welcome to al jazeera. we have some breaking news to tell you about tonight. japan is upgrading the warning level about severity of a toxic water leak from the fukushima plant. and al jazeera is on the telephone. craig, what do you know? >> caller: this has just come through only moments ago. it is a document that has been released on its web-site by japan's regulation authority which says until it will have a warning about the severity of a toxic water leak at fukushima

it's a plant. it is from one which is a an international scale. that's the first time japan has issued a warning on an issue event scale. it's since march 2011. >> all right. we have a little more time, craig. we've been hearing about toxic leaks over the past days. is there any idea why it is that they are raising the level? >> caller: the water -- it requires this new warning. in fact, the water leaking from the plant is so contaminated that they say that a person can

receive five times the annual recommended limits. it's thought that it's coming and so that raises new concerns about their ability and the country's about to deal with it. >> all right. craig, thank you very much. more news on al jazeera. "america night" is next. two opposeing forces in a deadly struggle for power. ordinary egyptians and journalists call with pressure on the media.

are we getting the full picture? >> also tonight, behind bars, the battle over the new orleans prison. who should control it? and who should pay for it? "america tonight" gets rare access to one of the most dangerous prisons in america. and cancers unlikely enemy. how doctors have a cure with another deadly disease. >> she's like what? you're putting polio in my daughtedaughter's brain? are you serious?

hello. and welcome to "america tonight". we watch day by day the toll in egypt grow and become more vicious and we wanted to get a clearer sense what it's like for ordinary egyptians that it's tk*e divided after two years of turmoil. we sent and despite threats and attacks and great restrictions on the movements. >> reporter: when we arrived in cairo, the city was on fire. thousands of demonstrators had set the capitol in defiance of the newest -- the muslim brotherhood supporters set up in the capitol that opposed president mohammed morsi.

[ gunshots ] >> reporter: on wednesday, the military swarmed, killing and wounds thousands more. morsi supporters called for a new street demonstrations in the newly opposed day of emergency. >> reporter: the head of the military, and the leader general abdul asisi publicly attacked the foreign press and the muslim brotherhood and anti-military. egypt is feeling bitterness toward the coverage by the muslim brotherhood. they have issued so many statements against all foreign press that it's now trickled

down to the public. people really believe that a lot of foreign press here is only going to make egypt bad so that makes it difficult for us. every time we pull out our camera, people are very suspici osu. they lay rest anyone filming without press kr press credenti. they set up checkpoints to search for supporters to search for the muslim brotherhood and that's when we were dragged by our car by young men by guns and mmachetes. at this protest at a central cairo mosque, gunfire erupted. [ gunshots. [ when we attempted to fill -p -pl the scene with small cameras and cell phones we were immediately spotted and

pursueed. my producers were bashed over the head and barely escaped by threats. we ran for our car jumping inside just as the men descended on us. [ speaking arabic ] >> wait, wait, stop. go, go. >> reporter: the driver was only just able to peel away from the crowd. we were just standing on the side of the road and we saw everybody attacking muslim and shots were fired. it was by the army which got our cameras an were attacking us an ran for it. [ speaking arabic ]

>> we wanted to understand what was driving the violence on both sides of the conflict in egypt. first set out to meet rami a 26-year-old self described muslim living in the native cairo. it is known to be home of the many of the young men who act as unofficial informants for the military against the muslim brotherhood protests. we had to film discreetly until safely inside rami's apartment. >> trust is the army, trust is the police here in egypt and now i'm very sure if anyone go to the street now and he will say i like muslim brotherhood that people will give him lots of problems. >> will beat him up. >> yeah. i swear this is not a revolution this is war. >> what is the muslim brotherhood want? >> they doesn't know anything about a peace.

they only know about jihad. it's like hamas. muslim muslim brotherhood in is is this too. muslim brotherhood in egypt need everyone in egypt, he makes big beard and be with all the woman here and the girl with the barb and -- the cover up and all the guys to have beards. >> yeah. i'm very sure that's what happened in egypt. this is not iran this is egypt. >> to try to end the conflict from the side of those in the egyptian military called -- we drove to a muslim muslim brotherhood in cairo and we're on our way with a family that's part of the muslim brotherhood that was killed. and the protests this week -- >> translator: abdul raham was protesting and he was there

speaking for islam. >> reporter: he was killed an august 14 to test the out ster the interim president mohammed morsi. >> translator: they were sparing bullets and tear gas. the tanks moved in and began firing on them. >> translator: i saw more than people did firing in every direction. it was impossible to tell where the bullets were coming from. >> reporter: this is him? he's a good looking kid. >> translator: so much pain for my son but i have to cry for him. i swear to get justice. we will not be governmentened by anything but islam.

islam is the only way. not liberalism, they have no faith. they don't know god. all of them, they don't know, they don't pray, they don't fast pause they don't know who they murdered. >> reporter: early morning the spiritual leader of the muslim brotherhood mohammed bahadi was arrested by the military and impressened. the divisions that are tearing this city and country apart have just grown deeper. >> completely exhausting but christof is here and your team just made it back today. i have to ask you what is life like for these folks on a daily basis? how do they get oh out to have anything to eat? do they fight all the time? >> it's just an incredibly sad situation.

the environment is so polarizing. they are so untrusting of each other that this 30 million people but their streets go down and you will feel like life has just stopped. they're empty. people are inside. there's a curfew at 7:00. it's strictly enforced and then cornered as if complete war has broken out and everyone is just going at each other and bullets flying everywhere. there are guys with guns walking the streets, knives, patrols themselves. it's quite an intense scary environment. >> it was for you. we originally intended for you to go to cairo but you came out after getting these stories. everybody is safe? everybody is okay? >> yes,vy great producers. brent and dave were amazing and we just had to get out while we could. >> but you can understand what this is like for the residents of the community. they can't even trust each other. >> no, they can't. so, it made it more difficult for us to operate. people don't know who's on what

side. we don't know if there's a very strong anti-american right now and so it' very hard to get the story. >> christof, thanks very much for being here with us tonight. we will continue our reporting on "american tonight" with whether with out of control jails in america. >> this administration out in there are blaming the previous. >> and what are they doing the city. . [[voiceover]] every day, events sweep across our country. and with them, a storm of views. how can you fully understand the impact unless you've heard angles you hadn't considered? antonio mora brings you smart conversation that challenges the status quo with

unexpected opinions and a fresh outlook. including yours. what happens when social media uncovers unheard, fascinating news stories? >>they share it on the stream. >>social media isn't an afterthought. it drives discussion across america. >>al jazeera america social media community, on tv and online. >>this is your outlet for those conversations.

>>post, upload, and interact. >>every night, share undiscovered stories. >> when we have a cry for law and order, what does that look like? and just standing right there on the front of the stairs by the >> now to meet a population that rarely wants much attention. thousands of prisoners in california joined a mass hunger strike this summer. 70 inmates have refused to eat for 40 days now. they are trying to end to a policy of keeping alleged gang members in solitary co solitairt for years nap will not bring an end for better treatment behind bars. it's not just in california. new orleans, the justice, department, mayor and all sheriff are all battling over jail reforms. adam went inside one of the

worst jails in america. >> this is a troubleed the faciltroubleed thetroubleed the. >> it causes social problems and less fundings for parks, schools and -- the sheriff who runs that jail in new orleans in is in the hot seat. they give a caution night that the content in this report is graphic and may be disturbing. in the shadow -- keep those people in. keep people like that around. >> reporter: the perish prince called opp by the locals. why do they want to keep them? >> nobody want use to know what's going none side these places. >> reporter: experts hired by the u.s. justice department call this the most dangerous jail in america. thank you for having us. "america tonight" takes a rare look inside. now now cameras have been

allowed behind these barbed wire fences. >> they beat me up. i have bruises on me. let them know. >> reporter: violence here, an every day event. it's built africa tre "katrina." >> guys are houseed in this area. the state of louisiana has the highest incarceration rate in the entire country. twice the u.s. average. 38,000 people come through opp every year. according to federal investigators 40 inmates have died here since 2006. 25 prisoners hospitalized every month. jail had 698 prisoner assaults is last year including 32

stabbings. this photo shows a resent stabbing at the jail. they issued a statement of super official cuts. in this crowded dorm full of two guards are on duty. now, who watches the inmates while you've been here from way u up there? horror story here are documented in federal lawsuits. tk*u rel reshard a low level drug offender who was just released was sexually assaulted at opp. >> this was another inmate. he woke me up early in morning and told me to get in the shower and saying that i was -- you have to do this. i was forced to get up and get in the shower. after i get in the shower i notice that he has a shank and he takes it and he places it by the entrance of the shower as if i didn't come fly of what he was

saying. >> reporter: rashard is 100 former prisoners who testified in the class-action lawsuit and the prisoners at opp. it was final -- and the u.s. justice department joined the lawsuit charging violent, inhumane prison k-rpbg prison c, excessive force. >> an inmate performed oral sex on a lot of guys on that tier and another inmate who was definitely schizophrenic and on drugs down here and had a broom stick shoveed is up his rectum. >> look, there's some great stories. we investigate every single allegation. >> reporter: sheriff martin gusman runs the prison. as a reformer and the city's first black sheriff, some local

officials say he's now the problem. gusman says the allegations of danger and neglect are over -- >> reporter: inside these prisons since 2007. >> well, yes they would have you to think that these were all deaths related to violence. there's only been one death the violence. we have groups like the southern center that tweak the truth for their own purposes to make people like you and your audience think that when they look at a number like that that that's somehow wrong. >> reporter: but u.s. justice department statistics show the mortality rate for prisoners here at opp is among the highest in the u.s. >> reporter: earlier this year public outrage grew when this

video was released to the media. it was filmed coming at will. behind bars inmates not only showed up from a prison cell but somehow they obtained a handgun and violently waving it around. the laundry problem at opp has led to a number of protests. >> opp has things to be a house of horrors. >> it's salaries that we're paying to jail people who -- should be paying our community. >> reporter: the mayor wants the sheriff out. >> some of the elected officials in this town have been highly critical of you. are you handling it? >> the mayor has his own agenda. i won't get in to what his

agenda is. i have a record of public service in this community. >> as the jail been poised? >> i'm not sure what you you mean by that. >> i mean criticized. >> i think this is a tough one. i think one someone stumbled and that's usually some people's opportunity to take a hit at them and we've had some stumbles. there's no doubt about it. >> reporter: earlier this year sheriff gusman resigned the lawsuit to reform opp. ththe settlement calls for new procedures. mental health reform and health care and more. >> in taking progress center. >> reporter: government is pumping $145 million-dollars in to the jail. sheriff gusman says the new

facility -- but they stay the jail won't have proper medical and mental health facilities. they also take issue with the size of the new -- it will still house three time as in per capita. >> this is where the security will be. >> this is where the deputy will be here. >> okay. >> and there will be additional security behind here. >> reporter: he is skeptical. he spent 27 years behind bars. since his release, he's an advocate for prison reform. >> people start being prosecutd and being sued and litigating against because of the conditions in jail. that's when all the attention come. i blame this administration. i blame this mayor. i blame the city council.

the sheriff inheriteded a bad situation but he hasn't made it any better earth. >> reporter: new orleans has the third highest murder rate in the u.s. and some neighborhoods, violent crime is part of every day life. >> this is a public safety problem. because when people come out of jail that have been misused and abused, that person is in a bad place. >> reporter: can they fix this jail? in the overall city in new orleans. >> completely. a lot of the problems that we have in the city is from this prison. >> reporter: the rate distporbss after cannes. one of seven of black are locked

up, on probation or on parol. >> we need to have a conversation and literally, hey, they are in incarceration. >> reporter: right. sheriff gusman says he is -- he resides over a jail what everybody cease wrong in new orleans. >> it's in a condition to turn someone who is channel individual rights of freedoms is also responsibility for the incarceration. >> reporter: are you hopeful if the day that this facility is too big. >> i'm hopeful for the day that there are very few people in here and the smaller the facility that we will be as people. >> we have to take a real hard look at what we have to cry this. what that look like?

and what it does to an overall community. just right there on the front of the state and watch the traffic that flows through there. ddo we have a bad system. >> even though the sheriff, the mayor and the u.s. department of justice all originally agreed to this consent and they are back in court and fighting over details and the price tag. it is estimated that the federal over sight of opp could cost more than $100 million-dollars. now the mayor of new orleans can do it cheaper if the sheriff is dismissed. of course, we wanted to to talk about his claims. he did not respond to our are repeated request for an interview on this report. >> adam we will continue to follow up. thanks very much. >> yes, we will. >> next on "america tonight" could it be a medical break through? it already saved one young woman's life. >> nine months after treatment it was definitely favorable.

>> what doctors say one deadly disease to

charged -- the court in pakistan charged musharaff. crews rushed to contain a 300-ton radio active leak.

plant oporators say it already oabsorbed the con taplabsorbed . >> more than three are diagnosed with cancer some time in their lives. it is most often -- and he sh*e says to a revolutionary therapy. one that employs a very unlikely force for good. it's in the spring until 2011. >> i notice that my eyes would hurt really pad. all i could do was just lay in pain. >> the headaches became so painful that stephanie went to

local er. >> i hit my knees. >> doctors found the tumor in june and operated almost e immediately. a biopsy confirmed their worst fears. >> any time you say it's cancer you automatically think worst. >> it was actuall actually -- ay aggressive pediatric brain tumor. >> for years she battled the tumor with radiation and chemotherapy. congressional therapies that 95% of the time only delay the inevidenceible. >> in april of 2012 i was giveen the news that my cancer had come back. >> this disease, especially when it returns after surgery, chemotherapy is uniformly

lethal. >> but developed by cancer research said at duke university gave me -- it is over and not per tpeblgt. >> enter the doctor who is seeking to use one deadly disease to battle another. >> by training with polio, but have readjusted the cancer. i'm particularly interested. >> it's natural enough to do anything to it. it naturally like toes tp-bgt cancer cells and it kills them. but the evadeing polio virus triggers the patients own immune. >> it nation tumor.

it's putting a catheter in to the area of the tumor. >> polio killed it. i didn't think the idea. >> she's like what? you're putting polio in my daughter eardaughter's brain. are you serious? i got used to that idea. it it was decision. >> the doctor actually came in and explained it to me and i was just amazed. why not try it. >> it had not been used on a human and only done on it and that's how they explained it to us. >> over a six-hour period. a surgeon entered it in to stephanie's brain. hao when stephanie was treated.

i it was one to deliver the virus, it gave me an idea that we were doing the right thing. we studied this s so thoroughly. >> the months after the infusion the tumor appeared to be growing. >> it's something wants to see and i have to be honest, it was not something we were happy about, of course. very concerned. we treat this cancer which is very aggressive and can hurt my patient. when i was seeing the tumor growing it was scary for me to sit back and have faith that the polio virus is working. >> what was actually happening was -- it was rather than --

>> the response was exactly as predicted. attacking the tumor cells by the virus. >> this is a diabolic disease. the fact that she responded to a virus is remarkable because this is not something that was achieveable. the type of treatment that's currently available with the cancer patients. >> that whole area here is treated. and how it's gone. i'm really pleased. >> yeah. >> there are 7 months that they have worked with some signs and 9 months after treatment we knew that she was responding. >> he suggests that what he recognizes and destroys it, it won't return.

production lasting response is only in cancer -- that's what we want. we don't stop at brain tumors. we want to investigate the use of the techniques or will make a dent that is incureable cancer. >> if stephanie will remain due nor free, his technique can help a whole range of cancers including prostate cancer and more. stephanie has survived a year and a half. four times longer than most people and she remains in perfect health. >> i survived cancer. i'm a cancer survivor and it's not just cancer but brain cancer. and, people look up to me and i've grown up. not only have i matured more but

i found out who my friends were and realized i can do thing if i can beat cancer. >> i'm glad to see that. other patients are now being evaluated to participate in the polio virus trial. so one of them did it like stephanie did. we're told the treatment didn't help two patients who had damaged immune systems and it's too early to tell about remaining four. but animal studies says that body and destroys a tumor will not return. joining us here is dr. james gulley from the national cancer institute. we are excited to see feoff any's excitement and to see the patients. so many are looking to does and saying is this the cure? >> yes, so, i think that this is a very interesting study. i think all of them by hope but when we have a study like this where you see 8 patients that's

important to follow the patients for a longer period of time and get more experience with this i think is very early interesting. >> you mentioned this experimental treatments. they are not used in a very widespread way. >> that's right. so, unfortunately in the united states only about 5% of adult patients go on to clinical. >> so it could take some the time. this is also interesting because this is not what we conventionally think chemotherapy. >> this the immune-based therapy. i think a complete difference with the standard therapies. first of all, chemotherapy is the term. where as these immune therapies don't. the patient system fight the tumor. >> so, in this case, you're saying it the revolutionary put

you have concerns about future of this treatment? >> i think we need to continue to see more patients. i think that thus far we've seen evidence of safety of giving the polio virus directly in to the brain. i think that's very important. i think that studies are going to further define how effective this is. i think it's very interesting that we're seeing promising results as in stephanie's case. >> and in nci, the national cancer institute you would be following that. give a time line. how long does it take to go from something that's called an experimental to a commonplace? >> so generally what we do is the first study, phase i study to safety and then phase ii we look at evidence and with fist e iii with therapy and with the

patient study until phase iii study is complete. >> you have to have a certain map of case that you can study and determine what it is. >> absolutely. >> so, eight cases. where does it end your overall understanding as complex and important as brain cancers. >> so this is a very good first step. usually with these early studies, we just looked to see if they're safer and when we see early evidence of of effectives we will be excited about this. >> we know that you will continue to watch as well. dr. james gulley coming in and talking with us about that. >> thank you. >> up here in america tonight, a deadly outbreak in an country. how did it start? the harsh reality where lack of time and any basic resources

will led up to a rising toll.

was not me. check us out 24 hours a day on [[voiceover]] every day, events sweep across our country. and with them, a storm of views. how can you fully understand the impact unless you've heard angles you hadn't considered? antonio mora brings you smart conversation that challenges the status quo with unexpected opinions and a fresh outlook. including yours.

soon after the 2010 earthquake demolished haiti what little resources it had. a deadly cholera broke out. thousands of people died and tense of thousands. who or what was behind the outbreak. he joins us here. sabastian, what is behind this? >> the cholera epidemic broke out in haiti. i was one of the first respond n respondants on the ground. i went back to the human sense of the impact of this disease. >> reporter: more than two years

since cholera hit haiti. it was in one of the isolated areas of the country. communities are up here in the mountains and they are almost completely cutoff from basic services. clinics, running water, even road are almos almost in existe. >> it's impossible to realize how the medical facilities have to save lives from cholera this is the kind of scenario here. we are on our way now to the funeral at the very top of this mountain far man who didn't make it. when he died from cholera, --

the team in this tiny mountain top village and a father of three. he fell ill just days ago from his house. it's about five miles to the clinic. >> . >> they say they have been around 200 cholera deaths since the disease appeared. as a u.n. that flies over the funeral and nobody had idea how the out break started. as with many of the communities, death has become part of every

day life. but that doesn't lesson the grief. [ cry ] >> his coffin carried up the mountain. his eldest leading the way. [ traditional singing ] >> they have been running for hours. the burial can take place. in villages across the country, this is the scene that's been playing and repeated thousands. this is the latest victim of a disease unknown in haiti two years. >> this death from cholera won't

have any official statistics. there's health personnel who know about this or this is just one example of how the death toll from this is much higher than anyone knows. so as you just heard remote villages few people had any idea how this outbreak started even though there's over womening evidence that the disease was brought to haiti by u.s. peacekeepers. this is refuse tpweu is refusino accept any responsibility for those deaths. >> explain to me, t because the families are out there and have asked. what is the u.n.'s response? >> well, it's something that's very simple. we wanted to get answers from u.n. officials from any u.n. official as to what that is regarding this lawsuit and that's to try to get that. so we were asked actually all the way to get anyone to

actually speak to us about this issue. the interview we finally got was with a u.n. representative and a spokes person person for the secretary general who refused to answer any explanation or give any kind of reasoning behind the u.n. decision. so it's really overwhelming picture of basic treason. we had to hays the secretary general himself because nobody else was giving an explanation at all. the u.n. handled it very badly and many officials will not even talk about this. even the security general himself told us that we had to -- he couldn't get the reasoning behind their decision. so it's really something that something needs to handle. more than 8,000 people have died as a result of this disease. .

millions poured in to this country by an earthquake but today the sha the haitians still strugglele. why is that? you travel to haiti on the money trail. . . >> it hosts brightly colored apartment buildings that go on and most of the sidewalks are done and something you never see in haiti. those are actually paved. but they stand empty. it's almost like a ghost town. >> soledad o'brian on where that money has gone. a special report tonight. we'll be back in a moment. .

>> welcome about a al jazeera, i'm stephanie sy. here are the top stories. japan is raising a red flag about a toxic water leak. it was upgraded to a level three series incident. this is the first time that japan has issued a warn about the reactors since a melt down from a tsunami two years ago. the white house said it has not made any final decisions about aid to egypt. 18 wildfires are burning across the country right now. the two in idaho