>> good morning. it is wednesday, august 21 and these are some of the stories we're following at this hour. syrian rebels accuse the government of launching a nerve gas attack, claiming it killed hundreds, including children, this just hours after the arrival of a team of u.n. weapons inspectors looking for evidence of those very chemical agents. it is sentencing day for bradley manning, the former army private at the center of the wikileaks scandal could spend decades in prison for stealing classified documents. >> in egypt, former president mubarak hoping for freedom. >> new secret oval office

reportings that capture richard nixon's final months in office are set to be released. the tapes apparently reveal how he tried to keep running the country while fighting off watergate accusations. >> the united nations plans to investigate reports of a chemical attack in syria this morning. syrian rebels say hundreds of people died in the attack carried out by troops loyal to the government. we want to warn you that some of the video we're about to show you is graphic. the opposition in syria says this video shows doctors treating victims. they're accusing the military of using nerve gas during an overnight assault in east damascus. the claims have in the been in they verified. syria action bat door to russia

told interfacts it is not true. is there any way to prove or disprove the opposition claims at this point? >> it's really difficult at this point. as you mentioned, we are dealing with amateur video posted by activists on like that and aljazeera cannot independently verify its yo authenticity. the team is interested and wants to investigate the claims of the alleged attack. this would require a permanent member of the united nations security council to smith a

formal request. the government of syria would have to comply. he said that the number of deaths is so high that it sounds suspicious, and that the team should investigate these claims. the u.k. and france have already shown interest in taking the matter to the united nations security council, so the team, which is there for two weeks will get to go to the site. >> what is the syrian government saying? this would be a very brazen attack, given that there are u.n. chemical inspectors on the ground in syria right now. >> exactly. we've heard even from the british government, saying that if this attack is indeed confirmed, it would be a shocking escalation. the syrian government denied these claims made by activist groups and rebels and said they're not true and these reports same to distract and disrupt the work of the united

announceunitednations team curr. >> all right, that you can. we know you'll continue to follow this story. >> former army major nidal hasan begins his defense today. he could be sentenced to death for killing 13 people in fort hood in 2009, is acting as its own torn. the prosecution called 90 witnesses. ness san who admitted he was the shooter has rarely spoken during the court martial, refusing to question witnesses or raise the trial. what are we he canrtial. he is acting as his own attorney

and has a quiet and meek presence in the courtroom. he has raised very few objections during the last 11 days of testimony and cross examined only three of the 89 government witnesses. what hasan has said have certainly been stunners. during opening statement, he did admit "i am the shooter." >> what if he decides not to say anyt on his stand-by

attorney. >> a court in cairo is set to review a petition today calling for the release of former egyptian president must be regular. he was toppled from power during the arab spring uprising. there have been suggestions that mubarak could be freed because several corruption charges against him have been dropped. that appears unlikely. he still faces charges of ordering the killing of protestors two years ago. jonathan betz is on the ground in cairo with the latest

developments. are people talking about this, that mubarak could be freed from prison. >> yeah, without question, that is the big news of the day is what is going to happen to former president hosni mubarak. there is a hearing going on. we are waiting to hear the results hopefully any minute now. they are discussing something that once seemed impossible, that the former president deposed in 2011 may be released from prison. the hearing is to focus on corruption charges against him and whether to clear him of those charges and allow him to walk out. there's a lot of legal maneuvering that can happen. if those corruption charges are dropped, he will not walk out of prison today. there's an appeal process that must be followed. he faces several other charges. the bottom line is after a month and year of him being sentenced

to life in prison, there is a real possibility and real talk now about possibility letting him go. >> jonathan, i'm seeing the traffic move behind you there in cairo, which tends to be quite grid locked. i'm curious is there a return to naturally always at this point in cairo? >> people are walking around, shops are open. under that surface, a lot of fear and concern. the curfew remains in effect, everything shut down at 7:00. the state remains under a state of emergency. the protests continue daily. there's almost daily violence in this country, so a lot of concern about what may happen next especially with the revelation that more members of the muslim brotherhood have been

arrested and mubarak may go free. >> jonathan, thank you. >> this morning, the army private at the center of the wikileaks scandal will learn his fate. a military judge will sentence bradley manning, the former intelligence analyst who stole more than 700,000 classified government documents. he could face up to 90 years in prison. last month, he was convicted of charges including espionage, theft and computer fraud. for more, professor jeffery corn is a former military prosecutor and joins us voluntary i can't skype from houston. we know that the prosecution is going for 60 years, the longest he can serve is 90 years. what do you think is likely? >> well, i personally don't think 60 years is lightly. if you think about it, he's in his mid 20's, so a 60 year sentence would be a functional equivalent of a life sentence.

the judge found him inning of the most serious offense. it's impossible to predict these sentences. in the military, there are no guidelines, no mandatory minimums with the exception of aiding the enemy and murder. i think he's going to end up in the range between 25-30 years confinement with a dishonorable discharge. >> yet, there's speculation that the judge will try to make an example of bradley manning to deter future leaks of this kind in the future. >> well, she should, because that's a legitimate purpose of sentencing in the military and civilian world is what we call general deterrence and punishment of the wrong doer. the military has a very clear principle that the court is prohibited from imposing an excessive punishment. she has got to balance that general deterrence objective

with fairness and justice. i think that she will realize that a young soldier in his position, if he's sentenced to 25 or 30 years of confinement, that in and of itself is going to send a very powerful deterrent negligent. >> can the sentence be appealed? >> it can, but before it has to be approved by the commanding general who sent the case to trial. one of the interesting aspects of the military justice system is that the convenes authority has absolute power to make the outcome of the court martial more favorable for the defendant. he can never make it worse. before manning goes up on appeal, he will submit a clemency request to the commanding general and if he feels that the court's sentence is over broad or too severe, then he can knock off time off of the confinement, as well.

>> professor jeffery corn of south texas school of law, thank you for joining us. >> some major developments out of japan rewarding the water leak at the fukushima nuclear power plant. a level three category means exposure to the material for just one hour is the equivalent to exposure for five years. this markion the first time japan issued a warning of this kind since the three reactor meltdowns that followed the earthquake and tsunami in 2011. >> wildfires are burning in 10 western states. over $1 billion has been spent fighting wildfires this year. idaho has the two worst fires. they may be getting the upper hand on the beaver creek valley. hundreds of people are cleared to return home.

hundreds more are waiting for that chance. >> good morning, let's start with the west. we were just talking about the fires which range north and south all the way from parts of california, arizona, up to the pacific northwest, even a few of them in parts of alaska. you can see in the northwest, it's going to be another dry day. we've had some monsoon moisture more into the southwest, but even some of this that comes in, you can see the red. that's the red flag. that means lower humidities, winds, all things that can contribute to fire development or spreading the fire, not favorable for firefighting. in the green, we have a flash flood watch. fire areas can bake the ground and if there is rain after that, there's nowhere for that to soak

in. monsoon moisture can have lightning associated with it, sparking more fires. it's a mixed blessing when you get to some of that rain out there. warm temperatures will contribute, spokane at 82. >> the rest of the country, pretty easy to pick out a couple of our features. cutting across minnesota right now. we've had a stalled out boundary into the east. this has been plaguing us, because day after day of rain across that region has meant flooding concerns. georgia, finally you that boundary is starting a dissipate, so a little more rain today. we are going to see that spigot turned off. in the meantime, the front

through the midwest will bring us cooler temperatures. we've dropped about 10 degrees in places like fargo. ahead of the front, we could have a chance for storms especially in the heat of the afternoon and evening hours. back to you. >> still ahead, president obama trying to close the loop on financial regulations. we'll tell you what he wants to do to make sure there is not another financial crisis and no more bailouts of big banks. >> new insights into a disgraced president, hundreds of hours of secretly recorded conversations with richard nixon are set to be released. >> al jazeera america, a new voice in american journalism. introduces america tonight. >> in egypt police fired tear gas -- >> a fresh take on the stories that connect to you. >> they risk never returning to the united states. >> we spent time with some members of the gangster disciples.

with an autographed jersey, and obama shared a few praise. >> coach shula retired with more wins than any coach in history. each time that record has been challenged, team after team has fallin short. >> michael eaves joins us to talk more about that. the president was having a lot >> virginia governor bob mcdonald is refuses to quit despite increasing questions about a potential bribery scandal. the governor and his wife are under investigation because of their dealings with a big political donor.

he has given gifts worth $150,000 to mcdonald says wife and daughters. the governor has paid some of the money and vows he will finish his term. >> the last of richard nixon's secret oval office recordings will be reds later today. the new tapes will cover the crucial months during the height of the watergate scandal. the tapes are expected to show how nixon conduct the high stakes policy while dealing with watergate that would eventually make him resign the presidency. >> the collapse of lehman brothers and the john set of the financial crisis, now president obama is increasing the pressure, urging u.s. regulators to enact the regulatory oversight bill passed in his first term. >> it was said there they were too big to fail, to the government bailed out some of this company's largest financial institutions.

president obama pledged in his first term that a new system would prevent more of the same, signing the act and consumer protection into law. two years later, all the boats on these reforms have yet to be tightened. he is calling on u.s. regulators to finish the job. to be fully implemented, no mortgage rate regulations and trade restrictions. treasury secretary complains something needs to be done soon, saying: congress recently introduced two bills calling for tougher restrictions than dodd frank.

both have won bipartisan sport. banks returned to profitabilities have once again become too big. a spokes wham for sherrod brown says: >> j.p. morgan is the latest to end up in the government's cross hairs, facing more than a dozen investigations and lawsuits. a symbol of the on going tug of war between wall street and the government. aljazeera. >> joining us now to talk more about this is u.s. congressman jim hines of connecticut. thank you for being with with us. i'm going to ask you bluntly, where are we, have banks stopped the practices that landed this

dodd frank remains about half undone. this was the recasting of an entire u.s. industry, frankly global industry. the time has come to put an end to the uncer high is congress prioritizing these regulations in the which changes dodd frank.

>> at what point, do you think major issues.nts can start to

congressman, we thank you so

much for your time. >> straight ahead, a story that is sure to bug you. we'll tell you why these big watches maybe nature's exterminators. >> over the last week, puig lost luster, but the shape was back. details coming up on aljazeera sports.

>> it may sound like the title of a horror movie, but the attack of the killer wasps may be a good thing. they're larger than normal, but they can't hurt us. they kill those noisy a noisy c. right now, they are mating, so there's likely to be a lot more of them. now to sports.

it's sports time. i was so shocked by the wasp story. >> i hated to break it up, because it seemed you were having a great time with that story. >> rookie sensation in cuba national yasiel puig drove attendance, giving the marlins the largest back-to-back crowds of the year. the manager benched puig tuesday for "baseball reasons." he was 0-11 in at-bats coming in. he faces a one team game suspension for arriving late tuesday. the marlins trailed when mathis hammered a single to left, tying the game at four runs apiece. rose to the occasion, belting the first pitch he saw out of the yard for a go ahead and ultimately game-winning solo home run. dodgers win 6-4 to break their two-game losing streak. >> so the bronx, can know's home

run helped the yankees win game one of their double-header with the blue jays. off of romine to tie things up at one. the breeze coming from yankee stadium was alex rodriguez generating wind power. he was swinging and missing a lot, striking out five times in the double-header, and grounded into an eighth inning double play. bottom of the ninth, nix came through with the walk off single to left. "the young turks" sweep the double-header. they have won 8-10. u.s.a. today claims that a woman has filed a petition in new york criminal court in which she alleges cashman intentionally misled federal investigators as they investigated roger clements. the petition alleges that cashman didn't care about p.e.d. drugs by players as long as nothing came back to reflect on

the yankees. he faces 52 criminal charges and could be deported if found guilty. >> it was suspension tuesday. smith relieved the dolphins of a helmet over the weekend and swung it in the emdirection of his head. he is suspended for the two weeks of the preseason and first week of the regular season. playing against incognito is costing. >> football is an intense game, played with a lot of passion. blood runs hot. i've been there. i'm no choir boy. people lost their cool, and i just thank god nobody got hurt. >> finally, it will be michael vick as the starter in philadelphia. eagles head coach kelly making that official tuesday. with that, that's a look at your morning sports.

>> thank you john henry smith. that will do it for this edition of aljazeera news. we're he back at 11:00 eastern.