dive into the stories and go behind the scenes at >> this is aljazeera america. live from new york citile i'm tony harris. isil tightens it's pip in syria and iraq. and another city falls to the group's fighters. a california oil spill water and wildlife covered in trud crude and environmentalists struggling. and the began on adult leaders cannot last.

>> and we begin with a growing danger from isil. the group seized two major cities in iraq and syria this week. an ons i have that began last june. capturing territory in iraq, seizing oil and gas fields. countered with an air campaign that began last fall. and it had slowed. by march iraqi and kurdish forces and two months later they were on the offensive again. now they have presence in more than a dozen countries. mike viqueira, what does the white house say about the the coalition's strategy now? >> well, tony. the president gave a magazine interview today. and he called it a setback and insists that the u.s.-led coalition is not losing in

syria and iraq. his spokesman appeared to before reporters, very sharm questions, and he insisted that the u.s.-led coalition is making progress in the fight. it's going to be a long fight. and he gave the statistics, isil-held control has shrunk by a factor of 25% since the u.s.-led coalition commenced it's air campaign last year. it's not a total route the loss of ramadi, a total route and chaotic retreat as we saw in mosul last year. the iraqi security forces and sunni tribal forces and the shia militias are rallying and trying to carry the fight against the isil forces. we have to point out that the offense against mosul the second largest iraqi city, a string offensive and nobody is talking about that right now.

but josh earnest said that they are in it for the long haul, and it will take three years to degrade the isil forces. >> when the key defense for the coalition partners last year. he noted that this military conflict like other military conflicts, would be characterized by days 6 of progress and periods of setback, and i would acknowledge that we have seen a setback in ramadi. >> reporter: and the president in that interview tony sort of blamed iraqi forces for the loss of ramadi. he said that u.s. trainers were not present, though certainly the u.s. air campaign was trying to defend that city against the advance of isil forces >> so mike, members of congress have certainly had plenty to say about isil's recent gains. >> well, they certainly have, and it has been a steady drum

beat from notable critics lindsey graham and john bane or the house side. there's no combat role for them. but most of the critics want more, and john boehner in particular said that the president's rules of engagement has tied hands of the u.s. forces, and john boehner appeared before the u.s. press today. >> the white house still insists that no new strategy is needed. it says that the president's policies have been a success. it's just not credible. and things need to change. >> and the president and the white house say across the administration, there's no total overhaul of the policy underway right now. yes, they're assessing certain tactical strategies, and sent sending anti-tank missiles to the iraqis, something that is needed. but not a total overhaul of the

tragedy. >> mike, thank you and isil says that it has taken full control of the ancient syrian city of pal mire a. and it 1 holding the most territory in syria, and one of the most significant archeological sites in the world. >> eyeing ill fighters control pal mira's infrastructure. and i highway linking the capital of damascus. leaving people trapped. >> people are afraid, and there's no water and they can only use local wells. there's no power most of the time. >> one third of the city's residents may have fled. and already also reports that isil has executed 14 civilians.

palmyra 1 surrounded by gas fields. and this video online is said to show isil fighters entering a pumping station east of the city. the city is also home to the prison where they house political prisoners. there is also an airport and a weapons depot. >> the human cost and the refugees has been huge, but the cultural loss has been i be calculable. >> palmyra 1 home to a 2,000-year-old heritage site with priceless artifacts. local activists said that some were bundled up and taken out of the city. but much of the site remains at risk. >> we may have different beliefs and different views but we have to protect such

incredible vestiges of human history. and i would appeal, indeed that destroying heritage will not achieve anything. >> activists released a video they say shows the ancient walls covered in bullet high schools, and they accuse the syrian soldiers as looting. palmyra is said by many to be the cradle of civilization, and so much of the past is in this place. but it's future is uncertain. >> a syrian archaeologist and professor in athens, ohio. good toy you and what's your reaction to the fall of palmyra to isil? >> extremely distressed. this is a terrible moment for us. a city like palmyra with its amazing ruins and a long history. we would have hoped it would be

one of the sites that we would not see falling to a group like isis. and we would have hoped that eventually, if and when the syrian regime would withdraw that it would be the local population the local civil society there that would have taken over the city. but instead, it has fallen to isis, and isis is surely going to start aggressively looting the site. and possibly committing cultural heritage atrocity, as they did in mosul and irother areas of iraq. >> cultural atrocities. has it already removed some of the most valuable artifacts from that city, so that what is at risk, while prized,

certainly isn't the most prized? >> i can tell you that the department of antiquities certainly would have had a plan to evacuate some of the -- let's call them the crown jewels -- from the museum. and they have done this at other sites, and they have hidden the collections in some other cities in different places. so we know that the department of antiquities has tried to do there. but even if you remove the most important pieces, there's so much more left behind. and from isis's perspective they will still be able to loot that museum and raise a lot of revenue as they start to sell them on the international market. >> that's what i was going to ask you next. is it likely that what is left will be destroyed and sold on the black market or both?

>> absolutely. pal mire a.palmyra, one of the unique features is isis will be able to loot and raise a lot of revenue from that looting but also because it's a world heritage site. and because it's so well-known and because of its prominence, it's another opportunity for isis to commit another cultural heritage atrocity the and they commit these whether it's by burning people or decapitating or destroying sites at museums it's meant to send a very powerful message. one that emphasizes the impotence of the international community to stop isis from doing what it does, and the impunity with which it acts, and it's a very powerful message that isis uses.

>> one more for you and certainly a lot of prop ganda in what we're talking about. at this point all six of syria's unesco world heritage sites have been damaged in this war. and so here's the question. tell us what is being lost and damaged here, and why we should care. >> absolutely, i mean, the loss and the damage is happening in different ways, and it's caused by different factions and different groups. so for example the world heritage sight at the crusader castle. that was damaged when the regime bombarded with the air force to dislodge the fighters there. and the city of aleppo has been totally destroyed by the ongoing fighting between the two sides so different areas

have suffered different damage. palmyra has yet to suffer great damage, but we fear greatly for it. this is the key here. this conflict is going to end one day, and the syrian people will have to try to get back together to find those common denominators that helped to identify them as a syrian. what identifies me as a syrian and someone else as a syrian, and the cultural history as a common point denominator that they will be able to use to reconcile with each other. so if we lose our past, we also lose our future. >> wow that's really well said, professor. he's a prompt of archeological at shawnee state university in athens ohio. thank you well said. dip diplomats between the united states and cuba, embassies in washington and havana.

>> reporter: the fourth round of talks with cuba and want united states now underway, and both sides are reporting there's a positive atmosphere, with a focus on reestablishing diplomatic ties, as well as the reopening of both the cuban and the united states embassies. but there are major hurdles that both sides need to overcome. from the cuban standpoint, there's the concern about u.s. democracy reforms. pro democracy reforms, something that the cuban officials say that are illegal by international treaties, and the other issue for cuba, the controversial detention center, guantanamo, being returned to cuba something that the united states says that at this point it will not discuss. as well, cuba is looking for a lifting of the embargo something as complicated to sov the u.s. congress. and there's the u.s. property

claims the properties in cuba that were seized during the cuban revolution, and how those property owners will be compensated. so a lot of challenges ahead but both sides seeing that there's a continued warming of relations, if you will, one that was certainly bolstered by the meeting last month in panama by president obama and raul castro. >> a u.s. navy plane released video from the surveillance plane, flying over several artificial islands. chinese military reportedly ordered the u.s. military out of the area. several islands are in the area, claimed by china and it's nba, and they said that they have the right to defend its airspace around the islands. a partisan group of lawmakers has asked the white house to support search and rescue efforts near indonesia

and malaysia. and yesterday the state department said that they could accept some of the ref knees leaving myanmar by boat. they have been stranded at sea for months, and now some of them will are being allowed to come ashore. >> they all thought they were going to die but they were finally rescued after nearly four months at sea. they simply couldn't believe it. the migrants say their condition is very, very bad. most of them are dehydrated and malnourished, they have infections and all kinds of skin diseases, and the authorities here are struggling to take care of them. >> we thought we had died already, and will meet god almighty soon. we had lost all hope of survival. >> they agreed to accept 7,000 mig rants, many of them still at sea.

but the reality on the ground, they are not actively rescuing anyone who is still stranded in their boats until they get a direct order to change their policy to accept anyone who is illegally entering their territory. this means that the time is running out for the thousands still at sea and looking at the conditions of those who arrived a day ago, it's clear that there's no time. >> u.s. diplomats met with the president of myanmar today to work to end the humanitarian crisis, and there may be signs that they may be listening. earlier, leaders in thailand and indonesia met to discuss the crisis, and today myanmar said that they will accept more next week. the patriot act 1 set to expire, and another aimed at

u.s. surveillance programs. the usa freedom act would eliminate the government's bulk phone records, but senator rand paul said that the freedom act's restrictions don't go far enough, and he said he won't support either of them. >> there comes a time in the history of nations whether fear and complacency allow power to accumulate and liberty and prosperity to suffer. that time is now and i won't let the patriot act the most unpatriotic of acts, go unchallenged. >> let's bring in libby casey now, and could senator paul's long peach, 11 hours or something, keep either of these bills from being passed? >> not in an immediate literal sense, tony. what he did was a talkathon, a filibuster like talk. and it wasn't a filibuster

because he wasn't stopping the senate from voting on the patriot act, but what he did he brought a lot of attention to the issue of government surveillance and balance of civil liberties and securities. and he wasn't alone. there were a couple of other senators republicans and democrats who supported rand rand. rand paul and gave him a little bit of relief. the question is what will the senate get through? they're scheduled to get through the memorial day recess but it's not like they have to go home. they will stick around to get things done, and it looks like they will be here through saturday unless neck get through quick agreements. josh earnest was asked today if they can move forward. and the really issue is whether they can pass the freedom act which is a tweak to the freedom act. >> what we believe is best forward, both as a practical

matter in terms of getting this done before the deadline, but in a way that gives the need for the national security authorities the tools that they need to keep us safe, while also enhancing the basic privacy and liberty protections. >> the deadline that josh earnest 1 talking about 1 june 1st. that's when the patriot act is set to expire, tony, and if they don't move forward on this, 2 changes the security picture and the civil liberties. >> we have two bills here, and what are the differences between them? >> the usa freedom act passed the how else by a wide margin. it tweaks the patriot act. here are the two biggest ones. it would stop the government from collecting and storing data on your phonecalls. we're not talking about wiretapping, but we're talking about who you called, when you called and how long the call

lasted. some say i have nothing to hide and why 14 i care about that? but civil liberties advocates say that a lot can be revealed by putting that together. phone companies keep them and the government would have to get a court order to access them. and the other thing that it would change is the foreign surveillance court. and the house approved them and the question 1 will the senate? mitch mcconnell is resistent to it. he wants to see an extension of the patriot act. so there is a fight going on in the senate over what could happen in the next few days. >> libby casey in washington, and thank you. the senate is moving forward with a bill that gives president obama fast track authority to negotiate initiate trade deals. and the senate agreed to move the legislation to final debate. senators will have final

amendments, and there it moves onto the house. calling for change. the president of the boy scouts said that the organization's ban on gay leaders is not sustain stainable. and a look at hilliary clinton's emails from the state department.

>> the state department is expected to release the first batch of hilliary clinton's private emails in the next few daysle the new york times says that it has already seen hundreds of them. david schuster said that affects the clinton campaign. >> one-third of those that hilliary clinton has turned over. some of them were stamped as sbu, sensitive but unclassified. because they concluded the location of the state department of libya. and it doesn't have the same

protections as in government servers, and the benghazi attack that killed four americans, it was different from the obama's initial narrative. more emails will be released in the coming days. meanwhile her presidential campaign is rolling on, and he and staff are determined to push issues that will show her as a progressive. in iowa this week, hilliary clinton offered pure populism. >> most americans understand that the deck is stacked for those at the top. and i'm running a campaign that's very clearly stating, we want to reshuffle that deck. >> should she has also reshuffled her previous policy positions. she has moved to the left on gay marriage, criminal justice reform and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. >> we can't wait any longer for

a path to full, equal citizenship. >> while clinton said that her position on issues over time have evolved democrats may be having an influence on her. elizabeth warren said that she won't seek the 2016 presidential nomination, and warning has been talking about income and equality and economic justice for years. >> we believe that no one should work full-time and still live in poverty and that means raising the minimum wage, and we're willing to fight for it. >> former maryland governor, martin o'malley raised the minimum wage and he plans to launch his presidential campaign in weeks and has been proclaiming clinton as a

centrist. >> triangulation is not a strategy that will move america forward. profiles in courage and not profiles in convenience. >> bernie sanders, a self described socialist has announce his nomination, and one of the issues will be campaign finance reform. >> we have a political situation where billionaires are literally able to buy elections and candidates, and let's not kid ourselves. >> queue, hilliary clinton. >> we need to fix the system, and get unaccountable money out of it once and for all. >> even bill de blasio, the mayor of new york city, could be having an impact on clinton. >> it's time to see a bold direction. >> you're not technically endorsing her. >> i will say this about any

dand date, until i see where 24th are going. >> in interstate, barack obama out flanked her to the left and in his position to the iraq war, something that clinton supported as a senator. and furthermore the campaign officials say that they have lingering fears that democrats see her more like her centrist husband, and advocates an outside influence in the democratic presidential caucuses and primaries. so regardless if hilliary clinton is moving left because her policies have evolved or political expediency, it's a wide move, and it should bolster clinton's nomination chances. for more on hilliary clinton leaning to the left, tonight on "inside story" with ray suarez. >> thank you and coming up next on the program. indicted. a grand jury formally charges six baltimore police officers

in the death of freddie gray. and plus, a state of emergency on california's coastline. what we're learning about the company behind this bill.

>> the president of the boy scouts of america speaking out on the grup's controversial policy on banning openly gay adults. in the meeting in atlanta president robert gates stopped short of asking the board to change the policy, but he said that recent events had led him to believe that the policy is no longer sustainable. >> we can expect more councils to openly challenge the current policy. while technically, we have the authority to revoke their charters, such an action would deny the scouting to hundreds of thousands of young men today and vastly more in the future. and i will not take that path. >> wow zack walls 1 an eagle

scout and executive director of scouts for equality, to end discrimination in the boy scouts of america. and zack and good to see you. >> good to be here, tony >> so lifting the scout's blanket ban on gay adult leaders, the former dense secretary said that we must deal with the world as it is, and not as we might wish it to be. and any other alternative will be the end of us as a national move: so what's your reaction to that statement from robert gates? >> well, dr. gates' career has always been about tough decisions and straight talk, so what he said in atlanta 1 not entirely surprising to us with scouts for equality. 70% of their units are sponsored or charted by faith

organizations from the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints to the catholic church, but the organization is endorsing lgbt people from across the country. and i think that he did a good job of walking the line between being inclusive of lgbt people and walking the pat to equality. >> so zack, how fundamental a change might underline might we see here given that intervention. the religious organizations sponsor the majority of local scout troops. >> that's right about 70% and so while this change will certainly have major implications the inclusion of lgbt people, and scouts hoff been turned away from the program, this change could mean a heck of a lot.

for the conclusion, including gay adults won't be much. when i was growing up in scouting my two gay moms were able to be part of the unit, and we should not be limiting the participation of gay adults to geographic area. i hopped to grow up in a progressive community. but that should not determine whether or not gay youth or adults should be able to participate in the program. >> i don't know if there's a statement from the national assembly but how do you think that the home office will respond to this recommendation from president gates? >> it's a good question. i think that we have a telltale sign today after he finished his remarks with the gay adults at the very end of the speech. after he finished his speech, he got a standing ovation so clearly he found a line of messaging that's resonating with the scout leaders. >> in 2013, there was

consternation in some quarters when they decided to allow openly gay young people to belong, and what has been the fallout from that decision, and is it instructive to what we see here? >> it has been limited and it has been much less than the boy scouts themselves predicted would happen and it has been far less than those on the far religious right would predict. a lot of them were predicting a mass exodus between 40 and 50% but the boy scouts have only been losing 5% membership loss year-over-year, and they saw a 7% membership loss. so there was not an increase of boys who left the program when they decided to include gay youth, but it was not a land slide. >> let me did you this. should the national office adopt this recommendation, will it be because leaders have had a change of heart and decided to be even more inclusive or

will it be out of concern over what might come down the road in the way of the court mandate? >> i think it's going to be some of both. the reality is that the people who run the boy scouts of america know how to run a trend line. and like you and me, they have seen a trend that the country has gone through with the exception of lgbt people. and you can't train 1st century leaders with the 20th century moral philosophy. so america is changing and partly of 1 it is fight going to be people including parents will withhold their children from the program and the organization is going to pay the price. >> zack walls is an eagle scout and scouts for equality. thank you. in baltimore today a grand

jury indicted six police officers in the death of freddie gray. gray died after a severe spin injury in police custody. six police officers, ranging from assault to depraved heart murder those charges announced by the attorney general. >> as our investigation does continue additional information has discovered and as 1 often the case, ongoing charges can and 14 be revived based on the evidence. >> so one notable change to the indictment none of the officers will face -- they will be arraigned on july 2nd. since the death of freddie gray the so-called war on drugs has cost the u.s. more than half a trillion dollars. and some say that the war has

played out more severely in baltimore than any other u.s. city. one of the city's former mayors predicted a devastating fallout from the war on drugs and he sat down with adam may. >> how do you think the war on drugs has affected inner cities like baltimore? >> well, i actually think that the way in which the country has conducted the war on drugs has done more harm than good. >> kurt schmoe was the for front on the war on dugs in the 190s. while in office, he pushed a radical idea. decriminalize drugs, and it was not shared by many politicians. >> decriminalizing altogether? >> i hope that eventually, we end the prohibition but it has to be done very carefully. >> the number of people arrested for drug possession

increased 80% between 1990 and 2010. piquing2010 peaking at 2,000 arrests. they saw violence skyrocket. the mayor said that the end result has been abandoned buildings, inner-city poverty and widespread unemployment. >> when you called for decriminalization, how did you think that that would help a neighborhood and help families? >> 8-point, i hoped that decriminalization, what i sometimes refer to, as medicalization would help the communities in this way. it would begin to look at addicts more as people that needed treatment, more than people that needed incarceration. >> he sees a direct link on the drugs and the violence that engulfed baltimore last month.

riots broke out damaging hundreds of businesses. after low level drug offender, fred fred, died in police custody. >> you add not only the contact between the police and folks on the street, add to that a zero tolerance policy, and what zero tolerance does, it causes more tension, more aggressive interaction between the police and the community. and so bottom line, what you see 1 tensions growing up, and he have an explosion and whether it happens in baltimore, or some other cities that's the real problem with the zero tolerance policy. >> despite mounting research on the social destruction caused by the war on drugs there's little political will in washington to make major changes. until that happens the mayor

seeds a never-ending cycle. devastatingner city neighbors with the potential for unrest in baltimore and beyond. >> you can see more of adam's report tonight. indiana has approved a one-year needle exchange program for a rural county at the center of the state's largest hiv out break. scott county 130 miles north. of kentucky, 3,000 people tested positive for hiv and they tied the outbreak to drug users sharing needles. there are cleanup crews working around the clock on california's coastline trying to clean up 1,000 barrels of oil that spilled in santa barbara.

it seems that you clean up an area and in comes more of the goop on the next wave. so are the volunteers making real progress? >> well, it is sort of you have to to watch this work go on. it really seems like no effort would be enough when you watch it happen. i just watched the crew that you see monday me, sweep through and pick up vegetation and plant matter. they're getting two out of three that's covered in oil. it's such painstaking work. we can see the tide coming in, and it has literally come in and brought a whole nother round of oil onto the rocks. and that's part of the availability of the response. you can't cordon off the entire beach. but others, you see the boons laid out across the sand so it doesn't come in any further. but they don't have those. they have to keep the boons out

onshore, and in a few select places on the coastline. so we're seeing a somewhat, i wouldn't say muted response, but limited by resources and that has been concerning to watch. >> what do you expect the long-term environmental impact to be here? >> well, sort of the life cycle of oil in water is a tough thing when you look at it. it's scary stuff. oil by its nature floats across the surface of the water at first, and this is the coast guard's opportunity to so 1 it off of the surface like you would with soup. but at a certain point it begins to part rise, it begins to sink to the bottom. and it begins to break down, and not just the top of the food chain, like marine humpback whales get it. and the plankton and the criminal, the basic of the food

system begin to absorb it, and that's where we're at a point of no return. that's it gets worse and worse as time goes by, and that's the mach nature of oil as it disintegrates. >> 100,000 gallons sounds like an awful lot. but how does it nearby up to the oil flowing through the pipelines every day? >> that's a grave question, tony, the eye-opening thing for people watching 24 oil spill. this is a perfect stretch of coastline, and you don't think of oil being a big part of the economy here, but the horizon 1 dotted with oil rigs, and big ships come in and drop off. and it goes up and down the coastline. so we're talking about million dollars of gallons of oil move on and off the coastline every year. and what we saw here 1 literally a drop-in the bucket and not even the full daily capacity of that one pipe that

broke. that pipe was not even running at full capacity when that happened. so this is a paren they will amount of oil. and it makes it even scarier than it is. >> let's talk about the company company that open owns the broken pipeline. plains has one of the worst in the business. the los angeles times said that only four had more fractions. they call it $23 million in property damage, with more than 688,000 gallons of hazardous liquid spilled. and the company said that it deeply regrets the latest spill. the mailman accused of

flying a gyrocopter through restricted airspace to the capital, against money and politics, he spoke to the press briefly after his hearing. >> over time, the congress, our congress has rewritten the rules to define an open marriage, they're in bed with lobbyists, special interests wall street and big banks and enough is enough. >> douglas hughes, he speaks with antonio mora tonight at 8:00 pacific. we have to tell you about a new report out today economic cooperation and development otherwise known as oecd. which says the gap between the rich and poor around the world 1 only wild thing. and ali velshi 1 here with more. walk us through this, at least ali. >> the income equality has reached record highs and lows.

and wealth is so concentrated at the top income level of earners worldwide that the authors of the report insist that inequality is at the highest rates since they started keeping records. the growing income gap is a hazard to the world. and emerging markets like brazil and others have wide gams. but the report says that the gaps are coming down, and the report said that inequality is going up in the more developed countries, and as you know, the united states 1 often singled out. the worst offenders among the oecd countries and it's a euphemism for some of the more developed countries in the world. and the worst offenders among them chile turkey, israel and the united states. >> let's talk about the united states. and what does the report say

specifically about u.s. inequality? >> it's very high, and it has been rising in recent years. the average income of the tom 10% in the united states rose 19 times as much of that of the bottom 10%. and that's up from 19-1, up from a ratio of 11-1 in the 1980s, and 12 and a half to 1 in the 1990s. if you compare that to the oec worldwide average 6-1 that's a problem. the report says there are a lot of reasons why the u.s. registers less equality. they spend less on social programs and benefits. and they lift up the least among us. and countries in europe are better at doing something that we any of as a bad word. they're better at redistributing wealth using taxes and benefits. so those are the main reasons why the u.s. 1 suffering a little more. >> ali, what else do you have on the program tonight?

>> we have a big show, talking about debating solutions to growing inequality and helping the middle class. i have arthur laugher on the show, the godfather of the reagan era supply side. and i want to ask him if the stuff that he whispered into ronald reagan's ear is still working today. and a lot of evidence that it wasn't. and so. >> 10 you can watch ali velshi right here on aljazeera america. ireland tomorrow becomes the first country ever to hold a nationwide referendum on same-sexsame-sex marriage. 18 countries allow gay couples to wed. and that's the case in half of the states in the united states, and in mexico, they have legalized same-sex marriage, and ireland could make history. irish senator katherine

spearheaded the campaign to legalize it. she's the first openly lez ban member of ireland's legislature. and she said it's very personal. >> it's an extraordinary moment and i have just come from an event where the prime minister and the deputy prime minister, both of them, heads of our coalition political parties were there gathering with those who fought so hard on the s dam campaign, sharing with each other, how do we think it's going. question feel quietly confident now that it's actually going to pass. and though the polls have started to narrow a little bit never once has it gone below 0%, and the irish people, who are freedom fighters and fair and compassionate will say yes and we'll become the first country in the world to do it that way. >> it seems like this is personal for you.

>> it's personal, and the allow eads and i when we got married there was no conversation about marriage for same-sex couples and we started a case and got supporters working for us, and it has blos $28 oh, my god for us. the civil rights movement of this decade in ireland. >> do you think that 24 24 referendum is going to have an impact? and other countries including the u.s., having similar debates? >> well, what i know, clearly it will, and what i also know, even when we're running the case in the high court, what was going on in the united states, both with the courts, and the advocacy, with the humor rights campaign, we were in touch with these people, helping to understand how to advocate for the issue and what were the legal issues, extending equality to all people. so they can marry the person

they choose to love. so there's no question in our mind that not only will we experience freedom finally for all citizens? in republic, but what this sends to all lgbt people in the world, where they're criminalized for being openly gay, this will, please god send out a wave of freedom and pride and encouragement to other countries to at least be compassionate and tolerant and offer full freedom to their lgbt citizens. >> the senator said that she's confident that irish voters will turn out in favor of the same-sex couple, and she believes that it will pave the way for other countries to follow in their footsteps. charges dismissed. why football player, ray rice is no longer facing domestic violence charges.

>> so there was a legal victory

today for former baltimore raven's ray rice. the judge dropped the domestic violence charges against the pro running back, and john harris is here on that. >> we have been living with the story, as have the rices for more than a year now and today it moved onto what looks like its conclusion, because ray rice went through a whole year's worth of an intervention program to avoid going to trail trial and this week, he completed the program and the judge signed off on it, committed the player for striking his now wife, jen a. >> reporter: former running back ray rice, captured on surveillance camera, knocking his now wife unconscious has been dismissed. the case began last february with a video of rice and jen a palmer, now his wife, in a very physical altercation in an

atlantic city elevator. ending with him dragging her unconscious body into a hallway. and then more graphic video was filmed by mtz showing him punching his wife. causing outrage and tougher penalties for league conduct. >> not that they could solve it, but they needed to show empathy and greater concern for it. >> the ravens cut him from the team after the second video was released. and the nfl. rice has called the elevator incident the biggest mistake of his life. former football star was able to avoid jail time by agreeing to a year-long intervention program for first time offenders. under the terms of that program, rice paid 125,000-dollar in fine, and anger management counseling.

he signed off it on it after consulting his wife, jen a. speaking on the case on the today show, jen a said she forgives her husband. >> of course in the back of my mind, in my heart, i knew our relationship would not be over because it's not us, and it's not him. >> jenne has forgiven him. no team has signed rice. and ray rice hopes that he will get a second chance at the nfl. we'll have to wait. >> absolutely. good to see you john. >> enter a look at what's coming up at the top of the hour. david schuster. >> coming up tonight at00, a manhunt underway for the quadruple homicide in washington d.c. and they have identified dna left on a pizza and we'll look

at the science between behind investigation breakthroughs. and the story of survival. a little girl in georgia 1 offering thanks to those who saved her from a life of abuse. helping at-risk children. and we'll take a closer look. also tonight traveling to cuba. a wave of tourism and investment. but do american tourists and travel investors say that cuba 1 prepared? the photographic art that's meant to provoke thought. from lynching to profiling by the police, why these statements matter. those stories and more in a few minutes. >> thank you. a touching memorial day tribute to the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice defending america. soldiers from the 3rd u.s. infantry known as the old guard, spent the day at the arlington cemetery in virginia,

thousands of soldiers are buried there. and after memorial day the same unit will sweep the cemetery once again and many remove every flag. that's all our time. david schuster 1 back in a couple of minutes.

♪ ♪ hello everybody, this is al jazeera america. i'm david schuster in new york. >> gaining ground, from iraq to syria isil just eased another major city. the anger is growing and the anxiety is ratcheting up, our u.s. ground troops an option? coastal crisis, the chief up is underway after on oil spill ahonk the california shore. and but details are emerging about the cause and the company involved. the survivor, she is just 9.