♪ this is al jazeera. i am richelle carey with a look at today's top stories. the israeli prime minister said the file will continue after the commission to destroy all of the cross border tunnels is complete. washington, thousands of protesters marched on the twhiet house could done dem the violence in gaza. the american doctor who contracted ebola is back in the u.s. getting treatment at an atlanta hospital. a water emergency in toledo. hundreds of thousands of people

told their water is toxic. again, tonight, in gaza where the fighting shows no signs of letting up. israeli tanks have a gun pulling out of some of the palestinyon territory. but israel's prime minister said the fighting will continue as long as necessary after the tunnels are destroyed. >> after completing the operation against the tunnels, the military will prepare for continuing action according to security needs and only according to our security needs. until we obtain the objective of returning security to you, the citizens of israel. >> hamas spokesperson says netanyahu's speech marked the failure of israel's military operation. >> a press conference by netanyahu was an attempt to repair the israeli spirit following the defeat before

palestinian resistance and the claims about destroying the tunnels were funny and groundless. the targets he claimed to have bombed were hundreds of women and children. the buildings of gaza that they destroyed. israeli officials say they will not participate in negotiations in cairo despite ainsurance palestinians could return to their home. more than 250,000 palestinians have certain shelter in u.n. -- refuge in u.n. shelters. the united nations says gaza's medical facilities are on the verge of collapse. the world body warned of a rapidly health disaster. >> 63 israeli soldiers have been killed. one was a thai national. 1,712 palestinians have died. the u.n. estimates around 80% of them are civilians. more than 9,000 have bone injured, two and a half thousand of those are children.

nicole johnston has the latest from gaza. >> reporter: we are at the united nations school on the outskirts here most have been here for 17 days. they have been told by the israeli army that they can return to their homes. around 2,000 people have gone back to take a look to see whether they have any homes left to take the mattresses, et cetera, but at this stage, they say they won't be permanently going back because they are too worried. they are too fearful about the situation. they have heard about the heavy bombardment that is continuing inside rafah and for now, they don't want to go back to their houses. so at this stage, there is still 4 and a half thousand people inside this u.n. school in a facility that only has room for around 1,000. >> thousands of pro-palestinian protesters swarmed the streets flu france. >> called on the french

government to impose sanctions against israel. demonstrate orders reenacted scenes showing palestinian women carrying slain children in their arms. the protest was authorized. there was a heavy police plex in the west bank. a funeral for a 20-year-old man shot in the chest while protesting army officials say they are investigating his death. >> in the united states, to the doorstep of the white house. thousands con verged on the streets of washington, d.c. they spoke out against the loss of civilian life in gaza and some called for an end to the u.s. financial aid to israel. halkett has more. >> thousands have gathered on the streets of washington to protest outside the white house shutting down traffic here to send a message to president obama and his administration, saying they no longer can watch the u.s. unconditional support of israel and attacks on gaza.

there have been near daily protests since the start of the conflict almost a month ago. this is by far the largest showing of public outcry saying that they cannot support their tax dollars funding the israeli military and calling attention to the rising number of palestinian casualties. the question now: is anyone listening? the u.s. congress which authorizes funding has just broken for a month-long recess and president obama, himself, is not at the whitehouse. this morning, playing golf and later, at camp david to celebrate his birthday. far away from the noise of these protesters. >> lots of emotion there a cease-fire remains elusive. john terrett with part of the story: what can you tell us? >> just a quick word about that

protest. they took over the whole of k street, the lobbying street in the washington, d.c. it was an extraordinary scene. it's not getting much coverage, though other than here on "al jazeera america." as far as the diplomatic process is concerned, the e job descriptions are in the process of concocting a peace plan. they are beginning negotiations that they hope will lead to something meaningful. now, that said, there will be a palestinian delegation on the ground in ecairo but not hamas and not the israelis. world leaders hope something will happen that will bring those two sides together. richelle, remember, cairo is the capital e egypt and the only arab nation to have signed a peace deal with tel aviv. the new president of egypt says he thinks the negotiations he is getting together do actually stand a real chance of success. take a look. >> the egyptian proposal is the real chance to find a solution to the crisis in gaza and end the blood shed.

>> now, richelle, as you know, one of the reasons that the 72 hour cease-fire was in place before this weekend began broke down was the capture of second lieutenant hadar golden of the israeli army. now, he may be still being held or he may be dead. nobody knows but the italian prime minister who joined president al sisi says that is crucial to peace going forward. >> in this respect, i also join the appeal of my colleagues in the last few hours and call for the immediate release of the israeli soldier who was kidnapped yesterday. >> meanwhile, richelle, just to reiterate, neither hamas nor the israeli government will be present. the two key players. richelle? >> house about the u.s.? how key of a player is the u.s.?

>> very key. as you know, but they won't be there either. i think at the moment, the united states has appropriately done all it can. we saws john kerry spending the last two weeks traveling the world in shuttle diplomacy around the middle east to europe and to other places trying to resolve this eissue. president obama yesterday in his impromptu news conference says the middle east crisis has been going on for a long time. that was a hint that he understands that a resolution to this issue may not be coming down the pike any time soon. pom yesterday said memorable, i thought, that they need to want it, meaning that both sides, hamas and the israelis need to want peace and he alluded to the northern ireland peace process. for years, there was hatred in northern ireland and finally one day, the two sides aagreed on something and came together. now, at the moment, there is no sign of that happening in the

middle east, richelle. >> when you talk about wanting it, sometimes, what people want and what their leadership wants isn't always the same thing. john terrett? >> absolutely. >> john terrett, thank you so. nearly a month our correspondents have been on the ground in the middle east covering this latest conflict between israel and hamas. they have seen violence firsthand from airstrikes to rockets, grounds innovations. tonight, a look at some of their best reporting during the 25 day long conflict. >> gaza, witness to warp airs tonig tonight. al call for federal prosecution for the police officer who reportedly killed al man? >> they tried to arrest him for selling allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes. today, his wife joined a chorus calling for federal charges.

attorney general eric colder said the justice department is monitoring the investigation. one of two americans infected with the ebola virus arrived in atlanta this morning. he contracted while volunteering in lineria. he was evacuated with a u.s. medical plane. the aircraft landed at dobbins a air force base in atlanta and he was taken to emery hospital. more from al jazeera's robert rate in atlanta. >> reporter: at approximately 11:20 a.m. hear this saturday, a private chartered jet come from lineria africa landed at dob ins outside of atlanta carrying one of the ebola infected aid workers from america. dr. kent brantley, 33 years old, an american from texas, got off of the plane at his own will in a haz-mat suit, was put into an ambulance and driven here to the campus of emery hospital where he got off of the ambulance

again at his own will, walked into this isolation unit that the cdc and emery built 12 years ago where he will be treated over the course of the next few weeks to try to stabilize his condition more. a press conference a lotorium university, one-of the main doctors, the infectious disease doctors explained why this unit is capable of taking these patients in. >> we have a special containment unit' which has been developed with the assistant of the subject experts at the centers for disease control and pressure intervention and, together with them, we have developed the unit, which can safely care for a patient with a serious communecable disease delivering the highest level of care required including intensive care unit . >> i am occur doctors say they are going to manage em they have been working with the f.d.a. i. he not exactly sure what that means, whether it is anti-bodies

or some sort of fluids they are going to be put into these patients but will have to wait to seal. the private jet, it has left dobbins air force head today maine to refuel and head today liberia to sppick up the second aid worker, nancy writebol is expected here early next week. if you look at the timetable, odds are she will probably be landing here in atlanta on monday then be brought to the isolation unit here in atlanta. now, one thing that doctors are stressing is that they feel that because of the modern healthcare they have here and the isolation unit, that they can actually help ebola victims much better than what's going on africa where we are seeing 60 to 90% mortality rates because they just don't have the systems in place to treat these patients. as we speak right now, there are more than 1300 people sickened over in west africa and more than 700 killed, dead in the deadly infectious disease

outbreak of ebola in history. one last note, this is the first time that any patient stricken with ebola virus has been brought to the united states. >> robert ray report from atlanta. earlier, i spoke with dr. celine gounder, if we should be surprised dr. brantly was able to walk out of the ambulance >> sprooiftsdz but not everybody process with their ebola symptoms as quickly as others. it can be two days to two weeks. he may be in the earlier days and he may have responded to some treatment. >> let's talk about the fact he is here now. is there any reason to be concerned that ebola is actually being treated in the united states right now? >> i would say no. now, yes, brantley was a healthcare worker. he did get ebola but he was working in very different circumstances on the ground in lineria, completely different healthcare systems, infra

structures available. here in the united states, we have very good infection control measures en at a regular hospital >> even at your average hospital, you have negative pressure rooms which would allow you to contain a patient with tuberculosis or air bone disease. >> he was working in a different environment. >> yes. >> which was why he was susceptible to it and the people treating him will be in a different condition? >> and they will only be responsible for him and writebol whereas in linebiera and others action you have physicians working with 115 degree temperatures in their suits. they are having to attend to 50 patients each, and they have limited resources. so, it's a completely different situation. >> can you tell us how this outbreak, how this outbreak, pardon me, spread so quickly? is it because of some of the conditions you just talked about? >> yes. so that's part of the issue. these are also countries racked by civil war, poor goverance, porous borders between the countries leaving out nigeria because there has been just one

case there. there is a lot of trades between the countries. the other issue that has led to increased transmission is stigma and that's actually what we are dealing with here as well. but, you know, people are not coming, you know, forward for medical attention because they are so afraid. the name literally does strike fear in people for sure. so how have son people been able to survive? people do survive? what's different about them than other people? >> some has to do with on you quickly you come forward for medical attention. those coming later because of stigma, it's sad because they are missing out on some of the potential benefits they could be receiving but the way ebola kills somebody is essentially, it drops your blood pressure so you are not getting adequate perfusion blood to the organs and develop organ failure. it weakens your immune system and can get other infections on top of that. you know, so in those countries, we can provide iv fluids to support their blood pressure but we are very limited. here, there is so much more that

we can offer. >> why don't we have a cure yet? >> part is it's a very rare deadly disease. to study a drug or a vaccine, you know, you need a patient population and people at risk. it's really hard to do that under normal circumstances. and there is ethical issues of doing that in the context of an outbreak as well. >> doctor celine gounder. quarantine inspectors are to look for anyone who may be infected with ebola. screening measures have been set up in togo. where a passenger who later died from ebola transferred onto a flight to nigeria. doctors are screening travelers in and out of the airport. more now on ebola. the virus usually has a death rate of up to 90% of those infected. this current epidemic has a 60% fatality rate. there is no cure. doctors are working on a vaccine. the latest death toll, 729 people. more on west african efforts to

stop the spread now in from articleaj's gerald tan. >> uniting against ebola. business leaders in see aierra leone's capitoltal free town are on a campaign to spread the word. >> we need to join together to make sure we fight against ebola because it has no remedy. >> a killer that has taken more than 700 lives in sierra leone, lineria and begin e this year. they have agreed to create an isolation zone. they have been meeting the world health organization chief making this appeal to the international community. you must support the extraordinary meyers, capacity, protective clothing, and other resources including financial

resources ebola is highly contagious and spread through direct contract. outbreaks have largely been restricted to africa. the sort of disease surveillance systems that can lock an outbreak down. >> ebola is one of the most life-threatening disease to see humans and attacks almost every cell in the body. there is currently no cure of vac -- or vaccine. a problem some blame on the lack of financial incentive for pharmaceutical companies to develop and one they say needs to be addressed. gerald tan, al jazeera. join us tonight, taking a deeper look at the ebola outbreak in west africa and the efforts to contain it at 5:00 p.m. eastern. in toledo, residents are being

warned. the city has a population of about 400,000 people. officials say there are dangerous levels of a toxin known as micro cistin. analogy bloom on lake eerie might be causing the problem. the stat state agencies and national guard are hoping to fwli college water. the governor declared a state of emergency and to truck water in from other parts of the state. >> we have short-term plans. we are going to get through the next 10 hours. i can tell you that. we are going to have water available in the next 10 hours for those that need it. if we need it beyond that 10 hours, we are going to accomplish that, too. >> people are snatching bottles of water off store shelves across the city as you can imagine. test results on the water are expected to be released in a little over an hour for now. >> will be at 7:30 eastern. a surge in violence in libya shows no signs of stopping. militants fired a rocket in the main fuel depot today. malitias have been fighting in the capital. it shut down the international

airport where dozens of people were killed. thousands of people are trying to wait out the violence in tunisia. but it has closed part of the border. a report. >> reporter: every day for the past two weeks, thousands of people have been crossing this border between libya and tunisia fleeing for their lives. some are libyans. others are foreign nationals. some are diplomats who had been ordered to evacuate. most of these people, this border crossing is the only way out. fighting between libya's r i have a l militalitias have clos down tripoli's airport and made life in libya dangerous. >> you turn the television on and you don't understand anything. there is no news anchor to explain what's happening. you hear rumors outside in the street and again at home. so you are afraid. you are scared.

>> thousands of e summations have been stranded along the libyan border with tune ease i can't. at one point, riots erupted as the crowds tried to storm the border crossing. >> on friday, the tun easeian government closed the crossing allowing just a few people through. one of tune eatunnisia's concer is security. some despite violence are refusing to leave. 13,000 filipinos are still in libya. the foreign minister traveling to tunisia to persuade them to evacuate. >> we were is able to bring back about 760. about 200 are there for repattriation. >> that's less than a thousand. so we have 12,000 more to go to. >> for those who are trying to flee libya, the tunisian government measures seem unfair. for many who are watching the conflict in libya spin out of

control, there is real concern that it may spill over to their own country. and there is strong support for the tunisian government's efforts to control the boarder crossings. coming up on "al jazeera america," just get out the checkbook and say, how big a check do you want to keep our executives out of jail? >> the controversy surrounding general motor compensation fund. >> a spotlight in china after nearly 70 people are killed in a huge explosion at a factory.

♪ . >> google is selling one of the two mystery barges docked in portland, maine andholds four stories worth of shipping containers. according to the portland press harold, it will be broken down scrapped and sent to an international company. there was intention speculation about the barnes when they were first discovered months ago. early davidson is recalling more than 3 bikes after an ignition

switch issue was discovered. the problem causes bikes to stall and possibly crash. the raul applies to 2014 fx low rider motorcycle. this is the second harley-davidson recall this summer. auto sales in the u.s. were up in july. gm, ford, chrysler among the auto makers supporting sales gangs. all companies were offering summer deals. this year's incentives were higher than in past year. the result over a billion cars sold. general motor compensation fund for victims of a faulty ignition switches is now accepting claims since february, 25 million gm vehicles have been recalled for a slew of defects. the story. >> monica says general motor killed her brother, amador on this road. >> the airbag did dmroifrnlths the airbag did deployeploy the airbag did deploy. it did, but there is several other accidents where the airbags have deployed. >> gm argues because the chevy

cobalt was able to set off the airbag, it's not to blame and under the terms of the compensation program, only crashes in which the airbag did not deploy are eligible for compensation. >> for a decade, gm engineers new heavy key chain could jog the ignition chain and switch off the car's power. the company didn't order a recall. internal documents felt the cars were controllable as the engine can be restarted after shifting to neutral. >> that's what amador's mother feels happened before her son's crash. he managed to switch the car back on only to be hit by an on coming vehicle. >> i can see that he would have tried to turn that vehicle on or shift it or do something. >> gm says? >> gm says, no. also, think about who is saying that: the people who hid this for a decade. you know, how credible are they?

>> they will pay it, but there are already doubts about the fund announce add month ago and not just the terms of elgibility but the burden of proof for victims. gm has announced it expects to pay out a total of between 400 and $600 million and yet, also claims there is no cap on compensation. the car industry's watchdog argues only criminal prosecution will change gm's ways. >> all too often, corporations get out the checkbook and they say, how big a check do you want to keep our executives out of jail? >> views shared by amador's mother? >> i know i lost my son because of their greediness because they could have repaired and they could have fixed all of thwith just a few cents. >> since the recall was announced in february, millions more gm vehicles have been recalled because after problem with their ignition switch but sales remain brisk and gm says there is no conclusive evidence that this latest problem has

caused any crashes. al jazeera, idaho. >> coming up on "al jazeera america," the economy may be improving but the number of americans going hungry, that's on the rise. . >> since 2008, we have doubled, more than doubled the number of meals that we serve. >> we will tell you about the struggle to feed the poor in our nation's wealthiest cities.

welcome back to "al jazeera america." ism richelle carey. here is a look at your top stories: in gaza, a cease-fire is off the table for now. israel's prime minister says the army will continue the offensive in the gaza strip for as long as necessary and he warned hamas will pay what he calls an intolerable comprise if it continues to fire rockets attis. a plane carrying an american doctrine ed with ebola landed at dob bins air force base in atlanta just after 11:00 a.m.

empty. he was taken to emery university hospital. he contracted the deadly disease while volunteering in west africa. riots broke out at the border between tunisia and libya. the tunisian government closed the crossing yesterday. thousands were trying to flee the violence in libya's capitol. it has been re-opened but only a small number of people are being allowed through. >> palestine was the touchdowno of pan-harab solidarity but it has been muted. some criticize the arab league and its members for not doing more. it was founded in 1945 with six members but has grown to 22 countries today including palestine. as a group, the league has called for an end to the conflict and it's highly critical of israel. the individual members have their own interests and have done little to haintervene. syria is involved in a civil war. it has led to its membership

being suspended. iraq is growi is /*. >> jordan signed a peace treaty nearly 20 years ago and may not feel like it's worth jeopardizing that relationship. rockets were fired into israel from lebanon early in the conflict. those came from the south of the country where the country's government has little sway and the shiite group, hezbollah has acted. the arab's world most popular country and saudi arabia have hostile relations with hamas. hamas being criticized saying we see the blood of our brothers in palestine shed any vain. the response by any individual country doesn't necessarily represent the sentiment the of the people in those countries. earlier, i spoke with ram rami khouri.

hamas in the arab world. >> hamas has the support of a lot of arab people but very few arab governments and the striking thing about the arab world today is the much more ex plicit and open and dynamic split between citizens and leaders and we have had revolutions and uprisings in five or six arab countries in the last three and a half years. several leaders have been toppled and others are being challenged and you have autodrantic governments who are non-accountable, non-elected are shaking in their boots terrified of groups like hamas who represent an islamist, streetwise community anchored militant resistance movement

about it's freedom of determination or democracy or whatever it may be. >> do they need the support of the government for any type of legitimacy in the region? is it beyond that? >> it would help if it had more arab goshes that worked with it for sure. for logistical reasons, and other reasonses. hamas derives legitimacy primarily from its conduct as a resistance movement anchored in palestine and resisting the subjesub subjugation. hamas was only born in the early '80s because of the israel occupation of the west bank and gaza didn't exist before that. it's a. the name, hamas is an akronic that means the islamic

resistance movement. it's the resistance movement. they don't like resistance governments's movements. is part of of the reason the united states considers hamas a terrorist organization and they don't want to tamper with that relationship? how much of a factor is that? >> i think it's a non-factor. the arab governments try to be friends with the united states for various reasons but the united states has very little credibility, very little impact across the region with the israelis or arabs or turks or iranians, the four major

demographic and national gripes in the middle east don't particularly listen to the united states very much. they neither fear it nor respect it which is a terrible shame because the united states is an important power. it can be a force for good. in the middle east, it's usually chaos and warfare and tragedy and, therefore, most arab governments listen to the united states but they make their decisions becaused primarily on one criteriaion, how do these arab governments stay in power, maintain their incumbency and continue to rule. if the united states helps them do that, then they will play along with what the u.s. wants. >> what role does egypt have in helping in the situation, if any now, and if not egypt, what country can and must step up? what arab country can and must step up to at least get a cease-fire now, if even possible? >> william, you know, most of the arab countries are either in

a state of active internal warfare or chaos or real ebb yon or repress or in a situation of total diplomatic immediateocracy and inev-casey. they can't do very much in. there are only a few who can play a role. and especially because it has peaceful relations with israel, did can be a conduit with israel, especially for gaza but for all of palestine and, also, later for relations with lebanon and certasyria which still have technically states of war with israel. saudi arabia has stepped up and become much more dynamic in the last three or four years which is unusual because it's usually quiet and plays behind the scenes. qatar has tried to play a more

dynamic role with financial resources but its effort to mediate conflicts in yemen and sudan and lebanon and other places in helping gaza rebuild. so there are a few arab countries that try to play some kind of role, but none of them gets anywhere near egypt in its historical legacy, demographic and political weight and its diplomatic potential as a mediator. >> in china, an explosion at a factory left 68 people dead and 187 others injured. the blast happened in the eastern kunchan region not far from shanghai. most of the victims suffered severe burns. adrian brown has followed the developments from kunshan. >> earlier today, local government officials gave a media conference, and they said that a preliminary investigation had shown that perhaps the explosion was caused by a flame being ignited natural dust-filled room which made it

highly combustible and it was enough to sent this huge fireball tearing through the workshop. it was a huge explosion. it was heard several kilometers away. the bodies of many of the dead have been charred beyond recognition. the bodies of many of the survivors have 80% burns to them. >> is testimony to the power of this explosion. many of the dead were poor migrant workers from far away provinces. they were working a saturday shift to earn extra money to send home to their families. china's president has ordered a full-scale investigation. he sent his vice premier here to oversee the rescue operation, to oversee the inquiry. and it's said that no stone be left unturned to find out what truly happened here. >> adrian brown. south america's third largest economy is once again in crisis

with a government unable pay bondholders. this time, argentineae a has the money but a u.s. judge says they can't spend it. >> argentina's current crisis dates back 13 years to the last time the country defaulted. in 2001, the streets of buenas airies filled with demonstrators protesting massive unemployment, a stalled economy drowning in foreign det. argentina could not make its payment. between 2005 and 2010, rather than walk away empty handed, a majority of its creditors agreed to exchange debt for new bonds. this group agreed to payments of roughly $0.25 on the dollar. however, about 1% of the investors refused that author led by mml capital, the group which argentina's government calls vault tour investors sued for payment in full, $13,000,000,000 plus interest. because the bonds were issued in new york, the case was tried there. the hedge funds won.

in june, the u.s. supreme court upheld the ruling. argentina says it can't offer a better deal to the group without making the same offer to all bondholders. the courts froze argentinean accounts in new york being used to pay off the bulk of the creditors. after missing a deadline, argentina defaulted and the s & p, standard & poors, lowered the company's credit rape rating. argentina's economy minister blasted the court. >> translator: everyone has said that today, we were in default. >> is nonsense. the conditions of insolvency are clearly not there. if you look at argentina, it is clearly not the case. it is a judicial occurrence without any historic precedence. >> economists agree it's a tricky situation. >> it's the first time that a country is -- has the money, is willing to pay, has actually deposited the money for the payment chain to commence and

yet the bondholders have not received that money. so, it's the first, if you will, court-in deuced default in history, i think. >> the reports that a group of private brafrpingz negotiating with the holdout bond holderhol the holdout bond holders. after years of economic growth, argentina faces recession with a decrease in the central bank reserves and a 2% monthly inflation rate. job numbers are improving, many americans are finding it hard to put food on the table. our "real money" correspondent mary snow found out many people in the richest countries in the world are fighting hunger. >> a week day in new york city, a line forms at this east harlem food pantry. they range from young mothers to older people on fixed encloses and they belie the signs of economic growth surrounding them

like the high-rise residential building that went up in recent years. inside the pantry, the number of people needing food is only growing. deborah chapman for one says she saw the difference in the four years she has been coming here. >> this year, instead of coming as, you know, half an hour before, i should really come an hour or two before. >> one big reason more people are relying on charities like this one to eat is because they have their food stamps cut. congress cut $5,000,000,000 from snap or the supplemental nutrition assistance program in late 2013. because of that, the new york common pantry, one of the largest in new york serving 3 million meals annually reports a 26% increase in recipients in the last year. but executive director steven grahamaledi said snap cuts are just part of the story. he says the bigger story is the number of people coming to the pantry have swelled since the recession began. >> since 2008, we have doubled,

more than doubled the number of meals that we serve. >> the biggest jump, he says, is the number of people who are working. >> we have people that are home attendants, home health aids, individuals that just can't make enough to make ends meet in our cities because of the cost of living and as a result action they are coming to us. >> it comes as the overall we think of new york city, the world's financial capital, is growing. new york ranks 4 in a recent survey of cities around the globe with the highest percentage of millionaires. joel berg, who heads the new york coalition against hunger says as the city gets wealthier, demand of the 1 plus food kitchens he represents is only increasing. >> when neighborhoods gentrify, costs go up because rent is the greatest single expense. if they can't pay rent, they can't afford to buy food one in 6 new yorkers live in homes where they can't afford enough food. >> the economy has been

recovering at the top but there has never been in modern american history a bigger disconnect between how wall street is doing and how main street is doing. >> with lesss less government aid for food, the stripe is on charities to fill the void and depend upon donation to see keep feeding new york's hungry. mary snow, al jazeera. >> according to the u.s. department of agriculture, 18 million homes in america don't have enough money to peat food on their table. coming up on al jazeera, the impact of severe drought devastating farmers in columbia. the latest on the california wildfire that is forcing more people to evacuate their homes.

investigative report only on al jazeera america

al jazeera america, take a new look at news. coyotes are terrorizing a neighborhood in california. animal control officials blame the drought a pack of coyotes

running across this man's front lawn. they say this is becoming more common because of the lack of food and water. the same homeowner describes an encounter he had while he was walking his dog. >> as i was walking, i sphere to five coyotes coming at me. i started pausing i saw about 10 coming out. just coming out like a horror memory. >> the home other than used a shovel to chase off the coyotes. officials are warning residents to never leave pets or small children outside unattended. they are reminding people to secure their trash bags. also in california, fast-moving wildfires have forced dozens of people from their homes. lightning sparked several new fires this week near the oregon border. 120 people have been told to evacuate. fire fighters are dealing with rough and windy conditions as they try to contain these fires. the caribbean is getting plenty of rain from tropical storm

bertha the details. how serious of a storm is this? >> not serious. actually, this is a much needed amount of crane for the caribbean. drought situation, you wouldn't normally thing about the caribbean. they have seen it and this is pretty much quite a bit of rain with it. we are not seeing winds. about 45 miles per hour. it is a tropical storm that has just passed to the south of puerto rico. it is making its way right now to the demenrepublican republic definitely feeling the effects of the drought. these are the latest coordinates on the eastern edge of the dominican republic. let me tell you why we are looking at a drought situation, about 62 days in to the atlantic hurricane season. this is only the second storm we have seen so far. the caribbean relies on these storms for most tour and rain and they haven't seen it. a lot of these islands, especially here across the east are in a drought situation. this storm right here is bringing the rain, going to be making its way up towards the turks and kakos over the next

day. here is the rain you can see fret area. extending around here we don't actually get it over here tore espanola. it is beginning to end now. they did see flooding in puerto rico. we have the latest advisory that has come out on where the storm is going to be going and what they are saying is it's stepped back a little more towards the east. we will get rain here in hispanola and across the bahamas, not a factor for the united states and don't think it is for bermuda as well. much needed rain for this area. where we don't need the rain is here across the eastern seaboard. quite a bit all the way up anywhere from north carolina all the way up here through new england. here is some of the latest radar you can see. he specially down here, expecting to see flooding going on over the next 24 to 48 hours across that region. earlier today, we saw rain passing through parts of new york. getting a little bit of a break right now but we do expect more rain to come into play. some of the areas we expect some

toward the carolinas and new jersey, southern new jersey, anywhere between 2 to 4 inches. >> all right. keep an eye on it. thank you so. >> until northern columbia, entire communities without water. the government has declared a state of emergency. allesandra reports some of the worst hit regions where thousands of cows have already died. >> cattle carcases are scattered across what would usually ab green and blooming field. this ranch used to be called the blessing. now, it seems to be cursed. used to 700 cows here over 200 have died. the rest were either sold or moved before more could perish. in all of these years, raising cattle, i have never seen anything like this. we didn't receive a drop of rain. usually t would rain in march

and april until june. now, we should be at the top of our milwaukee production. instead mick production. instead mic -- instead, even the cows are dead. >> here in the peninsula, experts say this is just the beginning of a dry season that could continue until next april leaving entire communities at risk. the main crop is rice but now 90% of this year's harvest is gone. because they are expecting a longer drought, they won't plant a new crop. >> we farm things from loans we get from banks and agricultural institutions. we don't know how to pay they can bam. we are bankrupt. with no options but waiting for government help. >> to face immediate shortages, the government has been sending

in water tankers. the police and the army have been distributing water from town to town for almost a month now. while people say this is a relief it's obviously not enough. the little water we get, we use to watch the rice. then we use the same water to watch dishes or go to the bathroom and we use it for the plants. i pry to god for rain every day. >> the residents know they will need more than prayers. the national government announced over $100 million in emergency funds, new sudi subsidies and a long term plan to drill deep water wells. with months of hot dry weather still ahead, many are bracing for even more devastation: al jazeera, columbia. at least eight people were killed in a landslide in nepal. the death toll expected to climb as more victims recover.

80 homes may have been washed away by the mud. this mud slide pulled in a valley between two mountains right above several other villages. experts say another slide may be imminent. coming up on "al jazeera america," some american joos are facing a tough decision which will have a dramatic impact on the lives of he wielephants. thrill seekers get more than they bargained for. just ahead on "al jazeera america."

america's elephant population in the zoos is dwindling. of the 24 zoos 66 have herds. tanya moseley shows us how one zoo in seattle is making a tough decision trying to figure out how to save one of the most popular exhibits. >> all of these people are about to get closer than they have before to an 8,000 pound giant. >> hi, bamboo.

>> at 47 years old, bamboo is the oldest elephant here at the zoo. >> hi, punkin. hi, suiteie pie. >> she shares this space 2 two other elephants. 35-year-old chai and 45-year-old patoto. you will never see all three interact at the same time. ratoto is unpredictable and aggressive toward bamboo. >> even when we have elephants sharing the same space, they oftentimes share opinion send ends of the exhibit >> a growing body of zoo elephants thrive when they are able to socialize with each other in a herd of 3 or more. the aza is acquiring all accredited zoos increase or phase out their programs and donate elephants to other zoos. because of her aggressive nature, that's what woodland mark may soon do with watoto. it would allow the zoo to

acquire another elephant who will get along better with the rest of the heerd. some animal rights activists say that's not enough? >> i think it's a sad commentary on our humanitarian. >> alleen says the elephants are stressed with highway noise behind them an less than an acre to roam. >> what would you like to see for these elephants? >> i would like to see them retired to a sanctuary where they can roam on vast acres of land, where tech swim in a lake and heel from the arthritis and the lameness that they have and become as much of an elephant as they can for the remainder of their lives. >> curator martin ramirez beliefs zoos have a duty to breed new elephants and sanctuaries or for animals to live out their days but not proceed create. woodland park has unsuccessfully try to artificially insem nature

chai 112 times. ramirez says with 96 poached for ivory each day. >> if given the cost between a zoo and roamming around in the wild, i would say they are safer in a zoo because they don't have the threat that they face in the wild. >> there you go. perfect. >> ramirez hopes providing an up close and personal special will inspire everyone to join the effort to save the elephants. tanya moseley, al jazeera, seattle. >> finally, a scare was realized keetch watch, a role coaster got stuck at the worst place. the 230 foot peek, people walking down the stairs right along the side of the track. like you see those sometimes when you are on the ride. you never think you are going to actually use them. nobody was hurt. the coaster is called nitro. advertised as gutter reforminging which sounds quite appropriate for what they had to

live through. thanks for joining us. itch richelle carey. i will be back with another hour of news. stay tuned. "faith lines" starts right now. >> let us bow our heads for a word of prayer. our father and our most gracious god. as this family, the murdough family and their friends, as they gather, we ask that you send your comforter, your holy spirit, your guide, to be with them. >> queens, new york. jerome murdough's family is laying him to rest. four months ago, 56-year-old jerome was arrested for trespassing, and booketo