>> good morning, and welcome to aljazeera america. here are the stories we're following for you at this hour. prepared to fight. some volunteers in the iraqi army try to protect themselves from advancing rebel forces, back on american soil. pow, bowe bergdahl, comes home and his parents and for privacy. >> i slept in my vehicle, and then i got tired of sitting and throwing up in the back seat of my vehicle, i would get on the bus. >> and plus, california's latest effort to help homeless

veterans. in iraq, the rebels advance as the government rallies, forces in response x. all the while, trying to avoid deepening sectarian violence. two more towns well overnight from. the shiite leaders combat violence. and some people prefer the rebels over the government. hundreds of civilians have been killed in summary executions. we report from baghdad. >> reporter: let me tell that you it's not the first time that we're seeing it this year in this country, joining up just a few days ago, the senior cleric said that people need to form

peace platoons to protect the shrines, but the fact that this statement has come from the ground, the ayatollah, the highest shiite cleric in the country is key. let's listen to what his assistant has to say. >> i call on iraqis capable of taking up arms and fighting the terrorists in defense of the people, their country and the holy shrine, they should join in forces to achieve this sacred goal. >> for all that they're doing in places like bassra, young men are signing up to join the stewart forces, and they will try to take back cities like mosul and tikrit. these are the young men that will only be given the basic training. they won't be hard fighters and a lot of them don't have combat experience, but they have the verve to fight.

and they have been given the blessing by the highest shiite in the country, and they will want to defend their country. but however, what this means, because it came from a shiite cleric, it means that the entire fight is being divided along the sectarian lines, you have the lavant. you have the baathist soldiers, and you have former saddam followers in that group as well. so it's all along sectarian lines, and nobody, so far, is talking when a national unity. everybody is talking about iraqi army as a whole. and that's worrying. >> reporting from baghdad, and now back here in the u.s., the white house is considering ways to help the iraqi government regain order. president obama said that he hasn't ruled anything out, including military assistance. mike vic viqueira joins us from

washington and a lot is on president obama to respond to the situation mir ac. >> as far as the white house is concerned, this is a policy and political nightmare. the president has spent the better part of three years and he campaigned in 2008 on ending the warra iraq, and since then, he has talked about his success. what the white house has called until tuesday a success story in iraq. and now, despite that, the president talking about direct u.s. military action in iraq. having left the battlefield in iraq some 2 and a half years ago, president obama is weighing going back in. >> it's fair to say, in our consultations with the iraqis, there will be short-term immediate things that need to be done militarily, and our national security team is looking at all of the options. >> those options do not include american boots on the ground, but the u.s. is considering airstrikes and use of drones against the fighters in the

islamic state and lavant. they are moving to the capital. >> they are 100 miles from baghdad, and what is the president doing? taking a nap. >> baghdad is home to the largest empathy in the world and some here are calling for action now. >> there is no no scenario where we can stop the bleeding in airing without american air power. the iraqi army is on the verge of collapse. and i would urged administration to get all of our people out now. >> in mosul, iraqi military vehicles, and this video reportedly showing iraqi shoulderrers surrendering in tikrit. and then this image, the want. the president said that he was watching the situation with much concern. >> i don't rule out anything. because we do have a stake in

making sure that these jihaddists are not getting a permanent foothold in either iraq or syria for that matter. >> with the u.s. mission in iraq wrapped up in 2011 and the absence of a security agreement with some american troops staying behind in a counter terror training roll, maybe saw this coming. >> just because it's over in the united states' eyes, doesn't mean that it's over in the enemy's eyes. the iraq war did not end because the forces against iraq and within iraq were still undefeated. >> and as the country splinters apart, a humanitarian crisis is brewing, with hundreds of thousands of civilians fleeing cities like mosul, heading north to kurdistan to avoid the

violence. president obama is keeping to his schedule this weekend. he planned to go to north dakota to speak at an indian reservation, and speak in california on saturday. he has a commencement address scheduled at uc irvine, and then with the first lady in palm springs. we're waiting on any changes in the president's schedule. it's a concern that iso's defenses could disrupt crude applies. they jumped on thursday, and as of now, iraq productions 3 million barrels of oil a day, second only to saudi arabia. but the u.s. is relying less on imparts from iraq, and it only represents 4% of the told crude oil imports. >> for the latest information on the turmoil in iraq, head to aljazeera.com.

you'll get new information on the isil fighters:. >> arm sergeant, bowe bergdahl has returned to the united states. he arrived in texas early this morning, and he was taken to a a military hospital in san antonio. lisa stark is in washington, and a lot of people expected him to be reunited with his family at some point, and we know there was a process, and why was he taken specifically to san antonio? >> he was taken to the brook medical center, because it's a very large inpatient hospital. and they have treated captives there in the past. this is what the department of defense calls the reintegration process. it will include medical, psychological help, and intelligence debriefing, and it's about giving control back to someone who has had no control over his life for years. for example, one of the first things they're likely to do is give sergeant bergdahl a menu and say, choose what you want to

eat. that may seem like a very small step forward. but again, it's getting him out of this prisoner mentality and that's what they're going to start to do. >> is there any timeline whatsoever when he might expect to be reunited? >> we expect that he will be reunited during the stay in san antonio, but we don't know when. and the people released a statement. which indicates that they're not going to provide that information. they say that while the bergdahls are overjoyed whenner in son returning to the united states, they're not going to make any of their travel plans public. and they ask for continued privacy as they talk about their son's reintegration. we don't know the timing but we expect it to be in texas. >> as far as bergdahl is concerned, all of the controversy surrounding his

release and now the return to the u.s., from a legal standpoint of what's next for him, and has the investigation begun as to why he walked off of his post? >> the investigation will take place, and the army has made it clear. but right now sergeant bergdahl is not being questioned or investigated over that aspect of what happened over the last five years. the hospital said for right now, the concern is for his support and well being and his care. and not until that phase is over will they begin that investigation, and talk to sergeant bergdahl and how he came to be captured. >> lisa stark, thank you. california is home to more veterans than ania state in the nation, and it has more homeless veterans. california is taking major steps to get vets off the streets.

>> i'm trying to figure things out. >> agent ford is struggling with homelessness for the first time in his life. the 66-year-old vet has been unable to find steady work. >> i slept in my vehicle, and i got tired of sleeping and throwing up in the back seat of my vehicle, i would get on the bus and ride around the city of l.a. >> ford is among the 19,000 veterans in california with no permanent home. but last week, californians approved a measure to build affordable housing for u.s. service members. they are building developments like this one. >> and because they have been willinwilling to save a life, wl be providing case management to stabilize their lives. >> part of that facility includes this oning in ingle wood, outside of los angeles. currently 500 veterans call this place home.

and in addition to basic food and shelter, they are reminded of the basic disciplines they were provided in the service with the goal of getting them out on their own. >> i was doing crack cocaine. >> homeless and addicted to drugs, five years later, the former marine considers himself a success story. >> they teach you that you're still a man, that there are no throw waits, that you put in the work and you can be exactly what you were before this thing took ahold of you. >> they help people like harvey carve a path to self sufficiency. anthony ford secured temporary housing in inglewood, but he says that bureaucracy has slowed his progress in finding a job and a permanent home. >> i'm registering and doing the paperwork but not getting the results. it's either going into someone's case file, and there's no

followup. >> programs like this offer a step in the right direction. >> they can stay here for a short period of time and get intense counseling and moving into case management with the employment and it's very supportive. >> they never expected that they would be fighting for their futures in a new battle ground here at home. >> general motors is remainering almost half a million chevrolet cameros. it's due to the ignition switch that has been linked to a dozen deaths. the driver can bump the key and take it out of the run position. this can mean the car slowing down or losing power, and the effect has caused three accidents. coming up on aljazeera america. news of migrant children comes to the united states.

>> security is in place across afghanistan. former minister, abdullah abdullah is expected to defeat his opponent, ash rad gatti. though are worried that the recent increase in taliban attacks could effect voter timeout. >> the only way in or out is through checkpoints like this one. operated by the afghan national police. all vehicles are searched, and so too are the passengers. it's partly of the security for the runoff. for voting day, it's particularly at risk. though it's less than an hour from kabul, the group has brought in here. they are in charge of being

responsible for keeping voters safe, and he's confident that it will be held without incident. >> they want to create insecurity and disrupt the election, but we're prepared for it. we're on high alert and the people will be protected. >> but with 22,000 polling stations to secure in the country, it won't be an easy job. the security forces did well in the first round. and there were no major attacks. the voteters came out in record number, but in the past few weeks, there has been a sharp increase in taliban violence, and they are afraid that the runoff will be very different. they have launched their so-called spring offensive, and since then, there have been a number of attacks in the country, including an assassination attempt against one of the presidential candidates. but this food vendor said that it won't stop him from voting.

he wants to cast his ballot for change. >> the security situation here isn't very good. but i'm definitely voting. i want peace, i don't want war anymore. god willing, the government will bring afghanistan peace. >> but with polling stations like this one showing evidence of the recent fighting, peace for many afghans may be a long way off, even with a new president. aljazeera, central afghanistan. >> china and vietnam are taking their maritime dispute over territory in the south china sea to the united nations. the latest stand off is over an oil rig in the parcel islands. both sides accused other side of aggression. >> we're on patrol in the sea, a

dispute that has been inflamed with the introduction of a chinese oil rig in the area a month ago. it has led to confrontationing from both sides, and active patrolling like this, heading to the zone where the oil rig is. with us, other vessels from the vietnamese coast guard, and they're expected to come into contact with chinese vessels that will protect them from getting any closer to the oil rig. that happening, a number of clashes in the coming weeks. accusing the chinese of ramming their vessels, and they have shown us documented evidence, of such events taking place, and the chinese saying that they have been rammed countless times by vietnamese in the same dispute. there's lots of shipping in these waters at the moment. and both the vietnamese and chinese are trying to assert their territorial rights here.

>> thousands of migrants leaving thailand. they have a huge migrant workforce, many who don't have proper documents to work there. most come from cambodia and myanmar, where the wages are lower. it came after the military imposed martial law three weeks ago. thousands of children are fleeing guatemala, el salvador and tedding to the u.s. many who make the journey believe they will be able to stay in the united states indefinitely. >> a towering wall of rusted metal straits nogales, mexico from its neighboring city. this is a major crossing point for migrants entering the united states, and it's where we met lydia and her seven-year-old son, lester. they just arrived from honduras.

lydia was too afraid to let us see their faces. >> the worst thing is wakin wakp and hearing your children and for something to eat and not giving them anything. that's what make makes you want to come here. >> migrants are spreading the war about a provision of u.s. law that they believe will allow them to stay indefinitely. minors and women from central america are usually not deported but instead they are allowed to stay in the u.s. while their cases are reviewed in u.s. courts, and that process can take months or years. the counsel in arizona said that rumors have been deliberately planted. human smugglers are leading people to believe that just by being here, it will be not for them to have the possibility of getting an immigration benefit.

47,000 child migrants have entered the u.s. since october, overloading the system to process them. human rights groups allege that some have been abused by border patrol officers, and conditions in holding centers are deplorable. >> the department of justice and immigration judges for faster removal proceedings, and in addition to all of this, we know we must do something to stem this tied. >> lydia has had enough of hunger, violence and poverty. >> i'm thinking of how i can cross to the other side and get caught by immigration so they can give me a permit. they give you a permit and say you can stay and you just have to show up at court. >> a mother willing to risk everything to give her child a different future. aljazeera, nogales, mexico. >> turning trash into treasure

in kenya. coming up on aljazeera america, how women are taking discarding objects and making works of art.

>> the headlines at this hour, in iraq, two more towns fell overnight from the rebels in iraq. combating the militants, and the united nations said hundreds of civilians have been killed in summary executions. >> . >> bowe bergdahl has returned to the united states. he arrived in san antonio, texas this morning. he was freed by the taliban two weeks ago after five years in captivity. and in actual after, ahead of saturday's election, abdul abdullah is expected to defeat his opponent. flipflops are one of the most common pollutants in the indian ocean. every day they wash up on the

kenyan beaches. women are picking them up and turning the trash into treasures. >> it's not an ordinary job for these women. every morning, when the waters of the indian ocean recede, the women from the tiny village walk to the shoreline to collect garbage that the ocean left behind. sally leads the group, whose daily struggle is to get a meal on the table for their families. >> we decided to do this because our ocean and beaches are very dirty and what can we do to make this better? we collect the flipflops and make ornaments to sell. and it's not just that, garbage ends up on many parts of the coastline. when the tide is high, the water comes all the way here, and it leaves behind piles of garbage from countries that share the indian ocean.

we found bottles from tanzania and from other countries, and then there are all of these flipflops, lots some lots of flipflops. these are the second largest pollutants of the indian ocean. in a few hours, the women's job is complete. what they collect just a friction. but they clean the flipflops and make trinkets out of them. some of the flipflops end up here in the capital of nairobi, with a company that watches as the women transform them into art. they are sold to the u.s., to homes and zoos. >> it's really about using trade, a trade-based solution, to a problem of global pollution in the oceans, and this is

really an african solution to this global problem. >> so here in this workshop, they do their job. they see it as a new and good solution to protecting the beaches and erasing poverty. aljazeera, on the south coast. >> i'm dave, the national forecast. and the weather will be changing here across the northeast. but it will take awhile for all of this rain to slowly clear out. back into the steady rain, moving through pennsylvania and new york, there are showers developing, and they can develop a little bit more rain. a flash flood watch is in effect, and we have had flood warnings in effect in philadelphia and portions of new york and new england. because of all of the rain that has come down already, more showers developing this afternoon as things start to heat up a little bit with breaks in the clouds there. steadily rain here, and the

forecast today, the back edge is moving east through the mid-atlantic states, and the dry weather is coming in behind it. things will be improving over the weekend. and the temperatures are climbing into the 70s and lower 80s. but that could kickoff a few more thunderstorms, especially where the heavy rain has already come down, there's already the moisture in the air. low pressure is responsible for this, and up in the great lakes, there's a warm and cold front extending out of that, and here in this area, it's muggy, pulling in the gulf moisture and the atlantic moisture. the storm will clear out and the high pressure is building in. you can see that and the dry weather over the west and the northeast states over the next 24 hours, so dry and comfortable weather. but to the west side of that, we have another storm developing east of the rockies, and this will give us severe weather. there's a risk of severe thunderstorms coming in this saturday and summed. so watch that closely. >> thank you for the update. and thank you for watching this

edition of aljazeera america. i'm michael lees, and we'll have more coming up. "inside story" is next with updates. go to the website, aljazeera.com. the us lattic state of iraqe on the move. not only taken the second city, but moving on other major cities and heading toward the capitol. a decade after the american invasion, is iraq spinning out of control and heading into civil war? it's the inside story.