you in moscow, russian president vladimir putin is striking a defiant tone in the face of

european and u.s. sanctions. and look at that geyser. even the pablo court was underwater and will need significant repairs. >> we begin this hour in the middle east where israel declared a four-hour humanitarian window in gaza today, but much of the territory did not see a pause in the fighting. hours earlier gaza health officials say 19 people died when israeli tank shells hit an u.n. school. israel said that hamas spider rocketfired rockets and mortars from that area. nick schifrin is in gaza.

let's start off with the attack. give us the details. >> david, this was an attack that produced some of the horrific i thinks we've seen in the last few weeks, and we've seen a lot of horrific images. nearly 200 people were injured by strikes in a crowded marketplace in eastern gaza, a place that has really been the epicenter of the fighting here. so many airstrikes into this community by israel because so maniment tease with the tunnels from gaza lead into this area. israel had declared a cease-fire for a few hours, but said it did not apply to the neighborhoods it was already operating. the people did not listen to israeli warnings. they were out. they filled a marketplace. and that is when the israel hit.

it overwhimmed the local hospital and it's ran out of blood. the israeli military is still not commenting on that strike. they have not said what happened. >> there was also another strike in an u.n.-run school being used as a shelter. you visited that. tell us about it. there was exchange of gunfire, arres arrest artillary. these schools are no longer functioning schools. they are now shelters.

families who have fled the fighting have come here to gaza city. they have hope. they have assumed that these shelters would be safe. this is now the sixth one to be attacked. the u.n. is very strongly condemning this. the statement says that children dying is an affront to all of us and a source of universal shame and that ech message was echoed by secretary general ban ki-moon . >> this demands accountability and justice. i repeat again my call on israel and all parties to do vastly more to insure the safety of these sites and the security of women, children and families who have sought protection there. i call on the parties to stop the fighting, that we agree on an immediate unconditional

cease-fire. >> reporter: nearly 200,000 gazaens are now living in shelters just like that one. israel has warned them to got out of the shelters closest to the fighting, but they ask, where do we go? we don't think that the shelters are safe. there is no room in the neighborhoods we're coming from, because it's much too dangerous and in gaza city these private homes who are taking residents, we saw one of them that is for six or seven people. there are 50 people in it right now. it's very crowded and the u.n. saying this is a humanitarian crisis and people have nowhere to go. >> it's 1:00 a.m. thursday morning in gaza, what are you seeing and hearing right now? >> well, it has not been a quiet night, david. there has been some attacks very close to our hotel. this is a neighborhood from which we've seen rockets fired. we've also seen israeli strikes

target some of the fields that are around here where those rockets are fired. and in eastern gaza, the same place where that market strike happened earlier today. we're hearing the constant boom, the rumbles, really, of massive israeli bombs. and this is yet another difficult night for the people of gaza and this is another night for the israeli forces continue to try and get at this palestinian fighters and get at these tunnels that go from gaza into israel. >> al jazeera's nick schifrin reporting live from gaza city. nick, thank you. the conflict in gaza has made it very dangerous for people to leave their homes, but some residents have no choice when it comes to buying food and feeding their families. charles stratford reports. >> reporter: they know there is a risk of an israeli airstrike but they need bread for their families. men on one side, women on the other. and queues getting longer every day. many of the people here are

invest areas destroyed by israeli bombing. >> there's a lot of fear nowhere is safe. even though we're afraid we can't go without bread because there are so many waiting at the house for food. >> reporter: because there is absolutely no security in gaza, nowhere safe for people to go, people start queuing for brett and other produce they can get hold of early in the morning. this queue began around 7:30. there will be people standing on the streets literally risking their lives until the bakery closes around 9:00. >> reporter: the friendship bakery has been here for generations. it produces hundreds of breads and pastries over day. many small businesses like have have been hit.

the demand for bread is so high that they won't sell more than 100 pieces of bread per person. >> there are more than 20 people in my house. it's not enough. i'll come early tomorrow morning to get more. >> many of the stores closed since the conflict began and main buy for relatives who were forced to escape bombardment in other areas. >> we have so many people staying in my house. we have no drinkable water or electricity. i'm old and weak but i come because we need bread. >> a hundred of these breads cost 100 shekels. that's around $33. the demand increases the longer this conflict goes on. >> the more the rockets, the more we wait. >> reporter: it is now this man's turn. he wants to buy more than is allowed. >> i waited four hours to buy 50 pieces of bread for my family. i have more than 200 pool in my

building. i'm not afraid because god will protect me. >> like food faith brings comfort in this conflict. he pays for his bread and steps outside. al jazeera, gaza. >> a reminder now this conflict by the numbers so far more than 1360 palestinians have been killed including hamas fighters. more than 7200 people have been injured. the united nations says more than 240,000 palestinians in gaza have been displaced. on the israeli side 59 people have been killed. most of them were israeli soldiers. we're learning a bit more about the new sanctions on russian officials. the united states and several european countries are trying to punish vladimir putin's inner circle over the ukraine. this is on top of restrictions of russia's energy, military and financial sectors. analysts say the new restrictions could have an

affect on russia's already fragile economy. in the midst of the pressure on both sides of the ail, congress is urging military pressure as well. they're calling for the united states to send military aid to ukraine. the calls to the obama administration, john terrett, what do you know about this briefing. >> reporter: the pressure is to send munition as aid to the ukraine. it's not just republicans calling for that but the democrats as well. they say its time has come to send more than emergency rations to kiev. in the meeting afterwards we heard from two leading democra democrats, here's how bill nelson put it regarding the idea of munitions. >> i think it's going to take

the support of the united states not just with things like mres and canteens, not just things like education and training. i think it's going to go over the course of the next six months that we need to supply them with the weapons that they can protect themselves. >> reporter: we have not heard much from the administration today. the president has been traveling. we have just seen the president come back on marine one. but they are striving for a diplomatic solution for what is happening in eastern ukraine. >> so that point yesterday before the president left on his trip he was asked about providing arms new weapons for the ukraine. thit was suggested that the ukrainian military is doing just fine. did anything change in terms of what the administration said today to members of congress, and what are senators saying as

far as the newest sanctions are concerned. >> reporter: well, speaking to your earlier point regarding sanctions you have to remember ever since russia moved on crimea and since the downing of mh-17 the president of the united states has been seeking to punish russia in some way but he can't do it on his own. there is only 4% trade between the u.s. and russia whereas there is 50% trade between the e.u. and russia. the u.s. has imposed a fresh round of sanctions and they're backed by the european union. in the past they've targeted olagarts and companies. the targeted powerful sectorial sanctions that they've been talking about for some time and they're designed to impinge russia's economy, not now and

damage the global economy but in the future. things like research and development, that sort of thing. nonetheless on capitol hill there is pressure for more sanctions. they don't think that the administration has gone far enough. here is senator lindsey graham from south carolina. >> we should accelerate the sanctions. we should hit them yet again including gas and go after putin as an individual, and then we should come up with a plan to train and equip the ukrainian military at a pace that they're able to sustain to make sure that the people are fighting in ukraine for democratic principles, have a democratic ally. >> reporter: now the washington response from the big state banks targeted in this latest round of sanctions say the sanctions are politically motivated and unfair, but there is an off road for president putin and the people of russia. if they stop supporting to the separatist in ukraine and make nice with kiev, the sanctions

will go away. >> onter receipt, thanks for that report. the united nations' secretary general said fighting in eastern ukraine is interfering with the investigation of the malaysian airlines flight mh-17. government forces have attacked a rebel stronghold. ban ki-moon is calling for an end of hostilities there. he said investigators and forensic teams have been unable to go to the crash side. the ebola outbreak in west africa is prompting u.s. organizations to drop staff from the region. removing volunteers comes as several local health workers have died treating the virus. two americans were infected over the past week. this is the worst ebola outbreak on record. more than 600 people have died from the virus. the u.s. economy sprang back to life this spring after a bi bitter winter slope.

a very big boost. "real money" ali velshi joins us. what have we learned today? >> reporter: well, the u.s. economy is back on track. that's the initial take away from the gross domestic product for the second quarter. i say first estimate because these things change several times over the course of a year, but we had a bad beginning to the year. the second quarter seemed to have grown at an annual rate of 4%. if that's true, david, that's remarkable. 4% is a very, very strong annual growth rate. we're expecting that to slow down for the third and fourth quarters of the year, probably ending up at about 2.3% growth. the economy in the first quarter shrank about 2.1% negative. so we've got a lot of people skid that something was going wrong. but it turns out consumer spending on cars and other items helped to drive up the second quarter gains. the state and goal loft spending, the gdp is the

broadest measure of the economy. it's not all that efficient. it's too big to be efficient, but it's all we have. today we learned that the economy expanded 4% in the final half of 2013. so that was the fastest half a year in a decade. so you know, we had a bad first quarter. terrible weather as you know. people were very worried about the economy, and it seems in most cases things have popped back. >> all that popping back and spending all sounds good but as you know that's not the entire story. >> yes, it never is, especially with something as big as the economy. the government said that the economy grew at 2% per year over the three years ending at 2013. this remains the weakest economic recovery since world war ii. also the federal reserve chair janet yellen and her colleagues sounded a real note of caution about the job market in boring fed language they said that,

quote, the remain significant under utilization of labor resources. what that means is that we're not out of the woods yet on the labor market even though we've been creating more than 200,000 jobs a month for the last several months. too many people, david, remain unemployed or under employed. bear that in mind when you read tomorrow that businesses added 218,000 workers in july. the payroll company adp announced that today. that follows the gain of 281,000 in june, and of course friday, the big day, that is the monthly employment number we're expecting, a gain of 230,000 jobs. >> ali, i've had an impact on me. i cannot wait for that report on friday. ali velshi, you can catch his entire show. thanks at always. >> all right. >> cruise near ucla are cleaning up after a watermain broke and spewed 8 million gallons of

water onto the street. the 92-year-old watermain burst tuesday afternoon sending the geyser 30 feet into the air. the rupture shut down campus and closed nearby streets. and ucla's legendary basketball arena where there have been championships, ucla will be mopping up its own floor after surgeon mergeafter being submerged after water. and the arena, just renovated two years ago and the damage looks extensive. >> cruise worked through the night to get that water removed. the court is showing buckling and expansion. whether we'll be able to save that court, i don't know. >> as for outside of the arena, the break left a 15-foot hole in the street. water donations arrived in detroit today in response to the city'sbackdown on residents with

overdue bills. the massive water shut off campaign received international attention as donations pour in, the city is trying to find a way to handle delinquent customers. bisi onile-ere reports. >> reporter: outside of this west detroit church. [♪ singing ] over thousand bottles of donated water passed through the hands of volunteers. they're here in support of residents who have lost water service. >> there are thousands of people in detroit who don't have water. >> still? >> still. it's just unspeakable what is going on here. >> reporter: out roughly 90 million-dollar of unpaid bills the city of detroit launched a massive shut off to collect unpaid bills. more than a week' the city

issued a 15-day moratorium on the shut-offs. still donations are pouring in. this delivery comes all the way from west virginia. a state that earlier this year faced a water crisis of its own. after a chemical spill. >> there is a difference here. somebody made the decision we're going to cut off tens of thousands of people in the middle of summer from water. >> reporter: with the west virginia organization called keeper of the mountains. the group collected donations and loaded this 27-foot box truck with water for an effort they call thirsty for justice. >> we felt like we know how to do something here. we can get a thousand gallons of water up there, and it's a drop in the bucket, but it may inspire somebody else to get another thousand and somebody else after that, maybe it will have an impact. >> reporter: the bankrupt cities emergency manager handed mike duggen authority over the water

department. he is now working on a plan to better handle an issue and gained international attention for all the wrong reasons. >> i still don't think the people in the city who are truly in need have a clear idea where to go for help. we'll make the communication the outreach far more effective. >> until then, long time detroit activist maureen taylor is thankful for the outpouring of support. >> to come from west virginia and to drive a truck with tons of water in it, and to come up here to help folks is a pure act of solidarity and an act of love. i think it's what america is. this is what we are. >> reporter: and according to the mayor the 15-day suspension on water shut offs might be on an indefinitely hold. bisi onile-ere, al jazeera, detroit. >> coming up next in today's power politics, senate democrats believe they may have found a way to help these people and force house republicans to vote

on comprehensive immigration reform. we'll explain next.

>> in today's power politics there are 97 days until the midterm elections and the outreach to hispanic voters has become more intriguing. house republicans are moving forward with a proposal to deal with immediate influx of children crossing the border while the senate majority harry reid is stoking political fevers for the political end game. he said anything that clears the house could be the vehicle that eventually forces the house to vote on sweeping legislation passed by the senate. >> maybe it's an opening to have a comprehensive immigration reform. maybe we can do that. >> we've been looking for

something to do a conference on, it could deal with that. >> john boehner has refused to pass legislation. again, many republicans opposed to reform are fearful of infuriating latino voters do not want a big vote on this before the election. in the battle in control of the u.s. senate there are campaign attack ads today. bruce braley is now hammering joni ernst. >> she does to the believe there should be a national minimum wage. what is right for iowa? >> she believes iowans can survive on $15,000 a year. joni ernst. extreme ideas and wrong for iowa. >> in kentucky the newest attack ad is aimed at mitch

mcconnell, the highest ranking republican in the u.s. senate and is left in a tight race agains against allison lunder began grimes. >> i can never get him to answer this one, either. >> even some republicans say the creative jet civil barbs against mcconnell have been effective. and the koch brothers attacking mark prior. the issue here prior dismissing concerns about people losing insurance coverage under obamacare. >> while this is anecdote at a. >> we got a letter telling us that our policy was going to be canceled. you don't know if you're going to have insurance or afford

insurance. >> if someone tells you if you like it you can keep it, you believe them. >> finally the president politics sort of two months ago 15 democratic senators sent a letter to the owner of the washington redskins to change their name. hillary clinton said she also now believes the name should be changed. >> i think it is insensitive, and i think there is no reason for it to continue with a name of the team in our nation's capitol i would love to see the owners think hard. >> any suggestions? >> no, i'm i haven't thought a lot about that. >> fair enough. one clinton critic said that she made a case to rename the team the washington bandwagons. coming up, rush's new

sanctions calling the united states pretentious. and narcotic officers accused of robbing and kidnapping the people they were supposed to be arresting.

>> in moscow tensions are mounting over a new round of sanctions imposed on russia. russian leaders are blasting the move and now accusing the united states of being prosecutorial of taking the actions over russia's involvement in ukraine. we have the view from moscow. >> reporter: how dearly many in the west want to read this man's mind. he's a ruthless tactician and reckless gambler and some russian analysts believe he is in a tight spot.

>> he is under big pressure. he has no way out as far as strategies are concerned. >> reporter: russia's annexization of crimea, and the fall out of from the falling of malaysian airline mh-17. it appears vladimir putin has few good options. abandoning the rebels would essentially surrender ukraine to the west. but the united states and europe would likely give sanctions another turn of the screw. for the moment russian public opinion is on the precedent' on the president's side. a poll suggests that 61% is not concerned about the sanctions. that's because the kremlin is adept of controlling information.

>> the fact is that a system of propaganda and political manipulation of public opinion is very efficient. it helped break the trend of diminishing trust in the legitimacy of the regime, and with its actions in ukraine the government has generated mass support. >> reporter: after that he is has perceived condescension from the west and few want their president to back down. >> the united states of america doesn't play in this game of concessions. putin should mix flexibility. >> that's unfortunately means the possibility that this conflict will escalate further can't be dismissed.

al jazeera, moscow. >> earlier we spoke with the director of the russian funded think tank the institute of democracy and cooperation, we asked what he thinks about the u.s. sanctions against russia. >> i think sanctions are always counter productive. as once joked 50 years after sanctions against cuba, castro is still there. regime is still there, and nothing is working. >> if it's not going to have an impact then why are russians complaining? >> it has impact, of course, but not that devastative as senator mccain and some other senators, lindsey graham and some other people would like to. of course, the business climate is changing. capital outflow is decreases but the attempt to isolate russia is

so stupid. it is so, you know, this is a delusional world. >> do you think it was delusional of the european and the united states to think that russia supplied the missiles that shot down that malaysian jetliner? >> oh sure. >> whose delusion? >> american intelligence did not provide any hard evidence. some people here in america television they say give us some hard evidence. no hard evidence. russia, by the way, showed all russian intelligence informati information. it was deployed in ukrainian territory in donetsk territory. >> you're saying that the americans did not provide the intelligence but certainly they provided the intelligence to angela merkel and european leaders because they were skeptical and the president had a conference call and then they were leading the charge for

sanctions. >> no, of course this big tragedy concerning the malaysian airline, which could be a kind of game changer, but even in this case you know, a lot of european business people they are struggling against sanctions. >> what do you suggest be done in order to ease the tensions and perhaps start the fighting in ukraine. >> oh, live, russia's position is very clear. at the beginning of the conflict when yanukovych was still the president, vice president biden was picking up the telephone and calling him and asking him not to use force against maidan, against the demonstrators. biden and obama, they have a chance to pick up the phone and call russi president, and say stop killing your people. >> because there are russian forces firing artillery shells

across the border. >> thousands kills and thousand s wounded. >> you believe that russia bears no responsibility for that? >> oh, listen, russia's position was very clear. cease-fire. negotiation at the table, and peaceful solution of the problem. >> since the first round of sanctions were imposed vladimir putin's approval ratings have not been affected. a gallo gallup poll earlier this month put his approval rating at 80%. threatening to sue president obama, the vote came along party lines. it authorizes house speaker john boehner to file a lawsuit accusing president obama of overstepping his authority and making changes to healthcare laws. there is john boehner leading

other business. democrats say the lawsuit is a waste of taxpayer money and designed to fire up the republican base for this fall's congressional elections. now back to our international news again. three people were killed in a suicide-bombing today at a northern college in northern nigeria. police say a female suicide-bomber blue herself up outside of a college administration building in the city of kano. nobody has claimed responsibility. this was the fourth suicide attack in kano since sunday. people there are shocked by the use of female suicide-bombers. >> reporter: this was just another busy workday when a wild explosion happened across the street. when he looked out there was a cloud of dust. people covered in blood running, a boy missing a leg screaming. the police said it was the work of a female suicide-bomber. >> i had never heard of a woman

doing something like this before. it's stairy. you have to be on the lookout. >> reporter: this was one of four locations sit in recent days in kano by female suicide-bombers said to be under 20. the female bomber came to the back gate of the shopping complex. the security guard said she looked suspicious. the guard asked her to lift her veil and that's when she detonated the bomb. there has been no claim of responsibility, boko haram is widely blamed. the new trend officials say appears to be tactical. >> nobody is expecting women to be involved in such tact i tactics. it is part of the terrorist strategy. >> reporter: president goodluck jonathan said the use of young women as suicide-bombers is a

new low in the inhuman campaign by these terrorists. a wicked exploitation of the girl child. boko haram's kidnapping of 270 kyle girls brought global news of the group's abuses. but they have been kidnapping girls since 2012. the first reported use of a suicide-bomber was reported in june this year. shortly after that the military issued a statement saying that these three women were arrested for spying for boko haram as well as recruiting women to join the women wing of the group. >> what i believe is that there is some sort of brainwashing involved. >> reporter: and with a notoriously propaganda leadership they say the use of

women is a trend expected to continue. al jazeera, kano, northern nigeria. >> in other news around the world today a mudslide buried a remote village in india killing 17 people. dozens of homes were washed away. rescuers are digging through dirt and debris and trying to find people who may be trapped but rain and bad roads are hampering rescue efforts. in turkey hundreds of people have taken to social media. according to news reports the deputy prime minister said a woman should not laugh shroudly in front of all the world and should preserve her decency at all time. critics have accused trying to eroad the strict separation of church and state. many refugees now call jordan home. some are dealing with serious and life-changing injuries. a group called handicap

internationals are helping them to recover. we have more now from aman. >> reporter: nadia became paralyzed from the waist down at 12 years of age. she was shot by a sniper in the spine while fleeing an army offensive on her syrian hometown. she came to jordan with her family two years ago seeking treatment. a physical therapist visits her at home once a week for rehabilitation session. the treatment is meant to prevent permanent disability and make her only semi independent but doctors say her injury is so severe she could never walk again. >> i can't walk any more. i've been deprived of my childhood at only 12 years old. >> reporter: there's no sensation in her lower body and she needs these braces to treat deformity caused by confined to a bed. she has been deprived from going to school.

her life-changing injury has devastated her parents. >> my heart is aching for my daughter. she was only 12 when she was injured, now she's 14. i call on all countries to look at my child and help her and other injured children like her. >> reporter: thousands of syrian suffer from war injuries. some are more treatable than others. mohammed is six. he comes here for physical therapy after a shrapnel injury. the same rocket attack on their home in syria killed his father and two sisters and also injured his mother. she, too, is being treated after being bedridden for a year. one in 20 syrian refugee suffers from injury with around 80% the direct result of war. according to a survey by the ngo handicap international, bombing, shrapnel and living in homes damaged by war were the main reasons for these severe injuries. thathanhandicap international

prides rehabilitation and walking aids and say the needs of these vulnerable syrians are immense. >> to do their pes their best and include people with these specific needs in these programs. >> reporter: back at nadia's house, her parents say no child in the world should suffer. >> there is nothing i want more than to walk again. but this may only be a distant dream al jazeera. >> back in the united states police officers turn suspects over drugs. roxana saberi is here with details and other news around america. >> reporter: david, in pennsylvania federal prosecutors raided the home of the six officers. they're veterans of the philadelphia police narcotics unit. today they were charged with robbing drug suspects and

stealing cash for over nearly seven years. another officer admitted that he planted drugs and stole $15,000 from a suspect. a judge in new york shut down a lawsuit brought by police officers. they say that the police officers' reputation was damaged. the judge ruled that their reputation was not harmed. flying high over a max security prison. they're looking for the person who launched the drone. they say it was full of cellphones, marijuana and other contra-ban and was headed for the prison. one man is under arrest. one suspect has yet to be found. the last surviving member of the crow that dropped the first atomi atomic drop atomic bomb

in hiroshima. he said he never wanted to never drop another bomb again. david his son said he never knew his father was involved in that mission until he read about it in a newspaper. >> coming up, how al-qaeda is making money from european country. plus some politicians in the united states recently tried to live on the minimum wage say they couldn't even make it a week. we will talk with one of them former ohio governor ted strictland. that's next. @j

>> talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america >> there is new information showing al-qaeda and it's affiliates are making more and more money were ransoms. the "new york times" report that european countries are the ones paying the most.

roxana saberi with more on this. >> reporter: european governments deny that they pay ransoms for hostages. but "the new york times" say they are paying up and ultimately bankrolling al-qaeda. images like these of hostages held at gunpoint are potent weapons. kidnappings like these now account for half of the group's revenue. much of it came from countries in europe. france paid $58 million. switzerland, nearly $12.5 million. and spain an austria together just over $14 million. and the ransoms are rising. in 2013 kidnappers received $2,000 per hostage. they now get up to $2 million. critics say governments should not be paying ransoms. >> they're paying for the citizens to be released. the result is citizens from

other countries are being killed. >> reporter: most of the money has gone to al-qaeda's three main affiliates, al-qaeda in northern africa, somalia, and in the yemen. >> they're going to use that money to launch attacks, and they launch attacks and kill other civilians. of course i can understand completely the desire to save a life on the one hand, but it does result in the loss of more lives further down the road. >> reporter: the u.s. has negotiated for the release of hostages for the recent trade of taliban prisoners for sergeant bowe bergdahl but they have resisted paying ran some. >> if we don't do agree, then this problem will go on and on. >> reporter: david, we reached out to the state department for a response, but we did not get an answer.

>> okay, roxana, thanks for that report. appreciate it. big names politicians have joined a campaign. they tried to live on $77 for one week. that's the figure for $40 fo 40 hours of wage. they both quit the challenge early because they found it was impossible to live on such a small amount. let's talk to the former governor of ohio. governor strictland, thank you for joining us. you didn't make it a full week on minimum wage. why did you abandon the challenge early. >> well, i had a great nephew who was going to be sent to afghanistan for six months. he came into town and we had one evening together and i took him out to eat. but you know, if i were a true minimum wageworker, getting a minimum wage salary, i probably

would not have been able to do that with my great nephew. that would have been a shame because i think people ought to have the ability--people who work hard, work full time should not have to live and count every penny in order to just to meet their basic needs for food and shelter. >> what were the biggest difficulties in your experience of trying to live on minimum wage? >> transportation was part of the problem. it was hot during the week when i did this. it was over 90 degrees in washington, and i had a lot of walking to do, and so i found myself being tempted to hail a cab. i realized i couldn't do that because i just didn't have the money. the food was also a problem. i ate a lot of bologna, cheese, and bread. if you want to eat healthfully,

fresh fruits and vegetables, it costs a lot. what i found out was that i wasn't really living like a minimum wageworker. i was simply trying to experience at some level what so many people deal with day after day, month after month, year after year. it's a shame and our congress should do something about it. we should raise the minimum wage. it has not been raised for five years. people who work full time making $7.25 have an annual salary of $15,000. that's just simply not enough. >> governor, what about the argument from republicans that a large number of those people who are making minimum wage are teenagers or people who will not stay in that job for very long? >> well, they simply don't understand the demographics of the average minimum wage workers. two-thirds of the minimum wage workers are women. many of them are mothers trying

to support not only themselves but their children. now there are a few teenagers who may work for minimum wage, but because of the recession, because of the loss of jobs in this country it's hard to find a job, so we're finding more and more adults who have family responsibilities having to work for minimum wage jobs. sometimes they get two or three of those jobs, but trying to patch together enough to feed a family, and meet household expenses, it's really tough. >> what about the argument that you may actually decrease the number of jobs. this is the argument that republicans are making, if you raise the minimum wage, you decrease the number of people who are paid or get that job in the first place. >> those who don't want to raise the minimum wage will always find a reason or excuse, but the fact it we've raised the minimum wage in the past, and it has not

resulted in major job dislocation or job loss. the fact is that some people just don't believe in the minimum wage. they certainly don't want to raise it, so they continuously look for excuses. one of the excuses is we're concerned that it's going to cost poor people jobs. that's a disengenius argument. i don't think its supported by our historical experience, and i think these people simply don't want to raise the minimum wage. >> former ohio governor strict land, good to have you on the program. goothank you for joining us. >> it's good to be with you. >> black children are more likely than white children to drown. trying to change that and a couple of kids enjoying the benefits. and then it's "real money with ali velshi." >> coming up on "real money," economy back in black with

reasonable expectations. plus i'll tell you about the plans to export american crude oil will effect the price you pay at the gas pump. all that and more on real money.

>> i'm ali velshi, the news has become this thing where you talk to experts about people, and al jazeera has really tried to talk to people, about their stories. we are not meant to be your first choice for entertainment. we are ment to be your first choice for the news.

>> espn commentator stephen smith was suspended for his comments about domestic violence. he said women may share in the blame upon elements of provocation. he apologized saying it was the most egregious error of his career and he'll return to the show next week. children drown every year and the rates are not equal among different races of children. >> reporter: it's not heart to entice kaelyn into a swimmin swimming pool.

>> you heard about kids drowning? >> yes. >> reporter: florida has the highest number of drowning deaths in the u.s. of kids under the age of five. according to the center of disease control or cdc african-americans between 11 and 12 years old drown in swimming pools ten times more often than their white peers. not knowing how to swim is a key reason. the cdc said lack of access to swimming pools may also contribute to the racial difference in drowning rates. kaelyn and her seven-year-old brother kirk are taking advantage of free swimming lessons at this public pool. through a 5,000-dollar grant the city hopes to provide kids with what it calls a life-saving skills. >> by providing people with that

comfort zone saying this is what it's like when you take swimming lessons. it takes away the fear. >> reporter: in many african-american families that fear keeps generation after generation from learning how to swim. >> the parents are afraid of water, so they don't allow the kids. now when i grew up my mother would always say don't get into the water until you learn how to swim. you can't swim unless you get into the water. >> reporter: the swimming lessons have already shifted kaelyn and kurt's attitudes. >> i love swimming. >> reporter: you didn't love swimming before you had swim lessons, did you? >> nope. >> reporter: why? >> because i was afraid to do it, and not now. now i'm not afraid any more. >> reporter: so far only 40 kids have taken advantage of the free lessons. the city hopes with greater outreach once the school year begins more kids will jump in and learn.

al jazeera, florida. >> there was big news today about the u.s. economy. "real money with ali velshi" is next. i'm david shuster. thanks for watching. . >> america's economy bounces back in a big way, growth and shaking off the rough start at beginning of the year. also america gears up to export crude oil for the first time in decades. i'll tell you that that means paying more when you fill up at the grass pump. and joining forces in a multi million dollar deal. i'll talk to a man who says that embodies everything that wrong in