good morning, everybody. it's august 22. a lot of really important stuff today. but the history of the high five. re learned about it yesterday on "morning joe". so i want to know what the high five came from. we'll have that for you in the cooler. but as i said, some somber and important things to get to this morning beginning in syria where there are claims of a massive chemical attack that the world has not seen since 1988. i want to tell you the scene is shocking. the images are difficult to watch. syrian rebels are saying hundreds and possibly thousands are dead after the alleged chemical attack near damascus. according to an nbc news source, the assault lasted roughly two

hours assad's forces fired nearly 30 rockets. witnesses say the rockets were tipped with poisonous gas warheads and fired from government controlled areas. medical centers were quickly created to treat the overwhelming number of wounded. including children. nbc news cannot verify the witness accounts and the u.s. and united nations have not confirmed the use of chemical weapons in syria yesterday. russian officials are accusing rebels of staging the attack as a, quote, pre-planned provocation, end quote. however, the loss of life was significant by any measure. the white house said it was deeply concerned over the reports coming out of syria and called for an urgent investigation into yesterday's alleged chemical attack. senator john mccain criticizing the lack of action on twitter writing no consequence for as sad oig using chemical weapons and crossing red line. we shouldn't be surprised he's using them again.

we go to egypt where the man who ruled the country for 30 years will be released from prison and allowed to live under house arrest. hosni mubarak could be out of jail as soon as today after the court ruled the former president could no longer be held behind bars. hugh bear rick held the last 17 month misprison and court's decision was the last of three cases against him. he was already cleared on two other cases including charges that he was responsible for the death of 800 egyptians who protested his rule back in 2011. bradley manning going to jail for leaking the largest amount of classified information in u.s. military history. an army judge sentenced the 25-year-old former intelligence analyst to 35 years in prison. manning was found guilty on five counts of espionage and five federal counts of theft. the charges carried a maximum sentence of 136 years. shortly after the sentencing, manning's attorney said they would seek a pardon from

president obama. the white house says they would consider the pardon like any other application. now we want to follow up on the school shooting in georgia. and employee at the elementary school being called a hero for her effort to prevent a mass killing. her name is antoinette tuff and she's receiving praise after talking down a gunman who snuck into the school armed with a semiautomatic weapon and 500 rounds of ammunition in a school of over 800 students. none, none sustained injuries. tuff called 911 and captured the tense moments on tape. >> let me talk to them and see if we can work it out so you don't have to go away with them for a long time. no, it does matter. i can let them know that you have not tried to harm me or do anything with me or anything if you want to. that doesn't make any difference. you didn't hit anybody. okay. let me ask you this, ma'am. he didn't hit anybody. he just shot outside the door.

if i walk out there with him, if i walk out there with him, so they won't shoot him or anything like that? he wants to give himself up. is that okay? they won't shoot him? >> yes, ma'am. >> he's on the ground now with his hands behind his back. tell the officers don't come in shooting or might go. they can come on in and i'll buzz them in. so hold on. just sit right there. i'll buzz them in, okay? so you notice whyou know when t. they see that you tried not to harm me, okay? okay. >> okay. >> it's going to be all right you can sweetie. i just want you to know that i love you, though, okay? and i'm proud of you. that's a good thing that you did giving up and don't worry about it. we all go through something in life. >> that's poise under pressure. she did an amazing job. the shooting is of course restarting the debate on how to prevent school gun violence.

a gallup poll found the best way is through who are mental health services. 33% say schools should add more security guards. the nsa is under fire yet again. newly released government documents show the secretive court that oversees surveillance programs sharply rebuked the nsa back in 2011. the charge? the nsa was searching the kepts of internet communications in breach of the u.s. constitution. the nsa also collected as much as 56,000 e-mailed communications while it was trying to track foreign terrorists. the court criticized the agency for misrepresenting the scale of its spying practices. judge john bates wrote, quote, this court is troubled that the government's revelations marks the third instance in less than three years in which the government has disclosed a substantial misrepresentation regarding the scope of a major collection program, end quote. nsa officials said the agency's activities were lawful and any mistakes were largely

unintentional. talk about some material. more tapes from the height of the water gate scandal have been released. pete williams has more on the newly released tapes including a phone call from a supporter who would one day become president. >> reporter: in the spring of 1973, richard nixon is a president under siege facing daily revelations about his administration's role in the watergate scandal. >> this office is a sacred trust. >> reporter: after the speech and apparently after a few drinks, nixon talks with his friend halderman by phone. >> it's a tough thing, bob, for you and for john the rest, but damn it, i'm never going to discuss this thing ain. never, never, never, never. >> reporter: california's governor ronald reagan phones in to offer support. >> we're still behind you out here and i wanted you to know that you're in our prayers. >> reporter: the tapes end july 12 when the system is publicly revealed. richard nixon hangs on 13 months

more. >> thanks to pete williams for that. we have good news for beau biden. he may be on his way home. the white house said the delaware attorney general underwent a successful procedure, but they didn't provide anymore details. a statement released by the biden family said he is in great shape and he will follow up with his local physicians in the coming weeks. numerous reports stated that the 44-year-old has a mass in his brain. authorities in delaware did confirm that emergency responders were called to the vice president's house where beau biden has been living. a county dispatch center log indicates that on august 1st, someone at the vice president's home was reported to be possibly having a stroke and was apparently not alert. of course beau is a friend at "morning joe" and we wish him a speedy recoveriry. now business. we get weekly jobless claims today. stocks down across all three major indices yesterday. the dow down for a sixth

straight day. that's since hitting a record high on august 2. the dow has dropped nearly 700 points and is now below that 15,000 level. let's go to steve sedgwick in london. good morning. >> very good day to you. the market down as you say for six successive days. people are citing concerns over the federal reserve policy and question marg marks about when start withdrawing the stimulus. and fed officials from the july 31 meeting or the minutes from that meeting came out yesterday and people said it was concern over the opacity, the lack of clarity about the withdrawal of the stimulus that kept the selling pressure on. i would add the volumes are very lilt and a lot of traders are still not back at their desks from their vacations. elsewhere, the cost of obamacare, the affordable care act, being cited by united parcel services as one of the reasons why they are withdrawing health care benefits from 15,000 spouses of employees.

they're saying that in addition to raiising medical costs are t reason why they're having to take away that care. so real pressure on the company and the benefits they can ask on the back of obamacare. >> health care is expensive. there is a coalition of groups that want a nationwide strike of fast food workers calling for higher wages. i want you to listen to something that the former ceo of mcdonald's says how a higher minimum wage would impact the fast food industry. >> the average restaurant in the united states makes 4.6% profit. the labor cost is 30 plus percent. how can you raise the minimum wage almost double and expect to sustain that? i think obamacare will drop 15% to 20% of small businesses off the face of the earth. if they did this minimum wage thing, i'm telling you, there would be another 15% to 20% that will go away. you can't afford it. >> so there is a lot of popular

support for increasing the minimum wage, but it could cut into profits. how does it he said? end? >> here is an interesting lesson. back in 1963 when we had the march>> here is an interesting lesson. back in 1963 when we had the march on washington for jobs and freedom, the minimum wage then they talked about getting that up to $2. well, if that was equated to modern levels, that would be a minimum wage of around $15.26. some workers including one lady cited in the article in illinois $8.25. so you can see how far behind the minimum wage has kept with inflation. only about 5% of the workers are being paid minimum wage at the moment. so the debate rages on. >> what do they do in the uk? >> it's just about six pounds sterling. very low still. and there an enormous debate about the minimum wage. but the fact is we like the united states have huge debt to gdp ratios.

and companies remains to be seen. so retailers tell under pressure. >> that's still close $10 if my math is correct. steve, thanks very much. see you tomorrow. > an iowa woman swallowed a tapeworm to help her lose weight. doctors across the board say bad idea. so we were wondering what is your most extreme dieting strategy? tweet us your true and creative answers to #way too sketchy. i always say i'll take up smoking to maybe get base this my voice. but i'm just kidding. we'll view the best answers later in the show. still ahead, one of those plays you never ever want to see but you can't look away from. we'll update you on jason hayward's condition. of course we hope he's all right. and it's a faceoff like you've

never seen before. steve martin versus kermit the frog. banjos in hand. that story and a check on weather when "way too early" comes right back. [ male announcer ] running out of steam?

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reach 4,000 hits. 2722 in the majors. the rest came from his playing days in japan. of course not quite on the level of ty cobb and pete rose because of that, but still amazing. and of course the cheer from everybody including nefellow countrymen. they went on to win. scary moment between the braves and mets. jason hayward drilled in the face. it hit him right near the cheek area. he broke his jaw. he'll have surgery and miss four to six weeks. but that kind of thing if you remember can end a career like that. so we're glad that that is the worst of it. and he'll be okay. he's a great, great baseball player. astros and rangers, another scary moment. max stassi. this seemed to sort of glance off his shoulder before it hit him in the face. he had a bloody nose.

sent to the hospital for observations, but 90 miles an hour can do a lot of damage and we're glad he'll be okay, too. bottom of nine, game tied. elvis andrew sackry fuse to left center. beats the throw at home by a fair amount. 5-4 the walkoff win and of course -- what is up with them tearing off shirts this year? originally the walkoffs were like when they would just get everybody and someone would hurt their knee. now they just tear their shirts off. >> i don't like it. >> rays and orioles, bottom of five. chris davis jacks one. that's leads the league. top nine, two outs, runners on the corners. runner goes. boom. what a way to end a game. by the way and keep the red sox

in first place. orioles win 4-2. nationals and cubs. check out this pitch. carl carlos villanueva. it froze him because it was so slow. bill karins and i still couldn't get around on it. former u.s. open champion maria sharapova out of the u.s. open. reportedly has bursitis in her right shoulder. she can't change her name now and promote her candy brand. she was the third seed, she won it back in 2006. so i know that she's obviously good to have at the open, but that is true, she was into -- >> a week of random sharapova. pretty much it. >> sue gargar pova. you can just rip off your shirt.

>> i'll pass. >> ever seen a red sprite before? this is a phenomenon that happens above thunderstorms. this was captured by a guy searching for them flying high aloft. pretty cool stuff. almost like lightning that goes out into outer space. that was one of the coolest photos of it i've ever seen. as far as the forecast today, it's a pretty simple day. iowa is getting heavy rain over to omaha. we'll have scattered storms in the east. we will see a few downpours out there. that will include the southeast, too. just a typical sum are day. enjoy it. looks like by the time we get to the weekend, it will feel like fall again. >> thanks. appreciate it. i want warm weather still. coming up on "morning joe," the latest from syria where allegations of the use of chemical weapons have the world refocused on that bloody civil war and the president's response to it. and when we come back here,

david letterman's never before seen trailer for lee daniels' the butler. you have to see to believe it. right now, 7 years of music is being streamed. a quarter million tweeters are tweeting. and 900 million dollars are changing hands online. that's why hp built a new kind of server. one that's 80% smaller. uses 89% less energy. and costs 77% less. it's called hp moonshot. and it's giving the internet the room it needs to grow. this&is gonna be big. hp moonshot. it's time to build a better enterprise. together. a talking car. but i'll tell you what impresses me. a talking train. this ge locomotive can tell you exactly where it is, what it's carrying, while using less fuel. delivering whatever the world needs, when it needs it.

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we talked about the latest

revelations of the nixon tapes. tell your friends between 1971 and 1973, president nixon used a secret recorder to capture 3700 hours of conversations. they end on july 12, 1973, the day before the existence of the recordings was revealed to a senate committee investigating watergate. 700 hours remained sealed for privacy and national security concerns. let's go over to the cooler. good morning. in the words of pat buchanan, burn the tapes. let's start off with a clip from david letterman who is pretty excited about the movie the butler. >> i'm going to show you clips, this is what they call a trailer, a preview of lee daniels' the butler. hope you enjoy this. watch. ♪ >> critics and audiences are raving about lee daniels' the butler starring forest whitaker. >> i'm the new butler.

>> robin williams as dwight eisenhower. >> did you ever complete school? >> and jackie chan as bill clinton. lee daniels' the butler in theaters now. >> all right. well, steve martin may be one of the funniest men alive, but in recent years he's been showing off his banjo skills. now he's in a rivalry with another well-known banjo extraordinary their. ♪ ♪

>> that was okay, but i think you missed a note there. >> i think that was your note. >> the last note was you. >> i haven't missed a note in three years. >> i have no idea why we showed you that, but let's go to the main event. and the or begigins to high fiv. take a look. >> high five was invented in 1977 by a couple of baseball players. we don't actually have that footage, but you can be sure they had mustaches and tighter pants than these days. let me tell you a little story. i was at a state park with my daughter when she was 4. a lady comes up and says sweetie, give me a high five. she looked at her in the he eye and said we don't call for high fives, we either do them or we don't. the key it preserving it is early education. so i'm going to educate people after i get up off this bench.

>> yeah, high five. go, girl. >> hey, ladies, i was going to throw something at you. instead of saying high five, can we just try doing a high five? like just do the high five when it's called for. >> sealed the deal. >> congratulations. >> give me a high five. >> really, we're calling for high fives now? come in one time. nothing beats the sweet destroy of an uncalled for high five. it's calling me. >> and that's how it's done. >> well connected. sometimes you can miss out on a live high five. thank you. still ahead, what's your most extreme dieting strategy? your tweets. and "morning joe" moments and you were. ♪

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♪ now you can give yourself a kick in the rear! v8 v-fusion plus energy. natural energy from green tea plus fruits and veggies. need a little kick? ooh! could've had a v8. in the juice aisle. besides swallowing a tapeworm, your most extreme dieting