thanks to the enormous courage of the people in that country and because we took the diplomatic initiative, american leadership, we have seen political reforms opening a once closed society. a movement by burmese leadership away from partnership with north korea in favor of engagement with america and our allies. we're now supporting reform and badly needed national reconciliation through assistance and investment. nd investment. and progress there could be reversed but if burma succeeds we have a new partner without firing a shot. american leadership. in each of these cases don't expect change to happen overnight. that's why we form the alliances with governments and ordinary people. for unlike other nations,

america is not afraid of individual empowerment, we are strengthened by it and civil society and a free press and small businesses and entrepreneurs and opportunity for all people and women and girls, that is who we are. that is what we represent. [applause] i saw that through a trip to africa last year. where american assistance the made possible for an aids free generation and helping the africans care for their sick. we are helping farmers get the products to market. to feed populations once endangered by famine. we aim to double the access to

electricity in africa and people are connected to the promises of the global economy. and all this creates new partners and shrinks the space for terrorists and conflict. no american security operation can e ratted kate the threat posed by a group boko haram. that's why we have to focus just not on rescuing the girls right away but educating their youth. it should be one of the hard learned lessons of iraq and afghanistan, we were a strong advocate for advocacy. apart from the national security and defense, it is part of what makes us strong.

ultimate ultimately global leadership makes us see the world as it is. be prepared for the worse, prepared for all contingencies. but american leadership requires us to see the world as it should be. a place where the aspirations of individual human beings really matters. where hopes and not just fears govern. where the truths written into the founding documents steer the history in a direction of justice. and we cannot do that without you. class of 2014, you have taken

this time to prepare on the quiet banks of the hudson. you leave this place to carry forward a legacy that no other military in u.s. history can claim. you do so as part of a team that extends beyond your units or the armed forces and you will work as a team with diplomats and development experts and you will get to know allies and train partners and em body for it means for america to lead the world. next week imgo to normandy to honor the men that stormed the beaches there. it is hard to comprehend those that boarded the small ships, it is familiar to you.

at west pointe you define what it means to be a patriot. three years ago gaven white graduated from this academy and served in afghanistan. like the soldiers who came before him he was in a foreign land and helping people he never met. putting himself in harm's way for the sake of his community and his family and the folks back home. gaven lost one of his legs in an attack. i met him last year at walter reed. he was wounded but just as determined as the day that he arrived here at west pointe and developed a simple goal, today

his sister morgan will graduate and true to his promise gaven will be there and exchange salutes to her. [applause] we have been through a long

season of war. we have faced trials that were not foreseen and we have seen divisions about how to move forward. but there's something in gaven's character, something in the american character that will always triumph. leaving here you carry with you the respect of your fellow citizens. you will represent a nation with history and hope on our side. your charge now is not only to protect our country, but to do what is right and just. as your commander and chief, i know you will.

may god bless you and the men and women in uniform and god bless the united states of america. [applause] >> you have been listening to the president of the united states delivering the address at west point, to the graduating class of 2014 and hitting a number of points and the speech lasting a little less than an hour and pointing out they are the first class since 9/11 not sent to iraq or afghanistan and reminding those gathered isolation is not an option and saying that the tough talk often draws the headlines and not always right and just because we have the hammer not every pound is a nail. we look at the president there is being bestowed the honors of

cocommander and chief of the graduates. he announced a major policy shift with the on going conflict in syria. >> yes, del, it was almost a 50 minute speech and comprehensive and expansive and exhaustive and walking a fine line between the tendencies with isolationism and what is described as the role as the leader of the free world, if intersection doesn't lead, no one else will. he was conciliatory and a rebutted the critics and saying that american leader ship is necessary and calling for a multilateral approach when necessary and use of force is sometimes necessary and diplomacy should be used and military used as a last option and al qaeda is decimated in afghanistan. but saying that terrorism and

the affiliates have spread to the central african republic. it was a worldwide tour, burma, egypt and ukraine and syria, and announcing a fund going there to help some of the countries we mentioned and training them in counter terrorism techniques and working with congress to assist with the moderate elements with syria and working with on congress that as well and how far that is going to go and how much that is going to cost, the administration is back and forth over what kind of aid, nonlethal aid the supplied to the serbia rebels and getting ahold what the u.s. and the allies are sending them and keeping the united states from sending the much wanted air missiles, man pads, the united states is

holding back on that and now trauking of training the moderate forces within syria, the divisions have been minimized between the opposition and getting a lot of lowback on that and expansive and comprehensive view by the president. >> there wasn't the soaring rotteric, but i guess some what of a tone of the president reminding those that graduates that he spoke to before the graduation didn't survive the conflicts in iraq or afghanistan. you thoughts on that? >> the president there is a certain symmetry here. december 2009, appearing at west point, but talked about the fact that venue was the place where he announced the afghan surge in

december 2009 and a hundred thousand troops at the peak, american troops were in afghanistan between midsummer 2011 and the spring of 2012 and four of whom where in the december 2009 speech or announcement on the surge of afghanistan and didn't make it that were part of the surge. there were poignant moiments in the speech and something for everyone. it is a lot of to chew on for the foreign establishments. and talking about the need to shift gears. turn the page. now that the wars in iraq and afghanistan are coming to a close. >> thank you so much. we are shifting gears now to pj, pest a former state department spokesman and now at the george washington university and live in washington, d.c. and your thoughts?

>> i think he is redefining the on going extremist or terrorist threat. the fact it is becoming more defused than the threat of 2001. he's beginning to broaden the national security agenda. you know, the united states has focussed on extremism for a past dozen or so years and that is not going to end and now a wider range of threats that confront the united states looking through the national security lens, he put climate change in the category and saying this is going to have profound effects on the world and that is going to create issues with food scarcity and that the military will have to confront around the world. it is trying to broaden the lens in terms of not only what are the national security challenges for this generation of military leaders, but changing not only

the nix of the instruments and the balance of the instruments and facing the challenges. >> there are democratic elections taking place than ever before and from your standpoint, is it now seems to be more conflicts or social media now brought those conflicts soo into the american living room like the television bringing vietnam into the living rooms? >> the short answer is both. this is not the first information revolution that we have been through. it is the latest information revolution but more and more people are connected, have the ability to participate in these debates, comment on what is happening and as the president said, these technologies now put real power in the hands of individuals, not just states.

>> pj crowly, now a professor at george washington university, very lucky students indeed. pj, thank you very much. we have more news to get caught up on, including the death of a very beloved poet. we are taking break. we'll be right back. k. al jazeera america >> we do have breaking news this morning... >> start your day with in depth coverage >> start your day with in depth coverage from around the world. true business-grade internet comes >> start your day with in depth coverage from around the world. with secure wifi for your business. it also comes with public wifi for your customers. not so with internet from the phone company. i would email the phone company to inquire as to why they have shortchanged these customers. but that would require wifi. switch to comcast business internet and get two wifi networks included. comcast business built for business. trwith secure wifie for your business.

it also comes with public wifi for your customers. not so with internet from the phone company. i would email the phone company to inquire as to why they have shortchanged these customers. but that would require wifi. switch to comcast business internet and get two wifi networks included. comcast business built for business. available for your apple and android mobile device. download it now >> again, you are looking live at the commencement ceremonies at west point. the president delivering the address to the candidates there and reminding them that the united states's mission in the world is changing and just because we have the best hammer doesn't mean every conflict is a

nail. >> in other news that is happening, defense secretary is ordering a review of the healthcare facilities of the government. we have a report that the announcement is coming as two deaths are reported at one of the hospitals run by the defense department. >> i don't hate the va, they have the greatest caregivers in the world. but their management, they have to change. >> i know they can schedule people in faster than what they do. >> we kept our word, we served honorable. >> they are the veterans that fouth long ago and now to a different kind of battle, deplayed medical points and lack of care at the veterans facilities nationwide and the stories are all too common since the long waits for medical to the deaths.

>> whether long wait times or cooking the books, i will not stand for it, not as commander and chief but not as an american. >> a week of the top aides arrived to a phoenix facility, the epicenter of the scandal, the pentagon is getting involved too, there is a sweeping review of the health system to begin immediately. the 90 study focuses on access to care, patient safety, and the quality of care at the military facilities, which serve ten million soldiers. those facilities are not related to the va, but a pentagon official is saying that the veteran scandal sparked the investigation. it is fair to say that the review is ordered within the context of what is going on in the va and we don't know whether we we have the issues, he wants to know and attack them

aggressi aggressively. there are were two deaths at fort bragg and those patients died shortly after visiting the emergency rooms at the army medical center and the new york times report that it led to the suspension of the three deputies. >> the nsa leaker is saying he was trained as a spy. snowden is saying that the government is misleading the government labelling him as a hacker. he claims he worked for the cia and the nsa. >> i was trained as a spy in the traditional sense of the word, i lived and worked under cover vaegs and pretending to work in a job i'm not and being assigned a name that wasn't mine. the government might deny these things and frame it, and oh, you know, he's a low level analyst and what they are trying to do is trying to use one position i

have had in a career here or there to distract. >> he's living in exile in moscow. >> in egypt, it is a third day of voting taking place, today's extension because of the low voter turnout and blaming the weather but voters are making their feelings heard by staying home. we have more. >> polls opened for a third day of voting to choose a new president for egypt. but there is a growing debate about the low turnout in the last couple of days. there are around 50 million registered voters and states media and talk shows are encouraging the people come out. an official is saying 37% of the people voted. the opposition alliance, including the brotherhood insists that less than 10% of

the voters have showed up. former army chief that led a coo against the first elected civilian president is expected to become the next head of state and encouraged the egyptians to come out to vote. he needs the high turnout to legitimatize. >> nobody can hide. the people have turned their backs and they are considering the elections i will lee and the people noted that the votes have no importance. >> the only other candidate rejected the decision to extented the voting. his supporters are saying that the boycott is big and needs consideration. >> everyone is interpreting the boy coit to their own aims. the brotherhood is saying it is a victory and the cc camp is

saying it is boosting their aims. the boycott came from the powers bigger than the brotherhood or the cc and it is the young people behind it. >> the polls are scheduled to close at 9:00 p.m. local time and the results are expected within days. >> and syria's president also running for re-election and voting in that country is scheduled next week and some syrians outside of the country are casting their ballots today. they are making sure their votes are counted. >> it is very chaotic, thousands and thousands of syrians in lebanon have been here since early hours of the morning and trying to cast their votes. i am outside of the syrian embas embassy in beirut and the crowds are trying to get in.

most of the people we spoke to are voting for the president. some are supporters of the regime. they feel this assures he's able to prevail despite three years of serious battle. the opposition is saying they are not fair elections and not going to recognize them. they are organized by the president they are trying to overthrow. if you speak to the people, many left the homes two years ago and living like refugees and they feel if they don't vote their families that are still in syria may be punished and their accessibility to syria maybe not able to return if they don't show up to vote. many of them feel that the president is able to prevail is not going any where and they have to deal with the reality and that is why they are here. we saw pregnant woman in nine

months and children are being brought here and so desperate and not going to move, they want to vote and be registered they have shown up. >> some sad news to report as well, maya angelou died. no cause of death given so far. she did have a history of heart problems for years. years. >> the future of america's foreign policy and the factors behind the president's plan for america's plan around the world. round the world.

>> california lawmakers are looking at tougher gun laws after the mass shooting last week that left seven people including the gunman. officials want to stop violent people from getting about aing access to guns. jennifer, what exactly do the

measures aim to do? >> well, the first measure, del, seeks to establish sort of a gun violence restraining order and the law enforcement could go to a judge and ask for a fire arms restraining order, think of it like a domestic violence restraining order and the lawmakers that introduced the bill hopes it gives family and friends the tools they need to take guns away from somebody who could be a harm to themselves or someone else and under the current law that is impossible. the other piece of legislation seeks to establish protocols for the welfare visits and what happens under this law if passed when the officials go to visit someone with a his tli of mental health issues they are required to find out if they are owning fire arms and in the case of this gunman, his mother went to

the law enforcement and expressed concerns and the officials did visit elliott and they interviewed him and he was shy but no reasons for concerns or holding the fire arms. these two pieces of legislation are preventing that from happening in the future. >> thank you, jennifer. >> problems are continuing along to gulf coast and more severe weather we have the winds and the heavy rain and the storm is not moving much. this is the estimated rainfall, close to six inches of rain along the gulf in louisiana. the storm has moved a little bit

and pulling the moisture from the gulf into louisiana and texas. severe weather is possible ant some rotation is detected in the storms and continuing for the next 24-48 hours and then pushing to the east. this is the upper level flow and cutting off the flow from canada and moving slowly and pulling in the moisture from the gulf. radar is picking up the rain and look what happens over the next three days, this is the computer forecast a lot of rain coming down close to 4-7 inches of rain. more flooding is likely. thank you. thank you all for watching al jazeera america. i'm del walter in new york city and "inside story" is next. check us out at al jazeera.com.

we live you with pictures of west point and the word is precision. >> the santa barbara kill investigation set off a nerve on various aspects of the shootings. we're looking at mental illness, the rights, reactions when someone you know may be a danger to themselves or others. that's inside story. >> hello, i'm ray suarez.