going to be something that's available to us. >> all right. thanks to all of our guests. we will see you online. ♪ this is "al jazeera america." i am thomas drayton in new york. let's get you caught up on the top stories at this hour. five days of bombbardment, death toll rises in gaza as israel widen's it's missils attacks. >> this is the strongest possible signal by both candidates of a desire to retore legitimacy to the process and to afghan democracy. >> secretary of state john kerry tries to end the fight over who won afghanistan's presidential election. in ukraine, fighting spreads

to dondon forcing many to flee their homes. from the civil rights movement to journalism, a look back at the life of editor and activist john siegenthaler, sr. ♪ thanks for being with us. we begin tonight with day 5 of the conflict between israel and gaza. we have a lot to catch you up on. but first, a run down of the latest numbers. israel has launched more than 1,000 air strikes against gaza so far this week as of midnight local time. according to gaza's health ministry, the death toll has reached 154 people, at least 88 of those killed have been civilians. so far, at least 1,062 people have been injured, majority of which are women and children. our nick schifrin is on the ground in gaza city. >> reporter: thomas action it's been a dramatic day purposing

waited by two sounds i can hear now. one, a drone right on top of us, an israeli drone that has been firing constantly all night in addition to f-16s trying overhead as well as a bombardment from naval art i willery. and healing ambulance, palestinian ambulances all night here in gaza city. it's been a lot of violence on bo both sides at about 8:00 or 9:00 o'clock local time, we saw a threat by hamas saying that they were going to attack tel aviv. an hour later, as advertised, those rockets flew from here toward tel aviv. three intercepted, one landing harmlessly and almost immediately after that, the israeli air strikes absolutely descended on to the gadza strip, perhaps the heaviest we have heard in days. >> we have heard reports israeli troops attacked the home of the palestinian police chief. what can you tell us about those reports? >> thighs aren't troops. these are all air strikes. this is the most dramatic of the

night. what appears to have happened is that a drone or an f-16 targeted the house of the palestinian police chief of the it struping that house as people were ing out of a mosque right next door. >> that's where you get some of the most dramatic pictures and one of the most violent incidents in the last few days according to medical officials here, 18 killed, 50 injured. >> that's the preliminary report. those people coming out of the mosque were essentially hit by the strike on the palestinian police chief. >> as we have been reporting, there are hundreds of dual and four nationals in the area. is there a plan to get these people out? 800 dual or foreign nationals are hoping to get out in a few hours, about six or seven hours from now, 8:00 a.m. local. however, those plans have really been put on hold while this violence increased overnight.

it's not clear if they are all going to get out. but certainly about 800 people, including almost 300 americans trying to get out at first light tomorrow. >> no easy effort. perhaps a major looming question: is there any possibility of a ceasefire? >> yeah. the u.n. security counsel was talking about it earlier today, releasing statements, not necessarily resolution but a statement calling on a ceasefire, calling for the return to the ceasefire that we had up until a few weeks ago, but tonight, clearly, the violence really putting that on hold, officials here saying that hamas might be open to continue to discuss a ceasefire but nothing official is coming out of that and officially from the israeli side, they are not interested in the ceasefire and in their words, they are only interested in eliminating, quote action once and for all the capacity of militant groups here to fire rockets into israel. >> i know you will be monitoring the situation very closely for us. nick schifrin in gaza.

security norsz lebanon confirmed one rocket was fired into israel. it's reported to have hit the time of nahari. israel retaliated with art i willery fire. earlier today, an airstrike targeted a medical september for the disabled. three patients were killed as well as a nurse. others were serious will you injured. stefanie dekker went there after the bombing and sent in this report. . >> may is disabled. the center that cared for her was targeted in an israeli airstrike. she survived. her injuries are severe. >> we received four casualties. three are disabled. the injuries are between 15 to 30% burns on their bodies. they are severe burns. their lives are still at risk. >> reporter: not much is left of this care home. we asked whether it had any links to any armed faction here and we were categorically told, no. this is a place that cared for those who couldn't care for

themselves. >> this is not fair. where is the united nationss? where are human rights? this is a disability center. what did they do? what is their fault? >> the missile seems to have come through the roof. it hit here in the ground floor of the center and it's absolutely destroyed. you can see a mattress left. there is a wheelchair which tells you exactly what people were here, disabled people. this attack is called -- has caused more out remaining. there are many questions as to why israel would target a place they know houses the handicapped. only the israeli army can answer that. many people here tell us they are no longer surprised by the brutality of this war. they say israel considers palestinian lives worthless and because no one is trying to stop their suffering, they say the

international community is to blame, too. stefanie dekker, al jazeera, gaza. >> as nick sheeve written mentioned, the u.n. security council has drafted a statement on the conflict between the israelis and palestinians. james bays reports from the united nations. >> reporter: it took three days of extremely tough negotiation not to come up with a legally binding resolution but simply with a statement the u.s. had objected to the wording that had been suggested. in the end, these were the words that were read out by the president of the security council. >> the security council members called for deescalation of the situation, restoration of calm and and reinstitution of november 2012 cease-fire. the security council members further called for respite for international humanitarian law

including the protection of sirians. the security council members also expressed their support for the resumption of direct negotiations between the israelis and palestinians with the aim of achieving a comprehensive peace agreement based upon the two-state solution. >> arab ambassadors wanted something tougher than that. they came up with a draft resolution which called for an mead durable and if you willly respected ceasefire. i think it's important that word "mead" is lacking in this statement and the palestinian ambassador to the it u.n. said the statement had taken too long. >> worked all night long. we were hoping to have this position declared last night, but the reality in the security council led to officially adopting it at 12:00 o'clock today. we will observe very closely

whether israel will abide by it and we hope they do. if they don't, we have a lot in our arsenal and we will not allow the security council to rest for a minutes. >> meanwhile, diplomacy continues in the region. i am told that the egyptians, the qatars and the turks are involved in negotiation is tony blair, the former u.k. prime smin sister who is now the negotiate on behalf of the middle east quartet. i am told foreign ministers including u.s. secretary of state john kerry on their way to ve any in a for talks will now discuss gaza. but its worth bearing in mind israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has said his country will not bow to international pressure. >> our james base reporting. a programming note. we will be taking an in-depth look at the gaza trip in a special segment "a deeper look"

here on al jazeera america. a breakthrough today in the dispute over who really won afghanistan's presidential election. secretary of state john kerry arrived in cable this week -- kabul to mediate. both candidates accused the others of electoral fraud. today, they agreed to abide by a united nations audit, a deal brokered by secretary of state john kerry. >> we anticipate that this process will take a number of weeks and un ma'am a requested that they postpone the inauguration did a to accommodate this request. >> we get details on the agreement from jennifer glasse in kabul. >> with the help of the u.s. secretary of state, the two candidates not om agreed to the audit of all of the votes cast in that second round of presidential elections last month, but they also made a political deal. they say that they will form a

unity government. >> means that whoever becomes president, which will be the person would gets the most votes after that audit, there will be representatives of both men in the next afghan government. they say that's to ensure that the votes of all afghans will be honored. the whole idea behind this really was to make sure that the legitimacy of this vote, the people had faith in this vote. i think there has been a lot of concern in recent weeks between the back and forth with the allegations of fraud, abdullah abdullah got what he wants with a recounted of all of the votes. and it was called a historic day. it will take a couple of weeks to look at all of those ballot boxes. they will start with the ones here in the afghan capital and the forces will bring the rest of them into the capitol. more international observers will be needed. it meepz there will be a delay in the inauguration that was originally scheduled for

august 2nd. we are expecting it to move back two or three weeks while this process goes forward. >> once again action general frfer glass report from kabul, afghanistan. >> our attention to iraq where kurdish forces have certain twoor oil fields. it is the territory y'all grab by the kurds trying to get full independence from baghdad. zana hoda reports. >> we are 200 kilohm materials from the iraqi capitol but road signs mean little in the new iraq. the country is now divided into kurd, sunni, and shi areas. here, the lines aren't clear south of kirkuk. for kurdish forces, this road is a vital supply line to reach their forces fsouth. they don't control it, though. it cuts to you territory now under the control of sunni armed fighters including the self declared islamic state group.

we reach inside the proof ince. this district has been disputed territory between the kurds and baghdad. >> for kurdish officials, this was a message from the central government in baghdad: the iraqi army may have abandoned their positions during a sunni offensive in early june but the iraqi prime minister has vowed to retake this land. >> a few days ago, the iraqi army used planes to tact this neighborhood. three missiles landed in a residential area. two people, including an 11-year-old girl, were killed. >> we are afraid that there will be more air strikes. the government offered an apology but an apology is not enough. >> kurdish officials, however, are confident that iraqi forces cannot return to this region. >> yes, it is a threat. we take it seriously but maliki doesn't have that much power. the islamic straight group is between us and them. he should attack them first and

then us. >> but kurds do have other enemies on the ground. this is an ethnically and religiously mixed district. a double car bombing targeted a kurdish check point close to a marketplace a few weeks ago. people here blame the self-declared islamic state group for the attack. >> group along with other sunni armed factions are controlling territory less than a kilometer from the district center. for now, the kurds are holding their ground. they are hoping to include this region in their future state. but the defenses, they are building can prevent their enemies from entering because this front is also a crossing point used by civilians. thro closing this road would only an tag on eyes sunni airabs. this front line is an important junction. one road leads to sunni-controlled tikrit city. the other to baghdad. the kurds want this land but

both sunnis and shias have said they won't accept a divided iraq. >> the iraqi oil ministry in baghdad called on the kurds to withdraw from the oil fields or face consequences. earlier, i spoke with patrick cockburn, the iraq correspondent for the independent in london. he said there is little reason for the kurds to believe any threat from baghdad. >> threats from baghdad weigh less and less because if you are in the oil ministry in baghdad, would you drive to kirkuk? you couldn't because isis is in between you and the kurds. so they are not really in a position to make effective threats. they can make it difficult to sell this oil. it's complicated for the kurds. but possession is 90% of the law in this case. s so, it's impossible to see what baghdad can really do to stop the kurds taking over the kirkuk

oil fields. >> his book, the i didn't haddist return will be released on july 28th. still ahead, the ticking clock, a warning shot fired at a home in gaza. we will show you how long it takes before live bombs hit the building. road to recovery, comedian tracy morgan makes it to a milestone after his violent crash.

welcome back. now to the crisis in u ukrain u where t where the series of blasts sent hundreds of civilians looking for safety. many of them fleeing eastern ukraine. we get more from scott hideler in donetsk. it's the escalation everyone has been bracing for. fighting has reached the western suburbs killing four people overnight. at 350,000:30 in the morning, we were sitting outside on the bench when we were hit by a wave of explosions from rockets. 10 of us were literally thrown into the becausement by the heat of the explosion.

it was so scary. >> the rocket attacks continued into saturday in nearby areas. it's unclear who fired the rockets but a separatist fighter base is very close to the forebuildings hit. >> this is the main road going south out of donetsk. you can see hundreds of cars and trucks lined up to leave as it braces for some type of confrontation. a lot of these people just made the decision to leave because the fighting on saturday has come even closer to the city. >> this morning, i went back home from the office and decided to bring my family out of here and take them to safety. on the other side of the city, the 350,00027 train to moscow was getting ready to leave. the mortar rounds could be heard in the distance as many hadterially tearful good-byes. one was lida bikean. they were sending off children while she stayed behind her

daughter tells her she does not want to leave. >> we do not know what will happen to us. we really hope they will not bomb donetsk but our hopes are weak. >> as her family pulls out of the station for their 24 hour journey to moscow, the next time they speak, the situation on the ground here in donetsk could be completely different. could you hideler, al jazeera. >> three weeks', we told you about a boy from guatemala, ramos suare suarez who died on the border while training to make it into the united states. today more than a thousand miles from the u.s., he was buried back in his home country. you are about to see footage of his father claiming his son's body. tens of thousands of undocumented minors mostly from central america have arrived in the u.s. in recent months. >> the actor tracy morgan is out of rehab a month after a deadly crash in new jersey. the former saturday night live star suffered a broken leg and

fractured ribs when his limo was hit by a wal-mart truck. it killed another passenger. he filed a lawsuit against wal-mart against the is dent. he alleges the driver fell asleep at the wheel and claims wal-mart should have known he had been up for 24 hours before the crash. americans use 100 billion plastic bags each year. many find their way into our nation's water wafrlthsz threatening marine life. >> that's why cities are passing laws to restrict their use. but as al jazeera's natasha g inform ame reports, in florida, there is a law on the books challenging that restriction. >> beneath the palm trees hugging the miami coastline, there is this muck created by man. a few times a week, david muler tries to pick up bucket did of

garbage. he focuses on usualban tumble weeds. >> plastic bags are ludicrous. it's craze they don't bring their reusable bags. >> 170 cities and counties in the u.s. have laws banning or curtailing the use of plastic bags but in florida, home to world famous beaches, a state law prohibits cities from passing laws that would restrict or ban plastic bags. florida state senator gitbullard has been trying to change that for the last three years. >> it seems like a no-brainer. the obstruction was what the surprise was. >> bullard says elementary school kids in his district inspired his bill. >> plastic bags are not by 0 degradable and can kill marine life, they wrote to city officials calling for a ban. the florida legislature isn't budging. the retail federation lobbied

for the ban on banning plastic bags and testified against any amendments to it. >> we are trying to send a message to attract manufacturers to the state of florida, we think this sends the wrong message. >> when it comes to keeping plastic bags out of the waterways, even the florida department of environmental protection has said that outright bans produce the fastest results. >> what i am trying to do is make sure that this, the beaches, the streams, the rivers that we have in this state are around for yenrations to come. >> in the meantime, volunteers will continue battle with an attitude no law can completely eliminate. people using the ocean as their garbage can. natasha gname, al jazeera, miami. >> we want to point out we have much more on this story on our website. for the full report, we invite you to visit aljazeera.com. still ahead on "al jazeera america," warning shots, the ongoing debate over how much time israel air force gives

palestinians to get out before the bombs drop. that's next, plus remembering the life of a legendary journalist. we look back on the civil rights contributions of john siegenthaler, sr. ♪

well, back to "al jazeera america." here are the top stories we are following right now. there has been a fifth day of israeli air strikes on gaza. so far, israel has launched more than 1 air strikes against gaza this week. at least 154 palestinians have been killed and more than 1,000 injured. the majority of those injured are women and children. >> the united nations and 21 countries are poised to move 800 dual nationals on saturday. the america is the largest group. about 160 people when the u.n. sponsored the same exodus in 2012. >> the u.n. security council is calling for a ceasefire. it has expressed serious concern

regarding the crisis. it said both sides need to respect humanitarian law. it is pushing for renewed negotiations between israelis and palestinians. >> seconds can mean the difference between life and death. i want to show you one example. a small mortar shell explodes on the roof of that building. it's anni israeli warning callea knock on the roof. in this video, 57 seconds elapsed before the building is hit by an israeli airstrike. we have add the clock and the sub titles. the homeowner says he actually got atel call 15 minutes earlier warning him of the attack. an israeli official has told al jazeera families should

receive knocks on the roof warning several minutes in advance, not less than a minute. once again, that strike happening 57 seconds. at this point, we have not received confirmation if anyone was killed or injured in this attack. earlier, al jazeera's camal spoke with a spokemans about the warning shots given to gaza residence. >> we make, you know, a decision not to strike the terrorists but only the premises that he uses to guide the terrorist activities. we will catch up with him later, i am sure. you know, this is the idea. it's not just to strike the premises. indeed if we could have taken the terrorist out individually, that would have been the chosen path of action. >> mr. lerner, the 1350,0005

people who have been killed in gaza, which includes the one-year-old baby and the 12 and 13-year-old members of someone's family and any number of young people who aren't hamas quote, unquote terrorist, that is collateral damage. does israel feel that they are absolved for responsibility for those deaths? >> there is one party here who cares about the people of gaza and it isn't hamas because we tell our people, you know, take cover. take cover for yourselves. we tell them, take cover. what do hamas tell their people? to provide cover for the rockets. now, this is a huge dilemma. >> can you -- >> for where they place their rockets. >> you are telling me hamas -- you don't work for hamas. you work for the israeli army and i want to know whether you feel firing a knock on the roof, effectively a warning shot says that, you know, israel is not responsible for indisriminate killing. >> hamas created this

aggravation of the situation last week, 10 days ago. we appealed to hamas, police calm will be met with calm and they chose aggression. they chose to assault attack and launch for endlessly. >> once again action al jazeera's conversation with a spokesman for the israeli army. agalad, a non-governmental in the territories says palestinians do not have enough time to flee their homes after the warning shots. >> the it is now using knew language, sounds a bet orwellian. they don't call the homes of hamas individuals homes. they call them an operational infrastructure. what as pain to injury and in this case as casualties, horrific casualties in gaza is the implementation of this method. but even if it were to be used personal, quote, unquote, that wouldn't deny the very

illegality of the very notion of going after the homes of these individuals. supposedly, what we are seeing are precision strikes and so on. but you have to -- one has to thumping about that term in the terrible civilian casualties that we are seeing in gaza. sometimes there are phone calls. there is the ways shot. but we are talking about buildings that in many cases have three floors, floor floors, a number of apartments people don't necessarily always understand the first missile the small missile is a warning. sometimes they return to the house. sometime there isn't enough type for everyone to run outside of the building. the old people, young babies and so on and so forth. and what we are see something a

rising number of unstances in which terrible civilian casualties result of the usage of this tactic. >> earlier today, al jazeera spoke to the head of the red cross mission in gaza. he said the extent of the destruction is stretching medical staff and volunteers to the limit. >> i have never seen in my 30 years in gaza such a high level of intensity. there is more than 100 people killed, more than 700 people injured including civilians, including woman and children. this is already far too much only after five days. what we as the icrc -- it's the civilians must be respected because with us again, civilians are trapped in the middle of a terrible conflict that is increasing hours bu hours. civilians should be respected. people doing, also, the job, all

of the actors in the gaza strip should be able to access all of the places in the gaza strip. this is very complex and this should be improved. we are ready to scale up at a very substantial level our operation here in the gaza strip so, yes, the icrc will support the health, started distribute kits to be able to treat more than 200 civil lear injured people gorying to do more. what we did today also is to repair water pipeline that was in the facilities the last days which are now more than 70,000 people to have access to water again. >> i also spoke with yaffa frederick, the managing editor of the world policy journal. she called this inevitable. >> in the last few months, you have had the palestinian government reconcile under one

umbrella and an israeli prime minister say i am not sitting down at a negotiation table if hamas is there. when peace talks break down, conflict resumes and violence resumes. >> we saw it respark after the death of four teams. what is the deeper issue behind those deaths. >> a couple of issues at play. one of the key issues is that immediately, netanyahu blames hamas for the death of the three israeli teenagers before all evidence had been collected and even today, it's debatable and attacks began even though it was the west bank. i think what's critical to understand is that hamas's stronghold is typically benghazi type of . it legitimizes israel attack okay all fronts in an effort to protect itself. i think another aspect is then you have a retalt tory attack. we talk about israeli extremists they only do always make the headlines. you have one being killed and everyone takes notice.

it's a spark that set off the c conflagration. >> we invite you to join us when we take an in-depth look later tonight in our special segment, a deeper look at 8:00 p.m. east he were right here on saringz. john siegenthaler, sr., father of our al jazeera colleague john siegenthaler passed away yesterday surrounded by family and friends. we take a look at his ledge endsary career in journalism as well as his devotion to human rights and social justice. paul beban has his story. >> champion for civil rights, relentless defender of freedom of the press, advisor to the kennedys and mentor to a young al gore. john siegenthaler, sr., was a journalist, confidant and witness to watershed moments in our in case's history. born in nashville in 1927, he was a voracious reader who started chasing stories at an early age, becoming editor-in-chief of his high

school paper. after serving in the air force and marying, he landed a job at the tennesseen in 1949 where he would eventually be named editor. under seigenthaler, the paper was fearless and hard-hitting whether uncovering corruption in the teamsters union, exposing the ku klux, klan or ending the fight to end segregation. he had a love for news and for politics. he was part of the kennedy family's inner circle, taking tomb off from journalism to work in washington and on campaign trail. his bond with the family would survive decades and assassinations. while running his paper, seigenthaler didn't just higher al gore as a can you be reporter. he changed his life, calling gore with a tip that a long-standing congressman was retiring, seigenthaler's advice we want right to the point. for what its worth, he told gore, i think you ought to run. then there was the fight against

injustice on the front lines of the civil rights movement. in 1961, seigenthaler was in birmingham, alabama when a mob savagely attacked a bus load of freedom riders. trying to protect a group of girls, black and white, seigenthaler was kicked and knocked out when he was hit in the head with a lead pipe. i was out for 25 minutes seigenthaler said, never felt the blow. but his life and the lives he touched were shaped by what seigenthaler felt, what he did, and how he did it. when he was a young reporter, seigenthaler saved the life of a suicidal man about to jump off of a bridge in nashville. earlier this year, that very brimming was renamed after john siegenthaler, sr. paul beban, al jazeera, new york. >> what a legacy. joining us now is clay rising, the author of the book on the civil rights, the bill of the cement tree and an editor of

"the new york times". good to have you with us? >> thanks for having me. >> he had a passion for life. his roots, you grew up in nashville where he spent most of his life. how was he perceived locally. >> by the time i was growing up in nashville, he was really the leading journalist in the city and i actually, as a cud never really knew -- as a kid never really new much about his involvement in the simple rights. i dmoour him as the big guy at the tennesseean who inspired not just me but a whole generation of young people who wanted to go into journalism. it was later that i learned about what he had done as a -- when he took time off to become special assistant to bobby kennedy. >> looking at his legacy, was there a defining moment? >> i would have to say it was his actions in alabama during the freedom rides. for him to go down and really put himself in the middle of that situation and to, you know, try to protect one of the freedom riders and to get beaten

and sent to the hospital for it, that was beyond the call of duty and certainly something that most journalists would never find themselves in the middle of. yet, he had followed his morals, his sort of moral come pass into the kennedy administration. >> he wasn't the most popular guy in town because of his views? >> that's right. he was the definition of the crusading journalit, someone who took on unions. he was a strong democrat but he had no fear of taking on special interests, people who might have agreed with him on a lot of, you know, policy issues. he nevertheless was fearless taking on corrupt politicians and really anything that he thought went against the public interest. >> how does a white man from the south get involved in the civil rights movement. >> that's the thing that is most inspiring about him because when i was growing up, en in the '70s and '80s there were not a lot of people who stud out as having made the right choices with, let's say, and yet he is someone who for whatever reason because

of his education or because of just some particular set of experiences and his background, he saw the right way forward. and it's inspiring for people who might look at a situation like that and say that it's hopefully, that why would whites ever go the other direction is this? >> it really is inspiring. i mentioned his passion for life. he had passion in everything he did. he always reinvented himself from journalist to politics to social activism? >> absolutely. it's amazing to see him go from being this guy who we think of journalists as being very one directional and get the story. get the story. and yet, here is somebody who did that in the '50s and turned around and became, you know, one of bobby kennedys' closest advisors during -- in the early part of the kennedy administration and then continued with kennedy, you know, during his presidential campaign in 1968. i mean to have both of those at the same time, a lot of journalists looked down their noses sometimes at that playing both sides. seeing seeing not only did that

but -- seigenthaler garnerred a huge amount of respect if both capaci capacities. >> was that groundbreaking. >> other people did it. there were other people who were making -- who were sort of playing both sides. it's important to remember how inspiring kennedy was. john f. kennedy was and bobby kennedy. a lot of people did come over from journalism and other fields into government service. but the way that he did it and the passion he brought to it and his able ility to go back to journal typically say that's where my roots are, that's where my heart is, that's singular. >> he had a demeanor about him. talking a man down from the bridge, the bridge later named after him. >> one of the things, i met him a few times and certainly was in the audience at a lot of his speeches growing up and when we would do class trips to the tennesseean. >> he had a way with words >> but he was always very, very willing to talk to you if you had a question, if you had -- used very much about mentoring

another generation, about just, you know, being open, and this was somebody who had been in the highest levels of power and, you know, certainly could have played it aloof and could have played, you know, but he was always gist a down-to-earth dpie. >> what do you think we will take away from his legacy? >> i would like it to be that you can be someone who comes out of any background and yet whether it's somewhere like the seg gregationist south and a middle class white person and nevertheless see the right way to go forward and that we can find those sorts of people in all sorts of walks of life. i would like to think there are john siegenthalers all over the place. >> our thoughts are with the seigenthaler here at "al jazeera america." clay rizen, the bill of the century and edit for the "new york times" op-ed section. >> thanks forg having me. >> the last surviving member of the ramones passed away today.

♪ yeah, he changed his name to tommy ramone, the band's founding drummer. he helped define punk music. he we want on to influence nirvana, the band formed in 1974 and all four members were leaders of the punc scene during the 1970s. they were inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame in 2002. coming up on "al jazeera america," money problems for the arts. how financial problems sparked infighting at one of america's best operas. plus...? >> i really believe ordinary people like me can do extraordinary things with a little bit of grit. >> trying to help the poor by rowing 2500 miles. a connecticut grandmother's ambitious kayak trip to central america. ♪ s.

>> this, is what we do. >> al jazeera america.

managers of the world famous new york metropolitan opera house say it will be broke in two years unless drastic spending cuts are made but the singers, conductors and dancers aren't convinced kristen saloomey reports. >> reporter: this season the biggest drama at the estate e-mailed metropolitan opera house is taking place off stapling. with ticket sales down, management is engaged in an epic battle with the met's 16 unions over the budget. general manager peter gelb said it will go bankrupt in two years without spending cuts. he said labor costs account for two-thirds of the the best of my knowledge. he wants the unions to take a 16% pay cut and change rules

that guarantee them payment for four performances per week. that struck the wrong tone with staff and musicians like westin sprott. by his union's estimates, the cuts are as high as 350,0007% when you include changes to healthcare, 6 leave and pensions. he has little faith in the figures quoted by peter gelb. >> he has been saying a lot of different things in the press without giving much substantiation for them and the fact that we have been offering for clarification for months now with no response leads us to be skeptical about what's really going on. >> there is skipcism over the management's lavish spending like this 169,000 poppy field built for a recent production of prince igor. critics say it's time for both sides to give way. >> this means perhaps some flexibility on union agreements, but, also, cuts in management salaries for senior management. they have to do it.

and secondly, budgeting in a realistic way so that you bring down the annual budget and bring up the en do you meanment. >> others opera companies have closed but here at the met, neither side appears willing to compromise. staff contracts are due to expire at the end of the month leaving opera fans to wonder if the show will go on. kristen saloomey, al jazeera, new york. >> thankse things are about to get hot. kevin corrveau. >> we will get to a heat wave in the northwest. we will deal with below average temperatures across the great lakes and fooding in the northeast. we have a lot to talk about. >> okay. let's talk about what's happening here on the northwest. we have a ridge of high pressure that's building. >> means the jet stream is s skyrocketing towards parts of canada. >> allows a lot of the heat from the south to come into play. we are seeing well above average temperatures and this will be

staying in effect for, we think, probably until mid-week. we have seen several days of this already. currently, portland oregon is at 89. normally, that's about, we would see seattle at about 72 degrees. with this heat, we will get a lot of problems such as red flag warnings here in parts of washington. >> means -- excuse me -- organize g.o.p. >> means we will see the threat of wildfires with gust couple winds, low humidity there as well as heat advisories for both states. we even have stagnant air here across parts of central washington. >> that's because with high pressure, you get that smog building up, as you know. this is what we expect too see tomorrow. not much of a change actually if anything. these temperatures begin to build a little bit more as we go from sudden as well as to monday. look at redding, california. 109 degrees is expected over the next couple of days. so with that, seattle, you are not going to get a break probably until we get to thursday with a temperature down to 8350,000 degrees. >> that's still above average for that time of year.

now, i did mention the storms, the colder air. what's happening is a system is coming in from the great lakes. with that system, there is a lot of cold air behind it from canada. >> that's going to drop the temperatures 10 to 20 degrees below normal for this time of year. but out ahead of it, we are going to be seeing a lot of rain coming through the region. >> that's going to come through parts of new england and i was looking at the rain totals and unfortunately, we are going to see flooding anywhere from parts of massachusetts all the way down to new jersey over the next several days. we could be seeing anywhere between four and six inches of rain across that region. so there is a lot, thomas, of stuff going on across the united states. if you are going to be flying over the next couple of weeks, you may want to call ahead. >> you never know when those delays will hit you. see you again in a moment. a grandmother from maine is starting for the high seize. she will try to kayak all the way to central america. she wants to raise awareness for a community of 7,000 living in a

garbage dump in guatemala. kaelyn forde talked with her before her trip. >> deborah walters isn't your average grandmother. at 6350,000, the retired scientist has paddled her kayak all over the world, including on weeks' long solo journeys through the arctic? >> you can get closer to the wildlife, seeing more of the world around you. you are feeling really immersed in the environment? >> her next journey will take her farther than she has ever gone. 2005 miles? >> i am kayaking solo from maine to guatemala. when i tell people i am doing that, most people say, are you completely nuts? but my favorite question was: what we want wrong in your life that led you to this? actually, what went right in my life was i joined a group of rotarians going to guatemala and i visited the garbage dumps

there. >> according to non-profit organization safe package, more than 7,000 people, including 1,000 children scaveng the dump to survive earning less than $5 per day, the trash pickers are some of the poorest people in one of the poorest nations on earth. deborah first began volunteering at the school they built nine years ago. >> i smelled the methane and felt the blowing dust, saw vultures circling overhead and i talked with the parents who support their families by scavenging scavenging. i knew i had to do something to help. >> to help, deborah decided to plan this journey, raising more than $10,000 for the community and pledge to go share their stories along the way. the journey will take almost a year. deborah plans to camp along the way and also rely on the kindness of strangers, people who volunteer to host her in their homes. for deborah, home will be the open ocean, but she says she isn't worried about feeling

lonely? >> i believe that occurred people like me can do extraordinary things with a little bit of grit, a little bit of determination. >> a little determination deborah hopes will take her all the way to guatemala. kaelyn forde, al jazeera, mystic, connecticut. >> a little bit of grit. wish her a safe journey. still ahead on "al jazeera america," a special day on mars, the curiosity rover marking an anniversary of sorts with an out-of-this-world selfie. imagine getting the chance to view the world. >> the brain is re-learning how it sees again >> after decades in the dark, >> i couldn't get around on my own >> a miraculous bionic eye... >> i'm seeing flashes >> great >> tech know, every saturday go where science meets humanity. >> this is some of the best driving i've every done, even though i can't see. >> tech know. >> we're here in the vortex. only on al jazeera america.

>> people are not getting the care that they need >> a partisan standoff... >> i ride in opposition to obamacare >> millions un-insured... >> it hurts to see my family in this condition... >> our politics costing lives? >> there are people like me literally dying because because they don't have the cash >> fault lines. al jazeera america's hard hitting, >> they're blocking the door... >> groundbreaking, >> we have to get out of here... >> truth seeking, award winning, investigative documentary series the coverage gap only on al jazeera america i you >> down to 1 more game to decide who reigns as world cup champions. in less than 24 hours, a face-off in rio de janeiro. t germany comes in with the best record.

messi is one-of the tournament's leading scorers. the match is set for tomorrow, 350,000 p.m. eastern, noon out west. meanwhile, not much to cheer about for fans of brazil. their team faces netherlands in the battle for third place. netherlands scored against the host country team, brazil. netherlands never trailed winning 350,000 to nothing, leaving these fans en more disappointed next time. >> nasa launch of the spacecraft has been delayed. the rocket is scheduled to take off sunday from nasa's flight facility in virginia. it is headed to the international space station on a cargo resupply mission. talk about a special anniversary of sorts, on mars, the rover, curiosity, jut celebrated one martian year on the red planet. how did it celebrate? with a selfie, of course. jennifer london reports. >> reporter: is the selfie from space seen around the world. the mars rover curiosity snapped

this vanity shot to mark a major milestone: her one martian year anniversary which is longer than you may think, 687 earth days to be exact. >> it is wild. a mars day is 40 minutes longer than an earth day. the most efficient way is for her to operate on a mars day. >> look at her harrowing landing on mars. . >> confirmed. >> that was just the beginning of the rover's challenging journey of exploration. her mission, roam the red planet taking pictures -- yes, that includes selfies, digging for rocks and sending data to signits like joy crisp at nasa's jet prop pulse laboratory. >> she is an intrepid explorer. she is curious -- appropriate name -- so when she sees something interesting, she

stops. but then when she has figured out what it is, then she wants to high-tail it to the next interesting rock. >> curiosity project manager jennifer trosper likens her to a spirited teenager. >> she sleeps about 16 hours a day. it's most likely from an energy point of view but it gives her a personality about how we have to manage her energy like you would have to manage a teenager's time awake and give her good things to do while she is awake. >> during her first martia year, she has captured rock samples and photos 85,000 images if you can believe it. she has also captured an audience on social media with more than a million and a half followers on twitter with tweets like, happy first martian year to me plus myh my gift to you. behind every great rover is a great team. meet some role models from mine? >> you start relating to the rover and seeing things through the rover's eyes and you feel like you are exploring, seeing new vistas, making these

exciting skofrningz along with the scientists. >> in her first trip around the sun, curiosity discovered an ancient lake bed. she also found chemical ingredients needed for life. she is now looking for more clues about mars' past. >> we want to get over to this big mountain, mount sharp and study the different rock types in that mountain. i think she is a geologist at heart. >> as curiosity embarks on her second trip around the sun, she puts it best in her tweets: what a long strange trip it has been and i have miles to go before i sleep. yen fer london, al jazeera. >> finally, collecting classic cars is one thing, but classic tanks? california engineer's collection will be auctioned off by his estate. it includes old tanks and other armored vehicles, more than 80 in total. they are being sold to raise funds for a military vehicle museum in massachusetts. get this, one german panzer 4 tank from world war ii is expected to sell for more than 2

and a half million dollar. >> will do it for this hour. thank you for joining us. i am thomas drayton in new york. i will be back with another hour of news at 8:00 p.m. east he were, five pacific. stay tuned. "fault lines" starts right now. >> in 2012 the us supreme court ruled that states could opt out of a key component of the affordable care act. the requirement to cover more poor americans through medicaid expansion. >> we're in south-central florida about 45 minutes west of orlando to meet denise wade. denise and her husband barry were living the good life-good jobs, insurance, house. they didn't realize how vulnerable they were. but despite assurances that the federal