T all-purpose flourpinch of salt2 1/2 T water2 1/2 T butter, melted2 cups chopped macadamia nuts

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a kitchen aid mixer, whisk all the dry ingredients together

2. Slowly whisk in the butter and water. Mix until fully incorporated.

3. On a rubber silpat or wax paper, spread the tuile batter mix over a cut out flat circle stencil, then fully coat with macadamia nuts.

4. Bake at 350F for about 10 minutes or until the macadamia nuts are fully toasted

GARNISH:

Diced pineapplesLi-hing mui powderLemon zestMicro cilantro

Lamb Osso Bucco Baked with Orzo

Yield: 12 servings.

Lamb Marinade:

6 pounds Lamb Shanks cut into 2 inch thick steaks1 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 ea lemon zest and juice 3 tbs garlic, sliced 2 tbs dry savory 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Whisk together the olive oil, lemon, garlic, savory and the pepper. Place the marinade and the lamb shanks in a zip-top bag to combine. Let marinate for 12 hours.

To braise the lamb:

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil salt and pepper5 cups onion, small dice2 cups celery, small dice2 cups carrot, small dice 1/3 cup garlic, sliced1 tbsp Ras el Hanout 1 tsp Aleppo pepper1 tbsp dry savory750 ml. dry red wine1 1/2 quart lamb stock1 10-pound can whole peeled tomato in puree (Crushed through a mill)

Sachet

1/2 bunch parsley stems, 6 sprigs fresh thyme, 2 ea Bay leaves, 2 whole cinnamon sticks(all wrapped and tied in cheesecloth)

Remove the lamb from the marinade and season well with salt and pepper.

Heat a large, wide pan over medium high heat. Sear the seasoned lamb shanks very well on all sides in some oil. Remove when caramelized and keep covered.

Add the celery, carrot and onion. Cook for 5 minutes to soften.

Add the garlic and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Stir in the Aleppo, savory, and ras el hanout.

Deglaze the entire pan with the red wine. Scrape the bottom to release the brown bits.

Bring to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the lamb stock, tomato, sachet and the reserved lamb shanks.

Taste and season the braising liquid.

Bring to a gentle simmer. Cover the pot and braise in a 300 degree oven for 2 hours (until the meat is very tender and almost falling off the bone.

Carefully remove the shanks to a hotel pan. Reduce the braising liquid by half to obtain a flavorful stock.

Remove the sachet and pour the braising liquid over the lamb.

Cool the lamb in the liquid. Reserve.

To Finish the Dish:

2 each lamb shanks, reheated in the braising liquid. 1/2 cup cooked orzo pasta (blanched in salted boiling water for 2 minutes, shocked, drained and coated in extra virgin olive oil)1 tsp garlic, chopped1/8 tsp lemon zest1 tsp parsley, chiffonade1 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Toast the garlic and orzo in a saute pan with a little bit of olive oil.

Add lemon zest and parsley.

Place lamb shanks on top of pasta and top with a spoonful of sauce.

Top the lamb with the cheese and more of the parsley.

Serve immediately.

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Midshipman testifies in Naval Academy sexual assault case

WASHINGTON A midshipman testified Wednesday that she didn't remember being sexually assaulted by three former Navy football players after a night of heavy drinking, but she said one of the men told her she had sex with him and another accused player.

The woman, who is now a senior at the U.S. Naval Academy, testified for more than two hours at the Washington Navy Yard at a hearing to determine whether the three midshipmen will face court-martial. She described a night of drinking in her room at the academy with a friend before going to the toga-themed party in April 2012 at an off-campus house in Annapolis, Md.

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At the crowded party, which took place in what was known as "the football house" because of its association to the team, the woman said she felt "overwhelmed" and "dizzy" from drinking too much.

"I felt like I was going to pass out," she said, noting that she leaned against structural beams in the basement to keep from falling over.

Midshipmen Josh Tate, Eric Graham and Tra'ves Bush are accused of sexually assaulting her.

The woman said she spent the night at the house and woke up the next morning without her phone or purse.

"I was really confused, and I noticed my back was really sore," she said.

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She also testified that she had consensual sex that Sunday morning with a student at the house who has not been charged.

The woman described feeling troubled by not remembering what happened and asked Tate, who had initially invited her to the party, to come to her room to see what he knew.

The woman also noticed "lewd comments" on Twitter that seemed directed at her and tagged to people she had slept with in the past. She also testified that rumors had spread rapidly that she had had sex with multiple partners at the party.

When Tate came to her room, she testified that he joked about her not remembering and suggested he refresh her memory.

"He told me that we did have sex," she said.

The woman also said she asked Tate if she had had sex with Graham.

"He said yes, and then I was like, `I don't want to hear anymore,"' she said.

The woman also described being reluctant to seek an investigation at first.

"Mainly, I was scared," she said. "I didn't want to anyone else to get in trouble."

She also said she feared her mother would find out and force her to leave the academy.

The woman said she decided to cooperate after hearing rumors that other people, specifically underclassmen, could be blamed.

Her cooperation with Navy investigators included wiretaps.

On cross-examination, Andrew Weinstein, Bush's attorney, noted that the woman had had a previous sexual relationship with Bush. When asked by Weinstein whether she had ever considered him capable of rape, she said, "I don't think that he would."

She also said, "He wasn't mean to me by any means," during their previous sexual relationship.

The female midshipman also testified that she didn't remember whether she had sex with Bush that night. Weinstein noted that it was Bush who told her he had told Navy investigators that the two had had sex.

Cross-examination was continuing into Wednesday night.

The case has drawn attention as the White House, Congress and the Pentagon have been focusing on the issue of sexual assault after a string of cases in the military this year.

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NFL concussion settlement draws mixed opinions from ex-players

NEW YORK The hundreds of millions of dollars the NFL is ready to pay former players sounds great, until you stretch it out over 20 years and divide it among thousands of people.

Which is why some former players and others think the league is getting off cheap in its tentative settlement with victims of concussion-related brain injuries.

The deal announced Thursday to settle 4,500 or so claims is awaiting approval by a federal judge in Philadelphia.

"$765 million?" asked former Minnesota Viking Brent Boyd, one of the original plaintiffs in the lawsuit. "The breakdown is $1.2 million over 20 years per team. What is that, a third of the average salary? There is no penalty there. It's pocket change."

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Former players union president and Pro Bowl center Kevin Mawae complained that the NFL does not have to admit culpability.

"The unfortunate thing is that the general fan, they see $765 million and they think it's a windfall for the players. It's great for ... the guys that would fall in the category of needing immediate help," Mawae said. "But it's $700 million worth of hush money that they will never have to be accountable for."

Others former players didn't seem as concerned about the amount of money, preferring to focus on the timing of the settlement. They said that getting medical coverage now for their peers — or themselves — who suffer from a variety of brain ailments and other health problems is essential.

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"Those people who need help now, really need the help the most and need it right now and not five years from now, will get the help," said former fullback Kevin Turner, who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, and was one of the lead plaintiffs. "That is key."

"It is hard to put a dollar figure on ALS or Parkinson's or dementia and all these things. But if you ask me, I think it is fair."

CBS Sports correspondent James Brown told Scott Pelley on "CBS Evening News" Thursday that the settlement is also good for the "78 percent of players who leave the league within two years" and "are facing bankruptcy," citing a 2009 study.

He added that 18,000 players being covered are not being covered by any medical insurance right now, "it is, as Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson said, a step in the right direction."

The lawsuits accused the NFL of concealing the long-term dangers of concussions while glorifying spectacular hits on the field.

The settlement calls for payouts of up to $5 million for players suffering from Alzheimer's disease; up to $4 million for those who died of brain injuries known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE; and up to $3 million for players suffering from dementia. The NFL will also pay for medical exams and devote $10 million toward medical research.

"Whether I got a dollar or a billion dollars, that wasn't going to help how I was feeling," said former NFL quarterback Bernie Kosar, who has dealt with a number of health issues now that his playing days are over and said the death of former San Diego star Junior Seau "was a real eye-opener for me."

"Whether they get the money or not, I'm not sure that's going to make them feel better," Kosar said.

The payments will hardly be a burden to the 32 NFL teams. The league generates close to $10 billion a year in revenue, and that is certain to rise when new TV contracts are negotiated in the near future.

CBS Sports analyst Jason LaCanfora wrote in an editorial he believes the league was still getting its way.

"Sure, $765 million sounds like a lot of money, but with the business of the NFL better than ever and the new TV contract just kicking in and labor costs fixed through this 10-year CBA (collective bargaining agreement) and young talent on their rookie contracts cheaper than ever, well, trust me, this is chump change," he wrote.

"I don't care if we get any money," said former linebacker Jay Brophy, who played for the Miami Hurricanes and later for the Miami Dolphins, and has been diagnosed with brain damage. "I'm not begging for anything. All I want is if there's treatment out there, build us some centers, send us to places to help us out because we don't have insurance. That's all I care about. Too many guys I know are suffering and are going through things."

Andrew Zimbalist, a sports economist at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., estimated the settlement will cost the NFL $45 million a year, or 0.4 percent of current revenue.

"The attorneys were under some pressure to deliver a concrete gain for those players suffering from these diseases," Zimbalist said. If not for the settlement, "it's likely the NFL would litigate for many years before any settlement would come."

He added: "It is a positive settlement for the former players, even though it could have been higher."

Or as Hall of Fame linebacker Harry Carson put it, the NFL "has the resources to sort of stretch things out for years and years and years. The players don't have years and years and years."

"When I look at the number of players who have had neurological issues and have passed on," added Carson, who was not a plaintiff, "I think now of the guys who are just starting to experience neurological issues. They are going to be handled more humanely."

It's also a positive public relations move for the NFL just a week before the season kicks off. The last thing the league wanted was for concussions to remain a front-page story while games were being played.

Commissioner Roger Goodell can now point to the settlement and the league's player-safety initiatives as proof that pro football is dealing forcefully with the issue.

"PR-wise, it allows the league and the players association and medical experts and the U.S. Army and Harvard to show how they are coming up with solutions for the future rather than addressing omissions of the past," said Marc Ganis, president of SportsCorp, a Chicago-based sports consulting firm that does business with the league and several teams.

But some former players wonder if their future will be any brighter as they try to deal with brain disease.

Boyd said he foresees a "bureaucratic nightmare of red tape" in attempts to get approved for coverage and then receive treatment. He said he has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia and has signs of Alzheimer's disease.

"When I testified before Congress, I spoke of how the NFL's plan to cover disabilities was to delay, deny, hope they die," Boyd said.

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Video: 8/30: Obama administration prepares nation for Syria strike; Meet a superhero with a soft touch

8/30: Obama administration prepares nation for Syria strike; Meet a superhero with a soft touch 21:18 August 30, 2013

8/30: Obama administration prepares nation for Syria strike; Meet a superhero with a soft touchSecretary of State John Kerry laid out the intelligence assessment that says the U.S. has "high confidence" the Syrian dictatorship attacked civilians with nerve gas; and, as part of our continuing series "On the Road," Steve Hartman meets Jonathan Stoklosa, who has the power to lift your spirits -- and just about anything else.

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U.N. experts leave Syria

Updated at August 31, 2013, 1:47 a.m. ET

BEIRUT U.N. chemical weapons experts have left Syria and crossed into neighboring Lebanon.

An Associated Press crew saw the U.N. personnel cross into Lebanon from Syria through the country's Masnaa border crossing early Saturday.

The team on Friday carried out a fourth and final day of inspection as they sought to determine precisely what happened in the Aug. 21 alleged chemical weapons attack near Damascus.

The team took samples from victims for examination in laboratories in Europe.

As earlier reported by CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer, the inspectors moved up their departure time Friday.

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A lot of the inspection team - interpreters and translators - left Syria Friday, but the core group was due to leave at 7 a.m. Saturday. That departure was accelerated Friday to 4 a.m. Saturday, which is an odd time to travel because the route the inspectors are taking - the road to Beirut - is known to be dangerous, Palmer reports.

It wasn't clear whether the departure change was related to a potential U.S. military strike, Palmer reports, but it does seem to be a last-minute and extraordinary decision.

The inspectors began their last day in Syria with a couple false starts as anxiety gripped Damascus residents amid strong signals that the U.S. was preparing to launch strikes in the country and the still-looming possibility of chemical weapons attacks.

The team of 20 scientists and other U.N. workers left their Damascus hotel Friday apparently hoping to revisit the suburbs where an alleged widespread chemical weapons attack left hundreds dead Aug. 21. They've been into the area three times already this week.

They turned back in just minutes, however, possibly because the regime of President Bashar Assad was continuing to shell the eastern Ghouta suburbs. Palmer reported hearing artillery fire as she reported live on "CBS This Morning" Friday.

U.N. experts leave a hotel in Damascus, Syria, Aug. 30, 2013.

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Instead of making it into the suburbs, CBS News followed the inspectors to a Damascus military hospital, where they were to meet and interview six Syrian soldiers who also allegedly suffered from the effects of chemical agents of some sort upon entering into Ghouta.

Palmer reported that the men could have been manning roadblocks around the Ghouta suburbs when the attack occurred last week, or they could have been members of the Syrian army unit that, according to the government, discovered a large stockpile of chemical weapons belonging to rebel fighters in a tunnel in the area after the incident.

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The inspectors are poised to return to the Netherlands in coming days, setting in motion a meticulous process of analyzing samples at specially accredited laboratories.

According to the team's U.N. mandate, the analysis will establish if a chemical attack took place, but not who was responsible for the attack that the White House said Friday killed 1,429 civilians, which is four times greater than previous estimates. The White House also said 426 of the victims were children.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that Washington knows, based on intelligence, that the Syrian regime carefully prepared for days to launch a chemical weapons attack.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to get an initial briefing on the U.N. team's work this weekend from disarmament chief Angela Kane. It remains unclear exactly how long the process of examining samples will take.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which provided most of the 12-strong team of inspectors, has stringent guidelines for handling and testing samples at a chain of special labs around the world to ensure it delivers unimpeachable results — which could have far-reaching ramifications once they are reported at the United Nations in New York.

"It has to be accurate. The procedure has to be absolutely rigid and well-documented," former OPCW worker Ralf Trapp told The Associated Press on Friday.

Key to the procedure is a rock-solid chain of custody rules for the samples and analysis of each sample by two or possibly three different labs. The OPCW works with 21 laboratories around the world that have to pass a proficiency test each year to ensure their work meets the organization's standards.

Strictly documenting who has had custody of samples every step of their journey from the chaos of a Damascus war zone to the sterile serenity of a specially certified lab ensures that the material to be tested is what the inspectors say it is.

The labs, and even the inspectors themselves, will likely have been chosen from countries with a neutral stance on the Syrian conflict, experts say. Inspectors at the OPCW generally are analytical chemists and chemical weapons munitions experts.

Samples they gather are put in vials that are sealed and then put in a transport container that is also secured with a fiber-optic seal, said Trapp, who is now an independent disarmament consultant. Every time the container changes hands it is documented.

"A lot of stuff is built into the system to make sure nobody has tampered with the samples or replaced one with another," he said.

Once they have taken custody of the samples, chemists at the laboratories will test them for traces of chemicals banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention. The samples will be sent to two or three labs whose results will be cross-checked to ensure they match up, again reducing the chance of an inaccurate result.

The inspectors' mission has been shrouded in as much secrecy as is possible in Syria and will remain so once the team returns to the Netherlands.

There has been no official word on what type of samples they have gathered, but media reports suggest they collected soil that could be contaminated and swipes from munitions, along with blood and hair samples from victims and possibly even tissue from corpses, Trapp said.

Officials at the OPCW, headquartered in The Hague close to the U.N.'s Yugoslav war crimes tribunal and the European Union's Europol police organization, say team members will make no comment on their return.

That means the first time their full findings are expected to be known will be after they are sent to U.N. headquarters in New York.

What remains unclear is when exactly that will happen. Trapp said the painstaking testing will take several days and the labs working on the samples won't sacrifice accuracy for the sake of quick results.

"In the current situation they would probably be pressed to speed up as much as they can, but there's always the risk if you speed it up too much that you will end up with results that could be contested by somebody," he said.

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