>> hi everyone, this is al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler. >> deployed soldiers are called up to battle the devastating wildfires in the west. we'll have the latest. those joining isil. >> always polite. insightful, not radical in any way. >> a closer look against them.

>> historic firsts. two women will graduate this week from the elite army rangers. >> the effort that they put forward has been significant. they've impressed all they have come in contact with. >> if they're combat ready, why won't the pentagon let them fight. >> straight out of compton, the top movie in america. but with hip-hop's reach, the rising anger on how the media is covering it. >> tonite for the first time in nine years active duty soldiers have been called up to help fight dozens of wildfires raging across th across the american west. there is slow progress against the blaze called the shlane complex fire. it has forced thousands to

evacuate the area. we're in shalan, washington, with more. >> the best way to describe the number of homes lost here and elsewhere in the u.s. is simply devastating. in washington more than 50 structures are destroyed, including the one behind me where you see a chimney standing, and in idaho more than 40 destroyed a couple dozen in oregon and more than 175 in california. 1million acres across the country are burning forcing 30,000 firefighters to work these fires. and we've just learned that this is the largest mobilization in the last 15 years. now a couple of hundred soldiers from joint base in washington state will be helping to fight fires here in washington state. >> the images are heartbreaking. homes looking over lake chelan in washington, fire igniting dry

brush over the weekend. when mark peter saw it, he sensed that it could spell trouble. >> there is one on top of the ridge. there is another a half mile up the ridge from that. >> his home was spared but some of his neighbors were not so lucky. some made the difficult decision to leave. >> i didn't take any family pictures or anything like that. i did not think that anything would happen. >> in oregon and idaho homes have also been lost to devastating wildfires. more than 40 homes in idaho have burned. but one house is still standing--for now. >> i was surprised that the house was not on fire. because when we left the fire was just 20 feet from the house. >> in oregon the fire has ravaged 25 homes, and in california firefighters are trying to gain control over numerous wildfires burning. at least 55 structures in

california are destroyed. it's not just homes that are gone. in chelan, this is the heart of washington state's $2 billion apple industry. one fruit picking company said that it's losses could exceed $60 million. they're just hoping to salvage what is still hanging. >> we'll have a plan where our growers fruit are now hanging on the trees will not be impacted. >> what has been impacted here, john, are the businesses that rely on tourist dollars. we were walking around today and it looks more like november here than august. >> all right, thank you very much. in the race for 2016, immigration has taken center stage thanks in part to a newly unveil plan of donald trump, and it puts the other republican

candidates on the spot. >> i'll tell you why i'm running for president. >> on tuesday amidst the downpour at the iowa state fair, marco rubio nearly reigned on the immigration reform. he said deporting 11 million undocumented immigrants is impractical, and denying citizenship to their children born in the united states is a non-starter. >> it doesn't sound to me like a plan that has any chance of passing. we need to give a thoughtful approach to a difficult issue. >> suggesting that certain immigration plans has not been serious is a shot at g.o.p. frontrunner donald trump. trump has been framing key issues, and during the weekend when he rolled out a policy paper for immigration, h he plans to give automatic citizenship to children born in the united states. >> you have to get rid of birth

right citizenship. >> you have to. >> bobby jindal, a lower g.o.p. presidential candidate followed suit. >> quote, we need you and birth right citizenship for illegal immigrants. scott walker a top g.o.p. rival, was asked if he agreed. >> that's something that absolutely going forward. >> you should-- >> to me is it's about enforcing the laws. >> but birth right citizenship in this country is the law. the 14,911 amendment to the constitution says quote all persons born or naturalized in the united states and subject to the jurisdiction therefore are citizens of the united states and a state wherein they reside. courts have ruled that except for the children of foreign diplomats anybody born on american soil is an u.s. citizen. and revising that would require changing the constitution. it would mean getting two-thirds approval in the house and senate followed by ratification from 38

states as the "washington post" wrote on tuesday, quote, plans to undo you something in the constitution is on the far extreme of near impossibility. not all republican candidates agree with trump's idea. on top of florida senator marco rubio, john kasich also believes that birth right citizenship should be left alone. >> let people who are born here be citizens. that's the end of. i don't want to dwell on it any more. >> but in this donald trump-led republican primary something that seems impossible does not mean it's wisely dismissed. his plan also includes building a wall and having mexico pay for it. while mexican leaders say they will never agree, wisconsin governor walker said the idea is also worth pursuing. more proof that the g.o.p. agenda is for new being largely

driven by donald trump. >> joe watkins is a republican strategist and white house aid to george h. w. busch. you're in philadelphia. >> in philadelphia, yes. >> about a month ago people were making jokes about donald trump, some called him a clown. what is the hierarchy that the g.o.p. is saying today? >> well, everybody has to take him seriously. if you look at his supporters, it's pretty rock solid. and in a crowded field if i can hang on to 2432%, 24%, 25% it is very strong. people are going to be looking at this for iowa and new hampshire. >> what does it mean? >> if he can get people to vote for him in the caucuses and go to new hampshire and do the same thing, he's going to be very hard to beat.

>> is he pushing republicans to the right, to the left, or both. >> for the most part he's catering to those people who really want a non-politician to be unfiltered in his or her comments. he's doing that perfectly. he has a large percentage of people following him because he's not a politician, and because he's not politically correct. and he doesn't mind saying the hard things that he's saying. and donald trump knows that in a crowded field that's all he needs to do. as to whether or not this is the main stays of his platform should he be his party's nominee, that's debatable. he realized in order to win the nomination you got to win iowa, and you have to win new hampshire and continue to win prime ministers in mass delegates. >> you've watched this for a long time. you know, nobody knows what is going to happen, but do you think he really has the serious chance to get the nomination for the republican party? >> i think i would have told you some months ago no, but the

closer we get to iowa and new hampshire, the more i say that donald trump is a serious candidate and someone you have to watch. he could very well win the republican nomination for the presidency of the united states. and if he wins the requisite number of delegates he wins the nomination. donald trump is a very smart man, a very smart businessman. he understands media, social media, customers. >> does he understand the latino vote? >> well, he knows-- [ laughing ] >> doesn't he have to win the latino vote in order to win the republican nomination or not? >> i believe that the latino vote is going to be critical to anybody in either party running for president of the united states. yes, that's a segment of the vote that he'll have to work very, very hard to get. >> well, i guess what i'm say something that his immigration plan, some of his comments, the comments he has made in this campaign, is that going to run latinos away?

>> some. some will not like the comments that he has made. they'll feel they're too strong, perhaps. but as we know that the proposals during the course of the campaign very rarely end up coming law. anybody can propose anything when running for presidency. but having it become law in the united states is another thing. >> it's been good to see you. thank you very much, joe. good to see. >> you thanks, john. >> now to the debate in the nuclear deal. bob me mendez of new jersey announced today that he will not support the agreement when it comes up for a vote in congress next month. his defection may not be enough to derail the deal. mike viqueira is more in washington. >> john, you're absolutely right. in about one monday's time votes will be taken in congress to reject or approve the deal the president is putting forward with iran over its nuclear

program. the pressure is still on through surrogate phone calls from president obama and others out there trying to press members of congress to sway their votes. those members that are on the fence. and today president obama lost one of his own. >> thank you very much. >> it's another blow from another senate democrat. >> new jersey' bob menendez said that he'll vote against president obama on the iran deal. >> at the end 69 day what we have is a roll back of sanctions and iran only limiting its capability, not dismantling or rolling it back. >> he it does provide a window on the sensitive politics surrounding the campaign to win congression nat support for the deal. joining menendez, bob corker, writing in a "washington post" op-ed, over time this deal industrializes the program, the

world's leading state sponsor, terrorism. with a vote on essentially supporting or rejecting the deal next month, both sides are busy counting votes. this much is clear. a majority of both the house and senate will vote to reject the deal. bringing a certain presidential veto. the big question, can opponents muster two-thirds in both house toss override that veto? it will be close. while on vacation on marc martha's vineyard, president obama has kept up on phone and taking his case to social media, while opponents are spending millions in a multi prong attack to kill the deal. it boils down to basic math. in the senate with all republicans expected to vote against, the president only has 12 democrats to spare. thus far he has lost two. chuck schumer and now menendez.

it's a similar story in the house of representatives, but at least one republican thinks the president will win. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell told reporters monday president obama has a great likelihood of success in the up coming vote. the other side has its politics, too. iran's parliament holds it's own vote in the coming days. the supreme leader said the fate of the deal is still unclear, and assured iranians if approved it would not bring undue american influence. >> we will not allow either economic penetration or political and cultural penetration and presence into the country by the united states. >> secretary of state john kerry has also been working the phones. in the face of the menendez defection, he made the case for approval. >> it makes america safer it makes our allies safer, not to mention israel, it's far better to deal with nefarious

activities of the iranian regime when that regime does not possess a nuclear weapon. >> jonathan, looking at a list of endorsements coming out day by day, some scientists under the arms controller endorsed the deal, but richard lugar, the former senator from indiana, a others have come out to endorse the deal. their heyday is gone, however. if you look at congress now every single sitting republican member of congress both in house and senate, among those people not one individual has come forward and publicly endorsed this deal. they said they're going to vote for it next month. >> mike, thank you. no. new mexico a judge has ruled two police officers must stand trial for murder. the shooting of a homeless man in albuquerque last year was caught on video and sparked national outrage. we look at the case and today's

ruling. >> james boyd was 38. mentally ill, and homeless. on march 16, 2014, he was staying on the foothills of outside of albuquerque, new mexico, when officers came to arrest him for illegal camping. they got into a verbal stand off that lasted several hours. film captured what happened next. >> get on the ground. get on the ground. >> two officers, swat team members fired three rounds into boyd's back killing him. now after two-week preliminary hearing a new mexico judge ruled tuesday the two officers must stand trial for murder. the district attorney announced the charges. >> we always said if we could meet the standard of probable cause we would go forward. >> after the ruling the judge

told the officers' attorney that he made his decision based on quote what a reasonable police officer in that situation would do. prosecutors equated the officers' actions towards boyd to a paramilitary response, and it was they, not boyd, who created the danger. but since the shooting defense lawyers countered it was boyd who threatened the officers with two knives leaving them with no choice but to open fire. >> mr. boyd, who was clearly mentally unstable, unpredictable, and dangerously close to defensive officer while wielding two knives. he took a step with these two knives towards that dog. he perceived, and rightfully so, this threatened an officer's life. >> in new mexico boyd is one of 23 people killed by police since 2010. there was an accusation of

pattern of deadly force. >> we found that the officers used deadly response to those who did not pose a threat to the officers or to others. >> in thailand the police are searching for a public subject to a bombing in bangkok. this shows a man in a yellow shirt near the site of the explosion. the police say that he was behind the attack and injure that killed 22 people and injured others. the promising young mississippi couple accused of trying to join isil. we'll talk about their possible motivation with someone who knows one of them very well. plus injured in the army, the veteran who said that he was ripped off by a pro-profit college, and is getting no help from the government.

>> now to that young couple charged with planning from mississippi to syria to join isil. friends say it's hard to imagine two people less likely to do something like this. they're both in federal custody without bond. >> just kind of surprised that former students are trying to join isis. >> the arrests stunned their small mississippi town. >> super smart, super intelligence. always polite, insightful, thoughtful, not radical in any way. >> former students at mississippi state, a young couple planning to get married. federal prosecutors say they were ready to swear allegiance and join isil. they were arrested this month at a mississippi airport. according to a criminal complaint they were about to board a delta airlines flight bound for atlanta, amsterdam and ultimately istanbul.

undercover fbi agents posing as isil supporters on social media communicated with them throughout this spring and summer. as the two looked for travel tips getting to syria and waging holy war. their message is sometimes sounded more than a little naive about what they might be getting into, but emphasized their commitment to the cause. would i be with people who speak english as well, laird adding i'm willing to fight. i want to be taught what it really means to have that heart in battle. young told an fbi agent i'm skilled with "n" math and chemistry and worked in a lab in my college campus. we learn very fast and we would like to help giving medical aid. the family friend and lawyer said that relatives are in a state of disbelief. >> this is something that is like being hit between the ice

with a two x four, and your eyes are still blinking because the pain has not set in. >> young, 20, a former cheerleader who graduated near the top of her high school class. her father is a police officer and u.s. military vet who served in afghanistan. after they were arrested the couple connived they were on their way to syria. if convicted they could face 20 years in prison. >> and dennis harman, who you just saw in the report is the attorney for the family. he is in birmingham, alabama, tonight. dennis, can you give us some insight with what the family is going through right now? >> they're beginning to learn to cope. there are still tears, there is still grief. they're happy--that's a poor choice of words. they feel it's better that the kids were talking to fbi rather than isil themselves.

they feel they're safe center jail than they would be in isil. >> the producer, according to the fbi statements out there, the family told jalyn, who is a recent convert to islam, that isil is anti-islam. why would they need to tell them that? ist is in the--isil is in the news. everybody knows what is going on in the world. >> apparently not all of them. >> apparently not. you think that the family was really that surprised given that sort of need to explain this? >> yes, they were stunned. they were expecting that you have a new convert learning about islam, and the question to the family was is this islamic, and the family explained to her that this is not an islamic organization, and pointed to the various publications by

respected imam saying it is not an islamic organization. their last idea was that he was going to start graduate school on monday, and he was arrested on saturday. >> there are cases of whether or not they were actually entrapped. would the family say that they're entrapped. >> well, entrapment is a legal question, and i'm not his lawyer. but entrapment, you have to have someone on both ends. you have to have someone from the fbi typing the words and receiving them, so to speak. if you just got a person on one end that is children talking to the fbi that's not legally entrapment. >> so, i just go back to what we

know about isil. the news this has made all over the world, especially in the united states, stories of kids, young kids traveling to other parts of the world to fight for isil. >> does this give you insight as to why this happens? >> none. i'm not sure why mo would want to do this. i've known him--i've known the family for 15-20 years. fighting is nothing that he does. >> all right, dennis. it's good to see you. thank you for your insight. we appreciate it. the first two women to qualify to be u.s. army rangers, and what is next for women in the military. >> plus i think it's a america that not only is the city of new orleans standing, but it's thriving, and people have unreasonable expectations.

they think they're going to walk into the land of oz. >> a conversation with the mayor of new orleans ten years after katrina.

>> hi everyone. this is al jazeera america.

this is john seigenthaler. first in class. two women are about to graduate from the grueling u.s. army rangers program. why they still can't serve in the elite unit. failing grade. a wounded u.s. veteran said that a federal help to help students with debt. >> they have instructions of how to apply to have your loans forgiven. there is nothing for veterans. >> it's falling short. >> after the flood, katrina ten years later. the abandoned lots. homes still in ruins. >> i think it's a miracle that not only is the city of new orleans standing, but it's thriving. >> we talk to the mayor about the rebuilding of the big easy. >> plus straight out of compton to the top of the box office, why there is anger over the media covering the hip-hop film.

>> there has been a breakthrough. two women have made military history becoming the first female soldiers to pass the exhausting army ranger course. it's where the army develops its elite soldiers, but for these trail-blazing women the fight for equal stand something far from over. jamie mexican tire--jamie m mcentire reports. >> women across the u.s. military are watching the pair with interest to see how many of them are going to be able to follow in this trail that they help lead. >> they fully expect to have to overcome tough obstacles. she just wants the chance to show in the words of the army ad to be all that she can be. >> it's something that i'm passionate. not equality, but given the opportunity to try for something, and i believe in

that. >> when scott heard the army would open the elite army training to women for the first time, she felt she had to go for it. >> it was the most grueling experience that i ever had, and it really caused me to dig deep mentally, emotionally and physically and go beyond places i've ever been in my entire life. >> scott was one of 26 women who tried out, but she only made it through eight days of the 14-day screening process. >> what was the hardest part? >> absolutely mental. i wasn't prepared. i thought i would be. >> the 36-year-old scott didn't make it to the mountains of new york or the swamps of florida where two younger officers made history by doing everything the men did to the same standard. and as the pentagon considers whether any combat shot should remain closed to women, that idea that you can meet the same standard you should be able to do the same job is gaining a lot of momentum. >> what i've seen in the end is

that gender ends up not mattering. it matters what you bring to the table and what you're capable of doing. so that's just my personal experience. it's not who you are, it's what you are. >> just before she stepped down the army chief of staff said that he thought it was right. >> if they can meet the standard, they should be able to go in. that's what we want to operate as we move forward. >> the navy's second in command herself a trail blazing woman agrees that setting the right qualifications and requiring everyone to meet them is the key to successful gender integration. >> we already have experience with occupational standards. so for example each have search and rescues. they have to be able to swim in the deep blue ocean and those standards didn't change because the women came into the force. >> the navy has almost almost all of its jobs to women, including letting women serve on ballistic submarines.

but so far women have not been permitted to train as navy seals, and so far women have not made it through the marines infantry school either. the women's experiment is just that, if women can perform to the same standard as men without special accommodation they should be allowed to serve along side men. the two pioneering women who made it through the army ranger school is one factor that the u.s. defense secretary will consider when he makes the decision early next year whether to keep any job in the u.s. military off limits to women. >> jamie, thank you. an u.s. army and iowa national guard veteran currently running for the iowa state senate as a democrat. she's in iowa tonight. it's good to have you on the program. give me your reaction to this event in the military? >> well, first of all i think it's absolutely incredible. i want to be the first to

congratulate the women for graduating. this is something that a lot of women have known that this were capable of that we need validation for as far as being capable as the men. these women passed all those tests to the same standard and i think it's a victim for all of us. >> for so many years so many syd that women can't do it. what are the barriers that still exist now? >> i think they're really cultural. this has put this argument to rest that is the factor that that women weren't tough enough mentally or physically to be an elite force. with that set aside it's an cultural and policy issue. congress really needs to look at pressing military leaders to break the brass ceiling so women who are accomplishing the training have the opportunity to be--to get the same rank pay benefits and status as the men.

there would be no reason why a man graduating from the course couldn't participate in the regiment. >> we discussed this before, meet the standards, setting the right qualifications, and there are plenty of people in the country who believe and expressed it that women may not necessarily be able to do the same things that men can do physically. what do you say to them? >> well, i think them passing all of those physical check points in this course has proven that strength is not a gender issue. it's an individual issue. we test military soldiers in training on an individual basis. so for all of the men who also dropped out that have course, they are physically not strong enough or able to complete it. not because they were men. because they weren't strong enough. i don't think that gender is a factor at all. >> you're running for the state senate. if elected how would you work to

make women more inclusive in the military? >> well, i think the policies from the very top i would short them being implemented, and of course then down at the state level where i am in the national guard being supportive of women having also opportunities to join combat jobs in combat roles. >> it's good to have you in the program. thank you very much. >> now for-profit colleges and the former students who say that they were defrauded by them. the white house announced it will help with much of the student debt from the now defunct corinthen colleges. >> he left the army after being diagnosed with dejentive bone

disease. >> they offer benefits to vocational rehab. it's designed to find a suitable job in lieu of your disability, something that would not aggravate in the future. >> the 33-year-old father of two had ten years to take advantage of the program. >> i was seeking a degree in business management, and i wanted--honestly, i wanted an office, something that i would have to use my right arm very much. >> but his choice of school tanked those plans. he enrolled in an everest college, part of the now defunct corinthian colleges. >> they would sent me to jobs like lawncare. it would be higher form of manual labor than what i was already doing. >> what's worse, souther lan

sutherland was told to take out student loans, something that left him with $38,000. today he still works as a man yell laborer earning good money but at a cost. >> i live in excruciating pain. i have to take medication just to be able to function on a daily basis. >> he can't get more money from the va. >> there is nothing. there is no retraining money left. it's done. >> in june following a high profile campaign by student debt activists the department of education launched a program that led students to believe they werif they were part of a defrauded college that they would get help with student loans. >> at the department of student loan website they have instructions of how to get your loans forgiven. there is nothing for veterans.

nothing. >> his experience exposes some gaps in the department of education's plan. who is responsible for reinstating veteran's benefits that were exhausted obtaining degrees from corinthian which turned out to be worstless. a spokesperson told al jazeera that v.a. oversees those benefits. >> that's actually laughable. that's very laughable. that's basically one federal agency passing the buck to another. >> the va told al jazeera they don't have the authority to reinstate souther land's entitlement. we asked the department of education for an interview but it declined. the third time since march it has refused to talk on camera with al jazeera about its handling of corinthian. in the meantime, souther land has filled out the doe application. but he's not looking for loan forgiveness. >> no, i took out the loans. i'll pay them.

i want my veteran's benefits. >> patricia sabga. end. >> today the obama administration announced a new plan for fighting climate change. the rules would cut emissions fro from 40%-45% by 2025. they revealed the plans to cut emissions from coal-powered power plants by 32%. in colorado, along the animus river, it was flooded this month by 300,000 gallons of toxic waste from a mine. it is now open for business, but residents say that more needs to be done to prevent this from happening again. jake ward is in durango, colorado. >> today the epa announced that it was going to be doing an

independent investigation. on that same day the river that you see behind me, the animus river opened for the first time. it was a ceremonial community parade that went down it. the feeling here is one of great tension. people are very relieved to get back to this river, but at the same time there is a new awareness that they don't have all the information that they need whether they're putting a boat in this body of water is really safe. >> for the town of durango, colorado, the economy depends on tourism. and tourism dedepends on the animas river for fishing and boating. >> the weather for this year was perfect in every way. tons of rain in the spring. the rivers running great. the economy is strong, business is booming, and then, bang. [ locomotive horn ] >> mining created this town, but it's the mines that now threaten durango's new way of life.

according to colorado officials, 230 mines leak enough heavy melts into the rivers to equal a gold king disaster every two days. the trouble is there is no real time monitoring to warn anyone. if something bad happened at 2:00 in the morning, another mine blew out, would a red light go off on somebody's desk? >> no, there is no way to know. if it didn't have a hissel component to it, it could pass through without anybody recognizing it. the fact that epa was standing right there, that they saw it happened, without that. >> here's the thing to understand up and down the length of this river there are mines full of stuff that are dangerous but invisible. this site here was a smellter a processing facility for radioactive material.

it took until 1990 to get all the radioactive material out of here. that kind of stuff, which still exists in mines across this state, doesn't give away some kind of tell tale ordere odor or sludge when it's about to give way. >> they're trying to establish some sort of monitoring system, but they're stretched too thin. >> you're not talking about fish dying right away or people being poisoned being exposed to water. we're looking at the chronic effect over the generation of water. >> correct. even to approve trying to get an answer for that we need to get sediment samples, sludge samples, analyze to we know what we're dealing with. >> when the spill occurred it happened when waters from the

local underground aquifers were feeding into the river and not the other way around. >> if you had wore going from the river into the adjacent aquafers, then it would carry in the heavy metals of concern. animals that pete the plants, that would be the concern. >> probably we're going to be less lucky in terms of ground water. and more likely to have ground water contaminated by river water. >> as bad as the spill was, it was easy to see and easy to measure. as this area struggles with its uneasy relationship to mining, they have little to no way of knowing of what inadvisable dangers are flowing into their river. >> the thing to understand here the community here is very happy to get back into the river. there has been a trickle of boats behind me throughout the evening. but the thing is there is no true sense of the true danger

here. there is a sense we got somewhat lucky. these rafters know that not only are there 230 mines discharging toxic stuff that we know that, there is ten times that across colorado. in many ways because it was visible, because the epa reported it almost right away, and because just so many people shouted out an alert about this, that's why we knew about this, and that's why it didn't get into the ground water, but this place may not get so lucky this time. >> jake ward in colorado. thank you very much. it's been ten years since hurricane katrina devastated new orleans. the big easy has yet to recover. jonathan martin spoke to the mayor of new orleans about the changes and challenges over the past decade. >> ten years after katrina you hear people say that new orleans has come back. it has rebounded. it's been resilient.

how do you qualify the progress a decade later go. >> i think it's a miracle that not only is it standing but it's thriving. i think people have unreasonable expectations. they think they're going to run into the land of oz, and they think that they're going to solve 40 or 50 years o across 9 country. i qualify it by saying we've turnedder yourself around. we've done the hard work of recreating the deep institutional challenges that we had in healthcare and education. now we got to get about the work of making sure that nobody gets left behind. you'll see pockets in the city that don't look great. >> speaking of those pockets, one of those communities people would mention is the lower ninth ward, an area hard hit by this sturm, moltly african-american community, and many of the people we have spoken to say we feel we have not gotten the resources. we feel like we've been forgotten. do you think that there has been

enough emphasize, communities like the lower nine? >> it's not a surprise that people who were hurting before the storm are hurting more after the storm. this is an universal principle in the united states of america. it's not fair to the extent that new orleans got the money and we didn't distribute it across the entire city in a thoughtful way. we invested $500 million in the lower ninth ward. it was a difficult place before the storm hit. it had a lot of challenges. >> violent crime is facing the city of new orleans. >> no question. absolutely. >> in recent years we've seen a drought. and some violent crime. the murder rate dropped recently, but this certainly it started to spike up again. a 30% spike according to some numbers we've seen. you've about been there on the front lines creating initiatives and strategies in your time in office. >> i think a lot of things have

worked. let's be really clear about this. violence in america is epidemic in certain neighborhoods in all cities. you see that in the news in baltimore, chicago, new york. let me hasten to say this. you cannot police your way out of this problem. you really have to get on the front end to this. our approach has been early interventions, working with conflict resolution. make sure you deal with the issues of jobs, making sure that you deal with job training and working on enrichment parameters. and then for the young men who are in the system, if they're in jail, when they come out they're trained well so the recidivism rate does not go high. and you got to be able to look them in the eye and give them a choice. if you keep making bad choices there are bad consequences. but we'll put them on substance

abuse, training and mental health. >> would saw it's better today than five, ten years ago? >> i think some days yes. some days it's not. it goes up and down. i think for me reducing the number of shootings we've had and reducing. numbers of crimes. for three years in a row we reduced the heard rate. then all of a sudden in new orleans, there's evidence that we have not solved the whole problem. >> tomorrow we'll investigate the city's claims that blighted property has been eliminated. some say the number could be lower. we look at aid workers who risk their lives every day around the world to provide humanitarian relief. >> tomorrow is humanitarian day.

a day to highlight the work that these men and women do. they go into war zones unsure if they'll make it out alive. attacks against them has never been higher in the past two years. afghanistan is the most dangerous place for aid workers and the government is of little help. >> in some cases when we ask the government to support us its counterproductive because they can't provide enough security, and then we're ending up with being considered one sided and then that's--that is making it more difficult. >> last year aid workers in afghanistan faced dozens of attacks and killings in our next hour a closer look at risks humanitarian workers face, and we'll talk about the countries that are most dangerous. >> that's an important story st. thanstory thank you. a smash hit movie and tv show.

focusing on the hip-hop culture.

>> what up. >> i got something to say. >> that's a scene from "straight out of compton," the movie about the birth of rap pioneers nwa brought in $16 million, making it the number one film of the box office. hip-hop influenced alexandria hamilton. it has transcended racial boundaries to become a juggernaut. the genre is haunted by negative perceptions and stereotypes. amanda seals a back. a comedian and culture critic, happy to see you. >> always happy to be here.

>> before the release of this movie in theater, you're laughing at it, why? >> because it feeds into the continual narrative that says that black men are scary, or that says if it's from the hood then it's about violence. this is a movie about individuals who threw their creative and artistic means moved out of the social enempty attitude that they were placed in that they had no choice. i don't know how from that folks are going to riot. >> but if you look back at some of altercations in hip-hop, some deaths, it's not--is it a bad rap that they've gotten, no pun intended? >> hey, i think the reality is that people fight, and people don't get along, and we can say

that tupac and biggy did die, and they were rappers. i don't think it's fair to say that hip-hop is the cause of that. i think it's very important to ac mandarin major-- >> is the culture cause. >> no, they had things going on. there was a culture involved in hip-hop that speaks to things that go on in the hood. >> drugs, violence, guns. >> , etc. however--,however, however, were there policemen at "sopranos'" viewing party? organized crime is far more violent than any of this stuff that we're seeing in the hood with the gangs. they've got it wrapped up. just to say that even if we want to say that there is a talk in hip-hop, it's speaking to things that are happening in reality.

but the health is that this is a movie. it's not happening in reality. >> talk about the reality. how does this relate to what we're seeing in the country when we talk about black lives matter. >> it's incredible to watch and see, wow, this is still going on. as i was watching it, i was--at one appointment i was very excited, of course, and i love nwa and i'm a hip-hop head, but you're incredibly frustrated with the fact that the same things they were dealing with we're dealing with now. the same things they were talking about, we're talking about it now. and when it comes down to it blacks lives matter as a movement is nothing new. the hashtag is new, but the movement is happening. i do want to mention that what they did leave out was the nwa's misogyny, but they did leave in that they came up with some good jams. >> thank you very much.

that's our broadcast. i'm john seigenthaler. the news continues next with antonio mora.

bangkok bombings dash. >> the government will work to find the perpetrators and bring justice on any network involved. >> the hunt for the man thai authorities believe is responsible for the massacre. another bomb goes out today running out of patience. >> iranis is here,