away from losing their children. the emotional debate over whether psychological issues should be enough for the government to step in. the conversation conditions on google, facebook, google+ and twitter pages, we'll see you next time. hi everyone, this is al jazeera america, i'm john seigenthaler in new york. it's 11 in the east. outwest. it's the only national news cast of the gaoled for 10 months without being charged. an al jazeera journalist is released. a call to arms. rising sectarian violence. the special report in crisis again. iraq under siege. >> road hazard. long halls, lack of sleep and a

safety question about america's trucking industry. plus, seeing double. new technology reseals a surprise hidden in a pick asso master piece. we begin in egypt. after 307 days behind bars. abdullah al-shami is free. he was never charged with a crime. never put on trial. the 26-year-old as on hunker trike for five months. this is what he looked like before going to prison. tonight he's back with his family. he's calling for the release of his colleagues who had been in prison for 171 days. here are the details. >> friend, family and other

journalists crowded the entrance to a cairo police station to show their jubilation at the release of a man they fought so long and hard for. for 10 months abdullah al-shami had been held in prison without charge. he maintained he had done nothing wrong. >> i miss my freedom, my life. my life stopped on august 14th on 6:00 pm where i was mooed to a place where no one wished to be. >> the change in his physical purposes was dramatic. five months into his detention, abdullah al-shami went on hunger strike. days after the leaked video was broadcast. he said he was place the in solitary confinement. he insisted he would not stop his protest. on monday a court ordered his

release, saying there were no league at ground to keep him in prison. in a statement al jazeera said abdullah al-shami's release was a relief rather than a cause for celebration. and he had been through a terrible ordeal. >> translation: i have never been more happy than tonight. today i am born again, my sole has returned. >> reporter: there are still three al jazeera journalist behind bars. correspond peter greste, producers baher mohamed and mohamed fadel fahmy non in gaol for six months. al jazeera strongly rejects all the charges. egyptian prosecution is asking for gaol terms. the verdict due on monday. abdullah al-shami's release lefted their spirits. speaking from a hospital. mohamed fadel fahmy said we are

confident we'll we next. abdullah al-shami says the fight is not over. it will happen when destained journalists are released. >> it's important to mention this is the beginning. there are other journalists in prison, including ones arrested with me, and our colleagues and frenth from al jazeera in this channel. thank you to everyone that torted be. it's been a long journey to freedom for abdullah al-shami. his voice will join protests from rights groups, governments and other journalists as al jazeera calls for the release of its staff behind bars. now, to libya where the man accused of leading the attack on the american consulate in ghazi is in custody. mike viqueira reports from the white house. >> reporter: it took almost two years, when it was done, president obama welcomed the capture of ahmed abu chattalah.

>> it's important to send a message to the world that when americans are attacked, no matter how long it takes, we'll find those responsible and bring them to justice. >> reporter: officials say u.s. special forces acting alone, without the help of officials staged a secret raid, taking ahmed abu chattalah, a man adelaide to be a master -- alleged to be a master mind of the 2012 attacks on the american consulate in benghazi. four americans died, including the ambassador of. >> we continue to think about and pray for the families of those killed in the attack. >> reporter: the u.s. designated ahmed abu chattalah as a terror unfortunate. describing himself as a leader for a libyan armed group with links to al qaeda. he is faces criminal discharges

with more to follow. republicans this congress launched a series of investigations, many accusing the administration of downplaying terrorism in the attacks. two months before the presidential election. a main republican tart hillary clinton, secretary of state at the time of the attacks. clinton was defiant. >> we send americans into perilous dangerous places all the time. i believe that is the right decision. people have every right, but when they say the united states shouldn't be in the dangerous places, i disagree. >> on tuesday, many wondered what took long to capture him. >> we did it as expeditiously as possible, taking into account a range of factors. >> i can't speak for his living habits. let's say for argument's sake

he's living in plane sights. the struggle to bring to those responsible, an attack in benghazi, a political fire storm. mike viqueira at the white house. in iraq sunni rebels advance to baghdad. elected politicians met, asking the iraqi people to unite and asked for international help. the islamic state of iraq and levant took mosul on june 10th. in eight days sunni groups attacked a group of cities, and we report on efforts to fight back. >> men shouted "get out i.s.i.l.", referring to islamic state of iraq and levant, who continue to fight in parts of iraq. it's been days, and recruitment drive shows no sign of let up.

these shi'a men in the south sign up in a huge number. 13,000 so far. there are concerns that they are not getting the training or equipment. a charge denied. >> translation: we continue to receive large numbers much volunteers, we supply them with military fatigues and transfer them to a training center. >> from there they'll be send to bacuba. on tuesday there were veers clashes between the fighters and militias. in the early hours there was an incident at the prison where tens of people were killed, both sides blaming each other. all partners in iraq must talk to each other. >> i'm concerned about the rapidly deteriorating situation in iraq.

including mass summary executions by islamic state of iraq and levant, i.s.i.l. there is a real risk of sectarian violence within iraq and beyond its borders. his words have been criticised as not being inclusive. suicide bombings like these hit the capital. the government is in no mood to talk with the sunni rebels or the islamic state of iraq. >> we will have more on the violence in iraq at the half hour. stay with us more our special report in crisis again - iraq under siege. iraq's crisis pushed up gas prices in the united states. in 14 states prices are at a high. in michigan, it's up 5%. now $3.69.

illinois drivers pay $3.97, $0.18 for than a month ago. the most expensive in hawaii, $4.36. reports of a suicide bombing at a world cup viewing center. 10 people believed dead. witnesses say the attacker triggered the explosion from a trisickle taxi. it happened in an area suffering a number of attacks by the armed group boko haram. three people are killed every hour in this country by gun fire. this week we look beyond the border in our series "five days - guns around the world", we have israel tonight, restricting gun ownership following a high-profile shooting 20 years ago. since the number of handguns dropped from 300,000 to 170,000. and gun ownership is a fraction

of what it is here in america. nick schifrin reports from jerusalem. >> at the beginning of the work week commuters are armed. is this is sunday morning, outside jerusalem's central bus dags. soldiers off for the weekend are heading back to base. travelling on public transport with 40mm grenade launchers, sniper rifles and m-16. in israel bearing arms is not a right. if you ask gun sellers, business has never been worse. >> it is very, very hard to get a licence. many people want to buy, but they can't. >> this man runs the oldest shooting range. he sold 1,000 guns a year. today he's lucky to sell 100. pt few customers he has are the only people in israel allowed to

own guns. >> just the army. >> reporter: a settler that did not want to learn his family name is moving to the united states. while in the u.s. he's not allowed to keep the gun in his house. he secures it in the shop. if he doesn't, he'd lose his licence. >> reporter: it's one of the country's strict regulations. before buying a gun you must have: you might think a country with high security threats would be heavily armed. the idea is to limit the weapons as much as possible. >> professional people will know what to do and how to act. >> the man who would benefit from fewer regulations calls the

gun laws a mistake. i am sure. >> reporter: so the soldiers will be armed, civilians unarmed and the per capita rate of gun deaths will hold steady at less than a fifth of america's. >> and tomorrow we'll take an indepth look in the united states. so many mass shootings and a country divided. we'll talk about how to protect the innocent from gun violence. in israel the search intense fizz for three teenagers kidnapped last thursday. a mimentry provision has been launched in the west bank. they arrested 41 palestinians. hamas has been blamed, but they have not taken possibility. joining us from teleav eis ambassador, former consule general to new york.

alan, welcome. what is the latest on the search for these missing boys? >> well, good morning or goodnight. according to the military, military intelligence, it will take two, three, four more days for this to be solved. by solved they mean, i can only imagine, getting into - getting to the people who precipitated the kidnapping. whether the three youngsters are alive, remain to be seen. everyone hopes they are. in terms of solving the crime or kidnapping, it's two or three days. what is happening around that is a wide-scale clamp down that the israeli military and germ security services is doing. a clamp down of hamas infrastructure are, networks and

activists throughout the west bank, and the third thing that is going on now, and this is a good sign, this is a good development, is that the cop prigs between the israeli military, intelligence and security services is broadening, widening and deepening as every day goes by. too bad for the circumstances. that's a good development. >> the question is, and we have seen pictures and heard stories of palestinians that complain they have nothing to do with it. i guess the question is was it necessary for the israeli government to go beyond those involved with the kids to a bigger plan here?

>> well, it's taking advantage of an opportunity that tragically afforded itself. i don't know that every ransacking, search of privacy is justified. in the broader contents. if you want to find the perpetrators of something like this, the hamas members who are responsible for this, you need to shake the trees. when you shake the trees you sometimes do unyeses or unwanted -- unnecessary or unwanted or unpleasant things. although the palestine authorities will never admit to this. i think the facts that controls the palestine authority, that of mahmoud abbas, is happy and content with the fact that israel is clamping down on hamas. hamas's growth and expansion of political power base in the wank

west bank is undermining and threatening the palestinianian authority. in terms of national reconciliation government, until elections in five or six months, i think the last thing that the palestinian authority needs is for hamas to raise its profile and rear its head. palestinians are calling on israel to stop what they call collective punishment. is this collective punishment? >> in a way it is, there's no other way of doing this. the idea is not to punish the situation or put them under kerr view. it serves nothing. the locally oriented action to get to the people that perpetrated the kidnapping.

there's no other way of doing this in the palestine cities in general. and the city of hebron, but to put it under curfew, go through the allies, streets, neighbourhoods, houses and safe. search and arrest people who may have knowledge. most of these people, john, will be released within 2-3 yoocks. they will not be charged with crimes, and will be arrested in order to break down lines of communications in order to gather valuable intelligence. once the issue, the cries assist trial is resolved, i would like to think things will go back to normal. and that is the idea of defense forces present in the city and its immediate vigy. >> thank you very much. in nebraska residents are

returning to a town devastated by two tornados. it killed two, injuring 19 and left miles of destruction. kevin corriveau is here with the story. >> last night was a bad night for nebraska. we saw 19 tornados for the whole state. two in the town here. pilgra is a small town. the double tornados went through the center of the down, destroying 75% of the area. look at the distribution. we have the video there. you can see how badly it was. 100 prz of the initial -- 100% of the initial area is gone. as we go towards the evening, we are looking at worse weather coming into play, look at the satellite radar, and over the last couple of hours more storms developed and the north-east of nebraska, and there's tornado warnings in effect for the same

area. it will be another rough night for that region. i want to take you to the border of arizona and mexico. there's red flag warnings. take a look at the fires that have been coming out of the region. this is the nava hoe region, 12,000 acres have been burnt. people are evacuating. they are having a difficult time controlling it because of dry and windy conditions. >> coming up on the defensive - dr oz grilled on capitol hill about weight loss scams. plus underexposed. after a century, a secret found in a picasso painting.

imagine how tired you would be if you had a 70 hour work week. that's how much truckers are allowed to buy. the accident involving tracy morgan is fuelling a new debate over the rules, because prosecutors say fatigue plays a role. >> there's a battle on capitol hill over when truck drivers should be required to rest. two democrats pledged to fight a herebiure meant to loosen rules. >> it was a horrendous crash. a wal-mart struck slamming into a bus. famed comedian tracy morgan hurt, his friend killed. the truck driver had not slept in more than 24 hours. activists say accidents like this happen too often. >> this has gotten a lot of media attention because tracy morgan is an entertainer. >> in 1993 daphne's son and

three friend were killed on their way to a haunted hay ride. >> they pulled in a breakdown lane on the state of maine turn pike. a truck driver, wal-mart, fell asleep and ran over the top of the car. >> in the year's since, she has been working towards warning others about drowsy driving. the federal government tightened rules on how much sleep truckies had to get. truckers have to rest for 34 hours after driveing 74 hours. it must include breaks between one and 5am two nights a week. a senate committee voted to suspend rules until the effects can be sfudied. the restrictions address the risk on the road. >> it puts more trucks on the road at 5:01 on a daily basis

when america's commuters are going to work and children to school. >> reporter: 4,000 were killed in accidents involving large trucks, up over previous years. there's a debate over how much tired drivers are to blame. >> there's largest pieces of the puzzle. that others should work on. >> like speed. distracted and aggressive driving. for now, fatigue is at the heart of the battle, fought in the belt wave about what happens on the highway. >> it could come to a head in the senate. a debate whether rest rules are backfiring putting more trucks. >> a big problem. thank you. celebrity dr oz. for the promotion of weight loss on his tv show. the surgeon and tv host

testified at a senate hearing looking at deceptive advertising. when dr oz mentioned diet products, sales rose dromenticily. clair mccaskill scolded oz for promoting green coffee. >> if you take this pill, drink this shake, use this devirks i'm concerned that would harm consumers. >> i don't sell anything. if they see my name or any part, do not buy the products. >> feds are backing down. after a boost to green coffee, the federal trade commission sued the company for false weight loss claims. >> a hidden painting has been discovered behind one of picasso's favourite works, the blue room. >> pablo picasso was feeling down when he drew the blue room in 1901.

struggling with depression after the death of a friend. picasso couldn't get a break, no one was buying his stuff. he was melancholy. the art world gave him the brush off. that will teach him. look what turned up. two for the price of one. advances in infrared technology reveal a mystery man behind the blue room. >> there's a greater interest in taking new technologies, to understand that there's information about picasso that we didn't know, because he had covered it up. pablo picasso used the canvases more than once like many great artists, painting the blue room on top of the man with the beard. >> it's something that makes what you do special. >> the second reaction is who is it. we are working on answering that question. >> the discovery set off a frepzy of academic -- frenzy of

academic search finding out who the man is. the only thing greed it's not a picasso self-port rate. next - our special report - in crisis again. iraq under siege. we'll have reports from on the ground and a closer look at one of the groups behind the latest of the groups behind the latest round of violence.

the performance review. of the groups behind the latest round of violence. 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.

after nine long years in iraq and more than 4,000 americans killed, brutal religious warfare returns to iraq. rebels taking city after city. pushing towards baghdad, threatening the region. >> we will not send u.s. troops back in the combat. >> fear and uncertainty. what will the u.s. do now? >> unfortunately, our worst fears have been realised. >> tonight, our special report in crisis again. iraq under siege. >> this is al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler. there are new concerns about the security of iraq tonight as rebels continue their march towards baghdad. it's been a fast offensive, a sunni group called islamic state

of iraq and levant took mosul a week ago. since then they have advanced to 40km were baghdad. main are talking about how to reunite the country. many are preparing for the worst. >> political leaders met, including the prime minister, and the last speaker of parliament. the key sunni politician, and there were other kurdish and shia leaders. they came out with a statement calling on the iraqi people to unite and avoid unrest sectarian provocations. they called for the unity of iraq, and called on regional and international help to help this country confront what they describe as the terrorism aimed to topple the knew iraq.

i think this is an effort by the leaders because they know this crisis is leading to something that worries everywhere. not only the iraqis here, but the region. how does this change the day to day life of people in baghdad. do they travel to work, restaurants, schools? >> life has not changed for employees, for students. they are having their final exams when you go to marketplaces. there are people going on with their daily lives, buying food items. they are stockpiling, preparing for the worst. when you see the traffic, it's normal. but when you speak to people, you get a sense that they are worried. how did that effect other parts of their lives - it's the fact

that this crisis could develop into a civil war. this is what really is worrying the people. the other concern that ordinary iraqis have is that the crisis has pushed the prices a little bit out. so basic food items. some were doubled because the imports come from northern parts of iraq, where the fighting is, so you have the prices of tomatoes doubled, and the fruit. this is another concern and burden on the ordinary iraqi people. >> who do the ordinary iraqi people blame for this? >> depends on who you ask. this country is polarized. for the last 10 years things rarely changed. it depends on members of different communities pointing fingers at others. different sects blame the politicians. that's omar al saleh,

reporting from baghdad. fighters from islamic state of iraq and levant are close to baghdad and control a wide area spanning parts of iraq and syria. their goal, their creation of an independent islamic state. dana lewis reports. >> i.s.i.l., islamic state of iraq and levant, are well organised, they can manoeuvre, fight and are capitalizing on the sunni anger and dissatisfaction with shia anger in baghdad. >> latest videos posted on the internet by self-proclaimed jihadists tell you what they are. they are ruthless, boasted of killing anyone connected with ricky security forces. who are they? nigel is a former director of british operations and intelligence, known as mi-6.

>> these are battle hardened veterans who have real commitments to the jihadist cause. >> reporter: the fighterskm from iraq -- fighters come from iraq, including those under saddam hussein. they have recruits from saudi arabia, libya, central arabia, caucuses and canada. 400 are british citizens who have taken up the gun in jihadist cause. >> i'm in the front line. >> reporter: today british prime minister david cameron says they represent a threat to britain. >> no one should be in doubt that what we see in syria and iraq, in terms of i.s.i. s is the most serious threat to britain's security that there is today. >> inspired by al qaeda, they fought in iraq and syria.

some say they were funded by saudi arabia, and syrian intelligence. their leader, an iraqi religious student was gaoled and iraq and released. >> he showed himself to be affective, a long term vision, the capacity to implement the vision, and we have seen evidence that this current assault has been some time in the plan, a year in the planning. >> what do they want. the creation of a kind of calafat in large tracks of syria, lebanon and iraq, and conquering the shia dominated government. having taken over oil wells, banks and un aring extortion reining. western intelligence agencies say they may be one of the richest extremist groups in the world. when released from american custody, baghdadi said "see you

in york." >> will this group move to baghdad? in some ways they are there already. setting off car bombs, intimidation and acts of extortion. we are told that members of the ricky army are wearing street clothes, so they can fade back into civilian life. >> dana lewis in london. thank you. president barack obama will meet with congressional leaders to talk about options in iraq. mike viqueira joins us from washington with more on that. how close is president barack obama to a decision on military action? >> well at this point the administration is trying to play down the urgency in particular with the meeting with congressional meetings. in the west wing of the big four, the republican and democratic leaders will meet with the president. the white house letting it be known it will not be a decision making meeting, but consultations going over the

options. as far as we know them, they include what the president said on the south lawn, potential air strikes against the forces, i.s.i.l. forces that dana described. first, the administration from the president on down has insisted time and time again that it's not merely about air strikes, there has to be reform in the form of conciliation between shia and sunni, between nouri al-maliki and his government, bringing the sunnis back into the fold, something he has been doing the opposite of. interesting, perhaps breathing room, in terms of military acks by the americans, the shia militia, you saw the call to arms, according to the pentagon are stiffening the defenses around baghdad. we'll see when rubber hits the road how effective that is.

on the eve of the congressional meeting both republican leaders, john boehner, and mitch mcconnell, are trying to put the onus on the administration saying when they are here tomorrow, they want to hear a coherent strategy. and a john boehner spokesman says after years of law and spilt blood they don't want the legacy squandered. >> mike viqueira at the white house. thank you. joining us from washington. senior advisor to the national security network and former speech writer for bill clinton. what options does the us have. >> as mike said, the most important thing that the administration seems to have decided on is anything that will be done is putting pressure on the nouri al-maliki government. starting from the idea that you

can't fight i.s.i. s as long as sunnis in iraq think they may have a better shot under them. that seems to be a decision which the administration teams to be taking. coming out of that. assuming you have cooperation, do you have air strikes or force. the real question we don't have an answer to is what can you achieve. no one thinks you can defeat with air strikes alone. can you bring breathing room, improve the moral of troops, convincing them not to meld into society and do what the u.s. did in support of air strikes which is create some - make it harder for i.s.i. s to operate. as i say.

it's not cheer that the admission made the case. beyond that there's other things you have to ask yourself. what can you go to support other governments under threat. jordan, lebanon. what can you go to help turkey or moderate forces, inside syria, which is an only buffer between the large swaths of territory that i.s.i. s controls. the last thing is what can you go to slow down the funding both in terms of i.s.i. s being able sell oil and antiquities, and allegations that if not governments, private individuals from the golf helped to make the -- gulf helped to make coffers full. >> that's a whole lot to do and would take time. there seems to be an urgency here, because this group, these rebels seem to be moving at a break-neck speed. talk about the urgency on the part of the - i mean, the

urgency the white house is facing. >> on the one hand the group has a plan, and the plan is to move fast. there's an urgency to, as i said, stiffen the - make iraqis believe that they can exist and it will be worth their while that they'll be fighting for something worth fighting for. that's what the urgency is. it's not clear that air strikes are the best and only answer. this will be with us for the long term. i.s.i. s is not going away. it's urgent, and a long-term wrob. >> all right. thank you very much. next - as iraq falls into chaos, remembering the human cost of the iraq war. plus, social media as a weapon - how twitter and other social media sites are used by the rebels.

united states sent troops in to help iraq. about 160 arrived in baghdad over the weekend. another 100 stationed outside of iraq, helping with security. new u.s. involvement there makes some americans uncomfortable or nervous. jonathan betz is here with that part of the story. >> a lot of americans

uncomfortable about the recent developments. iraq is facing its worse threats since u.s. combat forces left in 2011, thrusting the country back into american minds when many are trying to move on. >> the u.s. left iraq, but the violence did not end. >> now many fear america's job is not quite yet don. especially painful for those that have lost so much. >> i feel like what were we there for in the first place. >> her husband served three tours, tying in afghanistan in 2001. >> it's just what is going on in the country. >> the president made promises. >> we will not be sending u.s. troops. >> u.s.ships and forces are on

the way. some are calling for stepped up military action. our worst fears have been realised. >> in nine years in iraq. 4500 americans died. the war costing the u.s. more than a trillion. pals suggesting few americans have the appetite to go back. >> people are concerned. they are on high alert. families are afraid it may be a redeployment. >> among some, they are proud of their working willing to help. >> we don't have the tront. we should assist from the back. >> reporter: it's personal for some iraqis. that man fled with his family and works at a michigan restaurant. >> thank god, i'm here, the family is here. i feel bad for my cousins, they are there. >> one cousins died in a bombing. among tens of thousands.

those weary from war - it is now someone else's fight. >> i feel we supported as much as we good. republican leaderers are worried the melt down could be seen in afghanistan and hope this encourages the president to reverse a decision to pull out of afghanistan entirely. joining us is matthew, the director of strategic partnerships at team ruby con. he deployed to iraq with the army in 2004. welcome. it's good to see you. >> thank you. >> what is your reaction to who is going on in iraq today? >> it's a mix of frustration, confusion and i think a lot of people expected this to happen at some point. a lot of people say iraq is going to fall apart at some point. no one is prepared for it. there's a lot of different emotions. >> when you talk to your friend about this.

what do they say? >> i think everyone is in the same boat. everyone wants to do something, to stop what is going on. everyone wishes that the maliki government would have gotten their act together, so the sacrifices that we made wouldn't necessarily be in vain. if anything, we blame president maliki for that. his inability to form bipartisan or tripartisan government. >> did we think there was a way to control nouri al-maliki when you were there? >> it wasn't really my expertise an an infantryman. i did what my commanders told me to do, and that was go out and find the bad guys. we conducted patrols, trained the iraqi army, followed orders and made iraq a more secure place, in the hopes that, you know, the newly formed government would follow suit

behind us. >> you lost friends, i assume, and others were injured. did you think of those people at this time? >> i think of those people every day. regardless of whether i'm thinking about iraq or not, you know, that was a time in our lives that changes forever. i think a lot of my fellow veterans wouldn't trade that experience for anything, while at the same time, it's unfortunate that that happened to your brothers and sisters. >> we talked about team ruby con before in the programme, but can you tell us about team ruby con, and what people like you are doing, now that you are back, and you are still working to help people. tell us. >> what team ruby con does is take veterans and pair them up with first responders to respond to natural disasters in the u.s. it allows military veterans to

use their skills and abilities learnt in the military, handle crisis situations, and allow them to put that to work on the ground in the united states. you see the tornados that tore across nebraska, military veterans have skills that lend themselves to the situation, to be able to help and get back on their feet. we do a lot of manual labour, reclearing, shovelling mud out of house, a lot of work that veterans want to do, allowing veterans, through doing the work, to be part of a seem with other veterans, to talk about their experience, and so have something that we never had really in the last 12 years.

you get to work next to your broth scper sister -- brother and sister veterans. >> clearly your service continues long after the war. hundreds of thousands of iraqis left their homes and u.s. officials warned that countries in neighbouring iraq could be overwhelmed with iraqi refugees. >> it's not difficult to spot the displaced iraqis. they are stranded by the side of the road near a checkpoint, waiting for permission to get into a kurdish region. more and more people are heading north. these are the survivios. the late they come from tal afa, from the turkman minority. this is not their fight.

>> translation: we left because of the fighting. i don't want to stay. i'm trying to reach my daughter in kirkuk. they are not allowing us to get through the checkpoint. they tell us to go through another way, but where. >> it's a question many displaced iraqis ask. kurdish authorities are overwhelmed by the daily in flux. >> when you travel through the region, you can't help put notice the people coming in from all directions. the reason they come is for safety, but this is the only place in the country where there's no sectarianism. >> we reached the outskirts in the east. there are cues, waits and exhausted faces. they are sunnis, coming from tikrit. this group arrived. they had to go through iraqi army positions and the rebel

ones. >> translation: we don't know what will happen. we are living in the moment, not knowing what tomorrow will bring. people are sleeping on the floor. please find us a solution. >> the swift spread of fighters from the islamic state of iraq and levant and sunni rebels along the kurdish border is the most serious threat to the region since the u.s.-led invasion in 2003. security is a big concern, and kurdish authorities admit they need to impose restrictions. we have to take security procedures for displaced people. we need to control entry. we have to protect our area. >> reporter: these men were granted a renewable one week prment. not everyone has it. >> translation: we have been here since 6am but not allowed

in. >> reporter: this man did not want to go to a transit camp. he preferred to return home, back in mosul, despite the risks. joining us to talk about the role of social media in this conflict is mat her is co-ed tore of "demanding dignity", how is social media used in the crisis in iraq? >> well, islamic state of iraq and levant has been using twitter and facebook, and also this application called the dawn of glad tidings. they go by dawn. they've been using media tool to disseminate the mess ip, brand the cop septembers, and some

feel they use the outlets to recruit knew fighters. >> they can be used as propaganda. how is it different to the arab resolution in 2003. >> i have seen similar friends. for example, there has been the dissemination of imagery, verified, graphic, meant to trigger responses from the international community or local community members. we saw a passing around of image of the mass execution of shia fighters and the ricky security forces. i am sure your viewers are familiar with the image. it's unverified. we saw something similar in syria, where the rebels and al nusra, others that opposed the bashar al-assad regime sent out graphic images throughout the

media arena just to, you know, get their message out, and in some cases, especially in syria, to trigger sa response from the international community to get assistance in the humanitarian fight, or to inspire military intervention. >> some hailed social media as a way to help free people around the world. and it seems that as social media has grown and thinks changed there's another side to that. how does social media companies handle this? >> this is then a sticky issue, because once you start blocking account like twitter has done for some of the accounts that they have - that they have tracked back to i.s.i.l., or i.s.i. s, whatever they are calling themselves these days, and maybe suspended and blocked certain payments, google play

god rid of the dawn app that i mentioned to you. it's been tricky, like i said. once you start seping on the bound -- stepping on the brand ris of free peach, at what length... >> even if it's wrong. >> even if it's wrong. who is a say it's wrong. >> we appreciate your insight, thank you for joining us. tonight's frieze frame cam tours the mood of many. new iraqi volunteers training at a military base, joining the force, preparing to fight rebels and defend baghdad if necessary. "america tonight" with joie chen is next. of course, we'll be back here tomorrow 11 o'clock, 8 o'clock eastern time. see you then.

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>> there are two to three million guns in a population of only 8 million people. >> ...and gun laws... >> after those laws came in, there have been no more mass shootings... >> how different countries decide... >> their father had a gun... their grandfather had a gun... >> who has the right to bear arms? 5 days: guns around the world a primetime news special series all next week only on al jazeera america on "america tonight" - signs of vicious and relentless rebel fighters in striking range of baghdad. can the army the u.s. trained to secure iraq stand up and get the job done also tonight an abuse of fate. >> i ran. bob jones university, an influential christian college - younme