tendon >> techknow every saturday go where science meets humanity >> this is some of the best driving i've ever done, even though i can't see techknow >> we're here in the vortex >> only on al jazeera america . >> this is al jazeera america live on new york city. i'm richelle carey with a look at today's top stories. iraqis head to the polls today, the first election since the u.s. drops left the country. and the botched execution, oklahoma's governor demanding investigation into the three-drug lethal injection. and donald sterling forced to sell the l.a. clippers.

among the possible bidders, oprah. >> reporter: ballots are being counted since troops left i in 2011. millions of iraqis went to the polls to choose 358 members of parliament. election day was fairly peacef peaceful. >> reporter: unprecedented security operation has succeeded. across the country there were a handful of attacks. commercial air space above iraq was closed and check points increased in number. here a in central baghdad many, including the elderly, found it tough to walk to polling stations, but come they did. >> we came to vote. now the only thing we can do is

choose the right person for the right job. >> reporter: politicians cast their votes early, among them prime minister nouri al maliki. and kurdish leader, no one party strong enough to win a majority, so coalitions will have to be formed. the three main blocks will meet among themselves. >> reporter: it took eight months for iraq to get a government, and in the political climate back then was very different that the one now. back then there was a clear leader, but this time around prime minister nouri al maliki faces a fight. most diplomats, most analysts will tell that you iraq face as number of months while all that negotiation goes on. but that all comes later. for now iraqis celebrated a day

many thought would never come. al jazeera, baghdad. >> as we mentioned this is the first national vote since the u.s. completely withdrew its forces in 2011. even though there are no american troops on the ground the u.s. has been a stance presence in the last three years. >> after more than eight years of war in iraq the military packed its bags and left in 2011. it did so hoping the iraqi people would be a model of democracy. but the u.s. didn't want to pull out, at least not entirely. president obama was prepared to keep 10,000 troops for security training and counter terror operations but only if they could be shielded from local prosecution. the iraqi parliament said no. analysts say the iraqi people are now paying the price.

>> with with all due respect to the iraqi people i think they made a mistake. ultimately it was not unreasonable for the iraqi parliament to make this decision. after all it's a sovereign country with the government. i put the blame squarely on the iraqis. >> what also frustrates the u.s. administration. nouri al maliki has failed to share power with sunni and kurds. and even though the national oil industry brought in $89 billion last year, al maliki is still asking washington for military and economic aid. $2.3 million in 2012. $590 million in 2013. and nearly as much for this year. that has washington fearing they're dealing with an

autocrat. >> the most you could do is regularly ask or push at least politely within the constraints of diplomacy for al maliki to be more national, less inclusive and less corrupt. >> hawk has every right to chart it's own course regardless of what the u.s. thinks it might be bess for. al jazeera, washington. >> why does this vote matter to the united states? join us for our special iraq bloodshed. that's coming up tonight. at 8:30 eastern, 5:30 pacific. ukraine is saying there is no way to stop growing up rest in the eastern part of the country. he said security forces are helpless and in some cases cooperating with pro russian activists. this comes as n.a.t.o. boosts it's military presence hoping to

send a message to russia. we have more from eastern ukraine. >> firmly in the hans of the pro russian protesters who now occupy the police, security and regional government buildings, an embarrassment for the interim government who has been promis promising to strike back with a terror company that never really happened. now he points a finger at its own police forces. >> security service in these regions, first of all in the regions unable to fulfill it's duties to protect it's citizens. they are hopeless in these issues. furthermore some of these you wants assessed or are in cooperation with terrorist groups. >> reporter: the interim government's failure to retake buildings seems to only embolden pro russian militants.

for many here the defense units. >> it's clear that these are organized people and organized groups they gather people and these buildings are just handed to them. >> reporter: police have been unable or unwilling to stop them. they're often seen standing around the barricades while protesters vow to bring down the government they belong to. some have lamented that kiev is not providing enough support for a task that is becoming monumental. and here in donestk a rally was posed to be held in this park. it was canceled because no one could guarantee the safety of those who support an united ukraine. al jazeera, donestk. >> crude oil is leaking into a river in have a after a train derailed today. it was traveling from committee to virginia when it went off the

tracks in lynchburg. the leak will have no impact on the city's dranking water. 300 people have been evacuated from lynchburg's downtown. the smoke could be seen from a pretty good distance. the fire department is working to contain the situation. no one was hurt, and no word on what caused the train to derail. adding insult to injury in the florida panhandle as the area dealings with severe flooding. some parts of the region have gotten more than 22 inches of rain in the past 24 hours. fast-moving floods have washed away roads and streets and rains are responsible for a massive sinkhole in baltimore. the storms are blamed for 36 deaths in the south and mid-west. it seems that it just won't go

away. >> reporter: tomorrow is going to get better, but tonight is an exception. the way the circulation of the storm, it's really pulling that moisture up towards the north. we're dealing now along the eastern seaboard. take a look at the radar especially across parts of washington. you can see those dark greens and yellows moving into the metro area of new york. take a look at our radar in our warnings, flash flood warnings in effect not only for northern virginia but also in parts of maryland. we'll show you what it looks from the rooftop. what's happening anywhere from boston, we're looking at one hour to two hour delays. that's causing a affect, so you need to call in advance. we're looking at tornado warnings across parts of north carolina as well as virginia. that's in effect until 7:00.

i don't think they'll extend this any longer. hopefully this is going to be the last of our tornado threat for the evening. >> new foul out over that botched execution in oklahoma. the state's governor ordered an independent review of the execution procedures after last night's execution. all officials halted the execution, and locket died of a heart attack. >> there has been a lot of fall out on this. witnesses say it was difficult to watch, and the governor said she's stopping all executions unless investigators figure out how things could have gone so wrong last night in oklahoma. >> reporter: in the death chamber an already difficult scene became unbearable.

>> his head and shoulders lifted up the gurney as if he was trying to get up. >> reporter: clayton locket's body fought back, writhing and gasping for life. >> one of the things he said was something's wrong. he said, man, at one point. >> reporter: prison officials stopped the execution, but the 38-year-old died any way 43 minutes later of a massive heart attack. >> the doctors had determined that the line had blown. >> reporter: after weeks of problems and delays oklahoma was trying a new experiment cocktail of three drugs. another execution scheduled immediately after was at once postponed. >> we agree that an independent review of the procedures would be effective and appropriate. >> locket is the latest in a series of botched executions across the country. this comes as states have run out of drugs and turned to new

once and new suppliers, many of who are kept secret. >> we learn how they're conducting these executions, we release they really don't know what they're doing. >> reporter: this comes three years ago after europe and drug companies clamped down, stopping the sell of execution drugs in the u.s. >> drugs manufactured here should not be diverted into a killing machine. >> reporter: the united states is the only western country using the death penalty behind places like china, iran, and saudi arabia. the case in oklahoma, again raising calls to stop all executions. >> they want to hurry up and get it done with as little transparency as possible. this is what they get. >> reporter: yet, locket was hardly a sympathetic person. he murdered a 19-year-old woman and buried her alive. theher family said they looked

forward to justice being serve but how they're doing that is becoming difficult in states. >> oklahoma's governor expects executions to go forward once this investigation is complete. >> we spoke with an attorney school of law death penalty clinic where she's an expert on lethal injection methods. >> it's really impossible to make conclusions about the excuse. i agree that it fell short of humane standards, but until this thorough and independent investigation takes place we really won't have clear answers, clear information about what went wrong and what really happened with mr. locket. there is some precedent with family members bringing a lawsuit. but i think the real question is can the state of oklahoma carry

out executions in compliance with the law and the constitution, and hopefully the thorough investigation will give us the information that we need to make that determination. the governor has recently within the past hour called for an independent investigation. i think that's appropriate. we need people with expertise both medical and also expertise with the procedure but who are independent in order to do a thorough investigation of what happened, what went wrong, why mr. locket remained conscious and gassed and experienced the cardiac arrest, the stopping of his heart. someone with the appropriate medical qualifications and credentials. >> this botched execution in oklahoma is the latest in a string of incidents that are racing question--raising a strif questions about the drugs use pneumonia l.a. clippers owner donald sterling has been banned

from the nba for life. but technically he still owns the team. what happens now. we'll look at what the next steps are in this saga. >> reporter: right now the clippers are a hot ticket and everybody wants a piece of the team from oprah to boxer oscar de la hoya. deep pockets are lining up in homes of becoming the next own owners. donald sterling said he is not selling the clippers but if nba commissioner adam silver has his way, that may change. >> as for there sterling's ownership of the clippers i would urge the board of governors to exercise its authority to force the sale of the team, and i'll do everything in my power to ensure that that happens. >> the other nba owners can vote to terminate sterling's ownership, therefor thereby form

to sell the team. the first meeting to remove sterling is scheduled for tomorrow. a committee will set the voting day and guidelines, but it appears that everyone is on silver's side, including the white house. >> makes the decisions in this case. but as basketball fan and obviously someone who would be concerned about these issues as so many of us are, he thinks that they did the right thing. >> so right now everybody is on silver's side. >> okay, but if the team is sold, and i think that's a big, big if because i think he is going to fight this, but if they are sold what kind of price tag are we talking about? let's go over that list of everyone's name. i think publicists are just

floating names to get them out there. >> magic johnson's name was rumored first but he denied trying to buy the clippers, but the biggest name, oprah with david geffen to buy the team. as oscar day la jolla. sterling bought the team for $12 million, and now it's estimated as $575 million but most experts believe that number could be significantly higher. you see the milwaukee bucks were valued at $405 million by forbes but they were purchased earlier this month for a record setting $550 million. but right now it's up to donald sterling, richelle, and he'll plan to file an anti-trust lawsuit, drag this out in court,

claiming the other owners forced him out, thereby forcing the drop in the price tag of the team. >> next would be to pick the person who would own this team. they have to worry about reputation and all kinds of things. oprah. all right, ron, thank you so much. still to come on al jazeera america, minimum wage fails on the senate floor even though president obama made a big bush. and working to save a piece of american history rosy the riveter put on the map.

>> welcome back on wall street the dow closed at an all-time high, thanks to a boost from the federal reserve today. the fed gave an optimistic wrap up of the economy and announced another cut to its stimulus program. president obama and congressional democrats teamed up to focus congress and the

american people on raising the minimum wage. we have more on today's power politics. >> in the run up of midterm elections democrats are trying to get voters to try to think about economic inequality. it's an issue that favors democrats and hurts republicans. today the democratic-led senate held a procedura proceed proceem $7.25 to $10.10 an hour. president obama today highlighted the fight over the minimum wage in a speech at the white house. >> changes happen. whether learn republicans or cos like it or not. my message to the american people is this, do not be discouraged. get fired up, make your voices heard and rest assured that i'm going to work with you, and

there are those here today to raise wages for hard-working americans. it's the right thing to do. >> republicans include house speaker john boehner are pushing back on democratic claims about the economic benefits of a wage hike. they point to the manchester united partisan congressional budget office that says raising the american wage could cost the economy 500,000 jobs. democrats point to the same report that says that raising the minimum wage would list 900,00900,000--would lift 900,00 people out of poverty. hawai'i has voted to raise its minimum wage. finance records show the campaign of governor rick scott has pent more than 4--has spent more than $4 million on

television ads crops hopes to turn the affordable care act as an advantage. you in iowa, a debate three out of four republican candidates said they would block any judicial candidate who did not follow natural law handed down by god. this came up hosted by the family leader that tried to impeach iowa judge who is ruled in favor of gay marriage. finally senate demeanor barbara boxer underscored that she is not an expert on rap music artist. she was trying to make a point on history while criticizing the republicans. >> suppose the other side had taken that attitude. don't raise it. well, it would still be, i

guess, $1 an hour. $0.50 if you were kids. today 50-cent is a singing group, am i right about that? >> no, not okay. you're not right. 50-cent is not a singing group. it's the name of a rap artist and entrepreneur. younger california voters angry at senator boxer, sorry, you'll have to wait. she's not up for re-election until 2018. that's today's power politics. >> shuster, we love him. we'll have much more on the economy in the minimum wage tonight. join david shuster for an hour long real money. he will not rap. he will not. that's on al jazeera america. the women behind me are an important part of american history, and they're fighting to save a building that played a big role in 2012. bisi onile-ere reports. >> during world war ii, the

plant in ypsilanti, michigan, turned out one bomber every hour. as much of the nation's male workforce went off to war women moved onto the fact floor. this plant employed 40,000 workers at its peak, most of them women. including the one who became the working embodiment of the poster rosy the riveter, and a special icon for the works at willow run. >> this was my first real job it's exciting and we made good money. >> reporter: 91-year-old margie walters returned to which wily run to take part of the largest gathering of rosies ever.

blue jumpsuits, red scarves with white polka dots. for some the memories came flooding back. >> very exciting. i met a lot of people that i enjoyed working with. >> for decades after the war this facility made cars. when general motors went bankrupt, the plant was shut down. today it's at risk of being demolished for a vehicle research center. but they're trying to save a part of the plant that has made u.s. history. >> unionized and where men and women got equal pay for equal work in the 1940's at a time when none of these things was the norm in american history it was in many ways the birth of

modern america. >> reporter: to raise $8 million to purchase 175,000 square feet of space. nearly $7 million has been raised in less than a year to repurpose part of this old factory. if those behind the save the bomber plant, and all those rosies who sparked social change. donations are pouring in. he's hopeful that plans to keep what remains of the historic factory from the wrecking ball will soon take flight. bisi onile-ere, al jazeera. ipsypsilanti, michigan. >> an airstrike on a school in syria. a look at the growing unrest in the war-torn nation and the refugee camp over the border.

abducted from school and sold across the border. shocking allegations of what the boko haram may have done with 200 nigerian school girls.

>> welcome back. families of nearly 200 nigerian school girls kidnapped earlier this month are demanding the government do more to get them back. many believe the hard line separatists group boko haram kidnapped them, but the government has yet to find answered trace for them. >> the girls were kidnapped more than two weeks ago. they are still missing. the school girls were taken by suspected boko haram fighters.

they have come to pressure members of the national assembly to find his missing relatives. >> the devastation, disappointment, abandonment by the government. before the abduction took place, the situation on the ground was grossly inadequate. and what happened immediately afterward is a shambles. >> reporter: according to staff 230 girls were kidnapped during the attack and the school was burned down. some escaped, but 190 are still missing. that despite the presence of thousands of soldiers who were in the area to fight boko haram. millions are spent on security in the region, attacks have happened before.

that's what makes many so angry. in a petition demanding action, many nigerians are outraged by the attacks of boko haram when the military keeps saying that the group is being diminished and is on the run. but the government said they're doing all they can to find the missing girls. >> we are following through. >> but he is not convinced that the authorities are capable of the situation. >> we are not adequate militarily, if we're not adequate, then i don't think it would be too much, it would not be admitting your weakness by asking for a sit-down.

>> reporter: these nigerians say they will keep asking questions and demanding answers until the missing girls come home. al jazeera, nigeria. >> more than two dozen syrian children have allegedly been killed in an airstrike on a school in aleppo. syria's largest city in a flash point of violence in the war of control. james bays has the story. >> every day for three years there have been bombs and bloodshed across the area. ththe rescuers are still searchg the debris, but the majority of

those who died here are school children. they were drawing images of the violence they themselves experienced, brutality no youngster should ever have to endure. they've drawn images of the future they want for their nation. a future that they will now not live to see. in the u.n. and new york, expressions of shock but deadlock around the security council table will again mean no action. >> it's absolutely horrific what is happening day by day. men, women, and children are targeted and it's a flagrant violation of the tenants of war. the security council in similar situations we have come together around humanitarian issues, and have passed robust security council resolutions.

the political differences among the them as i say today is having an impact on the way resolution 21,34 2139 is being implemented. >> reporter: equally shocking attacks in the suburb of damascus where an institute was targeted killing 14 youngsters, and injuring 80 others. and the car bomb in busy part of the city of homs. 100 dead, many of them children, too. james bays, al jazeera. >> as the fighting gets worse in syria more people are fleeing. there are now more than 2.7 million syrian refugees. lebanon has more syrians cross its borders than any other country, and jordan is struggling to care for half a million refugees.

in indiana the police ar--ia candidate is accused of violating election rules. he took a selfie with a cheering crowd. well, candidates are not allowed to post anything within 48 hours of the vote. 139 million people are registered to vote. in south africa thousands of striking miners who want more money. they claim many miners want to return to work but they are afraid they'll be intimidated by colleagues. south africa's mines generate billions of dollars in revenue every year. the family of one of the teens who died in the south

koreaen ferry disaster released video of the michael moments on board that ship taken from their son's cell phone. he was one of hundreds who died. we have reports from seoul. >> it's hard to watch, harder to live to, last 15 minutes of the disaster. it's tilting more, someone says. save me comes another voice. the loud speaker tells them to stay put in their cabins. the tone is one of nervous humor. students sit on their beds even though it's impossible to move. one boy is shown standing in the corridor outside. later one boy says we have to get out. it's met with laughter but soon life jackets are passed around.

some of the zips don't work. wear your life jackets, that must mean we're sinking, says a boy. again the crew, stay where you are. >> his father first released to a local tv station on sunday when it was used in the form of stills and audio, but now they want the full video to be shown to expose just how badly their children were served by the adult who is were supposed to protect them. it may well be used in the trial of the captain whose children were becoming trapped below detectivewhile they were steppit from the ferry. in the hometown of the students

70 of the 74 who made it out of the ferry have now been discharged from hospital. they pay tribute to their dead and missing classmates for the memorial set up nearby. harry fascett, al jazeera, seoul. >> overturning a controversial sentence for a teacher convicted of rape. we have that story. this has gotten a lot of people's attention, and they were outraged. >> reporter: that's right. the teacher had been given an one-month sentence after being convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl. now a new judge will resentence him. the original punishment against him was widely criticized as too lenient. the judge suggested that the victim share responsibility for her rape.

he said that she was older than her chronological age. the victim committed suicide in 2010 before the trial. in a cigarette lawsuit new evidence reinstates the multi million dollar case saying that the manufacturer had broken the law by marketing light and low-far cigarette-tar cigaretter than others. philip morris said it will will take the matter to the supreme court. the awards given to airmen who were interned at a prison camp in switzerland. 103 men were awarded the pow medal. but eight went to receive it.

and in baltimore, th this is a conference where you go and you talk about things like recalls, food safety, madrid people weree there. >> they were probably in denial. this cannot be food poisoning. thank you very much. the wildfire that forced the evacuation of 1100 homes in california is growing 06 mph winds fan the planes in the san bernardino area east of los angeles. right now 800 acres are scorched. the fire erupted in the middle of a heatwave. a much different scene in florida, pensacola has received

more rain in one evening than california has received all year. we've been tracking the slow-moving storms. >> we're going to be seeing more rain not like we saw in the last 24 hours, but unfortunately it's saturated and the rain has nowhere to go. this will just add to the intoeding situation. for pensacola, you'll see another two inches of rain over the next 24 hours. the storm system is making it's way over towards the east. we do think in the northern part of ngo, that area could be seeing another five inches of rain. the flooding on highway 10 still going on for many locations. mostly flood warnings in the area. you can see green all the way over here. we do think this will extend over here, maybe jacksonville as

we get towards thursday and friday. as you mentioned out here towards california, 88 degrees in san francisco, 85, we're looking at the santa ana quick kicking in. >> there is another weather problem going on, but it sounds like something out of a hurst book. --a dust bowl effect. >> this was some of colorado's most productive land. but today the only things left alive are cactus and tumbleweeds. >> these are the most abrasive things you can cut. >> he's responsible for keeping the roads open. after over a decade of drought his enemy is the tumbleweed. >> everyone sold their cows off and then we got rain just at the

right time, and there you have it. the perfect storm of tumblewee tumbleweeds. >> he fights this scourge with the custom made machine. despite months of work they still close th clog the roads. after a while it dries out and grows into this monster. each one of with a lot of tumbleweeds. experiencing the worst drought since the 1930's. normal rainfall is 14 inches a year. last year there were only three. the dust bowl has returned. >> you cannot find any three and a half year period that has been this dry in the history of this area with data going back to the

1880s. >> this is a quiet ranch. >> it is now, yes. >> reporter: doug's family has ranched here for generations. >> this is always full of eight. then i had cattle on both sides. >> reporter: what happened to them? >> i had to sell them. >> reporter: why? >> because of the ground. >> reporter: gary gibson said ranchers are going under. >> the rippling affect for the economy in the area could be devastated. >> reporter: the drought was a hot topic i topic, but they're l that the el niño that some forecasters expect will ultimately bring rain. back on county road k, the guy

they call puff daddy is in a never ending battle with the tumbleweed. he knows without rain it's just a matter of time before the wind kicks them up and send them tumbling. >> antibiotics that fight off infection may soon lose their power. and look at the unhealthy air more than half of all americans are breathing every day.

>> there a good chance that the air that you breathe is too dangerous to breath. nearly half of americans live in areas where unhealthy levels of air pollution exist.

we have more on the report's findings. >> reporter: the hollies used to sing a song, all i need is the air that you breathe just to love you. they may be rethinking that the way things are turning out because a staggering 148 million americans live in an area where smog and soot particles make it really unhealthy to breathe the air. we know this because there is a report by the american lung association. their slogan is "fighting for air," and it's based on data collected between 2010 and 2012. it found that smog or ozone has worsened in 22 of the 25 largest u.s. metropolitan areas, including, where you live, los angeles houston, baltimore, boston, new york o. they're all pretty bad and not meeting its standard. smog is the most widespread pollutant and it forms more

readily the hotter the temperatures are. and it's expected to continue with climate change as things heat up. the smog is not just confined to our shores, either. here is the capitol of india, new delhi. pollution rose to record levels trigger a global debate about whether indian smog is taking over chinese smog here in beijing. there was a smog alert this month where they recorded high levels of pollutions. and the report comes one day after the u.s. supreme court endorsed the epa's efforts to deal with smog. there are health risks, too. according to scientific reports, i'm afraid air pollution is linked to increased deaths from heart disease, respiratory

illnesses, and just last year this influential organization here, the "world health organization" based in new york and geneva said particular pollutiopoll--particle pollutiol produce lung cancer. >> thank you very much. on behalf of the "world health organization," as john was just talking about, the problem is becoming so widespread that many of the world's curable diseases could become killers again. >> reporter: the "world health organization" is saying its happening right now. common diseases which have for decades been treatable with antibiotics are developing ever stronger resistence. the main bacteria that cause diary y pneumonia, urinary tract

infections and gonorrhea are becoming more difficult to treat. it starantibiotics started in 1s and diseases that for centuries killed now became treatable. but no new antibiotics are being produced. it's an expensive and risky investment for drug companies. >> we've had resistence over many decades, and there is a harsh truth in all of this, the more intense pressure on an organism such as antibiotics, the more the resistence. we can't get away from that. bev to live with it, and we have to sensebly manage what we have and intensify our search for new

products. >> reporter: the "world health organization" said the following needs to happen now, antibiotics should only be given when absolutely necessary. mother should be done to prevent the illnesses in the first place, and governments need to develop new drugs. the report is the first comprehensive studiment and an era for the first time takes a huge leap backwards. >> it's a orchestra that caters to a special group of musicians. how people are finding a place to show off their talent.