aljazeera.com. once again that's aljazeera.com. ♪ ♪ theme >> good morning. this is aljazeera. i'm del walters, these are stories we are following at this hour. an international chorus of sharply divided voices weigh in on the best way to handle allegations of chemical weapons use in syria. >> waiting for the green light from the white house, the u.s. military says it is ready to launch a strike to weeken assad's regime. >> more than 60 square miles have been charred inside yosemite national park. >> free at last, free at last, thank god almighty, we are free at last. >> that famous speech delivered by the reverend dr. martin

luther king, jr. ♪ theme >> the u.n. special enjoy to syria wants to see the evidence the u.s. and its allies say they have concerning a chemical weapons attack in that nation. he spoke only one hour ago as the world awaits action on president bashar assad's regime. we've seen the images of the children and family suffering from symptoms similar to those caused by chemical weapons. the enjoy said the evidence does suggest some sort of chemical weapon was used, killing hundreds. >> i know that the americans and the british and others say that they know that chemical weapons have been used. what we have been told is that

this evidence that the americans, the british, the french say they have is going to be shared with us. it hasn't been until now, and we will be very, very, very interested in hearing from them what this evidence they have is. >> a u.s. coalition strike on syria is very much at the center of international debate this morning. france's parliament is holding a special session to discuss syria. other voices before and against are now weighing in. british final minister is drafting a resolution on syria to be presented to the security council today. russia warning against a strike, saying any inservention without a resolution would have catastrophic consequences. iranian lawmakers issuing a stark warning say war with syria

would lead to retaliation against israel. >> back at work in their hunt for evidence con if i wering the use of women kill women, their outing was postponed tuesday after a sniper attack on one of their vehicles. david, what is the tension level in syria right now, given the increased probability of that military attack we keep hearing about? >> the tension level pretty high, no question about that. a lot of people worried about this on the border as we are, certainly on the sirian side as well as here in lebanon. security inspectors are back at work to the east of damascus. it's important, because that was the area that was hardest hit by this apparently chemical weapons attack. there has been information that has come from the rebel side that has claimed as many as 1,000 people died just in that

area. the official number still remains 355, but it could be higher. the inspectors could determine that once they get on the ground today. they will be taking samples from those that survived, some of the deceased and some of the dirt and soil in and around the area to try to determine exactly which chemical weapons were used there. the other thing we've had happening here today is in the past 24 hours, we've had a number of perfect gees coming across the border coming out of syria into lebanon. that number is somewhere under 10,000. it is believed to be largely made up of syrian residents and russians who had been inside syria for a long number of years, the russians having lengthy contacts business and otherwise inside syria. those people are leaving the country at this point. the coalition of the rebels also has been told evidently that a military strike could come within a number of days, not weeks, they're saying days, so everybody there is certainly on edge, and those who want to

leave are trying to do so right now. del. >> david, the fact that the weapons inspectors are back on the site today seems to rule out any case of a strike today over the next 24 hours. would that be a safe assumption? >> yeah, that would be, that's correct. i mean, everybody has thought that they would certainly have to be out of the nation before anything would happen, and there was speculation that nothing would happen before this week's thursday night in this part of the world, but it may take longer than that. their mission inside syria is actually planned for two weeks. nobody thinks they'll take an entire two week period, but nobody expects anything while the u.s. inspect ears are there on the ground, you're right. >> i guess the situation is you have to question what exactly do they hope to accomplish as it seems the international community has already made up its mind, are these situations at odds with each other.

>> not necessarily, only because they have to pinpoint, del evidently exactly what weapons were used. they are saying what chemical weapons, sarin, mustard gas, is it something that the syrian regime, remember, has the largest supply of chemical weapons of any regime in the world currently, that's thought to be the case. they want to try to pinpoint if these particular weapons that were used come directly from that supply. their job as we reported before is not to identify the culprit in this case, but once they identify the supply, the weapons used, that will be tantamount to-monthing the finger has who is responsible. >> david, be safe, thank you very much. >> the course of international voices weighing in on the best course of action against syria's alleged use of chemical weapons point out the issue to use diplomatic muscle and not just

military might. here to discuss the challenges facing the u.s. and its alice is ambassador richard murphy. good morning. >> good morning. >> they already believe that syria has upped chemical weapons against its own people. i hear the chorus of voices saying, pointing back to iraq saying we have been here before. is that a major concern at this point? >> well, i think it's been a major concern in the white house, because the memories are very bright, the sense that people were deceived and that they took a massive step toward action before the facts could be established, and then they played with the fact. they don't want to be accused of that. >> but yet, we're hearing from david jackson in beirut right now indicating that the weapons inspectors are being given today, but also being told that you might want to get out of the country in advance of any possible strike. are we moving too fast on syria?

>> i think my sense is the administration wants not only to be sure that the inspectors get the freshest possible evidence, that's why they're pleads they got started, but in fact, they were delayed several days by getting per mission from the syrian government. now, they're there, and i think nobody wants to take any action when the inspectors are still in the middle of their work. our administration is also aware that it doesn't want to lose public support over the outrage which has been very, very high since the attack over a week ago. >> and yet there is a situation in the united nations. should we wait for the united nations security council to do something? >> well, it's so predictable. >> and will they do anything? >> the british are taking it to the council in the next day or two.

it's so predictable that the russians are going to maintain their position along with the chinese and there will be no resolution out of it. >> you've been in diplomatic circles. how can russia continues to do nothing, yet when we see the images of those children and families suffering, how can you not act if you are russia? >> well, they've had a pretty rough policy of their own in chechynia over the areas against rebels there and militant islamists, they are merciless themselves. that's part of it. the other part is they say they're not persuaded that the evidence is that good. >> why? >> because -- >> do they have anything to back that up other than wanting to be a thorn in the side of the obama administration, which is not the diplomatic term that you might want to use. >> well, there is a contest for

influence they had and told relationship with syria, one that they valued. you know, i think president putin has been interested in coming back somewhat to a role in the middle east, which they lost after the collapse of the soviet empire. >> ambassador murphy, thanks for being with us this morning. we will be in contact, because things of moving quickly. >> as the obama administration considers how to respond to the situation, vice president biden saying on tuesday there is no doubt the syrian president did use chemical weapons on his own people. >> for we know that the syrian regime, the only ones who have the weapons, have used chemical weapons multiple times in the past, have the means of delivering those weapons, have been determined to wipe out

exactly the places that were attacked by chemical weapons. >> vice president biden stressing that instead of cooperating with inspectors, the syrian government has blocked the investigation now for five days. the u.s. is a driving force for any intervention in syria. mike, i am hearing the voices right now saying we have been here before. >> yeah. >> in washington, why not give the weapons inspectors the amount of time that they need? >> well, you're right. the white house and administration officials have essentially made the point moot as far as the any of the inspectors. it's interesting, because one week ago today, it was one week ago today, that is when that attack occurred outside damascus. initially after that, the president was still hesitant to engage in any military action against syria. this has been going on for two and a half years, the length of that civil war. he talked the need for a mandate

and operating under the structures of international law. everyone is waiting for the intelligence report. we understand that there are meetings ongoing among the president and top advisers. the intel report is going to have to be declassified for release to the american people. there are indications that tomorrow could be the day we see that. mean time, we have gone from the president on thursday saying a u.n. mandate was necessary to yesterday, the vice president saying there is no doubt that the assad regime is possible. what the report will attempt to do is take the case from the circumstantial, which is what biden has done, to the factual, try to present a hard set of facts to prove to the world and the american public that assad is responsible. >> we have talked about this so many times, the u.s. public does not appear to be behind any type of military action in syria, so

the white house and its allies quick to point out that this is not about regime change. >> that's right. the question remains, what is the goal. it appears at this point to be a punitive goal, set an example of basharral asued and anyone like him. there are chemical weapons treaties in effect. likely that will be cited by the administration when they present their concerns for international law. if it's a matter of the united states credibility and western's credibility after the president publicly said he can't cross that red line, assad has clearly crossed it according to most impartial observers, what is the goal after that punishment? will it achieve anything in the long term. how long will it last?

will it unleash forces in syria that could tip the balance of power in that civil war. while the president called for assad to go, he did that two years ago. the white house insists that a diplomatic and political solution might be the way to go. >> the president delivering a speech on the national mall of the anniversary of i have a dream speech, non-confrontational speech. >> won the nobel peace prize, as well. it's interesting. it's been well chronicled that the president has not really talked about race specifically, particularly in his first term to any great extent. we've seen a lot more of that from the president recently. he of course spoke in the wake of the trayvon martin sentencing. he spoke on friday quite extensively at a town hall on that college tour he was on,

talking about the price of college tuition. he keeps saying yes, there have been enormous strides. yes, there are still discontinual makes in this country, but we have to still focus on the structural problems that keep the income gaps as wide as they were between minorities and whites as they were 50 years ago and other disparities. the unemployment level. that's what we can expect to hear from the president today. >> mike, thank you very much. >> with stark differences of opinions surfacing on how to handle the crisis in circa, the united nations security council is very much in the spotlight once again this morning. our james base is with us. james, after the prime minister submits his resolution, will the u.n. security council make a decision anytime soon? >> it is an important development in this early hour that there is going to be a resolution. we had been thinking until a few

hours ago that the u.s., u.k. and france were probably going to ignore the u.n.'s supreme court council, their military planning done without an effort to get the authorization of the security council. it appears now the british at least are going to try one more try, what we understand is they've come up with a resolution condemning this chemical attack, a resolution that would pave the way for the use of force. what they're going to do first is not have a full meeting of the u.n. security council, they're going to have an informal meeting of the five permanent members, the members that have the veto, the members that have the power, that's the u.s., the u.k. and the france and on the other side of the argument, you've got russia and china. they'll try and persuade them that they should support such a resolution. that meeting will be taking place in the coming hours. then they can bring it to the full security council for a vote in the coming days.

this is just one track, this track here at the u.n. there is a military track, military preparations are still going ahead. i think if they don't get progress at u.n., it's highly likely they'll go ahead with action, saying they have moral authority because of the use of chemical weapons that is higher than just the procedures of the u.n. security council. >> james, is it safe to say that they are simply covering their bases at the united nations? >> i think they want to say that they tried everything. i think they want to go this one last time to try everything, to show that they are trying to respect international law. we had another very interesting statement made in the last hour from the u.n. headquarters in geneva. mr. brahimi, all the western nations said they supported him as the man to mediate this conflict. he has spoken out and was asked specifically if there is a

military strike and not authorized by the u.n., he said what does that mean. he said international law is clear on this, it would be illegal. >> james, thank you very much. >> our extensive coverage of the ongoing crisis in syria continues all day on aljazeera. for instant updates around the clock, stay tuned and stay informed with the help of aljazeera.com. >> elsewhere, 11 major wildfires are burning right now in california. by far, the largest and most dangerous is that rim fire that is burning near yosemite national park. the blaze consumed 41,000 acres inside that park, thousands of nearby homes as a result of threatened. aljazeera's melissa chan has been on the front lines and gives us a front line look. >> most firefighters have 24 hour long shifts and they're out here in the mountains, whether fighting the flames on the front lines or protecting buildings, which is what they're doing

here. the only way they can do this is with the help of multiple logistics teams. it's formally called the incident command center. some call it base camp. there's a main street, all set up to fight the fire. >> basic, it's a small city in the middle of the wilderness to support all the people around it. >> here's the mobile command center with the latest information. there's a tent set up as a medical clinic. air operations is a few steps away to determine water drops. >> copy that. >> supplies come in, keeping this camp city going, providing critical items to the thousands of people working here. >> out west, they are watching the skies to see if there is any relief coming from mother nature. we turn to dave warren to find out the answer. >> they're trying to do everything. they have to look at the weather and the fire can create its own weather. they have to analyze everything

quickly and give that information to the firefighters. right now, they are looking for any rain and not seeing much in the way of rain, watching these showers that develop closely, because they're getting closer to the site, but not giving rain to the area. the wind is gusting from the south. the rain will stay clear, but the wind is causing big problems combined with terrain. the satellite picture shows the wind blowing from south to north, but a few clouds get egg closer to the fire site. the big thing in talking with the weather service is the fact that the fire can create its own weather. you ever the strong wind gusting from the south and fire updrafts from all the heat, creating its own weather pattern interacting with the overall weather pattern. gusty winds variable around the fire site combined with the rugged terrain. they're looking at all these factors just trying to get the quickest information that they can and stay ahead of the developing situation, the fire situation there. they need rain, not getting it

and the wind continues to gust. >> another deadly day in iraq, fatal car bombings in baghdad shock the capitol city, killing dozens. >> 50 years ago, he stood shoulder to shoulder with countless others as dr. martin luther king delivered that inspiring message. today, the reverend jesse jackson junior joins us with his sense on however america has come and the work that has been left. ç]

>> i have a dream. that 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. let freedom ring. >> who can forget those words, those words changed a nation 50 years ago today and the message is one that lives on. take a look back now at that

message and what really was the mission behind it. in 1963, dr. martin luther king, jr. was arrested and put in jail in birmingham, alabama, the charge, protesting without a permit. there he writes the famous letter from the birmingham jail that was the moral duty to break unjust laws that images of brutality of broadcast around the world, gaining sympathy thought civil rights movement. naacp field operator medgar evers is murdered outside his home. dr. king gives the speech, that famous i have a dream speech. on july 2, 1964, president johnson signs the civil rights act of 1964, which was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since reconstruction. later today, history will come full circle. president obama is going to address the nation.

he is the nation's only black president, and he will speak at the very moment that dr. martin luther king gave his speech. joining us now to assess the king legacy is dr. thomas jackson, a king biographer and associate professor at the university of north carolina. more black men are in jail now than when dr. king was alive, the unemployment rate in the minority community is much higher than the white community. with that as a backdrop, what do you think dr. king would say about his dream? >> well, it's always a mixed bag. you are hearing that from black leaders now. i think he would focus on the unfulfilled promises, the challenge of poverty, the discretion between the have and have notes which has worsened at the same time it has become a more inclusive society, open to

people of color and women so that we could have a black president. it's always a mixed bag. we need to credit the achievements of that generation, activism works, but we need to keep the eyes on the prize of what's going to complete the mission and the dream is attention to these economic disparities. >> are you convinced that the civil rights leaders of today are tackling the tough issues that dr. king would have tackled during his life and times? after all, he was tackling the issue in vietnam, not popular for him or the movement at the time. what about today's civil rights leaders? >> i'm encouraged what i'm seeing especially from the naacp. i attended wednesday's march and heard a lot and a lot of appreciation to the dual agenda, jobs and freedom, is still very much a challenge and we need to address those aspects of racial

discrimination and inequality that remain especially in criminal justice at the same time that we join hands with other groups and advocate for more opportunity and a more vigorous role for government in promoting that. >> ginger rogers said she did everything that fred astaire did backwards. they did under the threat of jail and being killed. are you convinced that today's civil rights leaders are taking on as large a challenge as they did some 50 years ago? >> well, yeah. the black leadership class is always split and varied. you have a lot of black conservatives in the 1960's who didn't do those things as you do today. i think that perhaps the fragmentation and the lack of optimism that you see around today is a feature of the lack of a mass movement.

king did not inspire the movement as much as the movement inspired him. the possibilities of mass mobilization in 1963 raised his expectations and lifted his dream, so if the black leadership and other groups, i have -- i'm encouraged by what i see happening among youth, as well. i think we need to not look to the old civil rights leadership, but look to a new generation that's much more aware of multi-racial issues. >> those words are well said from a person who teaches at the university of north carolina, joining us from charlottesville, virginia. thank you for being with us. our coverage continues through on you the day on aljazeera and aljazeera.com. special coverage from the lincoln memorial begins at 2:00 eastern time, so stay tuned for that. >> syria strikes, oil surges and

markets fall. up next, how a possible strike on syria could leave you paying more at the pump. >> it's a letter defending his civil rights. months before his i have a dream speech, writings that inspired a nation. those letters from inside a birmingham jail. what happens when social media uncovers unheard and fascinating news stories? >> they share it on a stream.

[[voiceover]] every sunday night, al jazeera america presents gripping films from the world's top documentary directors. >>thank god i didn't suffer what he had to go through. next sunday, the premiere of google and the world brain. >>this is the opportunity of our generation. [[voiceover]] it would be the world's greatest library under one digital roof. but at what cost? >>google could hold the whole world hostage. [[voiceover]] al jazeera america presents google and the world brain. >> welcome back to aljazeera, i'm del walters. less than an hour ago, the u.n. and arab league special enjoy to syria addressing the ongoing crisis in that nation, the international community focusing on president assad and

allegations he ordered chemical weapons to be used on his own people. >> washington d.c., the nation marking the 50th anniversary of the reverend mar din luther king's "i have a dream" speech. >> fires moving deeper into yosemite national park. >> the clock is now ticking on military action in syria. britain plans to present a u.n. resolution to the security council to respond to last week's attack that killed hundreds in syria. it is unlikely russia will allow anything to pass. the u.s., u.k. and france say something has to be done to stop the use of chemical weapons, but the u.n. enjoy to syria says the evidence suggests some sort of chemical weapon was used. >> it does seem that some kind

of substance was used that killed a lot of people, hundreds, definitely more than a hundred, some people say 300, some people say 600, maybe 1,000, maybe more than 1,000. this is of course, unacceptable. this is outrageous. this confirms how dangerous the situation in syria is. >> the u.s., britain and france need the security council to approve any international military action. the united nations security council conditioning of some 15 members. of those members, five are permanent, china, france, russia, the u.k. and u.s. they are the nations with the power to veto the council's resolutions. china and russia have used the powers in the past to block action against syria.

russia remains syria's main ally. putin has said if there is a strike, it will have catastrophic consequences. >> peter, do the russians believe that a strike is inevitable and what is the situation on the ground? >> we had reaction from russiad deputy prime minister, who spoke out rather forcefully saying washington and london are behaving like a monkey with a hand grenade. as we know, though, the foreign minister in russia chose his words more carefully. he said it would be a violation of international law if these even limited targeted strikes took place. he said that the only victor in this is going to be al-qaeda and other extremist groups fighting in the continuing civil war. he said that if anyone thinks that by destroying the sirian

military infrastructure you'd leave a battlefield in which the rebels would take over, that that would solve anything, you're basically living an illusion, it's not going to happen. he said western intervention in afghanistan and iraq didn't work and they're not going to work now. he said that he still believes and the russian government still believe despite contrary evidence that the attacks, the chemical attack was carried out by the rebels themselves to draw america and britain into the war and basically derail any chances of a geneva peace conference. >> i guess the question is then if the rebels themselves were responsible for the chemical weapons attack, then why is russia not moving for action to be taken against the rebel forces, because regardless of which side you're on in this conflict, those images are gripping. women and children were killed and chemical weapons appear to

be responsible. >> i'm sorry, the sound is very, very bad on that. i think i got the gist of it. russia has been supporting syria since they signed a cooperation agreement in 1980. it's no surprises that russia is standing firm on this. as you said, in the intro, they are certainly not going to give way as the security council vote on the issue. it's been a little bit of breaking news over the last few minutes, the russian general staff has said that it is now using tracking satellite surveillance systems to track the build up of u.s. and british vessels in the eastern mediterranean, possibly as a prelude to this attack. now the russians are saying that they have no plans to intervene or interfere, but they are merely for national security, taking on this role of monitoring the build-up. >> peter sharp, joining us live from moscow.

thank you very much this morning. >> a pro syrian group claiming responsibility for attacking "the new york times" web side. it was taken down by hackers who call themselves the sirian electronic army. users came cruiser roar messages, the s.e.a., which has been known for attacking media websites hacked the washington post site earlier this month. >> concerns about an attack on syria took its toll on the u.s. markets on tuesday. the dow losing 170 points and overseas trading today, japan following suit, japan's nikkei falling 1.5%. the price of a barrel of crude jumped more than $3. it stands now at $109 a barrel, an 18 month high. prepare to pay more at the pump. our extensive coverage of the ongoing cries continues all day on aljazeera. we urge you to stay informed with the help of aljazeera.com.

>> it was another deadly day in baghdad, at least 33 people have been killed there, more than 80 others injured, in a series of car bombings. today's attack extend the worst wave of violence in the last five years. more than 1,000 people were killed in july. that makes it the deadliest month since 2008. >> the reverend dr. martin luther king, jr. is best remembered for that "i have a dream" speech on the steps of the lincoln memorial, but in birmingham, alabama, some argue his most famous words were written. they were penned on scraps of paper from inside a jail cell. this is the story of that letter from a birmingham jail as told by the aides who brought it to the world's attention. >> i say to you wait a minute, birmingham, somebody's got to have some sense in birmingham. >> dr. martin luther king was

invited to come to birmingham to help with the situation. >> as difficult as it is, we must meet hate with love. >> dr. king was arrested on good friday, april 12, 1963. he was jailed for parading without a permit. he said have you seen this? so i said what is this? he holds up a newspaper, and in that newspaper, there's a full page ad signed by eight prominent white clergymen from birmingham. he was angry. he was hurt, but he was motivated like i'd never seen him motivated. i didn't pay any attention to the letter, ok no didn't even think about it. it was not in my mind, until i suddenly learned that i think the quakers were going to publish the letter in one of their news letters and that the

letter, using today's terminology, the letter went viral. >> i figure it's the most important document of the 20t 20th century, very much like the gettysburg address, and it began the movement. >> my dear fellow clergymen, while confined here in the birmingham city jail, i came across your recent statement calling our present activities unwise and untimely. >> you failed to express a similar concern, but the conditions that brought about demonstration. >> it is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's

white power structure left the negro community with no alternative. >> when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering, as you seek to explain to your 6-year-old daughter why she cannot go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and you see tears welling up into her little eyes, when she's told that fun town is closed to colored people. >> when you take a cross country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you, when you were who you mill 80ed day i understand and day out by nagging signs reading white men and colored, when your first name becomes nigger and your middle name becomes boy no matter how old you are, your last name john,

fighting a did he generating sense of nobodiness, then you will understand why it is difficult to wait. ♪ ♪ >> all of that came from his heart. he wanted white america to see what they were doing. he wanted white america to see how hurtful it was. >> the letter was a national call to the conscience of america using the real life, realtime reality of birmingham as its template. birmingham became the spark that ignited the prairie fire of negro resistance wimp was transformed into revolution. >> four months later, dr. martin

luther king addressed those gathered on the national mall. that's that brings us 50 years to the day, thousands once again expected to flock to the mall to look back and to look forward to the next 50 years. joining us now to discuss where we go from here, the reverend jesse jackson. fifty years ago, the civil rights movement has been highjacked by people who once were considered the enemy, civil rights leaders sitting on corporate boards and demanding first class accommodations. we have lost our signal. you're there, correct? >> i think that is not a proper analysis. we liken the summer of 1963 where dr. king was jailed and medgar evers killed, the gathering in washington, then the birmingham bombing and then kennedy's killing, it was a summer of violence and terrorism and in dignities. we won that victory. >> it appears that we have lost

our signal from washington. have we reestablished that signal? the signal is gone. we have it back. continue, reverend jackson, we lost your national for a moment. you were basically saying that you don't agree. >> it takes us across up to maryland, black soldiers sat behind nazi prisoners of war. the dream of 1964 was the political response to the appeal in 1963. president obama today, i hope it will be in the johnson, roosevelt, lincoln lane where he is in president, not just the dr. king lane, which is the appeal for congressional response. the 1965 dream was the right to vote. blacks could not vote, white men couldn't sit on jurors, no women on the supreme court, 18-year-old's couldn't vote, student couldn't vote on campuses. you couldn't vote by lingually.

then the dream was today we need a radical reassessment of the extremes of positivity and wealth. >> let's talk about an issue that emerged in the 1980's and 1990's. we worked together in washington when the facts consumed washington, d.c., philadelphia aburban america and yet now we have an african-american president, an african-american attorney general who was actually the u.s. attorney in washington at that time. it is time now for the civil rights community demand that they address those unanswered questions dating back from that crisis? >> i'm convinced what we need now is a revival of a constitutional right to vote. you can't separate crack from the crack in the broken promise, that is the right to vote is now under jeopardy again.

the need for the rifle of the war on poverty, student loan debt for giveness. we've got student loan debt, credit card debt, which makes getting an education almost impossible oh to achieve these days. >> because of the use of crack, we have an entire generation of black men who have been jailed because of the disparity between sentencing that has now been addressed by the u.s. attorney. why not look back and try to figure out what exactly happened? >> you need to look at crack and marijuana sentencing, and profiling, and stand your ground laws, a whole boiled of law in reaction occurred but does not give the fundamental course of equal protection under the law. the day dr. king died rather despondent, saying the issues of race were not being addressed properly. why did we go to memphis? because of fighting for the

right of having collective bargaining for working class people. >> the trayvon martin situation, the fact that the nation came together and marched on trayvon martin and yet did not march against wall street when so many african-american families and hispanic families lost their homes in the meltdown of 2008. >> hard to explain that. when trayvon was killed, i think the design mick of him being killed and killer walked away, he was unarmed, but 136 blacks were killed last year, black men, unarmed by police, armed security guards, so it is a pervasive situation. as a nation, we've become much too view len. too much easy access to guns, look at oklahoma, new york, we've become much too violent and believe that violence is the remedy to problems whether at home or abroad.

violence is not. >> wall street -- >> wall street got bailed out. we bailed out the banks. a i.g. little bailed out and we bank resulted detroit and birmingham county. those are not priorities. >> what should the white house do. what would dr. king say to barack obama today? >> he would be delighted that we have in him, president obama, the crown jewel of our struggle. he that done an incredible job making the case for a better nation. on the other hand, president obama would be in the asks i say, in the johnson lincoln lane, dr. king in the douglas lane appealing to the president. i think they need president obama to deem with the lyndon johnson moment. he gave us solid analysis, and appropriation and legislation. we need now, 30% black

unemployment, we need appropriation and legislation to close these tremendous gaps. >> reverend jackson, we go back many years, thanks for being with us this morning. >> thank you, sir. >> i hope you enjoy your day down on the mall. >> indeed. >> coverage continues today on aljazeera and aljazeera.com. we will have special coverage from the lincoln memorial at 2:00 eastern time. >> we turn now to the weather situation across the country, where they are wondering what it is going to be like in the nation's capitol and with regard to the situation out west where they are trying to fight wildfires. >> we will certainly keep it right in washington, d.c. a lot of people headed there today, and it looks like there could be rain. there's a large area of rain in west virginia right now. there's washington, d.c. some rain might clip washington, d.c., but the heaviest rain looks to be staying west and south of the capitol there.

here's the heaviest rain, light to moderate that could be moving through this morning. there may be showers throughout the day. heaviest rain will stay south and west of the capitol, but still, it will not be completely dry. 86, maybe muggy there. thursday, friday, saturday, sunday, it's dry, temperatures staying right into the mid to upper 80's there. temperatures are heating up in the midwest. the northern plains again, still seeing these heat advisories and excessive heat warnings in effect. it's into the mid-70's. the areas under the heat advisories and warnings, fog near the great lakes. the temperatures will continue to climb. 100 in rap approximate bid city, minneapolis at 92. the heat index 110-115 yesterday, could see a repeat that have today. radar and clouds across the area showing there could be a few showers and thunderstorms to the north, but this area of high pressure keeps that heat in

place, so not much relief from the heat there. satellite showing that the tropical tomorrow, the western pacific near taiwan getting heavy rain as that tropical storm pushes north toward japan, so that area seeing some flooding. del. >> thank you, dave, i'm john henry smith. if you want drama, look no further than bail's national league central. highlights when aljazeera turns to sports.

>> boston magazine released images of tsarnaev emerging bottoming the boat where he was hiding. he is pleading not guilty to charges. >> here's john henry smith with the sports. >> we had a young lady totally a breath of fresh air come out of the u.s. open. baseball, st. louis cardinals are the only national league central team to win a word

series. you know what they haven't won in the last three seasons? a central division crown. jay bruce was in right field, tuesday night, should have tried a bit harder. matt carpenter had safe passage home. the cardinals take a 1-0 lead. they hold the lead until he showed what he could do. the cards would go on to win 6-1. they'll try and sweep the reds tonight. st. louis is also in first place, the second place pirates trying to keep pace. they couldn't keep aramis ramirez from going yard. that's his 350th career home run. they led 6-5 in the seventh when national league home run leader alvarez hits the foul pole, says i, the game is knotted up at six, but the brewers get an

r.b.i. sac fly to win 7-6. the pirates trail the cards by a game and a half. >> roger federer's quest for a sixth u.s. open title and eighth grand slam win got off to a great start. the wet stuff postponed the first round match from wednesday night to tuesday afternoon. federer recorded 12 aces and 35 winners winning in straight sets. >> did you know, he is a seventh seed this year, not that low tins 2002. >> on the women's side, a huge upset, 17-year-old victoria beat 2011 winner. she had a qualify just to get into the open and look at her now, she gets her first ever

grand slam win. >> helped me a lot today, thank you. i know sam is a great champion and i watched her when she won the u.s. open, and i know she didn't play her best today and this is the best i've played in my career, so i'm really excited. >> well, during six hours of questions with ncaa officials, raining heisman trophy winner johnny manziel denied ever taking money for his autographs. he is accused of receiving a five figure sum for signing autographs during the off-season. manziel is listed as the aggies starting quarterback. he continues to take reps in practice this week. the school has imposed a gag order. >> finally, it was marlon byrd tee shirt last night at citi

field for the mets outfielder. should i say former mets outfielder. the problem, bird was not there. the mets traded him to pittsburgh earlier in the day. that is our look at morning sports. >> when you're 16 and you are not ranked and wear your best clothes at the open, safe to say she is going to have to go out and buy another outfit. >> she was just of the star yesterday. it was really wonderful to see. >> got to love it. thanks for being with us. >> aljazeera continues in just two minutes. morgan radford is up next, you can check us out 24 hours a day autoing.com. there is more news, straight ahead.

sure that stories don't escape them. >> every day a storm of views. how can you fully understand the impact unless you heard angles you hadn't considered. consider this, antonio mora brings you smart conversation that challenges the status quo. stories that matter to you.

jazeera.com. >> good morning. i'm morgan radford and these are some of the stories we're following at this hour. an international chorus of sharply divided voices this morning weighing in on the best way to handle allegations of chemical weapons use in syria. >> awaiting the green light from the white house, the u.s. military says it's ready to launch a strike to weaken the assad regime. >> calendarle's seven-day-old wildfire has burned morn 60 square miles inside of yosemite national park. >> free at last, free at last, thank god almighty, we are free at last. >> 50 years later, a celebration honoring the iconic civil