not the best. my fellow citizens i have had the privilege of serving our countries in times of peace and in times of war, and peace is better. i have seen our leaders act with incredible foresight, and also seen them commit tragic errors by plunging into conflicts without sufficient thought about the consequences. like old ben franklin, i can claim and do claim go monopoly on wisdom, and certainly nothing can compare to the gravity of the debate of our found fathers over our nation's founding documents, but i believe based on a lifetime's experience, that the iran nuclear agreement is a hugely positive step at a time when problem-solving, and danger reduction have rarely been so urgent, specialsly in the middle east. the iran agreement is not a

panacea for the sectarian and extremist violence that has been ripping that region apart, but history may judge it a turning point, a moment when the builders of stability seize the initiative from the destroyers of hope, and we -- when we were able to show as have generations before us, that when we demand the best from ourselves, and insist that others adhere to a similar high standard, when we do that, we have immense power to shape a safer and a more humane world. that's what this is about. and that's what i hope we will do in the days ahead. thank you very much. [ applause ] >> secretary of state john kerry making the case for the approval of the iranian nuclear deal. he is in philadelphia, the place

of very historic significance for america, referencing ben franklin, saying that there is nothing perfect. jamie macintyre is live in washington. secretary kerry just give an impassioned speech, jamie. why did he say in a nutshell it's such a good agreement? >> reporter: well, basically this was a full throated defense of the iran nuclear deal. it went on for almost a full hour. secretary kerry attempted to address every criticism that has been advanced against the deal, and if you want to distill the argument into a nutshell, he basically said there really is no better alternative. in fact he argued there was no alternative, because he said the idea of going back to the bargaining table and trying to get a better deal was a -- a punchy sound bite but had no connection in reality, making the argument that the america's negotiating partners in this deal would simply not stand by

for another round of negotiations. he tried to address all of the criticisms about whether or not it would be easy for iran to cheat in the deal, whether or not the sanctions would in fact snap back into place, and he even tried to address the concerns of united nations closest ally israel in the region. but in the end of the day, he basically said, this is the best possible alternative and he called on congress to approve it. >> as early as next week, congress will begin voting on whether to support that plan. and the outcome will matter as much as any foreign policy decision in recent history. like senator lugar, president obama and i are convinced beyond any reasonable doubt, that the framework that we have put forward will get the job done. >> reporter: and as of today, in

fact as of just a few hours ago, it now seems that the outcome is fairly certain. the obama administration has secured the pledged support of a key 34th senator, which gives them the exact number they need to make sure the president can sustain a veto of any measure to disapprove the iran deal. maryland senator barbara mccullski announcing her support today. that gives them critical mass to make sure that they can sustain this policy in the senate. now what the administration would like to see is an additional seven senators, democrats, presumably, come on board so that the -- any motion to disapprove the iran nuclear bill would be filibustered in the senate and would never have to come to the white house for the president to use his veto pen. >> jamie as you were talking, in

fact just before secretary kerry finished, i noticed on twitter that senator marco rubio is saying what many of them are saying, here is a quote from rubio, when i'm president of the united states we will reimpose those sanctions on day one and then i will go to congress and ask them to even increase those sanctions more and i will back that up with a credible threat of military force. simple message to the ayatollah, if you try to build a weapon, we will destroy your program. >> secretary kerry argued that, look, the idea that -- that the sanctions that made this so effective that brought iran to the table, according to kerry's argument, was the multinational sanctions that involved many countries, not just the united states, and he said those sanctions essentially were going to go away, and the moneys that were being held essentially in

escrow as part of these negotiations were going to be released whether or not the united states takes action. it is true that the united nations could act -- united states could act unilaterally, but kerried argued that basically the train train had left the station and called those kinds of arguments as just not connected to the reality of the situation. randall. >> thank you, jamie macintyre. we're going to take and break and discuss this further. stay with us on al jazeera america. ♪

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organization that helps overcome misunderstandings about iran and the relationship that iran has with the united states. you were just in iran last week. >> yes. >> i want you to imagine officials reaction to secretary kerry pronouncements that iran will never get a nuclear weapon. >> i think they will agree with secretary john kerry on this main point, because the iranian authorities for years have said they do not seek a nuclear weapon. now while this deal that was agreed upon, some officials had reservations, but overall they agree that this was the best they could get in terms of, you know, addressing their concerns. now john kerry made a very important point. this deal is not support to be perfect for both sides, but is the best that we can have that ensures iran's nuclear program

remains peaceful and the p 5 plus 1 deliver on their end of the bargain, which including sanctions relief. but the expectation in iran at the moment is they will continue going through with what they have to do to implement this agreement they are hopeful that p5-plus-1 including the united states delivers on their end of the bargain. >> did you detect a change in tone in u.s. policy vis-a-vis this deal, and secretary kerry's speech today? >> i think it's very clear that -- you mean within the u.s. foreign policy? >> yes. >> it's very important. this is a step forward in terms of having a president of diplomacy winning over on a very important and critical issue. >> let me be more pointed. he did mention the use of military force as a specific option, although obviously it is still on the table, but he

didn't say it in this presentation. >> exactly because i think the emphasis has been if diplomacy works, let's continue with it. and this constant threat of saying all options are on the table, has been actually fuelling the anti-americanism in iran within those quarters which are such -- have such opposition to this deal. the ones that john kerry was mentioning without a deal we will strengthen. the voices in iran are saying let's be anti-american, and continue this animosity. so if we do not want to give them fuel, we have to be careful with our language, and i think john kerry was very careful to go out of his way to make sure he does not give ammunition to those people in iran. >> let's go back to jamie mcintyre. at the pentagon, you tell me, what is the point of view of those who have america's

military infrastructure in their hands? what do they think about iran and whether it will cheat and what the u.s. should do? >> reporter: well, the pentagon's job is to prepare military options for the president, and it has said all along that it does have military options if it comes to that. but it's not a very desirable option. the idea that iran -- that there could be a strike against iranian facilities and then -- you know, like the kinds of strikes that took place in iraq where the united states could bomb facilities and then just walk away and watch what happens. a strike against iranian nuclear facilities would result in a pretty widespread war in the middle east, something the united states feels it could handle, but it would be a very, very dire situation. these are options of last resort. nevertheless it's the pentagon's

job to provide the president with those kinds of options, and the u.s. says that's one of the reasons it is developing the kind of weaponry it is. for instance the joint strike fighter that can being sold only to israel has the kind of stealth capability that it could penetrate air defenses such as the missile russia is expected to provide iran. so they war game these military options, but they are not the preferred option at all. and what the pentagon would argue even if a military option were exercised, it wouldn't set the program back as far as this deal would. so this action of diplomacy along with a very vigorous verificati verification scheme is seen as much more press release f

release -- preferable. >> secretary kerry talked about a ballistic missile defense system for the peninsula. that's pretty significant, is it not? >> reporter: well the u.s. is developing all sorts of ballistic missile defenses, including shape-based defenses that could be deployed in the mediterranean and in the persian gulf areas that would be able to provide some defenses, and also land-based defenses in europe that are specific aimed at iranian defenses. so that's part of the long-range missile defense program that the u.s. has been spending billions on. >> thank you, jamie mcintyre in washington. back to you, one of the top, i suppose most strident objections

that people who don't like this deal have, is it doesn't destroy all of iran's nuclear capability. that's what they want. they want it totally wiped out. it doesn't even stop iran from enriching uranium. there are limits, but it still allows iran to enrich uranium. how do you when you are talking to these people, how do you convince them that this is acceptable? >> you have to first understand that iran is part of nuclear non-proliferation treaty. under that treaty, iran has a right to a civil program. these limitations that are being placed iran's enrichment capabilities. that enrichment level is used to power its reactor, also for other nuclear facilities, but it is not a nuclear weapon grade

uranium. for that to happen to you have to enrich to 98%. and these limitations ensures that if iran does attempt to enrich at the very dangerous level, it will be detected. so it's as if that -- they have the facilities that are peaceful, and if iran decides to turn its nuclear program into a weaponized one, as john kerry has mentioned, all of its paths through this deal with blocked. and let's not forget it's not like we have no eyes and ears on iran's nauk lar facilities. iran is the second-most watched and monitored nuclear program currently in the world. the only country that is morme monitored is japan. because of the disaster in fukushima. so let's not assume that there

is no understanding of the capacity, the scope of iran's nuclear facilities, and as john kerry has said from mining the uranium all the way down through the whole fuel cycle, there will be checks and balances in place. >> what about the political opposition in iran? i mean, we presume that the ayatollah is on board with this plan, otherwise it wouldn't have come to fruition, but are there any powerful members of the iranian revolutionary council who are still saying no? >> yes, and this is very important. because as john kerry has said within those camp of individuals and groups within iran who are the stanch anti-americans, their chants have also included death to rouhani. the current president of iran. and this is important, because they do not want peace to succeed. they do not want this diplomatic

process to gain footing. they want this animosity to continue. unfortunately we have a similar problem in the u.s. there are those that go beyond the rational thinking of how good this deal is, and how it guarantees the national interests of the united states to understand that the alternative is unfortunately a really bad one. and i hope, and this is important, that if this deal strengthens the power centers in iran who are currently seeking a diplomatic approach, then it weakens the voices of those on a very small but very loud opposition in iran. >> thank you. we'll be back in a moment with more of today's other top stories. stay with us on al jazeera america. ♪

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>>they had some dynamic fire behavior... >> and what we do... don't try this at home! >> tech know, where technology meets humanity... only on al jazeera america there are protests in baltimore today where six police officers face adjudge in the freddie gray case. there are small demonstrations going on outside of the courthouse. the officers were there for a pretrial hearing where a judge denied a motion to dismiss the case. grey died while in police custody in april. police say they are prepared for any possible unrest today. adam may is in baltimore. >> reporter: a small number of protesters started arriving here at the courthouse early this morning, before the hearing even got underway. baltimore city police reporting at least one arrest so far, but

for the most part these protests have been very peaceful. police are on standing by. large numbers of officers are stationed all around the city as this hearing gets underway. the judge is considering three different motions. one is a motion to dismiss all of the criminal charges in this case. there is another motion to recuse the prosecutor in this case, and a third motion to try the defendants separately. currently prosecutors would like to break these six officers and try them in two separate groups. we're not sure at this point if the judge will make a ruling from the bench or if the decision could come out in coming days or weeks. there is another hearing coming up on september 10th. this is a hearing to move this trial out of baltimore, a change of venue hearing which a lot of people here will be keeping their eyes on. an intenser. has been alled off in the killing of a veteran police officer in illinois. lieutenant joe was a 32-year

veteran. schools and many businesses in the fox lake area were shut down as police searched. now police say the suspects have likely fled the area. a texas prosecutor says he now has a second video that clearly shows a confrontation that clearly lead to two san antonio deputies killing a man who had his hands up. a first video of the incident partially shows what happened. i want to warn you this is graphic. >> reporter: chilling frames of video of a deadly encounter with police in san antonio, texas, two deputies with the bear country sheriff's office responded to a call friday. authorities say they found an injured woman and child and 41 year old gilbert florez, seen here, running through the yard.

>> two deputies attempted to arrest the individual, and he resisted. they also used -- tried to use non-lethal weapons to try and detain him. and after a lengthy confrontation, both deputies fired shots, causing the man's death. >> he put his hands in the air and they shot him twice. >> reporter: michael thomas was in the car with his cell phone. local television station obtained the video from thomas and monday posted it all online, including the moment florez appears to put both of his hands up. flores then slumps to the ground. >> certainly what is in the video is a cause for concern. but it's important to let the

investigation go through its course. >> reporter: following the release of the tape, the sheriff called for calm and patience. >> both deputies involved in the shooting have been with the sheriff's office for more than 10 years, and they have both been placed on administrative leave which is standard procedure. >> reporter: this district attorney calls the images troubling. >> there is actually another video with a better angle and view, that is very clear. >> reporter: but so far that hasn't been released and he says his office won't rough to judgment. robert ray, al jazeera. a kentucky clerk is preparing for a court hearing over her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. this was the scene yesterday. >> we're not issuing marriage licenses today. >> based on what? why are you not issuing marriage

licenses today? >> because i'm not. >> under who's authority are you not -- >> under god's authority. >> kim davis and six of her deputies have been ordered to appear before a federal judge thursday. davis says she is standing on her religious beliefs. the judge could fine her or sen her to jail for refusing to issue the licenses. u.s. stocks are on the rise today, rebounding after steep losses. data shows private sector payrolls rose more than expected in august, bumping up investor confidence following weak manufacturing data out of china on tuesday, which reignited a big selloff. secretary of state john kerry wrapped up a speech on the iran nuclear deal just a few moments ago. it came just as the obama administration secured a 34th yes vote for the agreement. her backing gives the president

the margin he needs to sustain a veto. congress is expected to vote on the deal later this month. that's it for us for now. thanks for watching. i'm randall pinkston. the news continues next live from london. ♪

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>> now. >> explosions going on... we're not quite sure - >> is that an i.e.d.? >> "faultlines". al jazeera america's award-winning investigative series. monday, 10:00 eastern. on al jazeera america. ♪ secretary of state john kerry gives an impassioned defense of the iran nuclear deal. protesters return to baltimore streets as six police officers face a judge in the death of freddie gray. and a county clerk in kentucky, remains defiant refusing