out for them. al jazeera, peru. don't forget plenty more coming up, and on our website too, the address for that is al jazeera.com, you can get all the latest on all the top stories we are covering here, stay tuned. >> pope francis holds one more mass in cuba before heading to the united states. his visit has contributed to what police call the biggest security operations ever in washington, new york and philadelphia. >> volkswagen stock loses billions more in value. >> china's president promises reforms but the technology and cyber security concerns threaten to overshadow his trip to

america. >> this is aljazeera america. good morning, live from new york city, i'm randall pinkston. pope francis is hours away from arriving in america. he's wrapping up his trib to cuba this morning with a mass next hour at the country's holy shrine. this afternoon, he lands outside washington, d.c. for the first leg of his six day visit to the u.s. on monday, the pope closed out the day praying at a shrine to cuba's patron saint. the pope placed a bouquet of flowers at the foot of the 403-year-old statue. an unprecedented show of security will greatly the pope's arrival in america. his six day visit takes him to washington, then new york and philadelphia, prompting what has been called the largest

coordinated security efforts in u.s. history. paul beban reports. >> this is what makes protecting pope francis such a challenge. his habit of breaking away from his security detail to be with the people. on his visit to the u.s., the sat can security force will be beefed up by a battery of u.s. agencies coordinated by the secret service. the pontiff begins his tour in washington, d.c. where streets within a three block radius of the capitol, shut down for the pope's speech to congress. in new york city, thousands of police and term agents are preparing not only for the pope's visit but also at the same time for the j general assembly. >> we believe that this event is going to be the largest security challenge that the department and the city have ever faced, in that in addition to the pope, we will have 170 confirmed rural

leaders in this city during the period of time of the general assembly. that's 90% of the leaders in this city at one time. >> major streets will be shut down during the pope's tour of new york and pontiff won't be in his normal pope mobile, instead are a modified jeep wrangler. the last city he will visit is philadelphia for the festival of families. security fences have been put up and extra surveillance cameras put into place. security experts say every tool available is being used. >> philadelphia is the venue where there are going to be the most people, the venue where if things can go wrong, it would be here, because it's outdoor and because there's going to be millions of individuals. >> in all three cities, the federal aviation administration is restricting the air space and banning drone flights. anyone hoping to get close to the pope will have to leave that

selfie stick at home. paul beban, al jazeera, new york. >> jonathan is a former secret service agent and current president of a consulting group. pope francis, the leader of china will be all in washington, d.c. at the same time. how difficult that is? >> this is going to be a test for the secret service and resources, putting great stress upon the working details and coordination between the federal government and local law enforcement. >> tell me, obviously you're not in charge, but to the extent you can reveal about security, what are the priorities in terms of organizing that multi-facetted, multi-location strategy of security. >> this event with pope francis, this visit is designated by the department of home land security

as a national special security event and s.s.e. with that designation comes a lot of federal resources, all coordinated by the secret service, so the preparation for this visit in conjunction with the u.n. general assembly have been going on for months. so, you know, steering committees have been set up months ago to coordinate both the federal and local response in washington, d.c., philadelphia and new york. >> how rare is a national special security event? is that not something for all world leaders who visit the u.s.? >> it's not. it's a very special designation given by the department of homeland security. >> what's the criteria. >> essentially, they look at what types are events are taking place, the size of the crowd, and the likelihood for either terrorists or criminal activity to occur due to large gatherings, so typically an nnse evented be an inauguration, a

special event held by the president, anything that gathers large crowds together that could potentially be a target. >> talk to us about what you've described as the pope francis x factor, his tendency to do the unexpected. >> absolutely. what differentiates pope francis as a protectee for the secret service as compared to our political leaders is that pope francis is really the nexus between the people in the church, and for him to fulfill his role, he needs to be embraced by the public. pope francis, you know, part of his, you know modus operandi is to go into crowds, to embrace the people very unexpectedly. he often catches his own security detail off guard. >> accepting gifts, accepting objects from people with that would that be something that the president would be able to do? >> absolutely not, so typically from the secret service standpoint, we wouldn't allow

anybody to hand something to the president or any of our protectees, because we don't know what it is. pope francis like to embrace everything, receive gifts in pamphlets and letters. again, he is the leaders of these people. >> kissing babies, too, and blessings he places on people who come near him. we heard that the really sensitive place will be philadelphia where you've got an estimated and expected 1 million people for the outdoor mass. do you anticipate any other very sensitive security spots for the pope? >> the entire trip is sensitive. you can't isolate whether something's going to happen in new york, washington or philadelphia. the secret service has trained for a long time and coordinated for a long time for this visit, but an incident can happen anywhere. a lone wolf can come amongst the crowd here in new york city on fifth avenue. you don't know where or when

something is going to happen. to say that there's a likelihood that something could happen in philadelphia as compared to new york, i think that the secret service that done a phenomenal job with local counterparts from philadelphia, new york and washington. >> and other agencies involved, as well. >> absolutely, the f.b.i., fema, homeland security, but, you know, a lot of the resources come from the local municipalities. i think philadelphia has done a real good job of showing they can handle a visit of this magnitude. >> you don't have to be catholic or even religious to say we hope nothing will happen. >> absolutely. >> be sure to stay with aljazeera america all week for complete coverage of the pope's visit to the u.s. >> china's president arrives in seattle later today for his first state visit to america. he denied that his government or chinese businesses are behind

cyber attacks. we have a preview. >> china's president is on his way to washington, d.c., his first formal state visit to the u.s. he's going to spend three days in seattle. why the state of washington as a first stopover? it boils down to high tech trade, airplanes and money. here is former u.s. ambassador to china and former washington state governor, jerry lock talking about the challenges of engaging with a trading partner like china. >> obviously a concern about security, level playing field for american firms in china, discrimination against foreign firms, as well as the lack of a rule of law and inadequate protections of our intellectual property, our trade secrets. >> the president is following the example of past chinese leaders, the fourth to make a point of putting seattle on the

itinerary. we'll have more tonight on his visit and what's at stake during a very challenging time in u.s.-china relations. al jazeera, seattle. >> volkswagen stock is falling again this morning now that the german automakers has revealed that 11 million cars worldwide are part of an emissions test scandal. the company stock fell another 20% this morning. the e.p.a. says the german carmaker used software that tricked emissions testing equipment. volkswagen says it is setting aside more than $7 billion to cover the expenses tied to the controversy. >> new u.s. trained rebels are fighting isil in syria. the obama administration has been under criticism recently about its strategy to fight isil. last week, the general admitted that only a handful of rebels trained by the u.s. were still fighting in syria. >> fire crews are reporting major progress battling two huge

wildfires in northern california. the fires are now 75% contained, but close to 3,000 structures were destroyed, thousands are californians are still staying in makeshift shelters. the valley fire is the third most destructive in the state history. governor jerry brown asked for federal assistance to pay for the damage and recovery. >> there is no relief in sight from heavy rain in some parts of the country. nicole mitchell is here with more on that. we need the rain on the fires, but not getting it there. >> that's not where we got it. we had a tropical entity that brat heavy rains to places like arizona. still dry, not at dry as california. you can see some of that mainly. this continues to move interior, so new mexico we could see chances for flash flooding, but most moisture is moving northward and that's going to intersect with a front that we already have in the midwest. this area is going to become more moist over the next couple

of days, really the central portion of the country, the interaction of that tropical moisture and front we already have there. the other place we are getting more moisture is into the southeast, a little bit up the east coast, as well, but there's a low level system that's kind of moving onshore the next couple of days, so that will be our focal point. one is the midwest. watch the southeast, this is over the next couple of details, you can see a lot more activity that we'll be dealing with could be some areas of heavy rain, as well. temperatures with all of this is their last full day of summer, still definitely feels like summer and a lot of the countries temperature is warm in 90's, and houston and we still have that heat in portions of central california. that does not help with the fire situation. still cool in the northeast, as well, comfortable, i should say feeling like fall with highs in the 70's. >> thank you, nicole. >> a military pilot is said to be in good condition this morning and out of the hospital

after his navy. >> i fighter jet crashed. it is the site of the navy's west coast fighter jet coordinations. the cause of the crash is under investigation. >> clarifying his position on putting a muslim in the white house, ben core son speaks out again amidst a backlash and calls for him to drop out of the race. >> the texas teenager accused of bringing a bomb to class looks for a new school. we'll have details of how his arrest unfolded.

>> welcome to al jazeera america. it is seven further 6:00 eastern time. taking a look at today's top stories. the last of the angola three faces retrial for a third time. a louisiana state judge ruled monday that albert woodcox should go before a jury again for allegedly killing a prison guard. all the witnesses to the kill are now dead. a federal judge ruled in june that woodcox should be released. >> a former peanut company executive in is jail beginning a 28 year prison term. he was sentenced for his role in a deadly salmonella outbreak. a jury found parnell and several others guilty of knowingly shipping tainted peanut butter. the outbreak killed nine people and sickened hundreds more.

>> four kentucky couples are asking a federal judge to order their marriage licenses be reissued. rowan county clerk kim davis removed her name and the name of the county from those documents. instead, they said those licenses were issued pursuant to a federal court order. the couples say that may make their marriage licenses invalid. >> ben carson is softening his stance that a muslim should not be president. he went on record to clarify his earlier remarks. >> if someone has a muslim background and they're willing to reject those tenants and to accept the way of life that we have, and clearly will swear to place our constitution above their religiousen, then of course, they will be considered infidels and her particulars, but at least i would then be quite willing to support them. >> many civil rights groups are now calling on carson to leave

the presidential race. one group says carson should drop out. >> as a detroiter and african-american, i was astounded by dr. carson's comments, in particular that we know for a fact that there were people who were adverse and still are against president obama because of his blackness and there are people in the gop who probably would not vote for dr. carson either, because he's black. it's really interesting that he's trying to champion american values in the framework of the constitution, and yet, he's talking about discriminating against someone based upon one specific part of their identity. unfortunately in these united states of america, islamaphobia seems to be the politically accepted form of bigotry. i would say that we have not heard word from the chairman of the national g.o.p. in terms of

condemning dr. carson's comments, so to me, when we have people in the political realm who don't speak up against this type of big gory, to me, it's a type of passive endorsement of the speech. >> the white house also criticized dr. carson saying his comments go against the constitution's guarantee of freedom of religion. >> wisconsin governor scott walker suspended his campaign monday after the latest polls showed him at the bottom of the pack. one recent survey had walker garners less than one half of 1% of support. >> he was actually quite discreet about his reasons for leaving. it wasn't going very well. people were saying that he had big financial problems, wasn't able to keep the money, spending too much money. one of the really interesting

things you heard from scott walker and i don't remember ever hearing this from someone dropping out of a race was he was trying to galvanize other people to follow his lead, to leave the race and it can be construed from that, the reason would be to not get donald trump to be the nominee of the party. >> i encourage other presidential candidates to consider doing the same so that the voters can focus on a limited number of candidates who can offer a positive, conservative alternative to the current front runner. this is fundamentally important to the future of the port and more importantly to the future of our country. >> now, of course, walker didn't endorse any specific candidate. he didn't put his power behind them. he was the second to last candidate to enter the race. he entered it officially very recently. a lot of people touted him as being that candidate as far back as a year ago, so it was presumed he would be running, so absolutely surprising.

surprising, too, because the koch brothers said he would be their candidate. he dropped 81% in the polls since donald trump came into the race, sucking a lot of air out of that. if he didn't get traction in iowa, there was no path for scott walker. i think he realized that since the debate. >> police departments in 32 states are preparing this morning to receive millions of dollars in federal funds for body cameras. 50,000 body cams are expected to hit the streets under the pilot program. the money will be split between buying equipment, training, and studies of the cameras effectiveness. >> the the accident teen who got into trouble because of a homemade clock ended up being a v.i.p. at the google science fair. ahmed muhammed did not enter the competition, but did meet others who entered. the 14-year-old was arrested after teachers suspected his

clock was a bomb. >> speaking to ali velshi, muhammed said he is trying to move past the incident and focus on his future. >> i'm not ok going back to my school, because it's really -- it didn't really feel good about what happened there and i don't want to go back. they can apologize, but that's not going to change anyone, because what's done was done. >> muhammed withdrew from his school monday. his family are still deciding on a new school. >> a study on sexual assault on campus, a stunning report that finds a quarter of women report being attacked.

>> we're here to fully get into the nuances of everything that's going on, not just in this country, but around the world. getting the news from the people who are affected. >> people need to demand reform... >> ali velshi on target weeknights 10:30p et

>> a sobering new study details the prevalence of sexual assaults on american college campuses. the association of american universities found more than 23% of female respondents say they have been assaulted at school. 10% of women ever encountered forced intercourse or attempted forced intercourse. 5% of man have had unwanted school contact. administrators at all 27 universities surveyed say they will take steps to address the issue. >> one of the worlds wealthiest fisheries off peru is struggling to deal with el niño. fish and sea birds of dying because of unusually warm weather. we have this report. >> the food for these pelicans and many other species is fleeing. el niño can already be felt here. manuel returned with what little

he can get. >> the fish are running from the warm current and it's not good for us. >> the warm ocean current has been changing the ecosystem since march. heavy rains and floods are expected after november and will affect cities and farming areas. 1.2 million people are at risk. >> we still don't know 100% if the el niño phenomenon will be extraordinary. >> to understand the magnitude, in 1997, the river rose so much it destroyed the bridge. it left more than $3.5 billion in damage and one third happened here in the region, which is usually the most affected by el niño. >> maria lives i in a 10 heck tr dry lake that is one of the most vulnerable areas. she's begun protecting her shack with bricks. >> i have filled the surroundings of my home with bricks. i don't want to leave, because

this is all i have. >> authorities say people must evacuate, because the area will be completely flooded. >> i don't know where to go. the newspapers say we will be relocated, but no one has come to tell us where it's safe to go. >> the governor is surprising the cleaning of drainage systems to ensure the flow of high volumes of water. he said the government should have gun preparations years ago. >> we are reducing vulnerablble points, but the effects will be strong. despite having gone through two power he's el niños, this area has never planned to prevent the floods and serious effects on our economy. we won't be able to stop the strong el niño effects. >> scientists say el niños rains will heap deforestation and refilling aquifers and deep sea

fisherman are already profiting on tuna, oh abundant in warm waters. many are afraid of el niño, they are among the poorest people, with nowhere to go and time is running out for them. al jazeera, peru. >> thank you for joining us. stephanie sy is back in two minutes with more aljazeera america morning news.

>> the pope will come to the united states for a six day tour after a whirlwind to your in cuba. >> i am leaving the race so the positive, conservative message can rise to the top of the field. >> scott walker pull little the plug on his presidential campaign.

he urges other candidates to do the same. >> chinese president heads for the u.s., looking to strengthen ties between the world's two largest powers, pledging economic reforms while insisting his country is not behind recent cyber attacks. >> good morning, this is aljazeera america live from new york city, i'm stephanie sy. >> pope francis at this hour will celebrate mass in cuba. these are live pictures from santiago, cuba. he will board a jet and come to the united states a few hours later. the mass is happening at a basilica dedicated to the patron saint of cuba. monday, france prayed at the shrine asking for reconciliation

for cubans at home and abroad. he will leave cuba after a quick farewell ceremony at the airport. he will arrive at joint base andrews outside washington, d.c., where he will be greeted by president obama, the first lady, vice president biden and his wife. mike viqueira has a look at how americans are preparing for this visit. >> pope memorabilia lines gift shop shelves. in new york, catholic school children collect food for the poor. >> i think the pope will approve of this, because he wants us to take care of others. >> at st. patricks extra deed cell, workers russia to finish renovations, all part of the friends in advance of pope francis and his first ever visit to the united states. there will be porch, ceremony and adoring this wrongs, but also e. also controversy. >> president obama and pope francis have met once before at the vatican in 2014.

white house officials stress the two share common ground. france is seen as an outspoken and progressive advocate on issues like climate change, religious and civil liberties and closing the gap between rich and poor. at church attendants and finances continue to sink, the new hope has stressed compassion and spiritualty, not the social strictures of church doctrine. many hope the pope can give the church new appeal and recover from years of outrage over the pedestrian feel i can't scandal and cover up. not everyone has welcomed his message, his stance on immigrant rights including for hispanics who enter the u.s. illegally and his stance on marriage, gay rights and abortion have met with a backlash from conservatives bolt inside and outside the church. pope francis has not let up and no one expects that to change

now. he'll visit washington, new york and philadelphia over five days. millions are expected to try to get a glimpse of the pope or hear him speak. major sections of those cities will be shut down officials are mounting the largest security operation in u.s. history. there will be high profile events, speeches to a joint meeting of congress and u.n. general assembly, visits to catholic charities and talks with immigrants and refugees. the pope is likely to keep the focus on the least among us and hold the feet of the powerful to the fire. mike viqueira, washington. >> back to live pictures of the pope's final mass in cuba before he makes his way to the united states. this is in santiago, cuba as a basilica dedicated to the patron saint of cuba. all along during his trip, he has been accompanied by huge crowds of people. the pope's visit has led to what is considered one of the largest

security operations ever in our nation's capital, new york and philadelphia. the f.b.i. and secret service have been preparing for months, acting out possible scenarios. it is happening as world leaders arrive in town for the u.s. general assembly. ten miles of city streets will be closed down, something never done. we spoke with security consultant, a former secret service agent about those preparations. >> it's not quite there yet and it may not get there in time to make it feasible. >> we apologize. we queued up the wrong sound there. the pope's address in philadelphia is expect to draw crowds in excess of 1 million people. in our next half hour, we will have more about the pope's final

day in cuba live from havana. >> republican presidential hopeful ben carson is softening his stance after criticism for what some consider discriminatory remarks, he went on record to clarify an earlier comment that a muslim shouldn't be president. >> if someone has a muslim background and they're willing to reject those tenants and to accept the way of life that we have, and clearly will swear to place our constitution above their religion, then, of course, they will be considered in fideled and heretics but i would be willing to support them. >> this morning, he has one less rival to contend with, scott walker. the wisconsin governor suspended his campaign monday after the latest numbers showed him at the bottom of the pack. when he announced he was stepping down, he urged other

gop candidates to leave the race, too. >> i was sitting at church yesterday, the pastor's words reminded me that the bible is full of stories about people called to be leaders in unusual ways. today, i believe that i'm being called to lead by helping to clear the field in this race so that a positive, conservative message can rise to the top of the field. >> walker said a narrower field would offer a clear alternative to donald trump, who is leading the republican polls. on the democratic side, vice president joe biden is still mulling over a presidential run. he talked about the difficult decision in an interview with the catholic news magazine america. >> it's not quite there yet, and it may not get there in time to make it feasible to be able to run and succeed, because there are certain windows that will close. if that's it, that's it.

it's not like i can russia it. >> many democratic voters want biden to join the race. the latest poll gives him 22% support. hillary clinton, though, has a strong lead among likely primary voters. >> more reaction today to a disturbing report over a sexual abuse in afghanistan. u.s. troops tell "the new york times" they've been disciplined for trying to intervene when american backed afghan commanders have been seen sexually abusing boys. we have more from washington. >> the allegation that the afghan military commanders have been abusing boys in a practice called boy play, which is actually the rape of children. this is happening on military bases and a that when u.s. sell he will injuries and marines tried to raise the alarm, they were told not to interfere. the narc times details experiences of two u.s. members of special forces who were frustrated when they saw repeated case of abuse

happening. they finally beat up an afghan commander accused of chaining a boy to a bed at his sex slave. one of those green berets faces getting kicked out of the military. a member of congress is trying to appeal his case and encourage the defense secretary reconsider. the white house said that is deeply concerned about allegations of mistreatment of afghan boys. >> protecting human rights, including by countering the exploitation of children is a high priority for the u.s. government. we monitor such atrocities closely and continually stood up

to them. >> violation of not just moral code, but u.s. law, the leahy law it is to the u.v. officials captain work with members of foreign military who engage in egregious human rights abuses. that may be under scrutiny by members of congress in the coming weeks. >> libby case reporting from washington. >> a sobering new study is detailing the prevalence of sexual assaults on u.s. college campuses. the association of american universities found more than 23% of female respondents have experienced some form of assault at school. 10% of women have encounters forced intercourse or attempted forced intercourse and 5% of men have had unwanted sexual contact. administrators at all 27 universities surveyed said they will take steps to and the issue. >> the last remaining member of the angola three is facing retrial again this morning.

albert woodfox was cleared twice in a 1972 murder. his defense will have to argue for his innocence a third time. we have more. >> the key testimony in this case comes from inmates who are now dead. the judge said prosecutors will be able to use that testimony in court again, but this time, the defense will be allowed to introduced d.n.a. evidence. >> supporters of albert woodfox call it disappointing. a louisiana state judge denied the request to throw out the indictment for the 68-year-old who spent more than 40 years in solitary confinement. d.n.a. and fingerprint testing of evidence in the 1972 murder of a prison guard will be allowed. the defense says the evidence is not a match with woodfox, who along with won better king and woodward wallace became known as the angola three. wallace died days after his

release in 2013. king was released in 2001 after 29 years in solitary confinement. >> i had to be able to coping mechanism and i did this through exercisedding, reading and it was hard to sleep because they come through the building every half hour and if you are asleep, they clang the door shut. >> two previous convictions were overturned and early they are year, a federal judge ordered his release. four days later, an appeals court put that ruling on hold. >> the facts of this case are extraordinary. at this stage, the only outcome that could serve the interest of law and justice would be mr. woodfox's immediate release. >> the key witnesses to the murder are now dead, but the state judge says prosecutors

will be allowed to present old testimony. the court also denied a request for a change of venue. >> a federal court of appeals is still evaluating that federal ruling that woodfox should be reds. the state said woodfox must be held accountable for his crime. >> thank you. >> fire crewels are reporting major progress battling two huge wildfires in northern california. the fires are now 75% contained. close to 3,000 structures were destroyed, and thousands of californians are still staying in makeshift shelters. the valley fire is now the third most destructive in the state's history. governor jerry brown asked for federal help to pay for the damage and recovery and not much relief in sight for california. let's bring in meteorologist nicole mitchell. good morning. >> good morning. what we're going to see is definitely continuing for the next couple months, really, a higher than average fire risk out here. the most progress that we've had is into the northwest, where we got the benefit from that recent rain, especially states like

idaho and montana, fewer fires, about half as many large fires as we had a couple of weeks ago, but we haven't seen that progress in california. we are still dealing with a lot, including weather that doesn't cooperate. it's warm once again. this is the dubuque fire, for example. temperatures stay 10 degrees above average and dry for the coming days. we had rain move through, a lot of temperatures still very warm through the state and any rain kind to the southeast corner. most of this was east of the area. that mainly is going to move its way into the midwest, combining with the frontal system, bringing more rain over the next couple of days. we can see this on the outlook. a little rain, you can see this starting to creep into the southeast. that's a low pressure area that's going to move in in this direction, so that will be our next wet section for the next couple of days. >> nicole mitchell, thank you. >> volkswagen stock is dropping fast again this morning. today, the german automakers has

revealed that 11 million diesel cars worldwide are part of an emissions test scandal. the company stock fell another 20% this morning. the e.p.a. says the german carmaker used software that tricked emission testing equipment. the company is setting aside more than $7 billion to cover costs tied to the consist verse. >> it is ours before the pope is due to arrive here in the united states. these are live picture from his last mass in cuba in santiago. we'll look at where he got his start, coming up. >> jake jake ward i have not california. scientists are so concerned about sequoias that they're taking measurements. i am about to try to climb and do the same thing. the only way to get better is to challenge yourself,

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>> pope francis celebrating mass this hour. it is one of the last events on the papal trip to cuba. it has been a whirlwind tour for the pope, the first from latin america and return to his roots. we look at the pope's humble beginning. >> pope francis was born jorge mario in argentina in 1936. raised in buenos aires, he was the eldest of five children. former nation say he never lost touch with his roots. >> very humble, very loving. imagine with his status to stop and say hello to me. that makes me so proud. >> his parents were italian immigrants. he attended catholic school as a child and joined the seminary

after high school. at 21, he lost part of a lung to a life threatening respiratory illness. he was other detained in 1969 and through the 1970's led a jesuit community in buenos aires. in the 1980's, he became rector of the largest theological seminary. thousands of people were abducted and murdered in what is known as the dirty war, the campaign to silence opposition to argentina's right wing government. some critics say he was complacent, even compliant with right wing leaders during the crisis. >> a priest who was kidnapped said that he was the one who gave them away and that he could have also done something to avoid their kidnapping. >> in 1992, he was oh appointed bishop and eventually named cardinal in 2001. as cardinal. he held several leadership positions with the hol holy see.

he refused luxuries, traveling to the poorest neighborhoods and routinely taking public transport. a persona that made him a contender for the papacy in 2005 after john paul died. the cardinal made an emotional plea, asking the other cardinals not to vote for him to avoid delaying the election of a new pope. instead, germany's cardinal was elected, becoming pope benedict the 16th. less than eight years later, benedict became the first pope in nearly 600 years to resign, clearing the way for the cardinal, then 76. he chose the name of francis in honor of st. francis of assisi and took the bus back to his hotel rather than driven in the. a pal car. easy the first jesuit pope, first pope from the americas and first pope in 100 years to

reside outside the apostolic palace, living instead in the more modest vatican guest house. his papacy has reports of resistance among staunch conservatives. many are opposed to to his more inclusive attitude and statements about homosexuality and divorce. he is warned that his power is not absolutely and he can't change church teachings and doctrine. the people's pope represents a new beginning for a church that's been mired in scandal for decades. >> john o'brien is the president of catholics for choice, a pro choice organization. he joins us from washington to talk about the pope's visit. good morning, good to have you on the show again. i just want to talk about this transition from cuba to the u.s. it is said he is the pope of the

poor. going from cuba to the richest country in the world, the seat of capitalism, was that a symbolic move on the vatican says part? >> i think so. there's no doubt about it, that the great theologien once said to find theology in diversity. this pope wants to bring people together. it's no secret that the vatican played a role in cuban american relations that led to the current thawing of the situation. there's also something between a gap between rich and poor. we are very fortunate here in the united states. i think that this idea of unity is definitely a central theme of the papacy of pope francis, starting in washington, catholics are still the largest denomination in the u.s., although the church has been struggling in the u.s. in some ways since the sex abuse scandal. who is the pope's audience here

besides the 7 million catholics? >> i think catholics are very excited and with the visit of pope francis to the united states. i think non-catholics are also excited, if not even curious about what this man who has great simplicity in his message and great genuine affection and humbleness. i think people are curious about it. he touches down at an air force base. tomorrow, he meets president obama in the morning. object friday, he addresses the united nation and on thursday, interestingly, he talks to the u.s. congress. what's interesting here is that i think that on that political level, some people have been asking the question, so what is pope francis going to tell congress about holes. i think that this is a huge mistake. there's a game here played by interns when a president is making an address to congress that he's going to take a shot of whiskey after he says a word

or phrase. the reality with pope francis is that he's speaking less about political points than he is about pastoral issues. i think that it's not his place to be telling politicians how to deal with immigration, the economy, any of these sort of political questions. >> and yet, john, this is a pope who has written an entire encyclical on climate change. >> the way he speaks about climate change i think is actually about caring for the planet that we live on. i think that's something that republicans, as well as democrats could actually agree about, the idea that we should be caring for the place in which we live. on immigration, immigrants die on the mexican border, coming into this country just as immigrants die in the

mediterranean. that should concern every single person in the country regardless of political affiliation. i think what the pope is not doing is telling us which laws we need to pass in order to deal with these issues that affect the human condition and affect us in society. it was john f. kennedy, 55 years ago, when he was in houston, actually said i believe in an america that is neither click, protestant newer jewish in which no priest or pope would tell a president what to do. that is the real. the reality is the pope can speak to pastoral issues, how we should unit to make the world a better place, but i don't think his job should prescribe policy changes. >> i has railed about unfettered capitalism. >> i don't think unfettered capitalism, i know a lot of

people, i think they're concerned when capitalism doesn't have a balance to it. i don't think that being concerned about overt greed is being against business. i don't think this idea that this pope is some type of chai rivera. most republicans and most democrats will actually agree, in a way, that's a much more radical message, the idea of love one another, maybe that's a message we don't hear and see enough in our political debate. >> thank you for your insights this morning. stay with al jazeera all week. we will bring you complete coverage of the pope's visit to the united states. >> the texas teen who got into trouble at school because of a homemade clock ended up being a v.i.p. at the google science

fair. ahmed muhammed did not enter the fair but met others who did. speaking to ali velshi, muhammed said he's trying to move past of the incident and focus on the future. >> i'm not ok going back to my school, because it's really -- it didn't really feel good about what happened there and i don't want to go back to that. they could apologize, but that's not going to change anything, because what's done was done. >> muhammed officially withdrew from his school on monday. his family says they are still deciding where to send him instead. >> china's president arrives in the u.s. today. why technology and cyber security are tops on his agenda as he tries to boost confidence in the chinese economy. >> a close call for a man out on a stroll. the move that just might have saved his life.

>> welcome to al jazeera america. it is 8:30 eastern, taking a look at today's top stories. republican presidential candidate ben carson is clarifying his stance that a muslim should not be president. he said a muslim could be elected if he rejects the tenants of the faith. >> scott walker dropped out of the presidential race. >> the last of the angola three is facing a retile. a louisiana state judge ruled that he should go before a jury again for allegedly killing a prison guard in 1972. two previous convictions were thrown out. all of the witnesses to the killings are now dead. a federal judge ruled in june that woodfox should be released.

>> pope francis is celebrating final mass in cuba now before coming to the united states later today. the service is being held at one of cuba's holiest places, a basilica dedicated to the patron saint of cuba. thousands of people are watching the service outside the basilica. let's go live to havana. good morning, as the pope wraps up his trip to cuba, there has been criticism that he has been soft on the castro regime and treatment of dissidents. >> those in south florida, new jersey will lodge those complaints against the pope. forty dissidents tried to see the pope during his trip and were detained or restricted in their homes. there were three here in havana that were dragged away.

it was caught an video as they tried to reach the pope. one grabbed the hand of the pope and was pulled away and yelling freedom and flyers distributed during that encounter. many were wondering whether the pope would broach the topic of human rights in cuba, obviously a big sticking point in one of the positions that the obama administration and others have tried to work on the castro government to address. he hasn't done that so far. when you look at this pope, what he's done, there's certainly a great amount of change that's come about this, particularly that brokering of this new deal between castro and obama with the normalization of relations. he mentioned homilies about essentially making service not ideological, maybe construed as a slight against cuba's long held communist positions. human rights issues hasn't really been a topic. >> the pope is giving his final

mass right now. how many cubans have been turning up at these events and what messages are they hearing from pope francis, if not about human rights? >> >> this is cuba's most religious site. it's a significant place, but what we've seen over the course of these three visits are markedly smaller crowds with what we've seen with pope benedict and john paul. the estimates here in havana 300,000, a smaller pope, which is surprising, given that this is the world's first latin

pontiff. he says a built of a rock star in the region here. there's quite a few people who expressed at the world level, how popular this man is, so a significantly smaller gathering here. when you talk about people coming touses the pope, bus us tend to bring these people in. part of that is the cuban government's willingness to bus in the kind of numbers that we saw in years past. >> david reporting to us from havana, thank you. >> stay with aljazeera america all week. we will bring you complete coverage of the pope's visit to the united states. >> there is tighter security in the saudi city of mecca this morning as millions of muslims make their way there for the hajj, the largest annual

pilgrimage in the world. 7,000 security cameras will monitor the area around the grand mosque and 100,000 security forces will be on patrol. starting tonight at sundown. >>ish people across the world will begin a fast for i don't ym kippur. >> china's president arrives in the u.s. for a state visit today, trying to ease concerns during his week long stay. one contentious problem, cyber espionage. in one interview, it is denied the country is hacking the country for trade secrets. we have this report. china's state controlled media portrays the president. >> he is argue glee one of the

strongest leaders, going at a time when there is very good optics. he's suddenly a chinese leader that's in command of a very large economy. >> senior advisors made a rare appearance to brief the media. the president they said has a simple message, our economies remain dependent on each other, especially now. >> the two countries have some differences, but that's not unusual. our shared interests are far wider than our differences. >> those differences are apparent in the south china sea. recent satellite photos appear to show china building a third runway in these disputed waters, despite a promise to end reclamation work. last month, china showed off some of its latest military hardware, but it's the technology you don't see that worries the u.s. government. >> the hardest issue perhaps is

cyber warfare. the president will not budge an inch, because he was actually expanding the cyber warfare capacity. >> china state control media says this will be the most symbolically most important visit by a chinese head of state since the former paramount leader went there 36 years ago. it causes a lot of excitement, because this country was slowly emerging from decades of isolation. the atmosphere for this visit is likely to be very different. >> we have the panda huggers and dragon slayer and motivation are on stages right now bashing china. the mood right now has very much an anti china feel to it. >> the view of the united states among most young chinese people appears very different. this is a generation for whom u.s. brands and culture have had a big impact. >> i remember when i was young,

we were taught i have a dream. going to america would be my dream. >> i watch many american t.v. programs and movies. they have a lot of influence on my life. >> the two leaders last met in beijing almost a year ago. for the chinese president, this trip will be a further opportunity to enhance his international image and china's. a reminder, as well, that he'll be president for a lot longer than his host. adrien brown, al jazeera, beijing. >> timothy joins us this morning, an international defense research analyst at the and corporation. thanks for being with us. china has been accused of being behind cyber attacks at multiple levels of government and u.s. businesses. president obama said last week that all countries gather in tell on each other. >> that is fundamentally

different from your government or its proxies engaging in espionage and stealing information from companies. that we consider an act of aggression. it has to stop. >> he was talking about china, of course, should we expect some sort of framework agreement out of the visit this week? >> it's very possible that the two sides will agree on a minimum framework that restricts the u.s. of cyber warfare in peace time against the critical infrastructure of each countries. the details have not been made clear and it's worth underscoring that this at most would offer a minimum level of agreement, and does very little to address the sorts of concerns that the president expressed in that quote. >> in which area are the stakes higher, on the cyber warfare

front or actually defense front in which we see chinese military build up, china building sides in the south china sea? >> i think the concern of the -- we saw the president express is that the economic issue is extremely important, and the reason why cyberrists is so important is that america's competitive advantage increasingly rests on its intellectual property and advanced technology and these are exactly the things that are being stolen through the chinese cyber espionage activity. if this trend continues and chinese are able to reduce the u.s. com pet i have advantage, this directly impacts the ability of the u.s. economy to grow. this is a huge threat to the security of the united states, and i think it's the reason why the president and many senior u.s. officials have underscored the importance with which the u.s. views this issue. >> how does that relate to sort

of the private sector. in meeting in seattle today, the chinese president will meet with apple and microsoft leaders. how does that relate to the conversation about cyber war? >> first off, we are not talking about cyber war, we are talking about cyber espionage. the way this resist, the chinese president meeting with the head of u.s. tech companies, first off, i think the chinese are trying to off set the u.s. accusations and criticisms by demonstrating that the chinese economy is open to u.s. investment and u.s. technology presence, and by underscoring that the chinese do remain a major market for advance technologies, including bowing aircraft and microsoft computer systems. the other issue, i think that

this meeting between the chinese president and u.s. tech companies illustrates is that a lot of u.s. technology companies are somewhat ambivalent about the agreeing tension in the cyber domain. they are asked to play a role that i think they are reluctant to do so. they are looking to expand market activity and afraid of being caught in the political crass hairs between chinese and u.s. authorities. >> thanks so much for your analysis this morning, appreciate it. >> european union leaders are meeting today to discuss the refugee crisis. scuffles have broken out at serbia croatia border as thousands entered the country overnight. they are trying to make it to germany after being shut out of hungary. hungary's government placed these ads threatening jail time for entering the country illegal lil. hungary has deployed soldiers along its border. german chancellor angela merkel

said any decision won't come overnight. are these talks too late for people already stranded across the e.u.? >> the u.n. refugee agency said this is the last chance for europe to reach a coherent policy on this refugee crisis. in many ways, you're right, the countries of europe, leaders of europe at any rate seem to be way behind the curve on this one. they're discussing trying to reach quotas on how to share out 120,000 refugees who have come to the european union. however, again, according to the u.n. refugee agency, nearly 500,000 have arrived this year. the fact that they're arguing only about one quarter of that number really makes you ask just how worthwhile this meeting is. in many ways, really, the

situation with the refugees has taken on a momentum of its own and it really does seem to have caught the leaders of the european union looking really lacking in leadership. >> not to mention that a lot of these e.u. countries are refusing to follow the quotas that the e.c. is talking about. could they face any consequences for refusing to follow the quotas? >> we're looking very much an east-west divide in the european union at the moment. western countries, particularly germany and transpushing very hard for everyone to have these mandatory quotas to share out these refugees. however, the eastern europe countries, some of the newer members to the european union, countries like poland, the czech republic, slovakia, hungary are saying we are not going to be bullied or dictated to by the richer countries of europe. we will make our own decisions.

ultimately, if it was pushed to a vote, they could go for a majority vote and ultimately the countries of western europe might be able to overrule those countries, but that's the nuclear option. europe is meant to be about consensus, solidarity, so the idea of western european countries strong arming the poor eastern countries doesn't send the right kind of european message. >> it really becomes a question of sovereignty versus the e.u. thank you. >> a new group of u.s. trained syrian rebels is back in syria to fight isil. the u.s. trained the military in turkey. last week, general lloyd austin admitted only a handful of rebels trained by the u.s. were still fighting in syria. >> gentle giants under threat, how climate change and drought are taking a toll on california's treasured kerr coy treasured sequoias.

>> the pope will begin his whirlwind tour of the united states. >> a pharmaceutical firm on the offensive this morning responding to anger that resulted in a 5000% price hike. politicians are clocking closer at pricing. >> politicians around the only one. there was outrage directed in this company's direction yesterday. the drug fights infectious diseases. it's been around for more than 60 years. the pill used to cost just a few

dollars before sold to a new company looking to make a mitch bigger profit. >> shortly after purchasing it from another dug maker, the price was raised from $13.50 to $750. people suffering from conditions like aids, malaria and cancer depend on the medication to fight a par sitic infection. hillary clinton tweeted price gouging like this is outrageous. her comments immediately sent bio tech stocks plummeting. >> it seems like the media immediately points a finger at me so i .1 back at them, but not the index or pinky.

the former hedge fund manager struck a less aggressive tone explaining the price hike. >> this structure in 1940's, we can make a better drug for this disease. we're spending tens of millions of dollars to make a better version that is more effective, less toxic. these patients he deserve a drug company that is turning a fair profit and developing a better drug that is better for them. >> the c.e.o. said his company will make sure people in need who canned afford it will get it for free in some cases. back a hillary clinton's tweet, she promised to layout her proposal today to try to cut the cost of specialty drugs. >> the head of goldman sachs said he has cancer. he revealed he has been diagnosed with lymphoma. he said he's told by his doctors his form of cancer is highly

curable. he said he will not step down as head of the company while he undergoes treatment. >> 2015 is the hottest year on record. let's bring in nicole mitchell with more. what's causing the high temperatures? >> a number of things. these records go into the 18 hundreds. within the last 20 years, we've had all of our top 10 records for hottest years. 2015 looks like it could shatter those records and we're not through the course of the year. when you look at these things and why this could be the record setting year, we have already had the hottest on-record march and in may, june, july and august for all those respective months. when we look at the world as a total and this map goes through june and where the reds are that's above average, the blues are below, whites are even, if you're somewhere in the northeast, you say it's pretty normal. you look at the rest of the

world and how above everyone has been, including deepest reds, those are parts of our own west coast. when we go back and look at the top four warmest year, all most of which have been in the last few years, the last record was just last year in 2014. then, the top line is 2015, already blowing all of those out of the water in terms of temperatures, now the numbers so far this year were about one degree fahrenheit. it would be unlikely at this point that 2015 wouldn't set the record. el niño, you see the brighter reds, those are anomalies, how much heat is stored in the ocean and that is a sign of our el niño going on right now. all those things, the fact that we have the lead, that we have an el niño, and those years tend to be warmer mean this will

probably be the warm evident year on record. we are already saying that with 97% certainty, even though we have so many months to go. >> a lead but certainly not a win. nicole mitchell, thank you for that. >> related to that, climate change and drought maybe taking a toll on california's giants as he convey i canes. the ancient trees are losing limbs and needles like never before. now they're trying to find an answer to keep the trees alive. >> they were losing their older needles, older leaves in amounts that were -- i had never seen before. >> giant sequoias like this are very, very he special. they're the largest organisms on earth and they are ancient. after four years of drought and the warming effect of climate change, reservers are worried about their future. at 2,500 years old, this

predates christianity and islam. >> more important is how tall it is. it's over 75 meters, more than 240 feet tall. scientists are going up in it today to take water samples and god help me, i'm going to follow them. >> anthony leads a team frombergly. he climbs to the very top of these trees to test them for signs of stress. he's been doing this kind of thing for 20 years. this is my first time. >> i understand hear somebody playing house music in the parking lot and i just realized that that's my heart. >> it taught me a new respect for the scientists, and the tree itself. >> so be up in this massive thing, you can feel the weight of history in the weight of this tree. it's board to be here. here's the view. check this out.

wave to the folks. >> warmer temperatures more than a the trees need enormous amounts of water. >> a typical giant sequoia tree of this size might need 800 gallons of water in a sickle day. >> the sierra snow pack which provides water is now at a 500 year low. the trees seem to be the healthiest of the bunch. as much as a quarter of the population of other types of trees are dying of thirst. >> the sugar pine seems to be suffering a lot of mortality that we've seen, ponderosa pine, as well. cedar have been dying back at a rate that people in the park have never seen before. >> i am going to show you something i have not looked at. unbelievable. and now, i'm going to try to

come down. >> that was by far the scariest thing i've ever done. i've never felt so insignificant. >> part of this project is to test the accuracy of the carnegie airborne observatory, which is conducting fly over observation was whole forests at once. >> typically in the past, we've missed most of the forest and tried to make an inference from a sample of a few trees. a the advance of airborne remote sensing, this has enabled us to collect data over enormous patiently scales that wouldn't have been possible in the past. >> the sequoias, which have survived droughts for thousands of years are surviving this so far. the team points out drought and rising temperatures is unprecedented. >> now in the fourth year of this severe drought, they still seem to be holding up pretty

well. if we had another year as severe as this one, i'd say all bets are off. >> this tree was a seed ling during the roman empire, an adolescent when muhammed was alive. the history of the united states is a tiny fraction of its past. the question is whether it and its kind can survive here in the future. jacob ward, al jazeera, sierra national park, california. >> a close call in saudi arabia, security camera footage shows a man walking on a sidewalk when out of nowhere, a large glass pane falls from above, barely misses his head before shattering on the ground. the man appears to be shaken, but otherwise unhurt. >> coming up from doha, european nations hammer out an agreement to relocate 120,000 refugees. a live update from outside the meeting in brussels. >> that's it from us here in new york. i'm receive as i. we leave you with picture of pope francis celebrating his

final mass in cuba before heading to the united states this afternoon. getting the news from the people who are affected. >> people need to demand reform... >> ali velshi on target weeknights 10:30p et

>> i died and came back to life... but yet still wanted to get high. >> i have prostituted. >> for drugs? >> for drugs, yeah. >> we're dealing with the worst drug epidemic in united states' history. >> she said "dad, please don't leave me here". i said "honey, i don't have any choice".

>> welcome to the news hour. live from our headquarters in doha. >> disarm or risk being attacked, a deadline for coo leaders in burkina faso to surrender have come and gone. >> we'll have the latest from brussels on the refugees. >> this hour, chinese president flies to the u.s. to immediate with tech executives and then on to the white house. >>