wouldn't believe there is a farm inside of it. ♪ theme >> good morning. this is aljazeera, i'm richelle carey. making the case for a possible attack, the obama administration stepped forward with evidence it says proves the assad regime is to blame for the deadly chemical weapons strike in syria. >> bold reaction from syria's leader, saying the country is ready to defend itself. meanwhile, the ref you. >> crisis grows by the day. >> the nfl announces a tentative settlement for players struggling with brain injury. >> the young people moving here who really had it in their heart they wanted to be part of rebuilding the city. >> in a city steeped in history,

it's the newest residents helping new orleans make a post katrina comeback. >> this morning, president obama considers going it alone, taking on syria without a key ally by its side. the obama administration forced to evaluate that option after being repudiated by the british parliament, refusing to authorize military intervention. >> the ayes 272, the nos 285. >> prime minister david cameron disagrees with the vote, but believes it represents the will of the people. just hours after britain backed out, another ally stepped forward. the president of france said all options are on the table for an intervention in syria, and that in fact if the attack was

carried out, it must noting unpunished. president obama briefed lawmakers. congressional leaders were told there is proof, including intercepted communication that the assad regime was behind the chemical attacks. no decision has been made yet on syria. hagel said the u.s. won't allow politics to detour it from taking action. he said the obama administration would continue working to assemble a coalition. >> every nation has a responsibility to make their own decisions and we respect that of any nation. we are continuing to consult with the british, as we are with all of our allies. >> hagel back in the u.s. today. the team of u.n. chemical inspectors are spending their fourth and final day talking to go doctors in damascus. they are only looking for proof

of an attack, not investigating who is responsible. we have three reports for you this morning. we are in london with british reaction, in beirut following the refugees, their flight and we begin with mike at the white house. mike, how much of a setback was the vote of no from the british parliament? >> it was an enormous setback, but the white house is moving forwarded, not veering from this course. here's a president who came to office on the premise of ending wars, the war in iraq and afghanistan. he is largely making good on that, but not getting involved in a war. the president who won the nobel peace prize and now the reaction to the british vote, they will move forward talking about core national interests. this is what the president has been talking about all along. if you look at it this way, if the president of the united states said the core national interests are at the heart of this matter, then what choice

does he have but to act. 26 members of congress consulted, leadership on both sides of the aisle. some members walked out of that unclassified briefing, saying they were told by top administration officials who deal with defense intelligence and security matters that a top assad official communications from that official talking about chemical weapons had been intercepted. this is the factual evidence people had been waiting for or a portion of it, opposed to the circumstantial evidence put forward by the president and others over the course of the last several days. bottom line, the white house and the president seem to be moving forward with or without britain, certainly france's help is welcome, but a shock to everyone involved that prime minister com ran suffered that setback in parliament yesterday. >> mike, is anyone, anyone broached the topic of how much some military axled cost? >> as a matter of fact, that was brought up on that conference

call with congressional leaders last night and chuck hagel said the defense department, the administration would have to come to congress to ask for a yet unspecified amount of money. if you do the math, and this plays out as we expect, we're talking about the launch of cruise missiles known as tomahawks, about a million and a half dollars a copy. if you talk to defense experts, we are talking about a launch of 50 or several dozen cruise missiles at syrian targets, so that cost in and of itself is not extraordinary. when you talk about having five destroys on station, all the intelligence assets, military assets focused on this over the course of the last week, you're running into the billions of dollars. in the larger scheme of things, not a significant amount of money for the defense budget, but certainly in these times of budgetary crisis in the united states and controversy, that's going to be a tough sell, as well. >> i imagine so. keep us posted throughout the

day, thank you. >> despite british prime minister david cameron, the parliament rejecting the idea of military involvement, phillip has that story. suppose u.n. inspectors come back with proof, with proof of chemical weapons. is there any chance that something else, something different could happen in parliament? >> richelle, i think that's highly unlikely. british public opinion is strongly against any kind of military intervention in the middle east. david cameron admitted it was going to be a hard sell from the outset because as he put it, the well of public opinion supporting any kind of military intervention in the middle east had been poisoned by the war in iraq. now look, these are the morning papers here in britain. we don't want your war. no to war. a blow to cameron.

this is a huge story here and the support for those who stood up against david cameron is still quite high, even members of his own party, it's now come out, took part in voting no against intervention. it's just, there's no support for any kind of military intervention in the middle east unless something significant happens on the ground in syria, it's unlikely. >> so the french president saying that all options are on the table, that's not significant. >> well, the french are still very much in this thing. the experience of the french and british in the last 10 years is measuringedly different, because there isn't the stink of the iraq war for the french. the british really, really were stung by their involvement in the iraq war. the french don't have that stigma. they still have an aircraft carrier in the region, the french president has been saying

very strong things about punishing those who committed those chemical attacks last week. we can expect a volt in the french parliament. like the british, they've been recalled from their summer vacation. they will be voting on the possibility of some participation in a military action in syria sometime next week. richelle. >> ok, keep us posted live from london, thank you. >> the syrian government is making preparations in anticipation of a possible military strike. president assad said the country will defend itself against aggression. reporters are staying away from buildings that could be targeted in a strike. the refugees had a crisis before the talk of air strikes, now even more are pouring out of the country. david jackson is live in beirut. >> we were at the border point where they exit out of syria and

come into lebanon here. we saw quite a few people doing this. it's i guess you would call a steady stream of traffic that does come out. it has not been the overflowing amount that was expected here in lebanon. they are not getting a gigantic in flux of syrians by any means. you get 10,000 people a day crossing that border out of syria, 8,000 people from lebanon going back into syria. we saw that happen yesterday. a lot of people who come out, bring women, children, family members out of syria, the men turn around and go back in. we saw that yesterday, where they were headed back into syria, prepared to fight with the assad regime. when we're in beirut here, coming out of damascus to beirut, you're dealing with the principle crossing point here that is legal. that means everybody coming out with paperwork that puts them in basically connection with the syrian current government instead of being involved in any rebel cause whatsoever.

that's in the north, so what we see here are the people who tend to be supporters of assad and yes they are, they're heading right back in in order to fight with him. they do expect an attack and say syria is prepared, and they say that most of those vulnerable areas that they think are going to be hit have been vacated to a certain extended and they're not afraid to go back. >> considering that you said you're seeing mostly assad supporters, have you been able to get a feel for whether or not people there support u.s. intervention? >> they do not support it on the whole, richelle. the main reason because they don't want a wider war. everybody here in lebanon is convinced in one way or another that if there is an attack, no matter how limited, that it will fire up hezbollah and israel and somehow, this will spill across between lebanon and israel. they fought a war in 2006 and everybody remembers it here.

the last thing that they want to say is a return to those conditions, so everybody is really crossing their fingers that it is not severe enough to launch anything of the sort. the other thing is they are resigned to the fact that they think there will be some kind of an attack, that it will be an american attack and it will be very limited. regardless of the british position, regardless of the french position, they think there will be an american strike. they think it will take two oh three days and they are hopeful of going back to a normal life immediately thereafter. >> wow. such as it is. david jackson, live from beirut, thank you. >> with more on the political implications linked to a possible u.s. strike against syria, we're joined by dr. james boyce in london. thank you so much for joining me. >> good morning richelle. >> what happened in parliament,

is that a failure on the part of david cameron or is that the british people saying no under any circumstances, regardless of how you sell it to us? >> i think that we really have to look at this as a failure of principle leadership. in london, it's about political math. you shouldn't take anything to the house floor if you can't guarantee passage you. shouldn't put your own political prestige behind a piece of action if you can't guarantee passage. the prime minister has really come away from this with a bloody nose, i think. >> was it not the british people saying no, no matter what, no? >> i think that there's no doubt about it, there's no great public support here, just as in america, i saw a report revealing that reuters is saying there's only 9% public support in the united states for intervention. there's no great grounds for the

support here saying we should go into syria. memories long lasting and people recall what happened in iraq. the fear here was this would begin a slippery slope into more in depth military action. certainly the opposition, who put the amount to all this certainly is getting an awful lot of bad press from downing street and the foreign office this morning. >> what could it possibly mean in the region, what would be implications be if the u.s. goes it alone, initiates its own strike in syria? >> i think that the way the britain and america acted together, ile have similar implications for the region, you will have a destabilizing effect, military intervention in another middle eastern country, using w.m.d. as a pretext. that will clearly have implications. it will upset the delicate

relationship between the united states and russia, where the president is heading in the next couple of days and certainly fuel anti western sentiment in some parts of the world, as if that really could get any worse, for example in iran, who, of course would have a major thing to say about what would be happening with reward to say potential implications and interventions. >> thank you, dr. james boys. i'm sure we will be calling on you again. thank you, dr. boys. >> keep it here on aljazeera for continuing coverage of the crisis in syria. you can always stay up to date on our website, as well, aljazeera.com. >> still to come on aljazeera, the obama administration is loosening federal drug laws making it easier for states that of accused recreational marijuana us. eight years after hurricane katrina devastated new orleans, the big easy is making a comeback. >> the nfl opens its wallet to help retired players with brain injuries. the latest on the massive

concussion settlement.

>> the white house quietly announced two executive orders

to access and resell guns. the first make it harder to get background checks. the second order will prevent gun buyers from importing u.s. made military weapons from other countries for their private use. >> missouri lawmakers are debating a bill that would dissolve all federal gun laws in the state. the proposed bill would also make it a crime for federal officers to enforce federal gun laws in the state. the bill is in line with the movement known as nullification. that's where states pass laws that openly defy federal power. last month, the democratic governor of missouri vetoed the measure calling it unconstitutional. >> the justice department will not sue colorado or washington for legalizing marijuana use. the government outlined its policy for enforcing marijuana laws, including keeping pot out of the hands of minors.

this leaves entrepreneurs trying to figure out how to make money. >> in a basement room in a saw the seattle warehouse, medical marijuana entrepreneur gives us a small whiff of the future of weed. >> we got awards for this. if you smell it, you're going to get blueberry cheesecake. >> they are ready to roll out even more production space. the can bass growing business is good right now. >> we help provide over 10,000 patients with the medication that they need. >> with the state finalizing rules for a licensed and regulated recreational pot industry, the future looks even brighter. >> we have six part time and six full time employees. >> where do you see that going if recreational marijuana is implemented? >> massive growth. >> before the legalization vote,

the state estimated more than 360,000 adult customers every year would need pot. a former microsoft corporate strategy manager wants to reach some of those customers, preferably the older, richer once. >> baby boomer is our market. we don't even want those in their 20s. >> they are figuring out packages details, but has a brand name, possible product lines, and plenty of investors interest. a very smart stoner's business plan. >> the core strategy was involved under the influence of an extremely good i sativa. there is a whole family of can bass. >> so you were high when you had this vision. >> that is correct. >> before a single store is open, that vision includes expansion. >> we're thinking internationally, yeah. >> but the potential major players in this infant industry have a warning about get rich

quick dreams. >> can a pepper get in on the ground floor of legalized marijuana? >> the ground floor happened years ago. that's the truth of it. >> aljazeera, seattle, washington. >> in arizona, an unbelievable accident leaves a little girl dead. police say an 8-year-old boy somehow got ahold of his mother's car keys and took his 6-year-old sillsster out for a drive. mom thought they'd been kidnapped, so police tracked the car down and when they tried to pull it over, the boy crashes into a pole. his sister who was not wearing a seatbelt were killed. no charges are expected to be filed. >> a new jersey court of appeals ruled that a person who sends a text to someone they know is driving can be held responsible if a crash occurs. it's part of the latest crackdown to stop people from using their cell phones while operating a vehicle. governor chris christie said it may go too far.

>> hurricane katrina slammed into the coast, more than 1800 people died. the city of new orleans was devastated, still trying to recover. some very create i have people have gone to the big easy to help drive this revival. >> he's come a long way. he's a respected furniture designer with a booming business. >> this material is what makes my work beautiful to me. >> like many other creative entrepreneurs, he was drawn to new orleans in the did he say pet days following hurricane katrina. >> i visited and really fell in love with the city, the music, the young people moving here, who really had it in their heart they wanted to be part of rebuilding a city. >> the in flux of the young and the talented is obvious across the city, shared work spaces in

the heart of downtown are increasingly common. new orleans is now ranked at one of north america's biggest brain magnets, a trend that is a game changer. >> the real difference after cat arena is its raised the bar, raised the level of possibilities for the city and what people can do here. >> there's little doubt that this new generation of fresh blood has helped stage a remarkable comeback. when you come to neighborhoods like the lower ninth ward, it's obvious some problems still endure. >> good job, good job. >> problems that sonny lee is keenly aware of. he grew up in the lower ninth and runs a program that mentors fatherless boys. many people never returned to his old neighborhood. >> whoever lived here, the person across the street knew, this was a family, you know, in new orleans, we're all family, so to look across the street and not see your neighbor there, it's got to be an empty, lonely

feeling. ♪ >> the pitch for new orleans is a slow and steady recovery. thousands never returned after hurricane katrina, but many more have and are proud to call the big easy home. aljazeera, new orleans. >> leaders in new orleans say 80% of the city's prestorm population has returned. >> we are heading into the long weekend here. it looks all quiet on the radar here. there's clouds and radar together showing there is not much happening, but that's about to change. we are looking at a few showers and storms over the great lakes, but severe weather developing in the northern plains. there's no rain, but heat, excessive heat warnings and advisories still in effect, with temperatures climbing to 100 degrees, this could be the last one or two days we're dealing with the heat as cooler air moves in for the weekend.

quiet with the radar, but north dakota, another round of severe weather this afternoon and this evening. temperatures up to 80 in minneapolis, kansas city at 74, 78 and tulsa starting warm, ending hot. numbers are climbing up to 100 and 102 for air temperature. advisories are moving to the south, but still, this area has been under excessive heat watches, warnings or advisories the last few days and we are looking at another day with temperature at 100. the clouds in the northeast are quiet. things look pretty clear here. there is some rain expected as showers in the great lakes could push farther south, going down to north jersey and pennsylvania, where we could see a few showers or thunderstorms today popping up, and then tomorrow, temperatures into the mid 80's. over the weekend, sunday and labor day, it does get a little cooler, not completely dry. there could be a shower in new york there monday, but by

tuesday, 84 degrees. showers possible, not that heavy in the northeast, maybe a pop up thunderstorm there. not all that heavy rain is expected, but they will be developing throughout the afternoon and evening. temperatures in miami into the 90's the next five days, sunday, monday and tuesday could be dry with an isolated shower or thunderstorm today and tomorrow. in the southwest, we're getting this monsoonal moisture from the south, showers and storms develop and they could be strong or severe with heavy rain, causing some flash flooding. that's another situation there in arizona, but where we need the rain in california, where it's been dry, none expected, still waiting for some of that rain to work its way up through california. the tropics are all quiet here across the gulf and caribbean, but we're watching a few cluster of thunderstorms off the coast of africa, could be developing. they have a ways to go before impacting land. we will watch that here over the next few days.

>> still ahead on aljazeera, russia inserting itself into the syria conflict. the latest on the showdown building in the mediterranean between american and russian war ships. >> the surprising reason why it's to hard to find martin marn luther king's entire "i have a dream" speech on air or on line. >> highlights of an exciting football finish coming up in that eying sports.

same champs as english and arabic channels. disorder in a mexico court. why this judge lost his cool. components of the aljazz 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 to know. >> i'm ali velshi and this is "real money." this is "america tonight." sglovrjs our -- >> our news coverage reveal more of america's stories. >> welcome back. these are our top stories.

the united states may have to go it alone in syria. the white house says president obama is prepared to take unilateral action, but he is still trying to assemble a coalition after an alleged chemical weapons attack by government forces. the british parliament voted to stay out of the conflict, but overnight, the french president said all options are on the tail. the white house briefed congressional leaders on the situation in syria. russian president has been mostly silent, but thursday, russian officials said they would be sending two war ships to the eastern mediterranean. peter sharp is in moscow on why russia is so determined to defend its middle east allies. >> it was the height of the cold war that the deal was struck. in 1980, brezhnev signed a treaty of cooperation. it was a soviet strategy that immediately turned the soviet

union and russia into a major player in the middle east, where the soviets have been selling weapons to syria for 40 years. what does russia get from the deal today? it has access to a naval maintenance and supply base at the syrian port, russia's only military base outside the soviet union. lack are a active arms sales. net worth, $1.5 billion a year. lastly, unparalleled access to syria's military and security apparatus. little surprise in the u.n. security council that russia has consistently voted down resolutions calling for savines on syria. but one voice has remained silent. vladamir putin in a calculated indifference to the threat of u.s. intervention in syria was at the kremlin on thursday

inspecting flood defenses in the east. >> i don't think that putin has something to say just now. to come up and to say that this attack will be wrong and a mistake and a crime, and don't do it, while i think everybody knows that it will happen anyway. it doesn't make any sense to putin. i'm sure he will appear after the strike, and he will strongly condemn. >> as to the russian people, a poll on wednesday revealed 39% had never even heard of the war. >> no. it's just -- >> at the moment, i am occupied with other things. i don't follow the news. >> they invaded iraq and it turned out there were no chemical weapons. it's the same story now. they'll use this as an excuse to launch an attack. >> what's most important for the kremlin is not to be seen by the people as bending to u.s. pressure, and maintaining its

role as the protector of syria. >> to that end, two russian war ships were deployed to the eastern mediterranean thursday as tensions rise, to remind u.s. naval forces that is not solely an american pond. >> on the one hand, putin who has enough clout to encourage him to the negotiating tables after any strikes on his country remains opposed to the military action that could bring about these new talks in the first place. peter sharp, aljazeera in moscow. >> syria has suggested that if the u.s. attacks, it will retaliate against israel, so israelis have been trying to get their hands on free gas masks. 5,000 people waited in line in fear of a possible missile strike. israel has act vaulted its missile defense system in preparation for retaliatory attacks. the conflict has created nearly

2 million refugees who are directly affected by the rye lens. refugees continue to pour in and out of syria and neighboring countries, as well. lebanon currently has the largest number of syrian refugees in the country, more than 799,000. jordan hosts half a mill refugees. egypt, the military life has made very difficult for the refugees there. the turkish border, the majority of refugees crossing have come with little more on the clothes on their back. in iraq, 40,000 refugees have poured into the north in just the last week lon. >> thousands of syrians have taken refuge there. what do they think of possible military action now by the u.s.?

>> well, there's really two things that they think about any potential military reaction. firstly, there's a lot of confusion as to what this military strike my mean. a lot of people think it will topple the president and they'll be able to go home, leaving this refugee camp. others are very disappointed, saying why has it taken the west so long to act. it's been two years since people have been living as refugees, living in conditions like this. why has it taken so long for any government, particularly the u.s. to try and act, so real confusion, real disappointment, but a tinge of optimism that somebody, somewhere is finally doing something for these people. >> talk about the affect that this could possibly have on the refugee population. >> well, here's the thing. the refugee border is closed today between syrian occurred stan and iraq

iraqi kurdistan. more and more people may come through. when i arrived here 10 days ago, this camp was about 10,000 people. it's now 16,000 people, and there are others like it across iraqi kurdistan. they are up to capacity. they don't have anymore capacity 11. if there is a mass influx of refugees, they'll need international help, however the u.n.'s refugee agency is facing a funding crisis, not just here, but across the region and world. where they're going to get the money they need to deal with anymore refugees remains to be seen. it's simply a very scary prospect for those who work in the aid world and for the people affected by all of this. >> so many countries say that they don't want to be involved or at the very least pledging

some sort of humanitarian aid, has that been helpful at all? >> it's very difficult to hear you. the soil here and the sand is kicking up. i think what you're trying to ask me is about the humanitarian aspect of this. this camp is still being built. it steel needs a lot of work. it doesn't have water or facilities require. it's also the school year coming up very shortly. it doesn't have schools or rehabilitation centers. a lot of work needs to be done here in northern iraqi kurdistan. >> thank you very much. aljazeera will have continuing coverage. you can stay up to date on our website, aljazeera.com. >> a game changer for the nfl, an historic agreement, the league settling a lawsuit with former players rewarding football related brain injuries. the settlement sets aside $765 million for nearly 400 retired nfl players who filed

suit over the effects of concussion. now $675 million of that money will be available for retired players who present medical evidence of severe cognitive impairment, including dementia, alzheimer's or lou gehrig's disease. the nfl denied initially withholding concussion-related information. >> nfl players taking hit after hit after hit, claiming the league hid the dangers of brain injuries, rushed players back on the field and profited from the violence of the sport. >> they knew about it and they didn't tell us. that's like flat out lying to you, looking you in the face and lying to you. >> as a part of the deal, the nfl isn't accepting liability but is agreeing to a $765 million it willment, most of which goes to retired nfl players. some of the money is earmarked for family members of deceased players, like all pro linebacker

junior seio. he committed suicide. it was later discovered he had a brain disease linked to concussions. former running back turner has lou gehrig. he could see a payout of $5 million. >> you could get on with treating your problem and not worrying about, you know, having the money. >> but the settlement, if approved by a judge, would be a game-changer. 19,000 players would be eligible for medical exams, players with cognitive impairment will get further testing and treatment. the nfl's executive vice president jeffery pash said: >> the nfl says part of that is changing the rules to prevent

these type of injuries for current and future players, rules designed to eliminate hits to the head and neck, protect players who are down, and making sure players are fully recovered before sending them back on the field. >> here to help us break down the settlement is mike bako, the sports editor at daily.com. $765 million seems like a lot of money. can you put that in perspective. >> the perspective is that avoid from some of the players that have the long term disease, like the a.l.s. will be getting millions of dollars, most players, it averages out to just under $200,000 a year. if you need that medical attention right away, that is going to be a great asset for you to get some of that medicare, medications, things that might not be covered by the nfl's health n. when you look at it from the

long term perspective, junior's family, he committed suicide two years ago. is $200,000 enough for his family to live with that. there's so many sad stories around the nfl. >> when you put that in comparison to the nfl is a multi-billion dollars business, the numbers don't quite match up. who really wins here? the nfl actually does not have to go on the record and answer really tough questions about what they knew when. >> what they knew and when they knew it. when you look at one of the goals of commissioner roger god dell is to grow the nfl business to $25 billion a year in revenue within the next 10 years. this is a drop in the bucket. each team will have to pay out $30 million over a 20 year period. you are talking about maybe a million dollars a year for the

teams. this is a win for the nfl. what are people going to be talking about when the season starts? action on the field, this is great to get it to level the playing field before the season starts. >> let's talk about the action on the field. what does this mean for current players and future players and the way that the game is reffed. >> the way the game is played is very dangerous. players are getting faster and stronger. during the championship game, the patriots running back knocked out cold with a completely clean and legal hilt. those hits are not going to change. the way the action is on the field, it's always going to be violent. they are taking steps to guard against hits to the head, certainly against rough play for the quarterbacks, but i don't think anything's going to change off the field. there's going to be testing in place to help these players if

they want it. they have salaries and they have millions of dollars on the line. a lot of players aren't going to want to go for those tests to take themselves off the field. >> that is the question. sometimes, these players take this risk, there's so much on the line, but they have such a short time to play and they want to get the money to take care of their families so sometimes take these risks. >> absolutely. it's the locker room culture, as well. you don't want to let your teammates down. there's a process that players want to be healthy and have longer careers, but the only way they are going to be perceived as healthy is not getting injuries where they're in the trainer's room. college and pro football be instituting tests where if independent doctors don't clear you, you can't get on the field. if you're not on the if he would not producing, the nfl is going to find someone else who is producing. collin kaepernick took over for

an injured player. >> and he lost the starting job while injured. >> that is the fear of nfl players. they're concerned about long term health, but concerned about playing and making money. >> does this mean we'll never seate lawsuit from an nfl player that will stand up in court? >> i think we've definitely set a precedent and who knows what's going to happen over the next 10 years or so. the nfl did not have to admit any guilt. we don't know what evidence is out there. these lawsuits are going to be put to rest, but with lawyers involved and long term injuries, you never know. >> with that much money at stake. thank you so much for joining me this morning. >> thank you. >> the makers of tylenol say they will place a new warning on bottles of the popular pain killer. johnson and johnson said the new red label will tell you taking too much extra strength tylenol could kill you. the company is under pressure

from lawmakers. the c.d.c. said overdoses kill 500 people a year in the u.s. >> it's all pretty clear on the radar right now, but that will be changing here today and throughout the weekend, a big long weekend in store for us. the radar clear except for an area of rain around the great lakes. that's the one place that could see a shower, maybe a thunderstorm this morning. elsewhere, southeast to midwest, northern plains, southern plains, pretty clear, an isolated shower or two. there's no rain here, although severe weather is expected again today over north dakota. had that yesterday, this area of rain and strong storms move through north dakota and minnesota. today, we could see a repeat of that, but also the heat is still around, 93 degrees in chicago. here's the relief, dropping into the 80's and then 70's by monday

and tuesday, so the heatwave looks to be ending there in the plains, the northern plains seeing heat, excessive heat warnings and advisories in effect for the last few days. that's all about to ends after the rain clears out, it gets much cooler and a bit more comfortable. the heat is building, 78 in minneapolis. this afternoon, the high temperatures climbing to 100 in kansas city. tulsa's at 102. the heat is there again, coming with humidity, pushing the heat index well over 100 degrees. this is the area that has seen it and again for one more day, but relief is coming this weekend. the northeast, mid to low 70s. by this afternoon, could climb into the mid to low 80s. new jersey up through new york and new england, we could see showers or thunderstorms. looks like new york is clear today with a temperature of 84, warmer tomorrow at 86 degrees

and the thunderstorm, 86 on sunday, maybe a dry day in between two storms saturday and monday for labor day, but the temperatures stay into the mid to low 80's. across the southeast, pretty quiet now, but maybe a pop up showers or thunderstorm this afternoon or this evening. that's about it for the extreme weather across the southeast, nice and comfortable. miami will have the heat into the 90s with storms today and tomorrow, then nice and comfortable sunday, monday and tuesday. southwest getting more showers and storms, could lead to flash flooding in phoenix. california is dry, the rim fire not seeing any type of precip out there. we do need the rain there, just not getting it. tropics are all clear, just watching the storms off the coast of africa, but they have a way to go before impacting things. >> the mayor of san francisco has been pressured to resign.

he admitted he mistreated women who worked for him. he was elected last year and only served eight months. >> another milestone in marriage equality. the u.s. treasury and i.r.s. will accept joint tax returns from legally married same sex couples and it doesn't matter whether the state they live in recognizes their marriage. it's the broadsest federal action since the supreme court's decision in june to strike down the 1996 defense of marriage act. >> the surprising reason why its so hard to find martin luther king's "i have a dream" speech in its entirety, coming up.

polls. other big changes they've taken]

>> welcome back. college football kicked off the season last night with one of the game's rising stars taking to the field. we have more on that story in this morning's sports. >> he is something to watch, what a player. the season kicked off thursday night with 15 games, the headliner led by heisman tree

fee contender. clowny, the overwhelming favorite to be the number one draft pick. he was ok in the game opener, jumping out to a 17-0 lead. south car cline in a on its way to a 27-10 lead before the game was delayed due to dangerous weather. south carolina would win by the same score. >> two other teams produced one of the most exciting games of opening night. jeff scott went 75 yards for the thrilling game winner. ole miss wins, both teams had 400 yards of offense. >> in his brief stint as the denver broncos starting quarterback, tim tebow became known for late game comebacks. with the nfl preseason ending and tebow in great danger of not making the patriots roster, he

needed a comeback to bolster his chances of remaining an nfl quarterback. he goes 6-11 with 91 yards, rushes for 31 yards on six carries and throws two touchdown passes. he also took four sacks and threw an interception. the patriots beat the giants 28-20. >> no doubt the mind is willing as miguel cabrera pursues a second straight triple crown but is his body able. he went 2-3, but pulled up lame trying to stretch a single from a double. he would have to leave the game, which the tigers won 7-6 on a walk off home run. >> 17-year-old victoria duvall won the u.s. open.

thursday, it was time to find out if she could do it again. the answer was no. veteran daniel la is the number 48 player in the world and showed her that the youngster has a way to go, and after the match she praised duvall. >> i mission add couple of shots by a couple of inches. i think those are the ones that ended up making the difference, because i was in every game. but, you know, beating sam in the first round, and feeling a little bit of expectations in the second round, you know, that's something that i'm going to learn to adapt to. >> here's something we see on the big stage again, working him over good, he had no trouble,

routing him. 7-0 this year on hard courts, 55-3 overall. off to the third round. >> despite being widely acknowledged to be the best hope among men, he had to listen to the crowd cheer loudly for his opponent. he said later that he was disappointed by that. maybe the fans were just cheering for a competitive match. fans got a com pelt i have match,. >> the fed ex-cup moves to boston. tiger woods sits atop the standings but has been dealing with back issues for the better part of a week. he says the back is ready to go, ready to tee off at 8:40 eastern. that's your look at morning sports. >> i always wanted to ask a sportscaster this. how often do you have to practice those names you get to say for hockey players or tennis players? >> i think the real question is

how often do i sprain my tongue trying to say those names. the answer is a lot. >> chances are this week, you've seen clips of martin luther king's "i have a dream" speech. odds are you didn't see the whole thing. that's because the most iconic speech of the civil rights movement is also one of the most protected. we explain why. >> i have a dream that one day this nation will rise up. >> it is one of the most famous speeches in u.s. history. >> we hold these truths to be self evident. >> a defining moment in the struggle for civil rights. if you want to watch martin luther king's "i have a dream" speech in its entirety from free, good luck. it is not legally on you tube or any news sided. the reason? dr. king's speech is protected by copyright laws. >> authors do not simply give their copyrighted works away for

free, nor did dr. king. there is nothing in united states copyright law that says that if a work happens to become very successful or extremely significant that it somehow loses its copyright protection as a result. >> just over a month after the march on washington, dr. king filed documents to copyright his speech, sued a record company forcing it to stop recording his speech. any part of the speech used must palinsing fees. some cases settled out of court. >> dr. king's family said look, we own it, he didn't make a lot of money when he was alive. the only thing he had in his estate really, were his properties, his literary in

effect properties, so get a license, pay us for it. >> critics say the family has gone too far, noting dr. king's relatives have received millions of dollars licensing out part of the speech to companies that wanted to leverage it for commercial advertising. one deal included cingular wireless, using the tag line free at last. >> the irony of dr. king's family using his legacy to maximize their in come is a very sad and painful contribution of how dr. king led his own life and what he would want his legacy to be. >> dr. king registered his copyrights in part so that his heirs would have potentially financial security from the use of his copyrights, and the heirs and licenses access to his work are acting as any other copyright owner would. >> the king family does make the

speech available to schools at a discount. >> so is king's family being greedy or just protective of his words. cenk: either way, all of this may continue for a while. thanks to u.s. law, the copyright is valid for 70 years after his death. that means in my the year 2038, viewing one of the most remarkable speeches in u.s. history will come with a price tag. david shuster, aljazeera. >> that will do it for this hour. i'm richelle carey. aljazeera continues in two and a half minutes. keep it here and thank you so much for your time.

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please go there al jazeera.com. >> good morning. i'm steph as i. it's friday, august 30 and these are stories we're following at this hour. making the case for a possible attack, the obama administration steps forward with evidence it says proves the assad regime is to blame for the deadly chemical weapons strike in syria. >> bold and defiant reaction from the syrian leader said his country is ready to defend itself. meanwhile, syrias refugee crisis gross by the day. >> same sex couples will now be allowed to file joint tax returns and it doesn't matter whether their state accepts gay marriage or not. >> science d