welcome to al jazerra america park i am stephanie sy. here are the stories we are following for you. chaos in iraq, residents fleeing, fighters gaining ground and president obama says the u.s. is looking at all options. it's time that the president got a new national security team. >> republicans take the president to task over the situation in iraq and call for changes. plus former president george h.w. bush celebrates his 90th birthday in the air. ♪ ♪

iraq is in turmoil. a group of fighters called the islamic state in iraq and the levant known as isil have taken over several cities, they have from mosul moving south taking at that creek and honing in on baiji. kurdish fighters are now in control of kirkuk. this isn't just about iraq. isil if fighting for its place in syria and iran's president is promising to help combat what he is calling terrorism. the u.n. security council is meet this is hour to discussion the situation. omar reports from baghdad 67 the latest is coming from state television saying that the anti-terrorism force backed by fighter jets are chasing fighters from isil north of

tikrit. now sources in tikrit are saying that the town of tikrit is still under control of isil. now, there is another development with regards to what's happening. you mentioned the tribal fighters in mosul and elsewhere, so basically what we have now, there is a statement and according to that statement, they call themselves the tribal fighters of iraq. and let me read you a little bit of what came in that statement. it said we liberated mosul, tikrit, and kirkuk and we are continuing this revolution until we liberate all iraqi cities. it's called on the iraqi people not to be scared and they promise them they will protect their lives, their publicist property and buildings. so it's a pretty strong development. you have a group that is determined to carry on what it

says the liberation of iraqi towns and cities. a senior member of the prime minister nuri maliki blocked the state of law -- or the state of law block told me over the phone that the situation is pretty clear. he said there is few political blocks within parliament that prevented the number of reaching the quorum and that's why they are backing the events that are happening in mosu mosul. according to the figure that i spoke to, he says they do not want to give more authority and power to prime minister nuri el al-maliki this. guy we want onto say that there are political affiliations, political figures who are collaborating with the isil fighters and former members of the iraqi army under sadam hussein. so it's pretty strong development.

and this is where they are labeling it. evening the prime minister is saying this is a conspiracy aimed at the government, the new government of iraq. omar reporting from baghdad. meanwhile, the republican leadership in this country is blaming the obama administration's foreign policy for the fighting in iraq. the u.s. has acknowledged the situation on the ground is very grave. the question remains what role america will play the conflict. mike viqueira joins us live there washington. mike, good afternoon. how is the government respond to go this escalating situation in iraq? >> reporter: stephanie, we have some brand-new developments to tell you about. just moments ago president obama at the end of a meeting, an hour long meeting that he had in the oval office with the australian prime minister, kevin rudd, president obama spoke extensively about the unfolding situation in iraq, a situation that he termed an emergency and very significantly, stephanie, he did not rule out the use of military force to deal a setback to those insurgent and sectarian forces now making their way

towards baghdad. let's listen. >> iraq is going to need more help. it's going to need more help from us and need more help from the international community. so my team is working around the clock to identify how we can provide the most effective assistance to them. i don't real out anything. because we do have a stake in making sure that these jihadist are not getting a permanent foot hold in either iraq or syria, for that matter. >> reporter: of course the australian prime minister now tony abbott. one thing that's significant that the president did say there, and this is something that you have heard over the course of the last several weeks from administration spokes people and experts elsewhere, it is the shia, sunni split that persists within iraq growing even wider of course. the prime minister nouri al-maliki a shia muslim. the administration has been critical of him excluding

sunnies from the government and lay this partly at his feet. >> mike, there is also this kurdish component in addition to that as well. but why are top republicans blaming president obama for this breakdown in iraq? >> reporter: well, a couple of reasons, stephanie. first of all, this goes back to the status of forces agreement that was reached with the iraq government, or more significantly the parts of it that were not reached. there is no american residual force in iraq. no one to train iraqi forces, no one to provide intelligence there on the ground or at least over the horizon, so republicans are criticizing him for that. we have heard several republicans today, including the top leadership in john boehner and of course john mccain a frequent critic took to the senate floor. let's listen. >> it's not like we haven't seen this problem coming for over a year. and it hasn't -- it's not like we haven't seen over the last five or six months, these terrorists moving in, taking control of western iraq, now they have taken control of mosul. they are 100 miles from baghdad.

what is the president doing? taking a nap. >> reporter: and this is very significant. john mccain, lindy graham, other republican critics today there are lessons to be drawn in afghanistan. the president has announced troop withdrawal, they think that the president needs to rethink his plans for afghanistan after looking at the situation in iraq. here is mccain. >> i say to the president of the united states, get a new national security team in place. you have been ill served by the national security team and the decisions that you have in place now and the decisions that you made. and have that new national security team cool up with a strategy. -- come up with a strategy. a strategy to do whatever we can to prevent this direct threat not national security of this nation. >> reporter: and so the question now, stephanie, this afternoon, what does the president have in mind when he says iraqis need more help and he's not leaving any options off the table.

stephanie. >> my viqueira reporting from the white house. mike, thank you. is has been three years since president obama withdrew the last contingent of u.s. forces from iraq. the u.s. paid a heavy financial price for the eight years of war. a report by brown universities institute for international study, the iraq war cost 1.7 drill i don't know dollars and more when you factor in the benefits to veterans and the expenses could grow to 6 trillion when you add interest. breaking news out of ukraine. kiev says russia is sending tanks and military vehicles in to the part of the country. ukraine's interior ministry said russia sent the hardware to help anti-government fighters the three tanks pass in to donetsk. passing border points controlled by pro-russian separatists. the gop is still regular from eric cantor's primary

defeat. cantor says he will step down from his position as house majority leader. here is reaction. >> reporter: the reaction is really all over the ma'am. you've got the tea party rejoicing. while the democrats are claiming the gop has been taken over by extremists. the stunning upset sent shock waves through washington on both sides of the aisle. >> well, look, this is a 10 on the political richter scale. >> reporter: the first house majority leader in history to lose a primary election. congressman eric cantor forced to step down from his post which he will give up on july 31st. >> it is with great humility that i do so, knowing the tremendous honor it has been to hold this position. >> reporter: the man who toppled from that position, little known tea party candidate dave brat. despite only spending about $120,000 to fund his campaign versus cantor's 5.4 million. the tea party believes the underdog won because the republican leader is, quote, out

of touch. >> this leadership team wrote a tea party -- rode a tea party wave to offers in the last four years just a growing concern that we haven't followed through. >> reporter: brat says his strong stance on immigration is the main reason for his victory. claiming cantor backed amnesty. on capitol hill some say without cantor an immigration reform deal is as good as debts. the house majority leader reject that claim. >> i have never known mr. cantor to be an ahea advocate for immigration reform so i think this whole thing about it being dead is ex-a exaggerated. >> reporter: the first-time politician was press odd other issues. when asked about minimum wage, the economics professor had this to say. >> i don't have a well crafted response on that one. >> reporter: some tea party members hope this primary pick points to more changes on capitol hill. >> the people are going to make their decision and they are tired of what's going on in

washington, d.c. in both parties. i think that's the message, the establish better hear today. >> reporter: as far as a candor loss hurting democrats? >> not at all. not at all. because as i say we are close to our district. his opponent said he was too close to wall street instead of main street. that's what we have been saying all along about the republicans. >> reporter: as for the calf ted republican leadership position, two congressmen have reportedly tossed their hats in to the ring. you've got majority whip kevin mccarthy of california, and representative peter sessions of texas, stephanie. erica, thank you. the supreme court handed down a ruling that may lead to a change in the way our food and drinks are labeled. pom sued coke claiming the pomegranate beverage offered by coke's minute made division was misleading. the justices said pom can go ahead and its lawsuit against

coke. we are about an hour away from the start of the world cup in practice since. this morning, though, the scene in the city anything but playful. gabriel elizondo has more. >> reporter: i want to get you up-to-date on the news. in the last couple of hours there was an anti world cup protest on the main highway about five-kilometers from where i am now at this stadium. about 50 protesters or so according to an al jazerra crew that i spoke to that was there and it was broken up by riot police with tear gas and flash grenades. there are still some very minor running street battles that we are hearing about in and around the stadium. but well more than three, four, five-kilometer as way from the stadium. again, it's just a small group, about 50 or so protesters that we saw earlier today. so far this is good news from the brazilian government. they were really worried about having 10s of thousands of protesters blocking the highway.

outside the stadium here it's a sea of yellow and green the national colors of the football team. nothing but smiles and celebrations. fans are just starting to trickle in to the stadium, fans that have tickets. and it's absolutely festive atmosphere. that you could imagine on a world cup being held in a country such as brazil. the crews getting the final preparations together. but thousands of fans waiting for the gates to open so that they can take their seats. absolutely festive environment. the weather is perfect. not a cloud in the sky. gabriel elizondo reporting from sao paulo. now, this world cup is being played in 12 venues across brazil, recipient rio de janeir, the first match there will be played on sunday but the party has already begun. >> reporter: the plan is for up to 30,000 people to be gathered here. it will be a huge, huge party. people are going to be watching the game outdoors at the -- on the stage that you see behind

me. we are going to have the samba band that won this year's carnival and the atmosphere is incredibly contagious. almost everyone is wearing the yellow and green colors of the brazilian flag. you can't be old enough or young enough. in fact, you don't even have to be a person, even the dogs are decorated for this occasion. this is a tradition that began 36 years ago, precisely in this spot where a small group of brazilians brought down a tiny little television set and put it down on the street base they had nowhere to watch the world cup. and since then the groups, the crowds have been growing and growing and growing and now they are going to have a huge set. people are waiting in anticipation for that game that begins in less than five hours. >> lucia newman in rio. american troops training in australia. coming up other al jazerra america what this means for the country and its neighbors. and i am nicholas, in ghana.

find out why locals call this place the silicon valley of electronic waste.

the prime minister of australia visited the white house today. it was tony abbott's first face for face meeting with president obama. the two leaders had a lot on the agenda, the economy my, environment and immigration. andrew thomas reports on the growing military lines between thalliancebetweens the u.s. and. >> reporter: isiah berg's first deployment as a ph*u u.s. marine as a surprise. >> i thought it would be afghanistan or iraq. >> reporter: australia less northern territory is where more than a thousand u.s. troops are right now. >> australia, our friend friendship goes back 100 years, we fight in every war together. and they are incredible partners and we are here to deepen that relationship. >> reporter: as well as troops through his american kit,

including four helicopters, a medical evacuation exercise is one the troops are practicing. these marines are predominantly here for training but they are battle ready, ready to be deployed straight from here if required. australia offers a challenging training environment, but sending u.s. troops here sends a powerful signal too, an ex-police i have demonstration of the u.s. military's pivot towards asia as china rises military the u.s. wants to have a presence in the region, president obama obama said u.s. troops with rotate through australia. >> the i think the chinese accepted that, when it came to military actively nexting a u.s. rebalancing to the region the fact was and is america is a significant military presence in the asia pacific. >> reporter: but do australia's deepening ties with the u.s. undermine the possibility of australian neutrality in any

future disputes between a u.s. ally like japan and china. shea thekind some >> australia is take phone granted totally. any country that fore goes so much of its sovereignty as to have another country have its military base on his its territory is already not neutral. you can't be neutral under those circumstances. >> reporter: it's an argument echoed by previous prime minister malcolm franker sent australian troops to vietnam but now calls the u.s. a dangerous ally. these war games in the out back are also part of a strategic game of geopolitical positioning. tony abbott is being urged to think carefully about what the next moves mean for australia. andrew thomas, al jazerra, australia. well, when tech users discard old electronics they pictures them to be recycled responsibilitiesbly but the toying i catoxic chemicals in tt

hard to do. in ghana e waste is a dangerous task. some of devices there are from the u.s. >> reporter: environmental assists say this is the most toxic place on earth. all types of electronic equipment. including computers, tvs and freezers are dismantled by young men and children. they do this using their bare hands. all of it comes from europe and north america. >> translator: we are looking for copper, metals, anything we can resell. >> reporter: adults pay them up to $10 a du day for what they collect. they export the scrap metal children pick to asaia. everything is recycled but none of it is green, most it have is toxic. they contain cadmium, it causes kid any failure and bone disease, levels of poisonous led in the fumes are 100 times the recommended maximum level position a serious dang to the nervous system. -- danger to the nervous system. it's very difficult to describe the smell of these fumes, it's

heavy, it gets you in the lungs and burns the throat. it's absolutely suffocating. for people here this is what they breathe every day at work. there is no hospital here or doctors. the pharmacy is where young men and children go for care. >> if they are really suffering we will give them a pain killer and tell them to go to hogs. most of them don't have money to. >> reporter: experts say this is also a security threat because some of the wastes come from government institutions like the u.s. congress and big european companies. >> some of the computers will definitely contain confident shall information on defense, medical care, these are very confidential issues that should not get to a third party. >> reporter: countries like sweeped, the u.k. and germany dump their waste here. all have signed the convention against the trans boundary movement of hazardous waste.

all are in breach of it. and the trade continues. fueled by western consumers swooping their old electronics for new technology. this once natural wetland is now a toxic dumping site. slowly killing these children. with the crisis in iraq spreading, thousands are leaving their homes, coming up on al jazerra america, refugees fleeing the city of mosul. and a former pretzel bates his t celebrates his birthday in a big way.

the performance review. that corporate trial by fire when every slacker gets his due. and yet, there's someone around the office who hasn't had a performance review in a while. someone whose poor performance

is slowing down the entire organization. i'm looking at you phone company dsl. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business built for business. welcome back to al jazerra. i am stephanie sy. here are the headlines at this hour. hours before the star the world cup police squared off with demonstrators in sao paulo. they were trying to block a road outside the stadium where the first match will be played later today. in iraq a goo group of fighters known as isil have taken over

three major cities, kurdish fighters in control of yet another, kirkuk, officials worry baghdad is the next target for sunni militants, the you were security council is meeting to discuss the situation. president obama says he's not ruling anything out in helping eye remark but did not specify what type of help america will offer. republican leadership is blaming the obama administration for the turmoil in iraq. about a half million people are trying to leave mosul. it's been under rebel control for the last two days. as we report about a quarter of the cities population are part of the mass migration. >> reporter: it's a long wait under the scorching sun. queues of cars stretch for kilometers. the searchers are slow. but this is the way to safety for iraqis who have fled mosul since their city fell in to the hands of isil. some took as much as they could with them. others just made their way by

foot. >> translator: the battle started in our neighborhood, the armed men didn't attack civilians, they were just starting -- fighterring the army we didn't know to who they are we left because there was no without never or electricity in our area. >> reporter: for the kurdish authorities this is not just a logistical but a security challenge. at the moment priority is given to families or those that happen to have some sort of connection to the kurdish region but everyone has to register. single males are not allowed in. there is fear that members of the isil could infiltrate the north among the flow of refugees. there is evidence that at least some iraqi soldiers made their way here. they have been the main target of the isil so far. there is fear among people here, this man will not give us his name or show his face. >> translator: the armed men are controlling the city.

the ones who are there now from mosul. but those who defeated the army were from elsewhere and they left. what can malik do he didn't manage to do anything in fallujah, a how can he make a difference now? >> reporter: it's a common feeling among most of the refugees here, many fear that baghdad will unleash its air power over the city like it did in other parts of iraq where the fight against isil is ongoing. with such level of uncertainty, the kurdish regional government has put fits a force on his high alert. bracing itself for a bigger influx of people in the days to come. al jazerra, in northern iraq. ♪ ♪ >> meteorologist: i am meteorologist dave warren the national forecast we'll start in the mid-atlantic, a lot of moisture in the air, very warm and move i had the temperatures making it as far as north as philadelphia. problem is late they are afternoon. getting a little sunshine

starting to see the showers pop up. here they are at the end here, showers with a lot of moisture around so they can dump a lot of rain in a short period of time. steadier rain moving out of virginia up towards maryland, right up 95. so this entire area under a flash flood watch, because there is so much moisture in the air, the storms develop, dump a lot of rain in a short period of time could happen anywhere in this region, so flooding could happen quickly. tomorrow that area of rain begins to clear out. still some rain coming down along 95 from d.c. up through philadelphia, new york and boston. but for the most part the storms are moving out. rain developing here in east texas could be severe. this cluster of storms pushes south. had warnings issued earlier but now just a flood advisory with all that rain coming down in parts of east texas. lightning with very little rain. the area that's seeing this will be out west. this could be a problem for the fire weather situation here, showers will be developing, that moisture h evaporates before it hits the ground but you still get the lightning could cause

some more fires there, so fire weather watches and red flag warnings in effect for much of the western united states. stephanie. dave warren, thank you. for those who thought george had had are h.w. bush's parachuting days were over. think again. he took to the skies to celebrate his 90th birthday strapped to a retired mesh of the army parachute team he jumped out of a plane and landed successfully t* the wind mad it look like a hard return. he jumped for his 80th and 81st birthdays as well. legendary activist and actress ruby dee has died. she was best known for her role in raisin in the sun and spike lee's do the right thing and jungle fever. she most recently played alongside denzel washington in american gangster in which she was nominated for an oscar, her agent says she died of natural causes in his home in new york wednesday night. a public them your well will be

held at a later date. thank you for watching al jazerra america, aim stephanie sy. talk to al jazerra is next. for news updates throughout the day head to our website aljazerra.com. rosie perez was three years old when her schizophrenic mother put her in a catholic children's home where she was often abused. >> i had to physically fight back or else, you know, my ass was going to get kicked. >> the oscar nominated actress's new book explains how she overcame odds? >> i felt like i was always acting, always escaping into different realities. >> how a fighting spirit and humor helped her survive? >> i was ham and cheese served