deaths of 34 striking miners at americana almost three years ago and taken that long to determine who is responsible for their deaths. a commission of inquiry set up by zuma laid the blame at the feet of the country's police who opened fire on the workers. it says there was complete lack of command and control by police. police. >> the commission found that the police operation should not have taken place on the 16th of august because of the defects in the plan. the commission has found that it would have been impossible to disarm and disburse the strikers without significant blood shed on the afternoon of the 16th of

august. >> reporter: the commission also wants the country's police chief investigated to determine if she is fit to hold office one of the miners injured that day is lucky to be alive and shot eight times and said the investigation is not enough. >> translator: what is important is that when you have wronged someone especially if you have taken a life and even though one cannot buy life you have to ask for forgiveness and the third thing is they do not want to ask for forgiveness and still making our life miserable. >> reporter: but her husband was killed at americana lives and works to pay but constant reminders of how her husband was killed have been unbearable. >> translator: this is affecting our minds because we know that it's police who caused these problems. when we look at videos it is clear that it is them who killed people. >> reporter: but mine bosses and unions have not escaped criticism and continues to be

concern around workers' living conditions and the role the unions played in provoking unrest and now the report is finally out, the families of those killed are preparing to make civil claims but they know it will never bring their loved ones back, miller with al jazeera. we are going to take a short break now but stay with us here to come on al jazeera before the funerals for the victims of the charleston church shooting what was life like when the city was segregated between black and white, plus. adam outside a hospital. >> watching international coverage on al jazeera. [switching captioners] >> resolving to move forward as south carolina prepares to bury a paster killed at a south carolina church, president obama

will deliver the eulogy. >> in alaska, nine people are killed when they're site seeing plane crashes into a cliff. >> this is aljazeera america live from new york city, i'm john henry smith. a day of mourning in charleston, south carolina as pastor of emanuel a.m.e. church is set to be laid to rest. president obama will deliver the eulogy. first lady and vice president and his wife are also attending. >> morgan radford is live. thousands are expected to pack the arena for the ceremony, i hear. >> that's right. in fact, john, hundreds of people are already lined up

outside of the arena where that service will happen at 11:00 a.m. what's interesting is the way the community has come together to really make sure that everyone can watch that service. all three local news stations will be showing it in its entirety and local businesses and homes have been opening up just to make sure people can watch it for free. yesterday, everyone was coming up to our crew asking when is the president coming. his motorcade is expected at 1:00 this afternoon and his remarks according to the white house will focus on not only remembering, but celebrating reverend pinckney's live. >> she was a victim of hate and she can be a symbol for love. that's what she was in life. >> as you just heard there was a sound bite from ethel lance's grandson. her service was yesterday at 2:00 p.m. she was 70 years old the other funeral service that happened yesterday was for sharonda

singleton. south carolina governor attended that had funeral and told everyone in the crowd that ms. singleton showed the nation and state that real love looks like. >> we've seen pictures of last day or two of a statue being vandalized in the city of charleston. tell us more about that. >> people are handling the grief around this event the shooting that killed nine people just behind me at emanuel a.m.e. church differently. yesterday, there was a jazz band playing praise and gospel music to celebrate the lives of the people who were lost. on the other hand, a monument a mile up the road was vandalized. that was a confederate monument. it happened at 6:00 a.m. this morning. people are looking to the future with a mix of grief and hope. >> thank you so much. >> amid the healing in

charleston the state of race relations is still fragile and open for debate across the u.s. patty calhane has this report. >> jim campbell doesn't see the history of the civil rights movement in black and white. at 90 years old he has lived it. he was born in charleston, south carolina, at the time a legally segregated city. >> i was in the company of africans who survived enslavement and we're were pushing now into the frontiers of freedom. that's quite a thing to realize. >> he says his father was the first in his family to be born free. he says it wasn't until he moved north in his 20s to a city where blacks had free movement that he realized what living unsegregation had done to him. >> i was downtown in baltimore and getting ready to go to a restaurant just for a sandwich and found myself looking for the

signs to tell me where to go. in that instance, i had to face the conditioning that had happened in my life growing up. >> he remembers the water cannons and guns that met marchers in the 50. >> did it make you angry? >> no, you can't do anything angry. >> a witness to the police brutality of the time, now he has seen nine african-americans killed in a church in his town, allegedly because of their race. another chance for him to reflect on what's next for race relations here. >> one of the key achievements to the civil rights movement was when classrooms like this one were integrated. many sociologies believe what has to happen next is the segregation of neighborhoods churches, that has to end. >> the more contact you have with people who are different

than yourself, people who you might have negative views of, the more open you will be to seeing them differently. >> campbell says that is happening here in charleston. >> we were conscious of a black or white meeting p.m. these kids meet together today as peoples without the hold hang ups. that's a tremendous step forward. >> he has seen a lifetime of change and he believes in three or four more generations there will be racial equality, perhaps even harmony in the united states. al jazeera charleston, south carolina. >> reverend john paul brown is the pastor of the mount zion a.m.e. church in charles stan and close friend to reverend pinkney. tell us what you'd like the world to know about the man who was your friend, reverend pinkney. >> first giving honor for the

leadership. i met him on my first pastoral charge in ridge land. he was five years old. by the age of eight, he was helping us to conduct the school teaching and by 8:13 he had as expired to the ministry. by age 18, he was pastoring a church by 23, he was in the house of representatives and a few years later on to the senate. his life has always been one of service, but always with who you milty. he brings people together. that's just a gift that god gave him that he had. >> what has impressed you the most about the way your community has handled this whole

tragedy? >> well, people who look on here, they're impressed by what has happened, but this is how we live here. this is our relationship, our trip to the mayors office, or governor office or our officials don't come about just when things happen or attending our church or working with our church leaders. here in charleston and the large part of south carolina, this camaraderie is an every day occasion, but there are people who seek to try to divide that, and when that happens then all of a sudden, they see how much progress has been made here in the south and in south carolina. it is tremendous, and we believe that god has chosen charleston, south carolina to show the nation how to respond when you

are victimized, that we are a community of faith for giving people don't mean we absolve them of their responsibility, but we forgive them to free us to continue to love one another and if that's not done, then the perpetrator wins, and we will never be like him so we choose to forgive and love rather than become like him. >> reverend brown we've got 20 seconds left. how cast are you that some long term good is going to item out of all this? >> positive enough that forever whatever happens every crisis, something come out positive, and tremendous, who would have known the nation would pour out such love to us in such time and our call for the flag to come down and the corporation of other entities and big businesses calling for the same thing to remove the confederate flag. who would have thought so? >> reverend john paul brown we wish you strength as you mourn

your friend today. thank you for your time this morning. >> the national park service is the latest group to reject the confederate flag. it will remove all confederate related merchandise in book stores and gift shops even at civil war sites saying it has no place in park stores. >> the political and legal fights are not over for the affordable care act. president obama is still relishing his landmark victory at the supreme court. the justice upheld government subsidies that help millions of americans pay for health insurance. >> this law is working exactly as it's supposed to. in many ways, this law is working better than we expected it to. for all the misinformation campaigns, doomsday predictions talk of death panels and job destruction, for all the repeal attempts, this law is now

helping tens of millions of americans. >> federal subsidies apply to everyone according to this ruling, whether you buy a policy through a state or through a federal insurance exchange. despite the victory the affordable care act is still the subject of dozens of lawsuits. >> our guest is one of the authors of the affordable care act and a partner with a d.c. lobbying firm called avenue solutions. >> i'm sure there will be continued calls for repeal, but after close to 60 votes to repeal in the house, one presidential election, which was ultimately decided based on repeal or continue the law and now two supreme court decisions that affirmed the law i think it's now time to move forward. >> she says with this latest victory, insurance companies can now move forward on improving quality and affordability of coverage. it did not take long for many of

those running for president to react to the supreme court decision. david shuster has that part of the story. >> as you might expect from yesterday's affordable care act ruling, every presidential candidate is expecting outrage every democratic saying the court got it right. jeb bush was disappointed, saying: >> marco rubio also said he disagreed with the decision: >> the accident governor rick perry wrote on twitter: stormer

pennsylvania rick santorum reacted on twitter butted ad a hash tag: >> mike huckabee unleashed the fiercest gop reaction today: >> yes he called it tyranny. on the democratic side, former secretary of state hillary clinton reacted to the decision with this: >> former married governor o'malley offered a more progressive reaction reinforcing his support for universal care:

>> vermont senator bernier sanders also wants universal health care but focused on affordable care act: >> that's a reaction for the 2016 presidential candidates. david shuster, al jazeera. >> the supreme court handed down an important decision on civil rights in rewards to housing. in a 5-4 vote, the court agreed with a broad reading of the 1968 fair housing act. simply put it means housing discrimination does not have to be intentional to be illegal. activists say the decision will make it easier for people to prove they have been harmed by policies that keep people segregated by race. >> the supreme court is expected to release more of its decisions later this morning, some of the remaining cases involve same-sex marriage and lethal injection. we will be live at the court to bring you the details of what the justice decide. >> a plane carrying nine people crashes into the side of a

cliff. what may have led to the alaska sightseeing to your tragedy.

humanity. monday, 6:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. >> welcome to al jazeera america. taking a look at today's top stories. francois hollande is heading to france from an eu summit after a

brutal attack, a man decapitated at a gas factory with arabic letter nearby. the french president said a suspect is under arrest. loud explosions were heard near the factory. right now, it is unclear whether there are more victims. >> the state department cannot find 15 emails from former secretary hillary clinton's private email server. they were requested investigating the 2012 attack on the u.s. mission in ben gas libya. it's not clear if the emails were connected to that attack. >> the california state assembly mandated all children receive vaccines. it only allows for medical exceptions. governor jerry brown has not said whether he will sign it into law. >> investigators this morning will try again to get to the

site of a plane crash in alaska. all nine aboard died after it slammed into the side of a cliff. >> the pilot of a search helicopter reported finding wreckage at a cliff 800 feet an alaskan lake. all aboard died in the crash. they were on an excursion from a ship, which left seattle on a week long cruise. state troopers say bad weather forced search crews to postpone efforts until friday. local media reported to the dam was scheduled to leave port before the lean went missing. instead, it remained overnight in the town 20 miles from the crash site. holland america line said: the plane was touring the 2 million-acre monument at

theette crash. the president of the company that operated the air tour released a statement saying: >> float planes play crucial role in navigating alaska's rugged terrain but it's a mode of transportation out from with peril. according to ntsb statistics, 697 float plane accidents have occurred in alaska since 1985, killing 258 people, including alaska senator ted stevens in 2010. the ntsb will be sending two investigators from washington to join a team of three others in alaska to determine why this plane went down. >> at this hour, we still do not know the names of the eight passengers or the pilot who lost their lives. they are withheld pending notification of family members.

>> firefighters in southern california are now battling a pair of raging wildfires. a new fast moving fire kicked up in the san bernadino national farrest thursday afternoon. the so called sterling fired burned 100 acres and is only 20% contained. 25 miles away, firefighters are trying to stop the spread of the lake fire. it's grown to over 25,000-acres. pond tear evacuations are in place for some residents fire officials say more evacuations go ahead be on the way. >> the pakistani taliban is threatening an attack over recent failures to serve people living in the country south. what prompted the armed group to focus on pakistan's largest electrical company.

>> the taliban in pakistan is making a threat in the wake of a brutal heatwave there. the group says it will attack the main electrical company if it does not end power outages in the south.

that's where sovereigns temperatures have killed up wards of 860 people. many are angry at what they call a slow government response to the crisis. >> russian diplomat said 90% of a nuclear accord with iran has been drafted, ahead of tuesday's deadline. as secretary of state john kerry heads towards the latest talks unve inno, difficult issues remain. a few of president obama's former top advisors say the deal is a no go. >> it is a deal that has been nearly a decade in the making or not making, depending how you look at it. since 2006, iran and group known as the p5 plus one the u.s., russia china france, u.k. and germany have been negotiating over iran's nuclear program. the deadline has been extended time after time, with you the latest plan is to wrap it all up by the end of this month. now, with less than a week to go some of president obama's

best-known former advisors are saying not so fast. 19 former high ranking advisors, diplomats and other officials senator joe lieberman and dennis ross write that they want a stronger deal, and warn the current one will not stop iran from being able to build a nuclear bomb. they layout five more elements the plan needs including tougher verification standards and access to iran's military sites. they tell the president to keep negotiating until he gets them. the white house says the former members of the president's inner circle on iran aren't saying anything new. >> it illustrates that they have worked on this issue that many of them have looked at this very closely and arrived at a conclusion that's broadly consistent with the kinds of principles that the president

himself established. >> the basic outline has seemed clear for sometime now. in return for world powers lifting long-standing sanctions iran would slow down its enrichment of nuclear material, material feared could be use to build a nuclear bomb. iran has always denied it wants to make atomic weapons but earlier this week, iran's supreme leader seemed to back away from several tentative areas of agreement. >> the americans have offered a complicated multi-layered and odd formula for the lifting of sanctions, the depth of which is not clear and it is not clear how it would work. >> analysts say the devil actually isn't in the details it's in the politics and public perceptions. secretary of state john kerry still recovering from a bike accident is sounding a note of cautious not quite optimism. >> i'm always hopeful yes i'm hopeful. >> paul beban, al jazeera, new

york. >> european union leaders greed to reelect 40,000 refugees in italy and greece. they will be moved to other e.u. states over the next two years. leaders did not reach an agreement on a quota system for each country. 150,000 people have crossed into europe this year, most of them through italy and greece. >> china said the u.s. is haunted by gun violence and racial discrimination, criticism coming a day after the annual state department report called out beijing for human rights abuses, saying oppression and co organization are routine against activists and ethnic minorities. >> we are not singling out egypt, saudi arabia, china we put those these out on every country, try to hold everybody to the same standard and hold ourselves to the standard, as well. >> the report's release was delayed four months. some speculate the delay was to

avoid offending iran before the nuclear deal deadline, now just days away. stephanie sy is back in two minutes with the latest aljazeera america morning news.

>> the supreme court upholds a key part of the affordable care act and could issue major rulings today on same-sex marriage and execution. >> vacation turns to tragedy for passengers aboard an alaskan

cruise, eight tourists killed during a shore excursion. >> this is aljazeera america live from new york city. i'm stephanie sy. we begin with breaking news in france on high alert after a gas company attack. an explosion was reported near the city have again noble the president spoke earlier. >> the person suspected has been arrested and identified. i will be leaving the european council after this -- after talking to you.

i have advised my colleagues. >> we are also learning the suspect had been put on a watch list by french intelligence in 2006 but taken off the lift two years later. we will have a live report in just a few minutes. >> turning now to charleston, south carolina, the pastor of emanuel a.m.e. church is set to be laid to rest today. president obama will be delivering the eulogy for reverend pinkney. thousands are expected to turn out for the ceremony. the first lady, vice president and his wife are also attending. morgan radford is live in charleston this morning. what is the mood like in the city right now? >> hundreds of people have already lined up outside of the arena where the funeral begins at 11:00 a.m. this morning opinion what is interesting is the way the community has come together to make sure everyone

can feel a part of the service. all three local stations have agreed to show the service in its entirety. right here at emanuel a.m.e. church behind me is a constant stream of flowers ribbons and prayer. there are nine beautiful port ritz of those victims signs that read free hugs and love will win. we've seen a string of tragedy in recent months, but the way the community has come together has been pretty unique. >> another statue was vandalized in charleston today. have there been any security threats at today's ceremony? >> there were allegations that threats were made against the families of the victims by organizations like the new black panjshir party which had a rally two nights ago. those allegations and threats have not been confirmed by the charleston police department.

the monument you mentioned was a confederate monument vandalized at 6:00 a.m. this morning. the marks are still fresh. it's about a mile up the road. >> the focus is really on mourning reverend pinkney this morning, thank you. >> the first funerals were held thursday for two of the nine victims. we have more. >> hundreds of mourners including the reverend jesse jackson and south carolina representative mark sanford filed into the church to pay final respects. some mourners carried signs saying love wins. the 70-year-old grandmother was one of the first victims to be laid to rest. >> she was a victim of hate, and she can be a symbol for love. that's what she was in life. [ applause ] >> 45-year-old sharon dew coleman singleton was buried

thursday. mourners turned out for the first of two visitations for state senator pink key this one in his hometown. >> 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. >> the charleston count council renamed the library where cynthia shrude worked in her honor. a full academic scholarship is announce bed in her name. >> stay with aljazeera america for live coverage of the funeral and president obama's eulogy this afternoon. >> the future of same-sex marriage hangs in the balance at the supreme court. the justices are expected to rule possibly today on whether same sex couples have a

constitutional right to marry nationwide. a decision could come today on a lethal injection drug implicated in several botched executions. the case could rule on the clean air act regulations and whether it is too costly. this as reaction pours in over the court's decision to preserve a key part of the affordable care act. >> supporters of the health care law gathered outside the court and when the ruling came down, they let out a cheer and began to celebrate. the 6-3 decision means government subsidies that help low and moderate income americans pay for health insurance will continue to be available nationwide, not just in the state that set up their own health care exchanges. supporters were jubilant. >> make no mistake about this.

this means that the affordable care act is not just the law of the land, it will remain the law of the land. >> if the court had gone the other way, 6.4 million people in 34 states who buy their insurance through the federal website would have lost their tax credits their subsidies making their health insurance unaffordable and unraveling the health care law. at issue, four words in the act that read tax credits are available to those who enroll in health care through an exchange established by the state. chief justice john roberts writing for the majority would the words must be taken in context: roberts said not having

the subs decease could push a state's invited insurance market into a death spiral. on the other side, justice scalia announced his dissent from the bench calling the majority opinion quite absurd, saying it rewrites the law to make tax credits available everywhere. he went on to say: the group behind the challenge was clearly dispainted. >> today's ruling is a tragedy for the rule of law in this country. the supreme court has twisted and somersaulted on traditional rules of statutory interpretation. >> this is the second time the

supreme court upheld a key provision of the a.c.e. other legal challenges are winding their way through the lower courts, but after this ruling it appears the a.c.a. for now is on firm legal ground. >> this battle for the affordable care act is over, but the law is still the subject of dozens of lawsuits, including one from the house of representatives that you sees the obama administration of ignoring key parts of the allow specifically money used to reimburse insurers for offering lower rates to poor people. several cases challenge the birth control mandate. the supreme court said family owned corporations cannot be forced to pay for contraception if it invites religious beliefs. there are challenges that lets people transition from health plans to don't meet the law's requirements. >> the president had a lot to say after the court's ruling. we'll bring you his reaction and

talk more about challenges still ahead for the affordable care act. >> the supreme court on thursday handed down an important decision on civil rights and housing. in a close vote, the court kept in place a tool used for decades to prevent housing discrimination. >> 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 decides continual nation, ruling that housing decides discrimination doesn't have to be intentional in order to be illegal. leaders of the civil rights community welcomed the decision. >> looking more closely at the opinion, what moves me and encourages me is the language at the end of the majority opinion by justice kennedy in which he talks about the commission report that predicted we were moving toward two societies, one black, one white. >> justice ant they've kennedy

wrote: the court split on traditional lines with kennedy joining the more traditionally liberal justice. writing for the dissent. justice alito said today's decision will have unfortunate consequences for local government private enterprise and those living in poverty. something has been awry when a city can't even make landlords kill rats without fear of a lawsuit. it was up to the court to decide whether the fair housing act covers not just intentional discrimination but unintentional resolving from the policy, as well. >> it is those policies that are not explicit but have a discriminatory effect, described as allowing us to get at what he

called unconscious prejudice and disdisguised an miss. >> this is a step forward in strengthening equal rights in housing, protecting what some feel is another kind of insurance, insurance from discrimination. michael shure, al jazeera washington. >> as we've mentioned we expect more decisions later this morning. we will be live at the court to bring you details of any major developments. >> investigators now believe a fire at a church in charlotte north carolina was set on purpose, officials looking into whether the arson was a hate crime. the congregation is mostly black. the baptist church sustained $250,000 in damage. the sanctuary remains in tact and services will be held on sunday. >> investigators this morning will try again to get to the site of a plane crash in alaska. all nine onboard a site seeing tour plane died after it slammed into the side of a cliff.

john henry smith has the latest. >> at this hour, we still do not know the names of the eight passengers and one pilot who lost their lives. they are being held pending the notification of family members. we do know those tourists were passengers on a cruise line. >> the pilot of a search helicopter reported wreckage at a cliff 800 feet above alaska's lake. all aboard died in the crash. they were on an excursion from a ship, which left seattle on a week-long cruise. state troopers say bad weather forced search crews to postpone their efforts until friday. local media reported it was scheduled to leave port before the plane went missing. instead, it remained overnight in the town 20 miles from the crash site. holland america line said: the

the plane was touring the 2 million-acre monument at time of the crash. the president of the company that operated the air tour released a statement saying: >> float planes play a crucial role in navigating alaska's rugged terrain, but it's a mode of transportation fraught with peril. according to ntsb statistics 697 float plane accidents have occurred in alaska since 1985, killing 258 people, including alaska senator ted stevens in 2010. the ntsb will be sending two

investigators from washington to join a team of three others in alaska to determine why this plane went down. jurors on the safety record of those float planes, the pilot association air safety foundation found between 2004 and 2008, these planes had two and a half times more accidents. that might not be an indictment of the float planes. they fly at low altitudes over very treacherous terrain. >> a guard arrested in connection with the prison break in northern new york says he was an unwitting helper. he is on bail after being arraigned. he smuggle would tools paint and frozen ham burgers to the escaped prisoners. he did it in exchange for tips on illegal behavior by other inmates. he said he did not know the two planned to break out. the convict are still on the run. >> california is a step closer to lifting exemptions from mandatory evacuation nations the measure would not allow

parents to site religious or personal beliefs. it is not clear if the governor will sign it. >> vatican and palestinian authority signed a treaty recognizing the state of palestinian. israel said it threatens the peace process. >> the u.s. women's soccer team as vanses to the semifinal if it beats china tonight. the teams last met in 1999 when that the u.s. women won the world cup. >> negotiations over iran's nuclear program set to resume. secretary of state john kerry is headed to vienna today. is iran backing away from a deal? >> fiery language from italy's prime minister over the migrant crisis in the mediterranean clashing over so-called migrant quotas. >> at least one person killed in an attack on a french gas factory. a live report, next.

>> welcome to al jazeera america. over seven tons of illegal drugs have been destroyed in thailand,

including meth and cocaine. it was worth more than $600 million. the government said it's meant to send a message to smugglers and users. >> 19 were killed in a tunisian hotel. a local security source said police shot and killed one of the alleged gunman. he was armed with a kalashnikov rifle. >> a man found beheaded in france at a gas company in grenoble. we are live in france where the attack took place. initial reports say a car crashed through a barrier and then there was an explosion. what more can you tell us? >> the actual scene of the

explosion is 300 meters over my shoulder in that direction this is as close as we can get right now. the area is now sealed with black plastic sheeting. the car was driven or rammed into the entrance area of air product. there was an explosion. it's not clear whether the k. came from itself, the car bomb or caused by the car ramming into gas bottles on site. immediately afterwards, the suspect was decapitated. the authorities designated this as a terror attack. the french president is returning from a summit meeting from brussels, to france to actually take control of the situation. >> france's interior minister

gave details about the man arrested. let's listen to what every said. >> he was alerted to the authorities in 2008. he was part of the movement, but not identified by the intentions of having taken part in terrorist activities. >> what else have we heard about this suspect and possible accomplices? >> >> he's a 30-year-old man from relatively local just outside leone. he's a father of three children. although he wasn't named he's named locally and his connections are now being investigated for why this attack happened today why this particular target was chosen. as far as the security services are concerned, it appears to have come out of the clear blue

sky. >> also reports say that there was arabic lettering scrawled near the body. any more details on that? june the early reports for obvious reasons were garbled contradictory. it appears that a kind of flag had been taken by the suspect to the scene for the purposes of laying out in a kind of ceremonial display manager next to the decapitated body. the flag has arabic inscriptions on it. >> it looks like we have just lost paul's live shot there. paul brennan with the latest from france, the site of that attack described as a terrorist attack by france's defense minister. >> european union leaders greed to relocate 40,000 refugees from italy and greece to other countries over two years in an

effort aimed at sharing the burden of the migrant crisis. lawrence lee has more from brussels. >> european leaders have to do something. they were so criticized earlier this year, hundreds of people drowned in the mediterranean with no sign of any rescue operation, what they've managed to agree to is still pretty small compared to the size of the problem. 40,000 refugees spread across 28 european union countries would only be 2400 per country. that was still too much for three countries exempting themselves from that arrangement, so given that, the idea that they could come up with a much bigger platform, a coat at a system, proper settlement for many more refugees spreading them out across the european union was simply never going to work. the fact is that any number of european union countries now don't believe they have any moral responsibility to look

after people from syria or eritrea. there is immigration and asylum seeking. in a lot of countries, they see people the same way almost as a burden rather than something some people they have to look after. >> lawrence lee reporting from brussels. secretary of state john kerry heads to vienna to resume talks over a nuclear deal with iran. al jazeera is in vienna where the talks are taking place. good morning. they have four gase left to finalize the plan. do leaders think they can make the deadline? >> well, it really is going to be crunch negotiations when all the sides arrive here, because these are supposed to be the last stage of this long

procedure of talks. i can tell you that diplomats are telling me that by now, they should have been working out the technical annexes of the deal. some are skeptical they will reach this by tuesday. many suspect there will be a few more days of negotiation beyond the deadline as we've seen a number of times in the past. >> what are the main sticking points at this stage? >> a number of key sticking points, one is about sanctions and about what relief iran gets from sanctions and exactly how quickly the sanctions would be lifted. that's not been agreed yet. the other key sticking point is about inspections making sure that iran complies by a deal and exactly where inspectors will be able to go in iran when they go to military sites. those are the key major sticking

points. i'm told there are some areas as well, technical aspects that the international community thought had all been greed in terms of enrichment of uranium and of ran's plutonium facilities that ran is revisiting and some feeling that there's been a backtracking here making it pretty hard. >> that's interesting what you said about backtracking. we have seen sort of hardliners up be the ante recently. criticism in ran directly from the ayatollah criticism in the u.s. from a group of former seen nor national security officials. is is that impacting the negotiations? >> >> i think it has some impact. i think the u.s. pressure not so important. it seems knew deal has been done with congress that will allow president obama to veto congress's disapproval and get this through but the iranian

objections why is the supreme leader saying this now is not clear. is he opposed to a key aspect that needs to be in the deal or is he just at this stage days before the deadline playing hard ball. >> james bays for us in vienna, james thank you. >> president obama is a step closer to achieving his broad trade agenda. the u.s. house yesterday passed a key part of that agenda. a defining moment for one of the president's big achievements. the supreme court for the second time has upheld the affordable care act but there are legal battles still to come. also. >> when we come across these vessels, they are in distress, in need of help. >> cubans have been risking their lives for decades trying to get to the beyond. the revival of diplomatic relations with with cuba has prompted more journeys.

>> welcome to al jazeera america. it is 8:29 eastern. crowds are lining up outside t.d. arena in south carolina where the pastor of emanuel a.m.e. church is set to be laid to rest. president obama will deliver the eulogy. first lady, vice president joe biden and his wife also attending. >> the supreme court is holding a friday session and could issue a ruling on same-sex marriage opinion the court currently has five cases yet to be decided before their term ends next week. there could be other rulings today on lethal injection and the clean air act. >> millions of americans are keeping federal subsidy to say pay for health insurance thanks to a supreme court decision. the justice on thursday upheld the nation white availability of subs decease regardless whether people get the insurance from a state or federal exchange. >> the president has pinned part of his legacy on the health care overhaul. he had a lot to say after the decision. mike viqueira has more. >> in the wake of the decision,

the president echoed the chants of supporters. >> the affordable care actle is here to stay. >> moments after the news broke the white house released this photo, the penalty sharing a celebratory hug with staff. >> this law's working and is going to continue doing that. five years in, this is no longer about a law. this is not about the affordable care act its legislation or obamacare as a political football. this is health care in america. >> after the decision, house speaker said republicans will still seek a way to dismantle the law. >> the problem is still the same, the law is broken. we're going to continue our efforts to do everything we can to put the american people back

in charge of their own health care and not the federal government. >> let us celebrate the affordable care act. >> for democrats who lost control of both the house and senate after the law was passed in 2010, it was a moment of vindication. >> so jubilant about this. it's a victory for common sense and for all american families. >> there have been setbacks, mr. obama said, including the rocky launch of healthcare.gov. >> today is a victory for hard working americans who's lives will continue to become more secure in a changing economy because of this law. mike viqueira, al jazeera washington. >> joined from washington, d.c. this morning is a law professor. good morning. thank you for your time. does this supreme court decision take out the steam from other liam challenges to the affordable care act?

>> well, the opposition won't give up, but this is a pretty strong affirmation of the legality of the entire scheme. it's a big win for the affordable care act and for the president. >> it is not just about this one provision in the affordable care act. you're saying it can be interpreted as being broader. >> the chief justice writing for six justices interpreted the entire statute and basically explained here's how the statute is supposed to work and here is why the government thought it should work. he doesn't say he thinkles it's a good idea and probably doesn't. he doesn't just focus on one tiny technical issue. basically, he says the law works as a whole. >> how surprising was that in terms of how the decision broke down in chief justice robert's leadership on the affordable care act? >> a lot of people thought the chief would right this opinion no matter which way it came out because he wants to protect the

institution. what's fascinating is that he didn't duck behind any of the issues like federalism or deference to the agencies. he just you said look, we're going to interpret this statute. we've read the whole thing understand how it makes sense it only makes sense at the subsidies, end of story. in that sense it's a very big win for the administration. >> what it does is preserve this law. another law was preserved, the fair housing ruling that came down yesterday. do you see lynchages between the way the court ruled on these two cases, in other words that context that chief justice roberts wrote about in the affordable care act decision, versus what people call lit really ism or fidelity to isolated texts? >> i think it's a mistake to see too much link between two cases. the chief justice voted the other way in the fair housing act case, wanted to cut back sharply on light under the fair housing act. i do think it illustrates

justice kennedy. it is possible if he voted to support the affordable care act that the chief justice then switched over his vote. we won't know for years but i do think it shows this court developing a center and not wanting to change course too rapidly. >> you talk about justice kennedy and the other big decision we may get today is on same-sex marriage. justice kennedy is believed to be the swing. what do you think it comes down to for him on the same sex issue? >> he's had to struggle between two things, the first is the rights of gay and lesbian people. he obviously feels deeply about the in dignities that society has inflicted on them, but the other thing he really cares about are the rights and dig in its of the states and he is going to have to step in and say states, it doesn't matter whether you don't want to marry

same sex couples the constitution requires that. usually, he has picked the individual over the state when this conflict came up, but not always. >> what about chief justice roberts. could we see a surprise there on where he falls on the issue? >> you know, this has been in legal bar rooms around the country the big debate. roberts dissented strongly in win door, the previous doma case, he said no, states shouldn't have to recognize the federal government shouldn't have to recognize same-sex marriage. would he switch over or will he stay in dissent? my money is that he stays in dissent, but it's very close. >> as someone who covers the supreme court regularly where do you rank this session so far in historic importance? >> i think it's right up there. i think it compares to the term in which the first affordable care act case came down. i think obviously if we have a

decision affirming a nationwide right to same-sex marriage, this will be considered one of the major terms like 1954, or 1973, and so, you know, we really are seeing history being made right now. >> we could see that again again with that scotus same-sex marriage decision possibly coming down today, we will cover that here. thank you so much for your in sights. we are expecting more decisions from the high court later this morning. we'll bring you that live from the court especially if there are major developments. >> we are following more breaking news this morning out of kuwait. isil claims responsibility for a suicide bomb blast as a mosque. at least eight were killed after friday prayers at the mosque in kuwait's capitol. isil has claimed responsibility for similar recent attacks in saudi arabia and yemen. the attack came during friday prayers when the mosque would have been crowded especially

because muslims are currently celebrating ramadan. >> in france, a man was decapitate at a gas plant operated by an american company in a small industrial town near leone. one person is dead and a dozen injured after an explosion at the site. authorities have one suspect in custody. the french president hollande left brussels to head an emergency meeting of his defense council. we are joined by skype right now from paris. thanks for your time. so they have the suspect. besides questioning him what is most pressing at this moment to figure out? >> they have a second person in custody, as well, so it might be the prime attacker and he's cop accomplished. the prime objective is to ascertain if this is an isolated

attack or if it is part of a bigger scheme with other attacks to be carried out. that is the main thing. >> my understanding of the suspect is that he was known to authorities? >> yes, he doesn't have a criminal record, but he has shown signs of radicalism or links to radical groups, so much so that nine years back, he was listed to be followed more closely, but that monitoring was lifted afterwards due to no reason for him to be followed. that's why he was identified so quick, that the security services did know him beforehand. >> is that a failure of part of this system? >> no, it's not no, you couldn't eight that, because it's very hard to keep track on everyone who might have links or seem close to the radical islam

network or network of networks, so it's very hard to keep track on everyone. right now the security services are closely watching more than a thousand french individuals which is a massive work to be done. >> he crashed a gate and plowed into gas canisters. what does that tell you about the sophistication or lack of sophistication of this attack? >> it's a bit blurry, but it might look like he -- they used the delivery of the person that was decapitated because that person was identified as a delivery man coming into the plant to his job. it might have been that they used his access to the grounds to actually enter the gate, which are normally quite hard to get through because of the sophistication of the plants, and then they step on the gas to

actually crash into those big canisters in order to probably make a bigger explosion than the one that actually took place and then they might as a byproduct of the initial attack have attacked that person. i don't know if i'm making myself very clear but it was a little bit blurry on the site. >> i don't know what we have a clear vision on how exactly it transpired. we are getting more information about the facility and it is an american company as reported. is there anything special about the location or target that you know of? >> well, you can say two things about the actual targets first it's very close to one of the medium sized airports of france, the airport of leone the second biggest city in france, so that's one thing. you would expect a lot of security in airports now as it has been for the last six months since the paris attacks. the second thing that is notable about this plant is that it is

on a classification of plants with rewards to the risks lever. >> not exactly a soft target be either. >> security consultant joining us from paris, thank you. >> we are following breaking news out of tunisia. 27 people have been killed near the capitol after two gunman opened fire at a beach resort. the countries interior ministry said there r. foreigners among the dead. police shot and killed one alleged gunman. it is unclear the motive behind the attack was. it has been on high alert since march when a gunman attacked a museum. >> a group said there were an estimated 80,000 people held in solitary confinement in u.s. jails every day the group cited the case of a louisiana inmate held in isolation for 43 years.

>> all of this is without meaningful review of the reasons he was first placed in solitary confinement. beyond that, his conviction has now been overturned three times and very recently a federal judge ordered his unconditional release. however, the state of louisiana continues to stand in the way of his release. >> amnesty international called solitary confinement costly, in effective and humane calling for a nationwide review of its use. >> cuban migrants have risked their lives to get to the u.s., if they make it to land, they can stay, captured at sea, they are turned back. the easing of relations haven't stopped these journeys, it has actually prompted more of them. >> this is the moment these

cubans set foot on soil, their arrival captured on video by a florida resident. what should have taken 20 hours became a five day journey on this homemade boat, using a bucket to bail out water along the way. >> the sea was very, very bad very bad. >> they ran out of food and by the fifth day had lost hope. >> we thought we'd never see land. we were about to put a mast and just let the wind drift us away. >> moments later a sliver of land in the distance, florida. under the cuban adjustment act migrants intercepted at sea are sent back. those who touch american soil can stay and later apply for residency. it's called the wet foot-dry foot policy. the court guard have seen a spike in cubans coming here since the announcement that relations would be normalized

with havana. >> i imagine when the migrants see you they want to get away. what's the react that you get? >> that dependency. when we come across these vessels, they usually are in distress, in need of help. >> they are staying in a hotel. their room is paid for by a non-profit partly funded by the u.s. government. they can apply for refugee benefits up to $180 monthly for the first eight months, welfare programs like medicaid and food stamps and job placement assistance. the exodus helped spark the wet foot-dry foot policy. garcia and more than 30,000 cubans fled cuba, picked up at sea, sent to guantanamo and later brought to the u.s. today, she helps fellow cubans come to the u.s. >> some people say it's not that they're really political refugees, they want a better

economic future and so do a bunch of other immigrants. >> that is the problem now so the new generation of cuba don't see the political problems. >> this man doesn't think the policy is fair but it benefits him and he's happy to be here. calling the u.s. paradise, he says risking his life for it was worth it. >> america! >> america! we are here! >> al jazeera miami. >> alaskan authorities will try to recover the remains of nine people killed when a site seeing plane crashed into a cliff. it was discovered hours after it went down above a lake in the southern part of the state. eight passengers and one pilot were onboard. wind and rain in the area has slowed recovery efforts. the passengers were on a shore trip and the company released this statement:

>> firefighters in southern california are now battling a pair of raging wildfires. a new fire kicked up in the san bernadino national forest thursday afternoon burning 100-acres and is 20% contained. miles away, firefighters are trying to stop the spread of the lake fire. it that grown to 25,000-acres. evacuations are in place for some residents and fire officials say more could be on the way. they have been hampered by drones. fire officials had to suspend urgent air drops for hours because a drone was flying dangerously close to the flames. a second was spotted near the airport being used to launch those air drops. >> we set the aircraft down for the rest of the day and limited our ability to fight fire. if you fly we can't. >> the f.a.a. sets an altitude limit for hobby drones at 400 feet. these were at 11,000 feet in the

air. officials say the suspended missions cost between $10,000 and $15,000. >> apple is the latest company to get involved in the debate over the confederate flag. it will remove smart phone apps that use the confederate flag in mean spirited ways. historical or educational uses of the flag will stay up in the app store. certain apps have already been taken down. they can be reinstated if they remove the confederate flag. >> they are responsible for pollinating a major portion of the food we eat. why are bees slowly dying off? we look at a possible cover up by the department of agriculture. >> a big recall involving the yoga wear company lou lemon.

a little more than one month later, prompted by the letter, 28 environmental groups appealed directly to the usda for a public investigation into the

gagging allegations. friends of the earth was one of the signatories. >> the groups were very concerned that if the usda is prioritizing the interests of the pesticide industry over those of protecting bees in the environment, they won't be able to fully develop a plan that will address the bee crisis in order to protect our nation's food supply. >> pesticide manufacturing blame naturally occurring pests and a lack of genetic diversity for bee death. the major manufacturer of the chemical even sent this ominous warning in an email: even though the research action plan is in place, for many of the stake

holders especially bee keepers without transparent research policies the plan's success looks doubtful. al jazeera california. >> al jazeera reached out to the usda about these allegations. they turned down our offer to be interviewed and have not responded to our request for a written response. >> one baseball player made history in northern california coming out as the first openly gay player in the pro leagues. sean conroy wore rainbow colored socks to mark the event. the crowd seemed more impressed with his performance over his pioneering efforts as he led the minor league team to a victory. >> it doesn't matter your sexual orientation, whatever, just if you love something, do it. >> he was recruited out of college in may. he shared his sexual orientation with teammates and management

before coming out for gay pride night. >> coming up, live from doha, one person was decapitate as a gas factory in france. the suspect there is under arrest. >> there was an attack at a mosque in kuwait. 27 people were killed near capital of tunisia. the latest on all three deadly attacks just ahead. thanks for watching.

a soledad o'brien special report only on al jazeera america

>> on al jazeera america >> technology...it's a vital part of who we are... >>they had some dynamic fire behavior...

>> and what we do... don't try this at home! >> tech know where technology meets humanity... only on al jazeera america >> hello welcome to the news hour live from doha. an attack at a resort in tunisia killed 27 people. we'll be live from the capitol tunis. >> coming up, eight people killed in kuwait as an explosion hits a mosque targeting worshipers during friday prayers. >> france is on high alert after an attack at a chemical depot. we'll be live from the site of the explosion.