this is al jazeera america, i'm richelle carey in new york, here are the top stories - history in havana, pope francis greets the faith: a mass in revolution plaza, and meets with former leader fidel castro. ben carson sparks controversy, talking about islam. and russian air power in syria. >> one in four americans within

three miles of either a designated site or potential abandoned and contaminated site and a look at the threat toe health that exists in hundreds, thousands of places across the country. and we begin with a landmark visit to cuba, pope francis held mass for thousands of people in revolution square. it was the largest event of the first full day in the caribbean nation. cubans waited for hours just to get a glimpse of the pontiff. pope francis met former cuban president fidel castro. officials scribing the meeting

as friendly and informal. we cover the journey, we go live to havana. david ariosto, what did you hear at the mass? >> that's right. hundreds of thousands of people joined in the plaza, it was the third papal visit since 1998. all eyes were focused on what pope francis might say. the pope is the behind the scenes broker. back in december 17th, 2014, when president obama announced normalization of relations between cuba and the rates, ending a freeze in diplomatic relations. stepping back to when the embargo was put in place in 1960. the pope focuses most of his speech on religious tone. it's to promote catholicism. the church as been restricted since the revolution. they were driven out.

a lot of property was confiscated. he focused on encouraging the church within the country side. some poignant remarks had to do with columbia. they have been a broker in the talks between columbia and f.a.r.c. the negotiating table is here in havana, the pope urged a reconciliation of that conflict and talked in veiled terms about political ideology, let's listen to what they have to say. >> translation: service is never ideological, we don't serve ideas, we serve people. >> reporter: many people are interpreting the comments, coming over the first of three city, 4-day visit. it's the first critique of the cuban government. the comments are obviously made

under that iron mural, the famous mural - revolutionary figures - a part of the revolution. so the idea that pope francis came here and was talking about helping individuals, not necessarily ideology flies in the face of that revolution however it's involved in the years to come. >> we were speaking and seeing live pictures of the pontiff having an audience with the young people. >> what do we know about these arrests that i mentioned a moment ago. i believe there were three people arrested today. what else do you know about that. >> that's correct. let's be correct. three individuals were detained. there was one individual approaching the pope. you can see it in a video, grabbing the pope's hand. security dragged him away. it's not clear if he was a dissident.

he's a bit of a rock star as he is throughout latin america. human rights has been an issue that many wonder if the pope is going to address. they have political prisoners that have not been release the ahead of the visit. as did pope benedict in 2012. what transpires now of the group, ladies in white. this is a group of dissidents that hold long-stem flowers and march in protest of friends and family that are detained. they indicated that they wanted to meet with pope francis, and said if they didn't. it was a result of the cuban government stopping them. there's no indication that they met with pope francis, there's no indication that the government was involved in taking away or removing dissidents in terms of that meeting. we are in murky waters here. the question of dissidents on the island is something that plays out. not only here, but in local

politics, in miami, jersey, part of the lobby that made any kind of resolve or broker of negotiations difficult between the countries. dissidents are not the issue, pope francis may or may not address, but it's present in cuba. >> they show live pictures of the pope right now. we do know, obviously, that pope francis met with president raul castro, and know that he met with the former leader, fidel castro. what do we know about that meeting? >> it was about a 30 minute meeting in which pope francis travelled to castro's house. the two exchanged series of works. he had been handed a book after his visit with pope benedict in 2012. a book on religion. pope francis also handed over a series of books. interestingly, he handed a writing of a spanish born priest

that was fidel's tutor, prior to the revolution. castro had this man expelled in 1961. the handing of the writings of a former attitudor, former leader. it's an supering moment. and could be a sign that the pope is not necessarily holding back punches in terms of the discourse going forward. he's been critical of the state and the united states in terms of its application of the embargo. what transpires next as the pope makes a 3-day, 4-day visit across the island, and then to the united states. it will be words watching. >> david ariosto. we'll watch that, there's a programming note to tell you about coming up later. a preview of an al jazeera special airing tonight called "the pope and the mafia", and talk to the film-maker behind the documentary in the second

half hour. >> first, trump, g.o.p. hopeful ben carson, during a television appearance, corrsan said he would not support a run for president. the remarks drawing a backlash. here we have more on that controversy with john terrett. >> on multiple, multiple levels. you have to ask yourself what was ben carson thinking when he made the remarks. first we had donald trump who didn't speak up. >> and ben carson, until this moment was behind donald trump. he's in hot water, his views on muslims in america. >> >> reporter: for the second time in a week islam is dominating the 2016 presidential campaign. dr ben carson is telling "meet

the press", that a muslim shunt occupy the white house. >> i'd advocate that a muslim not be put in charge of nation. >> he said he would vote for a muslim voting on capitol hill. >> congress is a different story, depend who the muslim is, and what the policies are. fresh from their own controversies, republican front runner and defending the way he handled supporters on wednesday, calling into question president obama's religion. >> there's a problem in this country called muslim. we know the current president is one. >> some thought i should have defended the president in terms of what was arrived. my attitude would he have done for me, if someone said it about me. >> trump softened his stance. he insisted radical muslims are a problem. most are fabulous. i have friends that are muslims,

there's a problem with certain militants that obviously you report on every night, on news casts. there's a problem with mill tansy. and it is something that will have to be solved. >> reporter: trump went after former hewlett packard boss, carly fiorina, just as a poll showed she jumped to second place. from 15% to 24%. trump down on 80% on last time. >> she did a terrible job at hewlett packard and others, the companies are a disaster. >> fiorina is pushing back saying she led hooul at packard through the height of a worst technology disaster when the nasdaq collapsed. >> the job of a chief executive is to build sustainable shareholder value over time. that's what we did. >> fighting for the democratic ticket. hillary clinton was on face the

nation talking about the crisis. the u.s. should step up to the plate where others can't or won't. >> we are facing the worst refugee crisis. i think the united states would have to do more, and i'd like to see us move from a 10,000 to 65,000, and begin to put into place mechanisms for investigating the people that we would take in. >> so that's a wrap up of the sunday broadcast. recording the ben carson affair, the council on islamic relations, care for short, is calling on ben carson to withdraw from the presidential race and warns it wants political leaders across the spectrum. interesting that he said he would vote for a muslim running for congress. there are already two muslims. >> a suspect is now in custody after a gunman opened fire against women after a gunman opened fire in a church in

alabama. leaving three wounded. the suspect grabbed a seat in the front row of the tabernacle church and pulled out a gun and opened fire. james junior minter has been charged with three counts of attempted murder. he's accused of shooting his girlfriend and one-month-old son and the pastor. >> the u.s. is welcoming the release of two americans detained. they were freed with the help from the sultan. a third american is held in yemen. there's a fierce battle under way for the third largest city. we have this report. >> chaos on the streets of tiaz. >> a man is heard shouting, arriving for help. his father has been shot.

there's intense fighting in tiaz between rebels and government troops. the injured are rushed to the hospital, which is overwhelmed with increasing numbers of casualties. activists accuse the shia muslim houthis of forces loyal to former president, who targeted civilians. the war has claimed the lives of thousands of yemenis. this house was targeted by a coalition air strike. neighbours say a family of 11 was killed in the attack. it's the second air strike targetting the old city, considered a world heritage sight. >> the opener of this house was a farmer, he had a farm outside. the bomb that hit his house dammed an area of 500m. we think 50 to 80 people were damaged in the attack.

>> forces loyal to the president backed by troops from the coalition lead by saudi arabia have launched an offensive to capture the provinces. both on the eastern border of sanaa. if recaptured loyalists are expected to try to sees the capital next. >> the focus of fighting in syria's war was in aleppo on sunday. 14 civilians were killed when rebel forces bombarded a government neighbourhood. there were government air strikes in the area, and there's evidence of russia building up military strength. we have this exclusive report. >> reporter: a crackling raid no transmission in russian.

intercepted by rebels in homs. the voice belongs to the pilot of a cargo plane. the voice asks for permission to decrease altitude and to land. >> after a while it was clear to us there was a cargo plane in the sky, accompanying by four military jets, in the direction of south-east to north-west. >> these are exclusive al jazeera pictures of what is believed to be the russian cargo plane. the destination, the airport in the coastal city, 20km south of latakia city. that is where the russians sent weapons and support staff, they say to help syrian president bashar al-assad in the fight against i.s.i.l. the u.n. secretary of state john kerry says there are air to air weapons at the airport, which has little use against i.s.i.l. or rebels. >> material the presence of the aircraft with air to air combat

capacity and air to surface missiles race series questions. that is precisely why they are engaged in conversation about answering the questions and about de-conflicting the russian activity. >> the analyst is saying russia is building up a stronghold. syria is important for ally because it's the only ally in the center of the world. if ali were to fall, russia would have no beach head, a port city. >> reporter: meanwhile in homs rebel groups are keeping an ear on air traffic to see what steps the russian military will take next. the united states agrees to take in more refugees while one european country is working to create a better transition for the people arriving on its borders. and the experiences of a different community of refugees arriving in america in the wake of the vietnam war.

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the u.s. has a new goal when it comes to taking in syrian refugees. today secretary of state john kerry said the u.s. will increase the number of refugees it takes in every year. it's currently capped at 70,000. kerry says it will rise to 85,000 to 100,000 in 2017.

>> the step that i'm announcing, keeping it as tradition of america as a land as a beingon of hope. it will be accompanied by additional financial contributions to the humanitarian effort, not only from the government, but the american people. the screening process will be the same for all future refugees. the european union continues to face criticism for the handling of the refugee crisis. thousands face terrible conditions. slovenia emerges as a place with far more organized systems to help them on their journey, lawrence lee reports. >> reporter: yet another dismal morning from the refugees stuck on the crew asian side of the bored -- croatian side of the border. many men were here.

separated from families, moved on but them. feels like the usual chaos. >> someone speaks. old people going to slovenia. we don't believe them. over the border things are different. off the buses, orderly queues at the slovenia registration center. there are beds here, plenty of foods and medical facilities to care for a little child suffering from dehydration. the government said on sunday it was given more funding from the european commission that places like this, on the assumption that they will continue to have to clean up the mess. >> we tried to go through the procedures in the most organized way in the best interests of the migrants. i hope to be able to fulfil the task to the last migrant that comes to slovenia. >> refugees that were successfully process end up in

places like this, on the border of austria. police are around. there's no restrictions on their movement at all. this mum couldn't stop smiling. she was that much closer to germany, and no one in the way. >> here in slovyansk it's good. >> very good. >> and those that end up in the capital's asylum center are free to jump on a train with anyone else, but a change from having to push your children through the window. >> at budapest, hungarian authorities tried and failed to force the refugees to stay in one place. serbia and croatia resorted to piling people on to buses and dumping them at the border, the contrast couldn't be more stark. there's not a police officer in site. what it means is any refugee that makes to this far has almost got there. >> of course, slovenia has not dealt with the big numbers, but they probably will. for once it looks like a country

with a system, arriving a taste of freedom in the years following the end of the vietnam war, an estimated 800,000 people fled that country, and more than half of them came to the united states. the war itself ended with a fall of saigon in 1975. as the communist government consolidated its victory, many vietnamese associated with the government of the south or the united states found themselves facing life in re-education camps or worse. the bulk. exodus from vietnam came in 1978 or 1979 as people fled into the south china sea. >> let's bring in dr vin chung. when he was three, he and his family fled on a fishing boat. he recount the scotory in his wk

"where the wind leads", thank you so much. you were three years old at the time your family fled on this boat. what two you remember of that experience? >> because i was so young, i didn't know what was going on. as you can imagine, for any young child, it was a terrifying experience, and my family face near death. and so the book is really a collection of collective memories from my parents and my children, and the steps that we had to go through to flee the country, and make it to the united states are really the same ones that people are doing today. >> these pictures that we are seeing now are pictures of you and your family in this really harrowing experience that you went through back in 1979, and you have drawn a parallel for what so many families have gone through. we'd circle back to that in a moment. i want to ask you first, what

was it like once you got here, who are the people that helped make this truly difficult transition? >> yes, at one point my family of 10 was packed in a fishing boat with 93 people, drifting without food, water, who were dehydrated and dying. it was a small group of people from world vision that rescued my family. we were resettled into a camp in singapore, and then from there it was a little church in port smith arkansas that sponsored my family. today i'm a surgeon, a harvard graduate. and it's responsible because of acts of kindness and generosity of individuals. >> let's talk about what so many people are going through. as they see it, reminding you what you and your family went through, particularly the situation, the adorable little

toddler, who died on the beach. do you see images like that, is it a triggering experience to remind you of what you have within through. >> yes, it certainly is. when i saw the image of the little 3-year-old face down on the beach. i knew that could have been me. and so what i want people to realise is that refugees do not make a voluntary choice to flee their country, staying at home, they risk persecution and death in their own homes. today i'm the father of four children. i can't imagine desperation of what people have to do to keep the families alive. that is what my family did 35 years old. that is what people are doing today. >> it seems that europe is grappling with what to do. so many coming to europe, trying to get to germany.

some countries did well. opening the borders and open arms. some openly admitting they are fearful of how to great the refugees. what would you say, oh do you think the refugees feel knowing that's how refugees feel about them? >> i think the first thing we all need to know is half of the refugees are children, just like the little boy, like me. i think that we all may have different political views, and why this is a big problem that needs to be liberated and sold. i believe as individuals what we do could make an impact. that happened to my family in 1979 when a small group of american christians rescued my family from the sea and a church welcomed my family. i hope people look at the crisis

and realise we can make differences to individual people and families. >> how do you think the experience that you and your family went through. how do you think it shapes how you are today? >> i think that it would make he always grateful for this wonderful country that we live in, grateful for the acts of kindness from strangers and the freedom that we have, where i enjoy. >> the book is "where the wind leads", i hope everyone goes out, gets it and reads it. thank you for sharing your story with us tonight. we appreciate it. >> thank you so much, it's a pleasure voters in greece go to the polls. coming up, while greece pay give alexis tsipras a second chance. he will not rule alone. protesters in moscow risk

retaliation, against vladimir putin.

in greece today it was a second chance for alexis tsipras, his left-wing syriza party claiming a victory in the legislative elections on sunday. after the head of the democracy party conceded. the results are a comeback for the former prime minister alexis tsipras. we have this report from athens. >> reporter: they gave him a second chance and alexis tsipras savoured the moment. he lost a struggle, surviving a party referendum. but emerged as popular as ever. >> i want to thank you from the bottom of the my heart for this great, clear victory, we gave a tough fight. i feel vindicated, because the break people gave a mandate for

us to battle in and out of the country, race up our dignity. >> this is a night of triumph for alexis tsipras and syriza. he is now the dominant force in greek politics. in the months to come. he will implement reforms that are unpopular with what these are now celebrating. those concerns are for another day. series of voters hope where greece led others will follow, embracing left-wing politics. >> the other countries do the same - spain and italy. >> we win. all the people of europe. >> many greeks feel that alexis tsipras fought hard for the country, and if more austerity is inevitable, he'd mitigate the

impact on the poorest in society. >> a lot of people believe that alexis tsipras did his best negotiating. he was inexperienced. he was like david struggling with a strong ruthless goliath and failed. now we are going to give him a second chance, because he deserves it. >> a sobering night for the political establishment. which so many blame for the predicament. the center right new democracy stepped in defeat. voter turn out was significantly down. many greeks, on the left and right, feel betrayed and disillusioned. and in the difficult months that lie ahead, their faith and politicians is bound to come under further strain. >> barnaby phillips reporting there in portugal, campaigning began ahead of general elections

planned for october 4th. there was a close race for the social democrats and socialist party. the socialists are promising to ease measures introduced by the government during the crisis in 2011. the ruling party argues that doing so will reverse the economy's signs of recovery. >> newly elected australian prime minister malcolm turnbull is calling for a renewal to the government as he establishes a new cabinet. five women hold position, including a first female defence minister. several named by former prime minister tony abbott have been let go. the new cabinet will be worn in monday. >> nepal celebrated the drafting of a new constitution, a document 7 years in the making. protests erupted across the nation as many feels the new constitution does not represent them.

>> reporter: jubilant crowds gathered in the streets to celebrate nepal's new constitution. it's the end of a nine year peace process intended to help end 10 years of political violence. >> today on 20th september 2015, i ratified nepal's constitution. >> this is a second time that they have tried to introduce a new constitution. many say the document doesn't do enough for marginalized communities, or boost their reputation. there's anger among the lawmakers, the former prime minister and leader of the rebels was involved in the drafting process, but says the lead establishment hijacked the constitution. >> within the committee, there is considerable tile og. we tried our best to accommodate the views for the other people.

it's a ruling elite, dominating power within the country. they are ready to share power. >> the town has been under curfew for weeks. there's widespread anger. protesters broke the curfew and waived the black flag, a traditional form of protest. like many, they are not happy with the constitution, and protests have been going on for more than a month. more than 40 people, have been killed. please do not, the armed police will not be responsible for what might happen. >> then one more death. after police fired on protesters. with the new constitution ratified. they will turn into a new

parliament. it's not clear how the protest will develop. it is clear, however, that there'll be a protracted wrangling and a power sharing deal with the main political party thousands of russians gathered in moscow to protest the government of vladimir putin, and a political system that kept him in power for 15 years. opposition leaders urged protesters not to give i'm hope that the government can change. some see the way forward. peter sharp reports from moscow. this is the first opposition rally held in six months when 30,000 gathered to remember the opposition voter. today only a fraction of those turned out. there isn't much top celebrate. only a week ago, the russians went to the regional polls, more than 85 different districts

voted in elections across russia. the pro-kremlin party, the united russia pulled in 95% of the vote. the opposition blamed biased state media, concerted smear campaign and physical intimidation tore the vote for pro-vladimir putin supporters. today that feeling of disappointment is reflected in the turn out here in central moscow. >> peter sharp here. in burkina faso demonstrators supporting last week's military coup stormed a meeting where foreign and political leaders discussed the unrest. the incident took place as the african union announced imposing sanctions on coup leaders that the government not be restored to power. several ambassadors released statements. officials hoped to salvage a presidential election scheduled for act 11. >> a report claims that iraqi

government troops broke the laws of war this year when they attacked homes and businesses throughout the city of tikrit. human rights watch said militia said caused destruction to civilian buildings in march and april after driving i.s.i.l. out of a city. they set fire to homes, and used explosives on buildings. the mostly shia troops detained about 200 men and boys during the raids. >> health officials in iran are working to contain an outbreak of cholera. the prime minister says the government will work with the u.n. and red cross officials to get clean water to iraqis. six people have been killed and more than 70 new cases reported. imran khan has more. >> as more cases are registered. people are worried that a cholera epidemic could break out. the last epidemic eight years ago affected 7,000 people.

the prime minister has ordered daily water tests and other measures to contain the disease. it's not enough for some. >> my husband went into hospital. he had dysentery and was vomiting because of the water. we have not had clean water for two years. we had to dig wells to drink the water. >> hospital laboratory experts say the crisis could have been avoided if there were simple measure to provide water. >> we are suffering from cholera outbreak, four died. the baghdad governor, director of health directorate visited the hospital to look at the situation. we are not putting in the proper measures. >> the outbreak may spread because of the high number of displaced people living in refugee camps. they escaped the fighting and doctors fear the disease will be difficult to contain if it spreads in the camps. >> doctors at the hospital are

worried they won't be able to cope with a large outbreak of cholera. the government is not doing enough to provide clean drinking water. one of the things you need is chlorine tablets, the government is not supplying them with enough. mcdonald's said it is partnering with other big-name companies to help the united nations feed refugees in europe and the middle east. during works animation, mastercard and faish are taking pard -- facebook are taking part. they'll pay for tv airtime or access to digital media to promote the world food program, featuring a 30 second commercial narrated by the actor liam nielsen as the pope makes a visit to cuba and the united states, al jazeera takes a looks at how francis confronted the italian mafia. the octoberfest gets under way

in bavaria. >> 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.

>> w

sounds like octoberfest underway, but, look, i - yes. in munich germany, thousands attended the festival, parking the 10th day of a 16-day long party.

they dressed in bavaria costumes, and paraded through the city. organizers and visitors drink almost 2 million gallons of beer by the time the festival wraps up. kevin is here with the weather. it's good to have goals. >> absolutely. >> 2 million pounds of beer. amazing. and 16 days to finish it all. >> we have a tropical depression off the coast of mexico. if promises to bring flash flooding to arizona as well. as you can see here, off baha, unorganized clouds are tropical depression. a weak system but a lot of rain in the system. on the satellite we are not picking up the rain showers across the border. look at the forecast for tomorrow. we are looking at heavily rain

across much of the area from south-eastern california, across arizona, new mexico. utah. by the time we get to wednesday, things are settling down a little bit. there are flash flood watches that are in effect. they go into effect by form morning, and extend all the way by the time you get to tuesday evening. it's about 2-3 inches of rain coming out of the storms here. in this area, definitely look and be careful of flash flooding areas there. for phoenix, rainy conditions on monday and tuesday. things start to clear up, also for vegas. by monday evening, we'll see the rain. tuesday a bit of a wash out, but the temperatures are back up. quickly over here to the east coast, 73 degrees tomorrow for parts of new york and how about 74 degrees on monday? >> we are lucky aren't we.

>> all right. thanks, kevin. >> as pope francis makes his historic journey to cuba, and catholics in the us are getting ready for the first visit. we want to take a deeper look at a move made to excommunicate the mafia from the church. pope francis took a direct shot at organized crime, banning all members of the mafia from the catholic church. a new documentary called pope and the mafia explores the relationship between the catholic church and the mafia. [ ♪ ] >> reporter: in june 2014 pope francis launched a passionate attack on an organization responsible for a century-long trail of bloods. the mafia.

>> the excommunication of all mafiosi sent shock waves around the world. the last time a pope took on the mafia bombs exploded outside italian churches. a profoundly religious - showing they are cynical in the way they use religion to justify power. the reason they get away with that is for decades there was a marriage of political convenience looking the mafia and the church together. >> reporter: the results - mafiosi have taken control of religious veriesibles, men of the cloth colluding. the vatican bank laundering the mafia's money and priests murdered for taking a stand against crime bosses. my name is john dickey, i have

spent 15 years studying mafia crime, the ties that bind the mafia to the catholic church, and what it will take to sever them. >> joining us is john dickey. the professor of italian studies. and the host of documentary the pope and the mafia. we appreciate your time. the pope taking on the mafia. how significant was the ex-communication. >> this is the most starkest language that the papacy has ever spoken about. about the mafia. >> how did the mafia respond to this? >> well, we don't know. we know that in prisons across southern italy, various mavy owesy were concerned, they started to boycott mass and

started to ask the prison chap lines whether this -- chaplins whether this meant they were going to hell. clear signs of worry in the world of mafia, giving us a sense of how significant a rupture this move is by pope francis. >> tell us more about the relationship that passed between popes and the mafia, between the catholic church and the mafia that got us to this point that the church is at now. >> sure. this is the whole - the church at the moment is going through a period of change, period of distancing itself from its past, from a period when it was best culpably silent about the mafia issue. it wasn't until 1993 that a pope even used the word mafia. when you think that the mafia

has been around for 150 years, that's quite a remarkable delay. now, the church has been culpable on the mafia issue, i think, and many others think, for much of its history, is essentially down to politics. when italy was unified. 1870, it took a lot of the church's land. a belt of territory that used to belong to the pope across southern italy. taken from the papacy, and the pope was confined to the vatican city. and therefore the church didn't like the italian state, regarding it as godless, and illegitimate and sought other sources of authority in italian society that it could relate to, and the mafia is very, very good

at dressing itself up as a kind of traditional source of authority that's close to society. the few voices in italy that was standing up and shouting about italy's mafia problem were the communists. the church would systematically ignore, and accuse of bias - political bias, when, in fact, the communists were on to something very much in terms of the mafia issue. that changed, of course, in - when the cold war came to an end, the berlin war fell, the italian political system collapsed and was reconstituted and the mafia said time was going through a period of great violence, and that is what caused john paul ii in 1993 to

famously condemn the mafia, he was the first pope to condemn the mafia in a famous homily in sicily, and since that moment, the mafia when reacted by bombing places, bombing churches and roam. >> john dickey, thank you very much. i'm looking forward to the documentary as well the entire documentary, "the pope and the mafia", is coming up in about two hours, up next - the challenge of cleaning up dangerous chemicals leaking into the environment in hundreds, perhaps thousands of places in the united states.

all right, let's check in with del walters to find out

what is coming up in the next hour. >> coming up at 8 o'clock, the president of china making a visit to the white house. trade, military and computer hanging on the table. some are upset about a planned 21 gun salute and a black tie dipper. we'll look at the relationship between the two superpowers and how they'll co-exist in the future el-nino, believed to be one of the strongest seasons in years. the three pattens that will determine that, and an island nation feeling the effect. and the warriors. >> it's about the band of soldiers, the band of men. another in enemy territory, a long way from home, and have to fight all the way back. >> the star of the '70s under ground classic talks about why it resonates today. just some of the stories ahead. >> a c.e.o. is offering a personal apology after the

e.p.a. found a german automaker rigged emissions tests on 500,000 diesel vehicles. in a statement release martin winterbomb said he was sorry that the trust of the public has been broken. he has ordered an investigation. new york city is home to a canal, a polluted waterway. the federal government is now working to clean it up. gabriel elizonda reports that there are many sites like it across the u.s. that are not on the government's clean up list. >> reporter: the guanis canal is so filthy and contaminated that most don't want to go near it, let alone touch it. once a week he sets out in a canoe and wads into it. a polluted waterway. >> it's restaurant greases, oil,

detergents, anything running through the sewer system ends in the canal. >> you don't have to look too close to see how polluted it is. that's why he takes water samples to monitor toxicity levels. it's under the surface where raw sewage rev tats in murky -- lef tats in murky water giving a perspective on the problem. it dates back dem aids. -- decades. along the banks, factories that long ago used it for by-products. long ago forming a tar-like substance, some settling at the bottom. >> this is so polluted and toxic, it's a super fund site. that's a name given to any area or location in america that is so polluted that the federal government steps in to clean it up. it's not just here, there are many more places all over

america just as bad, if not worse than this. >> these yellow dots are everywhere there are toxic super fund sites in america. there's 1,300 of them. an environmental lawyer estimates that there are at least 10,000 more highly toxic sites around the country. >> there are thousands of contaminated and abandoned sites in cities that just haven't been designate for clean-up or haven't been cleaned up. one in four americans are living within three miles of a designated site or potential abandoned and contaminated site. >> back at the canal, the government began the complicated clean-up efforts, but it will be at least another five years it will it's done, this man will remain on his canoe as long as it takes.

hoping when it's cleaned up it could be an example for the thousands of others that ornts i'm richelle carey in new york, news continues with del walters. >> i'm del walters, with a look at the top stories. catholic celebrations. hundreds of thousands turn out for pope francis in cuba. his message and conversation with the castro brothers. >> we do not advocate putting a muslim in charge of the country. >> choice words. carly fiorina surging, and hillary clinton on help for syrian refugees. the issues on the table as china's president prepares to make an historic journey to the u.s. el nino, why the weather pattern could be the most powerful in more than