>> this is where the typhoon came ashore. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. >> al jazeera, nairobi. >> on the turkey-syria border. >> venezuela. >> beijing. >> kabul. >> hong kong. >> ukraine. >> the artic. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america. >> a surprise trip brings secretary of state john kerry to tel-aviv pushing for a ceasefire. american jets are told don't fly there. the f.a.a. bans travel after a rocket lands near the airport. >> families grieve as malaysia airlines flight 17 victims return help. >> a fire in midair forces a jet to make an emergency landing. passengers and crew forced to

spend the night far from their destination. >> the costa concordia is on the move more than two and a half years after it sank off the coast of italy. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> i'm del walters. >> huge developments in gaza and israel, as well as the downing of malaysia airlines flight 17. >> a plane carrying remains from that night is on its way to the netherlands now and millions are observing a national day of mourning. >> after rockets fell near tel-aviv, american passenger jets are told don't fly there. the travel ban to israel is in effect for a few more hours. secretary of state john kerry now on the ground in israel in an effort to broker a ceasefire. >> we have reporters around the globe covering these stairs.

>> trial says it has got to finish the job of destroying those tunnels fighters use to get from gaza into israel. as the diplomacy is intense filing, so is the violence. >> on the gaza-israel border, the wounded arrived faster than ever. this service member and 200 israel troops are wounded, more than the prefers two gaza

conflicts combined. they mourn a 20-year-old killed in eastern gaza, a father talks about his son. >> i was kris about you. >> the fighting that's killed more than 30 israeli soldiers every night. a house is pulverized, leaving a suspended tricycle of a child. nearly half of all displaced from their home are children. >> they are homeless. their houses are destroyed. they came out, they saw the

people injured or killed, and so they run. >> they sleep below the chapel in the banquet hall. privacy is hard to come by. each family sets up its own fort. this woman pleads for shelter. the church is full and she is turned away. she blames the arab government. >> egypt, the palestinian president, saudi arabia, they are all abandoning us. >> the family doesn't know where to go. frustrated, they didn't want us filming here anymore. >> you can really see and feel the tension on the streets here. it feels like its getting closer and deeper into gaza city, some 40% of all of gaza i see a no go area, too dangerous for residents to be in. residents feel squeezed, that the front line is moving from the east, to the right of me, deeper into gaza city, giving

them much less room, much fewer place to go to feel safe. >> let's talk about what's happening on the israeli side acknowledge commercial flight ban. should it be extended, what would that mean for israel? >> this is really an image problem for israel. they have tried to convince the world that despite everything that is happening in gaza, despite everything that its military is doing in gaza, that israel proper is safe. the proper is you saw images yesterday of people running in panic from the airport, airport officials closing the airport down when that rocket landed within a mile of it. as long as that f.a.a. ban stays in place, israel will seem to the world not a safe place to be, affecting tourism and its ability to convince the world it

is safe. >> as you heard nick say, the f.a.a. has ordered all american airliners to halt flights into tel-aviv just after that rocket landed near israel's airport. lisa is in washington. it's been a long time since we've seen a move line of scrimmage from the f.a.a. >> it's been since the gulf war when flights were suspended to israel like this. this comes after a rocket landed near the airport in tel-aviv. we should also point out of course it comes less than a week after the malaysian plane was shot out of the sky over ukraine. of course there's a lot of sensitivity about flying in and out of conflict zones. the israeli national carrier elal still operating from new york to tel-aviv. michael bloomberg is sending this statement that the flight restrictions were a mistake and

that they hand hamas an undeserved victory. >> i'm not trying to prove anything. i'm trying to show it's safe and a great place to visit and israel has a right to defendant its people and they are doing exactly what they should be doing. >> bloomberg also said he is urging the f.a.a. to reverse that ban. again, elal has no plans to stop operations. >> israel will decide whether to resume those flights later today. >> we are expecting to hear from the f.a.a. by noon today. that flight ban was in place for 24 hours. the f.a.a. says it continues to monitor the situation, look at the security situation there. no doubt, it's under enormous pressure to lift this ban. the israelis are not happy about it. they don't like it from an economic reason, from this the message it sends that hamas

seems to be succeeding in closing the airport. benjamin netanyahu has asked the secretary of state to please put pressure on the f.a.a. to reverse this ban. we'll have to see as the day progresses. >> we did some digging and found israel is not alone. in addition to that ban into tel-aviv, the f.a.a. has restrictions in place in ukraine because of the on going fighting there. in iraq planes fighting over islamic state areas must stay above 20,000 feet. a ban has been in place in libya since 2011 and there are restrictions in place over ethiopia and somalia. north korea declared off limits for flights because of recent missile testing there. >> israel is accused of possible war crimes in gaza during an emergency meeting of the human rights group. the killing of civilians raises

serious concerns. >> the crippling effect of black code and other measures linked to the israeli occupation of gaza suppress the ability of the people to go about their daily lives and prevent them from rebuilding their lives after repeated military operations. >> israeli officials say the u.n. debate is a knee jerk reaction. they say israel's duty to defend itself is enshrined in international law and say it is hamas committing war crimes. coming up, we're going to take a closer look of what it's like to be an american fighting for the israeli army. a reservist who lost his arm fighting in gaza will join us live. >> a day of mourning in the netherlands for the victims of the flight of malaysia airlines flight 17. we have more. >> after a short solemn ceremony, the first victims of

flight 17 left bound for the netherlands, flown in an aircraft provided by the air force of the netherlands. there is a representative of the netherlands who spoke here, also from australia who spoke here. both of them had citizens on this aircraft. there will be another aircraft flying out 24 more bodies later in the day. it's a c17 aircraft that is still on the tarmac now. they'll fly 24 more bodies out. they'll join up with the 16 that left earlier on that c130. they'll land around the same time to make it just in time for a ceremony on the ground in the netherlands. then that's when this painstaking pros of identification begins. expect it to take months long for the bodies and body parts. they will go to the netherlands. there are dozens more at a factory here just on the other side of town. they need to be looked through

and scanned. they actually have to be tests for explosives because of what brought down this aircraft. that is going to take hours before they are flown to the netherlands. >> mike viqueira joins us from washington. the obama administration said it has intelligence that pro-russian separatists brought down the flight. the question remains whether moscow was directly involved. do we know the answer to that this morning. >> u.s. intelligent officials did hold a background briefing for intelligence reporters. the entire purpose was to keep the pressure on moscow in the face of claims that the united states had no direct evidence that either moscow or the separatists were complicit and responsible for bringing down that plane. that tragedy happened just a little less than a week ago now. officials say while its likely russia was involved and complicit in sending the arms,

the administration said they were sending arms and continue to do so even in the aftermath of the tragedy. they say it is likely now that separatists brought down that plane. >> does it appear that the u.s. is softening its stance from the sunday talk shows over the weekend where they were pointing the weekend quite directly at kremlin. is that position softening? >> not really. they never did present evidence and never really put forward the theory that russian fingers were actually on the trigger that brought down that plane. as we say, the entire point of having this briefing and presenting this evidence was to in fact point the finger at russia as being complicit, sending arms across the border, as a matter of fact sending the s.a.11 across the border which ultimately brought down the malaysian airliner. >> what is the nature of the evidence presented by u.s. officials? >> it's interesting, because they didn't present much of the technical evidence. the radar signature, things of that nature, they say they want

to protect the secrecy of intelligence gathering methods, but they do point for example to open sources. social media, for example. we've heard a great deal about conversations intercepted by the ukrainian military, of russian separatists congratulating each other in the aftermath. they thought it was a military transport plane and not commercial. this is something that was stipulated by the intelligence briefers yesterday. they think it was a mistake. they did not intend to bring down a civilian aircraft, stephanie. >> mike, thank you. >> in our next half hour, we'll speak with the former vice chairman of the ntsb into the investigation of the crash. >> a south line airlines jet made an emergency landing in ohio last night. the flight from baltimore to chicago was diverted after a

fire broke out in the cargo hold. all members of the crew and passengers were evacuated. they are back in the air this morning. >> a new york city man died after being stopped by police. new york city's police commissioner ordering a review of his democratic's training procedures. >> there ain't going to be no justice. >> there ain't going to be no peace! >> march he was demanding justice say police used an illegal choke hold during the stop. >> search and rescue teams in washington state have found the final victim of a mud slide. the body of a 44-year-old was recovered tuesday. her husband was also killed when the mud slide struck their home in oso washington in march. >> wildfires in the northwest are still raging, across more than 1 million acres.

>> how is the weather actually making a difference on the ground there? >> 24 hours ago, the largest wildfire in washington state history was 2% contained. that number shot up to 16% overnight, as rain and milder winds gave firefighters a chance to go on the offensive. >> today we're making progress. >> the woman in charge says tuesday's rain and lack of wind was just what the doctor ordered. >> this is a huge day. this is a day we all go today's the day we're going to knock a lot of this out. >> building a buffer zone to prevent the fire from spreading down this hill, near a town of 4,000 people. >> there's old grass and fresh

green grass not burning completely. if it gets into the tree roots, it's still a path to smolder. >> keeping the fire out of another town could spare another family from losing everything. 150 homes have burned to the ground. >> i cried. i tried not to, but i really did. >> a lot of homes lost right now. we've been able to make some really good progress in those priority areas where there are residents. >> with mild weather expected again today, 120 firefighters already on the ground should have another productive day with reinforcements not far behind if needed. >> right now, we are the number one priority in the nation. if we need those crews, we'll get them in here quickly. >> the expected rain could have two unexpected consequences. we'll have to watch to see if

lightning ignites any additional fires and second, the national weather service issued a flood watch in the area. the fear is all the burned soil could cause a heavier than normal runoffs if the rains today get themselves heavy. >> let's get more on the weather in the northwest. nicole, what is going on? are they going to get more rain. >> definitely improving conditions. we have a fire that actually cooks the soil, so the rain can't penetrate it as well, so that's why you have flood situations after you've had a fire situation which seems a little counter intuitive. the northwest, definitely more moisture. we've had one boundary come through, helping us change the direction with the next low coming in, but also, already bringing in moisture, bringing in cooler temperatures, all of those are very beneficial. temperatures along the northwest coastline into the 60s, well interior. you get ahead of the front, 80's

and 90's. seattle getting rain, today a little bit yesterday, but only one other day in the whole month. some places haven't seen rain in the whole month. this is beneficial but could be an inch or two. records could be set in terms of rainfall, so it could be a little too much in some fire areas, but we'll take any benefit we can get. >> nicole, thank you very much. >> a day two and a half years in the making. >> costa concordia towed away from where it ran aground. these are live pictures. we'll tell you what's next for the largest salvage operation at sea in history. >> a day at the beach turns to tragedy when a man slips into a hole and gets buried in sand. >> a typhoon slams taiwan with fierce winds and pounding rains. financial markets and transportation shutting down. we'll tell you where that storm

is heading next. >> 792,000 is the latest in the year of the auto recall. stuart! stuart! stuart! stuart! ♪ check it out. this my account thing. we can tweet directly toa comcast expert for help. or we can select a time for them to call us back.

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>> a live picture from italy, where the costa concordia cruise ship is on the move this morning for the first time in two and a half years. >> that ship is being towed away from the island since it sank killing 32 people onboard. we have more on the large effort salvage operation in history. >> day by day and deck by deck, more of the costa concordia has been emerging from the sea. this is the biggest maritime salvage operation ever, costing more than $2 billion. >> the big ship, it's pretty sad to see it internally like that. it has completely flushed out those decks. they were semi destroyed. we know time's against us and her time has coming to home.

>> the luxury liner was carrying more than 4,000 passengers and crew where it crashed into rocks off the island two and a half years ago, killing 32 people onboard. there were fears the ship weighing more than 100,000 tons would break up in the island's pristine waters. last september, the most complicated part of the operation to remove it in one piece took place. engineers had already created a fake sea bed using steel platforms and comment. metal boxes exposed and the ship was upright. more boxes were tacked to both sides. air is left, creating a rubber ring effect. last monday, the ship became bouyant again.

crews have been working day and night to prepare her for her final voyage. the concern is the environment. >> the water quality inside the vessel is now almost the same as that outside. the long term damage to the collision site, though, isn't known. >> we have to control moment for moment what is the condition and to plan what the future will be. we cannot say now what will be in the future in the next one, two years, because there is no experience in this. >> relief will only come to this small island and those who have secured its waters when the costa concordia is finally out of view and safely towed to its final resting place, where it will be scrapped. aljazeera, on the island off italy. >> the next stop will be genoa.

>> some people want to keep a portion of that ship to remind people what slammed it's become a very significant symbol for that town in italy. >> conflicting rulings could set the stage for another supreme court showdown over the affordable care act. an appeals court in virginia ruled subs des apply to those who bought insurance through the federal website. >> a favorite beach past time has taken a young man's life. he was digging in the sand and in moments swallowed alive. >> it is a tragedy that happens more often than we think. >> that's true, del. this latest tragedy happened at a beach just south of san francisco on the beach of half moon bay. the 26-year-old was digging in the sand when the walls caved in around him. the original hole he dug was nearly twice as deep as he was

tall. the sand started pouring in and he disappeared within minutes. beachgoers scrambled to pull him out. it took them 30 minutes to get to him and he died on the beach. officials say the tragedy sends a serious summertime warning that the sand can be just as dangerous as the water. >> it is a situation that can go from having a good time on the beach with friends and family to extremely dangerous and critical within seconds. >> he is not the only one to accidentally bury himself. last month, the same thing happened to a 49-year-old man who was digging a sand tunnel on vacation in north carolina. last year, a 6-year-old boy became trapped 11 feet deep in a sand do not for hours while playing by a lake in indiana. rescuers were able to save him, but he was in a coma. >> seems so innocent. thank you very much. >> in florida, a both of lightning killed a man on fort myers beach and left two others

injured. those who saw it were shaken. >> i take chances out here walking around in the rain and lightning and now realize you just can't take them chances. >> five people have died from lightning strikes in florida this year. 51 people are killed by lightning nationwide every year. >> the typhoon that slammed taiwan, 151 people dead. >> a second is pounding the region with wind and rain. nicole mitchell is here with the latest. >> this one not as strong as the one last week that hit the philippines. this one made a beeline for taiwan, dumping heavy rain. you can see some places up to 18 inches of rain in just five hours, that's a foot and a half, flooding definitely a concern. you can see some of that rain just blowing by with the high winds. of course hurricane force, a a lot of do this recover from

today, as we get to today, now it's making that second landfall moving into china. here's that radar. you can see the rain dumping and the image before it moved into taiwan. rain will be a concern. i want to mention a little disturbance that will move through the islands. that one is weakening as it goes, so shouldn't be too big of a problem. >> 151 dead in that other storm, pretty deadly. >> contamination concerns are lead to go a fruit recall. peaches, plums and nex nectarins are being pulled from trader joes and wal-mart under the sweet to eat brands. no illnesses are reported. >> the year of the recall, today's big number 792 just that that he is how many jeep s.u.v.

chrysler groups have pulled off the road. >> it's because of an ignition switch problem similar to the one g.m. had and it forced millions of cars to be recalled. >> this includes the commander from 2006-2007 and cherokees from 2005-2007. >> the black boxes from malaysia airlines flight 17 are in the united kingdom. >> who is piecing together what happened to the plane. the former vice chairman of the ntsb joins us live to talk about what's next in the investigation. >> a ferry crash caught on camera. the newly released surveillance video shows a semi crashing into a train. >> what some overweight kids don't realize about themselves is one of the stories making headlines around the world.

>> this is a live look at gaza

where the violence continues as does the international effort to achieve a ceasefire. welcome to al jazeera america. >> straight ahead, an innovative prison program that's trying to keep convicts from returning to a life of crime by teaching basic parenting skills. >> the nfl's first openly gay player hits the field for the first time as a pro. what michael sam had to say about controversial comments by tone town. >> opening arguments this morning in a racially charged murder trial in detroit. we're going to take a closer look at the case involving a white man accused of shooting a black woman on his front porch. >> first a look at the top stories this morning. secretary of state john kerry is in israel to broker a ceasefire in gaza. this as american passenger jets are told don't fly into tel-aviv after a rocket landed near the airport. the travel ban will be in effect for a few more hours. the death toll in gaza 6050. >> cooler temperatures and rain

are helping crews contain the largest wildfire in washington state history. firefighters now have the carlton complex fire 16% contained and more rain is expected the today. >> it is a day of mourning in the netherlands with the first plane carrying the remains of the victims from malaysia airlines flight 17 will land. a moment of silence will be observed to honor those shot down last week. >> those black boxes from flight seven arrived in the u.k. where they will be analyzed with the help of the united states. phil ittner is in london. what will happen now to those black boxes? >> they will go to a town called farm borough outside of london where there is a very sophisticated installation that does analysis of these black boxes. they will be going through the data. they will be going through the audio that's been recorded by

microphones in the cockpit. british investigators say that they will begin the beginning information within the first 24 hours, but it could take quite some time before they actually are able to sift through it and start to get into the meat of what the information is that they'll be receiving. this is all being done at the request of the dutch. they are heading the investigation. they have sent these black boxes here to britain, because of the highly sophisticated nature of that investigation. >> tell us more about the british government's air accidents investigation branch. is that the british equivalent of the ntsb that we have here in the u.s.? >> more or less it is. this is a very sophisticated location, one of only two within the european union that experts say is sophisticated enough to handle this sensitive information. british prime minister david

cameron had a lot to say about what the brits will be doing. >> the feeling is that the experts are some of the most highly qualified people anywhere in the world to examine the black box and what it may contain, but i would make the point, of course, that the people who probably have the really valuable information about what happened to this flight are indeed the russians themselves. >> now stephanie, as you can well imagine, this is a topic of great discussion here within the united kingdom. there is talk about what they hope to gasoline from those black boxes. they aren't sure they'll have any kind of definitive evidence that will clear what happened with malaysia airlines flight 17, but given the fact that the actual crash site itself has been so compromised, this may be the only evidence and information that investigators will be able to get their hands on. >> we do know those black boxes are at least intact. >> let's go to bob francis, the

former vice chairman of the ntsb. thanks for being with us. the big question seems to be who pulled the trigger, if indeed a missile did bring down the flight. is there information from the black boxes that will solve that issue? >> i don't think that certainly the recorders not going to give you information on that, and i'd be -- i would not be optimistic in terms of finding out that obviously that something of enormous somebody, but this investigation does not lend itself to easily coming to answers which we sort of take for granted. >> what will those black boxes, which you heard phil ittner talking about there tell us with regard to this particular crash? >> well, they'll give you the flight data recorder will give

you what going on in the cockpit, excuse me, with the cockpit voice recorder will give you what's going on in the cockpit, the flight data recorder will give you hundreds of parameters for what the aircraft is doing, you know, what's the angel of the rudder, what's the amount of power, et cetera. obviously, once the missile hits, that is not going to continue, so it will be interesting, i think to hear what one can hear of the cockpit and it will be interesting to see what data is there. i would not be optimistic that it's going to be terribly important in terms of understanding what happened. >> i want to get to something

that seems to be troubling investigators. the international monitors examining the crash site say it appears that the cockpit has been sawed in half. if the crash site was tampered with, could that limit information about what brought this plane down and could we always be wondering what? >> these investigators that are going to go out there are the best in the world, and i think that if somebody has cut or tampered with the wreckage after the accident, after it was on the ground, these ntsb people, the aaib people are going to be able to tell this was done subsequent to the accident. this was as a result of the explosion. >> bob francis, former vice chairman of the ntsb, thank you for your time and expertise. >> coming up live, team coverage on the investigation, also

memorials taking place in ukraine. we'll have more from washington, d.c. >> a grim milestone in nigeria this morning, today marks 100 days since 276 school girls were abducted by boko haram. aljazeera spoke to parents clinging to the hope their daughters will be brought back alive. >> the last time this couple saw their daughter, they were making plans for her to take up sewing over the school holiday. their whole life has been turned upside down. for 100 days, she's been missing, one of the more than 270 school girls kidnapped by boko haram in april. >> the mass abduction of the girls has not only shocked

nigerians, it reverb rated around the world. in this video released by boko haram, the group threatened to sell them into slavery. anger built over the government's handling of the situation. after three months, president goodluck jonathan met the families face-to-face. little has been made public about the progress of the rescue operation. >> a lot has been achieved in terms of the quality of intelligence that is veil, and that has lees to the security forces succeeding in arresting some of the commanders of the boko haram operation. >> there are so many issues -- >> but the trauma overwhelmed the people. health workers have been doubling its grief counselors. he tells me at least four parents have died of health complications he links to their ordeal. others were killed in further violence by the group targeting

their community. this man's wife died shortly after the kidnapping of their twin daughters on that fateful day. >> it's been a terrible time. i can't sleep. i'm left alone with four other children and all i have now is faint hope. >> with neither a negotiated deal or rescue apparently in sight, many are left wondering if the girls will ever be back. >> a boko haram raid in nigeria last week left 56 people dead and caused thousand to say flee a northern town. >> we want to show you smoke, fire and explosions on a kentucky highway after a semi crashed into a train. police say the truck driver missed the turn and was trying to correct it when the accident happened. it was filled with charcoal lighter fluid and burst into flames. the driver is recovering at a hospital. >> could being a better parent

help exconvicts stay out of snub that's the goal of parenting classes now taught in oregon's prison system. >> there you go. >> this happy family play ground scene wasn't always so happy. >> either they're at the bar getting drunk or once i fell back into my addiction, i was never there. >> on parole after serving two years in state prison on drug charges, michelle went through training to become a better mom. 145,000 prisoners, women and men have been through the voluntary parenting inside out training course. we went into prison to meet graduates still on the inside. >> how are you doing? >> how are you doing? >> this father of two daughters

gets out in september. >> it was a reminder every day, every time i went to the class that hey, you're a father. you have two people out there that need you and love you. >> to learn responsibility, inmates in the class carry a teddy bear wherever they go for a month. >> you become quite attached as a constant reminder of what it represents. >> you say you bonded with your bear. >> yes, very much so. >> the program gets results. a five year study shows women 48% less likely to get rearrested than non-graduates, men 27% less likely. >> are you a little scared about what's ahead? >> of course, yeah. it's been a long time. i know there's a lot to fix and try to do better. i'm ready for it. >> michelle says what started in the classroom is now a lifetime job. >> the devastation that i caused

and the things my kids had to see and go through, i can never take that back, but what i can do is change that each and every day and make sure they never have to go through that again. >> her hard work in the course is getting good grades. >> she is awesome. >> from the only people who really count. >> she is really able to turn her life around, it appears. >> coming up, we'll show you what the adjustment justice department is doing to get non-vital drug offenders out of the prison system. >> on the practice field in st. louis, michael sam drafted in the nfl practiced with his new team thursday. he addressed some controversial comments made by former colts head coach tony dungy. sam says he's focused on getting better, not that dungy said. >> thank god he wasn't the st. louis rams coach. [ laughter ] >> i have a great respect for coach dungy, and like everyone

in america, everyone is entitled to their own opinions. >> dungy said earlier in the week that if he were still coaching, he would not have drafted michael sam, because he didn't want the attention. >> let's look at other headlines making news around the world. a new c.d.c. study shows kids misperceive their weight when the sails might say they're overweight. 81% 67 overweight girls and 71% of girls believe they are a healthy weight. it found this is more the case in lower income families where obesity tend to be a bigger health problem. >> kids feel i'm active, healthy, therefore i don't have to worry about this, it's not me, it's them. >> doctors are afraid to tell parents, because it's a delicate issue. >> australian network noose saying medical experts marked a

new era, creating a flew lead to printing kit designed to replace cadavers. real cadavers are expensive. in some countries, they don't want to use real human cadavers. it aids all the way around. >> gets around cultural sensitivities. >> there is a rumbling in the royal stable, a horse owned by queen elizabeth and the winner of the 2013 gold cup has tested positive for banned substances. before you accuse the queen, they believe that it came from contaminated feed. there are several other horses in the race that tested positive. >> the old contaminated feed argument. >> jewish people living abroad have picked up arms to defend israel. >> we'll talk to an american citizen about what it's like to be part of the israel army.

>> white flags appearing on the top of the brooklyn bridge. whodunnit and how do they get into one of the most secure landmarks in the nation. >> grizzly bears, there they are, everywhere. a new study into where they live in big numbers is our discovery of the day. the news, go deeper e

perspectives on every issue. al jazeera america. >> two u.s. citizens were serving in the israeli army. >> we look at what drove them to enlist. >> max and sean grew up in america. both had strong israeli ties.

sunday, both of them died in the fighting between israel and hamas in the first major ground battle of the current conflict. growing up in california's san fernando valley, max was not particularly religious. just a few months after his first visit to israel, he returned to join the army joe biden unafraid of seeing action. on sunday, his army vehicle was hit by a rocket. he was 24. >> he felt that if this was his killing, that being on the sidelines or even being in the back seat was just not going to work. >> sean was from south padre island, texas. he moved to israel four years ago, finished high school and joined the army. he was 21 on sunday, when he died in gaza. >> he went there to fight for all of us, but all of humanity.

today, i call sean a hero for our people and for all people of the world. >> america's support for israel's military might goes well beyond the approximately 2,000 americans serving in the countries armed forces. since world war ii, the u.s. has given israel $121 billion in aid, most of it military. the two countries agreed to a two year $30 billion military aid package. last week, congress approved $351 million to support israel's iron dome missile system next year. president obama had asked for $179 million. monday night, it was the emotional connection between the two countries that was in evidence, as nearly 20,000 people showed up for sean's funeral. >> let's talk about what it's like to be an american serving

in the israeli military with first a first sergeant. he lost his arm while on active duty in 2008. >> you're 18 years old, living in miami, i assume a relatively comfortable life. why did you enlist in the israeli army? the short answer is that i am jewish and proud of it. to elaborate on that, i understood and i learned from a very young age what hour people suffered through, whether we're talking about the holocaust or things that happened well before then, and now that we finally have a military and a way of defending ourselves, i feel the question is more of why wouldn't i, how could i not with clear conscience not fight to defend my people. >> it's 2008, you're in the infantry, you find yourself near the border with gaza and you

lose your arm. what happened? >> well, i was actually sitting inside a base, inside a tent, waiting for orders to enter gaza for the first time, which was about two weeks into the operation when a mortar struck me directly. 120 millimeters, it hit me dead on. >> did you lose consciousness? >> the truth is my body decided to keep me awake. i was awake from the moment it happened until i was put to sleep for surgery nearly 40 minutes later, and i remember every single detail like an h.d. recording that. >> must have been incredibly painful and traumatic for you. when you look at the many israeli soldiers now on the front lines in gaza, what are they going through? we hear about really fierce urban combat that they face. what is going through their minds and are many of them 18 years old, like you were? >> all of them are between the

ages of 18 and 28 years old. what are they going through, if it was up to them, they wouldn't be there. >> they wouldn't. >> they are regular kids. >> have a them were drafted or called up. >> almost all were drafted, obviously not the lone soldiers who decide to volunteer, but the israeli citizens are drafted, they all have to serve and they're doing what they're doing because otherwise, we won't have a country. they are protects the citizens in the south under constant bar automobiles of rocket fire. >> when you hear the reports of arguments and heard the criticisms, does that affect your view of this conflict? >> it doesn't affect my view, but it definitely breaks my heart. i think it's terrible that hamas is putting the civilians living in gas on such a terrible situation. they don't deserve to be used at human shields, to be indoctrinated from such a young

age. i saw terrifying footage of hamas members clubbing palestinians trying to leave the area that israel was coming to attack. israel warns, they drop pamphlets, make phone calls and when hamas members so you these civilian members were trying to leave, they were beating them to clubs so they would stay, very difficult to watch. >> the world sees a third of the casualties are children, they see the pictures of the children in the hospitals. how does that affect you as an israeli american? >> it's difficult, it's difficult that the world isn't getting a clear picture of what's really going on there. yes, there is a death toll, but it's not something that is on israel's hands, not on the young soldiers, the brave men going in there to protect their people. it's hamas that is throwing palestinians at us like cannon fodder and it's devastating. >> as you said, no israeli soldier really wants to be there. thank you so much for joining us

this morning, really appreciate your perspective. >> ahead in our next hour, we'll have live reports on the f.a.a. banning u.s. passenger planes into tel-aviv, plus the latest violence and its impact on the youngest victims. >> a security breach at one of new york city's most visible landmarks, two white flags flying atop the brooklyn bridge where american flags usually fly. police are not sure how this happened without someone being noticed for that gate to be compromised, continue to the top of the tower, have the right size cover to put over the lights, there's some indication of some good deal of preoperational planning, perhaps some indication that they have experience climbing in construction or bridge work. >> police are looking for a group of four or five people seen on surveillance tapes. >> it is time now for our

discovery of the day, a major grizzly bear super highway has been discovered in canada. nearly 60 bears travel a stretch among a watershed in british columbia. >> that doesn't sound like a lot. compared to a place like yellow stone national park where there is a lot of bears, it is a big deal. >> experts say it is not surprising that grizzly bears are attracted to the area. the water shed provides drinking water and their favorite food, salmon. >> let's check the weather with nicole mitchell. good morning. >> good morning. we've had a cold front moving through the interior of the country. that oppressive heat and advisories have abated as this moves allege. you can see moisture associated with this. we'll look at that in a moment. these temperatures well into the 90's, heat indexes in the hundreds, both the humidity has gone down and have the temperatures, chicago, maybe annual around 74 today, much

more comfortable. minneapolis at 81. the core of the heat is well to the south, south of that boundary. oklahoma under heat advisories, but most of the region has become much better. we are going to have showers associated with the boundary itself, slight chance for strong storms, maybe wind especially with that. this will move toward the east coast in overnight period, could look at rain there. today, if you're ahead that have boundary, 80's and 90's, heat indexes possibly in the hundreds, tomorrow significant cooling in d.c. go back to the 80's. >> we have breaking news. two ukrainian military fighter jets have been shot down in the eastern part of ukraine, according to the ukrainian defense ministry who are blaming pro russian fighters. they may have carried up to two crew members each. we'll have more in our next hour. >> we'll be back in two minutes

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>> lisa stark is in washington. european airlines are heeding the flight warning, we understand now, as well. >> that's true, the warning came from the united states, then the european agency issued its own warning. it said it strongly recommended flights not fly into tel-aviv airport. it comes less than a week after the apparent shoot down of the malaysian jetliner over ukraine. people are skittish about flying over war zones. >> we saw on the internet what's going on. a lot of companies cancel flights to israel, everybody was nervous.

>> nervous because on tuesday, that announcement had passengers scrambling for shelter, after a rocket fired from gaza struck a neighborhood just a mile away. >> there was a bomb alarm. the whole airport rushed into the bomb shelters, and it was terrifying. >> the effects of the attack felt not just locally but quickly reverberating around the globe. delta's flight from new york to tel-aviv with 290 onboard diverted to paris while en route. passengers ratinged to the news of the ban once the plane touched down in france. >> delta had to do what they had to do. it's unfortunate that we were literally an hour before landing, but i respect the decision. >> the airliner suspended all flights to and from tel-aviv

indefinitely. u.s. airways and united followed suit coming just as the f.a.a. tuesday temporarily banned those flyers from flying into the city, something not seen since the gulf war in 1991. >> f.a.a. will give updated instructions no less than 24 hours from when it went into effect. >> the move was followed by foreign carriers. israels elal is still flying into tel-aviv. >> what you are trying to prove by going there today. >> i'm just trying to show that it's safe and it's a great place to visit. >> meanwhile, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is calling on secretary of state john kerry to help restore commercial flights to the airport, citing the economic cost of grounding those flights. >> there's also the

psychological cost. some say that this flight ban hands a victory to hamas. we'll have to see what the f.a.a. does today. >> there's also the issue of policy. the f.a.a. is going to decide today whether to resume those flights. what might we expect to hear? >> the f.a.a. is watching and monitoring the situation. we expect to hear from them by noon whether its lifts the flight ban. it will be up to the individual airlines to decide what to do. u.s. airways canceled flights today and tomorrow. even if the f.a.a. lifts its ban, it could be a while before they decide to go back into the airport in tel-aviv. >> secretary of state john kerry says progress is made today to bring an end to the violence in gaza. nick schiffron is in gaza this morning. do we know what progress mr. kerry is referring to?

>> it seems the secretary of state is trying to be positive, but both sides are very far apart. both sides say they are not really willing to accept the other's demands. hamas says israel must lift its blockade of gaza. that is something israel has not been willing to consider so far. israel is vow to go all of its people in public speeches they will finish this fight. the tunnels that fighters use all have to be destroyed. that takes as long as weeks. both sides does seem really for apart as they were yesterday when secretary of state john kerry began this round of diplomacy. >> do we know how long secretary of state john kerry will be staying in israel? >> you talk to his aids and ask for a schedule or itinerary,

they laugh at you, secretary kerry does this as he can. we saw them over the weekend say we've got to get over there. i asked his aids and they say we don't have a plan yet, but he wants us to go, so we're going. he stays as long as he needs to or wants to to try to get a ceasefire. >> what's the situation there on the ground in gaza right now. >> as the diplomacy is increasing, the violence is increasing. we saw more israeli soldiers wounded on attacks right along the gaza-israel border this morning we're seeing more reports of families killed in southern gaza, especially an area that has been bombarded for three or four days by israeli tanks, artillery and drones, as well. eastern gaza along the border with israel, heavy, heavy fighting reported there.

that has been the place where israel has focused so much of its attention in the last few days. it does seem neither side is really letting up at all. >> nick schiffron reporting from gods, nick, thank you. >> coming up, a closer look at the tunnel network israel is targeting, calling them terror tunnels, while palestinians call them a lifeline. >> we're following breaking news this morning. ukraine's defense minister saying two military planes have been shot down near its border with russia. we are tracking the latest developments from the netherlands. what more can you tell us? >> an incident occurred only a few moments ago, confirmed by the ukrainian government. it happened in the same mayor at malaysia airlines flight 17 was brought down. two ukrainian jet fighters have

been shot down by the rebels in the same area. this will prove immediately that they have still got those buk missiles in the area and used them effectively against ukrainian military aircraft, operating against their positions in that area near the russian border. that's all the information we have. we don't know the height they were flying, but those are the jet fighters used by the ukrainian government used against pro-russian separatists in the area. we don't know if the pilots have been killed or managed to get out. we don't know the height they were flying, but it's confirmed two ukrainian government jet fighters have been downed by the rebels in the same area as malaysia airlines flight 17 was brought down by the same missile system. >> we should point out that you are in the netherlands because the bodies of the victims are now on their way there. can you tell us right now what

the dutch plan to do today to honor those who were aboard malaysia airlines flight 17? >> the transport plane lands in about three hours' time here in the military section of the airport. the first plane coming in carries about 16 victims, we understand. there are 1,000 relatives waiting here, the king and queen of the netherlands and dutch prime minister. the dutch prime minister has said that the main priority for them is looking after the relatives of the victims. it's going to take a long time to identify the remains. it's going to be a very difficult and grueling task, but let's hear what he had to say about it. >> as soon as a victim is identified, the family will immediately be informed. nobody else. that can sometimes happen quickly, but i must add it can

sometimes take weeks or even months. our next priority is the investigation of the cause of the disaster to turn every stone. >> we are still waiting for news of exactly where the plane with the bodies onboard is, but five minutes before it lands at the air field behind me, all the church bolls in the netherlands will ring. as it touches the tarmac, there will be a trumpeteer playing and the bodies taking into heries lined up on the runway and taken immediately to another military base where the forensic teams will start their examination. the relatives will not be allowed access to the bodies, they'll be packed in sealed coffins, but the main task is to try and get d.n.a. evidence to begin with to find the identity

of those victims. nobody knows who they are yet and it's a grueling time for the relatives here today. >> live in the netherlands, thank you very much. >> defense minister in ukraine say two military planes have been shot down near the border with russia. we continue to follow that story and will bring you more as it develops. >> let's turn to mike viqueira live in washington with more on the malaysia airlines flight 17 investigation. a u.s. team is now in ukraine helping. what can you tell us their job is? >> safety and security around the crash site, and tampering with the crash site and debris, not to mention the motor filing prospect of some of the bodies being tampered with and we've seen the controversy unfold over that front.

the ntsb sending investigators. they join an international team led by the dutch, makes investigators, australian investigators, the international civil aviation organization out of canada is also part of this investigation. we learn now from aljazeera's lease stark that the ntsb sent an investigators to london because that is where the black boxes are going after they've been recovered and turned over by separatist leaders to international authorities. there is a lab with a facility to analyze the black boxes, the ntsb sending an investigators to take part in that section of the investigation. >> there's another important part of this investigation that relies on the intelligence that the u.s. has on the malaysian plane crash. does that in tell give any indication at this point that the kremlin was directly involved? >> well, u.s. intelligence briefers brief the intelligence

reporters yesterday and they largely reaffirmed what had alleged publicly by the president, the u.s. ambassador and other officials. separatists were firing that system that likely brought down malaysia airlines flight 17. they point the finger at russia without average allegation that russians were directly involve and they also say this was likely an accident, that either through poor training or some other mishap, they thought they were bringing down a military transport. in light of these recent developments over the course of the last few minutes, the ukrainian jets brought down by the same missile system, russia continues to send heavy armaments, including tanks and missile systems across the border into ukraine, and that is a continuing source of concern. we've already seen that manifest this morning. >> that has been described as

advanced and sophisticated mitt sile system. >> we'll have the latest on the downing of those two ukrainian military jets in our next half hour. >> in washington, firefighters getting the upper hand fighting wildfires. they are at least 16% contained. >> for more on the national forecast, let's bring in meteorologist nicole mitchell. >> good morning. >> we could go from fire to blood flood in a couple places. the fire bakes the earth, so you get new rain on top of it and it's not able to penetrate that soil because it's basically baked. that's going to be one of our concerns heading off to the northwest. we have one boundary that went through.

that has started to cool the temperatures, another area of low pressure around the rain, we're getting some higher humidity levels in addition to everything else. so temperatures much cooler, 60s versus a lot of the months in the 80's and even a couple of 90's out there and then the rain that is finally start to go fall, so a lot of good news out there just could be some heavy rains at times, but we'll take it. >> the surge of children flooding the u.s. mexican border could be slowing. fewer children have been picked up in texas than in june, but governor rick perry beefing up security along his border. is the message to stop sending those kids to the border, is that the message and is it working? >> there are fewer encounters between border patrol and these children at the border. those latest numbers for july, the daily apprehension rate in

the rio grande valley is down to 150, that's a day. still a lot, but compared to last month in june, the average is 355, still a significant reduction. the big question is why. i was on the other side of the border recently in mexico, speaking with a 15-year-old boy from honduras. he is staying at a mexican shelter and he's been there for a month. his journey stalled because of stories easy heard that border patrol is no longer helping you by taking you north. brian is his name. he's referring to the women and children who are detained by border patrol and later escorted on buses or planes to the rest of the country to stay with u.s.-based sponsors while they wait for a court date with an immigration judge. that sparks outcries, we've seen protests and some anger of proposed legislation to a

address that issue is filtering down to the border, reefing on these ears. migrants in a fight for flight instinct are in a time of desperation, so information is distorted. it remains to be seen how long this effect of keeping them across on the mexican side will hold. >> what about the federal and texas state governments beefing up security at the border? are we seeing any progress on that front? >> you are seeing that on all fronts. we know that ice has had an operation targeting the criminal element with smugglers, human smugglers being the target of an investigation there. they released new information that 150 human smugglers have been arrested just in the last 30 days. >> live from dallas, thank you very much. >> we are following a breaking story out of ukraine this

morning. it is confirmed two fighter jets were shot down. ukrainian fighter jets allegedly by pro-russian rebels. >> seeking out safety where they can find it, palestinian sharing space just trying to survive. we'll take you inside a house where eight families now struggle to cope with the effects of war. >> wanted man, a suspect takes police on a wild chase that comes to a dramatic end. >> a mother's instinct finally kicks in. stories captured from our citizen journalists around the world. we are back in just two minutes.

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not confirmed if it was a twister that touched down. >> don't mess with a mama giraffe. she will do anything to protect. she does that to protect her cub. that includes fighting off a pride of lions. she sends them scurrying away. >> welcome back. we're following the breaking story out of ukraine. it has been confirmed that two fighter jets were shot down by pro-russian rebels. >> first to israel where the u.n. says 120,000 palestinians have fled fighting inside gaza. >> as nick schiffron shows us, many are sheltering in crowded homes or anywhere they find safe. >> if you're a 6-year-old in gaza, you've already survived three wars. today, without the kindness of cousins, these children would be homeless. they and their families fled

israeli shelling to this four room house that now hosts these families. it's not easy to in still order, the children are loud and traumatized from the battles they've seen and heard. >> i told them don't be afraid, stay home. my children refused. >> this was their neighborhood, used to fire rockets into israel. the israeli military bombarded it. the rocket launchers are in residential areas, so they heard incoming and outgoing. she demonstrates how she blocks the sound. >> when you put your fingers in your ears, does that mean you can't hear anything? >> a little bit. >> in all, 100,000 gazes, win in 15 have evacuated their homes. about half of crowded into homes

they consider, they hope are safer. this one usually sleeps five. today, they sleep wherever they can find room for a mattress. >> i heard bombs, very loud. i got scared and we fled the house. fear isn't exclusive to children. this 58-year-old started walking with his kids three nights ago. he didn't know where they would go. >> i can't hide my feelings and started crying. i was in the street and wasn't sure whether we'd live or die. >> they moved to the street because they thought it would be safer, but nowhere is safe. i hear the constant sound of an israeli drone. just up the street, this house was destroyed by an israeli strike. a member of hamas once lived here. >> seconds later, just a few blocks away, palestinian fighters fire rockets into israel. >> god willing, there will be a

ceasefire and we can return to our home and live in dignity as we used to. >> every night, a family dinner is prepared, but she has no kitchen, so keeps the dinner in the coolest part of the house and the food is provided by charity. >> if you were home and there was peace, what would you be doing? >> as long as this war goes on, i will stay in this house. as long as this resistance wants, i will stay in this house and i will be with them. >> across gaza, this scene is repeated everywhere, even here. there's a whole other family who fled living upstairs. >> nick schiffron joins us live from gaza. you know no amount of covering your ears can wife away all those images the kids are seeing. is there any hope among them that the situation will get better? >> i think right now there is

desperation for the situation to get better and right now, that hope rests with secretary of state john kerry. when he makes these kinds of trips, everyone here talks about it and hopes that he succeeds. you talk to both sides and they really down play expect is as for a ceasefire. that's because the two sides really are very far apart. what hamas wants is the end of the israeli siege and blockade and the opening of the southern border with egypt. israel is not willing to lift that siege at all. on israel's side, they are inside gaza and promise during these funerals, four israel soldiers killed will finish the job and that means eliminating all of the tunnels that lead from gaza into israel. military officials tell me that takes days or weeks to actually finish. both sides have their agendas, both sticking to their guns. u.s. officials say that at least kerry flew there.

at least he defied the f.a.a. ban to fly to tel-aviv. he is spending his time, he creates a center of gravity of diplomacy and that they say is better than the center of gravity here with all this violence. >> we'll see if anything comes out of that. thank you. >> high speed chase in louisville landing a man in jail. this video shows what happened. the suspect is weaving in and out of traffic with police close behind. driving through parking lots and front yards, police rammed the car. they cornered him in a nearby parking lot. >> there is a major weather story on the other side of the world. let's get the latest on the typhoon hitting taiwan from nicole mitchell. >> that is passing through taiwan now making its second landfall in china, it's causing damage in its wake. this is the radar image as it

moved over the island. some rainfall amounts really significant, almost 18 inches in five hours, so flooding, driving rain with those hurricane force winds. those were a couple of our problems as all of this moved out. you can see just how driving and battering that wind was as it moved across the island. as we continue off and look at the tropics, that's not the only thing we are keeping our eye on. this just outside the lesser antilles, it is a tropical disturbance right now, a depression, looks like just bringing squally weather not anticipated to develop. that is staying on the good side. >> keep our fingers crossed. >> a network of tunnels at the center of the israel-gaza conflict. >> israel said they are used by terrorists, palestinians say it is a lifeline. >> a kayak trip turns into a wild ride on the back of a

whale. >> i want to do the right thing and be on the right side of history. >> a california mayor shares his personal immigration story. why he says he is now ready to offer shelter for children coming to the u.s. alone. >> immigration gives us our images of the day. u.s. border patrol agents searching and detaining undocumented migrants trying to cross the u.s. mexico border. 1,000 national guard troops have been called to help. help.

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>> the really big expense hasn't been tested in the arctic >> could climate change reveal new battlefields? >> countries are developing combat capabilities fault lines al jazeera america's hard hitting... >> they're blocking the doors... >> ground breaking... >> we have to get out of here... truth seeking... award winning investigative documentary series the battle for the arctic only on al jazeera america >> the defense minister of ukraine said two military planes have been shot down near russia. >> we are joined by phone from donetsk. what can you tell us about this latest incident? >> ukrainians are saying that two of their su25 planes assessing ukrainian forces on

the ground were brought down by accept are a activities. they say the planes were trying to maneuver away from missiles shot at them from ground. the pilots managed to get out of the planes before they were brought down. one of the top military commanders say only one plane was brought down, a bit of a contribution here. just to remind you that these two planes or one plane, depending who you believe were brought down close to where malaysia airlines flight 17 was brought down. >> you did talk to igor the

shooter, you indicated man pads may have been used, ruling out the possibility that the buk missiles were used again? >> that is what the ukrainians are saying, that man pads were used in this particular circumstance. they have been used against ukrainian war planes and transporter in the past 10 days. that information is clear. of course, there is

>> the black boxes have arrived in the u.k. we are in london this morning. what will investigators be looking for in those flight recorders? >> the flight recorders have two primary purposes. they first do all the data of the plane and secondly there's the voice recorder, which records all the audio. british authorities say that they expect that they will be able to start downloading data and audio files within the next 24 hours, but it could take sometime to actually do the

analysis, maybe as long as two weeks. the authorities in britain will start to sift through it. they hope to get some information, because of course with the site itself in eastern ukraine being so compromised and with this new information of continued fighting and the difficulty and the security measures that are needed to get investigators on the ground, these black boxes may actually be the only evidence that investigators are really able to get their hands on. stephanie. >> we want to turn to the crisis in the middle east this morning. the death toll in gaza stands at 65, 29 israeli soldiers have been kid. the focus of israel's ground operation is to destroy tunnels used by hamas. >> many tunnels are buried beneath civilians homes. >> they are the new battleground.

some of these can be up to 90 feet underground and stretch one and a half miles long. they are reinforced with concrete and equipped with electricity and food. troops clashed inside israel just across the border after the militants emerged from a northern gaza tunnel 500 yards from an israeli neighborhood. >> hamas militants are using the tunnel system to carry out attacks such as abduction of israeli civilians and soldiers alike. according to the middle eastern website, a recent palestinian militia document says tunnels from gaza to israel are a com bad tactic to surprise the enemy and strike it a deadly blow that doesn't allow a chance for survival or escape or allow him to chance to confront and defend itself. that's why the israeli army has made these tunnels their target.

there are possibly 1,000 tunnels throughout gaza running under civilian homes, stashed with a stockade of weapons smuggled from egypt. israeli air strikes destroyed many of the tunnels but comes at a cost to innocent lives. some people do not have tunnels under their homes and yet her home was demolished twice by israeli attacks. >> the palestinians say the tunnel system is their lifeline and they were built in response to the israeli and egyptian blockade of gaza, now stretching into its seventh year. >> we want to go now to jim walsh, a security associate with m.i.t. security studies program. we want to go to the breaking news we have followed this morning, reports that two more planes were shot down by russian rebels. our reporter saying that man pads were used.

describe these and how low would this plane have been flying as opposed to malaysia airlines flight 17. >> i think that's exactly the right question to ask, because you have to draw a distinction between surface to air missiles which are fairly activity indicated, can reach planes at heights greater than the malaysian plane was shot down where as man pads, shoulder fired missiles are dangerous but are not going to reach into that altitude. they often are used to try to get planes traditionally as they take off or are landing when they're most vulnerable. this is not an s.a.11, but still is a dangerous weapon. it appears as if they are continuing to be supplied to the rebels, and then one of the questions in my mind is if this conflict is ever settled, what happens to those man pads? are they sold on the black

markets to someone else in another country? they are not as dangerous as an s.a.11 but to civilian or soft targets would be very dangerous. >> this would be consistent with the surface to air missiles, buk missiles were moved out of the country and wouldn't have been available to the rebels anyway. >> exactly. of course i think obviously putin must have learned a lesson here. i don't know what he was thinking to begin with, whether it was rebel fingers that pull the trigger here or whether it was russians who were asleep at the wheel, this has created a tremendous political backlash for him. it's not surprising that they've withdrawn the more sophisticated systems, but obviously this war continues, it's intensifying, if there were one or two planes shot today, add that to the three shot down last week, that's going to begin to take its toll on the ukrainian air force at some point. >> i want to go back to the middle east tunnels.

how many tunnels does hamas had and they are dual purpose. >> yes, as to the question how many, i think the real fundamental answer is we don't know. when you cover a war zone, you can't really rely on the parties that are fighting to give you accurate information, because they're trying to frame the truth to suit them. hamas isn't saying anything, not surprisingly. they're mum as far as the number of tunnels. the israeli defense force say they identified more than 20. there's a report in the jerusalem post that u.s. intelligence officials believe there are at least more than 60. the bottom line is we don't know, but that is a top priority, to find them. you are right to say different tunnels for different purposes. those bordering egypt were economic in response to the blockade to get materials,

weapons, household goods from egypt into gaza. and then another set of tunnels to protect the hamas leadership and to store weapons and hide them so they are not damaged and finally the last set that you talked about in that last piece, which is tunnels used to execute operations, kidnappings, attacks, that sort of thing. >> the airport is now closed, the f.a.a. has to make a decision today. if i'm thinking about boarding a flight, is that a risk, even if the f.a.a. decides to open that airport? >> i think the f.a.a. isn't going to -- and i think i heard a rumor that they may have already opened that up, i'd have to confirm that, but at some point they will open it up. the f.a.a. is going to err on the side of caution in the aftermath of what happened in the ukraine. if the f.a.a. said it's clear, i would buy that. that's a safety judgment, not a political judgment. >> jim walsh, thank you very

much. >> it has been one month since three of our journalists were convict in egypt. aljazeera correspondents have now spent 207 days in prison. a court sentenced them to seven years in jail for allegedly supporting the banned muslim brother hood, a third sentenced to 10 years. several were tried and sentenced in absentia. >> no boko haram attacks on a nigerian village have killed parents of school girls kidnapped four months ago. residents say at least 11 of the parents have now died. today marks 100 days since 276 school girls were abducted. president goodluck jonathan met the families face-to-face on tuesday. >> texas lawmakers moving to keep child migrants out of their

communities. a ban was passed on housing minors, saying it would affect public safety and their health. similar measures have been passed in two other cities in texas. while some cities are trying to keep children from coming in, others are opening their doors. we have that story. >> in this rather plain, nondescript office is the mayor working the phone. he doesn't sit still long. twenty minutes later, we jump in his car for a quick city tour. >> this is a technology center. >> next stop, he's chatting are residents in a local curio shop. >> i'm sure it's an ordeal for them to come here from guatemala. >> they are talking about the tens of thousands of migrant children coming into the u.s. without documentation.

he is throwing his city's support behind the salvation army's proposal to bring some to a temporary shelter. >> you understand we are talking about children. >> he was once one of those children. he was four when his family fled mexico. >> i came into this country without documents. i was smuggled in, but i do remember the ordeal that i went through, and i just imagine what these kids went through. >> the fading paint on the proposed site tells us this used a be an immigration and naturalization facility. it hasn't been used in years. the windows are so dirty, you can barely see inside, but it is part of a long stretch. if you look down this way, warehouse buildings have been renovated by the salvation army, the group operating a homeless shelter down the block and also a medical facility. the salvation army tells us they are not ready to publicly talk

about their plan but have applied for funding through the department of health and human services. >> nearby, in the city's newly dedicated park, residents are all for helping the children. >> if we can help them move forward with anything that they have, why not? why not do it? it's not complicated. >> but it is complicated. as we've seen in marietta, california, hundreds of protestors blocked buses from entering a customs processing center. back at the proposed site in bell, valencia does worry not everyone will be so welcoming. >> the concern that i have is people that are going to yell at them and scream at them. that's my biggest concern is people showing america the ugly. >> i want to do the right thing and be on the right side of the history. >> the approval will ultimately be made by the federal government.

in the meantime, the mayor will seek support for a humanitarian effort he says is personal, not political. >> aljazeera, bell, california. >> officials in venezuela started clearing what is called the world's tallest slum. the 45 story tower has been abandoned for years, but 3,000 needy venezuelans are living there. hundreds are being moved into new government built homes. that building has become synonymous with gang and drug violence. >> a chinese town has been on lockdown for days because of the playing. a 38-year-old man died from the infection. chinese officials set up a quarantine zone in the city, affecting 30,000 people. there are fears the man came in close contact with 150 people before he died. >> there is a racially charged murder trial getting underway in detroit. >> a white homeowner says he was

simply defending his property when he shot and killed a young black woman. r

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android mobile device. download it now >> we are following breaking news right now. ukraine's defense ministry confirms pro-russian separatists have shot down two fighter jets near the russia border. it is not clear the fate of the pilots. our reporter on the ground in eastern ukraine says that she has heard that the pilots ejected safely. stay with us for the latest coming up at the top of the hour. >> a major fruit recall involves peaches, plums, and nectarines sold at costco, trader joe and wal-mart. they could be contaminated. look for the brand name sweet to eat and harvest sweet. no illnesses are reported. >> chrysler is recalling

7,092,000 jeep s.u.v.s because of ignition defect. this is chrysler's second recall in 2014. >> opening statements set to get underway in a racially charged murder trial in michigan. a white homeowner admits shooting and killing an unarmed black teen on his porch. aljazeera's bisi is in detroit. why is this case sparking so many protests there? >> when the teen was killed last november, there were several civil rights groups who came forward saying they believe that this shooting was the result of racial profiling, but the defense says that race was not a factor. >> second degree murder, manslaughter and felony use of a firearm, the charges could send the 55-year-old to prison for life. the death of the 19-year-old

brought protestors into the street. he told police it was 4:30 in the morning when he heard banging on the door of his home. he claims he feared for his life when he opened his front door and fired his .12 gauge shotgun. mcbride, who was unarmed was shot dead. >> the man then made a call to 911. >> i just shot somebody on my front porch with a shotgun standing on my pox banging on my door. >> he thought the teen was trying to break into his home, calling her aggressive and violence. >> with this case, there's so much prejudgment and speculation. >> mcbride's family believes the young detroit woman arrived on wafers doorstep looking for hem yuha imagine in my wildest dreams what that man feared from

her, to shoot her in her face. >> toxicology reports reveal mcbride's blood alcohol level was three times the legal driving limit and marijuana was found in her system. she was driving in detroit earlier in the evening where she struck a parked car. she walked away from that scene and hours later ended up in the neighboring suburb where she was shot. >> you took a life. you took a beautiful life. >> many here are comparing mcbrides death to say von martin, shot and killed in florida two years ago by a mixed race neighborhood watch volunteer. prosecutors say if he was afraid, he should have stayed behind his locked door and called police. civil rights advocates say it's another case of racial profiling and the judge in the case asked potential jurors if they'd be influenced by race. >> in detroit, you always have racial issues, and so even though race is not a part of

this, race is going to be noticeable, so that's a concern for the judge. >> the jury consists of seven men and seven women. four are black, dozens of people are expected to take the stand. this trial is expected to last several weeks. >> thank you. >> here now to discuss this case further is jami flied, legal contributor or aljazeera america. you heard race is the elephant in the room here, but what arguments does this case boil down to? >> it boils down to whether or not this defendant was afraid onejectively and reasonably, so he's going to have to testify and convince this now diverse jury that he was afraid on that night in question, and then there is the question of whether or not this 60 was creating that fear, was she aggressive, and that is always very, very

difficult, why should the victim be on trial when in fact she was shot dead on the night in question. >> difficult to prove that she was aggressive. the defense is expected to claim the shooter had sudden fear. what does that mean as a legal term and how does it play into this case. >> it's not really a legal term. we are going to have opening statements. i expect the judge will give this jury some initial instructions on the law, so there will be a context for the jury going forward, pretrial instructions and there will be a sense for this jury of what they should be looking for as the evidence comes in. that will include the sense of imminent fear of death or immediate bodily injury. i wasn't thinking clearly, i was immediately afraid that i was under attack and i could die and i was in my home, which is a key factor here. >> he was in his home, but she was on his porch. how significant is that? >> very, although this is a

stand your ground state, so that takes the traditional castle doctrine, i'm at home in my castle and have a right to defend my home out on to the streets. as we saw in the trayvon martin case. it was significant that he was in his home. we don't have to get in the debate of being on the street. she didn't cross the threshold. he could have left the door locked and called 911. that's going to be a significant factor that prosecutor will work with. >> how is this different than the trayvon martin case from florida. >> you're talking about a tall man six feet tall and small woman. we are talking about him being in the home which works for the defense and in the trayvon martin case, you are talking about two we will actively equally sized guys rolling armed and whatever we know or don't know about the trayvon martin case, we do know there was an altercation and two people rolling around and eventually a gun discharges. here, there's never contact between the victim and

defendant. we don't even get to stand your ground, because he's in his home and can race self defense in his castle. even if you talk about his state of mind, whatever your defense, there's never contact made, no altercation. it's a much harder defense, i think for mr. wafer than it was for george zimmerman. >> back to you. >> a wild ride for two kayakers in argentina. they wound up on top of a whale. they decided to get up close and personal and get a view of the pod of the giant animals and one suddenly came up from below. their cameras were rolling. both of them are now said to be ok. >> let's look at the weather across the u.s. today. meteorologist nicole mitchell is back. >> you are saying they're ok, i'm thinking wow, how awesome that would be to go through that experience. as we go across the country

today, we've had a boundary that's really made a difference. it has cooled down all those heat advisories and excessive heat we had. humidity is lower, so those heat indexes in the hundreds are a thing of the past. well to the south, tulsa on the other side of the boundary still on the warm sector of that today. most of the region has cooled. you can see with the boundaries showers moving into the great lakes. that will move east tonight. that's something that we will definitely want to watch out there. >> thank you. >> coming up tomorrow on aljazeera america, more on those two planes shot down over ukraine today. >> we'll continue to follow secretary of state john kerry visit to israel, the state department just releasing an image of him meeting with palestinian president abbas this morning. >> the news continues from doha at the top of the hour. >> have a great morning. at morning.

>> as the death toll keeps rising on both sides in the gaza conflict, world leaders step up efforts to end the fighting. >> all of these dead civilians should weigh heavily on our consciousness. >> the un says israel may have committed war crimes. hello there, i'm felicity barr, you are watching the al jazeera news hour life from doha.