we'll stay on top of the story with the fiat chrysler. if there's a strike we'll be on top of it and a settlement, we'll give details analysis on it. that is our show for today. thank you for joining us. i'm ali velshi. dropping out... >> if we unite and be dropping, we need a new face. i should not be a distraction from that californian republican kevin mccarthy, front runner for speaker of the house withdraws from the race. dire prediction. >> the russians will begin to suffer casualties in syria.

>> n.a.t.o. renews pledges to defend mem berls, including neighbouring turkey. >> new threat. >> we are trying to salvage what we can. south carolina residents trying to recover amid rain falls of dangerous flooding. >> pluto revealed. discoveries about the mysterious planet billions of miles from the sun evening, i'm antonio mora, this is al jazeera america. we begin with a shocking development in the battle for house speaker. the front runner dropped out of the race just before a meeting to nominate the party. it throws the area into chaos. al jazeera's michael shure reports from capital hill. >> a shocking day on capitol hill. a day we were supposed to know who the republicans were nominating for speaker of the

house. turns out that at the end of the day we are further away from knowing who that will be. it started with an abrupt withdrawal of majority leader of kevin mccarthy. >> reporter: when the day began, kevin mccarthy was the front-runner for house speaker and then the unexpected. >> what happened was kevin mccarthy went up to the microphone and said that he was not going to - he was withdrawing his name from consideration for speaker representative ryan costello of pennsylvania broke the news. >> speaker john boehner got up and said based on what was said, we are going to move to postpone election for speaker. >> and just like that, mccarthy was out. >> the one thing i found in talking to everybody, if we are going to unite and be strong, we need a new face to help do that. >> mccarthy didn't think he was that face, and sent republicans

scrambling for a new voice. >> we need a lot more family discussions. we need to find somebody that the whole body can unite behind. >> a difficult task considering the discourse that many fear caused john boehner and mccarthy to bow out. >> because of a divided caucus, mccarthy's unexpected withdrawal may have been the result of a numbers game. >> i don't want to go to the floor and win with 220 votes. the best thing for the party is to have 247 votes on the floor. mccarthy didn't seem to have the votes to win. and it was suggested that he hurt himself with comments that the benghazi committee was designed to do damage to hillary clinton. >> i should not be a distraction. that's part of the decision.

>> reporter: now the conversation moves back to who might be the next speaker. >> you don't know the dynamics, you are in a race, there's two candidates. all of a sudden, there's three. it changes the dynamics, you don't know how, now there's two again, maybe more. >> the former vice president nom near, ryan, may be view as a member that can get the necessary votes. for now, longer than planned, john boehner will remain the speaker of the house. >> for his part, john boehner said that he will remain as speaker until a new speaker and elected, prompting a democrat who i spoke with to call him the once and future speaker. >> michael shure an capitol hill. jason johnson is a political science professor and al jazeera contributor. seems that congress has unlimited ability to cause

chaos. did things go downhill for mccarthy when he a made comments last week about the benghazi committee, when he. >> i think it went downhill the moment the freedom party turned into the dysfunctional caucus. yes, saying what he said about hillary clinton was not helpful, and the fact that there seems to be a rumour that he cas carrying on even though there was no evidence of this. the rumour alone caused many to be concerned. it was a series of things that made him decide. he can be satisfied. he'll be majority house leader. >> talking about the freedom caucus. there was thoughts that he was resigning because he was fed up. there's a minority that can block elections. can they be brought into line

behind another candidate? >> not likely, what will probably happen is you may be able to peel off some members, there may be someone that comes into the position, because they can cut a deal about leadership positions, but you will not get the 40 members as a majority of the caucus to vote for anyone other than a candidate they want. they nominated webster, he's not a wise choice, his own district leading democratic. that is probably the only option. >> and the declared candidates don't seem to be terribly appealing to the majority of the republican party yip. the one everyone is -- party. the one everyone is talking about is paul ryan, refusing to run for speaker and issued a statement saying he was not going to do so. there has been a full-court press through the rest of the day for him to throw his hat into the ring, and his position

seems like it might be softening. >> why would paul ryan take the pay cut. he's the chair of ways and means. it's an important position that you can have in congress. he's young, has his future - he's on the fast plane. >> is it that the issue. speaker of the house is a big position, second in line after the vice president. is it about long-term ambitions. because the reality is few speakers succeed. there's on been one speaker of the house that has been a president. >> paul ryan knows that he has plenty of options, he left the 2012 campaign, no one held it against him. he could run for governor when scott walker steps down. he can stay in ways and means and build credibility and power.

there's no reason to take a thankless job like this, in this election cycle. >> democrats were taking advantages. this cannot be bad for the democrats. will it be bad for the country, will it create problems for votes and other issues. >> i don't think so. here is why. i think that john boehner will put on the tape and take one for the team. he alluded to this when he said he would leave at the end of the month. john boehner said he would not be willing to negotiate the debt-sealing deal. he based would be doing a favour for leadership. he'll take the heat and walk into the sun set and not deal with the stress of the issues. i think it could be solved. >> good to have your insights.

>> russia pushing back on reports that four cruise missiles crash-landed in iran. also the syrian army is on the offensive with increased support from the russian military. the russian mobilization has critics arguing that vladimir putin once again took the initiative surprising the obama administration. >> in the wake of cruise missile strikes, president obama is facing criticism. not doing enough to defend opposition on the ground, and the tart of the missile strikes, and president obama, the critics say is not doing enough. meeting with n.a.t.o. allies in brussels. ash carter predicted dire consequences for russia at the hands of the syria opposition. >> in coming days the russians will suffer casualties.

>> he listed their moves, coming within miles of u.s. drones. and cruise missiles launched without warning. thursday, reports emerged that four badly miss the their mark, crashing in iran, near the border with turkey. russia received permission to fly over the territory on the way to targets in syria. russia denies the reports, saying all missiles reached their targets. in another alarming move, war planes entered air space over turkey, a member of n.a.t.o. military alliance. thursday, the secretary-general of n.a.t.o. vowed to act when it comes to a fight with mush russia. >> n.a.t.o. is ready to defend and protect allies.

that, of course goes for or is valid for turkey critics say president obama should have anticipated russia's aggressive action and has been outmanoeuvred by his russian counterpart vladimir putin. >> i think a lot is misunderstanding of russia's intentions. you know, we think that if we could get together at a table, if we could have a conversation, we can find win, win scenarios. we are about win-win scenarios. vladimir putin doesn't see diplomacy this way. as russian missiles weigh down, the u.s. military is focused on fighting i.s.i.l., not russian forces. >> what does the white house want to do to protect allies attacked now. >> that has not included things like directing actions tonne the

ground. russia has failed to distinguish between those groups that are supported by the united states and coalition partners, and the extremists in i.s.i.l. >> the barrage continued on thursday, giving forces room to continue their offensive mike viqueira in washington. after months of internationally brokered talks libya may form a yunty government. the u.n. made the announcements saying both sides agreed on a unity president and council. the groups have been fractured since the overthrow of muammar gaddafi four years ago. it involves two large players, the government in tripoli, and internationally recognised government in tobruk. people in parts of south carolina have been urged to leave their homes.

the rain storms that caused the floods have passed. they are heading to the lowest lying areas. paul, governor hailey described the danger as a different kind of bad. >> yes, what she meant was there's this kind of bad that you see here in columbia, the power of moving water that ripped apart this one story business here. then there's what is coming, a surge flowing downstream. what they are concerned about. people on the coast. they have weathered hurricanes, and this is not going to be so bad. the storm surge is headed that way. it will sit in the low-lying areas for up to two weeks. that is the worry. in this part of the state businesses are starting to try to pick up the pieces.

>> this was the kitchen. this was here, had to be cleaned up. water was gushing through here. >> from the back. >> this is where the water came up to. >> reporter: before the flood, the staff here in columbia were gearing up to celebrate 50 years of serving pizza, now they are cleaning up, trying to get their heads around what happened to the small family business, a local favourite. >> you are in shock, you don't know what to do. it was surreal. it was part of a nightmare. it's not reel. >> the muddy water was waist deep in the parking lot. inside they are ripping everything out. down to the concrete under the floor tiles. >> this is a 1,000 year rainfall. we had a massive amount of flash floods. the sun will not shine.

there'll not be wind or rain. don't underestimate the power of water. disasters this bad or rare is something few think about or plan for. i can't - honestly, i have not spoken to one person in this area who considered flood insurance. >> none of the small businesses. >> none of them. >> it's too early to know how hard small businesses have been hit. officials are estimating overall damage tops a million. the process for tallying up the bill will take weeks. assessment teams are fanning across the states. investigators stopped by. this is an institution, a place where people celebrate first dates, birthdays, and anniversaries. a loyal customer set up a go fund me page to help the

restaurant rebuild and reopen. >> now, we are trying to sal yij what we can. i had people begging not to chaining anything. it's been the same for 50 years. >> in all the charity of customers is inspiring. but that is not going to get uts to reopen. it will take hard work to get the building. to get it opened will be weeks, months, a long time to go without cash coming in. >> paul beban, in south carolina. thanks also in south carolina, a settlement in the famous police shooting of walter scott. the city agreed to pay $6.5 million to scott's family. the 50-year-old african american was shot last april by a white police officer while trying to

run away after a traffic stop. a bystander reported the shooting, sleigher was indicted on a labour charge. >> volkswagen testified in congress about the scandal. lawmakers didn't just question him. that's next. >> one of the americans who stopped in france after getting in the middle of another violent altercation.

>> when i met daisy, it was the best day of my life. when my past caught up with me and made us all pay the price. >> the social worker said, "i'm gonna have to take the baby". they took my family. i don't know how i'm gonna do it but... i need another lawyer. you're gonna have to kill me to take my child.

tomorrow unit auto workers meets to vote on a deal with fiat chrysler. union officials want gains before the deadline. under the new agreement entry level workers will have an increase in the hourly wage. once u.a.w. leaders approve the deal, it will go to the union for radificationment. >> german authorities raided volkswagen headquarters as part of an investigation into the emissions cheating scandal. volkswagen says it is cooperating and handed over a range of documents. the german automaker suspended

10 managers. on capitol hill, the company's american c.e.o. testified before congress. the head of volkswagen of america faced rare agreement from both sides of the political aisle - anger and detrust. >> vw betrayed a nation. it's time to clean it up. or get off the road. >> the auto industry deliberately chose to perpetuate lies and mislead consumers. the american public are not crash test dummies. >> vw admitted to installing software to cheat on emissions test. c.e.o. michael horn offered apologies. >> let me be clear, volkswagen takes full accountability for

reaction. vexes are under -- investigations are under way. >> vw is trying to get the united states to believe it's a couple of rogue engineers. i categorically reject that. either the entire organization is incompetent in trying to come up with product, or they are complicit. . >> the only thing i want to hear is how will volkswagen make this right by consumers. >> vw has almost a cult following, and the anger was evident from emails shared which a vw regulator. the question is going on and on.

how do you call yourself a member of the human race when you knowingly poisoned the planet. horne admitted that he also feels deceived. >> the company has to bloody learn and use the opportunity in order to get their act together. after the grilling horne pledged to make it right. >> we want to fix the issues, remedy the customers and make sure it doesn't happen again. >> doing that could take years and cost billions. one of the american service members that stopped an attack was stabbed. police say airman first class spencer stone was knifed three times in the chest. authorities say the fight was alcohol related. doctors say stone underwent

surgery, so far no arrests have been made. the 23-year-old stone and two friends stopped a heavily armed man on a paris-bound passenger train last month. >> blue skies, mountains and red water. the latest discoveries on pluto. and j a group of lawmakers in kosovo used tear gas in their own chamber. the only way to get better is to challenge yourself,

and that's what we're doing at xfinity. we are challenging ourselves to improve every aspect of your experience. and this includes our commitment to being on time. every time. that's why if we're ever late for an appointment, we'll credit your account $20. it's our promise to you. we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life.

not the other way around. i just had a horrible nightmare. my company's entire network went down, and i was home in bed, unaware. but that would never happen. comcast business monitors my company's network 24 hours a day and calls and e-mails me if something, like this scary storm, takes it offline. so i can rest easy. what. you don't have a desk bed? don't be left in the dark. get proactive alerts 24/7. comcast business. built for business. opposition lawmakers in kosovo's parliament restarted to extreme measures to block a deal

with serbia, setting off tear gas. the opposition feels the e.u. brokered deal with belgrade to get areas more autonomy threatens the sovereignty. kosovo declared independence, but does not recognise that secession. n.a.s.a.'s new horizon spacecraft sent home images of pluto. there's water, mountains, dunes and a blue sky. al jazeera's science and technology correspondent jacob ward has more. >> the best way to absorb the news about pluto, is to acknowledge for years we travelled to the planet. it's hard to imagine. it's 4 billion miles away from us. let's say we got there, and humans were standing on the surface. what would they see? >> a few things we knew up until today. we knew it was a 248 year orbit

around the kun we know that the whole place is tilted on its side. one side of pluto doesn't see the moon, because it literally follows the turn of the planet. there's a lot of things about what if would be like to stand on the surface of the planet. until today, we didn't know that standing on the surface, you look at the sunrise or sunset as it comes up. shining on the way that a full moon ships. there would be a blue haze, the sky would be blue at the beginning and end of pluto's day. that's an extraordinary image as humans imagine what it's like to be on the planet. based on colour photographs. the mission going past pluto in july. almost finished from earth. the colour pictures showed the water ice on that planet. and there turns out to be water

ice there, is red. you are looking across the frozen lakes of red as you look at the blue sunset of the planet. it's the setting for a movie. it's going to deepen the understa understanding n.a.s.a. to prompt the next move. they'll look at other celesteryial bodies. that is the excitement coming from the photographs. >> we have other great pictures. look at this dramatic display of the aurora borialize. a time lapse view was shot m minnesota. it is caused by solar particles colliding in the atmosphere. scene another the arctic circle.

>> that's all, luis suarez is up next with "inside story". [ ♪ music ] the next speaker of the house will not be kevin mccarthy of california, house republicans met from behind closed doors to hear from the men that want to be next speaker. a gauty to speaker -- deputy to speaker john boehner, mccarthy had those on the right. many are in the freedom caucus, a faction that cheered when john boehner said he was going. the rights might, and and the future of the 114th congress, it's "inside story".