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tv   News  Al Jazeera  July 16, 2015 10:30am-11:01am EDT

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a dwarf planet. those objects are believed to be remnants from the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. john hendren, al jazeera. you can find more extraordinary pictures of that very disimportant planet on our website, aljazeera.com. president obama goes where no other president has gone before stopping at a federal prison to push for criminal justice reform. and good news for greece after approving reforms, europe talks about giving the country even more money. we do have a problem in this area. plus we'll take you inside a rural community that says america atomic history is killing them slowly.
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♪ good morning to you, you are watching al jazeera america, live from new york city. i'm morgan radford. president obama today will be the first sitting president to ever visit a federal prison. this is all part of a push to reform the entire criminal justice system. jonathan martin joining us with more. >> we expect him to visit in just a couple of hours. it's all a part of the president's campaign to overhaul that system as you mentioned, and he has taken other steps this week as well. the visit to an oklahoma federal prison comes days after he pardoned 46 prisoners serving long sentences for non-violent crimes. >> our nation's being robbed of
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men and women who could be workers and taxpayers, could be more actively involved in their children's lives, could be role models, could be community leaders. [ applause ] >> and right now they are locked up for a non-violent offense. >> reporter: the president wants reduced sentences for non-violent crimes and job training in prisons. half of the 1300 inmates here are doing time for drug offenses that is proportional to the entire federal prison population. it offers drug abuse treatment and education and vocational programs. during the visit, president obama is expected to meet law enforcement agents and inmates, but it's unclear if this will be one of them the former detroit mayor is serving 28 years. and his family is reportedly hoping for a presidential
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pardon but they must wait five years for a presidential pardon. >> i understand a lot of the people greeted the president's motorcade and they weren't exactly supporters. >> no they were clearly protesters. they were waving confederate flags. police did have the group corralled. the group organized this rally. it was called a stand by the flag rally through facebook and it looks like a significant issue showed up. >> jonathan martin thanks so much. the u.s. has the highest incarceration rate in the entire world, but as the population grows so does evidence of its negative social effects. that's pushing one state to explore alternative models of justice. >> reporter: as the second
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whitest state in the u.s. maine is not renown for its ethnic diversity, yet here a program is underway rooted in global indigenous cultures. it asks fundamental questions about the nature and purpose of criminal justice in the u.s. prisoners are being released early so they can learn from their crimes. >> it hurts the family it hurts the surrounding community. >> reporter: the key is talking within a circle. >> there are five keystone questions that we think about. what happens? what were folks thinking or feeling at the time of that incident? what have they been thinking or feeling related to it since? who has been affected and in what ways? and what needs to be done to make things as right as possible. >> reporter: juvenile offenders can escape incarceration all together if their victim seeks
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redress through restorative systems like charlotte. a gallery owner who chose to confront the two boys who robbed her to make them understand why what they did was wrong, instead of potentially having their lived ruined by jail time. >> i just had the feeling that they -- that the kids who had done that had never really felt connected with -- with the community. >> reporter: restorative justice began to catch on in the u.s. as incarceration levels reached record levels. in some states modern u.s. law enforcement is looking to aboriginal tradition. >> it was in their best interest to bring them to the center and say you have really messed up and we have to learn from your misbehavior, make it up to the people you are harmed and return to our community. >> reporter: this person would
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still be locked up had it not been for maine's restorative justice program. he broke into and vandalized a house when he was 12 years old. he since worked for the home owners and paid them restitution. >> the first meeting was really emotional, because he was telling us how much damage we caused. >> reporter: he is returning to school soon. >> i just got that tattoo the other day, actual lei. >> reporter: and those who make amends this way are less likely to offend again. the president's prison visit is set to take place about noon eastern, and we will be sure to bring you his speech live. george h.w. bush is in the hospital aftering are recovering from breaking a bone in his neck. he fell in his home in maine on wednesday. he turned 91 just last month,
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and does use a wheelchair because he suffers from parkinson's disease. in a tweet his spokesman wrote: he was always in the hospital last december when doctors treated him for breathing difficulties. mr. bush is the oldest living former u.s. president. greece is getting a cash infusion just hours after lawmakers agreed to reform to some pretty deep cuts. they have agreed to a $7 billion bridge loan and european finance ministers said they will start discussions on a three-year bailout for the nation. we're joined by the former deputy director of the imf, and earlier this morning i asked him about his view. >> the program that greece is now being forced to adopt is totally flawed. it's exactly the same thing that greece has been doing this last five years. it has got them into a depression. to think that doing the same thing is now sud in-- suddenly
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going to produce growth is risible. the situation economically and politically is going to worsen. >> he say there is a good chance that the prime minister will lose his job before the year is out. vice president joe biden is back on capitol hill trying to convince lawmakers to go along with the iran nuclear deal. we'll talk to democrats on the senate foreign relations committee and on wednesday he spent hours meeting privately with house democrats. britain's foreign minister secretary, says the deal with iran ensures that the program will remain peaceful. >> we believe that removing the threat of a uranium bomb while allowing iran to reengage with the international community is perhaps the only way to build over time the trust that will allow a dialogue on the many
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other issues we have with iran. philip hammond met with one of the deal's most harrish critics, which was benjamin netenyahu. he insists those sanctions will only be lifted if iran complies with his side. dylann roof is in court today. the judge will decide if documents should be made public or if they should impact roof's right to a fair trial. jurors are resuming their deliberations in the movie theater shooter, james holmes. the jury is considering whether holmes was legally insane when we shot in a theater. jurors deliberated for more than
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12 hours yesterday. one of the largest cyber crime marketplaces on the internet shut down this morning. the website called dark code is believed to have played a significant role in the theft of information from millions of computer users all across the world. john henry smith has the details. >> we have obtained court authorization to shut down the dark code forum. >> reporter: dark code first appeared in 2008, an invitation only website where criminals could trade malware, passwords, stolen credit card information and ideas and techniques to make members better cyber criminals. it was reportedly a favorite of hackers responsible for attacks on sony and others. >> dark code has been mastered by a group of criminals. dark code members have
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compromised millions upon millions of computers, servers, cell phones bank accounts and social media accounts. >> reporter: the fbi's pittsburgh office says it took the lead in the investigation, but also had a lot of help. >> a coordinated takedown occurred involving cooperation of law enforcement of 20 countries around the globe. resulting in the arrest charging and search of 70 individuals, who are dark code members, or their associates. >> reporter: the u.s. attorney detailed one of the many ways users felt the effects. >> offered facebook spreading, which would be to infiltrate your facebook account and steal your friend list and then sell and exploit your friend list many times without you even knowing it. >> reporter: putting a stop to dark code is a major coup. >> but arresting these
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individuals, we have shut down a dangerous avenue for buying and selling of malware, botnets and other tools of the trade. >> reporter: but the fbi also warns that the problem goes far beyond dark code. dark code was significant partly because it was one of the few dark web marketplaces operating in english. but even with it shut down the fbi says there are still roughly 800 criminal forums. the fda is investigating a number of incidents of lasers being pointed at planes. >> we're getting a laser at 10:00 now. >> those air traffic controllers had to move some planes around to deal with that issue since lasers can temporarily blind
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pilots. the faa has been cracking down on anyone now caught aiming laser pointers at planes can face federal charges. a big part of the country is cleaning up today after quick and damaging storms. in kentucky flood waters ripped homes from the ground. look at that. and completely swept them away. three people have died and another body was found floating in a creek. in new york is flash flood left a big part of new york city a wet mess and made streets nearly impossible. many businesses and subways were filled with water. the obama administration is launching a launching pilot program that aims to get internet access to lower-income homes. eight companies including google and sprint have agreed to make the internet cheaper in more than 2 dozen cities.
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the president says he wants to bridge the online divide twine the rich and poor. stay tuned, uber is now facing a big fine in one state. >> it's all about all of us accepting one another. plus plea from kaitlin to accept not just herself but others. ♪
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welcome back. here is a look at today's top stories. a texas man is trying a last-minute appeal to delay his execution. clifton williams is set to put to death tonight for killing a woman in 2005. his attorney filed a last-minute appeal saying two witnesses used incorrect statistics. and the senate is expected
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today to pass a by partizan bill that will rewrite no child left behind. it would limit federal government involvement in schools. the bill gives state and local districts more control over schools, teachers and student performance. also colorado's board of health says that posttraumatic stress syndrome should not be treated by medical marijuana. medical marijuana is much cheaper than recreational pot, because of taxes. the federal government is suing ups, claiming that the company is violating civil rights laws. the shipping giant prohibits male supervisors from growing a beard or even long hair. they say that policy does not make sense shuns for employees who has religious concerns.
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new troubles for uber this morning. california has slapped a $7.3 million fine on the company for refusing to hand over certain information to the state. enes is here with the details. >> morgan we're talking about information that taxi services are required by law to report. a california judge says uber must pay a 7.3 million fine and its services should be suspended for not handing over data. the ruling comes from the public's utility commission. who says they haven't provide certain information. in a statement uber said:
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giving more they say would compromise user and driver privatesy. >> they consider themselves a technology platform. and by doing that they have absolved themselves of a lot of the costs of running a transportation company. >> reporter: this is the latest blow against the rapidly growing company. a disagreement in portland lead to suspension in that area. and uber has 30 days to pay the fine or face suspension and the appeals process could take months. >> and for months that's pretty crippling in a state as big as california. >> that's right. one of the officials tied to fifa's corruption investigation has been extradited to the united states. the man was handed over to u.s.
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law enforcement in seric and then flown to the u.s. he was not fighting extradition. six others are still being detained in switzerland and trying not to be sent to the united states. some moving moments last night as espn celebrated some of the nation's top athletes. leah is battling cancel so she couldn't travel to l.a. for the censer moanny but her daughter said this. >> when my daughter was diagnosed with cancer i felt like i was in a nightmare. the first week i would sneak out of the room and go to the chapel and cry. i would ask god why did he give me this daughter to fight? and beg him to give me the fight. at the age of four my daughter
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hadn't even begun to understand what life was about. >> and caitlyn jenner stephed a standing ovation, and she accepted the arthur ash courage award. it was one of her first public appearances since transitioning from a man to a woman. >> if you want to call me names, make jokes, go ahead, because the reality is i can take it. but for the thousands of kids out there, coming to terms with being true to who they are, they should haven't to take it. >> jenner also said the transition was harder than she initially imagined. several family members seen there were on hand to hear her speak. coming up new mexico residents say they are still feeling the fallout 70 years after an atomic test in the dertz. and scientists chart the impact of climate change in the arctic.
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stay tuned.
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in new mexico there's ran ongoing battle that began 70
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years ago today. on july 16th 194 r5, the u.s. military tested its first atomic bomb. today people who live near what is known as the trinity site say they are still suffering. >> on the morning of july 16th, 1945, many new something had happened out in the desert. a bright flash came up over the hills and was seen nearly 200 miles away in gallop. a story stated that a munition's magazine had exploded and never mentioned radiation danger. richard's farm sits in fertile ground. he worries the 135 acres may be slowly killing them. >> we raised a lot of vegetables, but once i got cancer i quit the vegetable part. >> reporter: though he has no medical proof, he believes
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radiation from trinity directly contributed to his lymphoma. the so-called down winders want the u.s. government held accountable. >> i would like to ask everybody out there that is a cancer survivor or battling cancer right now to please stand up if you would. >> reporter: on july 1st, down winders came from miles around to hold a town meeting. a 1990 law provides compensation to uranium miner, mill workers and transporters in almost a dozen western states and covers on-site workers at nuclear test sites including trinity and down winders in 21 counties but the lauz specifically does not cover
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new mexicodown winders. tom udall wants to amend the law. but congress particularly members from eastern states has been reluctant to add billions more to the $2 billion already paid out. is this an east versus west problem? >> the people that are closest to the issue in this case western legislators know and understand this. we probably have a stronger case to make with folks in the east. they aren't as acquainted with it. >> reporter: however residents in the eligible parts of nevada utah and arizona never had a high burden of proof under the law. if they lived near test sites and got certain cancers, they were automatically covered. down winders in new mexico want the same treatment. what would compensation mean to you? >> i'm not doing it for compensation. i'm not -- if there's compensation, fine but i -- i
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was doing just to get people aware that we do have a problem in this area. >> reporter: trystton ahtone al jazeera. nasa has released stunning new pictures of the surface of pluto. these photos were captured by the new more sighson space probe and show the dwarf planet covered with huge mountains. scientists believe they are actually made of ice. that's a sign that pluto does have water, and there were no obvious impact caters meaning it is less than 100 million years old. the u.s. coast guard is on a mission to study the arctic. and phil went with them. >> reporter: this area has been hit by global warming more than most regions of the world, but today it still is pretty darn
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cold. it is quite the unique and noisy experience. when you are inside the ship as we're crushing the ice, it's kind of a mix of earthquake, airplane tur lens and thunder all in one. you can imagine if you are out here on the ice and you need help, you are going to want all of the help you can get, especially in the form of something like this. some eyes in the sky that can see infrared. we are so far north that the sun never actually sets. it is still bright and sunny at midnight, but we're going to keep doing what we're doing out here and we'll check in with you later. >> you can watch "techknow" tonight right here on al jazeera. it was one year ago that the
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ice bucket challenge went completely viral. and it all started when chris kennedy posted this video on youtube. and he asked viewers to poor a bucket of freezing water on their heads and record it to raise awareness for als. the stunt took off. so was it a success? well the als association said it received $150 million between july 29th and september 15th of last year. that's not even two months. the largest chunk, $77 million will go to we research. the als association says it hopes to bring back the challenge every single august until they find a cure. a great white shark has been rescued after being stranded on a beach in massachusetts. this 7-foot fish got stuck on
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cape cod and officials say it was probably beached as it went out. thanks for watching. i'm morgan radford. ♪ >> announcer: this is al jazeera. from al jazeera's headquarters in doha this is the news hour. i'm laura kyle. coming up in the next 60 minutes, a lifeline for greek banks, worth hundreds of millions of dollars. the ecb agrees to increase emergency funding. celebrations in aden after houthi fighters are pushed out. members of yemen's exiled government begin to return.