>> whom to al jazeera. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. disturbing new images from syria and the chemical weapons attack. tonight where the u.s. is moving military force he closer. life without parole. army staff sergeant robert bales gets the maximum for the massacre of civilians. and 50 years from martin luther king's most famous speech. has his dream become a reality?

>> first, tonight, president obama has asked the pentagon for military actions -- military options in syria and that's according to defense secretary chuck hagel. , the news comes on the heels of appalling new pictures from syria, the images taken soon after the alleged chemical weapons attack. wee want to warn you the pictures we're about to show you are extremely graphic. charles stratford has a report from syria. >> there seems little doubt that some kind of chemical weapon killed these people. this was shot by an independent journalist for itv news. children on their side, their faces contorted in pain, frozen in the agonizing moments they died. whatever killed these people killed indiscriminately, a cat, a flock of sheep and only feet

away a small crater and exploded metal. evidence witnesses say of one of the missiles that delivered whatever ended these people's lives. it was a small explosion, when we went down to see what's going on we smelt a strange odor. people says we needed to go upstairs because it was a chemical gas. then intensive shelings started, i was given oxygen and eye drops. this morning we discovered all families dead in their homes. i opened the door and saw a whole family killed with foam in their mouth and blood in their ears. we tried to avoid that but the children died immediately. >> this film describes how people died in their sleep. >> people heard the modification, but the people didn't understand. they were discovered dead by the rescue teams. >> another witness points the what he says is the remains of more than 12 missiles fell on

the area. he said the explosions were not loud so people initially thought the attack was some distance away. the syrian government has denied that it used chemical weapons but has also refused a team of u.n. chemical weapons experts access to the site. medical health to victims have subsequent died. chem experts say that evidence such as this could point to the possible use of a nerve agent. >> by looking at the videos you can tell that some of the victims are suffering in asphyxiation. they don't have any external wounds, so it is consistent with use of a chemical agent but unless somebody can go in and get samples it is very difficult to say exactly what happened. >> the longer the u.n. inspectors are kept out the harder it will be to prove exactly what happened and who was responsible for the attack. charles stratford, al jazeera.

>> analyst joins us from washington, d.c. mark, first of all give me your reaction to the announcement tonight that the navy is moving closer to syria. >> i think that they're just doing this as precaution if that's what they're actually doing. to send a message to the syrian government, and also, to the rebels in syria as well. but i shouldn't read too much into that. the mediterranean is not that big an area all things considered, and it doesn't really signal much, except that they're moving into the area. and giving the president more options if he wants to use them. >> you said that it's sending a message. what's the message? >> the message is that if chemical weapons were indeed used by the syrian government that, as the president indicated, that several, at least several red lines have been crossed and that the u.s.

is taking note of it. what that actually means in the short term and the long term need to be seen. but again, it's something that is something that can be done. but it may not be all that significant, or it may be a lot of noise signifying nothing in the end because we're talking about a president and an administration that really, really does not want to get involved in the syrian conflict. >> you saw those pictures just a moment ago right? >> yes. >> what do they tell us? >> without seeing more evidence, i would say from everything that i've heard about it and from the pictures themselves it would tend to indicate that chemical weapons were used. but more evidence needs to be gathered and processed. i mean on the surface it looks like chemical weapon was used. >> but we don't know who used them. >> that is correct. and that's another reason why

this administration wants to be extremely cautious in going forward on this. >> all right. mark kagan we appreciate it. thanks for joining us tonight. >> thank you. >> well, today in lebanon at least 42 people were killed after two bombs went off outside modification in the northern city of tripoli. the explosions happened after morning prayers and there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. the american soldier responsible for killing 16 afghan civilians last year will be serving life in prison without possibility of parole. staff sergeant robert bales, victims were women and children some as young as 22 years old. bales pleaded not guilty to avoid the death penalty. allen schauffler has the story.

>> no possibility of parole for sergeant robert bales, the soldier who has confessed to killing 16 civilians in kandahar province. for the afghans here, the harshest sentence was not harsh enough. >> they might release him, they might let him go. we have other issues that we're never going ofind out. >> our wishes were that he gets the death sentence. we didn't get our wish. >> haji wazir lost 11 family members in the five hour massacre. >> i'm asking average americans here if somebody jumps in your house in the middle of the night kills 11 members of your family and tried to burn them what kind of punishment would you be passing on that person? >> defense attorney emma scanlon quoted a chaplain saying bales

was attending regular bible session and was a member of the ptsd group. that one piece that chance of parole. in his closing statement the army prosecutor called bales a cold-blooded killer who in a matter of hours wiped out generations and he said there is only one appropriate sentence, a sentence reserved for the worst crimes and the worse criminals. at the press conference after the sentencing a 12 or 13-year-old boy was brought forward to show the scars of bales attacks. deep scars. his father said children in his country now run whether they see americans. >> when you send people to afghanistan or anyplace for rebuilding try to send the right people not maniacs like these. >> the prosecution said disappointing but not

surprising. their big win was when the death penalty was taken out of play. army doctor being nidal hasan admitted to murders and had no reaction as the guilty verdict was read. the next phase of the trial will begin monday. the jury will decide whether he will be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison. >> good evening, i'm meteorologist rebecca stevenson. we've been seeing most of the west in extreme drought conditions from nevada to parts of hoird and oregon. -- idaho and oregon. wildfires are spreading due to gusty winds an more lightning strikes. in fact for the month of august, we had 24 fires that were started by lightning strikes.

we have 14 large wildfires occurring. this does not count new lightning strikes that may have occurred tonight. northwest, eastern idaho, stretching southeast into montana. we've had such dry conditions that the swath of lightning storms bringing hundreds of strikes, is tracking out, our red flag warning indicating the favor lightning started fires, is favored for idaho as well. in addition to all these warnings stretched out across the northwest we've got dense smoke. big concerns as the overnight hours temperatures cool, the air gets a little heavier and sinks and smoke gets very thick, settles in the valleys and makes it difficult to breathe. those of you who have problems already with asthma and such are going to have more problems with early morning hours and we'll get a little mixing in the air and we'll see things improve somewhat in the afternoon but

not close to the fires in central idaho. so we're going obe watching this closely. we do have a little lightning in the cascades but as you move further over into the midwest that's when we have a lot of humidity moving in. and coming up i'll show you concerns of flooding tonight but concerns of sequestration cuts for the national weather service too coming up. 50 years after martin luther king's historic speech in washington america takes stock of how much has changed and what still needs to be done. plus, that huge wildfire burning in california has grown so big it's now reached yosemite national park.

>> next week will mark the tbitd anniversary of martin luther king's i have a dream speech. it was a pivotal moment in the struggle for civil rights. half a century lairt an african american is president. we asked one of president obama's mentors, robert ogletree how far we have come in 50 years. >> the march on washington happened in 1963, i was only ten years old. my parents were trying to watch on the black and white tv what this meant. here was dr. king talking about jobs, freedom, it was a great

event, now 50 years later, where are we? i think dr. king, gave us the plan but it's up to us to implement it. 50 years looking back on dr. king's dream in 1963 i have to say quite honestly it is in some sense the best of times and the worst of times. we have not made the progress that i expected us to make in the 50 years. if you think about it, some of the very same things that king talked about in 1963 are now issues with african americans in america in the year 2013. they were marching for jobs 50 years ago. now they're marching to get a job in the 21st century. because they're qualified to do it but they can't find work. dr. king told us in the speech the negro lives in the vast land of poverty among this great prosperity. in a sense it tells us we had a major problem in 1963.

in 2013, it haven't changed. when you look at the black haves and the black have nots we are going in the wrong direction. in the criminal justice system we have over 23 million in jail and over a million of them are african american. we've moved back in that sense. we don't think about treatment or rehabilitation. the cause of death is homicide, killing each other. we have an african american elected for the second time, that's progress. when president obama was elected in november 2008, the world crietd, worshipped, celebrated, it was just a glorious moment. and to see him elected with a sense of yes, we can, with a sense of home, all those were themes that made people really embrace him and embrace the country. and i expect that president

obama will not be the last african american president elected, i think he's the first but he's not last. when you think about looking back, 50 years from now, or 2063, i won't be around but my granddaughters will be around and i think they're going to be living in a society where they think there's more equality and justice and opportunity without regard to your color, without regard to your class. doors are opening, opportunities are opening. we see black ceos we see blacks in business we see blacks running universities. the reality is blacks are catching up with whites and it's going to continue. i'm very optimistic about the next 50 years. >> joining us now is marvin randolph the senior vice president of the naacp. welcome marvin thank you for being with us tonight. >> thank you for having me. >> so preparations are already underway in washington, d.c. and there are events this weekend as well. give me your feeling as you -- as we head into this week of

almost celebration and look back at the march and what it means for so many people in this country. >> well i think this is an outstanding mom to celebrate what -- moment to celebrate what our progress has been and what we still have to do to realize dr. king's dream. we're excited about what we know is going to be a remarkable event and remarkable activism going forward in our community around issues that we care about. so it's an exciting moment for us. >> an exciting moment almost like president obama was elected and sworn in? >> yes, exactly i would absolutely say that. i think one of the things that we're experience being right now is that we're seeing that while there are unprecedented attacks in our community around voting rights around a number of issues that there is a great resilience in the african american community and we are realizing great victories, we just repealed stop and frisk in new york. we just repealed the death

penalty in the state of maryland. people are excited about this, and organizing around a common cause, pushing that into the court of -- into public opinion and fighting to move the ball down the field with our issues. >> so many people, so many young people weren't even around in 1963. and probably don't have a real sense of the meaning of this event. what would you tell them? >> well, i think this is -- i think this is what's changed in this election. because you know after the voting rights act was, you know -- after the supreme court decision, you know, we saw changes that happened on the ground immediately that affected particularly the youth in striking ways. that really makes them realize that this is their movement right now. this is their civil rights movement. they started to make changes in texas hours after the voting rights act passed and in a place where you can vote if you have a gun i.d. but you can't vote if you have a student i.d. the way the youth are reacting

what's happened around trayvon martin and the serious discussions that are happening around racial profiling, the way the youth are activated in a way that's very different this might have been a couple of months ago a march celebrating a moment of history right now we are realizing a moment that is repeating itself in very interesting ways in our community and particularly among the youth standing at the precipice of making a difference. around the dream defenders a lot of things mirroring what you saw in the civil rights movement. >> do you think there are kids that are born today that are color blind? >> i think there is a myth that's been out there for a long time that we are moving a society that is postracial. i think we have made progress but the symbolism of people getting elected and the symbolism of african americans in different positions has some position in relevance.

we want to believe we live in a color blind society, that's what dr. king's dream was, that's what we have to strive for but we have to keep working as opeople and we have to keep working across cultures and ethnicities. >> we thank you for joining us. >> thank you so much. >> bob filner resigned as mayor of san diego but his legal problems might be starting. the california attorney general's office says it's opening a criminal investigation against mayor. filner resigned this afternoon after he reached a deal with city officials over a sexual harassment lawsuit and in a news conference he apologized for letting the city down. >> obviously, this is not a happy time for any of us. not for the city of san diego. not for those who represent and for my own part in causing all

this, i offer deep apology certainly to all the citizens of san diego and through you to the citizens that you represent. the city should not have been put through this. and my own personal failures were responsible. and i apologize to the city. >> so stephanie stanton is following this story. she joins us life from san diego. stephanie is there any indication that the mayor knew

city officials say they want to put this civic nightmare behind them. >> all the women that i offended, i had no intention to be offensive. to violate any physical or emotional space. i was trying to establish personal relationships. but the combination of awkwardness and hubris i think led to behavior that many found offensive. you know i started my political career facing lynch mobs. and i think we have just faced

one here in san diego. [applause] >> and you're going ohave to deal with that. in a lynch mob mentality, rumors become allegations. allegations become facts. facts become evidence. of sexual harassment. which have led to demands for that bob filner's last day in

office is august 30th. >> stephanie stanton thank you very much so much. the wildfire in yosemite has nearly doubled in size. melissa chan is in yosemite with more. >> the terrain is tough, steep and remote. thousands of firefighters and support workers are already here with more resources on the way but the flames continue to prevail. now on the doorstep of yosemite national park. thousands of homes are under threat. police have asked residents to leave. the red cross has set up evacuation centers and they say they will tape storm team 8 open as long as people need a place to stay. the fire shows no sign of stopping. if mandatory evacuations continue the shelters will fill up quickly. >> we have several buildings ready to receive people. we have cots set up. we have health services on location for people who might

need any of those services. and we have lots of volunteers from the community and red cross volunteers from all around this area. >> families try to carry on living as normally as possible. children at play, older kids in school and some parents off to work. but in the end the reality is that this is a waiting game. and the days are a mixture of bore do.comboredom and reality. >> i have my family and they're safe. i've got are pictures i can replace and those are important to me. but everything else can be replaced. >> this is such a wonderful place. gosh, you couldn't ask for a better place to come, you know for a bunch evacuees. they've got everything you could imagine. >> the fire now heads north up the canyon and east up the park.

with reenforcements on the way, firefighters hope to make headway and soon. melissa chan, al jazeera, california. >> mike leaves is here to talk about sports and drug testing. >> it's becoming a common theme in a lot of sports, the nfl and the players association have finally played progress for testing for human growth hormone. the union led by demore smith, to be held by an independent arbitrator rather than commissioner robert goodell. today the league agreed to that provision. texas defensive end antonio smith asked for an expedited appeal. smith will miss houston's last

preseason games. hall of famer vin scully will return for the 65th, six-five, year. he was inducted to the baseball hall of fame in 1982. he was by far the longest surviving sports broadcaster. the cost of syria's civil war next. plus rising waters in russia force mobilization of 30,000 people and things might not get better until october. october until

>> welcome back to al jazeera. i'm john siegenthaler. there are a lot of developments tonight regarding the alleged chemical weapons attack in

syria. the president's national security team will meet this weekend about possible options and defense secretary hagel says the united states is moving forces closer to syria in case the united states orders strikes. the u.s. britain and other countries have asked to grant access to a u.n. inspection team and that team is on the ground in syria. after this week' week's alld chemical weapons attack, the zacopino, doctor thankof people you for joining us. >> thank you.

>> you've had a chance to look at some of these pictures. what's your reaction? i mean obviously the of my colls in chemical and biological weapons and forensic specialists and myself reviewed more than 100 of the videos emerging out of syria in the last several days, looking at potential medical evidence for the use of chemical evidence and after a two day review, of these videos, and other source he of information, it's clear to us that the -- there's compelling medical evidence of the use of chemical weapons. most likely -- >> what's clear? >> what's clear from the videos is, a pattern of symptoms, o ths

gasps of air, apparent ag agonal breathing. some case of.pupillary constriction, these are all signs of a very specific type of effect what we call organophosphates that have a certain neurotoxicity. and the testimony people relate are one of very quick onset of these symptoms. so it's hard to imagine that these things could be faked in multiple sites in many places all at once. i've actually treated cases of or affect. serin gas,

referred to as gb, there's a ga, a gd and a vx. they all are very similar in their clinical effects. they have somewhat different profiles in their onset of action. some of them have an odor, others don't but they are all quite similar. >> how long after is there no danger? >> again, the volatility of the compound is different, according to the various i

examined may show residue for some persdz of time, days in fact, which may show the way of handling the shell casing. >> we are learning more about these chemical weapons. thank you dr. i.acpino. we appreciate it. meanwhile, president assad, the united nations say there are 1 million refugees. imron khan has the story. >> for a million syrian children this is now their life. ibrahim is ten years old. he arrived a few days ago and so

far it's one big adventure but for one so young he says he's seen a lot. we fled shellings and bombings, we were being bombed and they just destroyed us. now i'm here. i just want to go back to my school and back to my friends. >> according the one estimate 10,000 children have arrived here since thursday and the u.n. says registering them is top priority. >> now they are identifying all the children that are school age and also the children with the special needs. so this information will be relate to unicef and unicef then after will walk on them regularly. >> this camp has a long way to go before it's ready to deal with the needs of children but the agencies involved are confident it will happen. this camp and many like it require schools, require hablghts centers.

imagine if this is your reality or your earlest memory. requiring resources that simply are not here yet. the children help out as best they can and play in the dufs of the cam. imran khan. al jazeera. >> forecasters say the water in russia will not start to recreed until late september or early october. so far the flood has destroyed 2,000 people in amoor. >> there will be huge relief among the estimated 30,000 volunteers and rescue workers that are trying to cope with this flood that the rain has held off today because it certainly hasn't in the past. they've had nearly two weeks of torrential rain here and in quhoin. scores are dead in china on the

imur river, the river that has broken across the defenses on the road and really the front line in terms of the rescue efforts to try and keep the are water back and pump out what's come in. now as far as a worst case scenario goes, one of the senior ministers who's a minister for the far east, the russian far east has warned that as many as 100,000 people may have to be moved from their homes, if the water continues to rise. it's up seven meters now. if that happened, it would put unbearable pressure on the emergency services that are already so stretched. so really, the motto here, the by-word is prepare yourself and just do what you can in preparation for what may come. >> that's peter sharp reporting from the floods in russia tonight. mexican authorities dwhairm

at least five -- claim that at least 5 bodies were found, al jazeera's adam rainey, reports from mexico city. >> the bodies were found in a park about an hour and a half from mexico city. authorities are required to establish identities. it is a first break that has angered people and their families for months. taken from the club in the middle of the day. despite catching images of the kidnappers on surveillance cameras investigators had few leads. family members of the victims and the public at large have criticized the mayor and authorities for not doing enough to solve the case. the bodies were only uncovered when federal authorities not investigators from mexico city came to the park looking for a stash of weapons. for years mexico city has been

considered an oasis of safety. one of the club's owners was arrested another ran away and turned up dead. four others have been found dead. >> where these victims were taken from in may and despite advances in investigation there are still many unanswered questions perhaps primarily why they were even targeted in the first place. >> prosecutors said these were caught up in a dangerous arriv . investigation could have been more thorough. >> some people here in tepito say just let it go but we are human beings and we have rights to justice, too. >> from my point of view, authorities are doing as much as they can. they are not magicians. i see that they are doing what they can and a lot of time has gone by already. >> family members had waited for

months for news of their loved ones. this may offer them some sort of closure but not the answer they were looking for. adam rainey. al jazeera. police countered by firing tear gas. farmers are demanding government help to compete with exeep imported food. lifting all roadblocks before talks can tart. portuguese farm are trying to control fires across that country. most in the northern and central regions of the country. one firefighters died yesterday, nine others were injured. next up a rare sighting of a tribe deep in the amazon rain forest. they usually live in isolation. why they might be making this appearance. and we find out more about the

long term effects of sports related head injuries. we'll hear from a former nfl player's perspective indemnity in sports. -- next in sports.

al jazeera america - a new voice in american journalism - >>introduces america tonight. >>in egypt, police fired teargas at supporters of the ... >>a fresh take on the stories that connect to you. [[voiceover]] they risk never returning to the united states. >>grounded. >>real. >>unconventional. [[voiceover]] we spent time with some members of the gangster disciples. >>an escape from the expected.

>>i'm a cancer survivor. not only cancer, but brain cancer. 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 >> sales of new homes took a dive last month, analysts suggested that higher mortgage rates could be driving demand.

average house prices were up $7500. a dam project turning a south korean river dwree green h algae. sales of bottled water are soaring. lawrence louie reports. >> its it meanders across the south korean water. bun butt meanwhile the appearance of algae, lots of it. plant like microorganisms. even from the air the greenish hue is evidence. it is not unusual to haval gea in the water, it's just how much, that's a worry. >> i've been fishing here for 30 years. but there's a lot of grain this year and now, i only fish for fun. >> the algae is a worry and the

environmental agency has issued an alert. >> i've managed to scoop up some of this algae. it could be potentially harmful to humans. some residents here have given it the name green tea latte. >> among different types of green algae there is microcystus which contains a toxic spans but that is not detected in the test. >> scientists say it is a convergence of factors, including high temperatures and the flow of water. there are as many as eight dams along the nak dong river. vinylists say it's causing the water to stagnate in some parts. >> we should open water gates completely before green algae

occurred regularly either that or tear down the reservoirs as they cause huge ecological and economic problems and also flooding. >> tearing down reservoirs may be too drastic a move for government. for now water management officials have reported to using containment lines to stop the flow of algae. but if this turns into a yearly phenomenon, a better plan may be needed. florence louie, al jazeera, south korea. >> welcome back everyone. we have breaking news, coming from california. it involves this wildfire in yosemite, and just hours ago the governor jerry brown that ird a state of emergency, because it

threatens the electricity supply of san francisco. what that means we don't know. now michael eves is here to talk about sports. >> in june more than 2,000 former nfl players filed the largest suit ever? players probably aren't shocked by report in the new york times today that says the nfl pressured media partner espn to pull out of an gairve project regarding head injuries in the league. in spoons the nfl denied ever telling espn formally or informally, to divorce itself from the project. phil pamplion, the united states of football, examining football

and concussions. >> what i'm trying to do is take the helmet off and care for these people, feel like you're in their living rooms alone with them and their wives. they're like dudes down the street. >> the human interest in nfl players, needs to come back. if it's okay to go to the stadium and clap, and get you away from your week of work and misery, you see your favorite team make a play and make the game, keep your human interest there. that guy what he needed then versus what he needs now, there has to be a human interest when the cheering stop. >> john when you see john macey before he passed on, and go through the rough period of dementia and all things of that nature you sort of need a face in order to bring attention to it. unfortunately this is what's

happened of late, we have seen more of these gentlemen succumb to it and paying attention to it. >> john mackey and wvmentdenzel, it was difficult to shoot it because i had a very strong connection to their wives. they invited me in because they wanted people to see it. as a culture we don't want to see it, look away from it. we don't want to know that we are rooting for something that does this to people. everybody sits there people are praying and then they take them off the field, they're baiting for this and then it's this and then okay he's gone all right third and 6 what are we doing? eventually we have to reevaluate what the game is and we have to understand what it is exactly we're roading for. i think the biggest things that's made a difference guys like leonard these guys are starting to share their stories, isolated, in a culture that makes them suppress their pain. they don't want to share, they

don't want to seem weak, they don't want their teammates to know because they are in competition, you want to get running into these problems, they don't want to complain because that's not what a macho guy does but they are getting together like a real fraternity compares their stories. they are seeing similarities, the elephant in the room is outside the room now, you can't ignore it. a dangerous situation in tampa where two buccaneers have contracted mersa, both discovered the problem if their toes. the bucs have taken the precaution to sanitize their facility. point guard chris paul became the newest president of

nba players association of. continuing to test for hdh or make changes about the dress code. i spoke to paul a few moments ago and he completely denies this saying quote they don't know what they're talking about. paul is currently visiting family in his home town in north carolina. the first tournament of the pga's posttour, tiger woods started the second round of the barclays he was 5 under for the tournament but he wasn't able to finish due to darkness. woods is seeking his sixth victory of the season and third fedex championship. third round action will continue on saturday. >> all right mike thanks very much. when we get back to this

breaking news that we've been telling you about out in california. the governor in california has declared a state of emergency for san francisco because the yosemite wildfire is apparently threatening the infrastructure there. and we should tell you that what happened today was, they are urging people in yosemite national park to leave the park because of this wildfire. it's exploded over the last 24 hours, doubled in size and now it's threatening to cause real problems, power problems in san francisco. rebecca stevenson is here to talk about the weather and its impact on the fire. >> the fact that it's been so dry since the beginning of the year, we were talking about oregon and california being set up to burn because they hadn't had enough rainfall and i wanted to add that hydroelectric power is the major feeder there in the west so they're probably seeing some impact on that as well with water supply. >> how about wind?

>> the winds have been somewhat gusty near the water it's gusty but as you get into the mountains you start to deal with the air starting to cool off and sink and as it does that into the valleys it gets far more gusty. but the fire itself will create its own weather in that the heat of the fire begins to rise. and the hotter that air gets the faster it rises. so the fire itself is the real danger here as it creates these whirls in these whirl winds of fire as it begins to bring great speeds. >> let's go to jim kyle. jim what can you tell us? >> hi john, actually i'm back in san francisco now, i was in yosemite earlier today. the issue regarding hetch-hetchy which is the main reservoir in yosemite which basically supplies the entire water supply for san francisco, is jepped

somjeopardized by the city of sn francisco. the city actually onus the reservoir, they supply all the services. mayor ed lee declared the state of emergency. it cuts through red tape so that all the services that are required to preserve the services from the reservoir are instantly initiated. nobody has to go through red tape to send out firefighters, whatever. and basically to ensure that the approximate 2.7 million residents of san francisco who get water from hetch-hetchy is uninterrupted. >> we did read that the governor has state of emergency due to the damage to the electrical infrastructure. do you know anything about that? >> as i said a moment ago, san francisco, the city of san

francisco owns hetch-hetchy. what that means is, they maintain the electrical infrastructure, which supplies the water. aqueducts whatever so that's delivered. that enables that -- those services are protected. >> so the real concern leer is about the water supply? >> i'm sorry. >> it doesn't appear that the power is about to go out is that it? >> no, it has nothing to do with power. it's the infrastructure which serves the reservoir which ensures that the water is delivered properly. they just want to make sure that there's an uninterrupted service and they need to have the ability to send whatever workmen is necessary there. actually, when at the live shot location that i was at this morning i saw several hetch-hetchy workers going up a roadway and they were there to -- on their way to maintain and protect whatever services needed to be protected. >> all right, that's good information jim and very helpful

in explaining the situation. a state of emergency has been declared by the governor and as jim said by the mayor of san francisco because they want to protect the water supply and make sure that there is power to get the water to the city of san francisco. we'll continue to follow this through the night on al jazeera. stay with us for updates on this break news and at the top of the hour america tonight with joie chen.

>> as we talk about all the dry weather in the west when we start to get a lot of heavy rain flash flooding is a big concern and we've been adding nevada into idaho for some of these flash flood watches. popping up into parts of colorado and we're seeing also flash floods warned for parts of georgia and florida. the big problem here is the fact that we have some sequestration cuts on stream flow. we're going to talk more about this in the days ahead but we want to get back to live coverage of san francisco.

>> welcome to al jazeera.about i'm john siegenthaler. we have breaking news to tell you about tonight. the governor of california jerry brown has declared a state of emergency in san francisco because of the wildfire raging near yosemite park. jim kyle, you were describing earlier this is about as much about water as it is about electricity. explain why. >> yes, john, the city of san francisco actually owns the hetch-hetchy reservoir which is the primary water supply for the city of san francisco, servi