welcome to al jazeera. i'm del walters. these are the stories we are working on at this hour. new clues about the chemical weapons attack in syria. what the white house knows and how they found out. paying honor to a man who helped change a nation forever. 50 years after his "i have a dream" speech, remembering dr. martin luther king. an army doctor turned killer facing military justice and a jury who will decide if he lives or dies. ♪ we continue to follow the developments that are coming out

of syria at this hour. at this hour, that is the syrian ambassador to the united nations addressing the security council there which is meeting to determine what to do next. >> all of the details related to this situation. i am in your hands. >> reporter: do you want the team to find out -- assign responsibility for the incidents? and when did angela kaine request to visit guda? there seems to be some disparity there? they are saying there was a five-day delay. >> mr. angela kaine concluded an agreement with the syrian government with regard to her visit, and the visit was granted. she was granted with her team to

to go to the locations where the chemical -- where the allegations of the use of chemical weapons -- are there. so there were -- there were no delay whatsoever, and she was granted access to the locations that she and the other doctor wanted to visit. >> reporter: where did these gases come from? >> you may be aware that long time ago, a couple of very important information spread all over the media, and nobody spoke about it, but we conveyed it if i recally speaking in official letters, among these official letters i was referring to the secretary general as well as the members of the security council. the turkish media mentioned that

12 members -- terrorist members of [ inaudible ] were arrested within turkish territory, carrying with them two litters of the sarin gas. these two liters were taken with them to turkey. and the confession by theater -- terrorists was they intended to use it in syria. and then the judge from the investigation said herself that having the information she had, the armed terrorist groups were the ones to be blamed for the use of chemical weapons, which is the key issue related to the use of chemical weapons. then after that the russian

report submitted to the security council, 80 page submitted to the council. then you have the russian journalist who was on the spot on the same day the chemical weapons were used, and she reported footage, documentary footage to the secretary as well as to the council. all of these elements are not syrian information. these information are from outside of syria, and should be taken into consideration by the investigation team. what we are saying briefly speaking is that these terrorist groups obtained the materials of the -- the -- the producing of the chemical weapons from outside powers. mainly speaking, turkey, saudi arabia, and qatar. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] regardless of the process here? >> sorry?

>> reporter: do you anticipate military operation against syria here? >> any aggression against syria would be illegal anticipation of the accomplishment, fulfillment of the mission of investigation currently existing in damascus. then this is a violation of the charter. article 39 of chapter 7 states that the security council is the only body entrusted and mandated with the very noble mission of maintaining peace and security and preventing aggression. it is up to the security council only and exclusively to deal with the issue. it's not up to the united states or anybody else to address a member of the united nations on ba baseless allegations that are not yet clarified by the

investigation team. >> reporter: [ speaking foreign ] >> [ speaking foreign ] >> you have been listening to syria's ambassador to the united nations discussing the situation concerning the lead up to a possible military strike against syria by the west and itse allies. he is saying syria did not delay the un inspectors. he says there were reports of a terrorist attack inside syria that were broadcast or reported by the media in turkey concerning sarin gas. he says that any military action taken against syria, which is being discussed be the

united states and its western allies would be a violation of international law. the bottom line being 355 people are dead and close to 4,000 have been wounded in that attack, using chemical weapons as the international community tries to sort out who is right and who is wrong. for the latest we turn to david jackson who is standing by live from beirut. david did you hear the ambassador? >> yes, i did, and presumably we are going to have to wait to find out what the united nations inspectors find from being on the ground here. he is pointing to sarin gas that could have brought in to syria. that was the contention of the ambassador. we'll have to try to figure out what happens through these un inspections when they are completed.

we heard earlier today that bankky moon said it will take four days to complete the inspecti inspections. we don't know if that is four days from now, or if we are on the second of the four. it will be very interesting to find out the time frame is critical, so we'll want to know exactly which way that -- that issing pointing, but again, in terms of what is coming from the syrian ambassador, that -- i suppose there are people who would say that is going to muddy the water to a certain extent in terms of what these findings may lead to, but everything is going to have to go with what the united nations determines. the united states doesn't seem to think there is any question whatsoever as to who's chemical weapons those were. >> there are reports coming out of that area that are also

contrary to what the ambassador said. >> there have not been findings that pinpoint anything about the chemical weapons themselves. the other information that would be -- pertinent to that was this foreign policy magazine report saying that the united states had intelligence on phone calls that took place between the generals in syria on wednesday of last week, about the actual launch moment, and that there was a frantic communication between generals in syria, trying to determine how it even got launched. that would mean it came from the government and not some outside source. >> david jackson joining us live from beirut. that was the information i was

referring to, which seems to be contrary to what the syrian ambassador said moments ago. we go live now to philip in london. >> dell, it is thought that basically what the british are trying to do is gain worldwide support, domestic support here within the united kingdom, and parliamentary support. importantly, apparently the british foreign secretary, foreign minister, william hague has just come out with a statement regarding the resolution, saying it is time for the un to live up to its responsibility to syria, something it has failed to do in the last two and a half years. and he fully expected that resolution to be vetoed by

russia or china or both. >> what we just heard syria's ambassador saying seems to be contrary to the information you are receiving as well, correct? >> yeah, they are categorically staying in lock step with the united states saying there is no doubt it was the assad regime that used the chemical weapons attack. and that contradicts what has been said in new york. the british say that they know that it was the assad regime, and they have proof. there is some indication that that proof may be released tomorrow, but that is unconfirmed as of yet, dell. >> philip thank you very much. 50 years ago today, an african american preacher changed the world forever with his vision on this 50th

anniversary of dr. martin luther king "i have a dream" speech, thousands have gathered to commemorate the event. we'll hear from dr. king's family, and we'll hear from president clinton, president obama, and president carter. mike viqueira is there and joins us live. mike it appears that once again history will be made again today. >> absolutely, and, you know, it's part celebration, part commemoration, part renewal. we're about an hour into the program here, dell. the morning began at the baptist church in downtown washington, there is a march -- a reenactment about a mile east of here at the base of the capitol, that's where they will begin retracing the steps that were taken 50 years ago. we have heard from senator angus

kaine, joaquin castro from san antonio, texas, and a highlight so far as been the music. two-thirds of the trio peter paul and mary sang blowing in the wind. and un ambassador, major of atlanta, he got up there and belted out some spiritual songs that were popular in the heyday of the civil rights moment. at this moment we're hearing from the widow of med -- med ger evers. and earlier we heard from melanie campbell. she had some very strong words about a topic that is on the forefront of many people's minds here today. let's listen.

>> today racism and inequality does not manifest itself in a white sheet, jim crow laws, poll taxes or barking dogs, but the dogs are still biting in other ways. today there are no white sheets, but there are judges in black robes in the u.s. supreme court who struck down section 4 of the voting rights act, opening the flood gates in many states to pass more voter id laws, to block people of color, and young people from voting. >> and there you have it. a clear reference to the supreme court decision earlier this summer to strike down -- gut essentially the voting rights act fought for so hard during the civil rights movement. and we're anticipating no fewer than three presidents speaking here later this afternoon. also john lewis, the atlanta civil rights pioneer, now a

congressman from georgia who was the last surviving speaker from 50 years ago. dell. >> medger evers was very significant on this day, as it was he who was speaking to liberate the airwaves prior to hiss his assassination. in april dr. king was jailed for protesting without a permit. that's where he wrote the letter from the birmingham jail. that may the images that we have seen so many times, brutality televised and publiced around the world, which shined the national spotlight on the civil rights movement. and then on june 12th, medgar evers murdered outside of his home. and then two months later,

dr. king delivered his famous "i have a dream" speech. at least 250,000 people lining the reflecting pool in front of the lincoln memorial to hear him speak. we want to take you live right now to the national mall where they are still celebrating the fact in the year that followed when johnson signed the historic voting rights act of 1964 -- you can looking live now on the celebration on the national mall. we forget that not only was it his dream to give blacks equal rights, it was also his dream to give women equal rights. as the crowd applauds we should point out that the civil rights movement lead to an awful lot of things that we take for granted. we talked about the fact that women are now sitting in the control room here at al jazeera, it is something that did not

happen 50 years ago. there were also asians, and the civil rights movement lead to the anti-apartheid movement. joining us is earnest green and his daughter mckinsey. he is one of the little rock nine. his daughter is beside him because he would like to pass the torch to a future generation. mr. green what is it about this day that is so special to you? >> well, it was special because i saw the changes occurring in little rock after the 54 decision of the supreme court, and dr. king was also someone who came to my high school graduation of the nine students, i was the only one in the 12th grade, but all of this was something that i thought as a teenager was important to play a

role in. i had seen the 'em met till murder, and the busboy cot. >> so people understand you wanted to be among the first to integrate that school; is that correct? >> yes, the nine of us were the first to desegregate little rock central high school in 1957. >> mackenzie do you fully appreciate what your father did back then? >> i think i have learned to appreciate it now that i have gotten older. when you are younger you just assume that somehow anything your parent does is normal, and then as you get older and you start to realize the same thing you are studying in your history class is actually a part of your family history. it gets to be a very heady experience and reminds you why

you are doing what you are doing, and why you push yourself so hard. >> very emotional day for your father. what about you? how emotional is it for you as a young african american woman realizing any role your father placed in history? >> it's definitely overwhelming when you realize the same man you ask to put gas in your car, that that's the same person that helped to change history. it's very emotional because i realize he is so humble about it. he just looks at it as he wanted to go to the school. and it's amazing for me to realize i am hear with my father who played a part in the decisions and actions that happened to change america. >> yes, i was simply going to say that even though you regard

it as a hero, you have to take out the garbage as any other parent does. >> i know the feeling. and mackenzie you should keep in mind your father was much younger than you are now when he made that historic decision to do what we did. that iconic photo of a young man who has grown just a little grayer over the years, but his history not diminished. thank you both for being with us. we want to take you back live to washington. thousands in the nation's capitol. they are there to honor the legacy of dr. martin luther king, and celebrate the 50th anniversary of that famous, "i have a dream" speech. and we want to remind you that our coverage continues throughout the day on al jazeera and aljazeera.com. our special coverage from the

lincoln memorial begins at 2:00 pm eastern time. we will be right back. ♪

would probably be very good at that also. that is it for al-jazeera america. ♪ welcome back to al jazeera. i'm del walters. a military jury at this hour

deciding what happens next to army major nidal hasan. hasan has no closing remarks in the sentencing phase of his trial earlier this morning. the jury will decide if the fort hood shooter gets life in prison or death. over the last two days the jury heard statements from the victims. this hour we have also learned that california's rim fire is now 23% contained. that's up 3% from yesterday. one of the largest wildfires in california's history is now roaring deeper into yosemite. it has burned more than 185,000 acres, hundreds more firefighters have now joined in the effort to contain it. dave warren is here to update us on what is going on with the rim fire. we'll take a look from

above, and you can see the highlighted area of yosemite national park. and there it is. these are the city lights of san francisco and sacramento. not spreading is any rain. the radar is all clear over that area. the southwest may see another round of showers and storms. and this is just light rain, some heavy rain is in oregon and washington. that will stay there. this is the view over washing n washington -- [ technical difficulties ] -- the heaviest rain is staying to the southwest. still a few showers approaching from the north. to light rain will be the forecast throughout the afternoon and evening. the lighter rain does clip washington, d.c. and baltimore. the temperatures will slowly begin to climb. richmond is at 81, raleigh is at

83. nowhere near the heat we're seeing develop in the northern plains. dell? >> david thank you very much. still ahead how texting could land you in jail. new jersey takes a very hard look at the senders and receivers. and the u.s. government likes thousands on facebook. the details when we come back.

what happens when social media

♪ welcome back to al jazeera. i'm del walters. it was 50 years ago today that dr. martin luther king, jr. delivered those famous four words. today thousands heading to the national mall to commemorate his iconic "i have a dream" speech the syrian ambassador is asking the word body to investigate his claims that rebels were behind the chemical weapons attack. iran's nuclear program is now expanding. it has installed hundred

thousand centrifuges. the stockpile of uranium gas is still below the red line. in new jersey texting while driving could mean fines if you cause an accident, it could mean prison time. and it's not just the drivers that can get in trouble, but the senders as well if they know the person sending the text is behind the wheel. how much would you say for a bowl? a few dollars? how about $10 million? a ware blue and white bowl from china being auctioned off next month, estimated value $10 million. it comes from 15th century

china, during the chin wa period. if the bowl is purchased at its estimated price of $10 million that would set a new auction record. and just in case you are curious, it is not microwaveable. thousands are gathering today for the 50th answer anniversary of the day that martin luther king, jr. delivered his famous "i have a dream" speech. we will be on the air at 2:00 eastern time with the president's speech. we invite you to join us then. as we continue to look at the events down on the mall, we want to remind you that it is a special day in washington, a special day for the world, as the civil rights movement itself now in its prime. that is the news at that hour. you are watching al jazeera. coming up next, 101 east adrenalin nation. as always we invite you to stay

with us. ♪