volunteer group is setting an example that will eventually be taken up nationwide. more on that story and everything else we're covering right here, the address is aljazeera.com. you'll find comment analysis and video on demand there as well. ♪ ♪ apple is refusing a court order to hack an iphone used by one of the san bernardino, california shooters. hours after president obama calls for the south china sea to be demilitarized, beijing sends missiles to a disputed island. and pope francis making a police statement with a visit to the u.s.-mexican border. ♪

this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'll del walters. this morning a court order is sparking a fierce debate over privacy, security and government overreach. a judge ordering apple to help the fbi hack a phone used by one of the san bernardino, california shooters, but apple is saying no. >> reporter: in a letter to customers this morning, apple ceo time cook called the government's demands chilling. adding: the court is ordering apple to disable think pass word feature on this woman's iphone. the fbi hasn't been able to get into the phone for more than two months as it investigates the san bernardino shootings. he used the phone as an employee

of the health department. disabling it would allow the fbi to try tens of millions of pass chord combinations without losing the information inside. >> our job is to look at a haystack the size of this country for needles that are increasingly invisible to us because of end to end encryption. >> reporter: inside the phone might be information about their potential connection to isil, and where they were in the 18 minutes after the massacre. a critical chunk of time the fine -- fbi cannot account for now. >> it has been consistent with apple's policy for quite sometime to try to be as unhelpful to law enforcement as possible. they should be on our side. >> reporter: apple says there is

no way to bypass the pass word lock feature. and would have to create software to meet their demand. >> the battle is the traditional one between the security of society at the cost of individual privacy. >> reporter: apple has five days to respond to the court's order. so far the ceo says it won't comply. hermela aregawi, al jazeera. patrick tucker is the tech editor for defense one, and joins us from washington, d.c. this is a battle between privacy and national security. who wins and who should win? >> it's a very complex battle, and it's hard to really say that apple isn't being on the side entirely of national security in wanting to stand up for the ability of consumers all around the world to security exchange messages. this is another aspect of

national security. one of apple's core arguments is that by allowing people to have absolutely secure communications, you keep information safe from hackers and sophisticated cyber criminals. that means pretty much everybody that has an iphone. if you want to look to some of the dangers, look to recent episodes with director of national intelligence, and cia director, where they had their personal information hacked. now the fbi says, hey, look, this encryption is thwarting dozens of investigations around the country, not just related to terrorism, but also related to child pornography and things like that. and it is making our lives as investigators increasingly difficult. but this is actually far more complicated. >> if the tech companies refuse as apple so far is doing, is it

fair to hold them responsible for any fallout? >> well, apple is probably going to refuse. they are probably going to say this provides something of a burden that is unreasonable or hone -- onerous. but there are over500 different entries -- 550 all around the world, some companies some just user groups that provide encryption products. so if you come down hard on apple, will you be able to wipe the world free of encryption products or entities offering encryption products. you might make it more difficult for a lot of criminals, that's true. but you are not going to stop everybody. >> on one side you are right. you have the people who say the government has no business in

your business. but the government counters by saying apple already has the information, why do we trust a private corporation, more than the people that we vote for and send to washington? >> that's a very good point. a lot of silicon valley companies right now, in many ways they don't have a strong reason to provide extremely secure encryption and things this. they make money off data their users allow them to have. this is the future of the entire silicon valley business model. so when we talk about why they offer end to end encryption in the first place. the reason is they understand the future of growth for those companies is not in the united states. it's in china and other places where a growing consumer segment is increasingly concerned about the ability of the united states government to access their

sde -- devices. apple is also very worried about foreign sales. >> do you think the government can already do this, and they are just asking to be polite? >> this is really thwarted them. the thing about encryption is you can have perfect confidence in it. there are a lot of services and products, many of which the government with a lot of effort can crack, the vast majority of which, but in this particular case, this phone deletes these messages after ten attempts. it is really bugging them. >> patrick thank you very much. there is a new conflict this morning over the south china sea. an official confirming to al jazeera, that china put a surface to air missile on a disputed eisland. the weapons were detected on woody island. vies -- vietnam claims the

island and china continues to build on it. >> reporter: a u.s. official has confirmed to al jazeera america, that two surface to air missiles have been deployed to that island. vietnam has a claim to the island, and taiwan also excerpts a claim to that there the u.s.'s position is it doesn't take a position on who the islands belong to, but it does object to any militarization of the islands. secretary of state john kerry appearing with his polish counterpart, said if this deployment of missiles on the island is correct, it would fly in the face of assurances that the chinese president made when he met with president obama here in washington.

>> when -- when president xi was here in washington, he stood in the rose garden with president obama and said china will not militarize in the south china sea. but there is every evidence, every day, that there has been an increase of militarization of one kind or another. it's a serious concern. >> reporter: this deployment comes as president obama was meeting with southeast asian leaders in california at that meeting. the president said that he wants to see this dispute resolved through legal means, not through any sort of military means, and it also comes by the way, just a couple of weeks after a u.s. navy destroyer sailed by this same chain of islands to -- to -- what the pentagon calls a freedom of navigation

mission. to show that the u.s. does not concede to china that it has any dominion over this part of the sea, which is a very, very channel for maritime commerce. >> jamie what is china saying? >> they are saying -- first of all they are not confirming they deployed the missile batteries there. but there are photographs that clearly show them. they are also saying that a lot of the improvements they make on these islands are to facilitate navigation, and they say they have every right to defend their sovereignty. what the united states says and ash carter who was interviewed last night on pbs, said, look, this forces the united states to react to beef up its military presence, to reassure the allies in the region, and the u.s. has

a lot of friends and allies in that region. the u.s. says it is not going to allow china to dominate the south china sea, but the u.s. says it doesn't need to dominate it either. i wanted to create an atmosphere where all countries can work together without the threat of military action. >> jamie mcintyre thank you very much. at that same conference you heard jamie talking about, the president talk about the supreme court appointment. he once again called for the senate to give his nominee a hearing. >> we're going to find somebody who is an outstanding legal mind, somebody who cares deeply about our democracy and rule of law. there's not going to be any particular position on a particular issue that determines whether or not i nominate them,

but i am going to present somebody who indisputably is qualified for the seat, and any fair minded person, even somebody who disagreed with my politics would say, would serve with honor and integrity on the court. >> and most senate republicans continue to say the vacancy should be filled by the next president. but charles grassley of iowa saying he might consider holding hearings. we'll wait and see. saturday republicans vote in south carolina and democrats caucus in nevada. the latest cnn poll showing a virtual tie on the democratic side in nevada. bernie sanders is ahead among voters under the age of 55. and in just a few minutes, hillary clinton is going to be holding a rally with the mother

of sandra bland. the young woman who died in texas in police custody. >> i want to tear down all of the barriers that hold back americans across racial lines, because our country can only live up to its potential when every single american has the chance to live up to theirs. >> bernie sanders also spent time trying to connect with african american voters, holding this rally on tuesday, talking about the changes he says he would make if he becomes president. >> talk about criminal justice. we're going to talk about police department reform. we're going to end a situation where unarmed people often african americans are killed while in police custody. [ cheers and applause ] >> on the republican side, there's a new poll out that

shows donald trump with double-digit lead over his rivals. ted cruz coming in second, trying to fend off marco rubio. >> live out the teachings of your faith in every aspect of your life, no american should be forced to violate their conscience. >> voters in south carolina say they don't just donald trump on social issues or foreign policy. when we come back why cancer researchers are calling a new type of therapy, extraordinary. plus . . . ♪ >> these are live images coming out of juarez, mexico. we'll take you to the u.s.-mexican border where tens of thousands of people have gathered ahead of the pope's next visit to that border town. stay with us. ♪

a new survey fining residents in flint, michigan, paying the highest water rates anywhere in the country. a public interest group finding that flint residents paid on average $864 a year, twice the national average. a lawyer in flint who sued to reduce those rates said they are high because officials tapped the water money to pay for other city operations. a judge will sentence one of

the executives blamed for that 2014 chemical spill in west virginia. he faces three years in prison and $300,000 in fines. the toxic leak contaminated the water for hundreds of thousands of residents in nine countries in west virginia. >> i believe that the only true deterrent in these sorts of cases is to send the message that if you engage in this sort of con dekt, you are exposed to jail time. executives are used to writing checks for things. they are not used to checking their three piece suit for a jailhouse suit. >> reporter: he is the last of six officials to be sentenced on those pollution charges. sentencing is set for this afternoon in charleston, and we are there. we want to show you live images coming out of juarez mexico. pope francis is on his way right now. it's right across the border from el passo.

he is wrapping up his six-day visit to mexico. he left mexico city just a short while ago. and as juarez, as you can see, tens of thousands of catholics have gathered, including a lot of americans who are crossing the boarder for that day. heidi zhou castro joins us. how is the excitement on the ground? >> reporter: hi, del, so after the pope arrives, we'll be coming down in his pope mobile through this route where i'm standing now. since predawn people have been lining up here for hours and hours. pope francis is the first latin america pope and the first pope to visit this border city of juarez. this afternoon when he says mass, he will be only steps away from the border fence, and he will approach that fence and bless a preselected audience on the american side. they will include immigrants and

families facing deportation. another example of how pope francis is winning the hearts of people here in juarez, the 20,000 seats closest to the stage during mass tonight were previously selected for government officials. instead when the pope found out, he instead decided to give those seats to the most m mar -- marginalized. immigration sure to be a topic of his mass this evening, as he delivers his message of unity along the border. >> and the u.s. side of the border, donald trump criticizing the event yesterday saying that he thinks the pope is working with mexico, trying to keep the border open. so how is the church responding? >> reporter: well, the vatican issued a statement this morning, del, saying that the pope is

concerned for the welfare of refugees and migrants everywhere around the world. not just here on the u.s.-mexican border. the vatican also says the pope is not working with mexican authorities, and his message is for christians all over the world to accept people, to help people fleeing their own countries, and help them pursue their life of dignity and peace. >> heidi as always we thank you very much. cancer researchers now calling it unprecedented and extraordinary. it's a new therapy where penitentiary enth's own cells are used to target and kill cancer. in the first clinical trials 94% of the patients symptoms vanished all together. doctors warn there are side effects. >> it is important to stress while they saw an impressive response rate, response doesn't actually equal cure. they still need to follow these

patients over the long term, because cancer is very good at developing resistance. we need more research, but it is a step forward. >> t-cell therapy often considered a last resort, because it overloads the defense cells. in those trials 20 patients suffered from fevers and other side effects, two of them dying, but it did send the rest of the patients into rescission. the fda is out with new guidelines trying to keep the zika virus out of the u.s. blood supply. it says people shouldn't donate if you have been exposed to zika. the fda considers the transmission of zika through your blood likely. florida teen is on bail right now after being charged with impersonating a doctor. the 18 year old is charged with practicing medicine without a

license, fraud, and grand theft. love-robinson was arrested tuesday after he performed an exam on an undercover agent, also giving out medical advice. his grandfather says he never claimed to be a doctor, only a holistic doctor, and he had never seen actual patients. when we come back, details of the tweet that has some firing back at florida governor february bush.

take a look at this. powerful tribute to refugees who lost their lives trying to reach europe. chinese activist and art us, putting up 14,000 life preservers. he in 2015, an estimated 2500 people drowned trying to reach europe by sea. the united states plan for a massive cyber attack on tehran if nuclear efforts failed. intelligence agencies also developed a separate plan for a covert cyber attack to disable one of the enrichment sites. in iran some are now turning to technology trying to get around the country's morality police. activists say it is all part of an effort to move the country forward to help them express their freedom.

ines ferre reports. >> reporter: in this youtube video, a woman resists arrest by the iranian authorities who patrol the streets to enforce the islamic female dress code. a new app is helping citizen get away from those patrols. >> this is very important to see how people are frustrated by years by the use of moral police on the streets to stop people and warn them, fine them, or take them to jail for the way they dress up. >> reporter: the morality police app lets users report where they see the patrols so people can avoid the areas. online campaigns in the past have -- rebelled against the dress code. the creates of the app said more

than a thousand users were using the app within an hour of its release. but the government has now banned it. >> it might not be that much effective, but i think it is symbolic. it shows how people are using social media applications to challenge government restriction. >> reporter: a human rights group says by march of 2014, the guidance patrol handed out almost 3 million warnings, about 200,000 of them were to women who had broken the dress code. republican presidential candidate jeb bush creating a fire storm of controversy, he tweeted this picture of a gun. he says it was tweeted during a trip to a plant that created high-wage jobs. and the tweet got a lot of attention, much of it negative. television host piers morgan reacted with:

journalist glenn greenwald saying: there's a new top dog today, the winner testify oh westminster dog show. >> the best in show tonight is the german short hair. >> that is cj, short for california journey. he beat out more than 3,000 dogs from around the world. his owner says he has that sparkle in his eye that makes you stop and look. i'm del walters, before we go we want to take you back to juarez, mexico. the pope's plane now on the ground. they are watching there, tens of thousand gathered. they are watching on the other side of the border as well, waiting for the pope to appear and speak.

[ cheers and applause ] ♪ a large explosion is heard in the turkish capitol with reports of many people injured. ♪ hello, i'm marry ann, also coming up. on the move, the first convoy of aid reaches besieged villages in syria. and apple says it will resist a court order demanding that it help the fbi hack into its suspect's iphone.