>> loudest voices calling for military action in syria. the government had even

but i think they're quite ready and fully expecting some sort of response. as to what that response is, and when, again, we'll soon find out. >> and what about syria's response? >> i think this is one of the things that certainly the west and certainly the u.s. administration are trying to calculate. and it is very much a guess at this point is, if they were to go in with some sort of punitive action what are the likely ramifications? would they see some sort of attack on israel? would they see further attacks elsewhere within the country on

their own people, or would there be some sort of wider action to calculate. so i think those have all been factored into decision making process but realistically we can't really decide what is going to happen. >> tim, the president said today he wanted possibly a limited attack. what does a limited attack mean? and once we've launched an attack aren't we into it somewhat? >> well, yes, and no. actually a limited action of some sort. first of all we only have a certain amount of resources in the area, enough to send a critical attack, command post communications possibly some of the higher ministries and obviously the air force commands. those things that may degrade the ability to use chemical weapons again and certainly send and reinforce that message.

but anything beyond that is going to require a considerable amount of additional resources. and then that is something that certainly there are not those sort of resources anywhere near, and to commit those, then yes, we would have to see it through to the end whatever that may be. >> tim stand by for a second. we asked this question if syria is attacked how well it might respond to that and a al jazeers john terrett takes a look at that. >> it's unclear whether attack will come or not. britain and france are willing to wait. assume one happens in the next couple of days how would the government actually respond? well the syrian air force is pretty well equipped. like these mig fighter jets.

like jordan or israel itself. of course the allies will try to close down the syrian air force, but they might find themselves up against the most formidable air force in the middle east. its supporter iran is unlikely to intervene directly not least of all fearing a retaliatory attack on its nuclear facilities but also given the softer approach towards the west of the newly installed president hasan rohani. but the other ally in the region, the lebanese group hezbollah. >> iran has some ability to retaliate, this is the natural response iran prefers to use, an attack on israel would be likely the expected reaction from the

regime. >> the attacks could be launched from hezbollah south of lebanon. it's known that hezbollah has access of rockets capable of hitting all the way down here in tel aviv, an israel fear. as syria's ambassador to be u.n. has said, israel is in the state of war and preparing for worst. >> john thank you, back to you, the biggest hot spots in the world, which makes it even more delicate for the obama administration, right? >> oh, yes. very much so. i think everyone's seeing that perhaps the initial action may be directed towards israel and i think we've already seen today a call-up of reservists to help with a possible retaliation.

we've seen further deployment of miss i'll batteries along the syrian border, and they're preparing for a direct attack or some sort of terrorist action. >> what if iran gets involved? >> then this becomes more of a regional concern. and we then are going to look at other players that may get dragged into this. lebanon for one. jordan mentioned. these are all things that again are being calculated, being looked at and i'm sure there's a lot of conversations going on with various ministries to sort of look at how can these options be mitigated in some way. >> tim, so how long do you think it will be before the united states might launch an attack on syria? are they simply going to have to wait for these weapons inspectors to come back with their report and what about the

british? >> hard to say with any sort of certainty. but given the fact that the secretary general has asked that we at least wait for the inspectors to conclude their investigation and present their findings i think that would help perhaps legitimate mie legitimi. the further and the more distance from the actual chemical attack that went -- that took place, then again you are thinking well how much of this limited strike is really going to send the message that the plrt administrators are hopg that it would. >> thank you tim. now syrian activists have posted video of an emotional

reunion in one of the hardest hit section of damascus. this man's son was believed to be killed last week that is until he was reunited with the young child. he's overwhelmed with seeing his son come out alive. collapsing in the arms of friends. he's able to compose himself and embrace the young boy. >> good evening everyone i'm going otake you down towards the southern hemisphere. in this hour it is the winter time here and we have some amazing video to show you and unfortunately some very devastating video. quarter of a million alpaca have been killed, the worst snow they have seen in the last ten years. and for nine states in peru we

are now clairg a state of emergency and now will continue for the next 60 days. so we're going to be watching more video and pictures coming out over the next day or so. we've also had some major flooding here in parts of pennsylvania. the rain has come down so heavy that it was actually unexpected for many people across the region. you can see those storms especially across the western parts of pennsylvania then towards west virginia. things are much better, showers anywhere down to parts of delaware as well as into maryland. the other big switch is where the happy rain will be in the southwest. utah, flash flooding as well as nevada. now what's going to be happening the monsoon is going to be ticking off more towards arizona. on the southern border of arizona these thunderstorms are popping up. these are the kind that really produce those intense amounts of

rain and the flash flooding going on. we also have a new storm down here in the california, gulf of california consume, that one is going to really enhance the rain coming up into this region. we're going to be watching this very carefully across the area. for parts of california though not a lot of rain at all especially in the wildfire areas. john. >> thank you john. it was a day of reflection and remembrance. 50 years ago, dr. martin luther king jr.'s i have a dream speech, veterans who gathered to celebrate the event. and four years after killing 14 soldiers, the fort hood soldier receives the sentence of death. those stories coming up on al jazeera.

>> the 50th anniversary of the march on washington today brought out some of the biggest names in politics and the civil rights movement. a half century to the day after reverend martin luther king jr. said i have a dream, they gathered again and al jazeera's mike vequerra was there. >> bells ran on the national mall and across the country to mark the moment. the time a half century ago when martin luther king, jr. spoke to a racially divided america. people of all stripes packed the mall to hear the words inspired by dr. king. joseph lowry was a freedom fighter along with dr. king. >> committed to be a nation of liberty and justice for all.

>> julian bond a civil rights veteran who led a sit in at a segregated lunch counter at greensboro, south carolina. >> we're still being challenged, from the stand your ground laws. >> the spirit of dr. king's words captured the hearts of people not just around america. but around the world. >> part celebration, part commemoration, part renewal. it was 50 years ago on this day that dr. king led the famous march on washington and delivered his i have a dream speech. today the crowd heard from the first african american president. >> to secure the gains this country has made requires constant vigilance. >> the president stood on the spot where king spoke invoke the civil rights leader as an inspiration. >> how he gave mighty voice to

the quiet hopes of millions. how he offered a salvation path for oppressed and oppressors alike. >> mr. obama drew parallels between past and present. >> what was one a call for equality and opportunity, the chance for all americans to work hard and get ahead was too often framed as a mere desire for government support. >> former president jimmy carter and bill clinton said king's message still resonates. and family members who remembers him as a man and a man who changed history. >> that's what he did, challenged the nation to be a better nation from all god's children. >> one common theme, america has come a long way but still has a long way to go. mike vequerra al jazeera washington. >> dr. king's son martin luther king iii spoke about racial inequality today.

>> we certainly don't have true racial equality today. we have a significant number of individuals who have made great progress. we have african american ceo, such as xerox korea. xerox kerry. before the housing foreclosure crisis, a significant number of people have moved into middle class. now they've lost their houses, lost their wealth, we need to close that gap and bring people together as it relates to those disparities. >> martin luther king iii. >> an army major nidal hasan,

was convicted of murder heidi zhou castro reports. >> the mother of 22-year-old specialist jason hunt speaking of how her son had wanted to deploy to iraq not to harm others but to protect them. and this is what she had to say about hasan. >> anyone who would use their religion to commit acts of terrorism serves no god, as far as his claim he was saving lives he's done nothing but further deteriorate his relationship between the u.s. and other middle eastern countries. he is nothing but a coward and a murderer. >> doesn't bring our father's

life back, the media will decide whose voice will be heard and whose face we will remember. our hope it is not the voice of murderers or terrorists but it is the voice of those who stood and those who continue to stand in a true and honorable defense of others. >> that's the message we heard over and over again from these families. they want hasan to be forgotten. he will soon be on his way to forth leef are leavenworth, kan. i should note that no u.s. soldier has been executed since 1961. heidi castro. a local lawyer is petitioning the state supreme court to stop the action but for now it is approved.

the counties have granted dozens of same sex civil unions already. well, mike leaves is here with sports and talking about the heisman trophy. >> good news bad news but mostly good news in texas. suspended quarterback johnny manzell has denied accepting any money for autographs. slaughtering animals before games, the animal rights group peta has sent a message to uefa, the day before the championship

league, venus williams fails to make it to the final round of the grand slam. at 33 years old williams was the oldest player to make the second round, have more sports news coming up in about 20 minutes. >> michael thank you. in california tonight there is a desperate shortage of foster parents. coming up we'll tell you what's been done to find children safe and loving homes. keeping at least a dozen mosques under surveillance. what it means for people who attend them next on al jazeera.

>> welcome back to al jazeera. i'm john siegenthaler. here's a look at the headlines. president obama says he's convinced that syria did use chemical weapons against its own people. during an interview with pbs, he says he has not made a final decision about how the united states should respond. if man convicted of the killing at fort hood was sentenced.

nidal hasan's sentence will be automatically appealed. >> the 50th anniversary of plng's i have a dream speech. president obama was the keynote speaker, top republicans were invited to speak as well but declined. the parents of trayvon martin are still fighting for their son's legacy. they were in washington today to take part in the mlk ceremony. they have promised to fight for young black men across the country. supporters from all over took this day to honor king and martin. rae lynn johnson reports. >> many of them say they are proud of the comploiments this country has made in the last 50 years such as electing the first black president but for some the shooting death of martin was a stark reminder just how far this country has to go when it comes to race.

>> dr. king when he wrote that letter from a birmingham jail i was about 22 years old then. but i never forgot the words when i read them. he said an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. >> we stand here in community with the family of trayvon martin an all the virm's families around the country and we say you are not alone. we will mark with you. we will march with you until you find justice for your son. and we know justice is not just accountability in one individual case but it's preventing another trayvon martin. >> the justice department is still investigating whether trayvon martin's civil liberties were invited, the same liberties that king fought for 50 years ago. >> a florida family is suing local press for tasing their son. the son died after the tasing. 18-year-old israel hernandez was chased down and stunned by miami beach police after they caught

him spray painting a law. they express violation of the teenagers's civil right. the new york police department labeled at least a dozen mosques in the city as terrorist organizations, that means the police can spy on the mosques without evidence of wrongdoing. the groups call it racial profiling. cab turner reports. >> midday prayers at the islamic society of bay ridge. according to the police department this is not merely a place of worship. documents leaked to the associated press say this is one of a dozen mosques that have been secretlily labeled as a terrorist organization since 2003. anyone who attends their prayer meetings can be subject to investigation for voin, also for

violence against the nypd. >> and that is the most important thing you liver for, in the united states, when there is nonof these what do you think? >> justifies the terrorist labels and widespread monitoring. >> our kids learning in an after school program, woman learning english. what is the lead that send them into organizations for ten years at a time. >> akmed has now resigned. >> i feel betrayed, i feel stabbed in the back. we are the people who are trying to forge a cooperation between the nypd and our community and then you come up with being surveilled just because we are muslims. >> on national tuition the police chief -- on national

television the police chief upheld his direction. >> being done by a federal judge's direction. >> new york mayor bloomberg, claiming they're necessary to keep the city safe. >> three human rights organizations including the american civil rights union have sued the nypd, accusing the department of unjustified surveillance. muslim groups have made it clear they won't back down. cath turner al jazeera. >> if they know they're texting someone who is driving, a new jersey couple sued a teen who was texting a driver. the driver then crashed into the

couple's motorcycle leaving them with severe leg injuries. for nearly two weeks now fire crews in california have been working nonstop battling the fierce wildfire around yosemite national park. in some cases crews are using a drone to fly over the blaze. there are over 4,000 firefighters trying to get a handle on this stubborn fire. >> there are still evacuation warnings on the southern part of the fire. some area inquires are out of the danger that they are in so we are doing our best to get ahead of this and deal with it. before it has its way with us. >> at least six firefighter crew members have been hurt since the rim fire started about 12 days ago and about 193,000 acres have burnt so far. southern california is

facing a foster care problem. the county is up against a deadline to solve the problem or face penalties. stephanie stanton has that story. >> two-year-old bella plays a game with her honorable and dad but these happy scenes were not always the case. bella came into her parents life as a foster child. >> i don't think there's a moment that we have a regret about the choices we made. she feels just like our child. >> other foster kids may not get that same happy ending. in los angeles county there are about 17,000 children in the foster care system run by the department of children and family services or dcfs. half are living with relatives and others with foster families but in the last number of years the number of foster homes have started to decline. >> we really need more foster

parents taking responsibility for taking care of those children even for a short period of time. >> in 2007 there were about 9,000 children in nonrelative foster care with roughly 6500 foster families. now there are about 8,000 kids but only about 3500 homes. dcfs officials say among the reasons for the shortage, a growing number of aging foster parents who decide to stop fostering and the rapid increase in childcare cost. the problem has become especially acute in the last six months due to increase in child induce and neglect calls to hot lines. >> during the past few weeks, we have seen an increase of 10,000 to 12 to 13,000 calls per month. >> a recent area case made national headlines. gabriel hernandez was tortured and killed by his mother and her

boyfriend. despite multiple calls to dcfs. concerned that the department is overreacting to media reactions. >> i don't want it to be in a reactive mode. >> last year the county opened up a temporary care center to deal with the childcare shortage. more than 3500 children have been brought here since 2012 to await placement. even with that some of the children have been overstaying the 24-hour legal limit because workers had trouble finding foster homes. dcfs has been given a wednesday deadline by the state to correct some of the ongoing problems or face potential fines. the county is working with several agencies to open additional care centers. county officials have recently gotten approval to add 150 social workers. they have also outlined other changes they plan to implement.

>> a new foster care search engine to allow us to identify vacancies quicker. we have more staff that are trying to find placement for children. we are increasing our recruitment efforts for foster parents. >> the ultimate goal to give other kids in los angeles to grow up in a stable and loving home just like bella. stephanie stanton al jazeera los angeles. >> thousands of fast food workers across the country are expected to walk off the job tomorrow to demand higher wages. an average worker makes about $15,000 a year. they are demanding that that more than double. this is a latest in a string of protests that began in november. detroit's animal control officials are denying the claim that 50,000 stray dogs are roaming the streets of the abandoned city. it's the direct result of the city's economic woes as job

losses in detroit grow thousands of dogs and other pets were abandoned. >> in 2012 there were 903 bites to humans in the city of detroit. there are 50 calls a day, by citizens asking for relief from the dogs, from the pit bulls that are chasing them, and endangering their children and four is the number of officers i have to cover that. >> that's not your dog? see how this dog looks? this dog is not taken care of. you can tell this dog has been out, he's got fleas all over him he's not groomed well and we pick up dogs like this off the street all the time. when you have an economic decline of a city in an urban area, there are things that are going to suffer. >> there is more coming up on al jazeera. shakespeare never heard about hip hop but hip hop knows all the the bend. coming up next here othello performed in a way the author

could never have imagined. and a young man named johnny football will not be on the field when his team kicks off the season. michael eves explains on al jazeera.

>> welcome back everyone. waters have flooded china's he long jen province forcing 40,000 people to relocate. harry fossett is there. >> a huge effort to stem the spread of the hey long river. floating meters above what is usually farmland after weeks of the heaviest rain in many years.

men lining long jun. >> this side used to be all farmland before. like the other side. now it's all water six or seven meters deep. >> this embankment is the second line of defense, the first barrier is already underwater hundreds of meters away. well this embankment hasn't been overtopped by the water but as you can see this village is still flooded. trying to plug up any gaps underneath the water. a military boat takes us to another nearby village. the waters rose over jejing ho over the past months. this is an ethnic minority showcase village, plenty has been spent on it. plenty more will need to be once the water is begun. at one end of the main street boats are a more reliable form

of transport than motor bikes. a sense of normality seems to persist. >> now the electricity is back it's getting better. i've never seen such a big flood in my life. i'm all here in 1984. there have been a couple of floods since then but nothing like this. >> things may be looking brighter in the village but for the soldiers on the bank the work goes on. they know the water is still rising and more rain clouds are due before the weekend. hearst forcett, al jazeera, china. >> a record amount of money may soon be paid for a rare ming bowl. the estimated value, more than $10 million. if the bowl is purchased for that price that will set an auction record for any piece from that period.

well, could it be college sports season is here? michael eaves is here to talk about sports. >> finally football people are excited to see on sports. the ncaa and texas a&m have reached an agreement. johnny manzell has denied accepting money for autographs. although he did end up autographing a number of footballs had end end up on ebay, student athletes are often asked for autographs from fans but unfortunately, an individual's why motive is to

resell the items. texas a&m hosts rice saturday in college station. well sports have often been the catalyst toward social change and that's certainly the case when it came to integration. in fact it was a football game that was played six years after the march on washington that proved to be the tipping point towards desegregation in the south. the civil rights act in 1964, several aspects of the south remained divided down racial lines including one of the region's most sacred cultural treasures. football. >> football is like a religion in the south, college football games were segregated long after the universities themselves had been forced to integrate. so the ability of the black colleges to compel integration had a huge effect on society throughout the south.

>> sam freedman the author of breaking the line the season in black college football that transformed the sport and changed the course of civil rights, examined, florida a&m's jack gather which led to the first historically black university and an all white school in the south. >> the game of florida a&m against tampa in 1969 was so scary in the south, there were fears it would cause a race riot. >> florida a&m won the game, how much was the game pivotal in that movement? >> that game plays a huge role in integration in a couple of ways. first of all it demonstrates to skeptics that black players were the equal and in this case the better of the top white players. >> eventually that integration led to the demise of great historically great black college

football programs because now all the best players are going to the traditionally white schools as opposed to dricially black schools. >> for 88th gather and eddie robinson, they wanted to see the legal structure of white supremacy end end. >> but despite the sacrifices, their influence on the game of football is still felt today even if most fans, players and coaches don't realize it. >> when you look at a football team today that emphasizes speed at every position that was the jake gather method. defense spread that was an offense that jake gather spread in 1958 and 1959. >> dodgers manager don mattingly is not going to make his players

comfortable. puig told the l.a. times that mattingly took him out because he wasn't prepared for every pitch. as rain delays up to four hours led to some dwhraiz, two time venus williams 0 at 33 years old was the oldest player to advance to the second round of the year's final grand slam but that's where her run would end. against 36-year-old jung jia of china, it is the third straight year that williams has failed to make it to the third round of the u.s. open. in golf the fedex cup moves to boston with the deutsche banc

tournament. tiger woods pulled out of a charity event to give you him more time for the weekend. how tiger's chances are in boston. >> back spasms are if you get the right treatment at the right time they can turn around rather quickly. the deutsche banc championship starts on friday and ends on monday instead of the normal thursday to sunday tournament. he's getting an scuns from the national pro-am, backs, as easily as they can heal they can go back the other way, hopefully, tiger woods is healthy again. >> and the deutsche banc is the second of four tournaments in the fedex cup. the winner gets $10 million. >> that's not a bad prize. >> not bad for a month's work.

>> back pain can be bad but spasms can make you collapse like that? >> at least from tiger's standpoint, he's had them before. he doesn't know what will trigger them. it's sudden and so excruciating it will make him go to his knees. all right, thanks. william shakespeare has some new fans because of a rap version of oothello. >> it is a tragedy tailor made for hip hop era. ♪ >> only this script is 400 years old. just recently freshened up with a modern touch. >> we've been told the story since we were little kids in rhyme, all the time. so rhyme is an entry point for most people i think. >> today's entry is no carnegie

hall. 500 chicago inmates are experiencing shakespeare's othello, remix. >> i think a lot of it is about miscommunicates he and repercussions and those are things that are good to be thinking about. >> the show is the braij child of the q brothers, jay q and gq. audience follows jc othello. it may seem curious to bring a story about pride and manipulation to the jail. it turns out this might be the target audience. >> i think a lot of them learn that they have a better opportunity to come out of this situation and be able to rebuild their lives. >> nments weren't given much of

a preface on the plot but in the end it managed to hilt close to home. >> if i had that in my life, i had people who tried to turn me against be others who were good for me, but i persuaded them into doing them wrong. >> you need to focus on what you're doing and make sure you act otherwise catastrophic events can happen. >> having performed all over the world, this is the first true captive audience for the q brothers, one they don't judge and hope they can help. >> everyone deserves a chance to make a new life for themselves so the end of the play sort of perfectly says why we're here. >> we didn't realize sort of how that line would recess inflate -- would resonate. >> would recess news channel 8. that means something different than it's ever meant. >> a moment of triumph over tragedy that's exactly what this art is all about.

al jazeera chicago. well america tonight is coming up next but first the thursday forecast with kevin corrivcocorriveau. ç]

>> hello again, well a lot of weather has been happening across the northeast today. and just in the last hours we've had major thunderstorms, coming down from the north, the big problem here is, we do have some severe weather in those thunderstorms. they popped up very quickly. they are heading towards concord, new hampshire and nashua. by the time we get into about 2:00 or 3:00 a.m., a problem there. also we saw some very heavy rain push through parts of pennsylvania, that caused major flooding across the region. things have gotten better but clearing out, rain showers are pushing towards maryland and delaware. just passing wednesday, all eyes are on the long labor day weekend. for new york things are not looking too bad as we go to

saturday and sunday but unfortunately as you take a look at monday, this is going to affect a lot of east coast cities, we see rain, and airports delays as well. down to the south on the gulf coast, things aren't looking too bad. right now, rain in parts of southern florida but notice clear skies all the way across the board. if you have travel plans to the big easy we don't expect reafn but temperatures in the low 90s. the gulf humidity is going ofeel a bit more like 95, possibly 96° in the heating of the day. if you are going ogo make sure you drink lots of water there. down towards the southwest we are seeing flooding happening right now across the western part of arizona, that's going to continue throughout the night as well as down here towards the south, we're going to be watching this very carefully as well as what's happening with the wildfires. that's the national weather,

headlines in just a second. >> welcome to al jazeera. i'm john siegenthaler. here are the headlines. president obama says he is now convinced that syria did use chemical weapons against its own people. during an interview with pbs he says he's still deciding his administration's next steps. >> what i've concluded is a civil war in syria would not help the situation on the ground. >> the u.n. security council has failed to agree on whether to condemn syria for the attack. russia and china firmly against the use of military force. syria is not a major oil