the hazy atmosphere and in july you see icy mountains and planes and snapped from 18,000 kilometers above the surface of pluto new horizons is the first space craft to visit pluto and its collection of moons. >> an about foist on the refugee crisis, croatia closes the borders, threatens to arrest migrants coming in one day after offering safe passage. >> virginia high school students at home, wearing confederate flags promise to go back to school this morning. >> the untelevised prejudice

from the pope francis of faith one day before he heads to cuba and then on to the united states. >> this is aljazeera america. good morning, live from new york city, i'm randall pinkston. more difficulty this morning for migrants and refugees trying to make their way across europe. croatia has closed all but one border crossing with serbia. now the army is on alert and the government threatening to close the last crossing, too. croatia has been overwhelmed with refugees coming from syria and other place. more than 13,000 have entered in just the last two days after hungary closed its border with serbia. lawrence lee is along the serbia-croatia border. >> everything is relative of course and even hope to the conditions here are frankly inhumane, it's 40 degrees here

at the moment, there are babies and tiny children all sitting in the dirt, waiting for a bus, for something to take them further north in the direction of the croatian capital. but everything is relative and at least it's better than it was on the hungarien border. there has machine movement today. many of the thousands who were here last night have gone, already by bus or by train in the direction they would hope where it is six hours' walk to the border. it seems a lot, but given the things these people have been doing is quite a major step north to go through when is effectively an entire country. the slovenians have said they won't let them move forward.

the u.n. refugee agency is saying that the european union has got to start getting a grip on this, not just because winter's coming, but just because of the huge backlog of people clogging up the borders and simply not being able to get through. they point out that there is simply no common european policy to try to sort some of this out. in the immediate term at least for some of these people, there is at least a little forward movement. >> lawrence lee along the can he beian, croatian border. the u.s. will take only 10,000 syrian refugees next year, but many americans are trying to help in other ways. erika mitzi has information on the best ways to do that. >> there are hundreds there are desperate. >> they have traveled for weeks. >> people are pleading to soldiers. >> the crisis has been dire for months now but it was this devastating image of the body of the 2-year-old syrian child washing ashore on a turkish

beach that galvanized a global movement to help these desperate people on a journey to find a safe home. >> they were going for a better life. this shouldn't happen. >> the photo brought the crisis to light in a way that had not happened before. >> for the first time, we woke up and we said these are children. we can do something. we have to do something. we can't have children washing up on our beaches. >> the o. of the u.s. fund for unicef: >> they are children on the run from war, poverty, violence. >> the non-profit organization has been helping the relief since the syrian war began more than four years ago. when the photo went environmental, the organization saw a boost in donations by more than 600%. in the first few weeks after the picture, unicefed fund brought in a million dollars in donations. that's nowhere near the response

other crises got initially. in haiti after the earthquake, unicef received $50 million. >> this is a progressive crise and people don't always understand that. i've been out there screaming at the top of my lungs look what's happening! and people are just not hearing it. >> some average americans are listening. members of the islamic cultural center of new york donated truckloads of clothes, shoes and non-perishable food. it's not cost effective to ship material donations. at this point, the best way americans can help is to go green. >> that kind of funding is critical, because it comes in quite quickly and therefore, we can ready get it out to our colleagues who are responding on the ground. >> without more money, these non-profit leaders agree the future is grim particularly for the children. >> they're going to freeze to death in the winter because they left home in the summer. they have new shoes, hats, mittens, winter coats.

they have no blankets, food, shelter, there isn't clean water. they have no sanitation. those are all deliverable goods. >> unicef is still 50% underfunded for the syrian crise. the estimated need is another half billion dollars. al jazeera. >> join us for a special report this sunday, desperate journeys, a global crisis, airing at 9:00 p.m. eastern, 6:00 pacific. >> donald trump is getting heat this morning for not correcting a supporter who called president obama a non-american muslim. >> we have a problem in this country, it's called muslims. we know our current president is one. you know he's not even an american. >> we need this question. this question. [ laughter ] >> anyway, we have training camps growing where they want to kill us. >> uh-huh. >> that's my question. when can we get rid of them?

>> we're going to be looking at a lot of different things. a lot of people are saying that bad things are happening out there. we're going to be looking at that and plenty of other things. >> this is at a town hall meeting last night. trump's campaign manager said the candidate did not respond, because he did not hear that port of the comment about president obama not being an american and being a muslim. seven years ago when john mccain was running for president, he chastised one of his supporters who made a similar comment about then senator obama's heritage. hillary clinton saying: >> as early at today, the obama administration is expected to loosen a travel and commerce embargo on cuba, allowing u.s. companies to office offices there and make it easier for americans to visit the island nation. the president's actions will not

completely lift the economic embargo. that move will face strong opposition in congress. >> pope francis heads to cuba tomorrow and last night sent an unprecedented television message of hope directly to the people of cuba. >> jesus loves you very much. he wants you. he will always carry you in his heart. >> cuba's communist government has been hostile to the catholic church for years. beginning saturday, the catholic leader will travel through cuba before heading to the united states. one of the biggest events in cuba will be his outdoor mass at revolution square in havana. al jazeera will have special coverage of pope francis's visit to cuba this weekend and next week, we will be with the pope throughout his visit to the united states. >> on capitol hill today, the republican led house is taking up two different measures, targeting planned parent hood. conservatives who oppose the organization threaten to let the

government shut it down to prevent funding for the health group. undercover video shot by anti bush and activists appear to show planned parenthood officials describing the sale of tissue from aborted fetuses. plant parenthood has denied it sells tissues. >> protests will occur again today on the ban for con featured symbols. students are suspended for showing up at school with confederate flags on their clothes. >> one day suspension for students to showed up to a verge high school with confederate flags on their backs. >> i can feel my ancestors on my back. >> students are protesting a ban on the can flag. >> we are protesting because if everyone else can have their flag, then we should be able to ever ours. we want the flag that our

ancestors fought for. we want freedom of speech. the school spokesperson said more than 20 arrived to school in attire in violation of the dress code, adding we are not issuing a judgment to the flag but not allowing it supports a peaceful environment in the building. the school, one of several which banned the symbol after a church at a black church in south carolina, the attack sparked a national debate about the flag. >> i do not believe that we do not have the heart in this body to do something meaningful, such as take a symbol of hate off these grounds on friday! >> in july, south carolina's legislature voted to remove the flag from the statehouse grounds. schools elsewhere have taken similar measures. last month, the university of the accident removed a statue of

confederate president jefferson davis. al jazeera. >> the f.b.i. arrested a childhood friend of suspected charleston church shooter dylan roof. he lived with him in the days leading up to the american league that. nine people were killed. meek tried to roof's gun days before and called police after spotting roof on surveillance videos. >> a military hearing for sergeant bowe bergdahl, investigators are trying to determine if he should be court martialed for allegedly deserting his post in afghanistan. military prosecutors claimed yesterday that he planned for weeks to abandon his post in 2009, the defense said he asked the army to release to the public bergdahl's statement after he was freed in a prisoner exchange with the taliban. >> we have been as energetic as

we can in trying to persuade the army to release the unclassified testimony that my client gave under oath to a major general in the u.s. army last year. >> the military wrapped up its case. it is not said if bergdahl will testify. his commanding general will decide if he should face a court martial. >> emergency crews in california found two more victims of the state's devastating wildfires. the bodies were found inside homes burned by the valley fire northwest of sacramento. that wildfire and another, burning further east, killed at least five people and destroyed more than 800 homes. crews say rain and cooler weather have helped them make progress fighting the fires. >> summer isn't even over yet,

but the national oceanic and atmospheric administration is already saying 2015 is likely to be the planet's hottest year on record. meteorologist nicole mitchell is here to tell us why. >> that's pretty amazing, considering a lot of our data is only through july, some of it through august and they're already making this prediction. part of that is because 97% he chance likely they say that will happen. we've already had such a hot year. it's an el niño year, july, june, august, all record-setting for the planet. california has really been under the brunt. there is a look at one of those maps showing the el niño pattern and those warmer waters off in the pacific, so that adds to all of that. california's felt the brunt of this. we were just talking about the fires. the heat is bag on after a little bit of a break with the hire humidities, a little bit of

rain, cooler temperatures, now we're back to what's been more typical recently, which is above average temperatures. we're going to become dry again and those winds are going to pick up over the weekend. we were just mentioning the valley fire, temperatures back in the 90s through the weekend. a front is going through, also bringing rain. i'll have more on that situation, which includes spotty weather in places like chicago, coming up in the next hour. >> a high school football player faces charges this morning for hitting an opponent on the head with a helmet. now his mother is speaking out, defending her son, calling it an accident.

>> samsung will appeal a decision. >> the second in command of soccer's world govern body has been suspended. fifa has been made aware of corruption allegations against the group's secretary general. he was implicated in a plot to sell world cup tickets above face value. >> prosecutors in new jersey this morning are considering where to bring criminal charges against a high school football player. he hit another player in the head with a helmet. now the young man's mother has come out with an explanation for hoar son's actions. when i say his mom saying? >> she is saying her son was provoked. that's not all the mom is saying about high school football violence. she maintains her son didn't mean to swing that helmet at all. >> some video of an 18-year-old high school football player

striking the unprotected head of an opposing player has now been viewed more than half a million times. his mother said the opposing player not only targeted her son with his head during the game, but also called him the n. word. even though, she said the swing of the helmet was a mistake. >> he said his hand got stuck in the helmet. it was an accident. >> the prosecutor will decide whether to file criminal charges. he was suspended from the team. >> i feel the consequence for the incident are very appropriate, considering the seriousness of the incident. >> though the referee penalized him for his action, he wasn't booted from the game. the opposing player went to the hospital and needed 10 stitches. supporters say he has since apologized to the player he hit. >> he said one, it was an accident, and he humbly apologized, not just apologized. he didn't do it purposely.

he said he apologized and that at some point he would do to publicly. >> he apologized to the students, coaches, referees, what else can he do? >> this is the latest incident of on field bad behavior. on september 4 near san antonio the accident, two players hit a referee from behind. >> he just hit the referee! >> eight days later, also in the san antonio area, this st. anthony's high school player shoved an official he disagreed with, earning an immediate rejection for his trouble. >> while it is rare for high school football players to get arrested for on field assault, it has happened. in 2012, four detroit area players were arrested for beating up a rival on the game's final play. the assault charges against the four were later dropped. >> native american tribes are getting overdo payments from the federal government. the obama administration is

paying nearly $1 billion to more than 600 tribes, or tribal agencies. that settles a claim going back decades over failure to say compensate tribes. >> mozambique has been declared land mine free. suinty mccain, an anti land mine activist was in mozambique to dedicate its last known land mine. she told al jazeera the problem is getting better, but many dangers remain. >> the current land mines we found in mozambique and in december bag way and other countries are not produced by one country. there are literally layer upon layer upon layer of land mine produced by many different countries. when you can't walk outside your door or if you do get outside your door, you may either blow yourself up or your animal that's helping you cultivate

your land, it's a pretty major deal. people are sub as i say tense farmers in most of these countries and to not be able to farm that small patch of land means life and death. >> mozambique is the first large country to be declared land mine free. land mines left from conflicts kill 900 people a year. >> getting a fresh start after feeling singled out. >> there's a lot of stereotypes for people who are foreign and they have muslim names. >> the teen, arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school sits down with al jazeera and gives his own explanation for what happened.

>> as the global refugee crisis intensifies... >> they have travelled for weeks, sometimes months. >> and the e.u. struggles to cope... >> we don't know, they stop us here. >> what's being done while lives hang in the balance? >> we need help now.

>> mexico's government arrested a drug cartel boss suspected in the killings of 43 missing students. lopez was one of the masterminds behind the killings. he was arrested wednesday, just over 20 miles from the place the students vanished. >> a high speed train from los angeles to las vegas could finally become a reality. it is called express west. the train would shorten the trip which usually takes four hours to just 80 minutes. china pitched in $180 million to sick start the rail line. it is expected to cost more than "billion dollars. >> ahmed muhammed says he just wants to sleep and wants his clock back. after being arrested earlier this week, he brought oh

homemade clock to school that teachers mistakenly thought was a bomb. that led to police coming and arrestedding him, but dropped the case. he was still suspended for three days. he said every felt he was discriminated against for being muslim. >> there's a lot of stereotypes for people who are for the purposes and they have muslim names, not specifically muslim names, but names mainly in islam. >> you don't think that would have happened to one of your classmates had they brought a clock in to school. >> no, this would not have happened to any of my classmates. >> you are sure of that? >> yes. >> why did the police officer say to you, one of the four said that's who i thought it was. >> yes. i think it was because of my race and because of where i'm from, and because of my name. >> how does that make you feel.

>> it makes me feel different, like i didn't belong there and that i was a threat to them. >> obviously you're not a threat to them. you're a 14-year-old boy. do you think the police, the school or police should apologize, say sorry for what happened? >> yes, they should apologized, but there is no apology at the moment. this isn't my first invention and it won't be my last. just because one person did something to me doesn't mean they can change who i am. >> he has invitations from president obama, mar mark zuckeg and mit, where he hopes to attend college. >> thank you for joining us. stephanie sy is back in two minutes with more aljazeera america morning news. you can keep up through the day on the latest happening around the world on aljazeera.com.

>> officials in croatia threaten to close borders crossings as more refugees head there. >> donald trump under fire for not stepping in when a supporter called president obama a muslim. >> we know our current president is one. you know he's not even american. >> pope francis with an unprecedented message for the cuban people, what he is telling

catholics there ahead of his visit to cuba and the u.s. >> this is aljazeera america, live from new york city. i'm stephanie sy. this morning, the republican front runner in the race for the white house is under fire for what he did not say, we're going to get to that stair in just a minute. first, a major human crise continues to unfold as refugees strain european borders. right now, a new bottleneck and flashpoint, croatia has closed all crossings with serbia september 1. despite that, asylum seekers, many fleeing the middle east are entering through corn fields and brought to the capital on trains. under strain, the government is threatening to close the last border there. lawrence lee has more from along the serbia-croatia border. >> everything's relative, of

course and even though the conditions here are frankly inhumane, it's 40 degrees here. at the moment, there are babies and tiny children all sitting in the dirt, waiting for a bus, for something to take them further north in the direction of the croatian capital. but everything is relative and at least it's better than it was on the hungarian border. there has been movement today. many of the thousands who were here last night have gone, already by bus or by train in the direction they would hope where it is six hours' walk to the border with slovenia. it seems a lot, but given the things these people have been doing is quite a major step north to go through what is effectively an entire country. the slovenians have said they won't let them move forward. the u.n. refugee agency is

saying that the european union has got to start getting a grip on this, not just because winter's coming, but just because of the huge backlog of people clogging up the borders and simply not being able to get through. they point out that there is simply no common european policy to try to sort some of this out. in the immediate term, at least for some of these people, there is at least a little forward movement. >> lawrence lee along the serbian, croatian border. >> thousands of refugees are stranded at the croatian border. many are housed at a camp on the edge of serbia. they're desperate to continue their journey west. >> ahmed thought it was finally

a thing of the past, the fences. instead, he feels trapped again. >> he tells me this delay is a complete surprise and that many here would have paid a smuggler to help them on their way, if they only had the money to do so. the hundreds here came from serbia. many were met with force by riot police when they tried to enter hungary the previous day. children injured in those clashes are easy to spot. >> tensions are very much rising here at this hour. most of the ref series i've spoken with expected to already be in slovenia now. here in this camp, more tents are being put up, clearly preparations being made to handle the influx of people and most of the folks i saw say they don't know exactly when they're going to be able to leave.

>> one syrian refugee is enraged at the in humane conditions he and his family experienced. >> we've been treated like animals. actually, animals are treated better than us. at the end of the day, we're human beings. >> he tells me he's gone four days without a proper shower and that today, things have gotten even worse. >> i've been wanting to go to the toilet for 10 hours and haven't been able to. women and children are in us. what am i supposed to do? i'm embarrassed to go in front of them. there's no hygiene, nothing. >> croatia warrant they don't have the capacity to handle the refugees. even this facility seems stretched beyond capacity. some refugees begin sitting outside the makeshift camp. others search for taxis, buses, even as i am cards, something, anything that will help them

figure out their next move. al jazeera, in northern croatia. >> join us for an al jazeera special report on the refugee crisis this sunday. i will be hosting desperate journeys, a global crise that airs at 9:00 p.m. eastern, 6:00 pacific. >> donald trump is under fire from critics this morning. he failed to interrupt a man who stated president obama is a muslim. we have more. >> donald trump always in the news. the first person he called on asked a question that clearly made the audience continuing, but if trump was uncomfortable, he did a very good job hiding i it. this morning, he is taking a lot of criticism for how he handled the incident, an incident that is drawing comparisons to the 2008 presidential race. >> we're going to have some fun now, because instead of making a speech which i've been doing over and over, i want to take questions. >> donald trump was taking questions at a rally.

one question is now making headlines. >> all right, let's start with this group right over here, come on. ok, this man, i like this guy. >> we have a problem in this country, it's called muslims. we know our current president is one. you know he's not even american. >> we need this question, this first question. [ laughter ] >> he tried to deflect the question by chuckling, but the unidentified man continued. >> we have training camps growing where they want to kill us. that's my question. >> we are going to be looking at a lot of different things. a lot of people are saying that bad things are happening out there. we're going to be looking at that and plenty of other things. >> trump did not interrupt the man, instead responded with an answer, though somewhat vague. democratic hopeful hillary clinton quickly criticized trump for not stepping in writing on twitter:

>> republican arizona senator encountered a similar incident during his campaign for president but handled it a different way. >> i can't trust obama. i have read about him, and he's not -- he's a -- he's an arab. he is not -- no? >> no, ma'am. he's a decent, family man, citizen that i just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that's what this campaign is all about. he's not. thank you. >> the question also brings back memories of 2011, when trump very publicly questioned president obama's citizenship. he demanded that he release his birth certificate to prove he was born in the united states. president obama eventually did, but trump continued to dispute it's authenticity.

>> trump's campaign spokesman said the candidate did not hear the question, saying, obama is waging a war against christians in this country. christians need support in this country, their reege liberty is at stake. >> randall, thank you. >> israel has deployed an additional 3500 security forces to east jerusalem. tensions running high after days of clashes and arrests at the compound around the jewish new year, the al aqsa most is one of the holiest, most contested sites in jerusalem. >> the pope sent a message of hope directly to the people of cuba ahead of his visit. >> jesus loves you very much. he wasn't you. he will always carry you in his heart. >> cuba's communist government has been hostile to the click church for years. beginning saturday, the catholic

leader will travel through cuba before heading to the united states. one of the biggest events will be his outdoor mass in havana at revolution square. a cuban american lawyer and past chairman of face our facts joins us. good to see you, thanks for being with us. pope francis paid a key role in negotiations between the u.s. and cuba. is he going to be doing a victory lap? >> probably will. he certainly will be the rock star. this is a very special pope. this is a pope that gets out of his car and kisses children and blesses handicapped. this is a pope that got out of his car in brazil in the middle of a this wrong. i expect he's going to do something similar in havana. my prediction is he's going to rock havana.

>> talk about the catholic church's relationship with havana and the with the castro brothers. >> it has been troubled. one interesting factoid here is both castro brothers attended a jesuit school and of course the pope is a jesuit. i expect there is going to be interplay between the pope and his naughty pupils, put it this way. i think more important and seriously than that. the catholic church has been gaining ground and credibility in cuba. it is now de facto the only legitimate country wide n.g.o. that has any kind of a viable mission in cuba. it provides a tremendous amount of social services. it has filled in gaps in the social network left when the satisfactory jet union collapsed. for example, the catholic sovereign order of malta now runs over 50 lunch rooms for the elderly who have no other way to

be fed every day. >> arguably, the pope is more popular than the castes in cuba. >> there was a survey where the most popular figure in cuba was the pope, followed by president obama and the castro brothers came in sixth and seventh. >> is the pope's visit to cuba right before heading here a message to the u.s. does he bring up the u.s. embargo? >> i believe it is and i believe he will. i suspect that he's going to deliver private messages on human rights and maybe say something publicly in cuba. i also believe he will deliver a private message on the embargo and probably a very public one when he addresses congress. >> will he deliver a private message to raul castro about dissident that is continue to be jailed in that country? >> he has come out that way before and has come out against the embargo saying it doesn't add anything and adds to the

misery and suffering of the cuban people. >> he is described as a social i have the. he is of course a champion of the poor. what do you think his economic message is, is he for more liberalization? >> i think he is, but i agree, i think he has criticized capitalism in the past. i don't think that makes him a socialist, but i think he has brought out the flaws of capitalism and some of its abuses and the need to regulate some practices and to take care of the environment, for example. >> all right, thank you so much for joining us. good to see you. >> aljazeera america will have special coverage of the pope's visit to cuba this weekend and next week throughout his visit to the united states. >> last year, pope francis took steps towards ridding the vatican of mafia influence. historian john dickee is investigating ties that bound the catholic church to organized

crime for centuries. as part of an al jazeera special, ajam presents the pope and the mafia. >> pope francis is facing a huge challenge. only the year before he was elected, a priest here was prosecuted for collusion with the mafia while another testified in court on behalf of three mobsters. police surveillance cameras even captured a summit between the bosses that took place during a pilgrimage. >> men representing bosses from all over the world went to the sanctuary to greet the presiding boss and kiss his ring. this is a gesture of submission, a way of recognizing his investiture of boss.

it took a century and a and a half for the pope to excommunicate the mafia. at long last, after pope francis' visit, a document came out denouncing, but this was in 2015. >> you can watch the special ajam presents at 10:00 p.m. eastern. >> the republican led house is taking up two measures targeting planned parent hood. conservatives who oppose the organization are threatening to let the government shut down to prevent funding for the health group. undercover video shot by anti abortion activists appear to show officials selling tissue. >> a break in the missing 43

students believed to be abducted and killed last year in mexico. a drug cartel boss is said to be one of the master minds behind the massacre. they say he was arrested 20 miles from the school where the students vanished. >> there is destruction from a major earthquake that hit chile. hundreds of homes, buildings and roads were destroyed. 12 people died. the 8.3 magnitude quake caused several billion dollars worth of damage. >> back in the u.s., the issue today is high heat in the west. let's bring in meteorologist nicole mitchell. good morning. >> good morning. california fared really well from any tsunami concerns. hilo, hawaii got a couple of feet, but the u.s. didn't fare badly at all in terms of that. this is an active radar, and there is not a thing on it, not a thing expected to be on it now

for the next several days at least if not longer. we've got high pressure in place, so stagnant air moving back into the area is allows things to heat up, already into the upper 80s in fresno and valley areas and continuing to warm from there. we're also going to see and this is why we're starting to see all the areas that you have highlighted, that's kind of a special weather statement for going into the weekend. we could see those red flags, fire danger warnings and watches go back up, because we're expecting not just hot by dry, less humidity and winds to kick up in the area. that will add to the fire concerns. we still have active fire areas, only 35% contained. that's one of the ones causing so much devastation. you can see by this weekend, temperatures are back in the 90s with the dry conditions, so that's a huge concern. we've had a lot of heat in the midwest. that is going away. we've had about a 10, if not more temperature degree drop as

the front has gone through that's also saturday other problems. you can see the rain this morning, places like chicago adding to a slower than normal commute and back along this line we've had stronger storms, so parts of cans right now, watch for possible wind and hail as all of that goes on, plus the little hit and miss flooding with the heavy rain. >> nicole mitchell, thank you. >> a the accident teen blames discrimination for his arrest over a clock. >> there's a lot of stereotypes for people who are foreigners and they have muslim names. >> ahmed muhammed sits down with al jazeera and gives his explanation for what happened. >> this is a ghost down in the remote part of the western united states. there's only one resident that lives in this town, and he's here to try to preserve this piece of forgotten american history. i have that story, coming up.

>> several students at a virginia high school tell al jazeera they plan to protest over a ban on confederate symbols. twenty students from christiansburg high school were suspended for showing up with confederate flags on their backs or on their clothes. >> one day suspensions for students who showed up at a high school with confederate flags on their back.

>> i can feel my ancestors on my back. >> students are protesting a ban on the can flag. >> we are protesting because if everyone else can have their flag, then we should be able to ever ours. we want the flag that our ancestors fought for. we want freedom of speech. the school spokesperson said more than 20 arrived to school in attire in violation of the dress code, adding we are not issuing a judgment to the flag but not allowing it supports a peaceful environment in the building. the school, one of several which banned the symbol after a church at a black church in south carolina, the attack sparked a national debate about the flag. >> i cannot believe that we do not have the heart in this body to do something meaningful, such as take a symbol of hate off these grounds on friday! >> in july, south carolina's legislature voted to remove the flag from the statehouse grounds. schools elsewhere have taken similar measures.

last month, the university of texas removed a statue of confederate president jefferson davis. al jazeera. >> ahmed muhammed says he just wants to sleep and wants his clock back. after being arrested earlier this week, he brought oh homemade clock to school that teachers mistakenly thought was a bomb. that led to police coming and arresting him, but dropped the case. he was still suspended for three days. he said every felt he was discriminated against for being muslim. >> there's a lot of stereotypes for people who are foreigners and they have muslim names, not specifically muslim names, but names mainly in islam. >> you don't think that would have happened to one of your classmates had they brought a clock in to school. >> no, this would not have happened to any of my classmates. >> you are sure of that? >> yes. >> why did the police officer say to you, one of the four said that's who i thought it was. >> yes. i think it was because of my race and because of where i'm

from, and because of my name. >> how does that make you feel? >> it makes me feel different, like i didn't belong there and it made me feel like i was a threat to them. >> obviously you're not a threat to them. you're a 14-year-old boy. do you think the police, the school or police should apologize, say sorry for what happened? >> yes, they should apologize, but there is no apology at the moment. this isn't my first invention and it won't be my last. just because one person did something to me doesn't mean they can change who i am. >> he has invitations from president obama, mark zuckerberg and m.i.t., where he hopes to attend college. >> prosecutors in new jersey may bring criminal charges against a high school football player. he hit another player in the head with a helmet. his mother has come out to

explain his actions. >> anita mcduffy said her son was provoked, but that's not all this mom is saying about this latest incident of on the field, but outside of the rules high school football violence. she maintains her son didn't mean to swing that helmet at all. >> this video of 18-year-old lyndon high school football player striking the head of an opposing player has been viewed more than a half million times. his mother says the opposing player not only targeted her son with his head during the game, also called him the n. word. >> he said it was an accident. my thing is, he said his hand got stuck in the helmet. >> files have been turned over to the prosecutor's office to decide whether to file charges. he was kicked off the team and suspended 10 days from school. >> i feel the consequences for the incident are very appropriate, considering the

seriousness of the incident. >> though the referee penalized him for his action, he wasn't booted from the game. the opposing player needed 10 stitches. the student's supporters say he has apologized for the student he hit. >> fritz said one it was an accident and he humbly apologized, not just apologized. he didn't do it purposely, you can see that on his facebook. he said he apologized and at some point would do that publicly. >> epulides to his teammates, coves, referee, what else can he do? >> this is just another incident of on field bad behavior this season. near san antonio, two players hit a referee from a behind. >> oh! he just hit the referee! >> eight days later, also in the san antonio area, this st. ant flee's high school player shoved an official he disagreed with, earning and immediate eject for

his trouble. >> while it is rare for high school football players to get arrested for on field actions, it has happened. police arrested four detroit area players for beating up a rival on the game's final play. assault charges against the four were later dropped. >> former president jimmy carter shared a sweet moment last night with braves fans in atlanta. he and his wife rosalyn were put on the stadium kiss cam. two were in their usual seats near the braves dugout during the 5-0 loss to the toronto blue jays. the couple stayed for all nine innings, 90-year-old former president is undergoing treatment right now for melanoma. no waters for wear. >> women in uniform of course served with honor, but are they fit to serve on the front lines. the report questioning their readiness. >> real life ghost town, one man's mission to preserve the mining town he calls home.

to cope... >> we don't know, they stop us here. >> what's being done while lives hang in the balance? >> we need help now.

>> >> criticism today for republican presidential hopeful donald trump. he did not correct a supporter who called president obama a non-american muslim during a town hall in new hampshire last night. his campaign manager said the candidate did not respond because he didn't hear that part of the comment. >> pope francis is preparing for his visit to cuba and sharing a message of love and faith, he says jesus loves the people of cuba. he arrives in havana form for a four day visit. he will give a speech at revolution square. >> croatia shut seven of eight

borders with serbia to prevent more refugees from crossing. the government is now throatens to close the last border crossing. more than 13,000 refugees fleeing war and poverty have come in from serbia in two days. may not have been transferred to the capital on trains. >> traveling through hungary is the easiest path to western europe and the rest of the e.u., but with the new border fence, croatia has become the next easiest option. croatia isn't connected to another western e.u. country. the eventual-game is to get to austria. from there, they can enter germany, meaning easier access to e.u. countries. joining us now, steven wolf, a member of the european parliament from england and spokesman for ukip on migration. thank you for your time and

being with us. what do you think should be done about the migrant crisis? >> germany is in a situation where they're going to have to accept the numbers of migrants that they have made, that are now coming over to them, because they made the statements they would open their bored stores everybody, ignoring international law and the dublin treaty and the fact that we should look at refugees and economic migrants separately. they should improve the camps in turkey and lebanon and look for building a safe haven area in syria. >> do you agree that the transit countries such as hungary should build a wall and reinforce their borders or let them transit on to countries such as germany, despite what you say, are welcoming these migrants. >> well, firstly, we have to recognize that these are sovereign countries.

these are countries that have their own people, who elect their own politicians and what they're trying to do is actually abide by the law. remember very clearly when we look at -- >> they are e.u. countries signatories to the agreement who have signed on to dublin, the agreement means these people can come in at their first point of entry and apply for asylum. >> that's the point. germany is effectively thrown that away. by making the statements they've done, they've said everybody should be able to come to germany, which has thrown away the dublin agreement and made a mockery of the shangin agreement. hungary and croatia are closing their borders to members that are not the european union. you're trying to say to people that they are not enentitled to look and respect international law and sort ofty issues. germany opened up a can of worms and now realize that when people

said 800,000 would come, there are many saying there would be a lot more than that. remember what the united nations are saying, firstly, this is over a million people on the border -- >> person is a refugee, they cannot be sent back to their country. do you think hungary should be building a fence and just blocking these migrants? >> i think hungary has the right to look at its own conditions of its own country, whether it's capable of being able to host these migrants and refugees, where it's able to make a extinguishment between the international regulations that you've talked which also exclude economic migrants and whether they then have the support of germany to accept everybody coming through. what germany is doing through the european union is saying no, we want to distribute the refugees to all the countries of europe, whether you can do so or not and we will make sure that we're in control of the decision-making through the european union. >> you've laid out what you call

a self radical proposal to stabilize syria and part that have plan is to reinstate bashar al assad. how do you explain how that would be good for the syrian people? >> well, it's much better for the syrian people. they can return to a country which is being rebuilt under my plan with a marshall plan, where the international world recognizes responsibilities in trying to create regime change, where we built the roads, schools, hospitals. under my plan, just as we did at general mcar thee in japan, we put somebody of significant influence and power alongside bashar al assad to assure he respects human rights, it is rights of democracy, putting in votes and assure that he doesn't pursue people who opposed him politically during the campaign. he only controls one five road

of the country, the other is controlled by daish, isil and al-qaeda. we need to use him gnarly to get rid of them. >> are you willing to put british troops on the ground and in the air to enforce a safe zone? >> i've made an absolute call that this should be a united nations conference where we deal not only with this particular issue, but how we deal with the other problems that have caused the mass migration from the middle east and africa. those decisions must be to have an international force and look at those people in the international force must have the skills to be able to make sure we have a safe zone. we're calling on people to come together to work on this quickly, because the longer we don't make a decision on this, the longer that we allow it to go on, more and more millions of people will be displaced and moving towards europe and have these difficulties that they're facing. >> steven wolf, member of

european parliament and spokesman for ukip on migration, thank you for sharing your viewpoint with us. appreciate it. >> i will be hosting desperate journeys, a global crisis. >> testimony resumes this morning in the military hearing for sergeant bowe bergdahl. investigators are trying to determine if he should be court martialed or allegedly deserting his post in afghanistan. he was released in a prisoner exchange with the taliban. we have this report from san antonio. >> bergdahl wearing his uniform showed know emotion. his lead attorney offered one line for his opening statement, the government should make sergeant bergdahled statement available to the public, not just to you. >> we have been as energetic as

we can in trying to persuade the army to release the unclassified testimony that my client gave under oat to a major general in the u.s. army last year. >> he also won't reveal the defense strategy, or if bergdahl will testify. he also appealed directly to the media for help. >> if we go to court, which i think is quite likely, i hope we'll have plenty of company from your employers. >> the prosecution called three witnesses today from bergdahl's platoon, including its leader, captain john phillips. under cross examination, billings conceded that bergdahl had an outstanding record and that no one in the platoon was killed trying to find him. >> he was stationed in southeastern afghanistan when he vanished in june of 2009. he walked off his unit's base, leaving behind his weapon, protective gear, and other

military equipment. >> my name is bowe bergdahl. >> at some point he was captured by the taliban and healed prisoner for five years. >> we are committed to closing guilt mow. we also made an ironclad commitment to bring our prisoners of war home. >> the president's words began controversy. soldiers who served with bergdahl accused him of wanting to join the taliban. >> we want people to realize that he is not an american hero. he didn't serve with honor and dignity and respect and he is a deserter in a time of war. >> the government has repeatedly said there is no proof that anyone was killed trying to rescue bergdahl and defended actions in securing his release. >> this is the right thing to do. we in the united do not leave our men and women in uniform behind during an armed conflict. >> after an investigation, the army this year charged bergdahl with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. if convicted of the misbehavior

charge, he could face life in a military prison. his lawyers are expected to argue that he left his post, not the army and that his time in captivity should be considered punishment enough. al jazeera, san antonio texas. >> the pentagon is wrapping up its review of whether woman should be on the front lines have combat. the military leadership is trying to remove all barriers by january 1. the marine corps is pushing back. >> just last month, it seemed two female soldiers who aced the army ranger training had pretty much settled the debate over the best way to integrate women into ground combat, namely keep standards high and give women a fair shot. >> equal standards across the board. >> the u.s. marine corps said not so fast. it argues it's not just how quickly an individual marine can clear a wall or carry a 95-pound

how often witser around a battlefield, it's how the whole squad performs as a team. earlier this year at 29 palms, california, the marine corps conducted an experiment, pitting mixed gender squads against an all men's unit. the men's team were faster by a wide margin, scoring higher on 69% of all measured tasks. according to a summary reds, men outshot women on the m4 rifle with a hit rate of 44% to 28%. men were faster at combat maneuvers, including clearing walls and vac evacuating casualties. women suffered twice the rate of musculo-skeletal injuries, 44% for women compared to 19% for males. now the debate rages over what it means. the experiment was designed to figure out the best way to integrate women into combat or

aim more at finding a rationale to keep them out. >> it looks like a way to keep them out, support an argument saying women aren't good enough and here's data to show they were thrower. >> she was a cobra peter pilot. she said the study doesn't take into account many other vair yells. >> for example, prior training is a big part of the data missing. when you look at training prior to to coming, especially those men in armed conflict jobs before had physical and tactical training that none of the women had. >> top marine says the study will be just one factor, as he decides whether to recommend keeping women out of marine infantry units. on social media, many marines have already decided that putting women in infantry units

will sacrifice combat effectiveness for political correctness. >> a highly decorated marine corps non-commissioned officer who helped set up the experiment wrote on his facebook page, you're senior leadership that of this country does not want to see america overwhelmingly succeed on the battlefield. it wants to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to pursue whatever they want, regardless of the outcome of national security. he argued the experiment was in fact fair, the women were the best available and that marines are open-minded. in a facebook post that was later removed, he argued there is nothing gender biased about this. it is what it is. you will never see a female quarterback in the nfl. the angry backlash has been fueled in part by public statements from navy secretary in charge of both the navy and marine corps. he has said he will ask that all jobs be open to women and in an

interview suggested the study was flawed. >> it started out with a fairly large component of the men thinking this is not a good idea and women will never be able to do this. when you start out with that mindset, you're almost presupposing the outcome. >> critics point to the fact that to get into the experiment, women and men had to demonstrate only a minimum level of physical fitness, a standard many men succeeded, suggesting perhaps raising the physical requirements for everyone, rather than excluding women might even the playing field. retired army colonel who sued the pentagon over the ban on women in combat said it's like pitting an all-star team against a farm team. she accuses the marine corps of deliberately undertaking a subversive course of action that fundamentally challenges the secretary of defense. al jazeera, the pentagon. >> more heat is returning to southern california this weekend and that is bad news for those

crews fighting the big wildfires there. could those fires and the drought ravaging california be connected to natural disasters in other parts of the world? techno's fill torres spoke to scientists trying to figure that out. >> this drought is so epic, it's so out of the norm, that we actually don't have an answer to what can we expect long term. >> four years into california's epic drought, reservoirs are near empty, farmers herding and its forests are under attack by tonnistic pests. in order to understand these changes to forests, scientists must first assess their health, using field observations and airplanes. >> with that, we were off. >> the majority of california's forests are under drought stress today. my guess is that most of these forests are in trouble. >> back at the lab, as this team

got to work analyzing all of the data, that's where techno's fill torres picks up the story. >> these are the results of the flight. >> it looked green, but here we see something that is dramatically different. >> what do you see? >> we see that the forest varies from average conditions in the yellows and blues down to areas that look severely drought stricken in red. >> next we looked at an area where the drought stress was more acaught. >> this from loss padres national forest, this is what it looks like when you fly over. gray green, looks like your typical southern cal forest. this is what it looks like in chemical detail. those trees are doing ok, but everything else is showing severe drought stress, and that's shown here in red. >> what we're starting to worry about is whether these droughts are interrelated in length at a

global scale. >> it seems a lot of forests of the world are in trouble, drought's putting pressure. >> we don't know how much of the global forest cover is at risk. we are now finally getting the measurements with he need to make that's predictions. >> you can see more of techno tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. eastern, 330 pacific only an aljazeera america. >> in california, there's an effort to protect towns in the old west. many are now just barren landscapes and a few standing rely likes. we have a report from the california desert. >> this is not just any town, but a ghost town. there are no phones here, no cell signal, not even a television, and no male service, either. it does have something, meet rocky novak, for the past 11 years, the one and only resident. he's trying to preserve the

history of this once blight mining town that was an important hub for mineral exploration. >> these are photos from it in its day. this is 1898 photo. there's the hotel right here. >> this town was quite a town in its hey day, huh? >> bank, post office, it had a store, and it had seven saloons, four brothels and a cemetery. >> anything a miner would want. >> anything a miner would want and need. too bad they don't have that now. >> today the town is an open air museum, in disrepair, but a couple of old believes are still standing, and artifacts still sitting where they were left a century ago. >> in many ways, rocky represents a last line of defense, a man doing his part to try to preserve a little piece of american history that so many

have forgotten about, because if he wasn't here, this is a place that would almost certainly not exist. >> there is nobody here, you know, this place would be gone in a woke. >> why? >> vandalized. it would be vandalized. if they knew this place was open and there was nobody here, this place would be carried off in a week. >> there are an estimated 250 ghost towns in california alone like this one. they represent the boom and bust gold rusher are a, the history of the america west that is fast disappearing with the passing of time. this believe, once a casino in 1907 today locked up in order to keep looters away and preserve the rest. back in the town, that's rocky's mission to keep the history alive and at least in this ghost town, he's the only man left

standing to do it. al jazeera, california. >> taxi driver by day, author by night. a syrian man is fulfilling his dreams of writing while rebuilding his life in the u.s.

>> many refugees fleeing syria are professionals seeking opportunity. andy met a writer who escaped syria seven years ago and today is a cab driver in chicago. >> he may have the least glamorous day job of any famous author. his short stories, poems and parables poke fun at bashar al assad and religious fanaticism and oppression. >> it's humor. there's more sadness in my

stories. >> he's driving a cab here in chicago seven days a week that leaves him with only enough time to trouble down his thoughts in between fares. even after 17 years in the united states, his thoughts were never far from syria, where family still lives. >> downtown damascus. this is still ok so far, but they can hear fighting. they can hear everything. >> things have not gotten better and in the year and a half since we first brought you the story, the situation has gotten worse with the rise of isis and crush of refugees fleeing the country. he says what scares him is that the leaders of isis are educated, the kind of people who might be smart enough to be moved by his stories of oppression. >> they have their own ideals. they protect them. they believe in their ideals. >> he said his writing used to be optimistic, now calls it

realistic. he is equally horrified by the bashar al assad regime, isis and by the refugee crisis. >> i was shocked. i was shocked. there is only chaos now. everybody kills everybody. >> he knows the worse things get in syria, the more popular his work might become. he writes in arabic and english and received rave reviews in literary circles. his publishers await his novel, a book that reflects he says the reality in syria now. >> i'm not going to hurry it, because i want to see the next events in syria, because muslims, the novel is based on true stories. >> maybe waiting for more optimistic things to happen? >> i hope so. >> the page will still be his stage and he'll have plenty more

to say. al jazeera, chicago. >> a high speed train from los angeles, las vegas could finally become a reality. the express west would travel between the two cities at 105 miles an hour, a trip would last just 80 minutes. china pitched in $100 million to kickstart it. construction is slated for next september. the probable is expected to cost more than $7 billion. >> despite western sanctions and what some call a new cold war, the u.s. and russia continue to cooperate on space x exploration. we have a story that tells how outer space brought the two former enemies together. >> reunited with her capsule, the first woman in space. this is now a museum piece. this journey could quite easily have been a one way trip. i asked her if she was ever

scared. >> with it was work, she tells me. if you were afraid, you would never be allowed into space. this capsule is like a close friend, only made from space technology. she returned a hero of the soviet union and remains to this day the only woman to fly a solo mission into space. several years earlier, the satisfactory yet kick started the space age with a series of pie mering first, the first satellite, dispute nick one and then the first man in space. the first space walk and first somersault. >> the soviet union's early achievements were seen as a challenge by the u.s. who beat moscow in putting a man on the moon. >> it may be a legacy of cold war tensions, but often here in

the west, these major achievements are sometimes eclipsed by nasa says later moon landings. when it comes to the space race, there is one clear winner, the soviet union. >> they landed the first probe on the moon, also landed on venus. those are incredible scientific achievements. they're just as important as the lunar landing. the lain marylanding is sexy and has a lot of p.r., but these other things are just as important. >> with the space race long over, tensions have been replaced by cooperation and joint missions. after the u.s. grounded its shuttle fleet in 2011, it now pays russia $63 million per astronaut her trip. this collection shows man's early cosmic achievements from the spacecraft to the space toilet, meaningful moment momenn

humanity's journey into the unknown.

>> business man bill browder. >> if my grandfather was the biggest communist in america, i'm gonna go become the biggest capitalist in eastern europe. >> from communist origins to capitalist tycoon. see why he's now set on taking down vladimir putin. >> the russian government remains determined to ruin me in any way they can, including killing me if they can get away with it.

>> this is the news hour, from doha. croatia struggles to cope with the refugee crise and its plan to deal with the problem outraged its neighbor. >> at least 40 people are dead after a taliban attack on a former air force base in pakistan. thousands of israeli security personnel are