♪ hello, everybody, and welcome to al jazeera america. i'm david shuster in new york. john siegenthaler has the night off. just ahead silencing free speech, al jazeera journalists sentenced to years in prison, for reporting the facts. an al jazeera special report. in crisis, iraq, secretary of state john kerry arrives in bagdad with a message to iraq's leaders, the time for decision is now. making a case, a secret u.s. court document used to justify

the drone killing of an american in yemen accused of being part of al-qaeda. global warming, the supreme court hands the environmental protection industry a major victory. and i'll update you on the effort to get rid of chemical weapons in -- syria. ♪ we begin tonight in egypt, where three of our al jazeera colleagues have been condemned to spending years behind bars simply for reporting the news. they were accused of broadcasting laws, and aiding the now banned muslim brotherhood. what happened in court today produced shock, anger, and dis >> reporter: it was a verdict nearly six months in the making.

the alleged crime, journalists doing their job. peter greste, mohammed fahmy, and baher mohamed have been sentenced to seven years behind bars. the journalists reacted with anger. and their families were in disbelief. >> i don't know how the judge came to that decision. i'll be very interested to hear his -- his reasons for giving that verdict. it doesn't make any sense. >> translator: it's clearly a corrupt and fraudulent verdict. the case is politically motivated and everything is wrong with it. >> reporter: the response from the australian government was swift. >> this kind of verdict does nothing to support egypt's claim to be on transition to become a democracy, and the australian government urges the new

government of egypt to reflect on what message is being sent to the world about the situation in egypt. >> reporter: the egyptian prosecution had pushed for the maximum sentences. six other al jazeera journalists were sentenced each to ten years in prison. they were accused of spreading false news and aiding the muslim brotherhood which the government has designated a terrorist organization. they are charges al jazeera condemn and reject. a fourth journal list was freed last tuesday after spending 307 days in prison without being charged. the public prosecutor ordered his release for health reasons. he had been on a hunger strike since january. the trial of al jazeera journalists triberred a global outcry. the newly elected president has promised to tackle the country's many issues including free speech. but the verdict today sends a

clear message to the international and domestic media, that al-sisi's government does not guarantee freedom of the media. tonight governments and activists around the world are speaking out against the egyptian court's decision. for families there was dismay. peter greste's parents waited for the sentencing in australia. >> seven years for peter greste. my god. >> oooooooooh. >> my god. >> that's crazy. >> sorry. finish. >> that's crazy. >> executives of al jazeera english say they are outraged by the sentencing. the campaign to free the journalists must go on. >> today was a really grim day for journalists and journalism not just in egypt, but right

around the world. the charges against peter greste, mohammed fahmy, and baher mohamed, and our other staff were absurd from the outset. they are guilty of being great journalists. courageous, committed, and providing information with integrity to our viewers right across the globe. at no point during any of the hearings has one shred of evidence been presented by the prosecution, which supports the extraordinary allegations made against our people. the campaign to free our staff, and to standing up for journalism and the right for people to know what is going on in the world has been loud and resolute and concerted. hundreds of thousands of people have actively campaigned for our staff to be freed from detention. world leaders, politicians, governments have actively complained for our staff to be freed. that campaign has already

the -- the voice of that campaign has already got louder. hundredsover thousands of people in recent hours have campaigned to say this is wrong. what happened in court in egypt today was outrageous. it was an injustice. so that campaign will and needs to get louder and louder and louder, calling on the authorities in egypt to recognize the injustice and free our staff. >> the verdict came just one day after john kerry was in cairo, meeting with the new president. the state department says he raised the issue of the journalist during that meeting. today in bagdad, kerry said when he heard the verdict he reached out to egypt's foreign minister. >> when i heard about that verdict today, i was so concerned about it, and frankly, disappointed in it, that i immediately picked up the telephone and talked to the

foreign minister of egypt and registered our displeasure. today's verdict is a chilling and draconian sentence, and deeply disturbing to see in the midst of egypt's transition. >> while in cairo on sunday, kerry said the united states has released $575 million in assistance for egypt's military, and said ten app patchy helicopters would be delivered soon. they has frozen aid to egypt after mohammed morsi was forced out a year ago. sue [ inaudible ] was one of six journalists was also charged today. we asked her what her immediate reaction was when she heard the news. >> i think it is fair to say i was shocked. i perhaps naively thought that

because of the evidence that had been brought in court by the prosecution has failed to prove anything, and certainly the charges against us, i really thought that the egyptian judicial system would see that the -- the charges were completely baseless, and the judge would recognize these were politically motivated charges and basically give us a not guilty verdict. so to see them give a guilty verdict and long sentences for my three colleagues inside the prison, and also myself, ten years for all of us for just doing our job, we certainly didn't think that was going cohappen. >> we'll have more at the bottom of the hour. now to the crisis in iraq. secretary of state john kerry is in bagdad meeting with the leaders about the quick advance

of sunni fighters. jane is in bagdad. jane what kind of military assistance is the united states talking about with bagdad? >> well, david what the iraqi government really wants, and what the americans seem to be prepared to give them to some extent are air strikes using assets in the gulf. those would be strikes on targets likely along the syrian, iraqi border, because that's where a lot of the weapons and fighters are clearly going back and forth after the fall of one of the border posts in that vast desert region of the country. the iraqi foreign minister and others say they are going to be able to with air strikes and other help, to push back the spread of the isil, but there still remains serious challenges. the fall of key iraqi cities has

brought worried american officials back to bagdad. they have agreed to provide military help, but it comes with conditions. >> iraq faces an existential threat, and iraq's lead verse to meet that thread with incredible urgency. the very future of iraq depends on choices that will be made in the next days and weeks, and the future of iraq depends primarily on the ability of iraq's leaders to come together. >> reporter: kerry told maliki that means inclusive government. one of saadam hussein's former guest palace, kerry and the iraqi foreign minister held more talks. these fighters have managed to gain ground with astonishing

speed and efficiency. but there are issues here for the entire region and the united states, and meetings like these behind closed doors are deciding the future of this country. >> reporter: with the fall of a key iraqi border post, fighters are now moving weapons across the borders. >> help is on its way from the united states, but we need to do our part, definitely here, but everybody recognizes the seriousness of the situation, the danger of isis establishing its own islamic state in western part of iraq and eastern part of syria, with all of the resources, the weaponry that they have, they will pose a more tall threat not only to iraq, but to the region as well. >> reporter: in iraq's second-biggest city seized by the isil two weeks ago, it's

bizarrely business as usual. isil fighters are directing traffic, and a few hand out karons. but much of this is familiar ground to the united states. here al-qaeda fought american troops in what they viewed as one of the capitols of their islamic state. a decade later iraqi forces are battling the latest more effective offshoot of al-qaeda, and the united states is back, not with large numbers of troops on the ground, but with the promise of air strikes, and the realization that this battle was never really won. so the reason, really, that the itself is so intent on helping the new government here, is it doesn't want to launch air strikes in support of what it believes is a government that

doesn't represent the people. that is what iraqi government officials are scrambling to do, form a brand new government that can meet this crisis. >> jane, thanks for the latest. al jazeera senior digital writer joins us now. jamie thanks for helping us out. tell me about the significance of these borders between syria, and iraq. >> i think the most important thing we're seeing is the ease with which they are taking it. and if you look at the map and the way that they have been moving, it's the north. it's the west. it's areas that the iraqi security forces aren't viewing as invested in securing, or committed to protecting. the idea that they have basically abandoned the border with jordan, now we'll see some beefing up of the border on the

jordanian side now, possibly. but essentially it is really demonstrative about how -- if -- if iraq was going to break up into separate states, it's almost like the iraqi security forces are doing it themselves by these decisions that their generals are making about which areas they are willing to protect and which they are willing to leave behind. >> this is something the state department has flatly rejected and today john kerry is in bagdad trying to figure out how to put this unity government together. setting a deadline of july 1st. is that feasible? >> i think what is going to happen is by next week, if we are able to get these people around the table, one of the things that the people who aren't on maliki's team is some evidence that he is willing to

compromise. they say we're fine with you picking someone else to step up and be the prime minister, but we can't have you anymore, because you have had eight years. you have been impossible, and we really need to turn a new leaf, and it would be the biggest signal to the people like the isil fighters that iraq wants to unify. >> if isil remains in control of these cities, what would life be like? >> one of the best examples is what has been happening in umbar. they have had over 500,000 people leave the area. you know, in the beginning because the sunnis who lived there were so disenfranchised with the government in bagdad, they tolerated, welcomed, endured these isil fighters, but after a while social services start to disappear.

there is no drinking water in much of the area, or electricity or gasoline. and then in 2004 during the fallujah initiatives, the campaigns that the u.s. military carried out, before that, they were setting barbara shops on fire. attacking men in the streets who shaved. is a lot of adherence to fundamentalist law. >> how do you see this playing out? >> i think we're going to see a lot more stepped-up attacks in bagdad. there is not going to be hand-to-hand combat, there may be some street-to-street fighting, but i think they are going to be really strategic about the areas in bagdad that they are going to target. we'll see a lot of activity on that airport road, and a lot more car bombs and a lot more

suicide attacks. >> jamie thanks so much for helping us. great shuf. president obama was on the phone today pushing for peace in ukraine. he asked russian president, vladimir putin to stop supporting russian separatists. mr. obama also asked putin to stop the flow of arms across the border. officials say putin supports the peace plan but wants the government to talk to separatists. freedom came for the woman forced to give birth while waiting on death row. her sentence was revoked after what was called unprecedented international pressure. she is married to an american citizen who is also christian. up next, the drone memo. today an american court released documents that the u.s. government relies on to justify

drone strokes on americans overseas. and our special report, war on truth. journalists are facing long prison sentences for speaking the truth. we'll talk about what is at steak, and what is being done. ♪

the obama administration fought for years to keep a document hidden, the report that the u.s. can kill a american

citizen abroad. roxana saberi has more. >> reporter: a drone strike like this, killed this man in 2011. the obama administration said he was an al-qaeda leader planning attacks against the u.s. >> we have chosen the path of war. >> reporter: the targeted killing sparked controversy, because he was a u.s. citizen. critics say his rights were violated, but the justice department argues . . .

human rights advocates say the memo show the government's drone program distorts the law. >> the administration is applying novel tests, and largely setting aside the tests that control international law. >> reporter: they say the drones have killed thousands of people including bystanders, and the american public needs to know more about who is being killed and why. >> that is information that the government could and should disclose, and we will continue fighting for it. >> reporter: david barron was just approved as a federal appeals court judge in boston. the u.s. supreme court delivered a complex but significant ruling on the powers of the environmental protection agency. the court decided that the epa does have the right to regulate greenhouse gases from certain power plants. >> david this decision covered

six different cases. it has to do with the epa's attempt to interpret the clean air act to regulate greenhouse gases from factories and power plants. it was largely in favor of the epa. the justices did find the agency had overstepped its authority in some ways by interpreting the clean air act in a way that was not allowed, but they also said that the epa does have the authority to regulate these greenhouse gases for facilities that are already regulated for other kinds of air pollution. antonin scalia said this . . .

and the epa added a quick victory note of its own, saying the supreme court is a win for our efforts to reduce carbon pollution, because it's louse the epa and other permitting authorities to continue to require carbon solution limiting permits for the largest pollution sources. the court did rebuke the epa, it did say you are trying to go too far here. but those who feel the epa might then lose out in future cases probably aren't correct. the epa feels pretty strongly that it will win when new cases come before the court. and you can expect carbon emissions from coal-fired plants.

but for today, anyway, a victory for the epa. it moves forward on continuing to try to regulate greenhouse gases. david? >> let's head to washington, d.c. now, joie chen is standing by to tell us what is coming up at "america tonight." >> good evening, david, in the mississippi delta, keep water, but a desert, drying up whole communities. and they are faced with more financial stress as banks start closing their doors. they call them bank deserts. we'll talk about how that starts a cycle of credit driven poverty with residents forced to turn to the most expensive sources. >> it's hard to avoid the connection between race and poverty, and as the country democrats more diverse, it's

even more important to take steps to try to address those issues. and we believe access to capital and financial services is an important piece of the puzzle. >> that's at the top of the hour on "america tonight." we'll see you then. >> last fall, syria's president agreed to hand over his arsenal of chemical weapons, tonight the agency supervising the arms transfer, says the last of the declared weapons are about to leave the country, but not everyone is convinced the chemical threat is gone. >> reporter: it's good news but not the end of the process. that's the message from the international agency overseeing the dismantling of syrian's chemical weapons program. >> a major landmark has been reached today. the last of the remaining chemicals identified for recovery from syria, were awarded this afternoon aboard

the ship [ inaudible ]. the ship made its last call in what has been and patient campaign in support of this international endeavor. >> reporter: the chemicals a 100 tons, out of a declared 1300 tons will be on board this ship. that could take months. bashar al-assad's government agreed to the effort last september following a attack which killed hundreds of people. the opcw says it will keep on checking for chemical weapon ls and is also investigating the alleged use of chlorine gas. >> in terms of the declaration, or states suggesting that they

may have doubts or concerns over the completeness of the decoration, we are working with authorities to ensure that the decoration is complete. it is however, their responsibility to be as complete as possible. >> reporter: on monday foreign ministers agreed to impose an asset freeze and travel ban on 12 syrians. ironically what has caused most outrage is the use of barrel bombs thrown from aircraft. up next, journalists behind bars, our al jazeera colleagues in egypt were sentenced today on trumped up charges. the threat to a free media reaches far beyond cairo. and more conversation with al jazeera journalist sentenced in absentia to a decade behind bars.

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jazeera journalists arrested for doing their jobs. now facing years behind bars. >> ten years for what? >> the phony evidence. the demands for justice. >> it's hard for people around the world to look at these convictions and not express their disgust with them. >> the threats to freedom of speech. an al jazeera special report, war on truth. welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm david shuster. they have already been in prison for 177 days. today three al jazeera journalists were sentenced to another seven to ten years behind bars in egypt. al jazeera peter greste and producers mohammed fahmy, and baher mohamed are accused of spreading false news and aiding the banned muslim brotherhood. accusations which al jazeera

english network, and the al jazeera media networks categorically deny. some critics say it is a politically motivated trial. angry reaction to today's verdicts began pouring in from around the world within minutes of the sentencing. governments, media outlets and tens of thousands of people on social media all voiced their outrage. >> reaction across the globe has been firm and nearly unanimous. many are deeply troubled by this clear attack on journalism. >> reporter: at home in australia, the moment when think parents of one of the jailed journalists learned their son's fate. >> seven years for peter greste, and five other defendants present. my god. >> oooooooooh. >> my god! >> oh, that's crazy. >> finish. >> reporter: whether from afar,

or inside the courtroom, familiar -- familiar li list -- families were devastated. >> translator: today is an example of corruption and everything wrong that ruined people's wrong. >> reporter: the court's decision ignited international outrage, and comes just a day after president obama promised to restart military aid. >> it's a chilling and draconian sentence. >> reporter: countries around the world immediately summoned egyptian ambassadors. from britain. >> egypt has taken a major step in this decision. >> reporter: to australia. >> we are deeply dismaid by the fact that a sentence has been imposed, and we are appalled by

the severity. >> reporter: on twitter messages trended worldwide. but people like the un ambassador saying . . . >> from all around the world from people of all persuasions, are saying to egypt, come on, this is wrong. this is showing the world that you judicial system is really a farce. >> reporter: a devastating ruling for the families, and many worry a country. >> we're seeing a suffocation of freedom of expression, and clearly this is very bad for the individuals, but for egypt also. all over the world people have been campaigning for the team's release, and many hope the verdict will be thrown out. >> six others are sentenced in

absentia. sue was one of them. she was sentenced to ten years in prison. she spoke to us from qatar where al jazeera is based. >> the charges were unremarkable. i have been a tv journalist for 25 years, much of that in the uk, and during that time, i have upset a lot of people. i have done investigations, and revealed things that people didn't want to be revealed, but the sort of stories we were covering last fall were unremarkable. they were political and protest stories, yes, but i did stories on football, and pollution, and my colleagues were looking at things like tourism. one even did a piece on sheep farming. we weren't just concentrating with what was going on with the muslim brotherhood at all. so the idea that we behaved in

any different way to any of the other news channels that operate out of cairo is just not true. >> regarding those stories on the muslim brotherhood, was there ever any discussion about maybe this might be a little bit sensitive? let's double check and see if we really want to do this? >> we constantly debated the sorts of stories we were doing. mohammed fahmy and baher mohamed they know these stories in egypt inside out. baher is egyptian, and has through the revolution right on the streets. and those debates were going on all the time on how to be balanced and fair. bemuch like all of the other media, we just went out and tried to report what we saw and heard. and no, we didn't sit there thinking we muzn't say this or

that, because we think we're about to get arrested. when we were reporting last october, there was a media crackdown on everybody. everybody was being careful, but everybody was still trying to do their job, and we were trying to be as balanced and fair as everybody else was. and i don't think our coverage was any different from what we were trying to do. i think there's a bigger picture here, i think the egyptian government is trying to shut up everybody. they have shut up the domestic media. and the international media has started to self sensors. they don't interview everybody on all sides of the story. so if this is what the egyptian wants to achieve, they have succeeded. >> how has this affected your ability to do the job -- obviously you can't go back to egypt, but i imagine you

also cannot cover stories in governments that are friendly to egypt now? >> inneed. and many of those governments are in the middle east. so it is stopping me from going to many countries in the region i'm in. but also the african union welcomed egypt back into the fold only a few weeks ago. now they have said they want them back in. now that creates another problem, because the african union nations have an agreement if anybody is convicted of something as serious as terrorist come into their country, they are beholden to hand them over to the egyptian government. my beat has been conflict zones, war zones. so it has kind of frozen my movements in many respects, making it very difficult for me to pursue my job. but this is nothing compared to

what the guys in prison are going through. today was their day 177 in prison, and now look, they are looking at a stretch of seven or ten years. that is something that has frozen their lives completely. >> what do you believe the options are now for yourself and your colleagues and al jazeera in this case? >> they have talked about an appeal. there is an appeal process within the egyptian system. but we have now seen how the judicial system operates in egypt. we can't trust it to be fair and balanced. it certainly hasn't been in the main trial here. so would an appeal bare any fruit for us or overturn the verdict. there is the idea that there might be a pardon, and whether the new president would consider such a thing. it really is up in the air. we're trying to get a picture from our legal team as to what

their advice is, and our guys in cairo are going in to see the boys in prison, and see how they want to move forward as well. >> they are also calling for a boycott of tourism to egypt as a way to protest the sentences. she will be a twitter chat tomorrow. you can ask your questions now using this hashtag. today's sentencing becomes at a very delicate time in u.s. diplomacy. the u.s. is looking to build stronger ties with allies in the region, and that includes egypt. before secretary kerry appeared in bagdad, he appeared with the foreign minister side by side, and it appeared that the two sides were going to bury the hatchet, that relation was coming somewhat near what they

were. but secretary kerry spoke out againsts the jailing. $1.5 billion in aid to egypt. it has been suspended for a brief time over the course of the last 18 months or so, but now it appears to be back on track. apache helicopters that the egyptians want very desperately to fight terrorist forces in the sinai, those apparently now are going forward. the united states has not made any secret of the fact that egypt is an anchor partner, a strategic partner in that part of the world. the u.s. just certified that egypt was moving towards democracy freeing some the aid briefly held up. there were other certifications

that egypt was moving in the right direction. it appears at this point that $1.3 billion in military aid is actually going to continue flowing to egypt. as you heard the sentencing handed down by the egyptian government came just a day after secretary of state john kerry met with government leaders in cairo. we asked the deputy spokes woman about the meeting. >> secretary kerry was on the ground yesterday talking to egypt's leaders, and he made very clear today how draconian, and inappropriate these sentences and convictions were. we have called on the egypt i don't know government to look at all ways to reverse this, including pardoning the sentence. we do think it's important to maintain a relationship with egypt. but i want to be very clear, that what the egyptian government has done with these

sentences and convictions, there's no place in any democracy for this kind of action. >> why not reevaluate the money that was promised to egypt. you yourself said this is draconian and disturbing. >> well, we have constantly re-evaluated our relationship and taking steps when we thought it was appropriate. what we're doing right now is pushing the egyptian government to look at these sentencing, these convictions and commute or pardon people where necessary. because you are right, we were very clear about this action this egyptian government has taken. particularly coming on the heels just yesterday of secretary kerry's visit there. but there is a broader interest in maintaining that relea lay shunship. but we'll be watching.

>> can you tell me what secretary kerry said to al-sisi about this particular case, and what al-sisi said in return? >> secretary kerry did raise this particular case with al-sisi, and he made it clear that any democracy like al-sisi said he is committed to, really actions like these have no place. so the words he put out need now to be backed up by action. >> did he make any promises about this case? >> we have been very clear about what needs to happen. we have also been very clear about the broader climate that we see in egypt right now, where the space for dialogue, the space for the press, the space for the kind of expression that is the hallmark of democracy has been shrinking. and hundreds of people were sentenced to death just a few

months ago now. so really working with the egyptian government on trying to open up that space again. >> what are some of the steps that you think would be help for al-sisi to make as far as promoting the kind of democracy that the u.s. is investing in egypt. >> well, certainly ending politicized detentions and arrests, allowing for freedom of expression, to report what is happening on the ground there. to show the rest of the world that they are secure enough to allow freedom of the press. we have talked about governing inclusively, and bringing all of egypt's sects and people together in terms of how they govern going forward. and we have had concerned about that both since july 4th and before will continue to make this clear. >> was this an embarrassment to

secretary kerry given that he met with al-sisi one day ago? >> not at all. this can only be e ema -- embarrassing for the egyptian government. put your actions where your words are, and allow people to see what is happening. secretary kerry is iraq dealing with very serious issues. but they need to make the right decision. fuelling much of the global outrage over these convictions is that al jazeera's journalists were simply doing their jobs. evidence presented in court during a lengthy trial backs that up. >> reporter: we have shouted as long and loud as we possibly can for the freedom of our staff, and one of the reasons for that is the complete absurde of the

claims bright against them. we felt it important to once again show you what was revealed in that cairo court. the first evidence claims the work of the three have smeared egypt's reputation. but the only three videos shown had nothing to do with [ inaudible ]. there was this documentary about soma somali bandits made by peter greste. and also with no context we had this images from peter greste's laptop of his parents on holiday in germany and latvia.

and then finally an interview with the muslim brotherhood. but the court also showed the other reports about sheep herding and football. and finally this, a pop video recented to the court. just what this is meant to prove, who knows. throughout the hearings there was simply no credible evidence on hand. unfortunately it's that very evidence which has left our three colleagues behind bars, and the world asking for what? up next, not just egypt, the other countries where journalists are being locked up simply for trying to hold government accountable. as our special report, war on truth, continues. ♪

>> announcer: an al jazeera special report, war on truth. welcome back to our special report. it has been a very difficult day to the families of the journalists sentenced to years in prison simply for reporting the facts. >> this is a very dark time, not only for our family, but for journalism, generally. we are devastated, shocked, and dismaid at this finding.

we're not usually a family of a saperlatives, but this morning my vocabulary fails to share how disappointing we are. of course we were hoping for something entirely different. you can never prepare yourself for something as painful as this. this man, our son, peter, is an award-winning journalist. he's not a criminal. he's not a criminal. >> today's sentencing of al jazeera journalists in cairo, raises plenty of questions of freedom of the press in egypt, but the crackdown on media there is part of a disturbing trend around the world. >> there are a number of organizations that keep track of

the treatment of journalists around the world. some trouble statistics in this repo report. >> reporter: 211 reporters were jailed in countried around the world in 2013. this year 14 journalists are behind bars in egypt advocates for journalists rights say the arrests are part of a troubling trend. >> so we have seen in the recent years that really the violence against journalists has increased tremendously. there is less and less fear to attack physically. >> reporter: in the ten-year period from 2003 to 2013, 629 were killed while doing their jobs.

for six of those years iraq held the record for any highest number of journalists murdered. since 2009, the philippines, pakistan and syria lead the death toll. so far in 2014, 16 journalists have been killed for reporting the news? most cases the journalists were reporting on stories dealing with politics, war, human rights and crime. another reporter was killed over the weekend. he died in an apparently car bomb explosion while he was on his way to work in kenya. >> randal thank you very much. michael golden is the chairman of the international center for journalists. we asked what he thought about today's egyptian court verdict. >> david, my reaction was shared by that of an awful lot of people. just rarely do you see a case to

clearly where a sentence is given down regardless of the evidence. there was no real evidence presented. these three journalists were reporting news. that is their job. it's an important function. and they simply reported something that the government didn't agree with, and this is the reaction. >> what is really going on here? what is it about these three journalists or journalism in general that has the egyptian government so terrified? >> well, the situation in egypt is very unstable. they are on their third administration in just a few years. there was an election. it was a landslide, but that doesn't really say a lot in this situation. so the government is trying to establish its policies, what it is going to do. president sisi is -- i'm not sure what his agenda is, but clearly he doesn't want to tolerate any decent. and there seems to be a belief -- we have seen it in

other parts of the world, but now there, that if news isn't reported people won't know that it happened. but of course what they reported on was seen by hundreds of thousands if not millions of people. >> secretary kerry promised al-sisi $575 million in additional military aid. what does that promise look like now, given the sentence handed down today. >> well, the story in the "new york times," clearly indicateds that the state department was caught off balance. they didn't expect this decision to come down, certainly not the severity of it. so i think there will be relooking at what they are going to do. there is pressure from canada, australia, the u.s., from many, many places to try to change this completely outrageous sentence. >> the idea of press freedom in egypt, how would you

characterize the status of press freedom there right now? >> oh, extremely limited. there's very little press freedom. right now i just don't think there is a free press in egypt. >> is that a friend -- trend around the world? >> that's a tough question to answer. generally press access in most places is -- is getting better in some respects and worse in the others. here in the u.s., the current administration is cracking down severely on anonymous sources, on people who they think are leaking news to the press, and when they do that, that has a very dramatic, very quick chilling effect. so even press in the u.s. is not on the rise right now. >> and that chilling effect is also on the rise, and working around the world whether it's

egypt or other places where essentially the clamp down on the press has gotten what the governments have wanted, and that is to get journalists from reporting something critical? >> it does silence the press to some degree in egypt. it makes the press outside of egypt even stronger. and you will see this story ricochetting around the world right now. so that's not what egypt is looking for, and it's not going to have a good impact internally or externally. this is not the way information travels around the world today. >> michael golden vice chairman of the "new york times" thank you for your time. an egyptian court has sentenced peter greste, mohammed fahmy to seven years in jail, baher mohamed was sentenced to an additional three years for

possession of ammunition, a spent bullet casing he found on the ground during a protest. we end our program of a freeze frame. a photo of peter greste doing what he does best, reporting. this is exactly what he would be doing today if he was in a jiel.

>> the system with joe burlinger only on al jazeera america >> on "america tonight": egypt's injustice. harsh sentences on journalists, growing reports on human rights violations. the world's top diplomats express outrage. but does the u.s. have any power to stop them? also tonight, among the lush mississippi delta, bank branches dry up. >> i go to one payday loan i had to