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tv   News  Al Jazeera  September 15, 2015 7:30am-9:01am EDT

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pakistan. and you can find out more about these and all the day's stories here on al jazeera by going to our website, the address al jazeera.com.
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>> this is aljazeera america. good morning, live from new york city, i'm randall pinkston. we begin again this morning with those rapidly spreading wildfires burning through towns in california. the flames forced 20,000 people to spend the night in makeshift shelters. the three largest fires have scorched 406 square miles, an area about the size of san antonio. the ruff and butte fires are burning to the north, 20% under control after consuming 600 homes. we are live in middletown, california this morning with the valley fire tearing through over the weekend. how are people coping with the devastation? >> we are back in middletown and
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you can see there's more wreckage of homes behind us, just by eyeballing it, i would say a third to half of homes in this town are completely droid. there are very few residents in middle town right now because officials have not let them back in. as early as today, they are going assess the damage of their homes. a lot of people do not know whether their homes look like this or whether it's still standing. that's going to be really tough. our team did manage to go to one of the evacuation centers. a lot of people do not know the state of their homes but they are thankful that none of their family hebes were hurt. you have reported on that one death. it's rather miraculous that just one person died if you look at the footage of the flames going through town. people are very thankful but in a state of shock. as they come back and rummage through something like this, over the next days and weeks,
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it's going to take years of rebuilding. i think that's when it's going to be really challenging for people here. >> there's been about 6,000 fires this season compared to 4500 last year, any idea what's happening, why such a large increase in just one year? >> well, you know, you can't talk about these wildfires without talking about the drought. our team has been covering the drought. it's the worst drought the state has seen in over a century. i'm permanently surprised that the wildfires weren't as bad as they were last season. now we're starting to get the impact and that is what every firefighter is saying. not only is the drought creating very, very dry conditions, but firefighters are saying that the fires are more unpredictable as a result. frankly, the evacuation order to get residents out of this town came very quickly on the heels of the fire. the fire hit at around the same time they said they need to
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evacuate. you have veteran firefighters assessing fires who were very surprised at the speed of this fire, randall. >> so california's governor warned last night that with climate change, disasters like the drought and the fire are only going to become more common. what does that mean for california, where so many people live close by wooded areas? california has had a lot of experience dealing with wildfires. in some ways, they are prepared for this, but it's going to be a challenge and short term, you can already see the problems. about 1,000 firefighters have been deployed to fight the valley fires here. there are thousands of firefighters across the state. many from out of state are deal with the wildfires here. short term, you know, there's going to be a lot for declarations of state of emergencies, the governor did declare a state of emergency here. that is one way in terms of cutting the red tape and dealing with a situation short term. long term, there's going to be institutional changes and good
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governance into dealing with this prop. >> undoubtedly people will be moving to other areas. thank you very much. >> rain would be wonderful. some has begun to fall on parts of california, but is it enough to play a serious factor in stopping these fires? let's get the answer to that from our meteorologist, nicole mitchell. >> part of the problem here is with the long term drought, the vegetation is so dry. even the bit of moisture we had yesterday does help, because just the humidity in the air gives that vegetation moisture, gives them something to work with. this is the radar. the responding areas through the southwest, including dramatic flooding, we'll have more on that in a minute. for california, mitt and miss, places like sacramento that did measure rain, trace amounts, not enough to measure that. the humidity was the biggest thing we saw. you can see clouds off in the
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background from the pacific. that will move in. that's our next system. i'll talk about that in a second. it's helpful that last week and over the weekend, temperatures have been cooler. those will starting to up by the weekend. here's that next weather system. yesterday it was closer to alaska, now juts out off the coastline. this for northern california and the rest of the northern parts of the pacific northwest, that portion of the coastline, this is going to be a definite player, because it's not just california. we had wildfires up through the large -- the northwest and all the places i have pinged on here are large incidents, so we could use rain. parts of california will get it, not southern california, but some of that will help the fire and we need that because after we get through this system, any help we can get, those temperatures, this starts on wednesday in the valley fire area, this starting to up, we dry out again, so this next system is kind of our best
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chance for a little bit of help. back to you. >> thank you, nicole mitchell. >> the search resumes for the five people still missing after flash floods in southern utah. at least eight people were killed there after heavy rain hit a town along the border to arizona. >> much of the heavy rain fell on the mountain region on the outskirts of the town of hill detail. forecasters say the steep terrain and poor drainage in the area continued to the flood danger. >> there were women and children in this silver car when the water started to rise. rescuers were able to get each one of them to safety, but people in two other vehicles swept away in the town would not be so lucky. police say heavy rains late monday afternoon caused the flash flooding that carried away a van and an s.u.v. full of women and children several hundred yards downstream. rescuers called off the search
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for survivors late monday at conditions became too dangerous. the national weather service issued a flash flood warning earlier in the day for the area, but a significant segment of the 7700 town residents may not have gotten the warning. hilldale is the home base of the warren jeff polygamy sect. he is in prison and members of the sect discouraged from having contact with the outside world, meaning most don't watch t.v. or use the internet. scatters thunderstorms will continue today in the area. >> several homes are without power and running water this morning. as far as the five missing people, rescue others are set to resume search efforts at daybreak. >> police this morning are still trying to find a motive in a campus shooting in mississippi. the murder suspect shannon lamb killed himself at police closed in on him in northern mississippi.
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lamb, a geography in instructor is accused of killing a professor on campus. he is also accused of killing his girlfriend. >> the crisis is over, this campus is safer again and a lockdown has been dismissed. we have lost a wonderful colleague and dr. ethan smith who will be the subject for a candlelight vigil. >> that vigil will be held on campus tonight where smith talked history. classes are canceled for the day. >> senate republicans will try again today to advance a resolution rejecting the iran nuclear deal, but democrats are confident they have enough votes as they did last week to prevent the measure from reaching the president's desk. majority leader mitch mcconnell has scheduled another vote this evening which could end the senate debate on the proposed resolution. >> north korea announced work resumed for plants that make
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fuel for atomic bombs. approximate i don't think pang said it is ready to use weapons against the u.s. and other countries if they continue their "reckless policy against north korea." it said it is ready to launch long-range missiles to mark the anniversary of the ruling party next month. >> walking 100 miles for a cause. these women are hitting the streets with a message for pope francis. >> germany is expecting a million refugee this is year, but there is growing unhappiness in the country over that open door policy.
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>> welcome to al jazeera america. it is 7:43 eastern time, taking a look at today's top stories. in south carolina, a former police officer remains in solitary confinement this morning after he was once again denied bail. >> michael slater shot and killed an unarmed black man in april. the judge said he feared for slager's safety if he was reds on bond. >> the auto workers union and all three big automakers extended contracts after talks continued over a long term deem. the u.a.w. wants to close the pay gap between new and veteran workers. fetialty chrysler is heading up the talks for the auto industry. >> a teacher strike in seattle opens stretches into a second week. want teachers are at odds
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overpay and classroom funding. there are no snow days left, so once the strike he is over, missed days will now be tacked on to the end of the school year. >> one week from today, pope francis arrives in washington, d.c. and starting today, 100 p.m. will be walking 100 miles to try to get the pope's attention. they will set off from a detention center in pennsylvania where one woman's husband was held for lacking proper documentation. they hope to meet the pope when he arrives next tuesday. they want the pope to address migrant dignity and injustice in the u.s. they will finish with a prayer vigil outside the white house. >> we are hoping that the pope will see how serious we are about immigration reform, that we are willing to walk 100 miles to inspire him so he can talk
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about immigration reform with congress, that he, as he has worked so hard to lift the humble and the exincluded, that he will talk about inequality and he will have the power to talk to congress and say that these women, these family, this is serious, very, very serious and we absolutely expect him to do that on our behalf. >> their hope is that the pope sees their solidarity as a reason for action on immigration reform. >> jonathan bets will have a live report from the starting line of the marsh in our next hour. >> among i didn't intends to charge dozens of refugees detained on the ground the border today under new security laws. two counties near the serbian border are now under a state of emergency. we are watching live pictures of ref joes who are congregating near the fence along that border. that means the military there will be sent to patrol along
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razor wire fences that have been put up. police say some 9,000 refugees were detained monday on suspicion of illegally crossing. hungary has accepted 200,000 refugees this year. >> germany is backing the idea of cutting european union funding to countries that refuse to take in refugees. several countries rejected calls for mandatory quotas to spread the refugees out across the e.u. germany expects to take in up to 1 million refugees this year alone. >> not everyone in germany agrees that it should be the last stop on these desperate journeys. we have more. >> this was a city on alert. right wing extremists were planning a demonstration against the german governments decision to take in hundreds of thousands of refugees.
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authorities banned that protest. >> thousands of police are on duty, almost brock indicating hamburg central station just in case right wingers do attempt to defy the ban and travel to the city. >> one organizer of the band march agreed to heat us in hamburg. he's distanced himself from the neonazi movement and describes himself as a german patriot. >> germany always finds it tough to take the middle path. we always go to extremes. that was true of the nasty party and these german communism and we're seeing it again with refugee policy, he says. the essence of his views wide receivers though perhaps not the radical open to seemed to resonate for many in one working class neighborhood. >> this district is home to many immigrant families.
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at this corn cafe, i met a dock worker who game to germany from port gap at age seven. >> germany doesn't have the capacity to take in so many people, it's simply too many. sooner or later, the system will break down and people will get sick of it, he says. his daughter was born here. she's expecting her second child. >> these days, teachers have to focus more on immigrant kids who don't speak german. that's not fair on the german kids, it's a waste of their time, she says. to underscore their points, they direct me to a soup kitchen just across the road. this independent charity hands out a week's groceries for around $5 to the poor. immigrants and germans. this 70-year-old german who prefers not to tell me her name says she only has pennies to live on once she's paid rent and
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utilities. they built new homes for asylum seekers but there are so many germans looking for an affordable home and just can't find one. if it goes on like that for 18 months or two years, i can imagine it will explode, she says. for now, her words seem to be unheeded. more refugees arrive by the day at hamburg central station. al jazeera, hamburg, germany. >> the migration story is playing out here in the u.s., where some are going off the grid to avoid deportation. >> on a given day, up to half of immigration cases in dallas are no shows in court. coming up, the difficulty in enforcing immigration laws when the incentive for free border crossers is to disappear.
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>> we're here to fully get into the nuances of everything that's going on, not just in this country, but around the world. getting the news from the people who are affected. >> people need to demand
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reform... >> ali velshi on target weeknights 10:30p et >> a federal judge gave until next month to release family and children held in detention centers. the agency said it has lost track from families already reds from detention. >> it was a touching reunion, a year ago at the dallas/fort worth airport. a salvador family welcomed their 6-year-old daughter after four years of separation. the parents left the girl behind when they came to the united states in 2010. now, the child had made the journey with an aunt and was finally back in her parents' arms. >> did you miss your parents? >> the girl had been detained by
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border patrol and spent a month at a children's shelter. ice then released the child to her parents, who are also undocumented on the condition that she appears for a hearing with an immigration judge. >> the mother told me the family would go to court and comply with the judge's order, even if it meant returning to el salvador. [ ringing ] >> hello? >> now a year later, we reach the family by phone. the mother said they've stopped going to court and the daughter has been issued a deportation order. she said ice hasn't contacted hem, though, so the girl is going to school and the family continues to live their normal life. i asked what about what she had said at the airport, the promise
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to follow the court decision. she doesn't answer. the family is nowhere alone in its choice of disappearing to the wood work. ice reports of the 13,000 deportation orders involving families issued this past year, more than 90% were issued in absentia. here the dallas immigration court on any given day, between a quarter and half of cases are no-shows. >> i don't think it's necessarily lack of respect. i think there are definitely some people that understand what that is at immigration court and they choose to not go, but i think for a lot of people, they are unsure what it means to go to court or they're fearful of what's going on. >> a syracuse university analysis found the average success rate is 40%, although among various judges, it varies with some rejecting virtually every case that comes before them.
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the unfavorable odds appear to be pushing recently freed border crossers into the wood work where they run little risk of being reapprehended. >> there are many people who's these statistics and are very angry that there are 12,000 cases of law breakers and there's nothing happening to hold them accountable. >> their file goes to ice and ice is out looking for them and they will be removed. >> ice doesn't have the resources. >> they don't have the resources, yeah. >> ice declined to be interviewed for the story but said in a statement it makes custody determinations on a case by case basis with a priority for detention of serious criminal offenders and other individuals who pose a significant threat to public safety. >> not migrants like 17-year-old marielle. she traveled to escape an abusive father. after detained and released to her mother in california, she
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missed her court date. she said her mom, also undocumented, told her not to go. now under a die portation order, she's voluntarily come forward to claim relief under a special be juvenile visa. she said she wants to explain to the judge that she deserves a second chance. >> i asked if it wouldn't be easier to stay quiet and hidden like so many thousands of others. she says no, because now that she's here, she wants a chance to study and work lawfully, to come out of the shadows. heidi zhou castro, al jazeera, dallas. >> the u.s. navy is changing procedures used in training exercises to try to protect whales and dolphins. in an agreement, the navy will limit the use of sonar and explosives around hawaii and california. the groups argued that the
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training exercises have been killing or causing marine mammals to go deaf. >> while summer is coming to a close for some creatures, it's time to hit the beach. thousands of turtles have been coming ashore in costa rica. september marks the start of nesting season when the turtles lay their eggs in the sand. the event has become a major attraction, but the costa rican government is asking the tourists to give the turtles a little space to do their business. thanks for joining us, stephanie sy back in two minutes with more aljazeera america morning news. you can keep up with the news throughout the day by checking aljazeera.com aljazeera.com
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>> heavier rain leaves seven people dead. >> two fires burn out of control in california, sending tens of thousands of residents running for their lives. many won't have homes to return to. >> a manhunt ends in mississippi with the suspected gunman dead. authorities want to know why i killed his girlfriend and fellow professor. >> hungary takes a new hard line, declaring a state of
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emergency and detaining thousands of refugees trying to cross the border. >> the search resumes at daybreak for the five people still missing after flash floods in southern utah. this is aljazeera america, live from new york city. i'm stephanie sy. eight were killed when heavy rain hit that town. we have the latest. >> much of the heavy rain fell the mountain town surrounding the small town of hilldale. forecasters say the steep terrain and poor drainage in the area contributed to the flood danger. there were women and children in this silver car when the water started to rise. rescuers were able to get each one of them to safety, but people in two other vehicles swept away in the town of
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hilldale would not be so lucky. police say heavy rains late monday afternoon caused the flash flooding that carried away a van and an s.u.v. full of women and children several hundred yards downstream. rescuers called off the search for survivors late monday at conditions became too dangerous. the national weather service issued a flash flood warning earlier in the day for the area, but a significant segment of the 7700 town residents may not have gotten the warning. hilldale is the home base of the warren jeff polygamy sect. he is in prison and members of the sect are discouraged from having much contact with the outside world, meaning most don't watch t.v. or use the internet. scattered rain and thunderstorms will continue today in the area. >> several homes are without power and running water this morning. as far as the five missing
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people, rescuers are set to resume search efforts again today. >> many spent the night in makeshift shelters after fires in california. 750 homes have been destroyed. the three largest fires scorched 406 square miles, an area about the size of san antonio. melissa chan has been covering these wildfires. residents may finally get a chance to see the damage done by this valley fire over the weekend. what do you expect them to see? >> i'm standing in front of more of the wreckage of middletown and just in terms of our team driving around this town, i would say about a third to half of homes have been destroyed by this fire, so residents, many of them do not know whether their homes are still standing or not. we did manage to visit an
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evacuation center and spoke to some residents to get a sense of how they're dealing with this disaster. >> breakfast served at an evacuation center. firefighters have not allowed most residents back zoo town. many have no idea whether their homes survived the fire or not. they are waiting. >> top that would wood saw his business go down in flames. >> it's the last money i had. my shop went down in five minutes. >> our team tracked down his shop, absolutely nothing salvageable in this rubble. >> it's time for a new beginning, fresh start, clean slate. got a rebuild life.
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>> residents have shown incredible resilience. >> they say good lord won't give us anything we can't handle, but some days i wonder. you know, you have your family and that's all really that's truly important. >> sterling knows he lost his home, because it made front page news. >> i opened up the paper this morning, we find our home in the paper, and i know i can identify things in it, and looks like it's gone, but, you know, you have choices in life, so we'll move on. >> his r.v. is now the only home he and his wife have. >> i cry, you laugh, yeah, definitely i'm shocked. >> this used to be an apartment cam plex and you can tell because every few feet, there's an air conditioning unit and hot water heater. i'm standing under what used to be the parking lot awning. witnesses say that in parts of
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middletown, the fire swept through in just 20 minutes. >> in this particular case, it was simply moving so fast that i think there was very little anticipation of how fast it would hit these residential areas, and there wasn't enough time to get the orders out and get the sheriff's involved. >> this year, firefighters have responded to over7,000 wildfires that have destroyed more than 650,000 acres. they tell us that's nearly 1,600 times what is normal. middletown has become the summer's most ravaged symbol of the state's relentless fire season. on main street, the first business to reopen was this third generation general store. ross hardster has had little sweep the last three days, keeping the place open for residents in need. >> we're all fighting together and it's just -- everybody is just gelling. nobody's complained. >> it's not only people who need
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help. >> there's no one there to feed the animals. we want to make sure they're all right, provide them with food and water and make sure none of wounded or injured, you know. >> everyone it seems has come together, a battered town already working towards recovery, even as the valley fire continues roaring just one hill away, barely contained. >> i just want to add a little bit more about evacuation. officials are not worried about the fire, the fire has come through and gone. they are worried about the debris, and hanging power lines. they are holdle off an letting most residents get back into town. >> melissa chan live from middletown, california, thank you. >> governor jerry brown of california said on monday that wildfires have become very difficult at this point to deal with and a plan needed to prevent them. >> we need our short term, which is to deal with the forest with
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preventative fires, it's to build up our fire personnel and the equipment that is needed and be ready to pull in resources from all over. of course, we need the longer term goals to try to minimize the build up of drought. >> joining me now is the director of the california department of forestry and fire protection. chief, good morning and thank you for your time. would you update us on what you know this morning? you heard our report from middle town, the residents are going back in there, are there other homes and businesses expecting evacuations this morning? >> we are by no means close to containment on this fire or the other fire in the central sierra. over 585 homes identified as destroyed as of last night, and of course, that number will grow as firefighters and others get in and identify that. we continue to put evacuation orders in out ahead of the fire.
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we will continue to do that and of course life and property are always going to be the priority. >> i know that you have been to both fires in recent days. what are the biggest challenges facing firefighters? >> really, it's the condition of the vegetation. you've heard it, you talked about it in your story. these fires are burning at explosive rates, spotting way ahead of the fire. residents are barely having time to get out and so obviously we are absolutely encouraging everybody to heed evacuation orders quickly and move out of the way so that we can get resources in and fight these fires. >> residents have been saying they didn't get much warning. is that just the nature of these types of wildfires or was there a breakdown in communication at some point that you need to address? >> it is absolutely the nature of these fires. when a fire gross 10,000-acres in an hour as this did, there's very little time for notice. we've been clear the last two years, letting people know plan
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ahead, be prepared for time to evacuate, go and go quickly. >> have you spoken to anyone injured in these fires, burn victims? >> i had an opportunity in middletown day before yesterday to visit with folks and it's literally a disaster. these folks have lost everything. this whole community is without power, without water. it's clearly a disaster. >> is this a new normal in some ways for california as this brought persists and shows no sign of ending anytime soon? >> it really is. we heard the governor say yesterday, we have to be thinking about this into the future. what does this mean, you know, four years of drought, patched vegetation, but seeing mean temperatures increase. these are all conditions that are changing and we've got to be responsive to it both in preparing firefighters in responding, but also in treating vegetation, in our land use planning to ensure our
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structures as we rebuild are resistant to fire. >> will firefighters get a break in the weather. that's the big question. let's bring in meteorologist nicole mitchell for that. >> very dry vegetation, any built of help is just little help, because that's the overall scenario. we did get a little help yesterday. in areas of rain, most of this was trace amounts, but the humidity went up so that at least helps even if there wasn't measurable rain hitting the ground. there's other fires all the way up the west coast. we're going to seals helping is that temperatures have been cooler versus 90's and 100's, more 70's and 80's. at least for now that is going to change. we do have the weather system making its way into a coastline. northern california and north up the coastline will benefit from some of the rain associated with that. ahead that have, though, today more wind and that does not help with the fire situation, because
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it can preed things. this is our best chance because after that rain tomorrow, drier and warmer once again, so hopefully, this brings some help because then conditions will deteriorate once again. >> nicole mitchell, thank you. >> police this morning are still trying to find a motive in a campus shooting in mississippi. officials say the murder suspect, shannon lamb killed himself as police closed in on him in northern mississippi. lamb, a geography instructor in delta state university is excused of fatally shooting a colleague. he is suspected of killing his girlfriend. >> the crisis is over. this campus is safe again and our lockdown has been dismissed. we have lost a wonderful colleague. >> a vigil will be held on campus tonight. classes are canceled for the day. >> hungary detained dozens more
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migrants today and plans to charge them under new stricter laws to prevent illegal crossings. a state of emergency is in effect on the serbian border, paving the way for the army to move in and patrol the razor wire fences now lining the border there. we hear sitting people have been detained for trying to cross that border. what is happening with them? >> we've been asking the police officials that are out here along hungary's border with serbia, this razor wire fence. they have not clarified where exactly these dozens of refugees that have been detained today have been tak, but i can tell you it's not a surprise the refugees trying to cross into hungary are being detained. the government said they were going to impose a state of emergency, which they have, that they were going to make the laws
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enacted that would make it easier to arrest refugees crossing in legally they're calling it into this country, to detain them and charge them, whatever the age may be. we expect there will be more arrests of this type in the days ahead. there are still many refugees trying to cross over. this influx is not over. we saw refugees that walked past it to the left of us. behind the barbed wire fence as they were walking, one said hello to me, shouted out in arabic we will get to germany. these folks are not deterred in any way. they have come all this way. yesterday i was speaking to an iraqi man who was injured fighting in iraq. he said just because they are going to shut down the border doesn't mean we aren't going to try to make it to a place we can
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have a future. >> we have seen that fence become more fortified behind you. the serbians are saying the border crossing should be open, hungary never said it would be closed. has hungary responded to that? >> they have not, and there's several things they have not responded to. in fact, we've heard complaints, criticism of this type of hungary's government from several different people in governments the past few days. i was in austria speaking to the interior ministry, the spokesperson told us one of the things that was making it much more difficult for and you say free i can't to handle the influx of refugees was the fact that hungary had stopped communicate, their neighbor, austria. we heard from aid groups, unhcr have been trying for days to facilitate the hungarian government and pleas are falling on deaf ears as far as what
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we're hearing. this is really frustrating the countries surrounding hungary, as well as the aid groups that are trying to assist hungary and trying to put more pressure on hungary to let these refugees pass through, treat them humanely and let them pass on to other countries in their quest to get to their desired destination. >> they are holding up signs, saying no food, no water until you open the border. what does that say about the refugees understanding of the world watching the situation there on the border? >> it's really shocking to see this unfold. i've heard this from aid workers, as well. especially the stance of hungary's government. there's been criticism on the prime minister here from the e.u., from other international
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organizations, from the international community to try to keep the border open, to try to work with the e.u., but it hasn't happened. yesterday, we heard news that the interior ministers of the e.u., that they met up, tried to agree on some type of quota system. that didn't happen. the eastern block companies resisting this idea of a quota from various countries. despite the fact that there is absolutely no indication that this flow of refugees will stop anytime soon, this government in hungary remains defiant. the refugees i've been speaking with don't understand why hungary has taken this stance toward him. so many say they have come so far. we have escaped death and destruction in war-torn nations we are coming from. we have walked across so many countries, so many nearly drowned crossing the sea going from turkey to greece and oh now are met with a hostile reception
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and they can't understand that. it's a very difficult, complicated situation. the fact that e.u. can't pressure hungary for hungary to do anything differently, the fact that the interior ministers can't agree doesn't bode well for stopping this crisis anytime soon. >> thank you, muhammed. >> all this week, aljazeera america is taking a closer look at the refugee crisis as asylum seekers continue to flow into europe and with the u.s. agreeing to take in refugees. government officials and politicians are warning isil may be trying to embed fighters in the mass migrations. >> let's face it, it's not fansful to think that isis maybe salt be refugees with some of their operatives. we need to be first concerned about our own national security. >> joining to discuss this,
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currently a senior fellow at the new america foundation. today, lebanese government minister said he believes one out of every 50 refugees could be what you calls a radical. how concerned should web there is a pipeline of fighters in these groups. >> i think it would be two mistakes looking at this. the first would be to over state the threat, the second to understate the threat. this one in 50 number i think is probably overstated. the vast majority of these refugees just want to get out of the war zone and find someplace safe to go with their families. on the other hand, isil and al-qaeda are not stupid and this mass flow of migrants provides them an opportunity as it was said to salt their agents, their sleeper agents inside this
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group. to say it is one in 50 i think is very overblown, but to say there might be 10 or 20 in the thousands moving i think is very possible. >> the director of national intelligence james clapper had something to say about this last week, saying we don't put it past the likes of isil to infiltrate operatives throughout the refugees. that is a big concern of ours. he said he is less worried about the united states where the background checks are rigorous. he is more worried about europe. do you think they are forced to relax protocols given the number of refugees trying to get in? >> well, sure. as we just saw, they are literally at europe's border, pushing across into hungary. they are there right now. the united states is going to take time. we're talking about settling 10,000, but they're not coming this next month and they're probably not coming this calendar year. our procedures are that slow and we're that rigorous in how we
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screen the immigrant that is we bring, so we have a luxury of time and thoroughness that the time allows that the europeans simply don't have right now. the refugees are there. >> although that lag time within the u.s. has been criticized by human rights group. i want to talk about that with you. this refugee crisis is being politicized in the u.s., emphasizing, security, law and order. how does talk like that impact the humanitarian response? >> immigration is a huge issue already. we've heard it in the mexican immigration. these people have come from algeria, turkey, this is a familiar theme to the europeans. this provokes and almost identical response in the
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european right that immigration from latin american countries, mostly mexico, does in the united states. >> is there validity to the concerns in hungary. according to the united nations recent physician, more than 70% of the refugees arriving in europe are actually men, even though we see a lot of pictures of women and children. the a.p. reports that at least one of them was a commander in the free syrian army, which you know the u.s. considers part of the moderate opposition. that would prevent an al-nusra fighter from pretending he is an asylum seeker. >> unfortunately not, the issue is if someone is a syrian refugee from raqqa, how are we going to check paperwork? we can't go to raqqa and get a cope of his birth certificate. if he is from raqqa, he is who he says he is. we can't extinguish between a legitimate refugee fleeing the islamic state legitimately and
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maybe left his wife and children somewhere safe in syria so he could get to europe first and get a job and get enough money to bring them over. we can't extinguish between him and an isil sleeper agent for former commander for what have you, who says yeah, i was born in raqqa and i can't get my birth certificate out and gives a false name, maybe the same name as this person. we can't extinguish between those two or at least not easily. >> thank you for joining us this morning, doug. >> pleasure, have a good morning, stephanie. >> you, too. >> nearly two dozen refugees including four children drowned today after their boat sank off turkey's coast. turkish media reports more than 200 were rescued from the waters. >> all this week, we focus on the tens of thousands of refugees making these desperate journeys and how european nations are trying to cope. >> 100 women have 100 reasons
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for walking 100 miles, why they are pounding the pavement to get the pope's attention. tention. >> malcolm turnbull takes over as prime minister of australia. the new perspective he brings. gs. friends in holy places. >> this murder links the mafia and the church. >> tracking the mob from the dark shadows to the gates of the vatican. >> there's even a mobster who's managed to take the place of the priest. >> what happens when the church stands up to the mob? as the pope visits the u.s., we take a closer look at the pope and the mafia. sure, tv has evolved over the years.
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it's gotten thinner. even curvier. but what's next? for all binge watchers. movie geeks. sports freaks. x1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv. >> welcome back. some three dozen fraternity members face charges including murder in the death of a new york college freshman. michael deng died during a hazing ritual in pennsylvania. his brothers in the fraternity failed to take him to the hospital after he suffered a head injury. >> an american who helped stop an attack in europe will be
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honored with a purple heart. u.s. air man spencer stone was injured when he and several others stopped and armed man on a train from amsterdam to paris. he is credited with saving the life of another passenger who was shot. >> a former police officer remains in solitary confinement after denied bail. michael slager shot and killed an unarmed black man in april. the judge said he feared for slager's safety if he is released on bond. >> senate republicans say they will try again today to advance a resolution rejecting the iran nuclear deal. democrats are confident they have enough votes as they did last week to prevent the measure from reaching president obama's desk. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has scheduled another vote this evening which could end deep bait on the proposed resolution. >> north korea announced work be
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has resumed. resumed for plants that make fuel for atomic bombs. approximate i don't think pang said it is ready to use weapons against the u.s. and other countries if they continue their "reckless policy against north korea." it said it is ready to launch long-range missiles to mark the anniversary of the ruling party next month. >> i do swear that i will well and truly serve the people of australia. >> turnbull formerly served at the liberal party communications manager. he raised objections over abbott's handle of the economy, and social issues. >> providing military help for syria's government, russia sense troops and supplies to support the assad regime, but it's that build up that has american officials concerned. >> the u.s. navy is making changes to help whales and dolphins in the wild.
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>> more evacuations are expected in northern california today as three rapidly spreading wildfires ravage the state. more than 20,000 have fled their homes. many are in makeshift shelters. the direct ear of the california department of forestry and fire protection says the rate have growth is faster than anything they've seen before. >> the search resumes for five people still missing in flash floods. eight people died when floodwaters carried away a van and s.u.v. full of women and children. crews rescued several others from another juror authorities in mississippi this morning are searching for a motive in the killing of a college history
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professor and the assailant's girlfriend. shannon lamb took his own life. both lamb and professor ethan schmidt taught at the university. >> russia is setting up an air base inside the syrian coastal city, a stronghold of syrian president bashar al assad. moscow moved a steady stream of troops and equipment into the country. we have more. >> after a week of hemming and hawing, the united states said it appears russia is building a forward operating base in western syria. it has aerial surveillance flying over syria and can see the russian tanks, anti aircraft missiles and artillery being put in place to protect the base, not to mention the almost non-stop flow of massive russian cargo planes flying over iraq and ran to get to the base in syria. the main way the u.s. knows is
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that russia is not hiding it. russian news agencies quoting foreign minister sergey lavrov saying there is a build up of equipment and specialists to train the syrians how to use the equipment. at the state department, they seem perfectly willing to take lavrov at his word. >> we have no reason to doubt what he is saying in terms of acknowledgment that they are continuing to provide military support and equipment, so that i think we're taking on face value their claims about what they are doing. the ultimate in tent and goal, i think still is a little uncertain. >> on capitol hill, senate armed services committee chairman republican john mccain said that russian president putin is capitalizing on u.s. inaction. he issued a statement that says "russia's doubling down on the murderous assad regime is yet another example of how this administration's feckless foreign policy that emboldened
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our adversaries and diminished our standing in the world" president the u.s. seems content with a policy of watch. waiting. in talks last week, president obama said russia's putin is playing a dangerous game. >> the russians are going to have to start getting a little smarter than they have been, because they are threatened in many ways more than we are by isil. they've got large muslim populations that historically have caused a lot of problems inside of russia, and the strategy that they're pursuing right now, double down on assad i think is a big mistake. >> so far, no attack planes or helicopters have arrived at the base, only half dozen tanks and anti aircraft missiles. the united states has warned moscow that by propping up the regime of bashar al assad, it risks making even more unstable
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an already unstable situation. moscow says it's not doing anything new, simply supporting its long-time ally in the region. >> colonel cedric layton is a retired intelligence officer and member of the pentagon staff. why do you think russia would want to set up a forward air operating base if that is what it's doing. >> it sure does look like it's doing that, stephanie. i think the main reason is so that they can control the flow of air power into syria, so they're talking about logistic control, as well as if they decide to engage forces on the ground, such as free syrian army forces or isil forces, they could do so from the air, and they would be able to control their own air assets. this would augment what bashar al assad has right now in terms of his air force, which of
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course has been decimated by the different activities that the syrian rebels have been able to do, as well as what isil has been able to do. from this standpoint, the rugs are trying very hard to set up a command and control network that will allow them to control the pace of military operations and air power is a key element of that. >> when you talk about controlling air power, you talk about the fact that u.s. fighter jets have been striking isil above the skies of syria. is this possibly a sign that russia may be preparing to launch its own air campaign? >> i think it might be. now a lot of people in the pentagon and in other parts of washington are saying that the russians are not giving indications that they are doing that. it seems to me that they are building all the pieces that they need to for what we would call an air operation center, and that is basically the command and control vehicle that is used to control air
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operations. what you're looking at here is a possible setup for some conflict in the air between coalition air forces, as well as the russian air forces. >> although you said two things, they might be targeting groups like free syrian army, or isil. in that case, their interests would align with the u.s. how does this impact u.s. military goals when it comes to isil? >> it complicates them. the basic military goal that we have is to defeat isil, but the secondary goal of other countries not necessarily the united states, but other countries is to basically get rid of the assad regime. the russians want to do everything in power to preserve that regime and believe that is the best way they have to leverage their power in the region, and if they preserve the assad regime even temporarily. that increases their leverage for anything that comes after assad.
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>> the question is why now. you've got syria's civil war now in its fifth year, the largest refugee crisis since world war ii, threatening to destabilize the region, could moscow trying to blame the u.s. on inaction in syria. >> they are trying to fill a vacuum. they are looking at what has happened or not happened in syria and seen the basically tepid western reaction to what is going on in the syrian civil war, and they're taking that as a cue that this gives them free reap in syria, certainly over syrian air space. when they do this, they are able to basically -- their analysis indicates that they can move in without any major western response to their move, and so far, they've been proven correct. what they're doing is moving in, trying to leverage as much as they possibly can and when they do this, they believe that they will not only gain the ability to control movements on the ground in syria, but also be
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able to affect a political solution to the syrian crisis. >> of course, for its part, russia says it is not doing any of this, that it is doing business as usual, supplying arms to the assad regime. thank you for your expertise this morning. >> my pleasure. >> >> for a third day in a row, israeli police clashed with palestinian protestors at jerusalem's most sensitive holy site. 17 palestinians were injured at the mosque this morning. officers used tear gas to disperse the crowd. palestinian protestors threw rocks, fireworks, concrete blocks at officers. we have more. >> you can see the flashpoint that is the compound just over my shoulder here. what happened is israeli police in the early morning hours, who are an occupying force here in this part of the old city went into the al aqsa mosque and said
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they went to arrest stone-throwing youths. we had a clash for the third day, running at the door and inside the al aqsa mosque here. this is something we've seen in the last three days, mainly because this time of year is particularly sensitive. it is a sensitive site and time of year. jews are marking their new year. that ends at sundown today, it's been going on for two days. a lot more tourists as well as activists try to get into this compound. they are allowed i in for a tour and not to pray. that stokes tension with the muslims who are in the compound and at the mosque. that's why we've seen this escalation. during this period, it's a very, very charged time in a very, very chard area. that's why we've seen it. we've seen flashes, conflicts in the early morning hours, just before they open the gates to allow the people to come in for a couple of hours and that's again what we've seen today and tuesday morning.
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>> scott heidler reporting from jerusalem. >> mexico's foreign minister is on his way to egypt to seek answers in an air strike to killed eight mexican tourists. four egyptians always died. egypt called the attack an accident, saying armed forces were pursuing rebel fighters when they seasonal fired on the car carrying the tourists. >> we met refugees now living far from the war zone. >> i don't want what happened to us to happen again to anyone else. >> this 11-year-old resettled in new jersey six weeks ago with her parents and two siblings. they spent two and a half years in a refugee camp in jordan after fleeing the war in syria. >> thank good afternoon that period of time, i was able to bring them back to a normal life. thank god, america is a safe place.
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>> his wife didn't want to appear on camera, because she's afraid for the safety of her rely lives in damascus. they are building a new life in the u.s. muhammed is working in construction, the children are in school, but being separated from family members is taking a toll. >> we wish we had our grandmother with us. all of our family. >> her grandmother, her aunts are still in jordan, and we hope that we can bring them over together. >> muhammed little he can tell his children now they don't have to be scared anymore. >> the ghost of fear that was following us in syria does not exist anymore, thank god. >> al jazeera, jersey city, new jersey. >> this hour, 100 women are gathering in pennsylvania to begin a 100-mile walk over immigration. they hope to gain the attention of the pope. we will be going to jonathan betz shortly live from where
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these women will begin their march. >> today in los angeles, u.s. and chinese officials will unveil a joint plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. the climate leader summit is focused on local solutions. we have this report. >> from wildfires whipping across the state to bone dry river beds, california has seen the extreme effects of global warming this summer. in los angeles, long considered the smog capital of the u.s., matt peterson said there's renewed urgency to combat climate change. >> we have all those challenges to fails here in l.a., so we need to be the leaders here in l.a., here in california with how we fight climate change. >> on the front lines of the fight, the city's first sustainability officer is part of the aggressive push to slash
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emissions by 80% over the next 35 years. >> that's an ambitious goal. >> it is, but when you think about the global climate change, we have to set ambitious targets and figure out how do we hit those marks in the path along the way. >> the mayor will help lead the discussion at the first u.s. china climate summit. local leaders from both countries will gather here to spell out city plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. combined, the u.s. and china are responsible for nearly half the world's carbon dikes side emissions. the u.s. has vowed to splash its own emissions by 30% in the next decade, while china agreed to reach a submissions peek by 2013. peterson said this summit will be the first step in making good on president obama and chinese president's promise. >> why is it so important for city leaders to be involved in that process. >> we know that cities are responsible for up to 70% have
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all greenhouse gas emissions in the world. we know cities are where the solutions to where climate change is happening. we'll see from the summit that mayors and cities are setting targets ahead of their national governments. >> l.a. that reduced water usage by roughly a quarter, installing solar panels to reduce reliance on coal fired power plants. the mayor released 250 maybe bread and electric cars, the largest fleet in the country, all efforts hoped to inspire chinese cities to step up their commitments to climate change. al jazeera, los angeles. >> new evidence today of the climate issues affecting california, the sear are a nevada snow pack is believed to be at its lowest 11 in 500 years. it is usually five and a half feet high this time of year.
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>> rain is in the forecast today. how much will the rain help the
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firefighters?
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>> farm workers
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>> welcome to al jazeera america. it is 8:50 eastern, taking a look at other global headlines, nigeria is asking france to help counter boko haram. nigeria's president this morning called on his french counterpart, francois hollande to support the battle against the group. boko haram is responsible for attacks in and around nigeria and declared its loyalty to isil. >> schools are closed today in four malaysian states, including kuala lampur because of a thick layer of dirty haze blanketing the country. this happens every year as forests are cleared in indonesia to clear land for farming.
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chemicals are onboard to induce rain and clear the air. >> more than 400 have died in the democratic republican of congress from measles. most of children. doctors without borders says the government hasn't acknowledged the outbreak. >> this hour, 100 women are gathering in pennsylvania to begin a 100-mile walk over immigration, hoping to gain the attention of the pope. the women will set off from a detention center in york, pennsylvania. they'll weave their why through maryland and end their way on tuesday. washington, d.c. just in time for pope francis' arrival. they want the pope to and the indignity and injustice. we are live at the beginning of the march. the women will be kicking off the marge any minute now. >> it is supposed to begin any minute now. 100 women are marching 100 miles
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in about a week, time to coincide with the pope's rival next week. one woman who is going to march is monique. she is with the group out of boston. why are you guys doing this? >> well, we just wanted to show support for other immigrants, undocumented folks in the united states, that we're in support and echoing the message of the pope of opening hearts and minds for immigrants across the world. >> for you, this is kind of a personal journey, why? >> maze family came undocumented to the united states together. as a small child, i always lived in fear of losing my brothers and parents every single day. living in the shadows in the united states is isolating and depressing and it's a very dire safety. >> with the pope coming to the united states and taking um this cause, do you feel hopeful that this might be what is needed to encourage congress to take action on immigration. >> definitely, especially with
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what is the state of international affairs to migrants in syria, and what's happening here. the pope that been a great advocate and we want to am philadelphia is message and hopefully that will be the next push for action in congress. >> why march and why march 100 miles? >> it's monumental that we're doing this together and it's spiritual passage for a lot of us. a lot of us have been impacted by immigration and this is healing from that, inspiring healing and justice for everyone. >> what is the plan once you get to washington, d.c.? >> we're going to have a vigil, a vigil of prayer with other groups that are waiting for us and welcoming us into washington, d.c. we're also having a closing vigil on the day of when the pope is visiting obama and congress, addressing congress,
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so we're hoping to boost the mentalling there. >> what do you think the pope is going -- how he's going to respond to this? you are one of many movements, one of many groups vying for attention. how do you think he is going to respond to this? >> i think he's going to be excited and delighted that we're in support, and that we are hopefully another beacon of hope and light for other immigrants. >> have you found that this has been encouraging other people. >> definitely, just the concept alone, the 100 women, 100 files, inspirational, being that we're on the light, marathon walkers, it's kind of pushing us in our limits and inspiring people to push their limits, too. >> these women are from all over the country. >> from california, arizona, massachusetts, yeah. >> monique, thank you so much for your time today, good luck to you. >> thank you. >> a very long, ambitious
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journey begins almost now, 100 women marching 100 miles to washington, d.c. >> they're going to have to battle with a lot of other groups for the pope's ears. jonathan, thank you. >> new evidence that dietary changes could help reduce the risk of breast cancer. women are asked to load their plates with fruits, vegetables and fish. the diet cut risks for heart attacks, stroke, or death from heart disease by 30%. >> america's first latino poet laureate is giving his first official reading at the library of congress later today. juan philippe herrera is the son of mexican migrant farm workers. he said that experience motivates his work. >> my title is poet laureate of united states of america. i'm from fresno, california.
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my father left a small village in chihuahua, northern mexico. he was born in 1882. he jumped a train -- probably went to the capitol of chihuahua and from there jumped a train all the way to denver. that's a straight line. many of my stories come from that particular moment, that was a key moment in my family. everything just falls out in the fields of california, working and working farms and growing up as a child, in those small trailers and tents. you know, when you come from the working class and you're a child of farm workers, perhaps, i'm sure happens to many of us, we don't really think of becoming writers. i was just naturally doing what i was doing. it's like becoming a breather. how do you become a breather? you're not really breathing. poetry may seem like it's hard to write or read, but actually, it's the most natural thing we
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can do. i'm here to encourage everyone to express their experiences, their family's experiences and their homeland experiences. only when we do those things will we have a better sense of being american. let's test the poem about unity, let's test it in the office. let's get together at lunch time and read poems about where we are coming from or about something that's coming up. let's put that to work. i invite everyone to do that right now. >> the new poet laureate's newest project is an epic poem on the library of congress website. he invites americans to contribute their own verses. >> opening this weekend in london, an exhibition looks back at 30 years of work. it also celebrates the fact that an immigrant's passport was
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returned by the chinese government. that's it for us here in new york. thanks for watching, have a great morning. rning. >> millions at stake. shady investments. limited oversight. >> super pacs are part of the wild wild west of campaign finance. >> could actor daniel craig be the latest super pac scam victim? an ali velshi, on target, special investigation.
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>> we're in the "prairie state" yet we have such little of it left. >> now old-school methods meet cutting-edge science... >> we've returned this iconic mammal to illinois. >> with a much bigger long-term benefit. >> grasslands have a critical role in climate change. >> it's exciting. >> techknow's team of experts show you how the miracles of science... >> i'm standing in a tropical windstorm. >> can affect and surprise us. >> wow! some of these are amazing. >> techknow - where technology meets humanity.
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>> hello, welcome to the al jazeera news hour. i'm in doha with the top world news stories. coming up in the next 60 minutes: >> germany calling for a european summit to tackle the refugee crisis as hungary's government declares a state of emergency in two counties. >> israeli's military storms al aqsa mosque in east jerusalem,