it good morning. >> this isaj. i am stiff knee sy. these are some of the stories we are following at this hour. the huge wildfire devastating much of yosemite national park is this morning threatening something much bigger: san francisco's power grid. that has prompted the governor of california to declare a state of emergency for the region. the suspected chemical weapons attack in syria that killed hundreds has the u.s. considering possibility military options. president obama meets with his top advisors today and u.s. war ships are on the ready in the mediterrrainian. >> i have a dream. my 4 little children will one

day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colors of their skin but by the content of their character. i have a dream today. >> fifty years after martin luther king's most famous speech, americans descend on the nation's capitol to keep his dream alive. california's wildfire raging out of control and moving further into yosemite national park, the fire so menacing, a state of alert has been declared by governor jar brown. for san francisco, the flames are tearing through acres of pristine woodlands. the fear is that million dollars of people in northern camera could lose their water and power. yosemite is on the eastern side of the state, almost 190 miles

from san francisco. but most of the bay area's water and power flow right through that area. kilmany duchardt has more. >> it's the fastest moving wildfire in the west if he hfed the fire itself. at risk, the grid and water supply some 150 miles away. >> it has affected our water and power system. >> reporter: two of three hydroelectric powerhouses that supply energy to this city have been shut down to keep fire fighters safe. the city now getting back-up energy from pacific gas and electric. the 165 square mile fire is a scant four miles from the hechhechi reservoir, a water resource for more than 2.6 million bay area residents. >> the city's public utilities commission concerned about falling ash that may contaminate the water. >> it doesn't happen immediately. we would actually see the

tribitiy level increase slowly in the reservoir giving us sufficient time to make the adjustments to the system so there would be no disruption to water service to our customers. >> the fire continues to grow doubling in size in the last 24 hours >> the biggest challenge is the fire, itself. it's making its own weather. these 40,000 foot columns is just unreal. >> the top of the tree. >> 2000 fire fighters are hashed at work. still, only two % is contained. the fire continues to work its way through yosemite national park and with 4,500 homes threatened, residents near the perimeter have been asked to evacuate. >> scary. i could come home to nothing tomorrow. >> although the fire has been raging for a week, only 4 homes have been destroyed. syria's government made a chemical weapons claim of its own today, a report on syrian state t.v. says soldiers found

toxic agents during a raid of a rebel-controlled temple. the report said the soldiers were sickened by the chemicals. this morning, president obama is meeting with his national security team to lay out the u.s. options in syria. in the meantime, we are seeing more gruesome images of the victims of wednesday's alleged attack, charles stratford reports. >> the two tiny bodies hang limp in his arms. >> what will i do now? cries the father, a man destroyed by grief. >> pictures like these of the many men, women and children indiscriminately killed what

evidence suggests was a chemical weapon attack shocks the world. the syrian government refused access to u.n. inspectors, restricted in their movement by a man data agreed to with the assad government, to only inspect the sites where three previous alleged chemical weapons attacks took place. so there may be signs of a beginning of a shift in u.s. policy. defense secretary chuck hagle said president obama has told the pentagon to prepare for military options in syria. the u.s. navy has sent a battleship into the mediterranean. is this a hint toward some sort of action? >> it indicates a willingness on the part of the national security council to be looking at a number of options in potential response to what happened in syria over the weekend, over the last few days. >> the united states says it needs proof that chemical weapons killed these people. the assad government has denied

it was behind any chemical weapons attack. some experts say not only assad has access to chemical agent did. >> they may be the only ones that have access to the missile technology that may be being discovered at this time. but these types of chemical weapons are not very, very difficult to manufacture. >> syria's biggest al ly says they must allow the weapons inspectors. >> the shift is really, really small. there is no indication that should western countries or the u.s. or a group or a coalition of the willing once again intervene in a military fashion, even in a limited way, there is no education that russia might be even slightly cooperative this time. >> barack intaps obama's security advisors are meeting at the whitehouse over the weekend.

t the united nations disarmament chief has arrived in syria and is expected to coordinate access to the site in the coming hours. charles stratford, al-jazeera. >> for more now on the escalating crisis we are joined by richard murphy, the former u.s. ambassador to syria and saudi array abe i can't. thank you for being with us this morning. >> i want to start by asking: why has the u.s. had such a difficult time trying to figure out how to deal with syria? >> well, the u.s. has never hadn an easy relationship with the syrians. it's been a long series of misunderstandings, of impatience and frustration with syria, trying to work with it on the peace process with israel and basically, its presence in lebanon until 2005. it's not an easy conversation at any time. and now, the challenge is

collecting the evidence that makes it clear who was responsible for that attack. r just a few days ago. >> you know, the syrian television, which as we all know, is owned by damascus, by the syrian government, came out today and says that they have discovered a tunnel that apparently -- that they say has chemical weapons in it. the u.s. state department has realtimed recently said they do not believe the rebels have chemical weapons capability. what do we make of this he said/she said situation? >> well, the likelihood that an attack of this scope could have been mounted by the opposition is -- i think it was the british foreign secretary said, vanishing news is zero. so others have been franker than we have in coming out and saying, look, the syrian government is responsible. the united states has withheld that judgment, but clearly, the administration is starting to get prepared for possible action.

>>. >> what are the military options? and should a military response necessarily come from the united states versus some sort of international collision? >> pompom does not want it to be a unilateral affair. just yesterday, some senior official claiming anonymity said that kosovo was one precedent where the american air force did bomb with a nato man data did bomb for some 78 days. but he's not suggesting that the person has made a decision. that, apparently, is to follow the efforts in washington today to present all of the options. >> so you do believe there would have to be a man date first from an international body? >> that's what he has said. if he can't get the united neighborhoods there are other man datas he could look for. >> is at this point all hope for diplomatic solution lost. >> it's very hard to see a

diplomatic solution. the opposition has dis united. the government made up its mind to crush the rebellions and uprisings that were occurring around at a time country. it's going to be very hard to get people negotiating for a solution. >> all right. ambassador richard murphy, we thank you so much for coming in this morning. >> pleasure. it's shaping up to be a beautiful morning across the northeast. high pressure is in control. and we continue to deal with nothing but sunshine. take a look. hard to find anything here on the radar. clear skies. we did have a cold front push through earlier on the week. luckily, now, the skies are shaping up. it's going to be a gorgeous day temperaturewise, nice and comfortable. in albany, 76. new york city, cruising at 80 degrees. meanwhile, our nation's capitol and philadelphia coming in at 82

and the humidity has retreated to the south. now, we check on into the middle of the week. it certainly will heat up here on tuesday closer to normal in our nation's capitol with a high of 91 degrees. talk about heat, well, it is certainly situated across the north central plains and the d midwest where we have excessive heat warnings in he can't. now, today, it's going to be closer to 86 degrees inmapmap. now, tomorrow, it's going to be 96, and it's going to be very hot throughout the course of the day across much of the central plains from bismarck down into rapid city and certainly in denver. now, those areas definitely need a bit of rain but unfortunately, they are not going to get any beneficial rain. now, a different story once you push into the southwest. much of the area drought-stricken. unfortunately in yosemite national park where they are combatting the rim fire, 125,000 acres engulfed, they are not going to get the rain that they need but across utah down into portions of arizona, we are looking at some beneficial rain in phoenix, so thunderstorm

pushing through in the last couple of hours. as we track on into the next 24 hours, we will see more rain, especially situated across portions of central and eastern arizona. stephanie, back to you. >> lela, thank you, 50 years after martin luther king's most famous speech, many are remembering the man and his mission. they are trying to keep that dream alive. we will have much more on the celebratio

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 remembering the man and himiss

>> celebrations are beginning today for the 50th anniversary of the march on washington. and martin luther king's historic speech. thousands of people are expected to travel to the capitol to participate in a week-long series of speeches, rallies and performanc performances. and at the heart of it all, the immortal words of martin luther king's "i have a dream" speech. >> i have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. i have a dream today. >> those words from dr. king still so relevant today. our del waters is in washington, d.c. for us. i don't know about you, del, but i never changed.

when you think about names that are part of every day american culture like oprah winfrey, king of day time at one time, michael jordan of the mba. that man who now lives at 1600 pennsylvania avenue, president barack obama. while much has changed, much hasn't. a lot are talking about w essential strategic planner for

the market on washington -- march on washington. he was a black gay man. he was a pass fiivis -- asivist political strategist. he organized it but because he was gay continue, they would not let him be visible. >> was that a good thing or bad

the president's medal of freedom. that was long overdue but i am committed and many others across this nation are committed to teach our children who he was so never again do we ask anyone to

step aside, to then, again, nobody is expecting lightning to strike twice. >> del walters, thank you so much. now we have mark anthony neil, a professor of black popular culture in the department of african and african-american studies at duke university. thankful for joining us. >> good morning. >> since you were you were an academic in pop culture. how is martin luther king's king seen in pop culture >> far too many no this speech from the march on washington. there is so much depth in the speech, let alone what his career was. i think the march on washington was a culmination for something as opposed to being part of a larger protest. what what of pop culture has to do is open up a way to think

more broadly about what this movement was and who dr. king was. we get a one-dimensional figure so often. >> to you personally, what was the movement? >> he was, martin luther king was a freedom fighter. the civil rights movement was a freedom struggle, a struggle for black freedom. it wasn't just about opening up spaces for folks to be able to sit on toilets along with white folks and to ride wherever they wanted on the bus but to open up opportunity in american society for anybody who wanted that opportunity. the fact that we can now celebrate a figure like baird rustin, you know, who really was behind the scenes, really a tremendous organizer but now we can acknowledge his sexuality, you know, and his fullness in terms of who he was speaks a great deal about where the movement has gone. >> you know, i can't help but think about all of the movements that have followed the civil rights movement, that have tried to model themselves from the success of the civil rights movement that was directed not just by dr. king but by other civil rights leaders. do you also see that, that the

influence continued and not just in america but globally >> absolutely. when we look at the dream defenders now down in florida who are responding to what happened to trayvon martin, they clearly looking at a blueprint that was set 50, sick, sent years ago by the civil rights movement. when we see the women's freedom movement for women's rights in the late '60s and early '70s they are taking the blueprint. when we see the dream act folks, you know, dealing with immigration. >> yeah. >> with immigration, they are looking at the script from the civil rights movement. it was a legendary movement that had>> yes. >> he was very idealistic, particularly in this speech, dr. king. do you think he still speaks to today's generation and that that speech is acknowledged in the same way that it was in previous generations >> i think he had to be idealistic that day to reach the broad after tudience that he wa

to. what we see from dr. king's career from this march on washington to his death in 1968, that he becomes much more of a progressive, makes links nots just around civil rights but in terms of things, in terms of comic rights, comic freedoms. of course, he becomes a critic of the war in vietnam in southeast asia. when we think about who dr. king would have been in 2013, he would have been part of the occupy movement. >> right >> i think it's that dr. king we have to do a better job of connecting to young folks because they said, et cetera the guy who said "i have a dream" we have to fill in the blanks. >> professor mark anthony neil thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> we will have special coverage of the dream 50 years later all day long on al-jazeera. microsoft ceo calling it quits. the latest on steve baumer's surprising announcement. >> must see t.v., more on a huge dramatic finish coming up in

sports. tens of

thousands of people. >> well, he made millions making windows, but now steve baumer is heading for the door. microsoft's chief executive announced his retirement on friday. he said he will step down within the next year, once a replacement has been named. the 57-year-old has led microsoft since 2000 when the company's founder, bill gates,

stepped aside. after plenty of back and forth, professional football is closer to an agreement on agh testing. jessica taff is here with supports. >> chalk one up for the union. the n.f.l. and am players association has made progress. the union had wanted appeals, failed tests for hgh to be heard by an independent arbitrator rather than commissioner roger goodell. yesterday, the league agreed to that provision. meanwhile, on the field, it is week 3 of the n.f.l. preseason. pete carril showing they can get it done for the seahawks. kristin michael picking up 43 of his 97 rushing yards on his touchdown run. michael also had one catch for 25 yards and his teammate, steven williams led all receivers with 58 yards and this spectacular catch -- check it out. check it out again. actually snatches it away from the defender. seattle goes on to beat green

bay 17 to 10. no potential controversy in this next story but dobell drama from the little league world series. connecticut and washington turning their bid for the semifinals into an instant classic. westport down seven runs in this one. didn't hang their heads and said they came out swinging, max 307kin, his second homerun of the game and this homerun ties things up at 13 and knight's heroics not done yet. how about a game-winning rbi single. the bottom of the 7th. there it is, connecticut with a walk-off win after being down sevenru seven runs, they beat washington 14 to 13. so the action continues this afternoon at the little league world series. connecticut's going to play tulivista california for the championship. there have been if plenty of fun moments on and off the diamond. more from williams port.

>> it's been a summer vacation that the kids and parents will remember forever. everybody is loving life here at the little league world series, plus there have been some unbelievable ball games. but you can't get the full% at williams port unless you slide down the infamous and menacing hill. >> what is the key to sliding down the hill. >> hold on and have a good time. >> hold on tight >> yeah. >> am i going to get hurt. >> no you have to hold on. >> white knuckling it >> yeah. always have a big enough board from like your neck to your like waist. >> the youngsters were slip sliding away. some better than others but it was time for yours truly to man up and can you say buku challenge? how do you like me now? you haven't done the little league world series until you've done the hill. williamsport is not just about the game. it's about the atmosphere and

the hill. rashi mabuku. >> i have tried the hill covering the little league world series. i did not move that fast. i don't know how you want to take that. i am not going to do it ever again. >> you should go out there and try it again. those kids are amazing and so is he. >> i will do the buku challenge with him. we will see who gets down the hill first. the next several days of this momentous occasion. ali velshi is