as the urban warfare in turkey has been continuing, and no group has claimed responsibility, but there is suspicions of pkk might be behind this attack. you are watching our breaking news coverage of a blast in ankara, turkey. we'll have more on that in just a bit. but we're also tracking a story coming out of california. apple refuses to hack a phone that was used by one of the san bernardino, california shooters. ♪ and pushing the pope to anger. the leader of the catholic church visits the u.s.-mexican border, but not before scolding the crowds. ♪

this is al jazeera america live in new york city. i'm del walters. a court order is sparking an intense debate over privacy, security and federal government overreach. the fbi has asked apple to hack into a phone that was used by one of the san bernardino shooters. but apple says no. jake ward is live for us in san francisco. and what exactly is it that the fbi wants apple to do? >> reporter: well, del, this seems like a very small deal on the one hand. it just really is trying to get into a single phone. but it has huge privacy implications. the technical implications are fairly straightforward. the fbi is trying to circumvent the pass code lock on every iphone. you try a combo it wasn't work,

and if you do it ten times, the phone simply erases itself. the fbi wants to be able to look at the phone and try as many combinations as it wants as fast as it wants without there being any chance of the phone being bricked in the process. they want apple to essentially build a back door that would live on the phone and enable them to use a piece of software to do this attempt as many times as they want to, in order to get into the phone. >> is this something that apple has the ability to do? or do they have to develop software to make it happen? >> reporter: it is definitely something they would have to create. am says it does not have software that can do this. the fbi in a sense got lucky in that the phone was an iphone 5c, an older model that can in theory be broken in this way. it is possible to put an ios on

to this phone that would make this possible. it would not be possible if it had been a later phone. later versions would not be able to do this. but in this particular case, with this particular phone, yes, apple can technically do it. >> and jake what is apple's argument for not complying with the court order? >> reporter: well, that is really the big pushback here. apple has said no, we're not going to comply. essentially they say we would have to create a piece of software that does not exist today, and by creating, essentially a master key that would allow this agency or anyone who has that key to get into any phone. they would be compromising the security of their customers. they say there is no precedent in the history of america for a company being compelled to expose its customers to greater

risk of attack. so they are saying we will not build something that defeats the security that so many people rely on, that is the crux of this big fight. and this is going to be a tremendous fight. >> jake ward for us in san francisco. thank you very much. wendy patrick is a trial attorney and business ethics professor at san diego state university. and this is a battle between privacy and national security. who should win? >> many people think national security should trump digital security in the age we live in. here is the problem, some of the unique phones that . -- apple has made has the ten strikes and you are out feature. we're hearing more details about what kind of a phone this terrorist had, but nonetheless

apple is pushing back, because they don't want to set precedent. they don't want to put a key under the doormat of your house that anybody can use. they are arguing that they shouldn't hack their own user's security, because they don't want to open the flood gates to cyber attacks. but judge, herself a former federal prosecutor, gave apple five days to give an argument of why it would be unfeasible or unduly burdensome to comply with her order. >> does apple understand this is a pr nightmare. if they give up the information, people are not going to be happying, but you are also talking about a terror suspect in their backyard. >> you bet they do. we knew there would be a test case that would pit these two

interests against each other. in the wake of the san bernardino shooting, which of course involves the phone at issue, many people are ering on the side of national security. the order was for just this phone, not for all phones. it's apple that is making the argument, which they are going to no doubt cooperate with further evidence that it is a master key. and what else remains to be seen is if there is a compromise. maybe apple will advance some type of idea where they can comply with just this phone. >> if the tech companies like apple refuse, is it fair to hold them responsible for any fallout? and that means legally responsible as well? >> well, that's hard to say, because we don't know what kind of fallout we might see. if it's another terrorist attack, sometimes it's difficult to figure out what kind of

digital security may have been compromised to prevent this. but these two terrorists went to a lot of important extremes to destroy evidence. they smashed their personal phones, removed the hard drive from their computer. that's even more of a reason that they care about unlocking this particular phone to see what kind of investigation can keep americans safe in the future. >> wendy speak to that generation over the age of 55 that says it's just a phone, why not give the government twha want? >> i think the people arguing that are both over and under 55. there are a lot of people that understand that even though digital privacy is important, we still want to be -- we want to be able to go out in public and not fear being killed by terrorists, so i think everybody really is more amenable and persuadable in the wake of the

san bernardino shooting that perhaps we need to give up a little bit of privacy in this order to maximize public security. >> there was a time in this country when people still talked on party lines. wendy thank you very much. there is also a new conflict over the south china sea, an official from the government confirming to al jazeera that china put surface to air missiles on a disputed island, that presence is on woody island. jamie mcintyre live for us at the pentagon, and jamie tell us more about what u.s. officials are now saying. >> reporter: well, del, it's important to differentiate, these islands are real honest to goodness islands as opposed to the land reclamation that has been going on as china has been

drudging up soil to make man made islands in some of that area. this is the parasail islands. china has been occupying many of them since the 1970s, and this is a case where the united states is neutral on the question of who these islands should belong to, but it is not neutral on the question of whether or not there should be military equipment and hardware put on them. when chinese president visited washington last year, and met with president obama, the pledged not to militarize the islands in the south china sea and that's something that secretary of state john kerry today sited when he said the u.s. us would be questioning china about what is going on there. here is a little bit of what he said. >> 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 of serious concern. >> reporter: so it's not just missiles by the way. china has also put war planes and other military equipment on some of these islands. a couple of things about the timing here. one is this deployment of missiles took place sometime in the last two weeks, and was sort of discovered or announced right about the same time the president was meeting with the leaders of southeast asian countries meeting in california at a time when the president, again, called for no militarization in these disputes over these islands in the south china sea. and it comes a couple of weeks

after a u.s. navy destroyer passed by one of the islands in this chain in order to make the point that the u.s. insists that there is freedom of navigation. chai that was very upset and said there would be a response. it is possible to interpret this deployment of surface to air missiles as a response to that action. >> jamie thank you very much. we want to go back to our breaking news now. these are images coming out of ankara, turkey. a large explosion going off in the capitol there. the governor saying that five people have been killed. those number continue to rise. media reports saying the bomb went off during rush hour as a bus loaded with military personnel was passing by. as you can see several nearby cars catching fire. ambulances continue to rush to

t scene. zana hoda has more. >> reporter: this is clearly a message to the government for, to the president, to the military. there has been no claim of responsibility, but most observers saying that this could be the work of the pkk or the work of isil. the turkish military is at war with these two groups, the pkk, out lawed since last july, the government has been targeting itself positions in northern iraq and southwestern turkey. the turkish military tightening control of the borders, making it difficult for isil to cross between turkey and syria. back to the race for presidential nominations, it is heating up. the next contest is saturday when republicans go to the polls in south carolina. democrats will be caucusing in nevada.

the latest cnn poll showing a virtual tie among democrats. and hillary clinton holding a rally with the mother of sandra bland, the young african american work who died while police custody in texas. on tuesday she talked about opening opportunities for lvms. >> 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. >> reporter: bernie sanders also trying to connect with african american voters, holding a rally on tuesday. he talked about any changes he would make if he becomes president. >> we'll talk about criminal justice. what we're going to talk about is 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 ] >> the race on the republican side also getting hot. a new poll showing that donald trump is at 38%. ted cruz is second, trying to fend off-marco rubio. >> no american should be forced to violate their conscience. >> as for those voters in south carolina, they say they don't trust this man. donald trump on social issues or foreign policy. yet he is still at the top of the list of preferred candidates on all of those issues. up next we'll tell you why researchers are calling a new type of cancer treatment

extraordinary. and today pope francis is on the u.s.-mexican border. the conference call. the ultimate arena for business. hour after hour of diving deep, touching base, and putting ducks in rows. the only problem with conference calls: eventually they have to end. unless you have the comcast business voice mobile app. it lets you switch seamlessly from your desk phone to your mobile with no interruptions. i've never felt so alive. make your business phone mobile with voice mobility. comcast business. built for business.

>> these people have decided that today they will be arrested. >> i know that i'm being surveilled.

>> people are not getting the care that they need. >> this is a crime against humanity. >> hands up... >> don't shoot. >> hands up... >> don't shoot. >> what do we want? >> justice. >> when do we want it? >> now. >> explosions going on... we're not quite sure - >> is that an i.e.d.? ♪ there is a new survey out that finds flint residents paying the highest rates anywhere in the country, despite the lead contamination in the water there. flint residents paid twice the national average, and three times more than what residents in nearby detroit pay.

a lawyer in flint who sued to reduce the rates said they are so high because officials tapped the water money to pay for other city operations. a judge today is going to sentence one of the executives blamed for that disastrous chemical spill in west virginia. it poisoned the water supply for hundreds of thousands of residents. he also pleaded guilty to three federal pollution charges. >> i believe the only true deterrent in these sorts of cases to send the message that if you engage in this sort of conduct, you are exposed to jail time. exsec tifs sh executives are not used to checking their three-piece suit for a jailhouse suit. sentencing is set for this

afternoon this charleston, robert ray is live for us in charleston, west virginia. he is looking at all three years, robert? >> reporter: it's possibility, del. if we look at some history, just last week, federal judge put one of his colleagues from freedom industries into just a 30-day jail sentence, and a $20,000 fine. but remember, gary southern, the president, the head honcho at the now defuncts freedom industries, he is probably going to take the biggest rap here. the courthouse behind me, the federal courthouse, he'll be here shortly and the judge will give him his sentence at 2:00 pm, del. >> robert, what are the broader ramifications? can we expect more legal ramifications from the toxic spill? >> reporter: not with freedom industries. that will be the wrap on the

criminal charges against the executives, and also the company which was fined $900,000 last week, but the judge said that was a symbolic fine and likely wouldn't have to pay it, unbelievably. but there could be civil suits. environmentalists and the epa are still checking the water. they say it's safe, but of course this is known as chemical valley, and has a long history of bad things happening that hurt a lot of people as far as their health. but we're going to try to talk to gary southern when we walks in here. last time he declined comment, perhaps because we asked him if he was a criminal. >> and the bottom line, robert, the water there is safe, right? >> reporter: it is safe according to the epa, the water right now, two years after the chemical spill into the elk

river is safe. >> robert thank you very much. pope francis is in juarez mexico at this hour. he is wrapping that up six-day visit to mexico. thousands coming to the airport to see him. these are live images coming out of juarez. the pontiff's plane landing and greeted by dozens of dignitaries and thousands are waiting to get a glimpse of the pontiff. and as we see these images come in, we can only be reminded of the pontiff's trip to north america, and the excitement he generated here. cancer researchers are calling it unprecedented and extraordinary. a new therapy where cancer patient's own cells are used to

battle the disease. in the first clinical trials 94% of the pashing ents had their symptoms disappear all together. but doctors warned there are side effects. >> it's 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 we know about cancer it is very good at wiggling its way out of therapy, it can develop resistance. we need more research, but it is a step forward. >> t-cell therapy often considered to be the last resort, because it can overload defense systems. two patients died, but it sent the rest of the patients into repolice. the fda now out with new guidelines on how to keep the

zika virus out of the blood supply. the fda considers the risk of zika blood transmission likely. there have been reports of transmission-associated infections in other countries as well. when we come back, avoiding the morality police, an app that is helping young people in iran live their lives without fear of government intervention.

>> mdma helps with the therapeutic connection. >> exclusive access to the... >> our fears are dancing between us. >> techknows team of experts show you how the miracles of science... >> this is what innovation looks like. >>...can affect and surprise us. >> i feel like we're making an impact. >> awesome. >> techknow, where technology meets humanity. >> only on al jazeera america. >> al jazeera america brings you independent reporting without spin. >> not everybody is asking the questions you're asking me today. >> we give you more perspectives >> the separatists took control a few days ago. >> and a global view. >> now everybody in this country can hear them. >> getting the story first-hand. >> they have travelled for weeks, sometimes months. >> what's your message then? >> we need help now. >> you're watching al jazeera america.

♪ we continue to follow the breaking news coming out of ankara, turkey at this hour. a large explosion going off in the capitol. it was caused by a car bomb. the governor telling al jazeera that at least five have been killed, ten others injured. a bus loaded with military personnel was passing by. several nearby cars catching fire. no one claiming responsibility for the attack just yet. the united nations planning for a massive cyber attack on iran if diplomatic efforts to curve the nuclear program there failed. intelligence agencies also reportedly developed a separate plan for a covert cyber attack to disabled one of the nuclear enrichment sites.

the pentagon not yet reporting -- responding to the report. iran's opec envoy telling a local newspaper it is ij logical to cap their oil. in iran some are turning to technology trying to get around the morality police. al jazeera's ines ferre reports. >> reporter: in this youtube video, a woman in iran resists arrest by the iranian authorities who patrol the streets to enforce the islamic female dress code. a new app is aimed at helping citizens avoid confrontations like that, and get away from those patrols. >> this is very important to see how people are frustrated by

years of the use of moral police on the streets to stop people and warn them or fine them or even take them to jail for the day they dress up. >> reporter: the morality police app lets users report where they see the patrols so people can avoid the area. online campaigns in the past have rebelled against the dress code. the creators of this app told a human rights group more than a thousand users were using it within hours of its delease, but it was blocked by the government within a day. still users have found ways to get around the ban and download it. >> the app might not be that much effective, but it's symbolic, it shows how people are using social media applications to challenge government's restrictions. >> 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. and finally, there is a new top dog today in the world, the winner of the westminster dog show. >> the best in show for 2016 is the german short hair. >> reporter: that is a three-year-old german short hair cj. his owner says he has a, sparkle in his eye that makes you stop and pay attention. congratulations. thanks for watching. i'm del walters in new york. the news continues live next from london, where we tin following that breaking news story out of ankara. thanks for joining us. the news continues live from london. ♪

>> hello, i'm maryam nemazee. you're watch be the news hour live from london. five killed in a bomb attack on a military vehicle in the turkish capital, ankara. aid is on its way to sill advantages and towns in syria. china is accused of meyering missiles from one of the islands south china seas.