you can find out more on that and everything else that we've been covering here on al jazeera on our website. the website on your screen right now www.aljazeera.com. you can see one of our top stories there that is the rescues from the earthquake that has hit afghanistan and pakistan. the changes that we havene considered. >> ash carter testifies on capitol hill, and explains the new strategy to take down isil. a war of words. the u.s. navy is condemned by beijing, after sending a ship into disputed waters. the outrage over this video, showing a police officer in

south carolina throwing a teenager girl to the ground. >> this is al jazeera america live from new york city. tough questions today. make the orreryky military the u.s. air strikes have made against isil, carter also addressed the controversy program on training and arming syrian rebels. let's go to jamie mcintyre at the pent upon now. so jamie, tell us more about this today? >> well, rachelle, it is always a tough sell, as this goes before an increasingly skeptical senate arm services. everyone acknowledges that the u.s., train program for

moderate opposition, was dismal failure. carter outlines some new changes including some that could put u.s. troops closer in the front lines in both iraq and syria we won't hold back from supporting capable parter ins. or conducting such missions directly. whether by strikes from the air or direct action on the ground. last week's rescue operation was led by iraqi kurdish forces with u.s. advisors in support. >> so the secretary outlined what he said were the three r's of the new strategy, r, number one, was for the de facto capitol of isil in syria. the u.s. was going to continue to put pressure on that by supporting forces on the ground with ammunition and supplies. that are pressuring rock ca. also ramadi was the provincial capitol in h the province where the u.s. is hoping forces with u.s. help

can retake the key city, and the last one were the raids. that comes as there were several reports saying that the president has been offered new options that would increase the embedding of u.s. troops with local forces in both iraq and syria, in order to turn the tide of battle a battle that many people now have described as a stalemate so the committee had pretty tough criticism as well, what do they have to say. >> i have to say they aren't impressed with the testimony, especially about what the u.s. is doing to count ever russia and to protect not just the forces that the u.s. is supporting on the ground, from russian air strikes but also syrian citizens from attack from the regime of bashar al asaad. here is a typical example from an exchange. the senate armed services committee questioning why the united states can't do

something that's been recommended by many other military experts. established a no fly zone over part of the country to protect the citizens. >> what you are seeing is the strong ohs nation in the world with the most capable military, can't even establish a no fly zone to protect people from being barrel bombed. that's an embarrassing moment. just to be clear we could do it. >> of course we could do it. every other military leader that i have known of in talking about having to shoot down -- all we have to do is protect and it tell them not to fly into it, history shows they won't if they are going to get shot down. >> secretary carter says not quite that easy, first of all it is expensive. battle the regime, and contend with syrian air defenses but mccain said look, the wrights conducted

no fly zones over iraq for years in both the north and the south where there were air defenses on the ground, and they are able to do it without losing a single plane, he doesn't understand why they can't take a step like that to protect the forces that it is supposedly supporting on the ground. >> all right, jamie live from the pentagon, thank you. >> the sun is condemning several attacks in nigeria, the string of bombings are carried out by young female bombers over the weekend. more than 50 people were killed more than 100 injuries. that happened in the northeast, and that is the strong hold. tough talk from china today after a u.s. navy warship sailed past disputed islands in the south china sea. the air around the islands is china's territory, and that the u.s. has blazen threatened the sovereignty. the u.s. considers the area international waters. al jazeera has more from beijing. >> the chinese have condemned

this patrol as a provocative act, the foreign minister urging the americans not to undertake what he calls any reckless actions, they see these islands as being very much chinese sovereign territory. they say they lay claims to them, even though they are hundreds of kilometers south of the coast. go back hundreds of years to previous chinese dynasties. the americans though have always asserted that these are international waters, and that they will within their rights sail within 12 nautical immediates of these disputed territories. we are expecting more reaction, we go through the day, and also waiting to find out what the chinese military has been doing in response to this. whether they have been shadowing this patrol with their own vessels or their own aircraft. and whether that becomes a new normal in the south china sea, an almost cold war style between military forces from

the two sides the death toll from that massive earthquake is rising. where the full impact of that 7.5 magnitude quake is still not clear, most of them in northern pakistan, am al jazeera says so long local theatres have not accepted assistance. >> mass i challenges here. four hours after the earthquake. it has effected such a large area of the country, people in 11 provinces of the 34, have been effected by this massive effort quake, and that's about a third the country spread over very difficult terrain.

some of those are very close to the epicenter, about 150 hiles north of the capitol, where i am. and another thing complicated relief efforts will be that in some of the areas most effected they are controlled by the taliban. so government officials won't be able to get in there. we are hearing stories of what happened when the earthquake occurs in the province, children, about 23 children were injured during a wedding that was going on when a wall collapsed on them. and the worst province effected with 42 people dead, 11 people died in one incident when a giant rock fell on the building they were in. we do know that rock slides have been a problem hampering some of the relief efforts. this is going to be a slow difficult effort, the afghan government has been offered international help. from iran, the nato forces

here which of course is one of the biggest resources here have offered their help. they say they are helping the government plan, casualty evacuations and distribution of aid, and they say they are already providing recognizance and intelligence to the government. but this will be a complicated effort, spread out over a long area, the afghan government now really trying to organize it's relief efforts. the taliban itself has issued a statement, chalk on it's fighters and calling on afghan and relief workers to help those in need. medical care, food, and shelter, the biggest needs here right now. >> jennifer glass, reporting from kabul. the taliban has said it will accept any help from outside governments as well. the u.n. general is expected to meet today. the vote would largely be symbolic. president obama has said he would like to see the

restrictions lifted. the fbi, will investigate the case of a south carolina officer who dragged a student across a high school classroom. the officeser already on administrative leave. it was all caught on cell phone video. al jazeera has this story. >> witnesses say that the -- >> the student is ask to leave the class several times with i the instructor at the school. assistant principal is there as well. and than the officer was called on scene to have the student removed from that location. the student refused and the officer acted that you see on the video. >> field fields is heard orderd the girl to staged, when she refused he grabens her, flipping the girl over, and throwing her to the ground. now the county sheriff says that deputy should never be

assigned to work as a school resource officer again, and according to the spokes man the sheriff was very disturbed by what he saw. >> of course we have to look at what happened that led up to it, that incident and then what happened afterwards. all of that will take part. >> in a statement, south carolina rich land school district says the district is deeply concerned about an incident that occurred at spring valley high school today. and goes on to say, the district will not tolerate any actions that jeopardize the safety of our students. deputy ben fields and an 11 year veteran of the sheriffs office, he has been the subject of allegations before. in 2007, he was sued for false arrest, and excessive force. when a jury found in his favor. the girl in the video and a friend who protested her treatment, were charged with disturbing schools. john henry smith, al jazeera. that video in south carolina, is just the latest

that put as spotlight on excessive force by police. it could be an issue when president obama addresses police chiefs in a couple of hours. james comb my spoke to the same group on monday. a rise in crime is one of the things talked about. the recent increase in part because police officers are under increwsed scrutiny. and he also point as finning ther at the national debate over the black lives matter movement. >> each time somebody interpreted it as afternoonty law enforcement, one line moves away, and someone that interrepresents #police lives matter as antiblack, the other line moves away, and maybe just maybe, in some places because those lines are arcing from each other, question have a crisis of violent crime in some of our major cities in this country. >> monday he spoke to thousands of police chiefs and top law enforcement in chicago. and he talked about the so

called ferguson effect, the idea that police across the country have pulled back vowed down law enforcement. in response so the protest over the shooting of michael brown. he said he couldn't be sure that is happening but he said it was common sense. amnesty international u.s.a. executive director reacted, saying the assertions by director are outrageous, by his own admission, these are not backed up by data, and there are mixed reports about levels of crime since the scrutiny of police officers began after the protests in ferguson. the obama administration appears to agree. white house spokesman dismissed the fbi director's theory. >> the available evidence at this point does not support the motion that law enforcement officers are shying away from fulfilling their responsibilitiens. >> this was the second time in a week that he spoke about the concern that police officers are under the microscope. >> in many cities violence is

the same as last year, and in some places thank goodness even lower. but in many others we are seeing an explosion of senseless violence. we must stair at this problem, to figure out why it is hamming and what we can do about it. >> al jazeera, washington. >> we will bring you president obama's speech to the chief association that will be this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. eastern. surging in the polls straight ahead, we will learn more about the republican who is now leading the pack. and the white house push to limit toasting in american schools is being praised and criticized for devicive issues in our classrooms.

debate, ben carson has passed donald trump in a new nationwide poll. shows carson with 26% around the country. donald trump the top of that poll since last july, now has 22%. and then the other gop contenders more than 80%. the lead is even bigger than iowa. as the front runner. >> we are a long way afriday what we are supposed to be. >> he is soft smoken but seems low energy, but growing

up in detroit, he was not always so calm. >> as a teenager, i would go after people with rocks and bricks and baseball bats and hammers, and of course, many people know the story when i was 14 and i tried to stab someone. and fortunately, my life has been changed and i am a very different person now. >> now, that young man who discovered the bible went to yale and became a gifted neurosurgeon is a leading republican presidential candidate. and an iowa the latest register poll suggestions carson leads donald trump 28%-19, a 10-point jump in just two months. 84% said they have a favorable opinion of carson, with just 10% unfavorable. >> it shows the power of social media because as you know, a lot of the media had

it in for me. he is known for a blunt style and a strong antigovernment conservativism. >> i have a strong desire to get rid of programs that creator dependency on ablebodied people. >> and he is a master of attack lines. carson began his rise two years ago at a prayer breakfast by hammers president obama health reform law as the president sat a few feet away. since then, carson has added this. >> obama care, is really i shut the worst thing that has happened in this nation, since slavery. >> this weekend carson compared abortion rights to slavery, and said he would outlaw the procedure even in cases of rape and incest. >> during slavery, a lot of the slave owners thought they had the right to do whatever they wanted to that slave

anything they chose so do. and what if the abolitions fist had said i don't believe in it i think it is wrong, but do whatever you want to be, where would we be. >> the rhetoric has caught fire with christian evangelicals it is a group that usually accounts for 60% of the vote, and like donald trump, carson is a political outsider. he has never held elected office. neither one of us would be somebody that will be managed by handlers because that's no who we are. >> he now filling the air waves with television ads. >> washington is broken. the political class broken. together, we can drain the swamp, and protect our children's future. it all adds up to momentum, and while iowa is different from the contest that follow

a win in the hawk eye state, can catapult a new conder into contention for the nomination. anyone looking for health insurance, can now take a look and see what it would cost for next year, you can't bier that coverage until sunday. how much depends on where you live. insurers in minnesota estimate double digit% increases, california says also only go up by 2%. sunts teachers and parents are talking about it, the white house proposal to cut down on the number of tests kids take. president obama met with teachers to meet this new initiative. al jazeera has the story. >> i have a pop quiz for parents across the country. >> the department of education have launched a new initiative to put an end to overtesting. >> i also hear from parents who rightly worry about too much testing.

and from teachers that toast so much that it takes the joy out of it. >> that's 20 to 25 hours of standardized testing per year. and also taking into account classroom work. >> we are going to work with states, school districts, teachers and parents, to make sure that we are not obsessing about testing. >> teachers union and parent groups have spent years criticizing testing with ads like this. >> a standardize test is one of the weakest ways to arecess student learning and knowledge. >> there have been protests and boycotts too earlier this year, 95% of students refused to fake an exam. >> when we stood uhm against the test, we didn't plan it, but we had amazing support

from our pounds. >> the tests worked. >> poor standardizing testing, mostly because it gives us a common understanding of the skill level that students need to meet and or exceed per grayed level [this past spring, new state exams were rolled out based on common core standards in math and reading about 12 million students in more than half the states took those tests. al jazeera. >> the federal government says the band's name, is part of the problem

threatening to sue, and it stems from his decision to pray with his tale. he has been leading post game prayers for nine years now. earlier this month, the school district asked him to stop. the threatened and fired him saying he is violating school code. kennedy says he will file a lawsuit against the school district to keep his job. an asian american rock band wants there to be a conversation about race and racism. first of all, their name is the slants. the panned's leader is trying to change opinions including f.a. federal trademark office. >> a museum dedicated to

japanese american history in the northwest, and the swim camps of world war ii, an unusual place perhaps for rock & roll. >> we going to roll again, guys? camera, and action. >> but the music video being shot here is about keeping this history alive. it ises about being asian, in america. the band, the self-proclaimed first all asian american rock dance band, who call themselves the slants. >> yeah. [laughter] >> the slants, playing what they call china town rock, and embracing what could be seen as a racial slur. >> we can choose to perpetuate negative connotations aboard, or be appropriate and reclaim and it develop something that is a positive association instead. >> cast and crew working on the video shoot shrug it off. >> they came up with it, they love it it is them. >> the name has landed it in

court, for the right to trademark the slants. the u.s. office has turned them down, saying the name is disparaging to asians. especially when backed by asian imagery. >> they are basically something if people see our website, and it says the slants and then they see a picture with asians in it, which would be us, they think people are automatically assume the slur, and not even the possible definitions. in the name of fighting against racism, they are denying me rights based on my race, and that seems incredibly unjust. >> over the last five years, he has taken hi krause public, giving talks about racism, appearing at colleges high schools even law schools. 40 to 50 speaking engangment as year. at thomas jefferson high, he connects by talking about bullying, about his music, and his mission. to change one of the meanings

of one word. >> we are asian, we are proud of it, and even though sometimes we don't have slant eyes it is a part of us. >> and however the long trademark fight turns out, he points to some simple victories. >> whenever you google slant, or slants, the top hits all on google for the first four pages brought up whiter supremacist websites and nows to a rock and roll band that shares it's heritage, and i think that is super cool. >> they would be back on the road, they can't legally own it but they will still use the name and continue to be the slants p.

>> al jazeera,.com. this is al jazeera. >> hello there. this is the news hour, live from london, coming up in the next 60 minutes. ramping up the anti-isil offensive, the u.s. talks about more air strikes in syria, and embedding troops in iraq. two palestinians shot and killed by forces during what has been described as a day of rage in the occupied territories. a u.s. police officer accused of throwing a high school student to the