♪ ♪ hi, everyone, this is al jazeera america. >> after the ruling. >> the affordable care act is not just the law of the land, it h remain the law of the land the supreme court upholds a crucial part of the affordable care act tonight the people whose lives defend on it and new challenges theftens the healthcare law home front the court's other big decision, a victory against housing discrimination. >> this area -- these apartments are known for

notorious drug dealing. we hear from the people the law is supposed to protect. nuclear iran, five days from the ted line, former ambassador james jeffery warns the president not to sign a bad deal. plus, face to face. why the making of a dramatic impact in the digital age. we begin with the landmark decision on the affordable care act a big victory and a surprises shift from the supreme court that surprise is from chief justice john roberts who joined the more list rail justices in ruling 6-3 to uphold subsidies. the ruling means million whose rely on government

subsidies to help pay for their health insurance, will still get them. john, this is a huge victory as you said. a big win for the healthcare law conventional wisdom is this decision wouldn't even come today so when it was announced that this decision was forthcoming there was pandemonium and that was true on the steps of the court as well. >> supporters had geathers outside the court, and when the ruling came down. they let out a cheer. and began to sell prait the 6-3 decision means subsidies that help low and moderate income americans pay for health insurance will continue to be available. not just in the state that set up their own healthcare exchanges.

today's decision has monumental significance. it means affordable care act is not just the law of the land, it will remain the law of the land. >> if the court has gone the other way, 6.4 million people who buy their insurance through the federal website healthcare.gov would have lost their tax credits making their health insurance unaffordable. at issue before the court four words in the affordable care act that read tax credits are available to those that enroll in healthcare through an exchange accomplished by the state the chief justice run thing ever the majority says the words must be taken in context, congress passes the act to improve health insurance markets not to destroy them he wrote. if at all possible, we must interpret the act in a way

that is consistent with the former, and avoided the latter robert said not having the subsidies can push the market into a death spiral on the other side, his dissent from the bench calling the majority opinion quite absurd, saying the decision rewrites the law to make tax credits available everywhere we should start calling this so us the care. he went on to say today's interpretation is not merely unnatural, it is unheard of, who would have ever dreamt that exchange accomplished by the state means exchange established by the state or the federal government. the group behind is challenge is clearly disappointed. the supreme court and twisted and somersaulted on laws and

interpretation. >> this is the second time in three years that they have upheld a key provision, this time even moredy fintive definitively, after this ruling it appears the a.c.a. for now is on firm legal ground now this case is officially called king verses bear well, of course, is the secretary of health and human services. king, is david king, one of the four plaintiffs residents of virginia who were recruited to take on obama care and get this case to the supreme court i reached david king by facebook to ask him how he felt about the decision, and he was a man of little words he told me, politics, over law. obviously, john supporters feel very differently.

republicans have tried for years to undue the affordable care act, and they won't let today's ruling change that, mike? the president's estimation, over 50 times they have tried to chip away or out and out appeal it. and while the president said he was confident all along that the supreme court would uphold the law after the decision came down, a clear sense of relief from the west wing. in the wake of the decision, the president echos the chance outside the supreme court. >> the affordable care act is here to stay. moments after the news probing, the white house released this photo of a clearly elated president sharing a celebrating hug. to chip awar or repeal the act. >> this law is is working. and it is going to keep doing

just that. five years in, this is no longer about a law, this is not about the affordable care act, as legislation or obama care, as a political football, this is healthcare in america. even after the law at the supreme court, house speaker john boehner said republicans will still seek away to dismantle the law the problem is still the same, the law is broken. we will continue our efforts to do everything we can to put the american people back in charge of their own healthcare let us celebrate the ard toble care act but for domes who lost control of the house and senate after the law was passed it was a moment of void case. >> it is so jube lent about this, it is a victory for common sense and all-american families. >> there have been set backs including the rocky launch of health care.gov, but in the

end obama care has survived another challenge whose lives will continue to become more secure because of this law. >> and john, even though speaker boehner has vowed to keep fighting in congress, he admitted there's nothing in the pipeline, no legislation on the front burner, to take down obama care in congress. >> mike, thank you very much. to the contributor to the blog, he is also washington baits attorney, who has argued before the supreme court, welcome. so as i understand it you are not surprised by the decision, just by the vote. >> yes. the decision came in 6-3 and i think that was surprising because the last time the affordable care act was before the case was decided 5-4, so in this case the majority became stronger and it is weird that it was 6-3 because it takes four justices to decide to hear a case, and you would expect four against the law. who do you think changed

their mind? >> i think justice kennedy almost certainly changed his mind, from the time that he granted and the time he voted on the merits of the case. >> so a lot of people are saying today the court is moving to the left, do you think so. >> no, i don't i think the court remains a right or center right kind of court and the way you can understand that this case wouldn't have even been heard be a more liberal court. the fact that it was heard and then decided in the government's favor means in these contentious cases the sort of liberal side has been winning a remarkable number of these this year, but it's not like this was a hard case as the result shows. >> i have rared of the edition sents but today seemed to may have topped all the others. he talked about this as being absurd, and described it as

so us the care, what did you think of that? he is a very entertaining writer, and he is not afraid to poison pen dissent. it is kind of his style and he read it from the bench which is a step they take when they feel really strongly. the result was not terribly difficult to read. >> . >> i think that's right. originalism relates to the original meaning of the constitution. i think in addition to being an originalist, he is a hyper textualist, he will look at a statute, decide what the most natural meaning and go ahead and enforce it that way, no

matter where the consequences. i think the chief justice and the others do have a much stronger pragmatic bent, and you saw that in today's opinion, where they account for the damage that would be done if the irs rule. >> if some would head into a death spiral when it came to healthcare? >> that's right. and exactly what happened in states that had a lot of the ex-provisions that would prevent discrimination against preexisting conditions but didn't have individual mandates. didn't have subsidies. >> let's talk a little bit about same-sex marriage, what are you expecting. >> the result will come out tomorrow, or monday, and i strongly suspect that the couples are going to prevail in that case. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> and a little later on, a reality check on the affordable care act, is it works and is it driving up the cost of healthcare, that is all coming up. >> another big decision, in a

5-4 vote, the court kept in place a legal tool used for decades to prevent housing discrimination. may call shore explains. >> in texas department of housing and community affairs the inclusive communities project, the high court decided to uphold a crucial tool that helps the federal government prosecute cases of discrimination. leaders in in civil rights community welcomes the decision is. >> in looking more closely at the opinion what moved me, i don't know that it surprises me, but certainly moved me is the language at the end of the majority opinion. in which he talked about the kerner commission report that predicted we were moved towards two society, one black one white writing for the majority, he wrote much progress remained to be made in the continue struggle

against racial isolation, the court acknowledges the fair housing act continuing role in moving the nation towards a more integrated society. the court split on traditional lining with kennedy joining the more liberal justices. today's decision will have unfortunate consequences for local government private enterprise and those living in poverty something has gone badly awry when a city can't even make slumlords kill rats without fear of a lawsuit it was up to the court to desite whether it was intentional discrimination, but unintended resulting from the policy as well. what is known as desperate impact. in this case, and justice kennedy what he called unconscious prejudice, and disguised.

>> for housing advocates this is a step forward. insurance from discrimination. michael shore, al jazeera washington. >> okay, so we just heard the details of the case, how is this effecting the lives of real people living in low income areas? heidi joe castro in dallas, with two families that found their safe havens. >> there's a reason tracy carries around a baseball bat. >> you know, this area -- these apartments over here, is known for notorious drug dealing. she says she uses it for protection, for herself and her three children. >> this was a guy literally taking little girls through a trail back there and raping them saying hey i will give you candy if you go to the

store with me, and he was raping them. >> in the last month police have investigated three shootings, four assaults and 15 burglaries and robberies in this one square mile alone. during the years she lived here she took drastic measures we were all sleeping in the living room. >> because i needed to see them i didn't need them in their rooms. one of the breaks ins they had smashed windows they probing through and back -- their room was in the back, and so they broke that window, but i just needed my eyes on all three of my children at the time, leaving the neighborhood wasn't an option, she received public housing assistance through the dallas housing authority in 2008, when the agency made available 1,000 units in nonsegregated parts 14,000 plaque families applied.

the most recent data shows 94% of flack families in the program live in segregated neighborhoods. those neighborhoods are also poor and high crime. >> the better the neighborhood, the slimmer your chances of getting out of this world. >> the familiesed that ask for assistance are looking to move to higher opportunities she enlists the help with the inclusive communities project. >> our counselors joke with each other they compete among themselves when they hear about units that are available they are like no i want my compliant in there so it isn't easy. >> the nonprofit had to win a lawsuit to build low income housing in this community and trice is among the lucky few that was able to move in 30 minutes north of her old neighborhood, the poverty rate here is 3%, compared to the 32% she left behind and

there's almost no crime. >> give me a high five. >> what is that like for you? the difference now at night when you aren't sleeping with a bat on the couch any more. >> it is peaceful. it is like you don't have no worries. you just have a ton of bricks lifts off your shoulder do you think there is discrimination that that they don't give people choices? >> it is. >> a few doors down a couple who faced a similar struggle to find housing and who have a greater perspective is this right after you started going to the white school. >> yeah, not long after. this was a school picture. >> rosa and chester hill, both in their 60's were born into segregation. i lived in a time when they had certain movies they had the black movie where the black people go, and the white movie where the white people go.

i always wanted to go in the white people movie. >> they saturations of that still exists today do you feel like now days that low income people are segregated? yes, i do, i really do. they do have some neighborhoods where they just don't want you there because i believe inequality, and i felt like it doesn't matter where color you are you deserve the same as any other color. no, i don't have on a tailored business suit, but that doesn't mean i don't have that mind frame it doesn't mean it's not the foal i am trying to reach. >> tracy now goes to school for social work, and works full time as a customer service at she hopes to be off government assistance by august. she says she does it all for her children. >> i don't care if i have to pick cans for the rest of my life to make sure they are

okay and they make it. >> and there's no better place to launch from, she says than here. in a good neighborhood. al jazeera. dallas. coming up, why former obama advisors say the white house is heading for a bad deal in the iran nuclear talks. plus, why talking communications despite a rise in asylum seekers. p

congress is given final approval to the fast track trade deal. the house approve add measure that would help americans who lost their jobs because of international trade deals. now the trade adjustment deal assistance bill offers workers help finding jobs training and other benefits it now heads to the white house for the president's signature.

some of t president obama's former aids are worried. an open letter released by the washington institute raising concerns that the proposed deal isn't strong enough, and one of the president's former advisors and former c.i.a. director are among those who signed it. the white house says the president is ready to strike a hard bargain. >> just tell them that they have no reason to fear. that the kind of agreement that the president indicated in early april that he would seek to complete by the end of june, is consistent with the principles that we have put out and that is broadly consistent with the principles in the letter. >> james jeffery, co signed the open letter about the iran nuclear negotiations he is in washington tonight ambassador welcome. >> thank you for having me. >> do you think the president of the united states would knowingly sign a bad deal. >> no, not one that he would

think is bad. to some degree a spokesman is correct, if he can deliver the deal he promised us on his statement of the second of april, after the anywhere deal was done, then probably this thing can be acceptable. but we are very worried about the iranian retro grade actions. they are pulling pack from what they agreed to. >> let's talk specifics what in particular are you concerned about. >> starting with option ins. these inspections have to be thorough, they have to include all installations including military. research on advanced centrifuges. that's very important. that has to be beefed up, there has to be real consequences. we need to know about possible military glenbles. this is the effort to make a

war head. we saw the intelligence when knives the government, they are denying it themselves they are blocking the agency from independenting it, they node to have full access, finally we need to be sure everybody, congress, the american people, the american government, the international community, if iran does try to break out owe if necessary will use military force. >> what you are saying is you don't think the president of the united states knows what a good deal is? no, he has announced what a good deal is on the second of april, if he could get that deal he would. the question is if they won't offer that deal, is he going to insist on staying at the table, this deadline is artificial, and let the iorhine oians walk away, i don't think they will, but in that case we will deal with this in other ways.

is he going to make further concessions to get a deal, any deal, the way nixon supposedly did to china and that that may compel him to accept any iranian re-negging on their agreements that we have seen you know the negotiations are on going you are a former ambassador, does it help the president to have you come on this program and sign an open letter doesn't that hurt his negotiations? that is a very good question, the difference between some of the negotiations i have been involved in is that the u.s. congress overwhelmingly passed an iran negotiations review act and the president had to sign it. it is now law. congress will have 30 days to review and take a decision before the president can lift any sanctions given that situation, and that president

has signed up for this has to be aired in public. >> it is going to be, you haven't even got a deal yet though. >> that's true, once again the iranian side has said that it is not going to agree to many of the components of the deal. so othe question is either we will sit there until they change their mind or we will change our mind if it requires us changing our mind better to walk away. >> so is you think the president needed to push. >> i think he needed to push. >> more than a push? what is it going to take for the president to live up to what you would like him to do. >> i think this is a gentle push, you have many that would go much further. you saw the letter, pacicly what the bulk of those who signed this letter said is this isn't the agreement we would have liked to have seen, but we are willing to

look at it in good faith if it means the components and elements that the president outlined on the second of april which he thought the iorainians had lived up to, we aren't so sure that they would do what they promised they would do, and we aren't sure that the administration would hope the line. >> have you heard back from anybody. >> you heard mr. answerer, he said generally the content isn't all that difference. in that sense he is right. >> has anybody reached out to me. >> not me personally, but we have is been talking back and forth as a group. if they start caving he is going to be wrong, put then lit be too late good to have you on the program. >> thank you. >> coming up next, the supreme court upholding the ard toble care act a look at whether the law is living up to white house promises.

and paying tribute the first shooting victims are layed to rest.

hi everyone, this is al jazeera america. >> reality check today's landmark ruling on the affordable care act. >> make no mistake about this today's decision has monumental significance. >> it is historic but is the law working? the morning funerals for victims of the charleston church mascaron the've of the president's trip to that city. muse honor delayed. >> he saved the lives of this whole platoon. >> joins us for a preview of her special report on the heros whose courage and service were overlooked. the obama administration is celebrating huge victory but the political and legal

pattles over obama care are not over. the high court upheld the tax subsidies. the justices said the subsidies apply to everyone, who buys coverage through a state or federal insurance exchange. after the decision was announced the president said the law is here to stay. >> today is a victory for hardworking americans all across this country, whose lives will continue to become more secure in a changing economy because of this law. five years in this is no longer about a law this is not about -- the affordable care act as legislation or obama care, as a political football this is health care in america. house speaker john boehner says the republicans fight to repeal the law is not over as well. the law is broken. it is raising costs for american families.

it is raising costs for small businesses and it's just broken. >> and we will continue our efforts, to do everything we can to put the american people back in charge of their own healthcare, and not the federal government the house has voted dozens of times to repeal the law now today's ruling highlights the five year fight that has surrounded the affordable care act. through it all it's been difficult to sort out fact from fiction to determine if it is working. two drastically different pictures emerge when talking about the affordable care act, either it is an expensive failure an individual mandate does not make health insurance more ard toble it makes it more expensive by forcing customers to purchase more that they may not want. >> or a win for america's health care system. >> it means that the millions

of people who have been receiving subsidies that make all the difference in terms of whether health insurance is affordable, people will continue to receive those sub is siddys and they will continue to have health insurance. the reality is trickier, at it's most basic level the affordable care act was designed to reduce the number of uninsured americans in that area it's been a success, according to gallup before the law took effect, 18% of americans were uninsured. by the start of this year, that number has dropped to 12%. but according to the congressional budget office, that still leaves about 35 million americans uninsured. though the cbo expects that number to fall to 26 million by 2019. when president obama signed the measure he said it would help protect americans from

disastrous bills and after the street ruling he stood by that. >> if your family gets insurance through your job and you aren't using the affordable care act you are paying 1800 less per year than you would have if we hadn't done anything. >> if the millions that are uninsured the cost of medical treatment is lower. but the department of health and human services saying the average cost of health insurance is up, 3% nationally. still, that's among the lowest increases in 50 years. >> millions of americans are going to face higher taxes either because they fall within obama care tax increases or they can't afford insurance. because obama care drove up premium rates. >> as for the predictions obama care would hurt taxpayers or bankrupt healthcare providers, wall street analysts say it is too soon to predict the impact, but the healthcare system has mostly made money from the law. susan denser is a senior health policy advisor.

with the water wood johnson foundation. i think if you asked the large number of americans that have coverage under the law, they would say yes. we know that about 10 million people have been able to buy coverage through both the state and federal exchanges. we know probably about another 15 million people are now qualified for medicaid, in the states that have pursued medicaid expansion under the law. we know that a lot have also seen more protections through thin insurance, for example, the law did away with preexisting conditions restrictions, so now if you get cancer, never in the future unless the law is repealed will an insurance company be able to not sell you health insurance because you had cancer. >> so after the decision today -- excuse me for interrupting but after the decision today those states

that didn't set up an exchange, what do you think they are going to do. >> i think some of the states will now look very seriously at abandoning the motion of having their own state exchange. >> why. >> and move to healthcare.gov. >> for a number of reasons. one is that it is expensive you have to finance it somehow, and the only real way most states are looking at doing this is taxing health insurers. number two, it isn't clear you get that much more out of running your own exchange in your state. healthcare.gov had a lot of problems when it started up, but it is working pretty well so it is probably more -- it could be more efficient for a state to move to a federal exchange. and the final thing is the technology in some of the states exchanges still isn't working very well. so as i say if you are a small state, maybe like rhode island or vermont you may find a much more racial decision to do and have your people in the state enroll

through the federally facilitating marketplace. >> what 80 the politics in all of this? we have heard that congress is trying to knock down this law philippine times. there are other legal challenges, are some of these states going to say well wait a minute, maybe the law will change? it could well be the case, i think most of the major challenges now will be stopped in their tracks by judges or withdrawn, frankly. if you can't win both the decision that the court decided in 2012, and this one, it is not clear what meaningful changes you can obtain in the law through the legal process. >> how politically duh congress get rid of the part of the law that says you can

get insurance if crow have a preexisting condition. >> they can't. >> they could but -- >> well, most of the republicans who have even gone on record saying they are against the affordable care act, will say that there are provisions of the law that they want to preserve. they wont the insure new rules that bar restrictions from being held against people. that many of them want to make sure there's still essential health benefits like mental health coverage, etc., what they haven't done is come up with a overall scheme that enables those pieces to be in place and still work. and as justice roberts pointed out, this is a complicated construct with all these different pieces, the new insurance rules the subsidies, the exchanges federal and state. all of that work tots and if you start peeling back the possessions it isn't clear ands workable. in fact, it is pretty clear it is not workable.

an interesting discussion and one that will continue, thank you very much. >> thank you, john. >> this legal battle over the affordable care act is over, p uh the law is still the subject of dozens of lawsuits. accusing the obama administration of ignoring key effort pas. specifically money used to reimburse insurance companies for offering lower rates to poor people. and religious accommodations the supreme court ruled that family owned corporations cannot be and there are challenges to the obama administration policy, that lets people transition from plans that don't meet the laws requirements. the first two funerals were held today for the victims of last week's mass shooting at a south carolina church. over the next few days all nine of those killed inside charleston emanuel a. m.e. church will be layed to rest.

tomorrow, president obama delivered the eulogy for his friend the church's pastor. diane has more die an yankee two funerals today tonight a memorial service a visitation going on. so many people have turned out heren't to, the hours had to be extended and that service is still going on behind me. >> hundreds of mourners filed in toe othe church to pay time respects. some carried signs saying love wins to discouraging possible protestors. the 70-year-old grandmother is is one of the first to be layed to rest. >> she was a victim of hate and she can be a symbol for love, that's owhat she was in life. >> 45-year-old singleton a

part time minister and speech pathologies was also buried thursday. >> and mourners turned out for the first of two vizzizations this one in his hometown. well he grew up with me because we were like a mother to him we were like a mentor to him, and we are so proud of him because he grew up to be everything we thought and knew that he could be at midday police began putting up barricades. thousands of mourners are expected from president obama will deliver the eulogy. the vice president, and the congressional delegation are also expected to attend, the charleston county council has renamed the lie prayer where shooting victim worked in her honor, and the college of charleston where the 54-year-old also worked part time aunderstand nod a full

scholarship in her name. and as we understand it there is going to be an opportunity tomorrow for the president to meet with all of the victims families. john. >> dianne thank you and turning now the fight against isil, the group launch add deadly series of attacks. in kobane the group december nateed car. bos and dressed in rebel uniforms to fool security forces at least 35 were reported kill. now to greece, the debt crisis is moving closer to become a full blown default the prime minister met with other leaders once again the talks ended with no agreement on a bail out. greet has until too to repay $1.8 billion from the i. m. f., the e.u. is refusing to send more money to athens until it agrees to more tax increases and budget cuts.

the ministers plan to meet again on saturday, coming up next, the story of a sea going culture in danger of extinction. antonio is here with that. >> it is a fascinating story i had never heard of these people, they are less than 4,000 of them they are a distinct ethnic group they live as no mads fishing off the seas of thailand. >> they live on the sea from the sea off the sea and they developed this spiritual attachment to the sea since childhood. >> in a new report human rights watch says they are growing more and more vulnerable to discrimination and marginalization. one of the authors of the report will join us to talk about the efforts to preserve their heritage and their way of life it would be a shame if they become extinct as an ethnic group. >> all right, we will see you at 9:00.

for decades cue oban migrants have risked their lives to get to the u.s., if they are intercepted at sea, they are turned back the recent hasn't stopped these desperate jonnys, ins in reports. >> anybody anybody. >> this is the moment nine ore cubans set foot on u.s. soil their arifle captures on video what should have taken 40 hours bake a five day journey use also bucket to bail out water along the way. >> wow. >> they ran out of food, and by the 50 day had lost hope. we thought we would never see land, we were about to put a

mast, and just let the wind drift us away moments late ear shriller of land florida. >> this was his second attempt at coming here, rushing for fear the u.s. will change it's treatment towards cuban under the add jugsment act migrants intercepted at sea they are sent back. it is called the wet food dry foot policy. december to april 37% more cube pans took to the sea compared to the same time last year. so this is what you use to go out at sea. >> yes, this is one of the coast guards brand new cutters. >> the coast guard shows us the boats they use. >> they are fed given showers and dry clothes.

>> i imagine when the migrants see you they want to get away what's the reaction that you get. >> i would say that depends. when we come across these vessels they usually are in distress, they are usually in need of help. his fellow migrants are staying staying in a hotel the room paid for by a nonprofit they can apply for refugee benefits. well fair perhaps like medicaid and food stamps and job placement assistant many can eventually travel back to cuba. alyssia garcia helped spark the policy, in 1994, garcia and more than 40,000 fled the island, they were picked up at sea and later brought to the u.s. is. >> today she helped fellow cubans come to the u.s.

>> i got emails call texts every day. >> some say it isesn't that they are political refugees it is that they want a better future. >> so the new generation don't see the political problems. >> is it fair for cubans to have a special treatment when other immigrants in other countries don't have that same right. >> the cuban is the same of columbians, of mexican people, it is the same with only one difference, that country is democratic country. we have the big difference we live under communist regiment. >> he doesn't think the policy is fair, but it benefits him and he is happy to be here calling the u.s.

paradise, he says risking his life for it was worth it. >> we are here. >> yeah some want to change the current policy towards cuban migrants but the obama administration had no plans to modify it inch even as relations normalize. migration is expected to go up over the next decade as cubans. >> this is fascinating when you think this government changes this agreement between the united states and cuba, you wouldn't necessarily expect that more people would try to get here. >> but they are because they are thinking that perhaps the policy will change for them. >> we will see, thank you. coming up, claims of discrimination, in awarding to highest honor. the striking photographs of august sanders.

>> rising waters taking their toll... we go to the threatened marshall islands... to talk to the peole affected most >> is there a plan?

meets humanity. monday, 6:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america.

>> the medal honor is the u.s. a.'s highest award, it is given for acts of heroism above and beyond the call of duty, but some say that process has discriminated based on race, gender, and ethnic background. it is the subject of a new special report called honor delays let's take a look. >> america taxes bravery to heart. >> and honors it's heros with medals. >> i said i was going in, i lad to get to the body. >> yet for some deserving americans, one high honor has remained ill lewis itch some of these soldiers fought and dies for a country that did not always see them as equal. he safed the lives of his

whole platoon, i don't understand why he didn't get the medal of honor. >> why do you think you didn't get the medal of honor. >> i don't know. some say that it was discrimination against mexican americans or blacks orb whatever. >> joining me now is the host of the documentary award winning journalist. >> hey good evening. >> were they angry. >> remarkably they were not. in many cases they got the second highest award but i think they were sometimed confused people would be put in for it and in many cases nothing happened but no, i was really surprised that these gentlemen, many in their 70's some even older when they finally decades and decades post their heroic act would be honored weren't bitter at all, they were just in some cases they felt like others deserved it.

they still felt very emotional about it. >> he seems not to be even sure whether it was discrimination. >> yeah he said exactly that, they never knew, no one would ever say, of course the military reflects the greater american population as well, and we certainly know if you look at just sheer numbers 3500 medals of honor. >> let me show these. >> kind of a stunner so the u.s. has award add total of 3500 medals. you have 88 for african-americans 33 asians, 32 native americans, 19 use one woman. >> bringing up the rear 3200 male whites. >> yeah, so i think just on that alone but if you also consider after world war ii, when they started to exam, what are the numbers they looked at people who had been considered african americans

post world war ii 1 million african-americans, were looked at, there was not a single one zero, who had even been considered. what does the military say? >> it is a process we did a screening last night we were lucky to have several men that had been honored and they talked about how the process, you need to have a number of eyens withs it needs to meet a certain level but i think they also believe that recognizing your military hour rows is very important in a democracy and they believe as the as they start making those fixes that it is good for the country it is important, and the right thing to do, and hopefully we won't be reliving those. >> well, the selection process, is is that part of the problem. >> the selection process what we heard from one of our recipients he said there were people that i would say have

these amazing acting i didn't even know their name. so sometimes it isn't necessarily intentional just in the fog of war ever things get lost, a number of people have witnessed the act but we know in some case in a study that was done through shaw university, found in some cases people who could and did deserve it were shunted into the second highest award fascinating story, i haven't seen it yet. >> you can see honor delayed sunday night 10:00 p.m. eastern time, only on al jazeera america, always good to see you. >> the pleasure is mine, thank you. >> now faced from another era, groundbreaking photos people of the 20th century, documented the lives of ordinary german citizenses. the museum has just required 600 photos for the collection, we talk to sara

in tonight's first person report. >> people of the 20th century is an attempt to use photography to create a cumulative portrait of the people of germany, in particular, in the first half of the enter with century but more broadly how in their very specific elements of each image it can become and speak to something more universal, he looked at all walks of life, at women children families, professionals, farmers ever and through all of these individuals he sought to convey something universal about humanity, he pointed to this as the pat forward is how a photograph with no seeming artistic per tension would represent a really radical step forward. >> well, the pictures are just delicious in their

detail, everything from the way that the collars are folding, to the texture of the socks to the background which ranges from being a very simple straight forward white background, to works made out in the forrest but i will say i am particularly fond of the circus people, i feel in their transient nature, and in the extreme sensitivity is that he used to photograph them, those are certainly among my favorites. >> i think august saunders work stands out because of the depth of his engang enter many, because of the range of people that he chose to photograph, and his ambition. which was nothing less than to create a portrait of people. >> you can see more photographs like this, at the museum of modern arts photo show started on june 27th.

that's our broadcast we thank you for watching, i will see you back here tomorrow night, the news continues with antonio moore row.

>> dear mr president... >> this is a thoughtful letter and certainly is worthy of consideration. with a deadline for a nuclear agreement with iran days away five former obama advisors sent the president is letter urging him to seek a stronger deal athens adversity. >> it doesn't matter to us that drak mar or euro it makes no difference. we never had much we are not going to have much while political leaders in europe work to