improvings. we need rain and more rain. >> and with neither in sight, there's no telling how long this emergency will last. >> al jazeera santiago. >> plenty more for your on our website the address for that is aljazeera.com. >> more calls to remove the con fed rate flag that can soon be off some license plates too and scientific access to marijuana some restrictions will soon be lifted for research into the drug.

this is al jazeera america live from new york city. no longer threaten to prosecute families that try to pay ransoms. communication restrictions will also be eased. mike is live in washington waymore, mike, what prompted these. >> well, randall, this is a review that is long awaited. under a lot of criticism from the families. americans who had been held overseas by other groups prince bly in the middle east, what we do know is the white house announced officially that the review will be released tomorrow, president obama will do it himself, families of these hostages are in washington today, meeting with top officials they are expected at the white house tomorrow as well. and reports confirm what we have suspected all along and

at least what we with have been led to believe and that is the the united states will no longer prosecute families. who attempt to pay ransome on their own. much of this is precipitated by many of the families. today at the white house talks about being responsive to those concerns and some of the issues that are going to be addressed in h review tomorrow. >> making sure we were implemented the wide variety of assets that are used to try to safely recover. we also want to improve the process of communicating with family whose have loved ones who are going through this

terrible situation. >> there was testimony two weeks ago from lieutenant colonel active duty, lieutenant colonel jason said there's simply too many agencies stumbling over each other, not communicating and this is the result of which is some of the things that the families have been complaining about. a person within the administration, they are calling it a fusion cell where families can go and where this -- the policy and rescue operations are going to be coordinated. so what is not change canning in the u.s. policy. >> well, what is not changing and what the administration has never been up for review, the the steadfast a couple of reasons for that, off stated

number one, it is a revenue stream number two it encouragings only encouraging the takes or more hostages. official policy of the united states, and what the united states has done in the past, and will evidently continue to do and that is help facilitate ransome payments if in fact the families wayn't to go that rout. any reaction yet and anyone opposing this policy. >> we have heard the weinstein family through a spokes men say this was a missed opportunity. they believe in a nuts and bolts kind of way that this point person, this fusion cell should be located within the white house. that this individual is going to be -- and this group is going to be a lawful agency like the fbi they believe it should be more centrally located.

we will be hearing from many of these families and again many of them are in washington meeting with officials today and will be at the white house tomorrow. >> well with, there are calls across the state to take down the con fed rate flag. the banner has flown over a memorial there for years. top state leaders including nikki haley and u.s. senate lindsey gram on leading the effort to remove the flag. morgan radford has more. signs that read things like your lives matter. but in this heart of this personal commentary, there's a larger discussion, and as you mentioned there's a really going on right now about 2 1/2 hours up the road

whether people are asking lawmakers to take down the flag. they are saying it symbolizes hate. >> i spoke with mayor rielly and he says this is a victory, and that things have changed tremendously. and now he is saying it isn't on the capitol building and we are hearing this ground swell to take down the flag. but there's a second issue here. that's the issue of gun control. that's a little bit brinkley here he said that's where other people to kind of decide, we do believe in the second amendment but we acknowledge there needs to be other rights. and what it means today and two the complications of the gun control issue here in a red state and in mississippi

the republican speaker of the state legislature says it is time, to consider taking the emblem off the state flag. it is the first time it has proposed the removal. and online petition is also calling for the symbol to be taken from the flag. be uh the governor says the flag should stay because mississippi voters approved it. me want withs to phase out license plates featuring the flag, the democrat called the symbol unnecessarily devicive and hurtful. they do not count as private speech.

how significant is today's vote? >> it is a big step forward because just a week ago it looks like the trade goals were with dead. it has created some strange allies. president obama is on the same side of this fight as republicans and we with got a sense today from majority leader about what a long strange road it's been. is this has been a long and rather twisted path to where we are today but it is a very very important accomplishment for the country. >> now this vote today, just sets up the senate to take a final vote, probably tomorrow. but today's vote was the big hurdle because they had to pass a threshold of 60, they were able to barely get that, 60 votes.

we were closely watching a hand full of democrat whose are protrade. think teen got onboard. now, a lot of democrats were concerned about this, though, they don't want the fast track authority on trade deals because they have concerned about trade deals generally one of them is vermont independent bernie sanders i strongdy disagree with the majority leader in called this a great day for america, it is not a great day. bernie sappledders of course presidential candidate in the democratic field, he is definitely use this is moment to try to differentiate himself from some of the pack. now, randall, this is not a done deal we with do have to see the senate take up another vote, and there's more hurdles but today's movement forward was with certainly a big step. >> so libby, the senate already voted on this, why are we here again?

the senate did pass a legislation last month on trade, the problem though, came in the house. they separated out these two trade deals which we are seeing move now, will be separate from this work's assistance. the president says he wants to see both on his desk, so we will be watching to see congress get that workers assistant through this week they are lurching into another bill, it is a lot of maneuvering but at the end of the day, the president is likely to get his fast track authority and this all sets up the white house ever the

later approval of a massive pacific trade deal and that would be a significant accomplishment. >> a senate committee is blaming regulators for failing to text deadly defects. the company recalled more than 30 million vehicles for defective air backs. but a transportation department found the auto satety regulator did not do it's part to get the air bags off the roads and senators agreed. i believe as has been stated this is this report is a zeroing indictment of an agency that was with responsible. but let's not forget the responsibility of corporate executives. >> who could have and should have fully disclosed and then

protected their customers from these devastatingly deadly devices. >> takata resisted efforts to put in place a statewide spread row call until last month now the cash strapped company is defending thele bees of collars in budget cuts. details on the new policy change coming up.

>> particularly two hard left ha has drawn a line and said we won't vote this may mean that seize is star has to apply to the opposition, in order to get this passed. if that happens if it is split down the middle can it then remain in power? and can it remain in the prime minister seat, lit be a tense time. once this negotiation oreceiver, because then there will be another battle in order to get measures passed. al jazeera in athens we spoke earlier where the former finance minister, who called the latest proposal urn

necessary evil. >> we cannot lose this last chance that we with have, it is a very heavy package but it is still better. unfortunately the structure is also wrong, it is all taxes now it is all on the tax side. as they came into power having promised way too much, it took them too long to figure out how they work, and now her cutting a deal which is worse than what he could have gotten in the beginning of his tenure. the price of that has been high but it is still better than bankruptcy is. leaders have begun two days of talk on strategic issues. it will touch on a range of issues from military power to trade.

question welcome fair competition, quite frankly you have awakened up. we were a little i know my colleagues don't like my saying this, be uh the truth is we -- we got a little how can i say it, too comfortable. age increasingly powerful weapon, persuasion. >> china state run t.v. on american air waves. program spending county these language abroad, a new bank to finance development, in emerging economies. soft power plays beijing hopes will win over those who are weary of china's growing influence u.s. is being

overpowered by everything about china and china is being examined under the micro scope, so that's why you heard all those gnatty over the years. >> pushing into this overseas media markets with china state outlets c.c. t. v. and chine can that's voice cannot be heard clearly, and loudly. >> but the soft power message can get mixed reviews. the government funded institute teaches mandarin and chinese culture to 300,000 students in the u.s. alone, but the program has been clouded by controversial. many host universities where they are established in the united states for example have learned to be weary of

the fact that they are rather politicized at least in certain times and places. chineny arguably has more success happy that the vast foreign exchange reserves to fund banks. 40 billion-dollars into the new bank with with partners brazil russia, india and south africa, 41 billion into the new silk road fund, and 50 billion into the newly created asian infrastructure investment bank. which u.s. allies rushed to join in spite of discouraging signals from washington. >> i think that's a brilliant move on china's part. it is attracted a very great positive response, from most of the countries of the world. >> the launch was undoubtly a pr coupe for beijing. but for all the billions china soft power investment is still timbered and new

concerns about muscle flexing over disputed territories in the east and south china seas.

rail and you can find it on al jazeera america will soon locate application or the gps is turned off. it will also have access to contact lists. saying these changes would allow uber to launch new promotional features x example the ability to spend special offers. uber sighs the came are baseless.

the obama administration has remove add major roadblock to the scientific study of marijuana. john henry smith reports that made it difficult to conduct research to know if marijuana really helps with conditions like ptsd. >> well, a public health review was instituted by the clinton administration, just to find out the effects on things like driving pregnancy, or post traumatic stress. >> aaron hind is one of them, they came pretty close to my own position a couple of times. a couple of people in my company got killed. >> after turning to alcohol and prescription drugs he turned to pot and found peace. it allows me to focus.

but for decades they could not prove or disprove the effectiveness. now the department has lifted it's publish health review. the move has been hailed by supporters and opponents of legalization. marijuana has been the only so called drug prohibited by as our own jacob ward found out, that was a source of great frustration for researchers like brad budger. that's it. all we have to do is get the study drug and start the study. for marijuana, we into into a whole other series of reviews. >> bill piper office of national affairs released the following statement, this

announcement shows that the white house is ready to move away from the war on medical marijuana and enable to performance of legitimate research. he is nor were withries the new research highlights any of the harmful effects. >> if i didn't have pot as a coping mechanism, if you took it away i would have turned to alcohol. i might have turned to something harder. >> federally funded studies will still have to go through a more stringent approval process. al jazeera. >> the a lo ha state inports 90% of it's food despite one of the best climates for growing crops. that's because companies are doing work on some of the most verify ground. and they say they are poisen sos the land, jacob ward reports. >> it has also become a

center of big business, big alary cultural business, this is a factory for big chemical companies like for creating seed crops and not the kind of seeds you would expect, it isn't pineapple and coconut the seeds they grow here are almost exclusively for corn and soybeans. they export them to the mainland, and that is the number oning agriculture commodity of hawaii. now it is clear why you would want to grow seeds here. means that you can can grow year round if you develop them on the mainland, yo you need as much as 15 years to grow the generations you need. on and in conjunction with

the seats that these companies create. this is a remote crop, but a lot of these are grown up next to the scars where people spend their days and in fact, that would have mandate add buffer zone, a distance between these and those homes and schools and a full accounting of what is being sprayed. later we will show you our special report that looks at the science and the controversial that makes it the center of a global fight over the billion dollars business of thing ary culture. >> you can watch with the full report tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. appealing his suses pension over deflate-gate. the patriots four time winning quarterback is set to miss four games the league punningishes him after they found brady and the team

likely new of improperly deflated footballs before the a. f.c. champion game. oscar winning composure has died. >> he was the author of the song behind titanic, he was nominated for ten academy awards. his private plane went with down in southern california on omonday, he was 61 years old. and hollywood is also mourning eight is enough star the 86-year-old suffered from diabetes he began his career on broadway and went on so perform on stage dozens of times. he is survived by his wife of 30 years and their three children. the news continuing next, live from london, remember

keep uhl on al jazeera.com. symbol of hatred or pride? plus. >>