you don't need the courage board. you have the courage inside of you. you just need to make the declaration. >> to face past years and the fear of a future not yet realized. >> there is more on our website www.aljazeera.com. >> the u.s.-led coalition steps up airstrikes trying to regain control of ramadi. but shia militias on the grouped may be the real key to taking the city. >> it is amazing that innocent civilians were not injured here. >> nine dead at a biker game shoot out in texas. what was behind the violence? and we speak to a former member. and president obama takes new steps to keep military equipment away from the local police.

>> this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm stephanie sy. shia fetterers assembling near ramadi. they're prepared to launch a huge new offensive to take the city from isil. ramadi is west of baghdad and isil controls much of the city looking anbar province the u.s. is pledging to do all it can to help. >> god willing we will achieve victory soon, and we will never accept rather than triumph. it will be a real backbone for security forces. we will support the legitimacy in iraq, represent government and parliament.

>> the iranian backed groups have fought isil back from iraq. we have more from baghdad. >> isil is in control of ramadi city after a three-day complex and sophisticated assault. they managed to push government forces out of the provincial capital of anbar. they asked the help of shia led militias to recapture the city. what we understand is that these militias the different brigades are now preparing gearing up for a counter offensive against isil. this is a very controversial decision and many influential tribal leaders have been warning against this, saying it will backfire and some are saying they will consider this an iranian occupation. sunni leaders blame the iraq government for the fall of ramadi. they say that they've been

issuing warnings and appealing for weapons. they were requesting weapons to take on this fight by themselves. but the iraqi government has been reluctant to give them weapons because they don't trust them. now we heard the u.s. secretary of state john kerry play down the significance of the ramadi--the gains in ramadi saying that he's confidenting that iraq will regain this territory. but the biggest question is what will happen next? we've seen isil be pushed out of provinces by the shia-led militias, but people have not returned and shia-led militias have been by accused of human rights abuses. there has to be reconciliation, and the iraqi government has to reach out to the people of anbar in order for this to work. >> reporting from baghdad. secretary of state john kerry who just left south kia has been speaking about the fight against isil and the fall of ramadi keeping the local name of isil the secretary of state

refers to the group as daesh. >> particularly in anbar where you don't yet have the presence of the iraqi security forces in the full numbers necessary to take the fight to daesh everywhere yet i underscore yet, there are targets of unite like ramadi and where elsewhere daesh highways the ability to inflict great damage. >> kerry met with south korean president and other leaders. of the country. they spoke about the swoon going glute never has the international community been as renighted as we are now that number one north korea needs to de-nuclearize. number two, not only have they not taken steps to move in that direction but they've grown the threat of their program and they've acted with a kind of

reckless abandon. >> kerry also talked about the north korean threat to u.s. troops stationed in seoul. he visited with the families of those troops. amtrak this morning resumed full service between philadelphia and new york. the first trains rolled five hours ago. service has been suspended after a train derailed north of philadelphia. officials have ordered amtrak to finish installing a speed control system that may have prevented last week' derailment. the engineer at the controls said that he had no recollection of what happened. eight people died in the crash. in waco, texas, a meeting at a restaurant between biker gains turned deadly. nine people killed and the number of arrests is around 200. >> police in waco continue to go over the crime scene where this all happened. the restaurant has been shut down and law enforcement is worried about retaliation.

>> we had a contingency of officers here, most of those officers were swat-trained officers. we are here in anticipation of possible problems. >> the police say they were ready sunday when 200 bikers showed up at this waco restaurant. 500 member gang met to work out a dispute, an argument led to a brawl and then gunfire. >> our officers were able to immediately respond. there were numerous rounds of gunfire discharged by the biker gangs at each other. our officers were fired on and our officers returned fire in direction of themselves, the general public. >> nine bike percent dead twice bikers were dead. twice as many wounded. >> i saw pistol casings and rifle casings.

there were knives club, pools of blood, streams of blood probably the most violent crime scenes i've seen in 30 years. >> i crawled back towards the freezers with a lot of waitresses and other people who were there. it was really scary. we didn't know if somebody else would come back. they said people outside of the doors had guns. it was scary. >> none of the other patrons patrons were injured. >> i saw bullets in cars. there were police officers cars that were hit. it's amazeing that innocent civilians were not injured here. >> authorities are looking into what sparked the violence. they say it could have been a turf battle or fight other recruitment. but whatever the cause the gangs are no strangers to law enforcement. >> the events started between bad guys on bad guys. when the officers arrived those bad guys turned their hostility on our officers.

>> twin peaks will be closed for seven days. >> there is enough reason to believe that more violence would occur interest had they be allowed to remain open. >> the police arrested two more bikers early this morning. the fear is that violence could resume if these groups clash again. >> thank you. i want to go to edward, an author and former member of a biker club. thank you for your time. do you still know people in this or other biker clubs? if so, what are they telling you about what led to this shootout? >> well, i do know people in almost every motorcycle club in the united states and talk to them on a regular basis. the reason that this occurred was all over the wearing of a bottom rocker. and that bottom rocker in this case was the texas bottom rocker that they put on last year.

>> i'm sorry, can you clarify what that is? >> well, a motorcycle club where three-piece patch on the back of their vest. the top is the name of the club. the center patch is the logo. and then the bottom locker tells someone their geographic territory where they're from, and it's typically the state they live in. >> this is a dispute over--is it kind of like gang colors? >> no, this is a--it's a territorial dispute over the bottom locker on the back of their vest that says texas. the bandititos told the cause

cossacks that they could not wear that on their vests. >> this was a meeting. were they intended to talk it out. >> they were at a confederation of clubs meetings, they're usually every other month and occur on a sunday. they occur in almost every state in the united states, attend gives a chance for all of the clubs in that state to get together and discuss current affairs. current problems, settle dinners, whatever. normally there is only a couple of members from each organization present at each consideration meeting but this time there wasn't. >> what would you expect as far as further violence and retaliation out of this incident? >> i think the likelihood is quite high considering the amount that are dead at this point. my sources tell me that there are now ten dead. >> and what impact do you think this incident will have on biker

gangs in general? would you expect a major crackdown on their activities now? >> i would expect the department of jazz, justice fbi atf are pursuing every tool in their toolbox right now to eliminate the potential for this kind of violence in the future. >> edward former member of the bandidos biker gang and author. thank you for your time. appreciate it. >> a marine has died in a fiery aircraft crash. it happened near honolulu, hawai'i. the military said that the osprey was performing maneuvers when it came down. 24 other people on the aircraft were hospitalized. the pentagon said another soldiers hurt in another humvee crash has died. the 35-year-old was one of four service members in a humvee at

the back of a convoy on may 1st. the police say they were hit by a car that was trying to pass them. the collision sent the humvee off the road and into a tree. it comes weeks after others died from injuries. new report criticizes how the u.s. military landelled sexual assault claims. those who report the crime often face retaliation and little is done against wrongdoers and hold them accountable. only 15% of suspects were court-martialed. the white house said it will no longer allow local applies to buy military-style equipment from federal government. president obama spelled out restrictions. it stirred controversy after police responded in heavy riot gear and used armor vehicles as they battled protesters in ferguson missouri. under the order the federal

government will no longer give police or pay for armored vehicles such as tanks. weaponnizeed aircraft, grenades or camouflage afternoons. uniforms. activists have tried to prevent a rig-- >> this is the seattle waterfront. this is the port of seattle. thering it, an enormous drilling rig they're going to use in the arctic, it's tied up at the dock. there is a 100-yard exclusion zone put in place. no other vessels are supposed to go within 100 yards of the polar pioneer. walk this way, and we'll show you how close we are to the other side of this river water way. we're very close here.

that limiting public access to public waters is part of what is at the base of legal action taken against the port of seattle. another big part of that league action is whether the port went through proper environmental review before approving the contract allowing a local marine services company to do a lot of work on the polar. pioneer before it heads north later this summer. >> they have to conduct environmental review any time they change the use of a shoreline. and they skip that process and negotiated the lease. >> the next step in these legal proceedings should take place in late july, when a hear something scheduled in superior court in king county here in seattle. but by that time shell is expecting to be in alaskan waters beginning their exploratory drilling. the lawsuit is asking will "s" the contract that allows shell to do work on the seattle waterfront is invalidateed.

al jazeera, seattle. >> another issue they're dealing with in the state of washington, drought. scientists predict the worse is yet to come and that is due to global warming. >> normally these peaks in the state of washington are covered in snow. but this year they're barely dusted with quite. only 16% of normal. streams flow from the mountains are low. that's bad news for farmers and produce vendors at this fruit and vegetable market in olympia. >> cherries, peaches, apricots, honey honeydew. >> we're seeing things happen this time of year that we've never seen before. >> the drought is expected to cause washington farmers $1 billion in crop loss this is year. the state is offering incentives for farmers willing to sacrifice some crops to save water. here in california the drought is already well into its fourth year. but that maybe only the

beginning. a new study predicts parts of the u.s. may suffer from dry spells that last for decades. using tree rings to compare past rainfall levels and computer modeling scientists at nasa and columbia university forecast droughts far worse than the past millennium, in part due to global warning. >> these droughts will be events that no one in the united states has dealt with. >> in the past droughts have ended entire civilizations. this happened to the anna the anazazi. >> taking military action

against smugglers trying to bring migrants to europe.

>> right now we're in spending agreement that has the highest possibility of success of truly rolling back iran's nuclear program, putting their researcher and development on ice, and welcoming them back into the international community, which is what i think they really want. i have always been in favor of these negotiations,. they don't have any other option. their own only other option is war. no matter what side of the debate you're on, they agree that intervention in iran would delay their nuclear capability two, three four years. it just doesn't make sense. we have to make this deal work.

>> legislation in review of nuclear agreement with iran is awaiting president obama's signature. an unprecedented plan to battle the crisis in europe. they're sent to approve a plan that allows them to hunt down smugglers and destroy their boats. hundreds of migrants have died in the last year and a half. the last free place in mark, slab city, california, where some say their way of life is in danger.

>> a well-known extreme sports athlete is one of two base jumpers found go dead in california. he left from a cliff it's not known what went wrong but the pair reportedly crashed into the rocks below. 2 million more chickens will be euthanized at a minnesota farm because of an outbreak of bird flu. one farm was affected, but just to be safe they'll kill the

entire flock. some 35 million birds in 15 states have now been affected by the virus. it's called the last free place in america. a place where people live rent free and without government, but that could be changing. it's known as slab city. >> east of san diego near the sea you'll find what locals call the last free place in america. here hundreds live off the grid without water or sewage services. they don't pay rent, and they don't pay taxes. they're squatters on state-owned land. >> i think i have the right to stand on the planet and have a drink of water and breathe the air without owing somebody. >> this is slab city. a former military base named for the concrete foundations left behind when the base closed in the 50s. now there is an aimless collection of tents and mobile

homes that have a library a church and concert stage. at the oasis club we middle builder bill for his construction skills. he came to slab city facing jail time because of a slew of parking tickets. with nowhereless to go, slap city saved him. >> i'm more of somebody in the world than i ever was in my whole life. i'm more create pitch. i'm engaging the world which never done before. >> why the so-called slabbers' way of life as the future of the land has neighbor against neighbor. >> i think there is a valid needs for slab city to exist. i don't want to see that go away. i have friends and i know people who are living somewhat halfway productive lives. it's because this place exists. it's been co-opted in a lot of

different directions and it's wrong. >> find out why and hear from more slabbers tonight. jennifer london. >> you can watch jennifer's full report tonight. at&t is bringing its service to nashville tennessee, and to give you an sense of how fast a gig bit broad band connection is, you can grab an entire hd movie in less than 36 seconds unction you see them hang glide compete in jude do judo, now you can see russia's president on the ice. he scored eight goals helping his team to victory. thanks for watching.

i'm stephanie sy. the news continues next. live from doha. >> hello, and welcome to the news hour. our top stories shia militias in iraq offer to help capture ramadi from isil fighters. shaking things up after surviving a coup burund