lake or put an end to their mining practices, it's all but certain to dry up. you can find much more on many of our stories on our website, the address is aljazeera.com. aljazeera.com. ♪ nsa phone day collection backed by the appeals court. florida's governor prepares for tropical storm erika. and hurricane katrina, president bush returns to new orleans today, a decade after the storm destroyed the city. ♪

this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm erika pitzi. we begin with a federal appeals court ruling today in favor of the nsa's bulk collection of telephone data on americans. it reverses a lower-court ruling that said that the program likely violates the constitution's ban on unreasonable searches. congress has passed legislation replacing the program over the next few months. >> i think the ruling of the court is consistent with what this administration has said for sometime, which is that we did believe that these cape abilities were constitutional. however, the president believed there were important reforms that could be put in place that would better protect the privacies and civil liberties of the american people, while making sure that law enforce and intelligence officials had the tools they needed to keep us

safe. >> thank you so much for joining us. so go ahead here break this down for us. what exactly does this ruling mean? >> so i don't think we should overstate the significance of this ruling. basically what has been happening is since edward snowden came forward and revealed the existence of this metadata program, there have been a number of court cases that have brought a challenge to these programs. earlier this summer the second circuit sort of appeals ruled that the program was likely unconstitutional. here you have another case, which was another challenge, which was coming up through the d.c. courts, and so today, what the d.c. circuit actually said was that the particular individuals who had brought the claim -- it wasn't clear whether or not they actually had the ability to bring that claim, and the reason is that in order to bring a claim challenging government action, you have to

show that you yourself have been harmed by it. and the orders that were brought forward were the -- what we know about the data collection for sure is that verizon business customers were affected, because that's the information that was revealed by edward snowden. these particular people aren't customers of verizon business and that actually was the main reason why the court sent this back down to the lower court and said let these plaintiffs do a little discovery, find out whether or not they were actually effected by the program. >> so this doesn't necessarily have to do with whether or not there was enough evidence to support having a case to begin with? >> no, it was really a question about a threshold technical standing question that this decision really was about. so there was nothing that was said that was about the merits of the constitutionality of the nsa bulk collection program. >> all right. what does this mean for other

legal challenges going on with this nsa collection of data? >> yeah, so there's a couple of things. one thing is, one of the arguments that the government made was that this case was actually moot because congress has passed a new law that had cut back on this program, and the court rejected that argument, which is significant, because it's also being made in other cases that are pending around the country. the second important thing is the standing issue. so whenever you have cases that -- involving secret activities, it's really hard to show that you as an individual were damaged by them, because they are secret. we're not supposed to know about them. and the court seemed to tighten up that standard a little bit. so that might make it harder in the future for people to challenge secret government programs. >> is this a win in a sense for the nsa program in the short-term here? >> i don't really think so.

i don't think it's a win for anybody. it's actually a fairly technical decision which is sending this case back to the district court on fairly narrow grounds. >> all right. what is the next step do you think? any new appeals on the horizon? >> the next step really is the other case which has been pending in the second circuit. eventually these cases will somehow or another make their way up to the supreme court, but that's probably a year or 2 down the road. >> even as congress considers -- i mean has passed this legislation with the new program in place? >> well, that -- that is sort of the wild-card in it, right? if these cases make it up before that program actually ends at the end of this year, then they are not moot if the program is gone, then plaintiffs may have to start all over again from the very bottom. >> all right. breaking it down for us, thank you so much. an update now to a story we

brought to you earlier this month about police secretly using powerful cell phone tracking devices. defense lawyers in baltimore are now reviewing nearly 2,000 cases to see if criminal cases based on that type of surveillance should be thrown out. baltimore police have used cell phone trackers to investigate all kinds of crimes. they never told the suspects or their lawyers how they obtained their information which maryland law requires. a u.s. district court drudge sentenced a 17 year old to jail for helping isil. he admitted to helping a friend travel to syria, and to passing contacts. so far the government has charged 60 people in the u.s. with supporting the islamic state. florida's governor has declared a state of emergency as

tropical storm erika bares down on the sunshine state. this church in the island only dominica collapsed under the heavy rain. erika dumped 15 inches of rain on dominica. right now the tropical storm is lashing puerto rico as much as 8 inches of rain are expected before erika moves over the.com min call republic towards florida by monday morning. the white house says president obama has been briefed on storm preparations. president george w. bush is in new orleans today visiting a school hit hard by hurricane katrina ten years ago. >> the slogan that guided the school when we first visited is

true today. we believe in success. and because of that success, that schools like this have achieved, you have given all americans reason to believe that new orleans is back and better than ever. >> reporter: the former president toured the high school this morning. he had previously visited the school a year after the storm hit to check on its recovery. today it was a much happier visit. he even danced while the school band performed. in hungary now three suspects are under arrest for human trafficking. they include the alleged owner and driver of a truck which we now have learned was transporting 71 people including several children who all suffocated. believe the victims are probably syrian refugees, and were probably dead when the truck crossed into austria on wednesday. >> reporter: carrying away the

remains of the dead. collected from the abandoned refrigerated lori where they died. men, women, children. the youngest a mere toddler. all enduring their last hours in barbaric, undignified circumstances. the corps were so decomposed their bad illy fluids had begun to drip out of the back door. all of this just to escape war and desperation for themselves and their families. a syrian travel document was recovered. time and again there have been cries for solutions to prevent such deaths for those trying to get to western europe. attempts to prevent them from coming are not working. >> i think that the solution is not to make more -- more border

checks. i think the best solution is to find legal ways to europe, because on the one side you can protect the refugees, and on the other side, it's the best in the fight against the criminals. >> reporter: austrian police say a bulgarian, hungarian trafficking ring was most likely responsible. >> translator: based on the findings of the investigator work, the public prosecutor issued european arrest warrants for four people overnight. >> reporter: in spite of the danger, thousands of people keep coming every day. they embark on dangerous journeys, desperately searching for a better life. already the number of refugees and migrants crossing the mediterranean to reach european soil have passed 300,000. and they will keep coming while war and strife continue

unabated. sonia gallego, al jazeera. los angeles launches the largest body camera program in the country, but there's a lot of controversy over who will get to see the videos. stay with us. ♪

a new law goes into effect in missouri today that caps how much cities there can rely on tickets and fines for their annual budget. it becomes after a department of

justice report found a pattern of discrimination against african americans within the city of ferguson's court system. let's go live to ashar qureshi. good afternoon, ashar, what else is changing under this new law? >> reporter: good afternoon. senate bill 5 as it is known here in missouri, and goes into effect today, really deals with the way that municipalities handle violations, tickets and the fines that come from those. as you mentioned there is a cap. they have reduced the cap of revenue that can be generated. and in the whole state of missouri it has reduced from 30% to 20%, but it is different right here in stment st. county, it is reduced even further to 12.5% and that came after the department of justice report that indicated there was discriminatory practices, basically saying as they were using these warrants to enforce these debt collections.

that is something that has been addressed again beyond senate bill 5 this week. the newly appointed municipal judge basically decided they were going to wipe out some of these warrants and it's large number of those warrants. we sat down to talk about what that decision entailed. how does this work? who is eligible? >> minor traffic violations are eligible. we're withdrawing all -- pretty much all of the warrants. we're talking close to 10,000 warrants. a lot of warrants gone. >> reporter: do you characterize this as wiping the slate clean? >> no, when it comes to arrest warrants, certainly they are being withdrawn, but that doesn't mean they will ever have an arrest warren. arrest warrants are designed to get you to appear. so the hope is that they will

appear. >> and all of those defendants will now be contacted by the city of ferguson to set new court dates for them to appear in court to deal with whatever the outstanding tickets or violations are, but the warrants for arrest have been wiped clean. critics say that these kinds of orders are volunteer. they say these judges can say this is the case today but tomorrow it could be changed because it's not mandated by law or mandated by this new senate bill that went into effect today. >> this is one of the first big changes in the city of ferguson, after that doj report. how else has the report made an impact? >> well, ferguson was really symbolic. one of the things that we have heard from the mayor is this cap isn't going to effect ferguson too much, because the traffic violations generate about 15% of their revenue, and it has now dropped to 12.5. but 81 other municipalities are

also going to wave these warrants. that's a total of 200,000 warrants being waved. and while they say this is not going to change the municipal system, they say it is a start. >> all right. ashar qureshi thank you. the new york police department is making changes to its controversial stop and frisk policy. it will start to give receipts for the officers name and badge number. the new rules go into effect next month. starting monday each los angeles police officer will hit the streets with body cameras. the goal is to deploy 7,000 cameras. the biggest program in the nation. but there's a debate over who will be allowed to see the videos. >> reporter: the mayor says los angeles's partial rollout of police body cameras the first step towards keeping the type of

police, civilian controversies that have plagued places like ferguson, missouri, and baltimore, maryland from happening in his city. >> it will provide both the officers and citizens with recording evidence of their interactions, helping to address the uncertainty and questions that playing so many investigations. >> reporter: on monday 860 devices will outfit lapd officers. those cameras will go out to officers in three of the divisions as well as special units like metro and s.w.a.t. the city plans to deploy more than 7,000 cameras in all. in that would cover most of the force and make l.a. the largest city to use cameras on a wide scale. the first wave cost $1.5 million, about $1,700 per camera, paid for with private donations. and it will cost just over a thousand dollars per camera, per year to store the video they capture indefinitely. city officials consider that

money well spent if it builds more trust between police and the citizens they protect. >> the city wide program for body warn cameras will protect the community as well as the officers wearing them. >> reporter: but not everyone is happy about the body camera plan. the most controversial aspect. lapd policy allows officers to review footage before writing reports or giving statements. and departments don't have to publicly release any rorings unless they are part of a criminal or civil court proceeding. >> we are not required to produce investigative records. we have no produced investigative records in the past with limited exceptions and never on digitally encarved video. >> reporter: some worry that police with use the cameras as surveillance tools. >> we have to have trust that they will not tamper with these

body cameras. >> reporter: others favor the move to body cameras, but want to make sure that police departments done stop there. >> it's part of something else, the something else being there is still a place for training. come back after katrina, new orleans revival ten years later. stay with us. ♪

>> top architect david adjaye. >> for architecture to be emotio

well they work for tips in new york's time square, some in

costumes, others topless wearing nothing by paint. and now officials are looking for ways to rain them in. >> reporter: the taxicab driver captured the seediness of new york time square. decades later, the so-called naked cowboy, and naked cowgirls, who keep their acts relatively g rated have become trademark attractions since new york city's war on crime transformed the area into one of the most visited places in the world. about 300,000 pass through the area, nicknamed the cross roads of the world every day. this family, lifetime new yorkers now like to bring their granddaughter to visit. >> when we grew up this was the

red light district, and i think they did a fantastic job. >> reporter: the disney store and major chains line the block. but costume characters regularly being accused of aggressive panhandling. now it's the so-called painted ladies, that frequent the plaza. >> naked cowboy has been out here for quite a few years, and according to the law, a female can be topless anywhere a man can be. >> reporter: where they are legally allowed to go topless. >> we don't dance. we're entertainers, just like anyone else. the superhere yous, naked cowboys, painted lady. >> reporter: reportedly will illegally demand money for taking pictures. it's a problem officials say needs better regulation. new york police commissioner

said they should just tear up this pedestrian plaza. the mayor said he would consider it. and he started the task force that will deliver a report by late september or early october. >> i don't like the idea that they are thinking about getting rid of the plaza so this didn't happen. >> reporter: craig, a 69 year old formal criminal attorney took her top off in support of the women and in favor of seeping the plaza. >> this isn't from anger. this is for hum, fun. one woman sitting at a table said, please put your blouse back on, but two other women started cheering and smiling. >> reporter: tourists are divided. >> i didn't have an issue with it. >> i came from vegas last week, and it's the same there, and in new york it's the same, in l.a. it's the same. so, i don't like it. >> reporter: the steaks are high. last year more than 56 million

tourists visited new york city, generating over $57 billion in total economic impact. all day today al jazeera america is providing in-depth coverage of the hurricane katrina tenth anniversary. jonathan betz has the story of some resilient survivors and how the storm still effects them today. >> reporter: the spain street church of god and christ, the members have plenty to praise, the church stands, and their pastor lives. >> i'm still here. >> reporter: a true survivor at 92 years old. ten years ago, during katrina's worst, i found the reverend in water up to his chest. >> i'm live. >> reporter: refusing help. like so many he refused to abandon his city. >> everything is all right. everything is all right. >> reporter: he waved off rescuers. >> i sure which you would get in here with us.

>> we, well. >> reporter: we left him, but the reverend is not one to be underestimated. >> god was in the storm with me. >> reporter: later i learned waist-high water filled his home. he was living in a swamp. >> reporter: so the water was here, and your dresser was here. >> yeah. >> reporter: his bed flooded so he slept on his dresser. >> it kept me cool. and it was hot at that time. it was scorching hot, but by me staying here in the water, kept me cool. >> reporter: meanwhile his wife had fled far from home, terrified and unsure if her husband was alive. >> it was torture.

i just cried. i just cried day and night, day and night, i cried. >> reporter: after seeing our footage of montgomery on the news, she went down to new orleans and begs rescuers to get him out. only then did he agree to leave. >> he lost 25 pounds in those 12 days. he had blisters all over him. but he was doing fine. >> reporter: he is still doing fine in good health and grateful. >> it's good to have things, but when you go through it, that's where you get your victory. when you go through it. when you go through it, come out on the other side that's where you get your joy and look back. >> reporter: not so for his wife. katrina brings back darker memories. >> it hurt me physically. i have not been the same since. my doctor says it stripped something out of me.

it was too much crying. i cried for 12 days. until i got him. >> reporter: they rebuilt their home years ago with insurance and aid money. and the reverend is still leading the church he founded 50 years ago, but now with a new message and a stronger faith. >> have everything you want and desire, and you can lose it in a split second. don't take ya long to lose it. nope. >> love what you have. love your family. be close to your children, and, you know, of all be close to god. >> reporter: staying focused on all katrina gave rather than what it took. and that was jonathan betz reporting. we'll have much more on what has changed in the ten years since katrina hit tonight at 8:30

eastern. that does it for us. i'm erika pitzi. have a great day. ♪ hello, everyone. this is the news hour live from london. coming up. hungarian police arrest four people after the bodies of 71 refugees were found in a truck in austria. the flow of refugees continues across hungary as 21 suspected traffickers are arrested in budapest. also on the program the government's new fighting force in yemen looking to