passports and phones confiscated, a promise to behave just a reminder, you can keep up to date with all the latest news on the website. here it is on your screen aljazeera.com. all the day's top stories. you'll find them at aljazeera.com. >> thousands evacuate after explosions in china, potentially toxic fumes force rescuers to stop searching for survivors. >> that port disaster may spell trouble for china's currency. >> jimmy carter reveals he has add advanced cancer discovered after a recent surgery. >> the chief of the e.p.a. fears long term expects from a spill

at the colorado. we go to the heart of the operation at the colorado gold mine. >> good morning to you, this is aljazeera america live from new york city. i'm jonathan betz. the search for survivors temporarily stopped this morning in china after a massive warehouse explosion. authorities are now concerned about toxic chemicals leaking on site. at least 44 people are dead, more than 500 others were hurt when two blasts erupted at the port justified outside beijing where women kelsey and gases are stored. these are images that the blast occurred and then the immediate aftermath. the fireball could be seen from space. >> this is what it looks like this morning, plumes of smoke in the port city and debris everywhere. authorities say the death toll is expected to rise. adrien brown has more.

>> this is close to the epicenter of wednesday night's debt nation. people say what happened was like an earthquake and in fact, everywhere you look, you feel you're looking at the aftermath of an earthquake. the devastation is really over a very wide area, the shock wave really had a radius about several kilometers and wherever you look, you see trashed cars, their windows smashed out, some vehicles have been completely crushed. a lot of the damage was caused by shipping containers, which were turned into missiles. hundreds of people are being treated in local hospitals, many of them being treated for injuries caused by flying glass and of course concrete. several hundred firemen are still trying to bring the blaze under control. it's taking place in the distant with the jumble of containers and spoke in the background. the authorities inside this was

an industrial accident. the president is watching things very closely indeed, urging the authorities to bring the fire under control as soon as possible, and we're sure that everyone living nearby is safe and that their homes are protected. >> reporting from china. >> many witnesses captured the explosion and its aftermath on the chinese micro blogging service. the explosion was so powerful that many people could see it and feel it from miles away. that blast blew out windows up to six miles away, and a lot of people posted the pictures of the damage in their home. some posted pictures of victims on their way to nearby hospitals. >> the i want is bound to impact beijing's economy, considering the port's importance. several companies are already reporting disruptions to business, cargo is damaged, ships are unable to dock and most operations are now on hold. it is a major chinese port and

one of the world's largest. it's only 90 miles from cage r. beijing, the area is the sea gate for more than 11 million people and connected china to east asia, asia pacific and the west. it has trade releases with 500 other ports and more than 180 countries. the main company that manages the port has assets of $16 billion. china is dealing with further financial turmoil. for the third day in the row, the country's central bank lowered its guiding rate, devaluing the currency. in a move to soothe global markets, the bank said there's no reason for the currency to fall any further. the government hopes it will boost foreign trade.

was this third day of devaluation surprising to you? >> no, the government was clear that they were going to do so. i think it was a little surprising in terms of how aggressive they've been over the last three days but not surprising overcall. >> having the currency fall three days in a row is unexpected. a lot of people worry this is bigger problems within china's economy, no? >> i think there is very real fear that there is an economic slowdown and the government is struggling to come up with a solution and maybe don't have control over the situation now. i don't think that's the case. they have massive foreign exchange reserves. if they see the yuan trading lower, testify the ability to buy back and stabilize things.

>> is the general public concerned over what is happening with the economy. >> retail investors took a haircut, but if you talk to the people on the street, they are not panicking, they are maybe becoming more choosey about spending money, but they are continuing to spend and reasonably optimistic about the future. i don't think we're in panic mode yet, but overall there is a reality that the economy is going to a slow growth base rather than a rapid growth base. >> overall, how healthy is the chinese economy? is there concerned that we don't have a clear picture because some of the data may be suspect. >> i think it's a difficult year for exporters especially with the devaluation.

if you look overall structurally be, the big issue is still debt at the local government level. that is something the government does need to spend effort cleaning up, but overall, the economy is reasonably strong, we're not facing an impending cliff or anything like that. we're basing slower growth going forward. >> still a lot of movement there with chinese markets. thank you for your time this morning. >> a suicide bombing at a crowded market in baghdad killed dozens of people and isil is claiming responsibility. the bomb inside a truck detonated early this morning while people shopped for vegetables. at least 55 people have been killed, nearly 200 others have been hurt and isil is promising more attacks. muhammed is live in baghdad with us. what else have you learned this morning? >> >> jonathan, this is an attack that's been called horrific by witnesses there, and this is an

attack that is aimed through isis to sow sectarianism. this is the third attack in as many days targets shia neighborhoods. you had this attack today which killed 55, wounded at least 200 people and it's expected the death count could rides. on tuesday, you had two very similar car bomb attacks targeting predominantly shia neighborhoods. dozens killed, dozens more wounded. this is coming at a time when many people here in this country want the government to get beyond any kind of sectarian beliefs to come together to better serve the iraq people, isil trying to shatter all that, trying to show they still have the upper hand when it comes to the security situation here and trying to go after the shia population here who they consider to be her particulars, infidels. this is meant to stoke

sectarianism when more and more people are protesting in the streets to try to end corruption, which many people say is rampant in parliament. >> with that in mind, are we hearing anything from the government today. >> the government is claiming once more that they are winning the war against terrorism in iraq. these are claims that fall on deaf ears here in iraq. one of the members of the defense ministry said the second face in the anbar offensive which started a few weeks ago against isil, that that has started and they intend to cut supply lines with which isil gets weapons into and out of iraq, but i can tell you here in baghdad, most regard these complaints at propaganda from the government. it's clear that the battle here in iraq has been hair more difficult than they thought it would be. they said they would take back the city of ramadi.

that hasn't happened and it looks like the fight is getting even tougher. >>'d head of the e.p.a. said heavy metals are starting to dissipate after a toxic spill from a gold mine. visiting areas along the rivers, today she'll meet with officials in new mexico where the chemicals have traveled. she said water quality is back to what it was before the spill but acknowledged fears of long term effects. >> while it's no longer visible because it's being dispersed, we are taking the necessary tests, all the work we need to do in responding to folks for drinking water and cattle water and those kind of things, but i cannot give you exact dates on when things will happen, because again, we're going to let the tests and science drive those decisions. >> colorado, new mexico and the navajo nation have all declared a state of emergency and the

navajo nation said it will sue the e.p.a. over the spill. the e.p.a. is considering declaring the area a superfund site to bring in cleanup. >> 3 million chemicals of gallons have spilled and is still spilling. experts warn of heavy metals now settling into the river bed. >> the blowout is near silverton, colorado, a town like so many in this part of the country, built by mining. hundreds of old, abandoned shafts are cut into the hillsides. we passed them as we drive the dirt roads farther into the high country. we take a rocky one lane detour around the road closure. it's slow going, a steep switch back climb through terrain colored by the minerals in the ground around us and where the road ends is where the trouble started.

we get a chance to see ground zero, the entrance to the gold king mine that blew out last wednesday. >> it was a mine entrance damned by a landside which work crews were probing, trying to figure out how water was behind i have the. it flooded into the rivers. the e.p.a. has built new retention ponds for the mustard colored runoff armed the corner of the mountain below he two other mine entrances. >> e.p.a. director visited. >> i just came from a briefing that dave and others provided to me on the status of the cleanup and the status of the monitoring of the plume. i am excited that they are fully operational, and they've been fully operational and we are working this issue very hard. >> we came to the accident site with a member of the local incident management team and

several congressional staffers getting their first look. also, with us, an engineer with 40 years in mining who doesn't think what happened here should signal an end to the industry in these mountains. >> given a whole new set of rules and regulations what are the opportunities for more mining? >> they're good. you know, we didn't comply with those rules. even in today's market, metal prices, it can work. >> we can see mining grow in the silverton area? >> yes, some of us working on trying to start that again. >> any chance of future mining could disappear if this area is designated as a toxic superfund cleanup site, something many downstream would like to see. that designation could bring additional cleanup money but it's a contentious issue here and has been for decades, where the superfund label could slow development and kim the tourist trade, as i willeryton's true

gold mine. >> funds from the national priority list may come quickly or may take decades and if the stigma of super funds fight is on the community without true cleanup, it could be devastating to the people who live here. >> this hole in the ground isn't gushing sludge anymore, but gold king and other nearby mines still leak contaminated ground water as hundreds of gallons per minute. it's been happening for years and any cleanup here, superfund or no superfund would be just a small win in a much bigger battle stretching into the future. al jazeera, above littleton, colorado. >> former president jimmy carter revealed that cancer has spread from his liver to other parts of his body. doctors discovered the cancer

after he had liver surgery. carter who is 90 and the oldest living penalty plans to receive further treatment in atlanta. the white house wished president carter a fast and full recovery. >> gop canned indicate jeb bush taking on racial inequality. >> i have a record of empowering people in communities that had no chance. they told they were assigned to failing schools, the teachers in those schools were not as good as teachers in other schools. that result was we had huge divides. it was easy to understand why that exists, why people don't think the system works for them. >> the republican said there is no question that racism still activities and that leaders need to engage with communities that feel disenfranchised. bush exited the stage to the chant of protestors. >> bush's campaign said the

candidate met with black lives matter representatives. they also interrupted bernie sanders who is seeking the democratic presidential nomination. >> duty police officers asked to photograph the homeless, how the tactics may backfire.

>> i don't really know what's going

>> good morning. welcome to al jazeera america. it's about 10 minutes to 8:00 eastern time this morning. nine more buildings in new york

city tested positive for the bacteria that causes legionnaire's disease. six are outside the impact zone where more than 100 people have gotten sick. officials say the six new sites are not necessarily connected to the outbreak independent south bronx. >> firefighters in northern california are facing two major wildfires. the jerusalem fire has grown to 20,000 acres, just south of the rocky fire which destroyed 70,000 acres and burned homes. >> three people are hurt after a cele collapsed during a concert in minneapolis last night. more than 700 people were inside the historic venue. it's not known what caused that collapse, but concertgoers recalled seeing water streaming from the ceiling. >> a new york city police union is trying to urge officers to take photos of homeless people and then post the picture on line. the officers hope to shine a

spotlight on a growing problem, but critics say the real target is new york's mayor and that the homeless are pawns in the political power struggle. david shuster has more. >> a woman cradles a child on a piece of cardboard, a man crawls up along a subway platform. a map passed out on the steps of a building. they are among the thousands of homeless people in new york city and their faces, their pictures are being posted on line by that police officers. one of the unions representing the nypd calls this flicker act peekaboo. instead of deal with the problem, the union says politicians are spending their time attacking police officers, so the union has asked members when they're off duty to photograph the homeless. who do these picture shame? the people you see or the

officers who take them? this all comes a week after the mayor introduced a $22 million proposal to deal with homelessness called nyc safe, to house and treat those with mental illness and put more police near homeless shelters. according to the coalition for the homeless, over the last 10 years, the number of people sleeping in new york city shelters rose stiedly, reaching 60,000 earlier this year. the city says the number actually living on the streets is about 3,000. disturbing statistics and for many people, these pictures do nothing to solve the problem. david shuster, al jazeera. >> a federal judge ordered a county clerk in kentucky to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. rowan county clerk refused to issue the licenses after it was legalized in june. she said doing so would vital

her christian beliefs. davis is now appealing the ruling. >> some of the sexual assault charges against the founder of wikileaks have been dropped. swedish prosecutors ran out of time to formally prosecute julian assange. he's lived in the ecuadorian embassy in london since 2012. he fears traveling to sweden would leave him vulnerable to be extra dated to the u.s. to face espionage charges. a second investigation of rape will continue. assange denies all allegations against him. >> china's drive to build new islands in the south china sea may have long term effect for the environment. we explain, next.

>> i lived that character. >> go one on one with america's movers and shakers. >> we will be able to see change. >> gripping... inspiring... entertaining. no topic off limits. >> 'cause i'm like, "dad, there are hookers in this house". >> exclusive conversations you won't find anywhere else. >> these are very vivid, human stories. >> if you have an agenda with people, you sometimes don't see the truth. >> "talk to al jazeera". only on al jazeera america.

>> ohio will vote in november whether to legalize marijuana for medicinal and recreation use, also allowing 10 authorized growing locations. some worry putting the market in the hands of only 10 growers sounds like a monopoly, a second proposal backed by legislators will ask if they want to ban monopolies and cartels. >> let's bring in nicole mitchell for today's environmental impact report. >> we've covered the south china sea before and maritime issues, because this is a big geopolitical hotbed, but

environmentalists are saying this is an environmental issue, as well. this area is bounded by a number of different countries, all staking claim to this area, not just china, but the philippines, taiwan and vietnam, so you can see, we're going to might in red where the sea is and particularly the spratley islands. china started constructing artificial islands, including military structures, which has the other countries not only upset about the land grab, 3,000-acres they've claimed. some beautiful reefs in this area, but look at one, this is imagery from march and august of last year and january of this year. this is the gavin reef. it started as a speck and got built and built and now is an island with a he wilily pad and they've been doing this in different areas.

construction has been going on since last year. the problem is reclaiming that -- to build it up in different areas, that's an important part of some of these atolls. they found 20 areas being dredged. here is what it looked like before and you can see a riddle up after, building runways. that land reclamation and construction swamped century old reefs, also kills the break areas on the reef which 20 the wildlife. >> a lot of attention being put on those islands. >> that does it for us. stay right here, because stephanie sy is back in just two minutes with more al jazeera morning news. .

>> shoppers were target road at a baghdad market, killing dozens. it was a suicide bombing by isil in a shia neighborhood. 67 are reported dead, nearly 200 injured. the market was especially crowded today at people came from other provinces to stock up for the weekend. we are live in baghdad. what is the intention behind these types of attacks that target innocent civilians shopping in a market? >> well, the intention is twofold, first to target as many civilians as possible. this is one of the most densely

populated areas in all of baghdad. millions of people live in the predominantly shia neighborhood. the second intention is to stoke sectarian anger here. this is a time when the sectarian balance in iraq is very, very tenuous, people demanding that the government work together and unify the iraqi people. isil on many occasions has stated that it is their intention to battle the shia muslim population in this country and other countries. they consider them enemies, her particulars, in infidels. this is the third such attack in as many days. >> we talked about the government reforms, as it tries to address the basic needs of the iraqi people, where is

security in the priority list for this government? >> they have been spoke to the concerns of the basic needs of the people, they haven't been speaking about security. the government is saying more and more to its people that they are battling terrorism. the defense ministry announced today that the second phase in the anbar offensive has now begun. those promises fall on a lot of deaf ears here in iraq. most people believe this is propaganda from the government. the fight has been more tough than the government promised it would be. when the anbar offensive was

announced, they said they'd take the city back in days. it doesn't look like that will happen soon. >> it was supposed to be a spring offensive, it's now almost the end of summer. >> the search for survivors in china after a massive warehouse explosion, authorities are concerned about toxic chemicals leaking on site. at least 50 people are dead and more than 700 injured when blasts erupted at one of china's largest ports. chemicals and gases are stored there. these are images now, smoke and debris everywhere. >> the heart of one of china's busy evident hubs, torn apart. there were further explosions as a pool of toxic smoke billowed

across the city. with local people concerned not for the first time about the air they are now breathing. >> we are very worry the about the chemicals in the air. >> i thought it was a gas explosion, it threw me out of bed. >> other survivors thought it was away earthquake or nuclear explosion. windows were shattered almost two kilometers away, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of families. the debris sliced through hundreds of vehicles. temporary housing for migrant workers bore the brunt of the blast. >> this is a workers dormitory,

completely shredded. the damage here bears a testament to the force of the explosions. the people were lucky to get out alive. >> the number of dead continues to rise. many were firefighters. government officials say hundreds were treated in hospital, mostly for cuts caused by fine glass and concrete. >> an investigation has now begun. >> the incident is bound to impact china's economy, considering the importance of the port where it happened. several companies are reporting the explosions have disrupted business. cargo is damaged, ships unable to dock and most operations

there are on hold. it is a major chinese port in one of the world's largest. it's 90 miles from beijing. it connects china to the west. the main company that mansion the port has assets of around $16 billion. china is dealing with further financial turmoil this morning. for the third day in a row, the central bank lowered its guiding rates to the yuan. the bank said there is no reason for the currency to fall further, but the decision is sparking concern among investors. they fear an impending currency war with the u.s. and slower economic growth. a lower yuan will make exports less expensive.

>> everyone wants to make their exports competitive, so the quickest way of doing that is to devalue their currency. the fear is that china now is playing this game. >> the federal reserve under ben bettebernanke was accused of bod buying to swell the fed balance sheet and push down the value of the u.s. dollar, boosting u.s. exports and jobs at the expense of competing economies, a pattern seen in japan under the prime minister and his policies that have kept the yen weak against the dollar and which found their way to europe this year when the european central bank started bond buying to

devalue the euro against the dollar, moves that whip sawed around to china because the value of its currency, the yuan is loosely pegged to the dollar. >> because that have loose peg, as the u.s. dollar has strengthened, china's currency has, too, even though exports are down and its economy flowing. when the people's bank of china decided to execute when it called a one off depreciation tuesday, only to cult its value again on wednesday, it's little surprise economists around the globe are crying currency war. >> this week's yuan devaluation came on a weaker than expected account port data. china insists its changing the way the exchange rate is set to give market forces more influence, something the international monetary fund has been pressing beijing to do to earn the yuan global currency

status enjoyed now only by the dollar, euro, yen and british pound. the timing raises eyebrows in washington. >> the u.s. trade deficit with china has been growing and politicians calling for policies to curb currency manipulation and this will only make their voices louder. >> when it comes to currency wars, any deevaluation, no matter the motive, is tempting political fodder. >> the head of the e.p.a. says heavy metals are starting to dissipate in two colorado rivers after a toxic spill from a gold mine. gina mccarthy visited the areas, today will meet to officials in new mexico where the chemicals have also traveled. she said water quality is back to what it was before the spill but acknowledges fears of long term effects. >> while no longer visible because it's being dispersed, we are taking the necessary tests and taking a look at wildlife,

fish, all the kind of work we need to do in responding to folks oh for drinking water and cattle water and those kinds of things, but i cannot give you fact dates on when things will happen, because again, we're going to let the testing and science drive those decisions. >> colorado, new mexico and the navajo station all declared a state of emergency. the navajo station will sue the e.p.a. over the spill. the e.p.a. is considering naming the area a superfund site to bring in more federal funding and speed the cleanup. >> the toxic plume has weaved its way through neighboring states around the four corners and lake powell in utah already reeling from drought is bracing for another blow. >> the capital of striped bass fishing and a major source of drinking water, state and federal officials are trying to sort out the downstream effects of this spill. >> we need to go check the spill

and take base line data, water samples, sediment samples and fish samples, fish eat plank ton and obtain a little bit of the heavy metal into their system and it builds up time after time after they eat many, many meals. >> lake powell is 200 miles from the gold king mine and over that distance, the metals are diluting, but with tens of thousands of mines, a potential source of spill to the rivers into this water that provides water to the western united states, lake powell is not safe in the long run. >> there's not going to be a big yellow toxic bloom in these waters. they worry about the build up of minerals and chemicals that come from mines all along the

colorado and rivers, everything that feeds right into lake powell. >> this slows down the river and it will land in the sediment delta and in the san juan arm and stay there. it will get locked up in there. as the lake goes up and down, the river can cut into that delta and release that stuff back into the lake, so we're going to need some kind of long term monitoring and perhaps modeling to understand what are the full implications of this over time. >> what are the conceivable effects, a generation, two generations from now. >> they kind of each have their individual effects on humans, and on other organisms, native fish and their eggs being exposed and things like that, you know, where these metals are bad news. we don't want anybody or anything getting in contact with them. >> this event doesn't seem to pose an immediate threat to human health 200 miles downstream, but it's the

cumulative effects that scientists worry about. over time, events like this will endanger an already fragile ecosystem and the millions of people who depend on it. jacob ward, al jazeera, lake powell, arizona. >> former president jimmy carter revealed he has cancer. doctors discovered the cancer after carter had liver surgery. he is 90 and the second oldest former living penalty. he said he plans to receive treatment at emery health occur in atlanta. the white house wished be president carter a fast and full recovery. >> on the agenda today, the u.n. secretary general plans to talk to his mission chiefs and commanders after out of thing the top official in the central african republic. that official faced repeated accusations that peacekeepers have been committing sexual violence against civilians. >> workers will rally in new

york today. >> breaking down the iranian nuclear deal, we'll speak to two people on opposite sides, a former general who san diego padres the plan and former diplomatic with grave concerns.

>> in one month, congress votes to approve or reject the nuclear deal with iran. opponents are pouring tens of

millions of dollars into lobbying efforts attacking it, while supporters have spent substantially less on advertising cam paints. we have more. good morning. >> good morning. groups on both sides are trying to get congress into their corner. one of them is called veterans against the deal. the group is spending a million dollars to run television ads like this one, retired staff sergeant bartlett said he was injured in iraq by an iranian bomb. he said the deal will lead to more violence. >> a vote for this deal means more money for iranian terrorism. what do you think they're going to do when they get more money? call your senator, tell them no deal with iran. if you don't call, who will? >> meanwhile, a group of former u.s. admirals and generals has come out in favor of the agreement, 36 retired j military leaders released an open letter asking congress to support the deal. the letter describes the agreement as the most effective means of preventing iran from getting nuclear weapons. without it, they say iran could

have a nuclear weapon within a year. congress has until mid september to vote on whether to approve the deal or not. house republicans say they have enough votes to vote down the deal and override a veto by president obama. much of the lobbying has focused on the senate. senators who support the deal include bernie sanders, angus king and gillibrand. many still haven't decided how they will vote but face pressure from opponents and supporters of the deal. >> patrick clausen was among diplomatics and experts who wrote about his concerns about the deal. he is a senior fellow from the

washington institute. obviously you are still opposed to this deal. is there any agreement with iran that you could have gotten behind? >> oh, certainly, and in fact, i'm not sure what are the exact -- the exact nature of this deal, so i'm not sure what most stands would be. if they were to articulate a good strategy of what this deal might buy us, this could be a good deal. the administration isn't telling us what we are going to do with this extra time. iran is supporting to help kill 200,000 civilians in syria. what's the administration for stopping that kind of destabilizing action from tehran? >> if the path to a nuclear

weapon were cut off for 10 or 15 years, do you know enough about this deal to know whether you would support it on those grounds? >> is it a good idea to cut them off for only 10 or 15 years? what's going to change in the next 10 or 15 years? there's a lot of details about exactly how the deal is going to be implemented that we've asked the administration to make clear. it's not in the text, it's not that clear whether or not there's going to be the tough verification procedures needed to make this deal work. >> do you think war is preferable to diplomacy when it comes to keeping iran from getting a nuclear weapon? >> who would think that? everybody would prefer to have diplomacy. the question is how could we have the most effective diplomacy. diplomacy which results in a deal that lets iran kill 200,000 people in syria without any implications, that's not exactly stopping war. it's pushing war on to the people of syria.

200,000 dead is a lot of people dying. >> it sound like what you're saying is that the obama administration should have taken into account the larger geopolitical context as opposed to just focusing on iran's ability to get a nuclear weapon. is that what you are saying? >> i'm saying they should set their discussion about iran's nuclear weapon about the context of the overall geopolitical stat gee. they need to explain to us how does this nuclear part fit into an overall strategy. >> do you think that it empowers the hardliners if there is a congressional rejection of this iranian deal? >> over the last week, interestingly enough, the rouhani team revealed that it was the hardliner supreme leader who ordered the change in

policy. >> they wanted to engage in negotiations? >> they started the negotiations before rouhani got elected. they gave key compromises to the americans before radio aloney got elected in secret negotiations going on in 2011 and 2012. >> are you against continued negotiations if for example this deal were to fall apart because of congressional rejection? >> oh, whatever happens, we're going to have continued negotiations. this is a very complicated deal and implementing it is going to require years of negotiations about what exactly the deal means, how exactly we're implementing it. this deal is not the end to negotiations. it's the start of a new round of negotiations. >> patrick clausen, thank you. >> now joining us, one of the generals who signed that letter supporting the deal. joining us from washington, retired brigadier general, now the c.e.o. of the american

security project. generals, thank you for your time. your letter says there is no better option to prevent an iranian nuclear weapon than through diplomacy, but critics say the u.s. could have gotten a better deal. what do you say to that? >> i just don't know how. when you spend years negotiating this deal and finally compromise and come to one that's somewhat satisfactory to both sides, now it's going to fall apart if not ratified by congress and sanctions fall apart, you get a much worse situation than we had beforehand. >> the deal lifts the embargo on iran importing and exporting conventional weapons and ballistic missiles after two years. was that too great a deal to make? >> no, there were side deals on the ballistic weapons side of the house, but ultimately, the aim was no not let iran get a nuclear weapon and that's what this does, at least for 10-15

years and i think even much farther beyond with that so that is a very small cop session. >> yet russia and china will be able to sell iran weapons and the head of the revolutionary guard was in moscow at the end of july. is it in the u.s.'s larger strategic interest in the region to have given in on that point? >> well absolutely. i look at it this way. if we don't ratify it, russia and china are going to sell them anything they want to start with. we're much worse off without the agreement than with one. you're going to have to have compromise on both sides and we've got that. it's a very strict sanctions regime that we've had in place that will get lifted. in addition, we've got a very strict inspection regime there, as well. once it does not get ratified, then our inspections won't be there. >> the letter that dozens of generals and admirals, including yourself have signed on to and sent to president obama, you sort of have a unique

perspective on all of this. why did you decide to at this time deliver this letter to the president? >> well, oftentimes people think well, we'll just solve this with a military solution and those of us who have served recognize that it's a very messy military solution and i really personally don't think there is a military solution. you might be able to have a strike, but then you end up with a mess that's just incredible in the middle east, much worse than it is today when you've got what's going on in iran and syria. is that ultimately what you want? those of us who have been there say sure, you can use a military option in the end nams, but it really is not the right waying to. if we can solve this with some form of diplomacy, that is the way we ought to be going. >> from men who have been in war. thank you for your time this morning, appreciate it. >> looking to avoid default. greece votes on a third bailout,

but still faces major hurdles. >> the u.s. prepares to raise the american flag in havana as cuba demands rap reactions of $100 billion. $100 billion.

>> welcome to al jazeera america. a suicide bombing at a crowded market in baghdad killed more than 60 people today. the bomb detonated when the market was crowded with people stocking up for the weekend. nearly 200 were injured. isil claimed responsibility and promises more attacks. >> rescue teams have suspended the search for survivors after explosions at a port warehouse in china. they fear toxic waste is leaking on site. at least 50 were killed, 700 injured. dozens more are missing and thousands have been displaced. >> the head of the e.p.a. is in new mexico today downstream from the site of a toxic blowout from

a gold mean. mccarthy said heavy metals are dissipating in the rivers. she said water quality is back to what it was before the spill. >> a $95 billion bailout package, with him it save greece from bankruptcy. the greek parliament votes on the deal today. the country has a major debt payment due next week. we are live in athens. good morning, germany now says it's open to a third bailout package. why the change and how could that affect the outcome? >> >> well, there is confusion rewarding the german position, because there is tension within the german government over the extent to which angela merkel should show further leniency towards the greeks. earlier, we had comments from her finance minister, the most hard line member of her cabinet saying that there wasn't a clear

overall direction in the greek bill that's been submitted to parliament today and being voted on in several hours from now. since then, we've had more conciliatory remarks from the finance ministry saying that those remarks didn't amount to a rejection of the bailout deal, rather more clarification is needed. we've also had a remark from angela merkel's personal spokesman saying overall, he thinks it's going in the right direction. i think we'll have further clarity on which way the germ government is going friday morning when we'll have a press conference referencing the greek issue and of course during friday's euro group meeting of all the europe's finance ministers when we may have further remarks, following the result, that is of the greek vote in parliament. >> let's talk about that. the bailout deals have also been

subject to the domestic politics -- policies. >> we had an -- the government in the events decided to do so and came back and faced a lot of opposition from its own back benches here in the parliament behind me who said we never committed to this. this isn't what we were reacted to do. prime minister alexis tsipras said yes, that's right, we weren't elected to bring more austerity but we were not elected to take greece out of the euro zone which would have been the logical next step. we're seeing the first implementation law of that loan debated tonight.

>> john, thank you. >> cuban dissidents are not invited to tomorrow's historic ceremony to mark the reopening of the u.s. embassy in havana. john kerry will be the first sitting secretary of state to visit havana since world war ii. he will raise the flag. later in the day, kerry will meet with a group of prominent activists. some lawmakers criticize the white house for not inviting the disdepartments. >> the crass astro regime seized property in the early years of the revolution. the cuban government is making claims of its own. >> most of cuba still looks like it's frozen in time, a time when most of what you see here was owned by american companies. from the former sears department store to the grand hotels once run by the american mafia, u.s. firms and american citizens

whose property was confiscated after the revolution demand up to $7 billion in compensation. not to be outdone, the cuban government is claiming damages, too, to the tune of $100 million. that's what it says 54 years of u.s. economic sanctions has cost the country. >> for example, if you have a refinery with u.s. machinery that was paralyzed because we could not buy spare parts, cuba calculates the losses. there's a prohibition to trade in u.s. dollars, which jacks up prices of everything, all of this adds up. >> cuba is also claiming assets frozen in u.s. banks after the revolution, plus interest. it blames the u.s. embargo for its dilapidated infrastructure. while insiders he concede $100 billion is inflated, they say it's a starting point for a

negotiated settlement, which for cuba begins with the lifting of the u.s. embargo. >> cuba can argue if the sanctions are not lifted, there's a way we can sit down and negotiate this. when we negotiate, we are going to give you a bill of what you owe us. >> the standoff on who owes what to whom and how much it's worth it not only complicated, it's essential to normalizing bilateral relations. the act passed by the u.s. congress specifically states that all property claims must be satisfactorily resolved before the u.s. economic embargo against cuba can be lifted. >> cuba believes it has another card up its sleeve to negotiate a deal in which both sides agree to call it even. >> they'll have to accept, otherwise, there isn't going to be any deal and of course, the price is investment in cuba. >> with diplomatic ties renewed,

many american companies that were exprop rated are eager to return. >> tomorrow night, we'll speak in department about the new era in u.s.-cuba relations, plus a look at what daily life is like in cuba. >> new numbers showing donald trump is still going strong, in some places getting even stronger. he has displaced long time front runner scott walker in iowa. only 15% of gop voters have decided on a candidate. >> on the democratic side for the first time in this election cycle, a poll shows hillary clinton is losing ground to

bernie sanders. at least in the key primary state of new hampshire, where earlier this year, clinton held a double digit lead. david shuster has more. >> tonight, we have more than 27,000. >> as vermont senator bernie sanders was drawing massive crowds monday in los angeles and portland, oregon, a new poll was being conducted in new hampshire. the results suggest sanders has just overtaken democratic front runner hillary clinton there among likely democratic primary voters. 44% to 37%, six months ago, when clinton began her campaign, the same polling organization found her leading sanders in new hampshire 44-8. the sanders surge among democrats has been growing for months. fueled by his progressive blasts at wealth and inequality. >> to the billionaire class, and

that message is you can't have it all! >> earlier this month, away from the crowds, we caught up with the senator in washington, d.c. >> the beginning stages of reformation, we have a long waying to. >> whether it's a revolution remains an open question, but sanders is clearly gaining steam. in recent weeks, his campaign says tens of thousands of people have signed up as volunteers, campaign donations are way up, and then, there are the crowds. the portland, oregon rally drew more than 28,000 people, the biggest campaign event for any candidate this year. >> and that is what this campaign is about is bringing people together. >> many say they are united behind the calls for economic justice and an end to the big money influence over politics. others say they are simply intrigued by the self described democratic socialist, who seems

outside of the washington political establishment. firmly inside that establishment is hillary clinton. >> thank you so much, wow. >> the nationwide polls still have her well out in front of sanders, but she continues to face questions on her reliance of a private email account and server she used while secretary of state. tuesday night, her campaign announced she would hand over her personal server to the f.b.i., a dramatic change from her stance earlier. >> it contained personal communications from my husband and me and i believe i have met all of my responsibilities, and the server will remain private. >> the controversy maybe hurting clinton politically. only 40% say she is trust worthy. the numbers are worse than they

were earlier this summer. >> whoa! >> meanwhile, the sanders campaign is intensifying. this summer, he has cut clinton's lead in national polls in half and now in new hampshire, it's hillary clinton who is feeling the burn. >> when we stand united, we can create a new america! >> david shuster, al jazeera. >> gop candidate jeb bush taking on racial in equality. >> i have a record of empowering people in communities that had no chance. they were told they were assigned to failing schools, the teachers that were in those schools were not as good as the teachers that were in other schools. the net result was huge divides and it was very easy to understand why that exists, why people don't think the system works for them. >> the republican presidential candidate said there is no question that racism still exists and leaders need to engage with communities that

feel disenfranchised. when bush exited the stage, there were chants from protestors. >> black lives matter! >> bushes campaign said the campaign met with black lives matter representatives earlier in the day. they have also interrupted bernie sanders. >> firefighters in northern california are now fighting two major wildfires. the so-called jerusalem fire burned 25,000 acres, it is south of the rocky fires, which burned 43 homes. the rocky fire enough in its third week is now 95% contained and about 100 people have been told to evacuate. >> amid the fires and drought, los angeles is taking unique measures to save its water sources. the city dumped 96 million shade balls into a 175-acre reservoir.

each one reduces evaporation from the heat. the probable expects to safe 300 million gallons each year and that is enough drinking water for 180 people. >> china is about to finish a land reclamation probable in the south china sea. the project has increased tensions with neighboring countries and the united states and is also hurting ecosystems. let's bring in nicole mitchell for today's environmental impact report. >> we reported on the gee political portio portion this before. environmentalists are saying there is an environmental issue, as well. this area in the south china sea and claimants to the land and water in this area include malaysia, philippines, taiwan, vietnam, china has in the last

year and a half claimed about 3,000-acres of the water especially around the spratly islands. the problem with this is that they are starting to do build ups, even creating islands where there weren't any. imagery from march to august to january of this year, last year to this year, what was a reef, a little structure on it actually taking sand, building it up into an island. you can see by the last one is a platform, he wilily pad. part of the problem is they are constructing military structures. that's the geopolitical side. they are dredging sand, putting it into others. that is changing the structure. this other atoll, from one picture to the other, different parts of it have built up. they are changing the pattern of the sand, killing organisms like

turtles, giant clams, send up corrosive sand and there's also something called a reef crest on the reefs around here that helps block the energy of the waves and protect some of the life in the area, so that he is are changing the area, as well. le beautiful reef area is going to be changed as the geography of the area is changed. it's amazing that you can build a whole island and build structures on it, but a real environmental impact. >> that is their play. nicole mitchell, thank you. >> in the wake of hurricane katrina, a total change for the public schools. they were replaced with the country's first all charter school system. some say students aren't much better off. >> i need more hands. >> the public school system in new orleans reshaped by hurricane katrina is like no other system in the country. >> new orleans is the only city

in america that is majority charter school. >> a failing system was dismanual thatted. the state took control of low performing schools and thousands of teachers were fired. this is the result, schools like renew cultural arts academy, one of more than 90 publicly funded by privately operated schools. >> just sending your child to the nearest school, that doesn't exist anymore. >> caroline runs the association of charter schools and understands the model is working because of choice. parents can shop for the best schools. that she says has forced competition. >> you have to produce to attract those parents, those teachers and those students to your building. >> they actually care about the kids. they want to see them thrive and do better. >> she has three children in the charter schools. she feels the system is an improvement, but like many

parents, feel she isn't given real choice but more of a chance for when it comes to getting her children in the best schools. >> if i want my child to go to an a., b., or c. school, and there are no room for them, they have to go to a d.e. or f. school. >> this is ways to giving advantage to the already advantaged. >> still, governor bobby jindal and reform advocates site remarkable gains. they point to the graduation right, 73% today, up from 54% in 2004. the number of kids in failing schools, just 8% today compared to 62% before katrina. critics say the full err picture and the as encouraging. >> it's been 10 years and the gains are fairly marginal. >> too lane university professor

has studied the reforms around said while there's been improvement, the gains are small. she points to the a.c.t. scores. the average student in new orleans public schools scored a 1710 years, be a today it has risen by more than a point. >> the scores are still low that the average student in the new orleans district can't get into l.s.u., louisiana state university. >> most advocates and parents admit there's still a long way to go before public education here can be considered good, but a decade later, they people it's a far cry from what it was. jonathan martin, al jazeera, new orleans. >> on the culture beat, the long running children's t.v. show sesame street is dropping its daily hour long show and replacing it with half hour episodes. it made the announcement after viewer feedback about shorter episodes. it goes into effect november 16. >> clashing in federal court,

pete receipts quarterback tom brady fights to have his suspension overturned, but a judge may not be buying it. >> a new title across all major sports.

>> they believed in what they were doing but the

>> welcome to al jazeera america. it is 8:50 eastern, taking a look at today's top stories. nine buildings in new york city tested positive for legionalla. more than 100 people got sick. officials say the six new sites are not necessarily connected to the south bronx outbreak. >> ohio will vote in november on whether to legalize marijuana for medicinal and recreational use, also allowing 10 authorized growing locations around the state. >> uzbekistan airways will weigh

passengers before boarding. it promises individual passenger information will not be revealed. >> some major british retailers face criticism for avoiding paying certain taxes on duty free goods sold at u.k. airports. the retailers reportedly pocketed the savings and passengers are now fighting back. we have the details. >> picking up some last minute bargains before catching a flight, for the past 15 years, shops at u.k. airports demanded customers show their boarding pass when buying goods. many assume it's to do with security. knew it's emerged that retailers identifying people flying out of the european union and claiming the 20% in sales tax that's included in prices. >> this is money that should earth be going to the chancellor because you're flying within the e.u. and it's the legally due

b.a.t. or coming back to you, because you as a traveler are supposed to get the benefit of traveling without having to pay tax on your purchases, not the airport retailer. >> now there's a revolt by customers. point blank refusing to show their boarding passes. the campaign has been whipped up by social media across the u.k. >> i was frankly outraged that the shops seem to be one could almost say literally stealing the money from the customers in a way that's not transparent. >> they're just taking my money and freezing me and not paying it back. it's not good enough. i'm traveling on friday and they're not seeing my boarding pass. >> retailers say they are not doing anything illegal. some claim it would be impossible to have a dual pricing system, but that's been rub issued by consumers groups. >> it's one of the bisessest times of the year for british airports.

thousands are flowing on it for summer hall dave. the idea that they might be getting ripped off by shops at the airport is threatening to cause a consume eerie volt. >> a spokesperson for heathrow said where showing a boarding pass is not legally required, passengers will be able to shop without the boarding pass bank scanned. the u.k. government confirmed it is meant to benefit travelers rather than increase profits for major retailers, that things may only really change if enough travelers decide to save their money for when they get to their destination. al jazeera, london. >> on the money beat, the woman who says she could beat floyd mayweather in a fight, rhonda rousey is ranked number eight of women in sports. the mixed martial artist comes

in behind maria sharapova and venus williams among others. >> a judge wants the nfl and tom brady to negotiate a settlement in the now infamous deflate gate scandal. is it over now? >> deflate gate is not over. despite that meeting in new york, if presiding judge has his way, the two sides will end this sooner rather than later. >> a hero's welcome for fall brady raving to ask a judge to overturn his suspension. nfl commissioner roger goodell, once inside, judge richard m bur

man put both on the spot saying he was having trouble finding evidence that brady was part of a scheme or a conspiracy. the judge asked the nfl if it had proof that brady had anything to do with deflating the football the patriots use in january's a.f.c. champion game. to the specific question, is there a text in which mr. brady instructs someone to put a needle in a football? the league's lawyer responded no. before adding there may not be a smoking gun, but there is evidence of cull pat. specifically, the nfl pointed to texts brady sent after the a.f.c. championship game that clearly indicates mr. braes knowledge and encouragement of this activity. the nfl also says that under the collective bargaining agreement, commissioner goodell had the right to slap brady with that four game suspension. when the junk was done with the league, he directed tough questions to brady's side.

bur man wanted to know why brady destroyed his cell phone during the investigation. brady's lawyer said he did it to protect his privacy, but acknowledged it could have been done a different way. one long time observer of the judge expects him to keep up the tough grilling. >> i sense that this judge would probably say if you can't resolve it, neither of you are going to like what's going to happen if you proceed to let me make the decision. >> they are scheduled to meet again before the judge next wednesday, unless the two sides can agree to settle deflate gate before then. >> if tom brady and the nfl cannot settle deflate gate out of court, judge bur man expressed a willingness to take the matter to trial. if that happens, it could drag on for a year, maybe more. >> thank you. >> one of the most interesting developments to come out of the brady's court appearance was a title wave of comments on social media about courtroom sketches

depicting him. sketch artist portrait next to an actual shot of brady leaving court. meme, michael jackson's thriller, silence of the lambs, a serial killer, hannibal heck at her and even e.t. >> the artist apologized to brady, saying he hardly looked up at all. if i didn't make him look good enough, i'll try harder next time. >> on today's science beat, check out these images, the annual perseid meteor shower lit up much of the u.s. last night. if you didn't see it last night, there's still time. the next peek is expected overnight into early tomorrow morning. coming up, more on isil's attack on a market in baghdad. more than 60 are dead as the group steps up bombings in shia

neighborhoods. thanks for watching. gonna find us being unafraid. the topics will fascinate you... intrigue you. >> they take this seriously. >> let me quote you. >> there's a double standard. >> you can't be a hypocrite. >> you're gonna also get a show that's really fair, bold, never predictable. >> they should be worried about heart disease not terrorism. >> no, i wouldn't say that at all. >> you'll see a show that has an impact on the conventional wisdom, that goes where nobody else goes. my name is imran garda, i'm the host of "third rail" - and you can find it on al jazeera america.

>> i don't really know what's going to happen to me. >> oscar winner alex gibney's hard-hitting series, "edge of eighteen". >> i'm never going to apologize for the type of person that i am. >> facing tough challenges. >> we do feel cheated by the american university process. >> taking a stand. >> it's gonna be on my terms on how i want it to be. >> boldly pursuing their dreams. >> what did i do? >> the lives of american teenagers.

>> welcome to the al jazeera news hour from doha. a truck bomb kills at least 50 people at a busy vegetable market in baghdad. isil claims responsibility. >> two massive explosions in china's port city. fifty are killed and hundreds injured. >> tension in myanmar, soldiers lockdown