a year of evan gallization. the st. hood would fulfill that spirit. melissa chan al jazeera, california. when you get a moment check out our website, aljazeera.com. updates on news throughout the day there, aljazeera.com. calls for fifa's president to step down. sepp blatter is losing support. will he survive the corruption scandal? a massive cleanup effort in flood-ravaged texas and oklahoma as residents brace for more rain. and an anthrax square involving the u.s. military. the pentagon accidentally shipped live streams of the virus across state lines and around the world. ♪

this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm stephanie sy. new fallout from the u.s.-lead investigation into corruption in fifa. the governing bodies in europe are calling for sepp blatter to step down. the president held an emergency meeting today about what to do next and europeans say they were clear. >> translator: we went to his office and renewed my advice to him to go and that he should resign. in that he should realize the moment was not a good one, and to have the courage, honesty and grandeur to realize it wasn't good. he said michelle we know and like each other, but it's too late. i can't leave when the congress is starting this afternoon. i said mr. president, that's a shame, i think it would have been great for your image and your situation for you to leave

us now. >> andy richardson is joining us live from soour zurich. what is the significant of uefa's call for blatter to resign? i mean aren't they one of six federations? >> reporter: it's significant inasmuch as they are actually going to go ahead and vote. there has been reports that the european governing body may boycott the congress and decide not to take part in it. and that would have caused absolute chaos at fifa. but there has been a slight softening of that stance. they are going to take part in the vote but all saying they were going to support the prince of jordan who is the sole rival to sepp blatter for the fifa presidency. the uefa president saying if he trusts his member associations then he has 54 votes. the problem is it's become fifa

president you need well over a hundred votes. so while prince ali seems to have the support of the majority of europe and uefa have made it clear they think sepp blatter should step down it may not be enough. >> what about the congress the fifa congress andy what is the future of that? >> reporter: well that is going to proceed as expected. sepp blatter was due to make an appearance, a public appearance earlier today here in switzerland at the medical congress. that was scheduled weeks ago, but he chose not to. there had been a q&a session lined up for that and i think he didn't want to put himself in the firing line quite so soon. one of the doctors saying perhaps mr. blatter was feeling a little stressed. the opening ceremony is due to start in the next few minutes.

if he is not there, we really have a big story on our hands. the situation that blatter faces is one he is used to. within the walls of fifa he is still very popular. why uefa have a loud voice, they only have as many votes as they have member countries, which is around 50, and outside of that the confederation of african football, the asian confederation of football have both said they back blatter. so while the congress supports blatter, the rest of the world may be thinking it's time for blatter to go within the walls he still has a lot of support. >> andy thank you. russia's president is lashing out at the u.s. for the charges against fifa. vladimir putin says america is medaling in areas that do not involve u.s. citizens. he hinted the arrests are part of the u.s.'s attempt to take

the next world cup away from his country. >> analysts around the world are describing u.s. and russian relations as being at their worst state since the end of the cold war. obviously the u.s. and the west accusing russia of supporting separatists in eastern ukraine, still very angry over russia's annexation of crimea ongoing sanctions against russia by the west. only last month, sepp blatter met with the russian president in sochi on the sidelines of some games, an event there, and mr. blatter said to mr. putin, that the russian steering committee, the world cup steering committee deserved five stars in its performance so far. so a lot of mutual back slapping has there been in the past and now from mr. putin with respect

to his support for mr. blatter. but, you know, there's a lot at stake here. $50 billion it is rumored is going to be spent on hosting these games here in three year's time. already the stadiums are being built, 11 stadiums in russia the source generating vast amounts of income and employment for this country, but it seems certainly at this stage that this unfolding scandal is something that could rel potentially reflect on russia's reputation on the international sporting stage, and the international stage in general yet again. >> charles stratford reporting from moscow. key sponsors are now putting pressure on fifa to clean up its about, one major company is threatening to pull its money out of the up coming world cup. we're talking about big money. >> a lot of money, steph, and fifa brings in about $400 million in sponsorship

money each year. the big sponsors have made it clear they want to see changes quickly. visa said it will reassess its sponsorship unless fifa makes changes now. coca-cola said this has tan initialled fifa worldwide. and nike said it is against bribery and is cooperating with authorities. now despite the bad pr some marketing experts say it's unlikely sponsors will pull out any time soon. adidas fifa's oldest sponsor last year sold more than $2 billion in soccer gear thanks to the world cup. >> thank you. we should mention the 2022 world cup is scheduled to be played in qatar. al jazeera is funded in part by that government. people in texas are bracing for more flooding with a lot evacuating their homes. the threat of the rising

colorado river has people leaving their houses about 60 miles from houston. historic flooding has so far killed at least 21 people. in wimbeley texas authorities found a boy's body. three children were among eight people missing from two families. their vacation home was swept away in the river. river banks also overflowing in oklahoma. water submerged roads, homes, and bridges. i spoke with a fire chief from a city hit particularly hard by though storm. >> we have been to this property this specific property several times since it has been constructed. so it was more routine. we're talking about -- they were probably walking in five or six inches of water.

then he -- the area that he fell into was not visible because of the high water. it was a four to five-foot probably drop down a bank and we're talking had he walked 6 inches one direction or the other, he would probably still be with us today. and as we look forward, you know we're going to try to do what we can to prevent similar things from happening, and, you know some of the discussions are marking those locations and identifying those locations, but it's not uncommon what -- what -- where he was at -- is not uncommon. that's the scary part. >> chief douglas says cities need to work to update their water infrastructure as storms become increasingly severe. there are big questions today about how the military handles anthrax. the

exposure to anthrax can be quite fatal, the centers for disease control estimates that exposure leads to death in 85% of cases. that's why authorities can't taking any chances with the people who came in contact with this inadvertently dangerous cargo. pentagon officials say a frightening mistake was made at dougwayproofing ground in utah. it was there that anthrax samples were supposed to be rendered inactive before being sent to labs. but a test revealed some of them to be live but by that time a sample had already been sent to a military research lab in maryland and the maryland lab in turn sent parts of that sample to labs in eight other states as well as to a u.s. air force base in south korea. >> certainly no members of the public have been reportedly exposed. this was contained on the air

base. it is away from the city center. >> reporter: the maryland lab only discovered that the samples were live after they had already been shipped. the pentagon says that despite the mistake, the public was never in danger but it also confirmed that four workers in maryland and 22 at the base in south korea are being treated for possible exposure. the live samples have been destroyed the pentagon says and investigators are visiting every lab that received samples. meanwhile, the cdc investigators are trying to figure out what went wrong. it is worth noting while these type of anthrax samples are routinely sent the pentagon points to a more likely culprit in this case less stringent protocols. >> john henry smith thank you.

the secret service is ramping up security around the white house. they are measuring the fence to add sharp points on top designed to stop people from climbing over it. officials say they are also working on other security solutions. republican george pa tackky announced his bid for president this morning in a youtube video. >> they take from the people and gave it to themselves. it is time to standing up and take back this government. >> reporter: he became a national figure after the september 11th attacks, but he has been out of office for almost a decade. >> reporter: he was the governor of new york when on september 11th, 2001, two planes world trade center killing nearly 3,000

people. >> right now it's very simple everything that can be done to save every single life is being done and we will continue to make sure that that is a priority. >> reporter: in the days and months that followed he governor was tasked with trying to help manhattan rebuild. he aimed to revitalize the financial district. >> when our work is done the history of lower manhattan will have been written not by the terrorists who attacked our city but by the millions of new yorkers who stood up to defend it. >> reporter: as new yorkers began the pain-staking process to rebuild thoughts turned to ground zero. 9/11 families were infuriated when pataki refused a plan to rebuild the twin towers. instead he supported the freedom

tower. backed by some of his biggest political financial supporters. the problems at ground zero and the time it took to rebuild could haunt his legacy as he seeks the presidency. that's not how he views his political fate. >> i have learned early on you can't control what you can't control. >> reporter: a member of the republican party he began his political career as major of peaks skill, later going on to be elected to state senate. in 1994 he ran for governor. defeating cuomo in a stunning electoral upset. he went on to serve three consecutive terms as governor of new york state. since then he has been a businessman, attorney and has championed conservative causes as chairman of a group called revere america. in 2010 he traveled around the

country campaigning against the affordable care act. he has toyed with running for president before in 2008 and in 2012. >> i kid when i go around new hampshire, that every four years there's the olympics the world cup, and i show up thinking about running for president. and that seems to be true but in all seriousness, peter this time things are -- different. >> reporter: but this time around he is serious. there's even a super pac to support the former governor's presidential bid. he has a record as a environmentalist, and supported a woman's right to choose. and his supporters believe his moderation on social issues could help him standing out in a crowded republican field. david shuster, al jazeera. crowded indeed. he joins seven other republicans who have joined the race in

recent weeks including rick santorum the former pennsylvania senator announced his candidacy wednesday. >> i am proud to stand here among you and for you, the american workers, who have sacrificed so much to announce that i am running for president of the united states. [ cheers and applause ] >> he was the runner up in the 2012 contest for the republican nomination. weighing in on an international dispute. the defense secretary urges china to stop building islands in the south china sea. ♪

taking a look at today eeg top stories. tracy morgan has settled his suit against wal-mart. the settlement details are confidential. and the top u.s. negotiator

working on the iran nuclear deal plans to leave the administration. he will depart after the june 30th deadline for reaching a deal. secretary of state john kerry is meeting with iran's foreign minister this weekend to continue negotiations. hackers who stole personal tax information from the irs are likely from russia. the information of up to 100,000 taxpayers was exposed. these are expensive problems and not just for the government. libby casey explains. >> reporter: the cyber thieves didn't even need to hack into the irs, they had enough personal information to answer security questions and gain access to more than 100,000 past tax returns. >> the information they needed was simple information. name social security birth date home address. these are things that are pretty much out in the public domain at this stage in the game.

in that data is already in the hands of the hacker community. >> reporter: the criminals used the information to file fraudulent returns. it is just one in a series of high profile and costly data breaches in recent months. even the white house is not immune. >> 80% of attacks that we see, are coming from organized crime. now these are people that go to work every day, just like you and i do. they are well staffed. they are well paid. >> reporter: caleb says the business is booming. >> reporter: a credit card is worth a dollar or less however, a health care record can be worth up to $50 in the cyber black market. >> reporter: that's because they contain vital information about a person's identity that can be

mined for weeks or even years. ibm estimates that companies lost $3.8 million on average last year to cyber crimes. the study says the cost is growing because the number of attacks are increasing, which means more money spent preventing and detecting them. and after a breach companies have to deal with lost business and a damaged reputation. barlow says it will take efforts by the government and private sector to mount a sophisticated defense. >> one of the biggest things people have to do you know, we have talked a lot about how the bad guys are sharing information and collaborating. on the defensive side we need to do the same thing. and this means sharing threat intelligence information between companies. >> reporter: legislation is advancing in congress to increase information sharing, buddies puts remain about how much liable protection companies should get. and whether information they disclose can be used against

them. the senate finance committee has schedule adhering next week to dig into the irs breach. defense secretary ash carter issuing his sharpest warning yet to china over land reclamation projects in the south china sea. >> there's been a ratcheting up of rhetoric this week. carter delivered his most pointed and forceful comments yet about beijing's effort to lay claim to islands in the south china say. carter said washington will flex its military muscle when and where needed. >> china is out of step with both international norms that underscore the asia pacific security architecture and the regional consensus in favor of a non-coversive approach to this

and other long-standing disputes. and we're going to meet it. we will remain the principal security power in the asia-pacific for decades to come. >> his comments come on the heels of a paper published by beijing earlier this week signalling a major expense of china's defense perimeter that will emcompass the areas it claims for itself. six countries have overlapping territory claims in the south china sea, one of them is the philippines, a key u.s. ally so if an armed conflict breaks out over disputed territories, the u.s. could get drawn in. last week a u.s. reconnaissance aircraft repeatedly ignored chinese warnings to leave the area. >> patricia sabga thank you.

ten years after hurricane katrina, the gulf coast prepares for another hurricane season. plus the text that can crash your iphone. apple is now racing to make a fix. >> my name is imran garda the show is called third rail,

♪ the start of the hurricane season is just four days away. today president obama is visiting the national hurricane center in miami to assess how to prepare the gulf and east coast states. jonathan martin reports. >> reporter: the atlantic hurricane season will likely be calmer than normal according to noah. but officials stress it's no excuse for citizens to be come place sant. >> we're sophisticated players down here. we need to be prepared and vigilant. >> reporter: ten years after hurricane katrina, the mayor is

confident. >> i can say we are far better off than we were ten years ago. >> reporter: hurricane season officially starts on june 1st and ends on november 30th. experts predict between six and 11 named storms with as many as six becoming hurricanes and potentially two strong storms reaching category 3 or higher. >> no matter how many pitches mother nature throws at us if one pitch gets through the strike zone, we can be in a lot of trouble. >> reporter: el niño is the cyclic warming of ocean waters. wind sheer inhibits storm formation and it is expected to last through the end of the year. also sea surface temperatures in the atlantic are expected to be close to normal lessening storm

intensity. but the message from the federal emergency management agency is simple, have a plan. >> if you live in kansas it's tornado season. if you live on the west coast, you are always worried about earthquakes. so it's important to think about any disaster and be able to know how you are going to react. >> reporter: noah stresses that the seasonal outlook can't predict potential hurricane landfall, but updates to research and forecasting model will allow for better forecasts of a storm's path and intensity once it's formed. more people around the world are getting online new figures from the u.n. estimate more than 3 billion people will use the internet by the end of this year, 2 billion live in developing countries. nearly half of the world's homes have access to the internet. and the number of cell phone users stands at 7 billion

worldwide about half of them surf the internet on their owns. apple iphones are experiencing a major glitch involving a certain string of arabic texts. the glitch is linked to the way apple's operating system renders non-latin characters. the golden state warriors are getting ready to meet lebron james and the cavaliers in the nba finals. stephen curry finished with 26 points, but it was his daughter who stole the show at the postgame news conference. >> da da help me. >> we have to take a week off to get ready, and get our minds right and our game plan right. >> look at him multi-tasking too. he continued talking to the media while putting on his daughter's watch.

i'm stephanie sy thanks for watching. the news continues next live from doha. ♪ >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ welcome to the news hour i'm richelle carey in doha. coming up in the next 60 minutes. >> and i said that you have to leave. it was -- it was very sensitive on that. >> fifa's president must go. the head of europe's governing body is in favor of prince ali. visa says it will reconsider its relationship if