welcome to al jazeera, i'm john siegenthaler in new york. here is look at the headlines. the state department says there's no conclusive evidence about the alledged chemical weapons attack, but the rebels say they have proof. stepping down, san diego's mayor may resign tomorrow. a bank intern dies after spending 72 straight hours on the job, a look at the culture of the money business. ♪

international outrage over the alleged chemical weapons attack in syria is growing tonight. now there are reports that not only were hundreds of residents killed, emergency responders including nurses have also died. the alleged attack happened in a the suburb of damascus. here is what we know now . . . al jazeera cannot independently confirm the videos and it is still unclear whether chemical weapons were used. >> reporter: images of syrian civilians dead and wounded from alleged chemical attacks are bringing new calls for military intervention.

in france the foreign minister says the international community must respond with force. >> translator: france's position means there must be a reaction. not sending troops on the ground, but a reaction. not only international condemnation, but a reaction that could take the shape of the use of force. >> we're still focused on nailing down the facts. if these reports are true, it would be an outrageous and flagrant escalation of the use of chemical weapons by the regime. >> reporter: senator john mccain favors limited military strikes to degrade assad's air power. in a press release, mccain said . . .

but there's little indication of u.s. action for you. from new york state, president obama was talking about education, not syria. conveying only through his press secretary that the u.s. is appalled. >> here with us now is profess mark levine. thanks for being us. >> it's great to be here. >> it's disturbing news and those pictures are so powerful, and so sad. what if he did.

but if there is enough proof -- >> let me stop you there for a moment. because the experts suggested we might not be able to find out, an looked at what hand and saw the conditions of the body and the way the victims were responding. what people don't know yet is who used the toxin. and i have heard the area has already been.c -- bombed again

the international community or at least the majority could decide it has to take action. >> you know there were calls in this country for

>> right. but if you do that and don't provide support for the rebels,

you are not going to change the power. >> all right. thank you very much. former egyptian president mubarak was released from jail today, but his legal problems are not over. >> reporter: a helicopter rises from the prison after hours of legal procedure, hosni mubarak is released, but his immediate designation is a very short flight down the road, the medical facility. his release at this stage is very much a technical term. he will remain under house arrest in temples of a state of emergency decree issued be the interim prime minister. >> translator: we have lost everything. now the police state will return, injustice will return, and every other negative thing

will come back to us. >> reporter: mubarak is expected to be back behind bars in the courtroom on sunday when his charges of comply -- complicity resumes. leaders of the muslim brotherhood will also appear on the same day. they stand accused of inciting violence during the demonstrations that followed the takedown of the morsi government. the self style youth body that spearheaded mass protest, has called for courts to strongly pursue the prosecution of mubarak and morsi, and ironically it accuses the morsi government in not being aggressive enough in taking action against mubarak, and because of this morsi must take responsibility for the release of the man he replaced.

well the wildfire burning near yosemite national park has more than tripled in size. yosemite spans three counties in the eastern part of california. the fire encroaching it now, 95 square miles and is only 2% contained. that's down from 5% yesterday. melissa chan joining us from through the bureaucratic red tape and second resources faster. the firefighters need all the

help they can get. >> it's not burning into yosemite national park yet, but it is moving towards the east towards the park. yosemite is an iconic national park, so there is a lot of interest in whether or not it will be impacted by the park. >> for now yosemite remains open, but only a small part of the fire has been contained. this is a remote and mountainous part of california, and one of many wildfires happening simultaneously across the western united states. this week the federal government announced a pl5 situation, the highest on the scale, something not seen since 2008. it means resources are stretched. teams move from fire to fire,

hopscotching across states. despite the size of this fire, there has been minimal loss to property so far. a few buildings destroyed early on, but none damaged in the last couple of days. >> we're a strike team from sacramento, and we will assigned to protection in the pine mountain lake area. we're just going through the area, checking it out. >> at least every decade we have a major fire up in this area, and i have been through several and been evacuated, and we -- we did all right before. but with pine mountain lake here, there are so many houses and so many trees in one small area, that if it got in here -- you know, i'm afraid that would be it. >> reporter: more help continues to arrive, but no one knows how

long the fight will take before the flames subside. >> i understand there are evacuations situation. and at least one resident did not want to leave. >> ma'am, i'm not going to ask you again. please pull over. no, you are going to pull over -- >> i don't want you to tell me that i'm out -- >> ma'am, you are all right out. >> the only reason i pulled up is to talk to you -- >> i don't know that -- >> you don't? >> please pull over. >> i'm just telling you -- >> ma'am, you are delaying right now -- >> back up. >> no, ma'am. pull over. pull over.

>> reporter: this is obviously very emotional for a lot of the residents here. they are leaving and they are not entirely sure whether their house will be standing when they return. but the track record so far has been pretty good. a homes soon. >> melissa chan, thank you very much. ♪ when you see the personal interest part of those stories, evacuations mean evacuations do get out of the area. when they tell you to do that, you need to get out. there has been a little bit of good news in terms of how many wildfires are in the western

part of the united states. yesterday at this time there were 61 burning. it has come down and right now we're talking about 55. so still quite a bit. what can we expect to see tonight? still red flag warnings are still in effect. we have seen a little bit of contraction here. right along the border we will still looking at that as well. severe storms in parts of idaho tonight. those are causing severe thunderstorms as well as the possibility of lightning. temperatures in boise, 78 degrees right now, you were 95 degrees. and salt lake city is about 82. tomorrow it will be as warm here as well as down towards redding at about 93.

down towards florida. we'll take you there next time i see you, but it has been raining for a couple of days. i'll have the debails on that later on. >> all right kevin thanks. reports say that san diego major, bob filner has agreed to step down as part of an agreement to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit. 17 women have accused the former congressman of sexually harassing them, and stephanie stanton has been covering these recent developments. she is live in san diego.

include some kind of financial payout to bob filner, and that does not sit well with high profile attorney gloria albright. she had been meeting with city attorneys, with filner's attorneys earlier this week to work out some kind of settlement, but she says that she does not -- this is between she and bob filner, and she says under no circumstances should the taxpayers of san diego pay

bob filner anything to leave office. >> i would like to see a resignation without conditions, and without taxpayers have comed accusing bob filner of inappropriate behavior. >> all right. thanks very much, stephanie. a truly gripping account of a school shooting. a school clerk turned crisis management team in the blink of an eye. and robert bales the soldier who admitted to killing more

than a dozen afghan civils says he is sorry.

[[voiceover]] every day, events sweep across our country. and with them, a storm of views. how can you fully understand the impact unless you've heard angles you hadn't considered? antonio mora brings you smart conversation that challenges the status quo with unexpected opinions and a fresh outlook. including yours.

my name is jonathan betz. i'm from dallas, texas, and i'm an anchor for al jazeera america. >>my name is ranjani chakraborty, i'm from houston, texas. >>i'm kim bondy. >>nicole deford. >>and i'm from new orleans. >>san francisco, california. when i was a little kid, i just really loved the news. >>news was always important in my family. >>i knew as a kid that was exactly what i wanted to do. >>i learned to read by reading the newspaper with my great-grandfather every morning. >>and i love being able to tell other people stories. >>this is it, i want to be a part of this. >>this is what really drove me to al jazeera america. the american soldier responsible for killing 16 afghan civilians is apologizing. robert bales took the stand in the sentencing phase of his military trial, and rob reynolds reports on his apology, and what it means for his case. >> reporter: i wish i could take it back, but i can't.

speaking in a low, halting voice, bales apologized to the families of the african civilians he murdered, and said he disgraced his own family. what i did was an act of cowardous bales concluded, behind a mask of bravado. bales has pleaded guilty to sill 16 african civilians. he does not face the death penalty for those crimes, and is trying to avoid life in prison without the possibility of parole. bales did not describe his actions in detail. he said he asked himself why he killed, but said he couldn't find a reason. the prosecution was not permitted to cross examine anyone bales. he also described mounting feels

of rage, anger in the years he was deployed in combat. he said during home leave he drank heavily and would get furiously angry during routine household chores like washing dishes. >> i think he passed on the sense of frustration that multiple deployed soldiers have, when they are dealing with a normal stress-inducing incident, and everything gets out of proportion. >> reporter: bales said he was in a constant state of fear. on the night of the massacre he said he had taken steroids then drank alcohol and took sleeping pills. the defense and prosecution will present their closing arguments in the case on friday.

rob reynolds, al jazeera, tacoma, washington. the fate of hueson began. he passed on his final chance to address jurors. he killed 13 fellow soldiers in 2009 mexican police have pulled bodies from a massive grave outside of mexico city. the bodies they found in an area of an ecological park, and six people have been arrested in connection with the case. teachers in mexico are blockading main government office, they are protesting

plans to make them take classroom evaluations. as adam reports unions believe the assessments might still be brought in. >> reporter: digging in to keep the pressure on. these teachers camped outside of mexico's lower house of congress have blocked legislators from entering since monday. they have convinced members of the lower house to leave out the most controversial measure of an education reform package. a teacher summed up her concerns and that of thousands of others. >> translator: they want to compare us with richer countries. if they want to implement these reforms we should get the same support teachers and students get in those other countries. >> reporter: those pushing for

reform say tracking the performance of teachers is critical. >> if we don't get the right teachers and right school representatives for our children, it will be tough for mexico to fully develop. >> reporter: teachers remain camped outside here, they say they want to keep the pressure on members of congress to make sure they don't try to vote again on this provision, which if passed would mean that teachers would be evaluated and could perhaps face losing their jobs. teachers have been marching to the senate too. if he loses this battle with teachers, his plan to allow the state to allow private investment could be in jeopardy too. ♪ >> it's time now for sports.

michael eaves is here. it seems like there is a story about steroids just about every day now. >> seemingly. but ryan brawn has now spoken publicly about his punishment. he admitted to take a cream and lozenge in 2011. and he apologized to the sample collector. he accused the collector of being anti-semitic. aaron hernandez is one step closer to possibly facing life in prison. he was indicted on a first degree murder charge in the death of a former friend. and in golf, tiger woods carted a four under par 67 today at the barclays. woods is currently three strokes off of the lead, and if he wins, it will be his sixth victory of

the year. >> all right. michael we'll see you later. a young bank intern worked 72 hours straight, then collapsed and died. we'll be back after the break.

we'll be back after the break. welcome back to al jazeera, i'm john siegenthaler. the fire threatening yosemite

national park tripled in size. right now firefighters are losing the battle against the blaze. it is only 2% contained down from 5% yesterday. the state department says it cannot conclusively determine if chemical weapons were used on civilians. opposition forces claim hundreds died after a rocket attack. former egyptian president, hos hos hosni mow bar rack was released from prison and will be under house arrest. >> reporter: a fairly sizable protest at the white house. these are mostly christians here to urge barack obama to stand

against the muslim brotherhood by continuing aide to egypt's government. >> the muslim brotherhood had their chance and they did not do well for the egyptian people. we are supporting egypt to go back to the peaceful ways. >> reporter: after this military crackdown, newspapers and a few members of congress called for the president to stop the aid. the white house admitted in a remark that mostly went unnoticed, the u.s. is still giving aide to the egyptian military. >> the department of defense said the answer is yes. >> but the department of defense refused to answer questions about what they have been buying the egyptian military.

since july 2nd, they have spent millions to train military officers, and signed cat for more than $13 million to egypt can replace engines on its f-16 fighter jets. when asked about that, the department of defense says ask the state department. the state department has been saying ask the dod. >> i don't have a break down about a specific example. >> reporter: what usofficials will say is the u.s. is not taking sides, but they are still spending money to buy the egyptian military us-made equipment. whether they will ever give it to them, all of the departments said it's under review. banks are coming unscrutiny for how they treat interns after a college student died because

he allegedly worked 72 hours straight. he was an intern at banc of america in london, and worked eight all nighters in two weeks. a bank spokesman said the bank was waiting about the facts on the death before deciding to review its program. >> reporter: the warning signs were there, but for the 21 year old it was too late. the young student from germany was nearing the end of his internship when he died at his home. he had reportedly just worked for 72 hours when he collapsed in the shower. his profile on a social media website since shut down had revealed an ambitious streak. a pressure to outrun the composition. a fellow intern described him as being tipped for greatness, and expected to perform beyond

expectation. >> those individuals are so driven, so keen to get a job with those organizations that they push themselves and push themselves, and in the end they push themselves over the edge. it's up to the leader of the team to see what is happening, and even if these individuals keep volunteering for week, which some of them will do, to turn around and say, no, you have done enough. you need to have some rest. >> reporter: an internship is often seen as a valuable recruitment tool. many say that interns do work punishing schedules in the banking industry, offering them a glimpse of what is to come if they gain employment in the profession. one bankers who didn't want to be identified revealed some of the serious side effects suffered by those working at these institutions. >> i worked next to one person

who got bells pallsy and his face sagged. there was someone who did three all nighters in a row and walked out and got hit by a bus because they were so dazed. this recent event did not surprise me in the least. >> reporter: his best has provoked the question, how much is too much? regulators say they will meet with key market players after thursday's shut down at nasdaq. there was no trading at the exchange for three hours. they are blaming the outage on connectivity issues. a trial which is gripping china is entering its second way. bo xilai is facing charges of afuse. he has denied the charges.

>> reporter: john it's very interesting what is happening today in the fact that we're not getting as much information as we did around the same time yesterday. what has been so extrordanaire about this trial -- two things really, one the fact that bo xilai was so adamant in his defense, and trying to rip apart the communist party against him. the other thing is that so much information has been coming out from the court. the courtroom has its own social media account, on which it has been publishing probably selective, but extensive sections of the transcript. and eventually making him admit that bo as far as he knew didn't

know what was going on, it was his son and wife that allegedly took these bribes. what we know from bo so far is he will be presented with his own confession to the intern -- which he made last year. the interesting thing will be how much weight that gets in this criminal case. because if this is as open and fair of process as the communist party is trying to make out, then presumably that evidence shouldn't be considered at his criminal trial. still ahead, michael eaves joins us next with sports. and take a look at what happened in louisiana yesterday. a sinkhole swallowed trees and drained the water right out of the bayou.

jazeera america. >> i'm kim bondy, growing up in news the interesting thing will be and take a look at what

[[voiceover]] every day, events sweep across our country. and with them, a storm of views. how can you fully understand the impact unless you've heard angles you hadn't considered? antonio mora brings you smart conversation that challenges the status quo with unexpected opinions and a fresh outlook. including yours. content while setting new standards in journalism.

>> a new voice of journalism in the u.s., al jazeera america. america. >> we tell the human store ri from around the block, across how much weight that gets in happened in louisiana yesterday. how much weight that gets in happened in louisiana yesterday. now we tourn a school shooting near atlanta. authorities have released the tape of a 911 call made during the shooting on tuesday. on the tape a school bookkeeper talks to the man accused of opening fire. you can hear her giving the operator a play-by-play of the entire deal, and trying to calm the suspect.

>> yes, ma'am, i'm on second avenue, and the gentlemen said tell them to hold down the police officers, he is going to start shooting. so tell them to back off. >> one moment. >> do not let anybody in the building, including the police. oh he just went outside and started shooting. [ gunfire ] . >> oh, can i run. >> can you get somewhere safe? >> yeah, i got to go. he is going shoot me when he comes back. oh, hold down. >> put the phone down. >> hello, ma'am? >> okay. he said -- he said to tell them to back up, he doesn't want the kids. he wants the police, so back off, and -- and what else, sir? he says he don't care if he dies. he don't have nothing to live

for. and he says he is not mentally stable. okay. we're not going to hate you baby. it's a good thing that you are giving up. i just want you to know that i love you. okay. i'm proud of you. that's a good thing that you are giving up, and don't worry about it. we all go through something in life. you don't want that. i tried to commit suicide last year after my husband left me. but look at me now. i'm still working and everything is okay. >> what an amazing lady and what a terrific job she did. joining us more to talk more about this incident is jamie zeller, she is the president of the california emergency dispatch association. jamie thancalm,

and in turn kept the caller very calm. >> yeah, kindra mccrae was the ? >> these calls come along probably once in a dispaper's career. so it's very important to keep these callers calm. and that's where our training sets in. >> it sounds like this bookkeeper saved the lives of these people and did diffuse the situation. >> absolutely. the way she was speaking to that man,him,

and trying to talk him down from his emotional state. she absolutely did save lives. >> she was not only talking to the dispatcher, but the suspect at the same time, and then relaying the information back. answer me this, is it often that the negotiators onnumber, and t make contact that way. >> so instead of having a negotiator talk to this guy, she began to talk to him, and said,

you know, calm down, relax, you know, it's not going to be a problem. you are doing a good thing by giving up,. she was wonderful. >> let me play this tape at the end just -- just for a second, and listen to what happened after police began to take him into custody. >> okay. you just got your phone. okay. that's fine. tell them to come on. that's all he got is his phone. [ inaudible ] >> it's just him. okay. it's just him. uh-huh. hello? >> yes. >> i'm going to tell you something, baby, i have never been so scared in all of the days of my life. >> you did great.

>> oh, jesus. >> you did great. >> oh, god. >> she was so courageous and then finally she let down her guard. what you heard was police coming in and making a lot of noise there, and she is sitting there watching this whole thing unfold and thoughts going through your mind as a dispatcher, and it's very difficult for all of them. >> it's a great lesson for people who call 911, because listening to thisto get this st

because it's such a powerful and emotional story, and one that ended up with a happy ending. >> yes, it did. thank you for having me. a massive sinkhole in louisiana is swallowing everything in sight including large trees. take a look at this. the sinkhole opened up about a year ago after an underground salt dome collapsed. in florida a sinkhole swallowed up a lake. people who live near the pond said it looked low, but later in the afternoon, it was drinking into the sinkhole. so far no homes have been evacuated.

♪ michael eaves is here to talk about sports. michael aaron hernandez again in the news. >> yeah, the legal issues continue for him. a grand jury in massachusetts indicted aaron hernandez today in the murder of a form friend. the indictment which also includes weapons charges, charges him with killing a 27-year-old who was dating the sister of hernandez's girlfriend at the time of his death. he is currently being held without bail. police have yet to find the murder weapon in this case. the attorneys for hernandez say they are confident that they can clear their client's name. one month after major league baseball suspended ryan braun for using performance enhancing

drugs, he has released a statement. he admitted to taking an unspecified cream and lozenge in an attempt to return from an injury. he said quote . . . end quote. one day after taking a 90 mile an hour fast ball to the face, heyward underwent surgery.

wednesday in williamsport, pennsylvania, teams from california and japan earned spots in the little league world series, but today four more teams were playing for the chance to join them. >> reporter: it was a wet and soggy elimination night here at the little league world series, but mexico is moving on after beating panama 4-2 in 7th innings, and they will take on japan on saturday once again for the international championship. in the u.s. bracket, washington was scheduled to take on washington tonight, but because of the weather it will be faced back until tomorrow afternoon. the winner of that game will face the kids from california. the kids have california have

been the rock stars. there is also a spark plug on the team, and he is looking to bring home a championship. >> it feels great, because -- i'm just really happy that we came out on top yesterday. >> reporter: did you believe that you guys were going to win? because you were down 3-1? >> i had trusted my team that we were going to come back and win. >> reporter: they will have a huge advantage, because they will be well rested while their opponent will be playing on back-to-backdates. despite five pga tour wins, with a $2 million cushioning in earnings on a year that some are trying to make it out to be a bad year for tiger woods because he didn't win a major.

rain brought out two separate delays thursday, but they didn't seem to effect woods who had a round of 67 thanks to four birdies. woods is the only two-time winner of the fedex cup. two weeks after seeking clarification on russian's anti-gay law, the international olympic committee said it has been assured that visitors will be welcome regardless of sexual orientation. a law was passed in june in russia banning the propagandizing of sexual relations. a lot of controversy surrounding some international sporting events going to russia. >> i think we'll hear more about this as we get closing to the

olympics. >> absolutely. the uk's wine industry is booming, and has its continental rivals in sight. >> reporter: the uk is known for many things like buckingham palace, the beatles, westminster, wimbledon, but wine, really? >> yes, really. >> reporter: simon swapped the corporate life for the quiet life. this is one of a rapidly growing vinery popping up. >> the quality of the product is fantastic. >> reporter: look around and you can see the level of investment here. lots of new equipment, and -- simon's first batch goes on sale to the public in a matter of days.

this country has just gone through a bit of a heat wave. is it climate change? that's probably a question for another day, but what everybody here is aware of is how unpredictable the british weather is. last summer it rained, it was cool, it was miserable, and the yield was pretty her -- horrendous as a result. they only have 420 vineyards and around 100 wineries. france has 110,000 vineyards and 27,000 wineries. for the uk that means there is still a lot to learn. >> we have been going for 60 years. so we don't have the experience. we don't have the perfect answer to how to get good commercial-year-olds. >> reporter: the rest of the

wine-making world is unlikely to be too concerned, but for now the uk's wine makers will just success big ambition. take a look at what happened on a crowded beach in russian. a military landing craft arrived pretty much out of nowhere. the beach was supposed to empty, because it is military, but obviously it was not empty. next up a check of the weather is kevin corriveau. ♪

the beach was supposed to empty, with an autographed jersey, and

♪

well it's getting very close to the within, and some of you may have plans to go down towards florida. unfortunately i wish i had better news for you, because the rain that you see right here is going to continue, and in some places we expect to see anywhere between 4 and 6 inches of rain. that is mostly north of orlando, so very messy conditions but really most of florida is going to be seeing rain. temperatures look like this. atlanta is all the way down towards 73. and down towards miami we will looking at 88 there. the heavy rain will be down here, and southern parts of georgia, and the rain has been going on as long as i have been on shift here. we have seen a lot of flooding

going on as well. over towards atlanta, take a look at your forecast, it looks like by monday the rain is going to be ending. here in parts of the northeast, we did have rain earlier today. that has ended. there's a few more showers out there, but things like quite nice over the next couple of days. for new york we're at 73. washington at about 77. and the u.s. open is going to start on monday. sunny skies, temperature of 83 degrees. by tuesday we're looking at about 85 there. across parts of arizona over the next couple of days -- [ technical difficulties ] your headlines are up next.

welcome to al jazeera, i'm john siegenthaler. here is a look at the headlines. california's governor has declared a state of emergency where the yosemite fire is burning. it's more than tripled in size, 84 square miles are now burning, and 2500 homes are in danger. embattled san diego mayor bob filner will reportedly resign tomorrow. a massive sinkhole in louisiana is swallowing everything in sight,