♪ ♪ welcome to al jazerra america. here say look at the head lines. the syrian government is a used of chemical warfare on its own people, opposition groups say the government killed hundreds including women and children. getting out, former egyptian president mubarak could be released from prison in a few hours, how it could impact an already volatile situation, bradley manning is sentenced to 35 years behind bars for leaking classified information. now his attorney wants some help from the president. ♪ ♪

we begin with those disturbing pictures from syria and the allegations of chemical warfare. tonight the united nation is his calling for an investigation. opposition groups claim the government used chemical weapons on its only people last night and they claim the unverified pictures circulating today prove their point. we want to warn you some of these pricks are extremely graphic. they show injured people being treat bide hospital workers while others lie motion little, activists and opposition forces say they are victims of banned chemical weapons fired by government forces. other video shows survivors struggle to go breathe. al jazerra can't verify the videos and it's still unclear whether or not chemical weapons were used. now, an emergency session of the you feel n. security council was called upon in new york and here that part of the story. six. >> reporter: this girl is one of the survivors. i am alive. i am alive, she cries.

she is surrounded by hundreds of dead and dieing. all with no obvious injuries, no wounds, no blood. and whatever killed them, didn't discriminate. most of the bodies in this room are of babies and children. >> the number of victims from children and others is very high. i have carried in my own hands around 50 dead children. the worst thing about what happened is the nature of the attack and the ignorance of people who didn't know what to do when the attack took place. >> reporter: opposition groups say these people are the victims of attacks using chemical weapons and points the fink of blame at syrian government. damascus denies it saying the opposition is making false claims. the alleged chemical attack happened at around 3:00 a.m. on wednesday morning, government forces firing rockets loaded with some sort of chemical weapons in to eastern area of countryside east of the capital damascus, many who survived were

left gasping and suffering from a wide range of disturbing symptoms. sal jazerra can't independently verify the video, but a chemical weapons expert who viewed it, says there is evidence a toxic agent may have been released. >> the symptoms, the con individualsecon srulshuns, and h pedestrian at this of death. is very -- is usually synonymous with some sort of nerve agent, a nerve agent destroys your nexts, so that your main bodily functions, heart, lung, et cetera, stop working and that's why we see these statuesque pictures of the dead. very sim similar to what we sun 1988 where is damn gassed the curds and killed 5,000 in the space of an hour. >> reporter: the attack coincides with a visit by 20u.n. chemical weapons experts, they are in duh mass cass to investment previous reports of

this. where rebel forces allege italy used toxic gas, syrian opposition groups want the u.n. team to conduct an independent investigation in to what happened in east there. >> it's not if the tires for think regime to use chemical weapons, today's crime represents a cornerstone in the regime to continue the killing of the syrian people. >> reporter: but the syrian government was quick to deny the reports. >> everything that has been said is ridiculous, naive, unscientific, illogical and subjective. we 19 what we are saying. there is not any use of that weapon at all. >> reporter: in new york, the security council president issued remarks that reflect the deeply divided nature of the council on syria. >> the members of the security council also welcomed the determination of the secretary general to insure a thorough,

impartial and prompt investigations. >> reporter: 35 member nation have his written to the second general urging him to widen the mandate of his investigation team on the ground in syria to include looking at this latest alleged chemical attack. but because that will require permission from the syrian government, it could take sometime. experts say time is of the h essence, they fear crucial proof of the use of chemical weapon is his being buried with those who succumb to it. john, al jazerra at the united nations. >> it was one year ago today that president obama warned the a sad regime about using chemical weapons, at the time, he said, we have been very clear to the assad regime but also 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, now mike has more on the white house reaction to these developments. >> reporter: the president

famous lay laid down that red line, if assad was to use chemical weapons and deploy them in the civil war in syria the red line would be crossed there would be serious repercussions as a matter of fact, earlier this spring, the united states suspected that is exactly what happened hand. they sent their own inspectors from the military intelligent community in to syria and verified that assad had, in fact, deployed those weapons in the ongoing civil war. what did they do? they went to congress, they sought authorization to sends some small munitions to the syrian opposition. that has taken a while. everybody to this day, many syrians in the opposition saying they are not getting the small munitions that his they ask for. contrast that with this time. the white house says that they are going to leave it up to the united nations and incidentally the united nationnot agree with that original assessment earlier this year of american intelligent community. so it is a very complex problem, jeanmar tin dempsey the president's own chairman wrote a

letter to a key congressman, elliot of the foreign affairs committee in the house of representatives, he says, look, we could take out assad's air force with tomahawks, we could institute a no-fly zone, we could institute a buffer zone, but the problem is, if you are taking sides, which side are you taking? it's more than just assad and the rebels, rebels themselves are explain tered in to groupings. we have heard testimony that al qaeda is operating in syria using it as a staging ground for attacks across the board never to a rack, there i iraq, and the hizbollah fax to. it does not favor. frustrated time and fame den at the united nations and elsewhere by russia's backing of the assad regime, so just as inky just a minute, no good option for his the obama administration, today simply asking the united nation to his investigate this use of chemical weapons. >> that's mike reporting. onto egypt now where former

president mubarak could leave a coulcairo prison at any time. he's being held under nation mum security since he was forced out of office two years ago and now an egyptian court has ordered him to be released while he is investigated on charges of corruption. here are did h details from cai. >> reporter: watching as the man they hold responsible foible the killing of their son, is ordered releaseed from prison. whatever the fate of former president knew bar he can, the decision is not hit for a family who are still waiting for answers. he showed me the picture of his 18-year-old that was killed during the up rising when a car ran him over. he's kept it in his park feed almost three years. >> first it's the corruption cases, then it will be my son's case. the one about the killing of protesters. mubarak will eventually be cleared of everything. i want someone to well me who is responsible for killing my son. who ran him over? >> i feel like any mother would in this situation.

i lost my son so suddenly. i thought our justice system was fair. but i would like someone to explain what is fair about it. on. >> reporter: on the streets a feeling of di deflation more thn anger. >> if the judge decides to release limits his ruling and we have to accept it. this is the resume of law. -- rule the law. >> i don't agree that he should be released. wwe had a revolution, people died. what was that all for? anyway things have gone just back to the way they were before. >> we have another ooh things on our minds, the violence and so on. the man is gone anyway. it won't make a difference. so i don't feel anything. >> reporter: there is a general feeling here that so much is going on in the country, what happens to mubarak is pretty irrelevant. after so many of his inner circle have been released whether happy or sad, people are not surprised by this verdict. they don't care about politics or even who is in power. they want justice for their son. every corner of their home, a

reminds are of why their lives will never be the same again. al jazerra, cairo. >> well, one of the dozens of wild fires burning in the west is now threatening a national treasure. a 25 square mile fire is burning out of control, neat yosimite national park. it's just one of more than 50 large fires threatening people and property across at least 10 states. melissa chan has been covering the story for us and, joins us live, what's the latest, of evao mandatory evacuations just yet. jut are just an advisement to residents in the area and still 2500 structures in dangered, they say, but the officials did say that they err on the side of

caution and so far not that many homes have been destroyed of now there are a lot of vacation and cabin type home in this area. now the local county board of supervisors have asked governor brown to declare a state of emergency. so far we have federal firefighters and veteranrying to ask for. >> can you gave some idea, obviously there are people out in the park in yosemite national park any time of year on vacation, how serious does the threat go? >> the park remains open. and people can still go in, just not through certain routes. it's really taking place the fire west of row sim at this, , really, about 16,000 acres, it has effected people trying to physician visit park, they have had to reroute themselves and travel an extra three or four hours, but so far the feeling we are getting is that you know,

it's very calm, they are dealing with this fire, it is melissa, k you very much. ♪ ♪ >> hello, good evening i am meet rolls kevin. before we go to the wildfire situation i want to talk to you another situation popping up concerning very severe thunderstorms right now at this hour. i am taking to you the central part of the united states and show you what we are going to be seeing in that area. we are looking at some very, very significant thunderstorms pushing through right now. causing a lot of problems with hail and wind damage. first of all, over here towards parts of nebraska, these thunderstorms right here do have a thunderstorm severe watch box that is in effect right now across that area. but look what has happened across parts of wisconsin and now over towards michigan.

a lot of wind damage is coming out of these thunderstorms. so if you are out, this is going to be a severe event. probably for the next couple of hours, you may want to keep your weather radios onto listen in on what is happening across this area as well as the probability of hail damage across the region as well. now i want to take you up here towards the north west, the big problem here are the thunderstorms, not the rain coming out of it. it is the dry lightning. and what we are seeing is over the last couple of hours, these thunderstorms continue to push towards the north. in california, actually, though, these thunderstorms are not causing a problem with the lightning. but we could actually be seeing some problems in terms of flooding in that irrelevant i can't. area. we will be watching that. temperatures have come down significantly. 81 degrees in boise, idaho. quite worm in salt lake at 89. tomorrow's lows look like this. in the 60s, during the day, though, those temperatures drive all wait up to the high to mid 90s.

and the rain values for the next day, well, we are looking at moderate rain here across the central part of idaho. also over here towards parts of oregon. quickly down here towards the sought west, we are looking at still some very heavy rain showers across parts of florida, all the way over towards new orleans, it's zell still going to be rain ago cross the region tomorrow unfortunately for many locations, this has been the pattern over the last couple of days and you are i don't temperatures tomorrow look like this, 83, well, actually right now, 83 degrees in atlanta and birmingham at 87. >> still to come, the fighting spirit of the people of mexico playing out of the football field. also, we'll tell you why the u.s. says a school is such a threat that it's imposing economic sanctions on it.

>> still ahead a special investigation. all evidence points to a cholera out break that killed tens of thousands in haiti. being caused by the united nations, we asked them why they refuse to competent the victims, next.

>> the united nations security council held an emergency session today about an alleged chemical weapons attack early this morning in syria. video shows graphic and disturbing videos. hundreds of civilians including women and children were killed in the tack. a you feel n. team is already on the ground to investigate earlier reports of chemical weapons use. former egyptian president knew mubarak could be out of president in days, a court ordered his release today and a according to egyptian state tv he will be under house arrest, he's facing charges of accepting gifts from a state-owned newspaper. also on trial for his alleged role in the killing of protesters under the 2011 up rising against him. a wildfire is threatening california's yosemite national park. firefighters say 2000 instruction ours are also in danger. the blaze is now more than 25

square miles, at least 7,005 fighters are battling a dozen wild fires in california alone. we are just getting information, new information about san diego mayor bob filner. there are reports that he's reached a se a settlement involg one sexual harassment case against him. he's reached an agreement about his political future and it's expected to announced friday after the council votes on it. the army major spoke three words in his defense today, he said the dents rests. hassan is defending himself against murder charges in the shooting rampage at fort hood in 2009. he admits killing 13 people and wounding 30 others, heidi has more. >> reporter: he wanted to tell jurors he killed u.s. soldiers to save muslim lives in afghanistan. but the military judge deemed

that argument irrelevant. the american-born hassan was limited to addressing the facts of the case. facts the accused agrees with. most observers would call this a very unique trial. not only is hassan representing himself, he also told the injury on day one, that he is the shooter. he is charged with 13 murders, 12 of the victim were soldiers, one was a is gillian who use cid claire to rush him to try to stop the shooting. their case, they pointed a scene of hero i remember anism and kae attack. 89 witnesses tack the stand, a retired staff charge who was shot seven times aircraft police officer who shot the attacker in the hand preventing him from reloading and allowing her partner to take him down. one by one, the victims walked past hassan in his wheelchair. some looked him in the eye. and all described him as the

shooter. hassan decline today call any defense witnesses. he declined to present a case. a former army psychologist, he says he wants to the jury to consider capital charges and not lesser penalties. the former army major has said he would still be a martyr if executed. heidi jo castro. >> the nsa collected up to 50 million e-mails and other communication buys americans with no connection to terrorism over three years, this information revealed today after the nsa did he classified three secret u.s. court opinions. they also show that the nsa was order today find ways to limit the information it collects and how long it keeps it. in south korea, where it's already thursday, workers are heading back in to north korea to reopen the instrument park. south korean officials say 253 business men and women have begun crossing the border in to north korea, they are heading to

inspect the facilities there. but countries agreed last week to resume operations if their trouble joint -- at their trouble joint industrial park. it closed in april due to concerns over north korea's nuclear program. i one of the most intriguing thames otales of fault our in mn china. once a rising star in china. on thursday he goes on trial facing charges of corruption, and abusive power, all tinged with a tale of murder, we track the plunge from the party elite and how his memory is being wiped from the town he once led. >> reporter: his last public appearance was at a member of the bureau of the national people's congress in beijing in march last year. but his next should be as an other used criminal in a courtroom in the pr provincial t city. ex-simplifies a stunning fall from grace, he served as mayor

and china's commerce minister. but the scandal that would bring him down came years later when he was party secretary of the southwestern city, in november the 2011, british businessman was found dead in a hotel room. there. an associate of and his wife would come to be seen as murder. after the trusted police chief fled to a nearby u.s. consolate with an extraordinary account of heyward's killing. at her trial last year she admitted poisoning heyward and was given a suspended sentence. now a place once synonymous of the man is being cleanse of his traces you don't look to look to hard for find ways of his legacy being expunged in this parka cross the road from his old offers is where people gathered to red songs part of his drive to rekindled a spirt. instead now we find a sign saying such singing is considered too noise i.

noisy. >> the once high profile police presence is now more relaxed it's harder to wipeout his more concrete legacy like the social house that go won him support among the poor. >> he was a good leader. i hope he doesn't get punished too severely. >> reporter: the support extends to many still within the upper reaches of the party, which is why some believe he will get a relatively light sentence of 20 years. >> the mountainist party is a huge organization. and this bickering amongst the factions will always be there, for the sake of community, they have settled for lenient treatment for his major political rival. >> reporter: his career over. some are determine not to let him slip silently away.

>> harry joins us from china you no, harry, give us an update on what you have seen in the court back there? >> well, unfortunately, we have some technical problems there with harry, we'll try to get back to him in a little later. thousands were killed and 10s of thousands made sick by the cholera epidemic that swept through haiti two years ago, the scientific evidence seems conclusive the strain came from a united nations peace keeping base but the u.n. has refuse today competent the victims, in a special investigation that took him from new york to a rule village in haiti, sebatian walker went to 90 out why. >> reporter: when he died from cholera, he was 64 years old. he was a leader of the community in this tiny mountain top village and a father of three. he fell ill just days ago.

from his house, it's about five hours walk to the nearest clinic. >> reporter: as in many of the communitiecommunities in this re cholera is rife, death has become a part of every day life. but that doesn't lessen the grief. he is the latest victim of a disease unknown in haiti two years ago. but it's now a leading cause of death in the country. his death from cholera won't actually be counted in any official statistics, there are no ministry of health personnel who know about this or n.g.o.s, this is just one example of how the death toll from this epidemic could be much higher than anyone knows.

>> and sebastian walker join ses liver now from san francisco aircraft very sad and incredible story here. tell us more about the accusations and what the united nations says about secretary general himself as you can see in this clip. at every turn the store friday

u.n. officials was the same. out right refusal to accept any responsibility. yet a complete inability to explain why. it was the same from haiti to new york. from those on the ground to those at the very top. mr. secretary general. what explain explanation is some for the fact that there is no compensation being paid for the families of the victims. >> i think i have made it quite clear the reason why and this case is not receivable. >> reporter: was it your decision ultimately? whose decision was did in the end? >> yes, it was my decision. but based on all of the careful consideration. >> reporter: do you think it's the right decision? >> yeah, i think so, yeah. >> reporter: but for the families of the victims? >> why don't you talk to my legal counsel. >> reporter: so you were saying there is no possibility at all of speaking with anyone from legal counsel? >> no. >> reporter: following the secretary general's ahea advicet several calls in but was told that the u.n.'s legal counsel

was unavailable to comment. he we spotted him again and are going to try to catch him when he comes out. sorry. sorry. >> we don't have the time thank you. >> reporter: you said that we could get -- >> that's enough. that's enough. >> that's enough, that's enough. >> reporter: we haven't been given access to the office of legal counsel. >> thank you. thank you. >> clearly the u.n. doesn't wasn't to talk about this story and i understand that you have been back to haiti again, what did youse against the u.n. they have lost the father of the household and lost a son. really the last two male members of the household, the two people who actually earn the money for this family. and they are in a terrible situation there, they are in a

lot of debt following the funeral. they have had to pull the son's daughter out of school because they don't have the money to ly. >> based on the way they treated you, it sound like they are not going to change their mind right now. all right.

sebastian, that's a terrific story. thanks for joining us tonight. we appreciate it. and for more on that story tune in for fault line, hate i and thihate haitiand the time of ch. new orleans is putting together a plan to avoid a disaster like katrina. part military decision and part artistic creation, we'll show you how it works next. the little league world series is an annual right of summer. and coming up next in sports, we'll take you to williams port, pennsylvania where some of the world's best young baseball talent competing for one of the game's most famous championships.

mission. >> there's more to america, more stories, more voices, more points of view. now there's are news channel with more of what americans want to know. >> i'm ali velshi and this is "real money."

this is "america tonight." sglovrjs our -- >> our news coverage reveal more of america's stories. >> michael eves is here with sports some incredible action in pennsylvania with the little league world series, lover this time of year. >> incredible athletes at such a young age, throughout the history of the little league world series certain players have stood out during the tournament and became bona fide stars in the process. al jazerra joins us now from williams port with a story of one kid who is head and shoulders above the rest. literally. >> reporter: there have been some unbelievable agent let at the little league world series, but make no mistake california grants holman has been the m.v.p. he's racked up 23 strikeouts in

10 plus innings of work and already hit a grand slam. and earlier today, we caught up with holman. grant holman hat stood out at the little league world series in more ways than one, he's 6'4", at 13 years young. grant, you have had amazing world series. you threw a no hitter and hit a grand slam in game two. what has it will be bike owe far? >> it's been a great experience. just being some of the few kids that get to come here and getting to hang out with all of your friends is awesome. >> i know tulle a vista wants to bring home that little league world series title but what las been your most memorable experience? >> it was probably the first game. just getting to at the point out ostep out on thefeel and playina some. a lot your team plates and yours truly you have to do homework, is that correct in. >> yeah, we do. our typers have been pretty nice to us, they haven't given us as much here as than did he in san bernadino because they know it's quite an accomplishment to get here, but it's something

different that other teams don't have to do. >> reporter: the good news for california if they can make it in to isn't am championship game, grant will be available to pitch. back to you. >> holman and the rest of his california teammates took a huge step tonight in reaching sunday's championship game. when they faced connecticut who was also undefeated and hole imagine stepped up yet again this, time at the plate. with a 3-run home run to give california a 6-3 victory. moving them to the title game of the american bracket on saturday. and if they win that game, they will play for the big trophy on sunday. now to the major league level where the race for the post season is about to hit its final stretch. with teams jockeying for playoff position. the atlanta braves are a virtual lock right now to play in october. they entered today's action with a 15-game lead in the national league east, but now they face the possibility of missing one of their best players for the foreseeable future. braves outfielder jason heyward sent to the hospital this afternoon after getting hit in

the face with a 90 miles an hour fast balling from new york mets fitcher jonathan niese. he suffered a broken jaw on the play. he's expected to miss the next four to six weeks which would put his available bit for the playoffs in question. seven months after tearing the acl in his right knee, robert griffin, ii. i icon tents he's completely reeled hao*eld and ready to play right now. but his head coach doesn't feel quite so confident and thus his work outs have been limited this president un, but today he took a noticeable step in us recovery as he took full speed, full team snaps against the redskins' first team defense for the first time since his knee surgery. washington kicks off the regular season in less than three weeks, against the eagles, and even show shanahan hasn't said that he will start the opener, rg3 says his eyes are set on file.

the first of four tournaments used to determine the tour's playoff champion. tiger woods the only two-time winner the fedex cup comes in to the weekend as the point leader. thanks to five wins on the year. now during tiger's practice round on wednesday, he cut part of his rounds short. due to some discomfort he felt while walking the course. >> yeah, my neck and back are a little bit stiff. it was stiff this morning after a soft bed and you know, it's just one of those things about sleeping in hotels and i didn't want to push it. so just took it easy and chipped and putted. >> and one more sports note. ichiro from the new york yankees reached 4,000 hits for his career, 1287 of them coming during his days in japan, but still a very significant milestone to reach in baseball. >> gotta love the guy. he's out there doing it at his age. >> still doing it. almost 40 years old, yeah. >> that's amazing. michael, thank you very much. >> uh-huh.

>> the heart of the hurricane season fast approach and new orleans still recovering from hurricane katrina, is rolling out a creative system to save people from the next disaster. robert ray has the story. >> reporter: it stands 14 feet tall, and weighs 800 pounds. and in new o new orleans this mc man say symbol of safety. >> not many public art projects serve a logical, functional role. the. >> reporter: in august of 2005, the world watched. >> i saved a few people, you know, out of the houses and i -- which i could have drowned myself being you know. >> thank you, thank you. >> reporter: the aftermath of hurricane katrina, proved to be a failure across all levels of government. eight years later, new orleans officials hope that they have their evacuation systems figures out. and art is part of the solution. >> somebody told me the other day it looks like somebody trying to catch mardi gras beads, we watched the whole

battle. >> reporter: in search of an iconic image, lieutenant colonel jerry nee sneed say marine of decades of experience and robert fogarty the founder i've grassroots songs joined forces. >> the city of new orleans prides itself in order "adrenaline" expert so forth. so we did a contest with the art community. >> reporter: with the help of the organize, the city has placed 17 of these metallic still the tuesday around new still the tuesday around new orleans. >> 25 to 30,000 of our citizens need assistants getting out. >> reporter: many of those people are handicapped. or don't have cars. this icon has the potential to save their lives. when trop camphors winds are 30 hours from impact on the cost of louisiana, contraflow goes in to effect. what that means is that major roads that normally go in to the city are then forced out. so people can evacuate. >> there are a couple of roads that we keep open for emergency vehicles that we may have to get

n but the major roads such as the interstate system are all going away from new orleans. >> reporter: in 2008, hurricane gustav was approach, con from ta flow was sending vehicles away from the city and 98% of the people left. >> we are the only major city that's ever did a full scale evacuation and it worked. >> reporter: but because the evacuation location signed were so small then, some people were confused about where to go. the city hopes that the 17 sculptures around town will help in the next big storm. >> i think it's an excellent idea. especially because people are aware of those places beforehand. tell them, say bye. >> reporter: for her, whose home in the lower ninth world was under 10 feet of water during katrina arc the sculptures of safety are a welcome sign. >> if he say it's time to go. it's time to go. we surrounded by water all over. >> reporter: a city with creatively. and a mission to never leave their citizens trapped again.

robert ray, al jazerra, new orleans. >> well, the nixon library has released the final installment of the former president's secretsly recorded phone calls and meetings. in one of the tapes president ronald regular an said of watergate, this too will pass. well, of course, it didn't. nixon resigned in 1974. america tonight with joey chen is coming up at the top of the hour. and coming up next, kevin has a check of the weather. stay with us. ♪ ♪