just to save lives... >> i hope so... >> tech know every saturday go where science meets humanity >> sharks like affection >> spot on... >> don't try this at home... >> tech know, only on al jazeera america >> welcome to al jazeera america. let's get you caught up on the top stories. the islamic state group claims to have beheaded british aid worker david haynes, called a pure act of evil. >> this development as john kerry works to build an international coalition to fight the group. we take a deeper look at the coalition and the key players. >> a massive manhunt for the gunman who ambushed and killed a pennsylvania state trooper overnight. >> the vote that could see scotland become an independent

nation, too close to call. >> another shocking video tonight from the islamic state group, this time it claims to have beheaded david haynes. 44-year-old haynes was kidnapped last year delivering aid. the u.k. government is working to verify the video. if verified, he is the third westerner to be beheaded by i.s. british prime minister david cameron said the murder is an act of pure evil. we will do everything in our power to hunt down these murderers and ensure they face justice however long it takes. >> joining us is aljazeera's

international contributor. islamic state claims this is the third westerner to be beheaded, this dime directed by the actions -- let me just get to the question here. do you think -- first of all, what do you make of this brutal act? >> the islamic state so-called in iraq and then syria has all along played these symbolic politics. i think we tend to forget it now, but back in 2005, they were beheading captured westerners when they were al-qaeda. this is not a new tactic. it's to have it a stronger response from the west so as to mobilize their own force. >> britain announced they would not participate in airstrikes. >> foreign minister of the u.k. said that he didn't think the u.k. would participate in

airstrikes on the islamic state group in syria. of course, the u.k. is committed to airstrikes in iraq. prime minister david cameron, however, seems to disagree with his from on this issue, and this latest news could well push the u.k. towards intervention in syria, as well. >> very well. it's important to point out there are a number people held by the islamic state journalist aid workers from different country, what is their main goal with these kidnappings? recruitment? >> yes, they face the difficulty of having competitors among rebel groups who are rebelling got against the government in syria and the government in iraq, so want to gather people up into their organization. the more polarization, the better for them.

i think they really want the shiite government to hit them hard when they kill shy rights. the more they can show themselves standing up to the west and then at victims of western reprise also, the better recruitment goes for them. >> you have to wonder if this will backfire. can they sustain popularity among the sunni with these brutal beheadings? >> i don't think so. i think they're a flash in the pan. their methods of governance are repugnant to people. they've managed to go as far as they have only because the governments in the region have alienated their own people and the people think the government is even worse. you know, iraq just announced that it's not going to bomb sunni cities from the air any longer, because of the high civilian casualties that creates. well, i mean, you know, if they were in fact bombing them from the air all this time, it's no

wonder people went over to the is state group. >> this its as we mentioned another brutal act shown to the world, david haynes being murdered here, still trying to verify the video. do you think that latest beheading will help the coalition to fight sis? >> i certainly think it will give president obama a more support in the u.s. among the public, and in congress. i think that it will strengthen the all right firm commitment of the u.k. to come into this effort, and so, as you say, in the long term, the people who carried out this heinous act surely are going to suffer very dire consequences for it. >> where do we stand with the coalition right now since the president announced it this week? >> well, the act of coalition of military intervenors is small. it's the united states, the u.k., france, perhaps australia,

there's other kinds of support, the germans have said they'll send weapon to get kurdish peshmerga paramilitary which has been fighting with the islamic state group. on the arab side, on the middle eastern side, secretary of state kerry met with 10 middle eastern countries in jeddah recently. on saturday, today, he was meeting with the egyptian president, trying to get commitments, but so far, i can't tell that these outside countries, other middle eastern countries are committing anything substantial in the way of military help for this effort. >> stand by, we'll take a deeper look coming up in just a moment. secretary of state john kerry was in egypt today, really a listen support for the u.s.

fight against i.s. kerry met with the egyptian presidential sisi today and said egypt had a critical role to play in battling the group. >> the coalition against the islamic state group has been a critical ally. >> egypt has a critical role to play in publicly denouncing the ideology that isi.s. has. >> egypt's foreign minister offered his countries help, adding regional support to an otherwise largely western international coalition allied against the islamic state group. >> i support the international efforts to fight terrorism and work on supporting these efforts and support the necessary measures to put an end to this

phenomena, whether in iraq, libya or any part of the arab world or in africa. >> it's not clear egypt will play a military role but offers critical help in the battle against the islamic state, without broad support among islamic nations, it could look like the coalition of the willing that invaded and occupied iraq in 2003. >> in baghdad, iraq's prime minister said saturday he ordered the army to stop shelling pop latelied areas held by the islamic state. >> i issued order to stop targeting civilians and my orders were that that very clear. we don't want more innocent victims to be killed. >> clashes between iraqi security forces and fighters has taken its toll on civilians living in islamic state held areas. more than 1.8 million people have been displaced in iraq

since january in the rapid advance by islamic state fighters began. erbil, iraq. >> the islamic state group threatens more violence against the u.k. and allies the u.s. >> president obama today reinforced his reliance on allies in a strategy against the group. >> what's needed now is a targeted relentless campaign that combines american air power, contributions from allies and partners and more support to those fighting the terrorists on the ground. that's exactly what we're doing. >> the parents of james foley said they were threatened with prosecution by the u.s. government while raising ransom funds to rescue their sun. diane and john foley were given little efforts about the efforts the u.s. was taking to free their son. >> i think that the hard part, though, is because we naively

thought, you know, our government could take care of it and bring him home, it delayed our efforts, you know. we were very slow to get more active and realize well gee, we've got to do something here. >> tonight, a deeper look at the islamic state group and all the players involved in helping fight against them. >> police tonight search for a gunman who ambushed two pennsylvania state troopers killing one last night at the blooming grove barracks. one man has been questioned, but the manhunt vince. >> the shooting happened before 11:00 p.m. friday night in blooming grove in pike's county. pennsylvania commissioner called the shooting a cowardly act. >> we have a very dangerous, armed criminal that has already killed one pennsylvania state trooper and wounded another that is not in custody.

as you can imagine, this is a very traumatic event for the pennsylvania state police and all of la enforcement in pennsylvania. >> one trooper was leaving the barracks and another arriving when the shots were fired. >> we are talking to many people. there is no particular person that is a suspect. >> the trooper was in critical but stable condition after undergoing surgery. hundreds of players as well as the swat team continued to canvas the area for clues on foot and by helicopter. police have released can't details as the search and investigation continue in a heavily wooded area near the borders with new york and new jersey. >> seems to be an attack on law enforcement and perhaps our form of government, i don't know, but i can't quiet anyone's fears, because we don't have the person in custody. >> police did not believe the general public is at risk, but are asking everyone to be on the lookout for anything suspicious.

aljazeera. >> it was five weeks ago today when unarmed black teenager michael brown was fatally shot by a white police officer in ferguson, missouri. it sparked two weeks of pro tests. a peaceful marsh was held today, calling for the arrest of darren wilson, the officer who killed the 18-year-old. the department of justice is conducts its own investigation of the shooting. >> a new video allegedly shows two witnesses right after brown was killed. brown's family attorney said the reaction is proof the unarmed teenager was shot while surrendering. a witness is seen raising his arm wees in the air to show how brown was killed. the video matches what other witnesses have said about his death, that he wasn't ressing

arrest when the other opened fire. it's not known in the men in the video have testified before the grand jury investigating the deadly shooting. >> there was word the ugandan government discovered an al shabab cell planning an attack and arrested them. the u.s. government warns american citizens there to stay indoors overnight as local law enforcement carry out anti rather operations. the u.n. policy is not aware of any specific targets. al shabab publicly planned ve very long. >> to ukraine, this is the aftermath after the donetsk airport was attacked by the rebels. ukraine's prime minister says that the country remains in a state of war but officially for now the ceasefire still holds. robin walker reports.

>> this is what the ceasefire sounds like on the outskirts of donetsk. pro-russian rebels wouldn't show their face, but showed us ordinance they claim ukrainian forces are use to go fire on them and the city. >> this is as close as we can safely get to the airport, just a kilometer or so away behind me beyond this check point where small arms, artillery, tank rounds have been raining down on the strong hold that the ukrainian forces have maintained here for months now. this is a very important prize strategically that the rebels want to take control of. >> in kiev, ukraine's prime minister insisted the ceasefire was flimsy in deed. >> we are still in the state of war and the key aggressor is russia federation. >> russia continues to deny

military involvement and sent a convoy. residents urgently need food and support. >> today, we have received humanitarian aid from the russian federation. until now, we have unloaded eight cars with rice, sugar, canned fish and meat. this aid will be delivered to people with passports from huhansk. >> in donetsk, the rebels must reassure returning resident that is they can keep the peace. they may resemble another militia, but these are traffic police with the new insignia of donetsk. they want to show public order has returned. for others, the war may not yet be over, it's time to get on with their lives.

aljazeera, donetsk. >> the u.s. and european union hit russia with more sanctions yesterday over the ukraine crazy, targeting the countries largest bank, defense and energy countries. russia is threatening retaliation. we have a report on how the sanctions could hurt business in the west. >> in the world of energy producers, exxon-mobil is the world's biggest, refine res in 17, it's operations span the globe. the houston-based company produces more than 5 million-barrels of oil a day with a market evaluation of more than $438 billion. that's more than twice the gross domestic product of ukraine. the conflict of russia promises sanctions. in 2011, the company aimed a $3.2 billion arctic drilling partnership with russian oil

jointly and began operation this is summer. >> it has gained access to acreage of an area roughly the size of the entire leased air for oil and gas activity in the gulf of mexico. exxon wanted to do this, because as big a company as it is, it has had difficulty sometimes it's said because it is so big of always replacing every year enough reserves relative to the oil it produces. >> as tensions mount, new u.s. sanctions have thrown that deal into question. >> i think exxon privately believes that this crisis will not go on forever, the world has to get along with russia and russia has to get along with the rest of the word in the long term. if they can hold on, the crisis will pass and business resume. >> exxon's image has taken a hit. that's nothing that. america's oil giant has often appeared a bit tone did he have.

according to "private i am pair" the company's former c.e.o. once said i don't make decisions based on that's good for the u.s. >> exxon's had some colorful leaders. some of them have at times made statements they probably wish they hadn't. >> the company is good for investors, strong bet for 401k's and pension funds. a big part that have strength has been its ability to look ahead and russian arctic is ground zero for those plans. they planned to invest $5 billion in oil exploration but as tensions mount, exxon's long term strategy may now be in question. aljazeera, new york. >> we continue to follow breaking news, the islamic state claims to have beheaded david

wanes. we'll look at world leaders banding together to defeat this group. >> a deadly flood across pakistan. the rescue attempt, straight head. >> 30 years after farm aid, many farmers are still struggling. you talk about the challenge facing this new generation.

>> welcome back. tonight we look deeper at the islamic state group and coalition president obama is building to fight it. >> earlier this evening, i.s. claims to have beheaded british aid worker david haynes. he was kidnapped in syria last year. this latest development as president obama is calling for a global coalition to fight i.s. we have more. >> my fellow americans. >> if there was an underlying vision in barack obama's call to action against the islamic state, these words came the closest. >> this is a core principle of my presidency.

if you threaten america, you will find no safe haven. >> it's not the first time obama has promised to follow that rule, just as he did in pursuing and killing osama bin laden. as to an overarching doctrine, he has been more explicit in saying he will try to avoid doing with america's armed forces. >> america must always lead on the world stage. >> he told grad weltz of the west point army academy. >> in world war ii costly mistakes came not from our restraint, but our willingness to rush into military adventures without thinking through the consequences, without building international support and legitimacy for our action. >> in keeping with that belief, u secretary of state john kerry began intensive talks in and you had rain with allies to mold a strategic campaign against i.s. >> arab nations play a critical role tha in that colation, the

leading role, really across all lines of effort. >> the pledge is that u.s. ground troops will not be sent into combat. >> we must kick isil hard in both iraq and syria at the same time, and iraq first or an iraq only approach won't work. >> obama described the mission to degrade and destroy islamic state as a counter terrorism effort, not an all out war, like the ones that twice defeated sadaam hussein, also with allied support. it took the u.s. just a few weeks to declare victory then, obama has effectively left this campaign open-ended. he didn't say anything about a time here, that was wise. people would hold him to it. >> as public opinion has fallen sharply in favor of striking

back at the islamic state, obama's ratings falling. >> joining us now, michael kay, former advisor to the british ministry of defense, now a foreign policy and economics correspondent here in new york. also with us is jami, a senior staff writer for us here at aljazeera america and has reported extensively on the middle east. michael, your reaction to the brutal murder of david haynes. >> yet another despicable act of violence by isis. my thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time, who are incredibly courageous and strong. as hard as it is not to be dragged by the enotion into what happens next, we still to have

maintain focus in terms of the west's reaction to what is going on in syria at the moment. i mean that we need to focus on a strategy, a military strategy that is fused with foreign policy that tackle the issues on a long term basis. >> britain has been a friend to america. will this change britain's course? >> i don't think it will. what britain needs to do is make sure that what its foreign minister is saying is exactly the same as what's in the prime minister's mind. last week, there was a discrepancy in the strategy of the u.k. mr. hammond seemed to indicate under no certain terms would the u.k. get involved in airstrikes, however mr. cameron and his spokesman was very quick to say that all options were on the table, so across america, the u.k. and this new coalition, there needs to be a fusion of what we're going to do. >> all options on the table.

looking at this coalition, how different is it tuan the one we saw in 2003 in iraq? >> in 2003, it had come two years after 9/11. remember just the movement around the world and the rush to side with america after 9/11, and the attacks that day, and everyone really kind of agreed that afghanistan and moving into afghanistan was a smart idea. the iraq coalition, not so much. people weren't as willing. that's why they called it the coalition of the willing, many arab states pulled out or with drew or were very quiet about their involvement, because it caused so much dismay in the middle east. you know, again, we're seeing a very tepid response from the arab states. they have their own issues to sort out now. we're seeing that in egypt and having sort of secretary of state john kerry coming up and saying that iran was not to be involved in this in any way, and

whether that's because of their own nuclear talks happening on another side or because of the inssulance in iran. >> can we have a true coalition without the participation of iran and russia? >> i don't think we can. we're not focusing on the commonnalties. we're still focused on iran's aspirations to develop a nuclear capability. we've got to understand the threat to the west 367 is the threat coming from iran and the nuclear capability, from putin and russia and purported ideas of expansionism or is it an islamic caliphate. we have to put the differences aside and get russia on side and china on side. there needs to be reaction drop the united nations security council, because it's been

ineffective so far with syria. the most important thing is isis is a symptom of a broader problem, syria. and before we target isis and supporting moderate rebels, we have to have a plan that either goes with the stat in materials of isis or replaces assad and what the security capability is. >> when we talk about the involvement of syria, was it a mistake not to involve the government and can they effectively be involved? >> it was a choice really from the beginning, wasn't it and in terms of president bashar al assad and the his treatment of the civilians, the horrific chemical attacks, the blatant bombing and just the mash casualties, i think people have lost count of the number of civilians killed, the thousands, hundreds upon thousands of reef gees and just the effect, the

ripple effect, there's a problem in syria across the region, all of those people in lebanon, who have come across the border into iraq, everyone dealing with this has kind of ignored syria all this time. when you listen to president obama's rhetoric before he announced his strategy, he'd been talking about the islamic state and the affect was having in iraq without talking about syria. you cannot talk about the islamic state without talking about syria, as well. >> is there anyone within syria to work with, though? >> there's, i think a really interesting situation that we have here. maybe once this all started and we had a place of people coming out and speaking, maybe at that time, but a lot of those mod receipts were killed, so who's left now? really all this time when bashar al assad was saying i'm fighting terrorism, it's kind of sort of

happened now that he's fighting terrorist groups. you know, this is, senator john mccain was quite vocal, talking about how if anyone had listened to him a year ago, we wouldn't be in this position right now. there's a lot to be said about that actually. >> we hear moderate rebels, moderate syrians, how do you find the group and where are they? >> that's the million dollar question. we don't know who they are, and they are part of 1200 military rebel militia thugs operating within that region at the moment. there's no governance, no army, no police that can control them. we don't know who they are. we don't know how to vet them. they will also be fighting on two flanks, the free syrian army, we plan an supporting and

funding rebels, they will be fighting isis, but unless something is done about assad, they will be fighting assad, as well. are we going to support a militia that has to fight two wars within the same country, which is effectively aiding people like saudi arabia's long term aims in pushing assad out. there are so many different secondary and tertiary effect. we've done this with the moo. >> has dean in afghanistan in the 1980's. we need look at what happens when we move into iraq and compete wipe out the security structures with no plan. we need to look at airstrikes in libya and lack of governance. there's so many examples to learn from. >> i completely agree.

we didn't even ever to look back as far as afghanistan, look at libya, on the ground, the libyan flag draped around him, said we've got to fund these people and support them. they were up against a brutal dictator and deposed him. it ended in a pile really of blood and bodies. if that is not an incredible example of the way that syria could go, i don't know what else there is. >> >> there are reports of sectarian tensions in iraq. there is talk of harboring i.s. state fighters. >> we've been told men from this group are looting and torching villages here after residents

allowed islamic state fighters to hide out. they fought alongside the peshmerga to brave the siege, today the atmosphere is very different. we're told to pull over and a pickup truck blocks our exit. weapons are aimed straight at us. >> we've been trying to negotiate our way through this check point for the last half hour. there are peshmerga fighters on the same check point, but it's the shia militia that make the decisions here. they're very reluctant to let us go through. we're trying to film a village that they've flattened and torched that used to have sunni arabs living in it. >> eventually, they let us through. the pass was shelled by the militia. we arrive in the village. it's deserted. houses have been torched, one still smoldering. the peshmerga has a position

close by but now are pulling out, leaving the militia in total control. the commander said his men respect the house they've set up camp in. >> we are giving our life to protect all people's property, but others are not doing this, in particular the organization. this is not acceptable. >> the peshmerga is dismantling i.e.d.'s. this one is buried under the road. they even found explosives left under a toilet seat. our escort takes us a the nearby town with the shia fighters beheaded an arab sunni resident. >> when we witnessed that, it made us angry, we can't accept this. we told them if it happens again, we will fight one it's not acceptable. we ordered them to stop and they promised to do so. >> but the shia militia don't

take orders from them. they filmed this man giving orders in iranian farsi. we've liberated the towns that were taken by i.s. in a completely national level, regardless of ethnic or sectarian backgrounds. the forces, which you call militia are recognized by the iraqi army on an official level. others are under the iraqi army command. as president obama announced airstrikes across northern iraq, allowing the shia militia to take control of more and more territory, it will not win minds in the sunni community.

>> what are the principle risks involved in the president's approach? >> the united states is offering to provide close air support to enemies of the islamic state group. the principle enemies are shiite militias as we've just seen, kurdish peshmerga who are notar rashes and the iraqi army, which is largely shiite in coloration, and then you do have some iranian forces on the ground. if we're giving close air support to that coalition of fighters, it looks like a non-sunni crusade against the sunni arabs, and even if they mainly want to overthrow the islamic state group, they are going to be taking sunni arab villages, and there are dangers of that being seen as a

massacre. >> president obama touts an inclusive iraqi government. what role will the government be playing? >> the new government is somewhat better man al-maliki and being a government of national unity, they have given positions, high positions to sunni arabs, but still haven't announced to the minister of interior, kind of the equivalent of our homeland security is, and they haven't announced the minister of defense, and so far, they haven't given a lot to the sunni arabs. the hope that you can use a shiite sectarian government, which is still what this is, which has an alliance with the kurds to be more inclusive of the sunni arabs politically, so far, that's an awfully hard task. >> a statement president obama

issued, the united states strongly condemns the barbaric murder of u.k. citizen david haynes by the terrorist group ice sile, also known as the islamic state. our hearts go out to his family and people of the united kingdom. the united states stands soldier to soldier. we will work with the united kingdom and a broad coalition of nations from the region and around the world to bring the perpetrators of this outrageous act to justice and to degrade and destroy this threat to the peoples of our country, the region and the world. was the plan mapped out on wednesday sufficient? >> i think it's a start, thomas, but there are a couple of big white elephants in the room. it doesn't address the problem of syria and assad. they need a conversation about that. we were talking about iraq. iraq is important, but it is

something that will prevent the contagion of isis, rather than resolve the issue. the pones of iraq at the moment is about political unity in you uniting the coming together of iraqi people, recognizing themselves as iraqi rather than gee and sunni. that will prevent sunnis of maybe going across to isis in order to achieve an islamic caliphate. it's not the solution to the problem. >> let's talk about a few other nations, saudi arabia and turkey getting involved. >> saudi arabia has agreed to host these training camps for the syrian opposition and it strikes me as conveniently convenient for saudi arabia, which has been supporting opposition groups in syria all this time and also legitimizes

what they've been doing. rather than -- the thing with saudi arabia and it really speaks to the delicacy of the relationship between the u.s. and saudi arabia, the fact that it is a strategic security relationship in the region, you know, washington overlooks it's human rights situation and that saudi arabia continues to behead people. they have had so many executions this year, they call the area chop chop square. people have been killed for non-violent crimes, including sourcery, i just read. >> 19 since august 4. >> so, it's just ok for saudi arabia -- and you have to really understand the mentality of, you know, someone who lives there and to see that they're so used to exporting their brand of islam, they have funded schools all over the world, and to see this sort of behavior isn't really that foreign to them. >> they are not limiting funding to isil, as well.

>> they are not limiting funding or preventing people from going over the borders. you have to really step back and look at it as the region. they don't see syria or iraq. they see iran and say we are going to do what we can, because we lost our foot hold in iraq and we have to do something about that. that really ultimately at the end of the day, and this is the problem with whatever we end up doing, i was saying this earlier, the u.s. is choosing a side when it chooses who to support. if you choose to support the sunnis, because you're upset with iran, this is going to damage the ethnic landscape of the region for a very long time. >> very difficult complex subject. it's going to be a very tough sell, as well. we'll have to leave it there. thanks to all for a deeper look.

>> still ahead, rescue teams are out in full force in pakistan, the latest on the deadly floods, after the break.

>> weekday mornings on al jazeera america >> we do have breaking news this morning... >> start your day with in depth coverage from around the world. first hand reporting from across the country and real news keeping you up to date. the big stories of the day, from around the world... >> these people need help, this is were the worst of the attack took place... >> and throughout the morning, get a global perspective on the news... >> the life of doha... >> this is the international

news hour... >> an informed look on the night's events, a smarter start to your day. mornings on al jazeera america >> pakistan's military has been using helicopters and boats to rescue hundreds stranded by severe flooding. 280 have been killed. military engineers have been blowing up dikes in central pakistan to divert swollen rivers. we have more from pakistan. >> this is what the outskirts look like, rescue teams make a desperate attempt to save this man. the house caves in under the water pressure. hundreds of villages have been demolished by the raging waters of the river that has burst its banks. >> thousands are now seeking protection on high ground, escaping from villages nearby, because the floodwaters are now claiming more territory and destroying more farm lands along

the way. >> this family watches their home disappear as the waters keep rising. she's got her children out and saw her house caving in. she said everything they ever owned is now lost. >> we were operating early in the morning when the water suddenly started to rise and we had no chose but to leave without anything. >> she and her family have pitched their tent in front of the railing way station across the road. for some, the loss is too great to bear, these women each with their own stories to tell cannot control their emotions. >> she was supposed to get married on the 10th of october, and her relatives had gathered money and belongings for her wedding, but now everything is washed away. no one knows when this crisis will be over, or how long it

will take to rehabilitate these people. >> the number of new ebola cases in west africa is growing faster than that authorities can manage according to the world health organization, who's calling for more international help to fight the on going outbreak. >> in sierra leone, doctors and hospital workers are on strike, they haven't been paid for two weeks. the infected include health workers. there is an ebola screening program at the airport. 3 million pilgrims will be making their way to mecca, many from nigeria, the fourth country hit by the ebola virus. travel bans have been imposed. >> still ahead, the american farmer, with major competition from large corporate farms, most struggle to stay in business,

but there is good news for the future. we'll have the details coming up.

>> the enterovirus respiratory illness is showing up in new york state, bringing the number of states with the virus to seven. almost 100 cases have been confirmed in the midwest. new york is the first northeast state to be hit with the virus. with reports of more than a dozen cases. the symptoms are like the common cold, including sneezing, a runny nose and cough. most people recover without treatment, but some children are having severe trouble breathing, especially those with asthma. there's no vaccine and because it is a virus, there is no cure. >> the 29th farm aid concert is rocking out in roll lee, north carolina today. several musicians started the event 30 years ago to raise money for struggling farmers in america.

while a lot has changed in three decades, the assistance family farms need to stay in business has only grown. >> farm aid was launched by willie nelson, john mellencamp and you'll young. the organization has raised more than $45 million and now primarily donates to programs that help keep family farms in business. farm aid's communication director talks about the economic tough times farmers are faced with in 1985 when farm aid kicked off. >> the thing about farming is you put all your mine into the ground and hope at the end that you're going to make some money and you don't always. farmers defaulted on loans, lost homes, because their business is tied up in their home. they're not just losing a business, they lose their home. in many cases, they lost the legacy of their family. >> a federal law was passed to help the farmers keep their farms, then the 1990's brought new challenges, the rise of

large corporate farms. in 1935, there were 6.8 million farms in america. today, that number is just over 2 million farms. 90% of an average profit of just over $2,500 a year. 74% of all income generated nationally comes from only the top 5% of farms. >> neil young says we're against an army of goliaths. corporate control, corporate power, big guy versus little guy is a huge issue in our food system, and that's what we're working on. we're informing people of the fact that the power is concentrated in the large farm. about 90% of family farms actually earn most of their living off the farm, and that's not right. we're talking about food. it's too important for us to

relegate to the few. >> some of the hurdles privately owned farms face today, stiff competition from large corporate farms, one-sided contracts with wholesalers and inclement weather. for example, the severe drought in california faced in colorado. there is good news for farmers. in the last 14 years, a movement to provide communities with locally grown food has taken off across the country. they are now a record 8,000 farmers markets nationally and food hubs are springing up where produce from farmers are pooled together and sold to grocery stores, hospitals and universities. small gains, many hope will keep family farms in business for years to come. >> earlier, aljazeera's richelle carey spoke with professor of agriculture economics. for many, it's not a livelihood,

it's a lifestyle. >> we see a great bifurcation between very large farms, representative of america's bread basks and lots of smaller farms that fill in niches and also are diminishing in total number. >> why would someone want to be in farming a smaller person, because there seems to be so many challenges. >> many farmers will tell you for them, it's a way of life, something they embrace, because they enjoy it so much, even though it's not the easiest way to make a living. smaller scale farms are augustmenting income working off farm. the smallest scale have negative farm income and only get above zero because they work off the farm and that clearly is a lifestyle choice. if i have to work outside, that's fine, i still want to live here on the land. >> where do you see the future of it? more corporations. >> i hesitate to use the word corporations, because almost all

of family businesses, their just large family businesses. >> ok. >> one of my friends likes to say you either have to get big or you have to do something special. his point is you either have to have low cost, which tends to come with size, or you have to create some kind of value that the big guy can't do, serve a niche market, a specialized product, be local, give that consumer, who's able and willing to pay a little bit more for something, that thing that they want. we're see that go happening in agriculture left and right, community-supported agriculture, local foods, farm cheese pros be, farmers meeting niche market opportunities. >> certain sectors like the poultry one ever evolved with farmers putting them at the mercy of consumer demands. >> we look at the weather.

>> heavy floods on the east side with the gulf of mexico, also right along the coast of mexico, moisture coming up, two verge storm systems bringing rain in on both coasts. i'll show you why and where, next. next.

>> three firefighters are recovering after battling a raging fire in southern california burning in the mountains of the cleveland national forest. the fire this morning had scorched more than 1600 acres in less than 24 hours. 700 firefighters are battling the blaze, wimp is 10% contained. we have a look now at the forecast. dry out west, in texas a much different story. >> they've got a different drought occurring in texas, butties pouring down rain right into southern areas of texas

from brownsville to corpus christi. you've been getting rainfall from brownsville to rio grande in mexico, three to five inches of rainfall that's fallen in 24 hours. we're mainly getting lighter showers now. we've seen the flood advisories drop off to the south. softal flood advisory in parts of the texas southern coast with continuation of heavy storms at times, with a lot of lightning. it is very good news, because a lot of folks speak spanish allege the texas border and two radio stations launched september 3. it's going to help save lives when we have issues going on

just like we do right now, which is the flooding and heavy rainfall coming down. it's caused by two storm systems, one, we have a very large cold front. the midwest felt that the last several days. that cold air came down through texas meeting up with the tropical moisture coming from the gulf of mexico, causing flooding around brownsville. it is a a hurricane katrina gore one down in the eastern pacific, impacting mexico. we've seen flooding. the storm tracks, you can see an ensemble of models showing that moving up. we saw a lot of flooding because of hurricanes pushing up, intense rainfall from one to five inches when phoenix hit their all time record history making rainfall was with that

hurricane a week ago. >> thank you. >> that's going to do it for this hour. thanks so much for joining us. i'll be back with another hour of news at 11:00 p.m. eastern. stay tuned. consider this starts right now.