-- "al jazeera america"s jamie mcintyre. are the armed forces worry about attacks on the electric grid. ric grid. >>> you're watching "inside story" on al jazeera america. i'm ray suarez, we have been looking at the trick grid. you heard about antick waited equipment. let's look at security threats to the grid. "al jazeera america"s jamie mcintyre joins us from the pentagon. during the cold war we were told the threat to the grid was from an atomic weapon, is the thinking about the vulnerability shifted. >> it has. we here warning of an electronic pearl harbor, a cyber attack that could not just affect the electrical grid but water supply and in a way the new era was ushered in by the united states and israel, where experts agree that those two countries introduced the stuxnet virus disarming iranian centrifuges, it's where you have a cyber weapon, a line of complicated computer code that can inflict physical damage. if the u.s. and israel can do it. others can do it too >>> so does the defense department war game around, st

-- "al jazeera america"s jamie mcintyre. are the armed forces worry about attacks on the electric grid. ric grid. just because i'm away from my desk doesn't mean i'm not working. comcast business understands that. their wifi isn't just fast near the router. it's fast in the break room. fast in the conference room. fast in tom's office. fast in other tom's office. fast in the foyer [pronounced foy-yer] or is it foyer [pronounced foy-yay]? fast in the hallway. i feel like i've been here before. switch now and get the fastest wifi everywhere. comcast business. built for business. >>> you're watching "inside story" on al jazeera america. i'm ray suarez, we have been looking at the trick grid. you heard about antick waited equipment. let's look at security threats to the grid. "al jazeera america"s jamie mcintyre joins us from the pentagon. during the cold war we were told the threat to the grid was from an atomic weapon, is the thinking about the vulnerability shifted. >> it has. we here warning of an electronic pearl harbor, a

jamie mcintyre has more from washington. >> reporter: just hours after announcing an end to air strike the saudi-led military coalition bombs a city of tiaz. in recent days houthis of battle forces loyal to president abd-rabbu mansour hadi. saudi arabia said the pause in the strikes was predicated on the houthis showing a willingness to engage in a political progress, and with rebels forces advance of course,m saudi ambassador said there's no sign that they are ready for peace. >> the houthis should be under no illusion that we'll use force to stop them taking yemen obvious by aggressive action. that will not chexght. saudi arabia says the operation objectives were met. saudi arabia officials say the objectives of phase 2 renewal of hope is to counter houthi aggression, and facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid for the suffering population. the u.n. estimates 1,000 yemenis died and tens of thousands fled the fighting. both the saudis and the u.s. state department denied reports that the obama administration quietry pressured saudi arabia to call a halt to air strikes because of the g

forces out. >>> jamie mcintyre at the pentagon. a grim reminder of the toll from syria's 4-year civil war. the syrian observatory for human rights says 220,000 people have died in the conflict. more than 67,000 were civilians, 11,000 were children. . >> the dead included 28,000 foreign fighters fighting with groups like i.s.i.l. and the al nusra front. u.n. security council members were moved to tears by footage of suspect chlorine gas attacks. and heard from doctors that treated the victim, many of whom were joig. the u.n. will try to yaf and bring to justice those behind the attacks. >> reporter: this shocking video was filmed in the aftermath of a chemical attack in syria last year. the pictures of doctors trying to revive young children was shown to security council ambassadors. they were shocked. men moved to tears. >> the video in particular of the attempts to resuscitate the children. if there was a dry eye in the room i didn't see it. it was - it's devastating to see the fact of what the regime was doing. people were visibl

jamie mcintyre reports that there is concern about iran's influence and intentions in yemen. >> reporter: the u.s. had a half dozen warships off the coast of yemen and added two more, including "theodore roosevelt" u.s. aircraft carrier, and "normandy" from the coast of aden. the navy said it is to ensure vital shipping lanes are open and safe. pentagon says it's to send a not so subtle message to iran who it is concerned they are arming the yemenis. >> one concern we have over their behaviour and the impact in the broader region is that they supplied weapons and support to the houthis in yemen. >> iran denied sending military support to the rebels. the u.s. is keeping tabs on a group of seven iranianships carrying unknown cargo that the u.s. suspects may have arms bound for the houthis. they are in international waters for now. if they attempt to dock in yemen, they'll we boarded, but not necessarily by the u.s. in more than three weeks of bombing, this was one of the largest attacks. saudi arabia targetting a scud missile base in sanaa. the massive explosion killed dozens, destroyed bu

antonio. >> jamie mcintyre at the pentagon. thanks. dr. wine stein was held prisoner for more than three years. he was kidnapped from his home in pakistan days before he was supposed to return to the u.s. his widow said therm devastated by his death. lisa stark has more. >> like rings on the tree the yellow ribbons on the map am at the winestein home marked time more than three years in captivity. now in rockville, maryland they're mourning the death of their neighbor. >> i always wondered how he could be in a place like pakistan. he wanted to help those people and cost him his life. >> warren winestein was a husband, a father a grandfather. he spent decades traveling the world as an aid worker in 2004 ending up in pakistan as a contractor for the u.s. agency for international development. he was helping small businesses. >> please make as many contacts as you can. >> aat age 70 days before he was supposed to return to his family al qaeda kidnapped winestein from his home in pakistan. >> he just thrived on helping people. >> wife elaine an

and jamie mcintyre has more from the pentagon. >> reporter: the white house says there were two separate strikes in january that targeted an al-qaeda compound in pakistan along the afghanistan border and one attack unknowingly killed two aid workers held captive there. american weinstein and lo-porto and both abducted in pakistan to improve their lives and president obama says while he did not sign off on the strikes personally as commander-in-chief he offers his deepest apologies. >> i take full responsibility for all our counter terrorism operations including the one that inadvertently took the lives of warren and jiovanni i profoundly regret what happened. >> reporter: the white house admitted the strike raised legitimate questions about the protocols used to approve targeted killings including requirement of near certainty in the accuracy of intelligence. >> the first is near certainty that this was an al-qaeda compound used by al-qaeda leaders, that turned out to be true and assessment was correct and other near certainty assessment is no civilians would be harmed if the operation w

. >> jamie mcintyre joins us from washington d.c. and jamie look, i seem to remember somebody reporting on this the other day. did the obama administration push saudi arabia to end that month-long offensive? >> it's clear that the obama administration was concerned about the humanitarian crisis in yemen and the next phase of the saudi-led campaign is called operation renewal of hope. and it's supposed to protect civilians getting humanitarian aid, and nearly 1,000 people have died in the campaign so far. and tens of thousands have left their home. but today both the obama administration and the saudis deny that the administration had pressured the saudi arabiaian government to call a halt to it because of the growing number of casualties. >> from the state department, getting parties back to the negotiating table how we could gent back to a ceasefire. the saudis have made a conversation with their coalition partners, but it needs to be dialogue. >> you can tell from that diplomatic speech that there might have been nudging from the ob

is ready to give that up >>> joining us now is jamie mcintyre in washington d.c. we heard the president say the u.s. wants to make sure iraq is in a position to succeed, how is that played out on the ground in iran? >> well the u.s. and its coalition partners are doing what it does best providing the precision air strikes. the focus is an baiji, a city up the road from tikrit and on the way to mosul, one of the gapes. the pentagon describes these are shaping operations designed to weaken the i.s.i.l. defense, and of the air strikes conducted yesterday in iraq, across iraq half of them were focussed on i.s.i.l. fighting positions and equipment in beiji. it's not just beiji that the u.s. is softening up the defense, basing the operations. they are focussed on ramadi and anbar province those are two places where the united states is hoping that iraqi ground forces wants the u.s. air strikes - once they have done their jobs they will allow the ground forces to move in. it's a slow process, but the u.s. says it's pushing i.s.i.l. back. >> the iraqi prime minister made

jamie mcintyre with the latest. >> the white house said the protocol was followed to a t but had unintended consequences of a tragic nature. a spokesman admits this raises questions about whether changes need to be made. >> the white house says there were two separate drone strikes in january targetting an al qaeda compound in pakistan along the border and one attack unknowingly killed two aid workers held captive. american lauren wine stephen and an italian -- wine stephen, and an italian. both working to improve the lives of pakistani people. president obama said he did not sign off on the strikes personally as commander in chief he offers his deepest apologies. >> i take full responsibility for all terroro operations including the one that took the lives. i regret what happened. >> reporter: the white house admitted the strike raises objectives about protocols used for targeted killings and the near certainty of accuracy of intelligence. >> the first is near certainty si that this is an al qaeda compound. that was true. it was correct. the or near certainty was no civilians would be harm

. >> jamie mcintyre at the pentagon, thanks a lot. >> thank you for joining us for this edition of "inside story". get in touch op facebook, follow time. i'm ray >>> on "america tonight" - a university school. in our series sex crimes in court. sara hoy on campus, and a university shamed. >> walk on water. they can do no wrong. they get away with murder almost >>> can a scandal force a university to follow a blueprint for change. also - spreading sickness, how the law in indiana helped to create an h.i.v. epidemic. >> no one wants to go to gaol. they'll share, the h.i.v. is going to continue to be in scott bases. >> thank you for joining us, i'm joie chen. infectious disease experts imagined the major h.i.v. outbreak would trike a big city. instead the hot zone is rural indiana, where an unprecedented outbreak is under way. the ingredients don't have to be large population centers, and risky sexual beforehands. what is behind this outbreak is, in part, the actions of state lawmakers. as jonathan betz found in austin, indiana. >> i have the track mark here. most of this is oxikotin track ma

jamie mcintyre has the details. >> reporter: united states is releasing additional military aid to egypt as egypt plays a larger role in battling islamic state fighters in the region and helping out in the coalition that saudi arabia has put together to battle iranian-backed houthi droops troops in yemen. hepresident obama made a phone call to president el-sisi and the u.s. will be. releases 20 f-16 fighter planes, missiles, and spare tax for tanks. the u.s. has been holding back on this aid because of the overthrow of the democratically elected government of mohammed morsi, but now says it is in u.s. international security interest to provide assistance to egypt so they can continue the fight. one thing that did they to the do is certified that egypt made significant progress in human rights and rule of law another condition of releasing some of that aid. the white house said that president obama expressed those concerns in that phone call to egyptian president el-sisi. >> nigerian president-elect defighted jonathan goodluck jonathan and said he will work to serve everyone in nigeria. n

. >> reporter: jamie mcintyre at the pentagon.eria president elect calls it a new day for a new nigeria and muhammadu buhari is making plans to take over power after defeating president goodluck jonathan saturday and spoke a short time ago. >> your vote have changed our nation and destiny for the good of all nigerians and they have announced that i, muhammadu buhari shall be your next president. >> reporter: if first time the opposition has ever unseated the incumbent president in democratic elections. yvonne is live from abuja and thanks for being with us and muhammadu buhari lost to goodluck jonathan in the last election in 2011 and more than 800 people were killed in violence that followed. but this time it appears the reaction has been far more peaceful? >> that's right, it has been incredibly peaceful. people were really worried about the potential for violence not only because there was violence last time around when elections took place some four years ago but also because of just the close nature of this race. everybody pr

government and move clears the way for egyptian leaders to receive weapons from the west and jamie mcintyre details. >> reporter: united states releasing additional military aid to egypt as egypt is playing a larger role now in battling islamic state fighters both in the region and also helping out in the coalition that saudi arabia put together to battle iran backed houthi trooped in yemen. president obama made a phone call to egyptian president al-sisi informing him of the decision, the united states will be releasing to egypt a dozen f-16 fighter planes, 20 missiles and spare parts for u.s. m 1 a 1 tanks and u.s. holding back on this aid because of the overthrow of the democratically elected government of mohamed morsi 21 months ago but united states believes it's in the u.s. national security interest to provide this assistance to egypt so it can continue the fight. one thing the united states did not do is certify that egypt had made significant progress in democracy, human rights and the rule of law that was another condition for releasing some of that aid and the white house says pre

. >> jamie mcintyre at the pentagon for us, and in iraq now, as jamie was mentioning, thousands of families have fled the city of ramadi. taking control of three villages from outside of ramadi and in the northern city of mosul, a battle against isil is being fought by a success group of volunteers as the military leaders try to recruit all of the strength that they can. reporting now from northern iraq. >> in step with each other and now with the iraqi army too. these volunteer fighters have for the first time taken orders from baghdad to unify countless militias. this group is diverse with arab christians, and all of them are eager to go back. >> one of my sons is here. he was a soldier and the other one will come in the next intake. i have ten children, and i came to be a volunteer not for money, but to get my city back as soon as possible. >> they call themselves the national guard. a force which officially doesn't exist. it's the same that the prime minister al-abadi wants to give to the force for volunteers. it's an uneasy union, and they say they will answer to al-abadi himself. mosu

has withered away and been defeated >>> jamie mcintyre joins us live from the pentagon. while i.s.i.l. has its sights set on ramadi the u.s. and allies focus on another factoring in iraq. >> that's right. it's not that joint chief chairman general martin defrl si said ramadi is not importance it's not as important important as the fight to the north with baiji and the oil refinery are under called. >> reporter: this video shot on a mobile phone shows an air strikes on oil positions near ramadi. the u.s. and coalition try air pour to beat back the i.s.i.l. interans. interans. -- advance. i.s.i.l. captured three villages they are retreating after loosing saddam hussein's town. it was down played as part of an eb and flow of war. >> we have to get if back. >> dempsey said the more important battle is to the north, around panellingy where there has been steady progress it's an oil rich region including a refinery that is a more strategic prize and where the focus is now. >> once the iraqis have control, they'll have the infrastructure and deny i.s.i.l. the ability to develop

jamie mcintyre is at the poent gone. -- pentagon. >> it's not that the general chief said that ramadi is not important, it's not as important as the fight to the north where baiji and the oil refinery is understand siege by i.s.i.l. forces. >> this video shot on a mobile phone shows an air strike on ramadi. the u.s. used air power to detract the i.s.i.l. advance. three villages were recaptured. fighters are regrouping after losing tikrit, osama bin laden's home down. general martin dempsey downplayed the set back as an ebb and flow of a war far from over. >> i would rather that ramada won't fall. it won't be the end of a campaign should it fall, we need to get it back. >> dempsey says the more important area is towards baiji, where there has been progress. it's an oil-rich region including a refinery and dempsey says that it is more strategic. >> once the iraqis have control of baiji, they control the structure north and south and deny generating revenue through oil. >> in meetings this week, it was stressed that iraqi forces battling i.s.i.l. must be multicultural and report to baghd

jamie mcintyre is at the pentagon tonight. >> reporter: russia says that the nuclear agreement is good enough to pave the way for the sale of high tech anti-aircraft systems to iran, including a missiles that some experts say could shoot down all but the seattley american planes out of theout--stealthy american planes out of the sky. >> the anti-aircraft missiles is often referred to as the russian patriot because it works like the old u.s. patriot used in the first gulf war. it does not need to hit a plane to take it down. just guess close enough to explode into a cloud of deadly strap nell. in justifying the sale to iran, vladimir putin points out that the s 300 is a defensive weapon. some reports have suggested that advanced deterrence could give tehran an effective bullet-proof shield neutralizing all but the stealthy aircraft and forcing the u.s. to lean on its small force of 2. a daily beast headline screened that it could make u.s. attacks on iran nearly impossible. we put the question to america's top germany at an american top previousing. >> does that take the military option

. >> jamie mcintyre, and robert is a former director of the cia counter terrorism center, which oversaw the drone program. and he joins us from washington d.c. robert, it good to see you again, and does protocol need to be looked at and possibly changed? >> i don't think that it needs to be changed in this circumstance. it seems to be a strike where a target is hit on the basis of the pattern of activities there, without necessarily knowing the identities of all of the individuals who are present. and in this case, we didn't know the identities of any of the individuals present. but there was enough evidence no indicate that these were al qaeda militants and the compound was being used exclusively by al kind militants. and i think based on what the president said, that this was being surveilled continuously for many hundreds of hours i think that the intelligence officials had very good assurance that women and children were not going to be present there. that's people living in the compound. normally when you have civilians in a location, they were out and about and you can tell when t

we'll try jamie mcintyre. >> mr. secretary good, to see you again. been a few years. that your ceremonial swearing in ceremony a while back, former secretary perry noted your joint efforts in attempting to denuclearize, as he termed it, north korea and that those effort failed. my question to you is, what lessons from that experience do you think would apply to the current situation with iran and mr. chairman, if i may follow up on this tradition of asking each of you a question, and of course chime in if you want. i'm also curious with iran now in line to get these advanced air defense systems from russia, does that effectively take the military option off the table or at the very least make it enormously more complicated? >> with respect to the nuclear weapons situation in iran, which is your question a couple of things jamie first those negotiations that are being conducted by us and our p-5 plus one partners with the iranians, have the active of arresting the north korea -- excuse me -- the iranian nuclear program and obviously that process is not complete yet. th

jamie mcintyre has more. >> the basic elements are the qualities of the stone, the reflective qualities of the names in a con logical order. >> he likes to point out how the design makes the wall the most engaging memorial. >> when you walk you notice the names. slowly as you get to a point where the memorial is over your head. we are there now. there's no longer the distraction beyond you of the cars going by, you are part of this situation, you are enveloped by the sea of names, and this creates the emotion. this is when people talk in a lowered voice. considering it was controversial at the time it's amazing that you could talk to the tourists and no one would dispute the power of the wall. it's a great work of art. and most monuments, the washington monument you have to jump back to enjoy it. this one you make physical contact with it. it's a big distinction. it draws you in >>> jamie looks into how the memorial almost did not get built. that's at 8:00 p.m. eastern >>> in today's digital beat, a story you see only on aljazeera.com. residents in missouri are blaming rare cancers on a