surveys of courage. >> -- face of courage. >> now i feel... i'm prepared for anything that comes. former president carter talks candidly and hopefully about his cancer diagnosis and treatment gaining support - president obama's nuclear deal with iran may be closer to getting through congress as more democrats come out in favour of the agreement

market plunge, the dow jones plummets more than 350 points amid mounting fears about china and a global economic slowdown power rangers. >> we can handle it mentally, physically and deal with the same stresses and training the first women to join an elite army unit prepared to make military and american history good evening i'm antonio mora, this is al jazeera america. we begin with former president jimmy carter and his battle against cancer. today in a news conference, mr carter shares details about his illness and the treatment he's starting to receive. robert ray has more from atlanta. >> earlier this morning, the 39th president of the u.s. jimmy carter walked out to a media room, he had a sport coat,

jeans, his wife of 69 years was in the front row and he told everyone heats at ease with whatever adventure lies ahead and he's had a wonderful life. >> thank you for coming this morning. >> an upbeat jimmy carter set for a candid discussion on thursday about his cancer diagnosis. >> i've been as blessed as any human being in the well. >> reporter: the president felt ill in may, during a trip to monitor elections. a checkouts revealed a growth on jimmy carter's liver, found to be melanoma, a cancer that begins on the skin. and spreads through the body from there. >> they did an m.r.i., and found there were four spots of melanoma on my brain. they are small spots. about 2mm or a millimetre. i'll get the first radiation treatment, melanoma in my brain,

this afternoon. >> reporter: carter has a history of of pancreatic cancer, losing his father and three siblings. he's been regularly monitored. compared to that, this may be good news. >> the survival for pancreatic cancer would have been 6-12 months, the best two years, with a diagnosis of melanoma, he may have a few years ahead of him. >> doctors are trying to determine where the cancer originated. he will have chemotherapy. >> it's reassuring he tolerated the surgery, the liver surgery to have the mass removed. that speaks positively to the overall health status. jimmy carter is healthy, active. and it both well for this recovering.

since leaving the white house in 1981, he built a legacy as humanitarian and diplomat. travelling the world, remaining active in the church. last fall he celebrated his 90th birthday. carter planned a november trip to nepal. he and others talked about slowing the busy pace. we talked about it when i was 85 and 90. and so this is a time for us to carry out. >> the president made clear the outlook has not diminished. i'm ready for everything, looking forward to a new adventure. >> if you believe this, the 90-year-old president receiving radiation treatments, he's going to go to his home town and teach sunday school. he did that last weekend as

well. we should note that jason carter, his grandson that ran against nathan deal, the governor now, this past november, will take over the new role of acting chairman of the bored of trustees here at the carter center. >> robert ray in atlant yes. in a few minutes we talk to the man that received the same breakthrough cancer treatment as president carter and credits it with saving his life the top democrat in the house says opponents of the nuclear deal will not have the votes to block the agreement, and more democratic lawmakers will support the president. vote counters in washington say it's too soon to take anything for granted. >> house majority leader nancy pelosi said if a vote was held today enough democrats would support president obama's iran deal. she made the comments to the associated press saying:

it's not the first time the influential democratic leader pledged she had enough votes. last month before congress left for the break, nancy pelosi threw her support behind the deal. >> i'm optimistic about our ability to support the president. congress votes to improve the nuclear agreement. if both bodies vote to disapprove, the president can veto, and the fight for the obama administration is to win over enough democrats to prevent two-thirds of the house and senate to override the veto. in the house it means 146 supporters or in the senate 34. a growing number of democrats are backing the iran deal. most recently, senator clair mccaskill, a sent rift who asked tough questions from the administration and is up for re-election in three years. as the white house makes a head count republicans are expressing fury at an associated press report saying iran would use its own inspectors.

house foreign affairs committee ed royce says: the head of the i.a.e.a. pushed back saying: for her part house majority leader nancy pelosi is saying . >> the back and forth continues for two weeks ever summer re-assess, and when congress returns in two weeks, after labour day, tensions will increase tension still in congress. the key thing to watch is the democratic head count.

republicans can protest. but the white house is counting those for and against the deal. a high-profile democrat came out against it. bob menened ez. that makes two senate democrats, and the white house continues to get more democrats on the record supporting it libby casey in washington turning to asia, tensions are rising between north and south korea, the two countries exchanging fire across the border, and north korean leader kim jong un orders the front-line troops on to a war-time state while the south

put its forces on maximum alert. harry fawcett joins us from near the border of two koreas. how did we get to the point. why the aggression now. >> it started on august the 4th when there was a blast on the southern side of the dmz, within the dmz. two south korean soldiers seriously injured in what was a land mine attack carried out by the north. in swans, it restarted -- response, it restarted broadcasting propaganda by giant arrays of speakers, something that didn't happen since 2004, something that north korea is opposed to. north korea has been threatening if south korea doesn't stop going this, it will attack the loud speaker arrays. now we have a deadline expiring on saturday. in the early evening. late afternoon. we saw the titting for tats on the two koreas. in this situation now, how concerned are people that this could escalate. i think most people in seoul are not terribly concerned.

they tend not to lead to full-scale conflict. both know the states they are playing with. here, we are in front of a shelter where people are still in there, 15 or so of them. this is the one area where people are advised to stay away from their homes and seek shelter, because this is where the rocket, that south korea says was launched by north korea, fell. people are used to the warnings, but were warned that this is not a drill, that they heard the artillery fire coming back. there is a level of worry here harry fawcett in south korea, near the dmz. good to have you with us, thank you a punishing day on wall street, probably the best gauge of the 401k retirement plans - it erased all gains. the dow jones tumbled 328

points, in what was the worst day of trading in u.s. equity markets. our economic correspondent joins us now to explain why a lot of factors triggered this off. >> there were a lot of factor at play. the two main culprits, one is concerns over global growth, specifically china, an engine of growth since the great recession. china's economy has been slowing down. the fear is it's slowing down more than people talk. what triggered the concerns last week, we had a surprised evaluation of the chinese currency. it hit the market like a bombshell. the fear is that it would trigger a round of competitive devaluations, this is what we are saying. >> following stumps in the equity marks, and there's fear that there could be worldwide containingon. >> basically what we are seeing is we have seen a lot of

turmoil, and that is a concern. the concern is how it will impact prices. kazakhstan is the latest market to free currency to market forces. it dropped by a quarter. it's a huge devaluation. there has been south african as well. this is a concern. the u.s. dollar is stronger, meaning our export is more expensive to buy overseas, it harms u.s. export. and those, share prices getting hit. let's talk about oil prices.

oil is trading at near six year lows. this is a concern. to add fuel to the fire. yesterday there was news that u.s. stockpiles were higher than expected. >> what does this mean for the u.s. economy. >> the big question is what does it mean for us interest rates. it has not hiked interest rates since 2006. and the markets thought it would be pulled. >> you have to hit the pause button. the feds meet in july. some of the policy makers are very concerned about depressed prices. as the dollar is stronger and stronger, what we are doing is importing inflationary measures from around the world, a function of lower oil prices. it's a huge concern, you don't

want the dollar to be too strong against other currencies, it hurts u.s. exports. will the fed pull the trigger or wait until december or beyond. >> interest rates going up strengthen the dollar. always good to have you with us. thanks the prime minister of greece resigned. the same day the country got a $14.5 billion infuse of gas to help it. alexis tsipras stepped down, calling for elections. it was in the wake of the $96 million bailout deal. elections could be held as soon as next month. alexis tsipras is expected to consolidate power, until then greece will be met by a caretaker government. >> the first of 200 active duty soldiers are expected to join firefighters. strong winds and low humidity

are making the battle tougher. some of the biggest fires have begun to merge. the governor wants president obama to declare a federal emergency. they thanked the crews, and remembered three firefighters killed while battling the flames. >> these are three big heros protecting small towns. 390,000 acres are burning. last year was bad with 250,000 acres. we thank everyone who are doing everything they can to make sure the everygreens is not the ever fire state more help to co come from overseas - australia and new zealand sending firefighters. more than 100 fires are burning in washington, california, idaho and montana july was the hottest month. around the world temperatures prosecutor 1.46 degrees warmer

than average, hurting a lot of communities. a third of the u.s. suffered drought. and large parts of the west are struggling with wildfires. government scientists say it's too soon to know for sure, but they are 99% certain 2015 will go down apt the hottest year on record. >> president carter will get a break-through cancer treatment from the f.d.a. we talk to a man who says the drug helped him survive and return to precancer life. recancer life.

investigators in thailand are saying that this week's deadly attack in bangkok is unlikely to relate to international terrorism. the bombing killed 20 at a lined u shrine, popular with tourists. investigations focused on one man, seen on a grainy security video leaving a back pack. the authorities say the plot may

have been a domestic plot. as we reported, former president jimmy carter fought melanoma. a new drug is offering hope. today he is receiving a new chemotherapy, doctors say it unleashes a person's immune system to fight cancer. carter says he will undergo targeted radiation to his brain. joining us via skype, in 2006, at 41, rufrty was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma. he underwent months of surgery. he participated in a clinical trial. and credit with savering his life. the drug saved your life. >> it saved my life.

no doubt about it. i read the drug did not work on everyone. the results are almost immediate. that's what happened with you. >> that's what happened for me, it's not with everyone. percentages are around 40" which is an incredible number. i felt it work the first dame. i'm not sure sewer everyone had the result. when it started in 2012. i had 15 active tumours. and shortly thereafter, eight weeks, my first scans showed 20% reduction. i go back to every four months

or follow up, and the last scan showed 9.48% reduction. what is left is scar tissue. >> any effective of how it would be for someone in their '90s. . >> it's a great question. i'm not sure they do a lot of trials on 930-year-olds. -- 90-year-olds. i have confidence the drug will work. i wish the president will. we have in common, when it spreads to the game. i know that either gamma or another pinpointed radiation for the brain, prior to starting infusions with immunotherapy drugs.

i think he stands a great chance. there is hope for this treatment. what it does is helps a person's immune system identify and fight cancer sells. that that could be applied to other cancers muched. >> already it has. f.d.a. approved drug that saved my life. they approved that for lung cancer, just a few months ago. >> it was pricey, 150,000 for a year of treatment. you wouldn't have been able to afford it if you weren't accepted into a criminal trial. >> i have good insurance. i may have been able to afford it. many would not. i'm not sure how much it cost, but i was fortunate to be in a trial, and, you know, again you have to ask yourself, what is my life worth. so i'm not sure that the cost is as important as the facts that a

melanoma drug will saviour life. >> i'm glad you're doing well and we can talk about this, let's hope it works for president carter. >> this week two women passing over a challenged training programme in the u.s. military. today they spoke about what drives them, and where they are going nest. >> next, a mack aber discovery, a story behind a trophy wrack next. next. the only way to get better is to challenge yourself,

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commissioner said the legionaire's out break that killed 12 is over. it identified a rooftop cooling tower as a source. the airtop unit contained bacteria that matched the strain found in 25 patients. more than 125 people came down with the disease. the first women that came through the school graduated from the programme. they spoke out for the first time. john terrett is here with more. they are joining an elite club. this is incredibly tough stuff. >> the first two women to graduate the ranger school say they did it about one eye on future generations of female soldiers. the captain and first lieutenant will make history on friday, with the graduating class in fort bending, but they may not be on the front lines any time soon. >> i would say that it's awesome

to be part of the history of a reigner school. >> captain christian on making it through the punishing school. and until now, a men only achieved. >> it's been trying to get the best training that the army can offer us, to be the nest officer. >> reporter: ranger training consists of physical endurance and survival skills with extremes, a 12 mile run, a 3 hour march. they finished tests ahead of the colleagues, earning the nickname physical stance. >> we came skeptical, with our guards up, ready in case, the hate ers, the naysayers. we didn't come with a chip on our shoulder like we had anything to prove. >> 354 soldiers, including 19 women, started in april. just grice and haifa combleated

all of it -- completed all of it. despite graduating. they will not join the army range erts or serve in the infantry or join special ops, because they are women, and not every combat job in the military is open to women. >> we hope with our performance we inform that decision as to what they can expect from women in the military, we can handle things physically and mentally, and deal with the same stretss and training that the men can. >> grice and haifa's timing may be fortuitous. the defense secretary reviewing whether a combat job should remain open to women. >> on october 1st, there'll be a report to the chairman requesting exceptions to the policy. i'll review the services recommendations, making a final determination on the issue at the end of this year. >> that idea that if you can

meet the same standard you should do the same job is gaining a lot of momentum, and will no doubt get a boost from the success of captain bryce and haifa. >> what success. >> most students don't pass the course on the first attempt. they have to start or repeat a phase of which there are three. it's an achievement. >> very impressive soldiers. >> archeologists have unearthed main thereofy rack for the skulls ever sacrifice the people in an aztec ruin, some were mortared together to form a circle inside a temple in what was the aztec capital. it is now mexico city. the site dates back to the 14th century. previously found trophy wracks were horizontal polls pushed through the sides of skulls. they were used to display severed heads as a show of power. i'm antonio mora, thank you for

joining us, for the latest news head to aljazeera.com. ray suarez is up next with "inside story". for every 10,000 americans, 20 have no place to live. across the country that homeless population would be big enough to fill the state. in good economic times and bad, the number of homeless is difficult to push down. what drives the loss of shelter and works in getting a roof over people's heads and keeping them housed.