♪ >> this is aljazeera america. live from new york city, i'm tony harris. about face on afghanistan. president obama's new plans for delaying the u.s. troop drawdown. off-target, lead documents on the success rate of u.s. drone strikes. escalating gun violence, laughing it off. and comedians respond to donald trump.

>> and we begin with america's longest war, and the announcement that withdrawal of u.s. troops from afghanistan is on hold. president obama said that the situation in the region is too fragile to stick with his plan for an outright troop pullout by 2016. 9800 troops there will remain through at least next year. >> while america's combat mission in afghanistan may be over, our commitment to afghanistan and it's people endures. as commander in chief, i will not allow afghanistan to be used as a safe haven for terrorists to attack our nation again. >> it will now be up to the next president to determine the fate of the troops there. and national correspondent, jamie mcintyre is here. >> reporter: president obama said under the advice of his top commanders, he's scrapping his plan to bring virtually all

u.s. troops home from afghanistan by the time he leaves office. and instead, he's slowing the forces to a trickle and leaving at least half of them through 2017 and possibly beyond. the president's about face customs just days after the taliban's surprise two-week take over of kunduz exposed the shortcomings of the u.s.-trained afghan army, which needed the u.s.' help to retake the city. but the pentagon said that it was not the tipping point, and president obama said his new timeline has been months in the making, following extensive talks with the governments and the allies. >> my cesment of what's going in the ground and making adjustments. >> obama's revived plan keeps most of the 9800 troops in

afghanistan through 2016, instead of slowly withdrawing them over the course of the next few years. his plan would leave 1,000 troops in the capital. and instead, obama as agreed to keep 5500 at three gases. kabul, and while the timetable is changing, the president said that the very narrow u.s. mitigation is not. the u.s. troops will only advise and assist force and go after al qaeda remnants, but not engage the taliban unless it's in an emergency. >> the combat mission has ended. and our mission now on a day-to-day basis is train, advice, assist, and counter terrorism, and only to undertake other kinds of operations, either to protect our own forces or in an extreme situation.

>> the pentagon said that the president's overoptimistic timeline has failed in part because it did not anticipate the many months that it would take to train the new army after the elections last year, but it said that the unity government was a major factish in the president's decision to make what he called an extraest. because unlike in iraq where maliki asked the u.s. troops to leave in 2012, the afghan leaders have asked the u.s. to stay. >> we have a partner who wants our help, and the majority of the afghan people share our goals. we have a bilateral security agreement to guide our cooperation. >> the president also somberly noted that while u.s. forces last name be in combat, they will be in danger, and some troops who thought they saw the last of afghanistan may face another tour of duty in a war

that has killed 2200 americans and rounded 20,000. it will be up to the next president to decide how and when to end america's longest war. >> look, jamie, what do we know about the report that a special ops analyst knew that the doctors without borders facility was in fact a hospital. >> well, the pentagon today was a little bit upset about that associated press report because they say that it gives the impression that the airstrikes were called in with the advanced knowledge that this was a hospital. and yes, it was generally known this was a hospital at that location, but they dispute the idea that there was any evidence that the troops were called in without that knowledge. the spokesman said, "we would never intentionally strike a protected medical facility and that said, a couple of investigations are going on. the first will determine whether civilians were killed

and if the u.s. is responsible. and the answer to that is yes, and the other one, that will determine exactly what happened, and that could are the in somebody in the u.s. being court marbled. >> all right, jamie mcintyre at the pentagon for us, and jamie, thank you. and throughout the course of the campaign in afghanistan, president obama has been focused on ending military involvement in the region, and he has been insist on bringing all but a small contingent of troops home before leaving office. let's bring in mike viqueira. and what made the promise so hard for the president to queen. >> if you hear the white house and experts, the situation on the ground has simply changed, tony. whether the president overpromised in the heat of a political campaign, and remember, it was 2008 when he said he wanted to on get troops out of iraq, but in 2012, he started saying that he was going to end the war, and

looking back now in retrospect, the situation changed on the ground. and the afghan army is unable to stand on its own. the president had two choices. he could leave a potential unstable afghanistan with no u.s. military there to help it, or he could go back on as many vows and promises and leave a u.s. force there, and leave it to the next occupant of the white house to deal with it in 2017. obviously, he has now taken the second choice, but entering the roosevelt room, he was flanked by the joint chiefs of staff and the se secretary of defense. >> i know many of you have grown weary of this conflict. and as you are well aware, i do not support the idea of endless war, and i have repeatedly not wanted to march into conflicts that don't serve our security interests. >> so he has been forced to

change his policy, and move the goalposts, and move the forces out of afghanistan no more than three times. he came in saying that he was going to end the wars in iraq and afghanistan, and he may leave the office with three open conflicts. >> what are we hearing from the president's critics on capitol hill today? >> well, for the most part, they lauded this and set it was something that needed to happen. john campbell, who went before the armed services committee a few weeks ago, and he said that this is not going to work, and i presented the president with options and the u.s. army cannot do it on its own. but at that point, the cat was out of the bag, and the u.s. had little choice in the matter. but john mccain said that it's not enough. with 5500, we need more. and they took that from general campbell and the pentagon

planners and advisers, and they said that's the upper most troop level that they suggested and the president took that top number. >> mike viqueira, thank you, and coming up in 30 minutes time, we'll speak with the former u.s. ambassador to afghanistan, james cunningham, about the new mission, and what the ultimate endgame is for the war-torn country of afghanistan. russian airstrikes have killed at least 75 people in syria today according to sources there. the barrage around homes and aleppo, and at least 43 civilians, including women and children were killed in the countryside. in aleppo, a hospital was bombed. and russia said that there were 33 strikes against isil in the last 24 hours. new reports show that u.s. drone strikes in afghanistan have killed far more people than intended. the strike program was intended to carry out killings of

terrorists, but 90% of the people killed in at least one operation were not the intended targets. chris off is here, and good to see you. so tell us about this report. >> reporter: well, it's actually quite shocking, the idea that the administration has been very public about the fact that they have this drone program. but they say that it's only used when they can determine without any doubt that who they're going after is a consistent and imminent threat to the people of the united states, and they can be killed with absolute precision, without killing anybody else. now, when you take the report that shows that nine out of the ten people that were killed in all of the drone strikes in a five--month period in afghanistan were not the intended targets -- >> that's a failed program. >> absolutely failed. >> so you used the word

shocking, and what else was in the report. >> the administrator, the chain of command. it goes through the approval processing to approve who is going to be a target with president obama having the ultimate sign-off. and there are these baseball cards, so-called profiles, all of these targets, where they basically on the back justify why they should be killed. but the problem is, according to the source, that's basically the whole causing all of these documents, claims that almost all of it is based on very faulty intelligence. >> wow. anything else about the report? >> you look at these numbers, and you it speaks for itself. >> cross off, good to see you. benjamin netanyahu said that he's open to meeting with palestinian president, mahmoud abbas to discuss the violence.

3 palestinians have been killed in the last month and seven israelis. >> it's time that president abbas not only stops justifying t. but calling for it. he says that he wants to see more blood spilled in jerusalem, and it's time for the international community to stop jug murder. >> abbas says that the violence goes against palestinian interests, and carl joins us from jerusalem. carl, is there any hope for talks between the two sides? >> tony, there's deep mistrust between the two sides, and the palestinian authority. and israelis accusing one another. but there are different problems too. israeli president, benjamin netanyahu, has flipped on whether he actually believes in

a two-state solution, and then as far as the palestinian authority is concerned, there are questions of whether the palestinians on the ground, the grassroots, ask them to represent them at all. and today, as i was looking around want streets of jerusalem, it seems that both sides are drawing battle lines, rather than looking for points where there could be conciliation. a fresh wedge splits an already divided city. concrete blocks now segregate slices of occupied east jerusalem. israeli quarter police hunt for suspected palestinian knife men in what they call lone wolf terrorists. it's part of the newly launched israeli security crackdown. by now, the neighborhood bus comes, and as you see, the

passengers are being forced to get off one bus, walk through the barrier and walk through another bus. he says that he's late for english classes. his regular 20-minute journey has turn food an hour-long trek. he fears that israel is using the current wave of violence as a pretext to go on a land grab. >> we don't care about that. >> the israeli government says that it wants to hinder potential attackers, but the measures are clearly an obstacle to the movement of innocents too. >> [ foreign dialogue ] >> it's hard, the police checkpoints, and the struggle, the situation is tough for us and the children. we're always worried for them when they go to school or come back, she says: this is another checkpoint to where the

israeli security forces say is a flashpoint neighborhood. we're about to meet the family of a palestinian man who carried out one of those knife attacks. this is the grizzly surveillance footage of that incident tuesday. telephone engineer, bugamal, ran this, and hacked bystanders with a meat cleaver. the police shot him dead. his family had already been marked by bloodshed. his cousin shot five wore inners at a jewish synagogue. you can see how they have poured concrete within a few feet of the ceiling, and here, a steel plate has been welded onto the door. that place is never going to be used as a home again. this is what is left of the other cousin's home.

israelis have a promise of razing the homes of those they define as terrorists, and now we are led to the wake of jamaal. but there's no body to mourn. the israeli government said that it will not hand over corpses of the palestinian attackers to their families, but dump them in unmarked graves. authorities want to stop funerals from becoming rallying cries for more violence. but yet his father,ka. jamud, is quietly defiant. they think that holding the body is the biggest punishment for us. we're not going to thank him for our son's body. they're not the first, the last. they have plenty of bodies. he said that the israelis told him that they would demolish his home within 72 hours in retaliation for tuesday's attack. i haven't taken anything out of

my home. what we have lost is more valuable than what is left behind. my son is the most valuable, he says. it's eye for an eye, and plain to see that the scars are growing steadily deeper. now, obviously one of the questions here, will those new israeli security measures be effective in stemming this cycle of violence, and as we know from incidents in other countries as well, trying to stop these relatively random low tech attacks is a nightmare for any country. but you talk to palestinians and say, can the violence be stopped? they say, yes, give us our homeland and that will stop it at the core. >> in the occupation. carl, thank you. behind bars for exposing a

covert in iran. and plus, a major american city seeing a major surge in gun deaths.

>> so take a look at this. former house speaker, dennis hastert is expected to plead guilty in the federal hush money case against him. he's accused of covering up a

case of male students decades ago, and today mean no trial for the former illinois congressman. hastert is scheduled to appear in court. a former cia officer has called on president obama to pardon her husband. jeffrey sterling was sentenced to prison for leaking information, to attempt to sabotage iran's nuclear program. holly sterling said that her husband is innocent. and it was a government attempt to silence whistle blowers. and holly sterling joins us from washington d.c. good to have you on the program. >> thank you very much for having me. >> let me ask you. whawhat are you saying on behalf

of your husband? are you saying that [ audio difficulties ] that he was wrongfully accused and convicted? >> that is absolutely correct. >> all right. so what would you add to that? >> well, basically, jeffrey's troubles actually began when he filed a scrim ace lawsuit against the agency in 2000. he was the first african-american case officer to do so. he was fired from the agency in 2002, and the case was dismissed in 2005. and the premise is that jeffrey was a disgruntled former cia

agent, and he disclosed classified information to james risen, and that's not the truth. he did have concerns about the operation that was written about in the book, but however, he went to the senate select committee which is the proper channels to go to when you have concerns, and so he went there and expressed his concerns, and then the book came out and he became the target of their investigation. >> wow, so you're saying that the case is nothing more than wetaliation. retaliation? >> basically yes. >> you've win a letter to president obama, and what are you asking for in that letter? let me read one of the lines from the letter. mr. president, i ask you to explain how this unfathomable sequence of events has been allowed to continue for over a decade. i knew it had been going on for a long time.

but didn't know it had been going on for over a decade. tell me more about why you chose to write the president. >> well, it was his administration that went after jeffrey and other whistle blowers. >> because there was nothing happening in the case for years. correct? there was nothing happening in the case, and you both had gone on with your lives, and jeffrey had taken another job, and then the case starts anew with the obama administration, correct? >> is that correct. actually, jeffrey and i were both subpoenaed to a grand jury in 2005. i went in 2006, testified at the grand jury, there was nothing done after the grand jury. they did come and do a search of our home and obtained some things from our home. and then nothing happened until when he was indicted in 2010.

and then he was arrested on january 6th, 2011. >> so holey, here's my question. you were writing a letter to a man many believe is literally waging a war on investigative journalism and whistle blowing. a man who is cutting off -- they were talking about the president here -- cutting off legal avenues to raise concerns about government activity. so what do you really expect the president to do here? do you expect that he will each get your letter, much less read your letter, much less act on your husband's behalf? >> well, i mean, the letter has been sent. and i'm doing everything that i can to make it known to the president. we are actually going to be doing a petition here shortly for jeffrey to be pardoned. and to be honest with you, i'm not going to stop until someone

listens, and he takes notice. jeffrey was wrongfully convicted. >> selective prosecution. and let me pose a question on that topic. how does jeffrey sterling get more than three years in prison while former cia director, general david petraeus gets two years probation and a fine for sharing classified information with his writer/girlfriend? was the government making an example of your husband? >> . >> absolutely. i think if you look at both case, if you take both cases and you strip away race, and if you take away political clout. and if you take away financial status and you look at those cases on a piece of paper, and you didn't know the actual person, you would see that general petraeus committed far more egregious acts that jeffrey allegedly committed.

yet, also lying to the fbi, which is a felony, doesn't have a felony, he has a misdemeanor. and he got a slap on the wrist. and jeffrey was basically guilty until proven innocent. and i think that it shows the world the belief that the white man can do no wrong, and if he e does, he gets a slap on the wrist. and the black man is always guilty until proven innocent and he belongs behind bars. >> holly sterling, and she's the wife of jeffrey sterling. president obama says that afghanistan is too fragile to walk away from right now. we'll talk with a former ambassador to the country as the white house launches a new mission. and in baltimore, why demonstrators staged an all-night protest.

>> back to our top story, a change in the strategy for afghanistan. president obama announced that he will not withdrawal all of the troops from the region by next year. he said it's a matter of national security. and the situation is too fragile to walk away from right

now. more from washington. >> reporter: the u.s. president wanted to leave office with almost no troops deployed in afghanistan. but circumstances have forced barack obama to give up that goal. 5500 troops will be stationed around afghanistan after 2016. >> the mission will not change. our troops will focus on training afghans and counter terrorism operations, but these bases will give us the presence and reach that our forces require to achieve their mission. >> reporter: right now, there are about 9800 u.s. troops in afghanistan. they're training and providing battlefield advice. under president obama's original plan, the number of troops would drop to about 1,000 by 2016. the political pressure on obama to cancel the draw down has been building for some time. on wednesday, more than 34 u.s. officials sent him a letter, warning of chaos if u.s. troops

leave. >> i think it would be a great loss for all of us if a too-rapid withdrawal of u.s. capabilities and counter terrorism capabilities. with the situation as the new president is coming into office. >> reporter: also, key fact, say analysts, the taliban take over of kunduz city. >> allowing what's happening in iraq and the pace with which we pulled out of iraq, without saying that technician the right or wrong call in iraq, but it's raising red flags. >> last year, president obama made a promise to young military officers. >> you are the first class to it graduate since 9/11 who may not be sent into combat in iraq or afghanistan.

[ cheers and applause ] >> but preventing afghanistan's disintegration means that obama is breaking that promise to his troops and the legacy. >> the taliban's reach in afghanistan is at the widest since 2001, according to the new york times. u.n. security officials rate the threat level at high or extreme in good half of the country's districts. since the american invasion. the u.n. has convicte evacuatedf its offices in afghanistan over the past two weeks. president obama's change in afghanistan is a change, which has been pushing for months to keep troops in the country. >> reporter: the afghan government actually requested this troop extension. the afghan ceo, abdullah abdullah, had a meeting,

requesting that the u.s. forced remain at their current level because of the insurgent taliban fighting around the country, and that happened before kunduz city fell to the tall began on the 8th. but knowing that they needed international help. it was not so much about the strength of the taliban, but the short coming of the afghan security forces. that 9,800 u.s. forces in the country now will remain through part of 2016, and then the generals here will decide how they will be drawn down to 5,500 troops in 2017. it's a big shift for the obama administration, not just in numbers, but in terms of where those forces will be stationed. only 1,000 forces are supposed to stay after 2017. basically, the u.s. embassy behind me, instead the forces will stay in bases in

afghanistan. here in kabul, north of kabul, in the east of afghanistan, and in kandahar. so the u.s. maintaining a presence in afghanistan and around afghanistan through 2017. the afghan officials welcoming the move, saying that it will help not only with the taliban, but with the fight against terrorism. fighting in the in the of the city, in the highway between kandahar and kabul this week. and it was repelled by afghan security forces, and killed more than 22 afghan policemen this week. the taliban very much making their presence known, and the american forces will be here through next year and beyond. and i think that it will be welcomed by the afghan government and the security forces. >> jennifer glasse in afghanistan.

and earlier today, i spoke with james cunningham, the former ambassador to afghanistan. >> it's an excellent decision, and it's one of the key rememberingidations to which you referred. we have a job to do in afghanistan, and it's something that is in america's interest, and the region's interest, and it's a good thing, and the president is to be commended for amending his course of action, and for allowing a continued presence and allowing the security forces to maintain responsible. >> so far, what has been achieved in your recommendations in afghanistan after all of these years? i'm reading that the women are still struggling for their rights, and criminals and those correct connected, and what is achieved?

>> i think that women are still struggling for their rights in many places in the world, including the united states, and you can't expect a country like afghanistan, devastated by 30 years of war, is suddenly going to be a shining example of the kinds of things that they wanted to achieve. it's going to take time. there's no question that the status of women has improved in the past years. there's a free press, medical care, infrastructure, electricity, clean water, education, and all of those metrics have improved dramatically from a country that was virtually destroyed from a when the taliban left in 2002, and they want to fight to maintain it. >> as for the economy? >> as for the economy? >> there has been a long period of uncertainty over the last years, and when they're uncertain what the future looks like, part of what is happening

now, i hope, will be a restoration of the sense of confidence in this government. and a sense of confidence in afghanistan's future that will be an impulse toward economic growth. but the economy has not failed. it's merely at a low level. >> james cunningham, former u.s. ambassador to afghanistan. the syrian army has launched an offensive. the government is looking to secure a route between homes to gain security in aleppo. more now from beirut. >> fierce fighting on the ground, and heavy airstrikes from suspected russian military jets. this is what we understand from activists on the ground in the northern countries. and the syrian government is also confirming that a major offensive is underway. sources saying that the airstrikes over the past few days have weakened the defenses of the terrorists on the ground, making way for the

ground assault. we understand that there have been be casualties among fighters, as well as civilians. tens of thousands of people live in this enclave. and they are basically trapped. but from what we understand from people on the ground, there's no way out. the only routes out lead to government-controlled territory. and we know that because the whole area has been under siege for years now, and if these people want to leave, they have to cross through government-controlled territory. and many of them as you can imagine are afraid to do that. >> so it's not the first offensive. in fact, ever since the russian military intervened in the conflict two weeks ago, the government, as well as it's allies, really, have been trying to put pressure on the rebels on one front. there's a major battle in the countryside of homs and the province. and there's no doubt that there are objectives to recontrol a

major supply route. and a highway that links the north and the south of the country. but there's not just a military objective here. this military force, the stepped up military campaign also has an objective to maybe put pressure on the opposition to concede to give politicalling successions, and to give diplomatic gains for the opposition to accept any peace settlement. but what we understand, as well as the troops on the ground, they're not interested in holding any discussions and they have promised to fight back. we're at the beginning of this campaign, but undoubtedly, the intensintensification of the miy conflict on the ground. two leaders are expected to ri affirm their 65-year

alliance, but as harry fossum reports, the big question is how to deal with north korea. >> reporter: south korea's president paid tribute to the veterans of the korean war. the shared fight that serves as a reference point between the two nations, but it's an alliance that shows present-day strains. honored guest, since world war ii, with a huge display of military power. to match south korea's vital economic risk,, unsettling the main ally. >> on one hand, they have enormous ties to the south koreans, and we realize that it would grow the reunification process. >> one of the things, the

terminal high altitude defense missile system on south korean territory. china has pressured them, saying that i despite the fact t the president is taking the defense minister with her on this troop, it will not be on the agenda for discusses. the fact that they felt they needed to do that shows how sensitive it is, when south korea is trying to balance the relationship between china and the united states. north korea should provide an easy agreement, but the south korea leader, kim jong un, didn't mention military weapons and held off on a rocket launch. obama softened preconditions for talks. >> the goal that north korea

is not going to surrender it's nuclear weapons. at the same time, the threat of most nuclear weapons and missiles -- so the white house is in no [ unintelligible ]. >> after the ceremony, the president moved onto a massive facility. technology for its own space program. the range of issues that are being crammed into this one visit. but it's about symbolism, and they are likely to ask president obama to confirm the continuing strength of their partnership. >> a recent spark in crime has put milwaukee on pace for the highest amount homicides in decades. gang violence has been blamed for many homicides in the past. but police say that it's playing less of a role this year. back to the hometown. >> first, we're following

breaking news out of milwaukee this morning. >> after years of declining violent crime nationwide, many major u.s. cities have seen a dramatic surge in homicides, with this working class city topping the list. so far this year, milwaukee has had just over 100 homicides, compared to 86 throughout all of 2014. >> how you going to make it through the night with all of the gunshots? >> you leave this room today. and they close the books on your life. what are people going to say about you? >> reporter: educators and friends, antoine nixon, are trying to step in before anyone else gets killed. together, they cofounded the i will not die young campaign, helping reduce gun violence in milwaukee. >> gun violence i think is a personal issue, and when we find ourselves riding through these communities, and you see the shrines, and the teddy bears and flowers, a lot of

people are disconnected from t. because they don't know the people. >> among america's mid-sized cities, milwaukee's homicide rate is one of the worst, with around 14 killings per 100,000 people. the majority of victims are black men. with guns the weapon of choice. >> in some neighborhoods, it's terrible, the conditions in which people live, the housing, the access to healthcare, and the access to education. it's a scary picture, especially if you're young, and if you're a person of color and if you're male. >> when someone is lost to gun violence, the impact is felt throughout the community. take five-year-old leila peterson. >> she was shot. and leila's family is in unimaginable pain. >> last november, gunfire ripped through a house on milwaukee's northwest side, with leila sitting on her grandmother's lap.

by the time ashley reached her parent's home, the road had been closed. >> everything was flashing lights, and i didn't know what to think, what to do, where to go. i didn't know anything. >> as the death toll continues to climb, working around the clock in reaching as many young people as they can. >> how bad is it? today we have a class for young men. he's 16 years old and he says, i don't want to be vulnerable, correct? he says as a 16-year-old male, it is easier for me to die than it is for me to go on. that's how bleak it is. >> easier for me to die than it is to go on. okay, sarah. what, almost a year since leila was shot to death. and how is the family? >> we spoke with the mother.

and she tells us that it's one day at a time. and there's nothing that can ever fill that void. but if she can't keep it together, and put on the brave front, then the family will fall apart. >> we don't think of milwaukee as being a dangerous city. it's your hometown, and you know that to be true, and what we're seeing now, the violence, is it concentrated in a handful of neighborhoods, and are they mostly minority or black neighborhoods? >> you're absolutely right. it's a certain zip code. and these are poor and black, and not enough people working, and enough people having hope. and it really is certain neighborhoods that have seen a spike, but also the majority of the violence. >> sarah, thank you. and can't wait to see the rest of your report. you can see more of sarah's report on "america tonight." protests in city hall over

a vote for a permanent police commission. so look at this scene. protesters interrupted a city council vote last night over commissioner kevin davis. he took over in april after the riots that followed the death of freddie gray. and the protesters refused to leave the building. 16 people were arrested. and davis still needs approval from the full city council. and i. >> it could be the beginning of a new era for the restaurant industries. but there's a catch. trump takes center stage, but this is definitely not a debate.

>> there will be no cost of living increase next year for millions of social security recipients, disabled veterans and retirees. it's the forty year that the benefits will remain the same, and the reach, low gas prices, and the medicare premiums, 30% will see an increase of more than 50% time. >> one of america's most famous restaurateurs is making a change in the way that diners

pay for their meals. listen to this. no more tipping. >> reporter: danny meyer, he's famous, said that his restaurants will it stop asking diners to tip the waiters. if you've been to the modern union square cafe, it's going to start gradually, and checks will not have a line on them for the tip. and the meal will come with a note that she's hospitality included. menu prices will be 21% higher, that's the average tip at a danny meyer's restaurant. and the prices might go up more than that, 35%, because one of the things that he's talking about, is the move to higher minimum wages across the country. so the combination of including the tip in the bill and increasing wages may increase your prices by more than a third. >> what does this mean for restaurant workers? >> something that danny meyer

says, a lot of chefs, they need to even the pay gap between cooks and waiters. it averaged 31% for the last years, and waiters at top restaurants can make $100,000 a year, but cook's wages have remained low. new york law bans cooks from receiving tips. and the average line cook's salary is $35,000 a year, and meyer said that he's losing them to fast food restaurants. and they will get a bump from $11.75 an hour to $15.25 an hour. apply this to low end restaurants, where maybe the average check is $15 or to. and if you're living off of tips in a restaurant like that, you're not making that much money. >> yeah, so what else is in the program tonight, ali? >> immigration detention centers, they hold 4,000 people

a year, and they're increasingly run by prison companies, and this is a weird counter incentive to create sub par conditions, and conflict of interest. >> ali, as always, thank you. and you can watch ali velshi on target, 10 p.m. eastern right here on aljazeera america. for a look at what's coming up at the top of the hour, john seigenthaler is here. >> coming up tonight at 8:00, lead documents on the u.s. programs reveals a long list of civilian victims, and unreliable intelligence. the website that exposed the whistle blower's information. and also, background checks to buy ammunition. it's part of a gun control ballot initiative, proposed by governor gavin newsome. and why he thinks that it will reduce gun violence. and tough new earthquake laws in los angeles. >> one big area is dealing with the buildings that we know will kill people.

>> thousands of building owners will be forced to add expensive reinforcements, and many of the at that point in time reveal that the costs will be passed on to them. >> and the artist who is trying to make the border fence between the united states and mexico disappear. >> thank you. wildfires in central texas are putting hundreds at risk. more than six square miles have been scorched. and local firefighters are residents to evacuate. no deaths have been reported. donald trump's hair is the new star of a play running in mexico. they decided to offer their own response to controversial comments made by the presidential candidate. it's called the sons of trump. and john has more from mexico city. >> he has his own show. donald trump is the main character in "the sons of

trump." a play in which he hands out the famous gold hair to yummyites, and exhorts them to kill -- it's a hard-hitting satire, with comments while announcing his presidential bid. that's exactly what the audience comes for. [ speaking spanish ] >> donald trump, he's a clown, and obviously mexicans are thousand dollars with him. so we're here to have a laugh at his expense. >> reporter: playing trump in his observe rabble rousing game. >> of course he's very smart, but so are we, and we're capitalizing on this, simple as that. >> reporter: this is a stream of anti-trump sentiment here in mexico, where trump has really done an impressive job here in uniting the people of this

often fractious company. you can pick up your donald trump piñata. for those who want to punish him more. >> give him a beating. even americans want to come hit him because his ideas are completely unacceptable. >> computer games have seen an opportunity in the vibrant anti-trump market. with a recent soccer match with the u.s., now trump's famous tirade to fire up supporters. >> they're not sending their best... >> reporter: whether the laughter will continue if trump wins the u.s. presidency, but for now, he's this country's favorite. >> and that is all of our time for this news hour. thanks for watching, i'm tony harris in new york city. and if you would like more on any of the stories, head over to the website.

aljazeera.com. have a great evening, and john seigenthaler is back in 2 minutes. la

>> hi, everyone. this is al jazeera america. >> e tended stay. >> as commander and chief i will not allow afghanistan to be used as safe haven for terrorist to attack us company. >> a course correction as president obama pushes back the withdrawal date for u.s. troop. >> flash point, the surge and violence. >> timeo