new york for the search of two escaped prisoners. and also the latest news coming from the g 7 summit in germany. remember, you can get the news any time day and night from www.aljazeera.com. >> i'm del walters. we'll have a look at today's top stories. from isil to ukraine and the debt crisis, the g 7 summit in germany. a surprising upset for turkey's president and ruling party. and the search is on for two convicted killers who used power tools to escape. and the u.s. is getting ready to send more weapons to iraq to fight isil, but will those weapons also wind up in the hands of isil?

>> president obama is in germany for the g 7 summit. topping the agenda, ukraine. this is the second straight year that moscow has been excluded from the g 7 talks because of its role in that fighting. now there is new talk of sanctions against russia. but europe's economy hinges on whether e.u. leaders will be in a bail out situation with greece. and then there is the isil threat. now gathering support scheduled to meet with president obama tomorrow. meanwhile, germany's chancellor angela merkel is trying to get leaders to look into the future and commit to a climate change deal. patricia sabga looks at how it's all unfolding. >> it's the most elite club on earth, but the g 7's power to call the shots globally is not

what it used to be. >> the way global order is organized, and the g 7 are less important than they were a number of years ago. >> thanks in large part at who is not at the table. the g 7 does not include china the world's largest economy china is harnessing it's vast foreign exchange reserves to project that clout joining forces with brazil, russia, india and south africa to create the new development bank and bailout fund. and pouring billions into projects beijing hopes will under pin a new silk road encompassing asia, africa, europe. but china's power really hit home earlier this year when more than 50 countries including four g 7 nations rushed to become founding members of the new china-led asian infrastructure investment bank.

>> when the juxtapose those with the g 7 you may say well, the g 7 is losing when it comes to global clout and economic must. >> well, waning power underscored by russia's pursuit of closer economic and military ties with china to end run western sanctions over ukraine. >> and patricia joins us live with more. patricia when was the last time that the g 7 actually made an impact? >> the last time we saw the g 7 coming to its own pulling together and coordinating policy was the wake of the financial crisis. they all got together, agreed to cut interest rates and engage in deficit spending. then we saw a split, of course. the u.s. continued down that road of stimulus, but many of the european economies went to austerity and it's only recently that we've seen the european central bank embrace stimulus program. >> we've been talking about the

greek debt crisis negotiations ongoing four months. now will this summit break the en pass that we've been seeing? >> that's the big question. a lot of leaders were hoping that this en pass, something would have been agreed before this summit took place. here we have the greek debt crisis overshadowing this meeting where there are many other things on the agenda. of course, the big en pass is whether greece is going to be able to meet europe and europe is going to be able to meet greece in terms of austerity measures. and of course, germany really has been a champion of greater austerity, greater reforms and of course greece is saying we can't go that far and this en pass just continues. >> everybody was talking about the g 7 and russia. which from the united states standpoint is more important the g 7 and russia, or the g 7 and the greek debt bailout. >> we saw talk today where you saw the united states and germany coming out united saying

that those sanctions have to stay in place against russia until bankly see that the full terms of the minsk accord, the cease-fire really be implemented. this is very key and relateed to greek debt as well. when you take a look at the economic impact of these sanctions germany has been hit because they are russian and germany are big trading pardon necessary. and these sanctions are going to be expiring in july. so this is very important. by the same token you have to question whether the united states and europe really want to tee greece exit the eurozone because then that throws a big question mark over the future of it. >> and germany getting its gas from russia. patricia sabga, thank you for joining us. iraq's prime minister joining the g 7 hyder al abadi is there to talk about strategies come badding

combating isil. >> iraq is not only a country at war. it's a country in economic crisis. a slump in oil prices has left iraq with a massive budget deficit which could be around $22 billion. aid agencies are warning they're running out of money to help 3 million iraqis affected by war. add the cost of the war itself, and iraq finds itself in real trouble. prime minister al abadi said that he wants world leaders to step up. but iraq is looking for strengthening military aid stepping up coalition airstrikes and helping iraq reconstruct its war-torn infrastructure, and for humanitarian aid. >> the u.s. has 3,000 troops in iraq training and equipping government forces and sent 2,000 anti-tank miles to help curtail isil's use of armored vehicle for car bombing and the

administration has promised to speed up other weapons shipments. relations between u.s. and iraq has been strained. the u.s. sector accused the iraqi army of not having the will to fight. some iraqis say that's not fair. >> isil is well equipped and well funded. iraq is in debt. iraq wants financing and it needs the g 7 to support iraq financially and bring the debt gap. the meeting between the prime minister and u.s. president barack obama in germany is supposed to be a review of what is happening in iraq. here in the capital this side line meeting means very little. what people are really concerned here are rising food prices, rising electricity blackouts and security. >> from fighting isil to paying government salaries, all of which have a big impact. the real question, however is

how much can the g 7 help. al jazeera baghdad. >> coming up at 8:30 p.m. eastern time. we have confronting isil. a key ally, turkish president erdogan has seen his ruling party lose his seats in parliament. we are in istanbul with more on the outcome. >> president erdogan and his ruling act party got a big blow after the results. that means his efforts and his party's efforts to change the constitution and introduce an executive presidency has failed. the party also seems to have lost the majority needed. it needs to form a coalition government. now what is interesting is that all the opposition party have said they're not interested in that coalition. so it's very interesting to see

see--to wait and see what will happen next. the chp the main opposition party will be able to get a chance to form a new government. what's also interesting in those elections and in today's election is the fact that for the first time in the history of turkey that a party would declare kurdish identify has entered into two parliaments. >> also the polls just closing in mexico. the midterm elections taking place there. at stake is the entire lower chamber of the national congress. several governors and a thousand races for mayor we follow the voting in iguala. >> we're in guerrero where 40 students went missing in september. so far we've seen many people come out to cast their votes in a peaceful way here. but surrounding this city are hundreds of security forces,

federal, police and military, protecting ballots protecting the national election commission offices here. we've been speaking to local election officials and they admit they have not been able to open up all the polling stations in the area. 13% of the polling stations are not open because those who were to work at the polling stations did not show up. and they said these are the most challenging elections yet in mexico and this election shows how frustrated, angry and disgusting with their government that many mexicans are after a wave of massacres killings, and corruption scandals here. across four southern states we're seeing leftest teachers trying to block this election any way they can. they've called for a boy cat. the federal government said on a national level they secured peace for this vote that over all most polling stations are open and most people who want to go cast their votes can do so peacefully. but here in guerrero, a local

election official in this district of ten municipalities only 87% of polling stations have been open meaning 13% were closed because people who were supposed to work at those polling stations were likely too afraid to show up. >> authorities in texas reporting that an u.s. border patrol helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing after it was shot. it was patrolling the rio grand river along laredo. as many as five shots were fired all told. no one on board was injured. that area is known for drug smuggling and migrant crossings and the shots did come from the mexican side of the border. a texas police officer has been suspended for the way he handled a bikini-clad teen at a pool party. this was video taken on friday and posted on youtube and shows police trying to break up the crowd outside of this community pool in mckinney. that's a city of 40 miles north of dallas.

one officer can be seen grabbing a 14-year-old girl and wrestling her to the ground. two young men tried to intervene. the same officer then pulled a gun. >> the disturbance involved a group of juveniles and a number of local residents. upon arrival officers were confronted by a large group of people. a 14-year-old female was temperature rarely detained by one of the officers. she was ultimately released to her parents. several concerns about the conduct of one of the officers on the scene had been raised. a formal investigation into the incident has been started and the officer involved as been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. >> also we can report that one adult has been arrested and charged with interferes with the prison investigation. two convicted prisoners are on the run after escaping from a prison in up state new york.

they used power tools to cut through cement blocks. they left a note that read "have a nice day." new york's governor andrew could you mowcuomo said that the plan was sophisticated. there is now a reward for information that leads to their capture. david shuster has our story. >> the manhunt now includes hundreds of local state and law enforcement officers. they've been setting up roadblocks, walking door to door and flying helicopters over the community on the edge. >> these are dangerous people. and they're nothing to be trifled with. >> 48-year-old richard matt was convicted on three counts of murder including the kidnapping and dismembering of his boss. 34-year-old david sweat was serving life behind bars for the murder of a sheriff deputy. prison officials at the clinton correctional facility discovered the men gone early saturday

morning. the duo had fueled guards overnight by stuffing hoodies beneath their head covers. >> the search revealed that there was a hole cut in the back of the cell in which these inmates escaped. >> the inmates used power tools to cut their way out. >> we don't yet know how they acquired the cools. >> once the men made it out of their cells they had to slice through steel pipes and scale down six floors to get into the is seer system. then they broke through the manhole cover outside of the prison walls. >> and still ahead on al jazeera america, across the u.s. the number of abortions being performed is going down. with the decline is why? and 36 feet and rising, the red river forcing evacuations in louisiana. and the u.s. is reacting to taliban concerns about the future of these five prisoners released from guantanamo bay now in qatar.

>> there is no just if hecation for extending travel restrictions on five taliban members living in qatar. the men known as the taliban five were released from guantanamo bay last year in ex-clang for bowe bergdahl. qatar announced it will continue to watch the men and restrict their travel. the taliban said that contradicts the terms of the exchange which only prevented the men from leaving for a year. those conditions have now lapsed leaving the men free to live where they want. major operations in the mediterranean continued this weekend. calls for help going out villa satellite phones 45 miles off the coast of libya. the international rescue effort with italy u.k. ireland and germany, the number rescued is now at 50,000. abortions in the u.s. are going down.

the decline nationwide to be about 12%. they're also appears to be little relation between the decline and whether states passed laws restricting abortions. five of the states with the digest declines have done nothing legally to restrict providers, including hawai'i which saw a 30% drop. but louisiana and michigan both saw their numbers of abortions perform rise 15%. groups on both sides of the debate say that the increases were partially due to restricting new laws restricting abortions in neighboring states of ohio, texas and mississippi: the director of the program in steubenville ohio, and she is by her own admission pro-life. why in your opinion are the numbers going down? >> i think there are several reasons. you are right. i was surprised so many of the states that had the biggest declines like my own state of connecticut, had a decrease of

20%. and they have some of the most lenient abortion laws. but i do think there are other reasons, i would like to think that hearts and minds are being changed throughout the country. i don't think its just policies that are changing them, although some of the policies have had an impact in places like mississippi. but connecticut and rhode island have had some of the biggest changes and declines, and yet they haven't done anything in terms of policy. but i think they have done something in terms of attitude. >> let me ask you this question. how much of a role has the forwardable care act or obamacare played in the drop of the number of drop of abortions. is it because people are gaining more access to contraceptives, as the other side would say. >> no, i wouldn't say that at all. first of all obamacare was not even implemented. these drops have been going on since 2008. that has nothing to do with obamacare. that's the one thing that i

think has no impact on these numbers. i grant you policy has not had a huge impact, but obamacare has no impact. >> i want to read what the president of planned parenthood has to say about the issue. she says, quote better access to birth control and sex education are the biggest factors in reducing unintenned pregnancies. more restrictive abortion laws do not reduce the need for abortions. is she right. >> no, i think we're becoming more fetally aware. the support for abortion over all is constant. but 60% of people asked favors federal law against abortion after 20 weeks. several states have implemented policies and i think just the

conversation about these policies this fetal awareness of act even oh though only a few states have implemented it. >> you are aware that the other side said that the fetus did does not feel pain but rather get into that debate. is the issue itself losing steam at one point you know the march for life in washington was huge and pro-life versus pro-choice was a major deciding factor in the upcoming elections. this year the issue is more on who gets to vote versus those who have access to abortion. why is that? >> i don't think it's the number one issue for either side. i think pro-lifers are always going to be lobbying in favor of the child's right to life. but it's not going to be the number one issue for either side because i think we're gaining ground in terms of incremental incrementalism.

certainly it's going to be a motivating force for both sides but it's not the most motivating. >> as we mentioned you're pro-life, is there anything that the other side is doing that you think maybe lead to go a drop in the number of abortions nationwide? >> um, no, not really, actually. i think that they don't do anything to do that. i think that the pro-life side is the only one that is offering support to pregnant women. the other side is really promoting abortion still. so no. >> ann hendershott the director of veritas center in franciscan university. thank you for joining us villa skype. in louisiana the red river is rising. it is up 36 feet and expected to get even higher. flooding a lot of homes there. some people in the flood zone are being told get out. evacuate. officials already cutting power in the area. major roadways are underwater as you can see. there are reports that some people are being forced to travel some of the roads by

boat. yesterday we were concerned about tornadoes hurricanes, flooding has been going on. this has been one messy spring. >> that's right in this flooding is all because of what we had seen in may that record-breaking amount of rain in parts of oklahoma and texas it's now coming down these rivers and red river is just one of them. and as you can see we're not seeing rain in the area, but flood something a major problem across the region. i want to take you into parts of louisiana. you can see the flood warnings in effect right now. it's this area right here. this is the red river. now shreveport louisiana is where we're expecting to see the cresting this evening and into the morning. but it takes a very long time for all of that water that built up in oklahoma to make its way back down into the river. so these are where we're seeing the major stage levels as well as the moderate stage levels. shreveport is under a major flooding event. and as you can see later on in the week that water is going to make its way down the river and

in alexandria, we believe that we'll be seeing major stage level for them as we go towards the end of the week. we showed you the last hour, but i want to update you with what we're seeing right now. that storm is going into indiana. it's going west to east and so we see the same weather in the same line hours after hour. that's what is going to happen for the rest of the evening. indianapolis will see the weather come in later this evening and probably in the overnight hours it's going to be over here over parts of ohio. the big threat with this severe weather right now is the hail and the wind, and we're seeing wind gusts up to 70 to 80 mph across this region. not a tornado event this evening, but the winds are definitely something where we're going to be keeping an eye on. as we make our way towards tomorrow the threat is going to be there. it's going to be more towards the east and indiana you're

going to be on the tail end of it ohio, parts of new york as well. we're going to be a lot of weather from the beginning of the week. but as we go towards the end of the week, well, our temperatures start to heat up. normally we're 77 degrees, 85 degrees. >> but you know i like it hot. i'll take it any way. >> yes. >> thank you very much. >> isil advantage near baghdad and in tonight's week ahead segment we look at whether the call fate can be contained and what is the strategy of more weapons on the way?

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. here is a look at your top stories this hour. president obama is in germany for the g 7 summit. he's talking with leaders there about a number of issues including ukraine conflict with isil greek debt and climate change. in turkey the primary results show that president erdogan's party could lose the majority in

its cabinet. the main opposition appears to have lost 25% of the vote. the police continue to look for two convicted killers who escaped from a max security prison. the men broke out of their cells and made it through prison walls with power tools. they left behind a note that said "have a nice day." it is sunday nighttime for our regular look at the week ahead. the situation in iraq is worsening by the day and now with isil holding more power in the region, the u.s. is looking for new ways to confront the group. jamie mcintyre is here with more. >> president obama is meeting at the summit with iraqi prime minister hyder al abadi. it's expected that they will discuss on the side line among other things ways to increase the effectiveness of u.s.-led airstrikes in iraq. this past week at the pentagon

the focus was on whether the united states should break down and put some combat forward air controllers on the crowned to help call in pinpoint strikes. the debate is over what the military called j tacs. these are highly trained specialists usually air force who are on the ground with combat troops in the thick of the fighting. and can use laser designators. >> that is your target. >> and gps to call in direct strikes to call in pinpoint accuracy. and even in the most chaotic battlefields. the three-star general running the air campaign in iraq said that he does not need them. >> would it be helpful? probably. is it necessary? no. >> he dismiss dismisses critics

who said that the care campaign is it too feeble. >> our coalition team is having a profound affect on the enemy. the airstrikes of the most precised and disciplined in warfare. >> among the sharpest critics senator john mccain. >> you know, 75% of those combat missions return to base without having fired a weapon. it's because we don't have somebody on the ground who can identify a static moving target. >> the air force said that about right for dynamic targeting that is putting planes up and waiting for targets of opportunities to appear. air force commander cite two factors limiting the number of airstrikes that can be carried out against isil. the need to avoid killing innocents and the difficulty in telling enemy fighters from civilians in urban areas. both problems could be addressed with u.s. eyes on the ground. as former central commander david petraeus told cbs this

week. >> do we need to bring advisers down to brigade level? right now they're just at division level and perhaps to battalion level? should there be teams with air controllers on the ground. >> should there be? i think there probably should be. there is risk, but there is also risk of not winning this fight. >> that risk of more american casualties which has stopped joint chief chairman denver soy from recommending spotters, a move that would clearly shift the u.s. from advising and assisting into a ground combat role. >> the reason why the u.s. does not want to take that step is because of the risk of u.s. casualties. putting that front line troops into call airstrikes would put those troops and the one who is protect them at risk. and run the risk of the united states reverting to a combat role in iraq.

>> thank you very much. and the state department on thursday saying that the u.s. will deliver 1,000 anti-tank weapons to iraq in the coming weeks. they say those weapons are needed to combat suicide-bombings and other takes by els fighters. confirming this week that coalition forces have killed 10,000 isil fighters in iraq and syria since those coalition airstrikes began. and iraq saying it wants to buy weapons from russia and iran. and prime minister hyder al abadi saying both countries are making it too difficult to do so. joining us tonight from washington, d.c. we thank you both for being with us. isil has the weapons we once supplied to the iraqis and they left them on the battlefield. in essence aren't the airstrikes by the coalition being used to destroy the weapons we gave the

iraqis? >> there is no doubt about the fact that the iraqis, as general dempsey said that they were not driven out of ramadi. they drove out and left weapons there. they did it last summer in mosul. we spent $25 billion arming and training them, and they left the weapons on the field. in effect yes we're using our air power to destroy our weapons that we gave to the iraqis to defend themselves. something that they have not done because they're political leader have not established an inclusive government with the sunnies or those on the front lines in anbar province feel they have a stake in. >> yet they're asking for and we're sending more weapons to the iraqis to fight isil. is that good money and good weapons for bad? >> you have to be careful when you send it. who are they got to get it to?

you saint talk about in the run up here that they're now relying on the shia fighters to fight isil as long as they're under control of baghdad. in tikrit we wouldn't do that because we felt they were under the control of iran. i think these new weapons are going to directly to the these units that we've been draining so hopeful hope--we've been training so i hope they'll do better. but the final analysis it's their war their country, they have to decide if it's worth to fight and die for. >> there is a saying that you win a war by killing more of them than they kill of you. in we were told that isil fighters might be 10 to 15,000 isil fighters. why does it seem by so many estimates that the isil fighters are winning the war? >> well, casualty estimates are not equivalent to measures of strategic success.

and while we've seen obviously some u.s. coalition led airstrikes have success in hitting isil fighters and isil instanislasalations isil is growing in numbers each and every month. it's gaining a thousand foreign fighters not to speak of the fighters it's recruiting sometimes by force from the areas that it holds. at the same time isis is doing more with less. it's overpowering the isf by flitting is cross iraq on battle fronts. >> june 29th, do you expect a major offensive by isil as they mark the one-year anniversary of the caliphate? >> i do. and there are a number of places where such an offensive could take place. we're actually seeing indications of a new strategic phase for isis in syria. isis has gained the city of

palmyra, in the center of the country, and may move towards the central corridor having effects on that conflict. that up ends the stalemate we've seen so far. >> why do we not tell them to get their weapons the way isil did, go out on the battlefield and capture them. >> it's one thing to tell them, and it's another thing to happen. you hit the nail on the head. it's their war. we can provide air power and equipment, but it's their country. if they don't want to defend their country they don't want to keep it together, a lot of people have argued that iraq basically is no longer one country. remember, it was artificially created by the british after world war i and through that we got rid of al maliki because he was not able to hold it together. the new prime minister is making a better job but he's still not there yet. that's the real key thing.

i think we've learned this, for example, in vietnam you know, we had almost 60,000 americans die when we signed an agreement and put ahead one of the best-trained and equipped armies in that part of the world. and then two years later they didn't fight the north vietnamese. that's really the key issue. are they willing to do it? do they want to hold their country together? if they don't there is really nothing we can do. because what happens there is not an existential threat to the united states. >> rand paul, the senator who is running for president, crated quite a controversy when he suggested that the hawks in the republican party his own party are responsible for the rise of isil. take a listen to what he said. >> isis exists because of hawks in our party who gave arms indiscriminately and most of those arms were snatched up by isis. these hawks also wanted to bomb assad, which would have made

isis' job easier. >> is he right? >> oh, definitely. i mean. al-qaeda in iraq, which was the forerunner of isis, didn't exist until we went in there. baghdadi the head of isil, basically we put him in prison and radicalized him. now during the so-called surge when a lot of sunnies partnered with us to turn against al-qaeda they went back in to syria and they regrouped and came back in. it never really went away. people said well, you destroyed them. no they didn't, they just changed their name. i think rand paul is absolutely correct. our going in to iraq in 2003 was one of the greatest strategic blunders in the history of the united states. not only has it created isil, it's empowered iran. >> how can you explain isil for us? it seems like they are dying on the battlefield. it seems like there is a

coalition of arab states against them in the gulf region, and yet we are talking about them now a year after they declared the caliphate and we're talking about a counter offensive. we seen the beheadings. we've seen the people set on fire. how is it that they continue to grow when it seems that they're doing so many things that are counter to so many different cultures? >> that's a great question. i think really what we're see something a lack of capable ground forces that are really able to push acitizen out of the sanctuary that it has in syria and iraq. the city that it holds are key claim to legitimacy its ability to claim that it is the caliphate and leader of all muslims. that's proven to be a resonate message not just in the region, but also in the world. we're still seeing foreign fighters flock to isis. we're still seeing individuals in the u.s. including the united states launch attacks in isil's name. as long as they can retain that

sanctuary the more it is able to claim that it is resilient, and that it will remain. now we're coming upon a year of its existence and as the caliphate within iraq, and it's able to claim that it has remained. >> this is a group that the president by his own words once called the jv team, and now a year later, a year after they declared this caliphate we're still fighting them. this is supposed to be the greatest military might on the planet these are supposed to be rag tag people. why is it such a problem? >> well, i think the president was wrong to call them the jv team. what they are is a group-- >> youthank you. >> it's a group that is taking advantage of what is happening in the middle east. you have the arab spring where the people rose up to try to get their rights political rights and economic opportunities and basically it was squashed by assad, which created the

problems there. and isis took advantage of it. and even though we supposedly killed 10,000 as was said, the fact of the matter they're getting recruits from all over the world because you have a lot of young people who feel that their lives you know, are not fulfilling what they were like. so they're willing to join them. but the fact of the matter is that you know, basically if you look at syria now, you have al nusra, which is an al-qaeda off shoot fighting isis there and so you have really the kind of the beginning of a civil war not only among the sunnies but between the sunnies and shias that's going to take a long time to burn itself out. >> two quick questions i want to go with you for the first one. if we can't kill our way out of this problem what is the solution and if the solution is political, why is there still so much talk about war?

you have 20 seconds. >> we need both military and political solution. we need to empower the iraqi security forces and also empower moderate relevance on the ground in syria. it's a time and space problem. we need simultaneous efforts and right now we're just focusing on iraq and just focusing on military means. >> and hyder al abadi saying he wants to buy weapons from russia and iran. why is the united states sending weapons when it appears that iraq is willing to pay for them? >> well, again that's a question that i think we felt that we have a moral responsibility because we created this mess in the first place. that's why we're doing that. but they've got plenty of money because of the--their oil. >> larry korb former u.s. assistant secretary of defense. and thank you both for being

with us tonight. >> you're welcome. >> let's look at some of the events coming up. the third retrial for sir lawrence hutchins iii on tuesday former house speaker dennis hastert will be arraigned for lie together fbi. and on saturday, hillary clinton is scheduled to officially launch her presidential campaign for the the 2016 election. she'll hold her first major rally in new york. up next, prescription drugs in the foster care system. doctors are prescribing drugs to some of america's most vulnerable kids at an alarming rate. what california lawmakers are doing to stop it. and are american women ready for the front line? we go to the training center where a group of women are getting ready for combat.

movers and shakers. >> we will be able to see change.

>> gripping. inspiring. entertaining. "talk to al jazeera". only on al jazeera america. >> there has been a major development in the move of using psychiatric drugs to treat foster children. in california alone foster children are four times as likely to be treated with psychiatric drugs. there is a reform bill making its way through the legislature and we'll have more in a moment, but first hoo is melissa chan. >> my parents were addicted to meth, and they did not feed me. >> at the age of four, the state had already moved her into foster care and by the time she exited the system ortiz was taking 12 psych tropic pills a day. >> how old were you when the doctors started prescribing this medication? and did they ever consult you? >> at 14 is when i started taking these medications.

at first when i was at the mental hospital they sort of did. but when i went to a group home they added more and more. >> the cocktail of drugs left the once healthy teen with serious side effects. >> i have irregular heart beats. i have thyroid problems where it makes it hard for me to lose weight and i feel like i wasn't in control of my body. >> the doctors describe the psych psychiatric medication to a quarter of children in foster care. the state spends more on psychiatric drugs for foster children than any other kind. >> they're used in group homes to sedate and control their behaviors. >> take ton task by lawmakers at

a hearing this spring, administrators at the state public health system responsible for providing care to foster youth could only say they're working on the problem. >> how many lives have been lost? you can't let another year let alone a decade slip by without real solutions. >> that's what i was going to say. i totally agree with you trauma informed care is the way to go. you have some of the lowest paid people working in the group homes that have no training. i do think that we're changing. are we there? have we fixed it? absolutely not. >> greg rose, department director of the state's foster care system sat down with al jazeera to discuss the time frame for change. >> how does this change for foster children in terms of their experience? >> well, when will we see that change? >> we should be seeing change beginning now. we've published the guidelines. we've published the foster care mental health bill ofs.

>> state legislature hopes to push bills to combat the abuse and make the department of social services more accountable accountable. >> i was misdiagnosed by a doctor who only knew me from secondhand judgments she read from a notepad. >> the bills received widespread support. >> for ortiz it's about losing the weight that came with the medication and trying to make it through college. >> from the get go i said i didn't want to become like my parents. i didn't want to be a failure. >> she wants to get a law degree to fight for the rights of foster children. melissa chan, al jazeera, hayward, california. >> we're joined now by sara barto. the lead counsel with the children's rights group. how did we get here? how did we get to the point that foster children are now being

drugged at alarming rates in the first place? >> i think there is a culture in the united states where for mental health situations or that we move more and more to medication with adults and children. however in the foster care population where we have vulnerable kids who by definition have been subjected to abuse or neglect in their family homes and removed from their parents, we have kids who have mental health issues to be treated uniformly and we've moved to drugs and we have not put in place stemcally to make sure that we're doing it safely and only for the right reasons. >> are you concerned these children are receiving these drugs forment for mental health reasons or is this chemical restraint? >> that's the issue. too frequently these drug are administered not as treatment for the underlying trauma, but for behavior control to take kids who exhibit behaviors to

settle them down where foster parents can manage these behaviors and there is a temptation to control behaviors rather than underlying trauma, and we need to bring in the mental health services to treatment trauma rather than simply medicating behavior. >> we were talking while melissa chan's report was airing. what is the worst example you've seen? >> i've seen a child in the state of michigan who was in foster care for years and years and finally was going to be placed in a home with a preadaptive father. when the father came to the home he was presented with a hefty bag, clothing, shoes blue jeans, all of these kids' earthly possessions are in that bag. when the dad poured it out came five six containers of prescription drugs. this dad did not know what to make of it. he took the child to the hospital to see what is this about. and what came about was the child was immediately taken off

four of the six medications and weaned off the others and taken to therapy because these medications were stacking up one on top of the other unknowsly and this child was feeling listless not himself. >> and acting terribly in school. >> sleeping during school. this is what happens. these medications control behavior but they don't get to at the underlying trauma so kids get better and they can stack one on top of another because of the way foster care works. >> we just saw california in melissa chan's package. what about the other states. >> the states are having trouble with this. you can get at data, there is a lot of difficulty because of appropriate confidentty. but where we see data in texas massachusetts, many states, it is commonplace that children in foster care are medicated far above the rates we see in children in the general population. these kids, when they get into foster care, unfortunately

frequently move from home to home. what that means as a child not only separated from their parent who can be their advocate for a doctor. they know their behaviors and the drugs they're on, they know how they're reacting. the picture is parent is out of picture because of safety. doctors now change, school teachers change, and we get fragmented knowledge about the kids and the behaviors they're showing. without that knowledge the normal consent process that goes on between doctor and patient breaks down. >> that's sad. we can talk about this all night long. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> when al jazeera america returns. >> the hardest part had to be when we first arrived showing up to an unit full of males that had never seen female marines. >> opening up combat units to women. a look at their training when we return. and one day after winning the triple crown we catch up with

manner pharaoh to see what the future holds for this prized colt. .

>> there was a thunder at the french open when wawrinka takes his second grand slam victory. in barcelonathis is barcelona's third victory in six years. and american pharaoh returning home to kentucky. the three-year-old colt becomes the first horse in 37 years to win the kentucky derby the preakness and the belmont stakes. he'll keep in training until the end of the year. but the goal of competing in

competing in the $5 million breeder's cup classic. the marines will open up to women. right now they're testing women to see if they're ready to go to the front lines. we look at how they measure up. >> it's a long way to the top. but scaling a rock cliff is all in a day's work for 22-year-old corporal jacqueline dean. she's part of the marine ground combat unit integrated task force. and an experiment in gender integration. 600 marines, male and female, train side by side for combat roles never before opened to women. >> absolutely exciting, thrilling, like i love to do things like this. >> still she admits it has not been easy. >> the hardest part, honestly, had to be when we first arrived showing up to an unit full of males that had never seen a female marine let alone worked with one. that in itself was a struggle. >> then there was the heavy gear carried over long distances.

>> when we were in the desert we had over 100 pounds on power back. that's more than body weight every day. and now here carrying 75 pounds every other day for a total of six miles. your body never gets the chance to recover. >> for eight months these marines have been training in a variety of grueling environments, the desert, the ocean and now the mountains. at these altitude breathing can be hard. on every march heart monitors record vital data after marines are asked to record how they're feeling. the information collected to set general-neutral standards to qualify for jobs like machine gunner and tank crew men. >> we've found that looking at all these all of the marines out here are capable of performing the task. what we're trying to ascertain is at what level. we get to see what type of person actually thrives in this environment. and what do they look like from a physical standpoint?

what is their height, their weight their lean body mass. >> harder to measure is the impact of women on what the military refers to as union cohesion. but in this group they've earned a grudging respect. >> when i look over and they might be smaller shorter and they keep pushing it makes me rethink what i'm here to do, and i keep pushing on. >> the results of the testing will be presented to the commandants of the marines this summer. the women say they'll keep pushing on to prove that they're not only willing but able to serve. kristen saloomey. al jazeera california. >> the defense department has awarded a team from south korea scientists $2 million for their innovative design. they built hubo which outperformed other robots in a two-day competition in los angeles. the challenge requires robotic contestants to open doors walk through rubble, climb stairs and

compete cleat complete other tasks as well that will faced in disaster responses. stay tune, front lines is next. >> every summer in america a force of nature becomes a man-made disaster. some call it a war millions of acres, billions of dollars. no end in sight. >> in this episode of fault lines we follow the 2013 wildfire season