denton was a threat. the texas legislature which wants to promote this industry particularly given the price of oil, how much that's sagged and how many workers have been laid off, they want to protect their industry and that's what this plan was all about. >> the united states was very unusual about surface rights to rights. when you talk about private property and who has the rides rights to that property when it's on somebody's private property and the city says no fracking? >> this is a federal statute that dates back to the 1800s. at the end of the day if you have mineral rights that trumps the rights of surface owners. the oil company's argument is that this was their territory first, and no matter what you do on the surface that's going to trump rights of service centers. we've only seen a couple of exceptions to that. this is working through courts they would probably win this anyway but it speaks to how big an industry how important it is to texas and other states had law. >> if you are in citize

denton is the only town in texas. it's not the only phenomenon there are people in your state that thing the federal government will invade and you get biker gangs, this doesn't rate among the things you need to be concerned about. >> we have seen that we have people providing misinformation about what oil and gas extraction is doing today, saying that fracking is causing environmental problems when we have studies conducted in the area. they said the public is protected, the water quality is protected. so i think it's this misinformation that led to this. i want to admit up front, i think operators need to do the best job we can to communicate to public. industrial action provides discomfort to everyone we want to be good neighbours. >> it strikes me i love the state a great deal, and spend as much time as a can. i'm fascinated texans are about home rule. the idea that the state tells a municipality that it can't do something. as a texan, if you were from denton, would it sit badly with you. >> the cities are created

and then we go to denton texas with fracking.tay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: "the death of democracy" by the frackettes. the lead singer is our next guest. this is democracy now! democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we turn now to texas, where a small town finds itself in a showdown with big oil after it tried to pass a ban on fracking within its city limits. on tuesday night, residents of denton, about 30 miles north of dallas-fort worth, packed a city council meeting to oppose a vote to repeal the ban. the vote was ultimately tabled. the move comes after texas lawmakers passed a new law that prohibits such bans. the measure went into effect on monday. that same morning, three protesters locked themselves to the entrance of the first fracking well to reopen. a police sergeant thanked the three and shook their hand before putting them in handcuffs. amy: it was just this past november that nearly 60% of denton texas residents supported the ban at the ballot box. but they were imme

al jazeera, denton, texas. >> artists from across the globe descend on cuba. straight ahead how the exhibition could open a door to the u.s. market. e able to see change. >> gripping. inspiring. entertaining. talk to al jazeera. only on al jazeera america. >> cuba is playing host to the art world this month. the 12th by an biannual is drawing visitors. it could mean that artists on the island could earn a real living. >> an ice skating rink with pretend ice in the middle of tropical havana. a fake beach across the seat along the city's main coastal drive. these installations and other works of art are part of cuba's highly anticipated biannual art show. it is an annual event. >> there were so many regulations, prohibitions and these new freedoms we're seeing is like throwing a drop of water on a very dry desert. they're being absurd at lightening speed. >> ten years ago jesus barely had enough room on the floor of his argument. now he has enough money to buy and paint in his own institute. studio. >> she is pure, beautiful but dangerous like a jelly fish. it's

the texas town of denton has repealed a voter-approved ban on hydraulic fracking after pressure from state officials and corporate interests. denton voters made their town the first in texas to ban the drilling technique by approving a ballot measure last year. they were immediately threatened with lawsuits by the texas oil and gas association and the texas general land office. those same interests worked with state lawmakers and the american legislative exchange council, or alec, to pass a recent law that outlaws fracking bans in texas. in response, denton officials have now voted to repeal their fracking ban, saying it's unenforceable under the new state law. the council's vote coincided with a protest at a denton fracking site that saw several people arrested, including 92-year old activist violet palmer. adam briggle of the anti-fracking group denton drilling awareness said -- "this is definitely not the end of the line. it is the beginning of a new chapter in our fight and it's one that's going to be texas-wide now." dozens of harlem residents protested in new york city on wedne

nick denton is the ceo at gawker and joins us for a cnbc exclusive interview.t to have you. tell me what's going on here. because i seem to remember a couple of years ago you backed away from so much focus on page views. as a stat. it used to be it seemed like people were grinding away, working for page views, gawker was one of the first in the blogger category. now the employees are unionizing, are you becoming like a newspaper? like an old gray publication? what's going on? >> you shouldn't insult me like that, jon. >> i had to poke you a little bit. >> i believe in happy and motivated journalists and journalists naturally like to organize. they're natural anarchists, they're naturally pretty left wing. something to the left of where i am. can you either fight something like that, and have the kind of confrontational relationship that often exists in the u.s. between management and workers. i'm not from here. i don't believe that's inevitable and i like the german model. and so that is the kind of model for worker management relations that we like to implemen

on friday they were turned away from the denton county courthouse because of a computer glitch. this afternoon the glitch is gone. >> we're going to go get married >> reporter: king said it's a day 19 years in the making. how does it feel? >> outstanding. i can't believe it. i'm so excited. report but the couple worries that state officials are putting up even more serious hurdles for same-sex couples. texas attorney general ken paxton issued an opinion on sunday saying clerks have religious freedoms and can't be forced to issue marriage licenses because of their religious objection. paxton warned employees will likely face fines in litigation, but said numerous lawyers stand ready to assist clerks defending their religious beliefs. attorney jeff mateer is lead council with the liberty institute, a group that claims to be the largest organization the defend religious freedom. >> they have constitutional rights. and actually what the attorney general is doing is telling them informing them of those rights. that's what an attorney general should do, and he should be applauded for

. -- in denton. he talks about the importance of responding like challenges relaying his own experiences of becoming partially paralyzed at age 26. governor abbott was elected in november. this is 60 minutes. -- 15 minutes. [applause] governor abbott: thank you. this university is fortunate to have you at the helm of this university as you begin the next 125 years for the university of north texas. [applause] i'm deeply honored to get to participate in this celebration for this commencement of the north texas mean green. now, i know firsthand the caliber of the students who attend the university of north texas. my nephew, ryan abbott graduated from north texas five years ago. in 2010, with a degree in emergency administration and planning. he now works with the philadelphia office of emergency management. and the university of north texas would be proud of him today because of what he did earlier this week, when he put his degree to good use helping to respond to the tragic amtrak crash that took pla

in denton outside of dallas, not everyone families the same way. >> we are in the middle of the shale in north texas and platforms like these used to have rigs on them, churningion out oil around the clock through fracking. that got residents concerned. they voted to prohibit fracking inside this town, banned it. that is all about to change. >> the governor recently signed a about him into law that all but makes sure that no texas town could ever ban fracking again. the law largely strips local zoning boards of their power to regulate oil and gas and hands that power over to the state. the governor says it's necessary to protect an energy industry that accounts for nearly 15th 15th of the state's economic output. >> we're forming a patch work quilt of bans and rules and regulations that is eroding the texas model. >> denton residents like debbie ingram argue they are being disenfranchised. >> we have always had home rule where we get to decide what happens to our citizens in our towns. basically, they're telling us we don't have that option. >> debbie said she voted in favor of the ba

they're inching toward us and we have the stuff on the eastern shore we're tracking from easton to denton more so toward delaware. locally drizzle, a heavier mist if you will. you see this stuff in prince william, fairfax, over toward montgomery as well and even northwest some light drizzle outside. everything is moving toward the east. we still have the easterly push from the winds. that's a colder, damp wind coming in off the atlantic. off to the south notice richmond seeing the steadier showers and the concern is some of this could inch up toward us for the afternoon commute so that's idea yellow alert. temps are not growing to be moving much. they're not high at all. we're in the mid-50s. 54 rockville. 57 waldorf. perhaps we'll northbound the mid-60s for highs for the afternoon. i'll have your seven-day in a few. >>> a fourth grade teacher at oyster-adams bilingual school in d.c. has been arrested on sexual charges. the parents are shocked and are beginning to speak out about the allegations against the popular teacher there. delia goncalves has more. >> reporter: school administrator

. >> jerry denton who helped put on the contest says this is not abuse. he says the population has gotten too large and is hurting the oyster and crab populations the chesapeake is famous for. he says oyster harvesters especially want the population reduced and says the reason the rays are clubbed is because their barbs are poisonous and it would be inhumane to leave them alive gasping in the boats for air. >> give you a sense of exactly where this happened here is d.c. and it was way down in southern maryland about here onl the patuxent river. the state department of natural resources tells me there is no good data on how many rays are actually in the chesapeake bay but it is looking at working with the federal government and possibly other states to explore the possibility of managing the population in the future. reporting live in the newsroom, tom roussey, abc 7 news. >> first on abc 7, cedar hill elementary school or cemetery in suitland plans to repair and then reinforce a key retaining wall. the wall failed during saturday's storms allowing a caske

. -- in denton.talks about the importance of responding like challenges relaying his own experiences of becoming partially paralyzed at age 26.

melissa: denton thank you. >> my pleasure.: i bet i are already thinking about dinner, a lot of you use -- to do it, they belong to the same company, cornering market on-line food delivery grub hub ceo is here. >> taking cinderella from rags to riches, a major task on broadway, major costume magic, legendary costume designer, tony winner, a nominee again, william ivy long will join us next, that is going to be fun. new york state is reinventing by leading the way on tax cuts. we cut the rates on personal income taxes. we enacted the lowest corporate tax rate since 1968. we eliminated the income tax on manufacturers altogether. with startup-ny, qualified businesses that start, expand or relocate to new york state pay no taxes for 10 years. all to grow our economy and create jobs. see how new york can give your business the opportunity to grow at ny.gov/business usaa makes me feel like i'm a car buying expert in no time at all. there was no stress. it was in and out. if i buy a car through usaa, i know i'm getting a fair price.

if you are someone in denton county, for example, where one clerk said i am not giving out a license tieo a man and a man or a woman or a woman, what should people there know who are speaking to get married? >> first of all, they should give a phone call to land of the legal, because we'll have numerous lawyers to help out any clerk who wants to resist what the law is and they will need numerous lawyers, clerks who do that, will be exposing themselves to personal liability. justice kennedy's opinion made very very clear same-sex couples are entitled to equal dignity, to the same rights to marry. a clerk can't shutter the windows and say, we're not going to give licenses to same-sex couples. >> louisiana said it found nothing to object to the court's ruling it must take action immediately. what do you glean or take from that? >> at most i think it's saying we're going to wait until the last i to be dotted and t to be crossed, but the governor of louisiana announced as of this morning that the state wasn't going to resist any longer. >> and lastly mississippi's attorney general said in

texas governor greg abbott recently gave the commencement address at the university of north texas in denton. he talked about the importance of responding to life's challenges while discussing his own experience of becoming partially paralyzed at age 26. he was elected in november. this is 15 minutes. >>> thank you, all and thank you, president. the university of north texas is fortunate to have you at the helm of this remarkable university. as you begin the next 125 years for the university of north texas. i'm deeply honored to get to participate in this celebration for this commencement of the north texas mean green. now, i know first-hand the caliber of the students who attend the university of north texas. my nephew, ryan abbott graduated from north texas five years ago. in 2010, with a degree in emergency administration and planning. he now works with the philadelphia office of emergency management. and the university of north texas would be proud of him today because of what he did earlier this week, when he put his degree to good use helping to respond to the tragic amtrak crash that

pennsylvania congressman charlie denton a republican backing the transpacific partnership. congresswoman dengel let me start with you. it's complicated yesterday because this fast track authority for the trade deal actually passed yesterday. what was rejected was this thing linked to it trade adjustment assistance. the idea being, if you're going to have a trade deal we're going to also pass this to protect workers affected by it. you voted against both of those. there would seem to be some indications yesterday, nancy pelosi seemed to hint yesterday that maybe there could be negotiations with republicans to sweeten the pot a little bit for that trade -- for that trade adjustment assistance, maybe bringing in highway funding, something like that. my question to you is is there anything that could be done on that front in the next few days that would get you to reconsider your vote? >> i don't think nancy yesterday was talking about bringing in highway trust funding. i think she said it was time for the house to begin to move on to that. quite frankly, i know we've got to co

of the commencement speech beginning with governor greg abbott at the university of north texas in dentonfollowed by eric swal we will in liver more, california. later a senate hearing on alleged retaliation against federal whistle blowers. >> health and human services secretary sylvia burwell was on capitol hill this week to testify about the department's 2016 budget request and the healthcare laws implementation. secretary burwell also took questions about an upcoming supreme court decision that will determine whether federal subsidies should be offered to those who sign up for insurance through federally run marketplaces. this hearing was held by the house ways and means committee, it's two hours. >> committee will come to order. we know that the secretary is on a tight timeline today with a hard deadline at noon. that's why the ranking member and i just discussed that we will limit members' questions to four minutes so as to accommodate as many members as possible in the questioning. but first let me start off by thanking our witness secretary burwell. i understand that you've got to

[laughter] the federal emergency management administration through its regional office in denton, texas, has mobilized personnel to texas and oklahoma in response to flooding. this is something that you all covered quite extensively last month. those personnel are in place as well to respond to tropical storm bill, which we know has already begun to bring heavy rainfall strong winds and a potential of tornadoes to portions of texas and oklahoma today. fema remains in close coordination with managers and officials as well as our federal partners at the national weather service as they make their forecasts. so these fema personnel will remain deployed to texas and oklahoma in preparation for these storms. as of now there are no unmet needs that have been expressed by state and local officials. if there's a need that arises, we have federal person nhl place to try to help -- personnel in place to try to help state officials meet them. we'll keep the people of texas and oklahoma in our thoughts and prayers in the next 48 hours or so with that, let's go to questions. questioner: thanks. a co