they'll have to wait like the rest of us to see how this plays out. >> john terrett for us. the european union has announced a new policy for dealing with the influx of rages and migrants, including a quota system for each member state as thousands more of people push their way towards western europe. but some countries are more welcoming than others. >> at this reception center on the board with serbia we've seen hundreds of refugees here today. many of them from syria, from iraq, some from even afghanistan. they've all said that they're concerned about what is going to happen to them next. in the last few hours there were hundreds of refugees in that area behind us. buses in the last half hour, we're told they're taken to a refugee camp nearby. the refugees are extremely worried. they might be held here in hungary. they want to get to austria as soon as possible. they don't know what the political is goin--what the policy is going to be. so they're really concerned. so concerned that when we were just on the board earlier this morning where the fence is being built, in fac

john terrett is live at the united nations now. john, good morning to you. >> how are you? >> i'm wonderful p.m. it's a big day for new york city, and the pope is going to address, we expect a lot of issues, like poverty and refugee crisis. this pope does not pull any punches. what are we expecting world leaders to hear? >> i think it's going to be climate change to eradicating global war to eradicating poverty to gender equality to income equality, all the pope's favorite themes. take a look at this over here. this is the entrance to the united nations opposite 46t 46th street. these are members of the diplomatic corps here in new york. they've been queuing since early this morning just to get in and be part of this he were experience on the east side of manhattan today. it's going to be a very different start to the day to yesterday. yesterday we saw the pope in the house, then he flew to new york, took part in stress speakers at st. patrick. today, more serious and somber. the pope is going to address the general assembly in spanish, the language he is most comfortable i

. >> our john terrett has been covering all of the meetings at the united nations general assembly. , what strikes me is yesterday president obama was focused on terrorism and isil. today we have the acting president or leader of the security council, russia -- it's a rotating leadership, doing the same thing. >> this is day three of leaders week at the u.n. general assembly, and going on in that great big hall, the general assembly is continuing with speakers coming up from a wide range of countries, including latvia, serbia, djibouti, we're going to hear from the president of the palestinians of course. >> in the assembly. >> in the assembly, but what you're looking at now is the chinese representative in the security council, and there was a meeting called today -- it was always on the agenda -- called by the russians to discuss counter terrorism issues, and you are right. there is very little that can be achieved in today's meeting that wasn't achieved in yesterday's meeting that was hosted by president obama when they looked at how to defeat isil. and the russian ambassador to t

john terrett is live for us this morning. >> good morning, my friend. it is very hot here. it's like cuban weather. i thought rain was coming in. but actually it's really hot. >> talk to us now about the improved relations between the two countries and still the problems that exist. >> reporter: yeah, the relationship between washington and havana is indeed vastly improved compared to how it was a couple of months ago, a couple of years ago. the trade embargo has been in place since just after the cuban revolution back in 1959, and basically there has been no economic contact between these two countries since then. and yet, cuba is just 90 miles off of the coast of florida. so yesterday at the united nations, we had an extraordinary scene with the man who is now the president of cuba. raul castro, brother of fidel, coming here to the general assembly and speaking on behalf of his country for the first time. and then you spin forward to this morning, and we just got notification that a meeting has happened between president obama and raul castro. so what did they talk about?

john terrett is live outside of the courthouse where kim davis will appear soon.hat is happening right now? >> reporter: good morning, stephanie. as you said this is the federal district courthouse in ashland, kentucky, alongside the banks of the mighty ohio river, and it is here today that kim davis will come to answer charges that she is in contempt of court for refusing to hand out marriage licenses. there are people here supporting her, and people who are vehemently against her. i'm going to stand aside to allow aaron, our photographer, to show you what is happening here. there are people who are disgusted by the stance that kim davis has taken, and there are many, many supporters as well. they are clashing vocally. down the road a group of people who are singing hymns and praising god. now the case gets underway in about 30 minutes from now, stephanie. >> john, as you said this is a contempt hearing. what are the potential legal consequences for kim davis? >> reporter: potentially, she could do prison time. although that is generally thought unlikely. what is

let's lead to john terrett who is there and listened to abbas's speech. he promised a bomb shell. did he deliver john? >> reporter: he more than delivered in the end. just a little bit of context for you. remember, president abbas is in a situation whereby what we thought of as the international conflict is going on elsewhere. in that is the situation involving syria, and iraq, and the refugees and isil. so president abbas has been desperately to try to get his crisis back on the public agenda. so he knew he had to do something drastic. we were told by the arab media over the last couple of days to row back from the notion; that in the end it wouldn't be much of a bomb shell, but in the end it was, because president abbas appears to be distancing himself from the oslo according, signed in 1993, and 1995. those accords were negotiated in secret, involving the then palestinian leader arafat, and the oslo diplomats took the lead. nobody knew what was going on, and now there was a chance for peace on the table. and now he is saying those were designed to give us a palestinian state. th

john terrett has more. >> reporter: we were here this morning when the first game couple ever to gete license in this county walked through the doors of the clerk's office at 8:00 a.m. filled out the paperwork and were then given that license. they merged in to the sunlight with cheers, physician ar physig and they were he can extremely happy. thathis is what they had to say. >> it means, at least for this area, civil rights are civil rights and they are not subject to bullies. >> reporter: and afterwards we said to james, what do you want to do first? he said i want to cuddle my mum and that is exactly what he and his partner did. they cuddled in the sunshine. now, also here today, a very different story on behalf of kim live us, the county clerk. her husband joe davis telling us how she's feeling now and what she intends to do in the future. >> they have illegally put my wife in jail. they are not going let her out and she's not going bow i promise you that. >> reporter: joe davis said he's very worry about his wife's health she needs drugs for a condition that she has and he's con

john terrett is live for us outside of the federal courthouse. tell us about this hearing which we understand started about what, 90 minutes ago? >> reporter: spot on, randall. it started 90 minutes ago. this is a contempt of court hearing involving kim davis who is here answering charges through the court from the aclu that she is in contempt of court for refusing to hand out marriage licenses in rowen county where she is the county clerk. let me allow aaron our photographer to show you what is going on behind me here. this is the federal district courthouse in ashland, kentucky, right along the banks of the ohio river, and the scene you are looking at here, i would say is mostly supporters of kim davis. there are a handful of people here who are against the stand that she has taken, but most of these people -- and i think you might be able to see some of their posters -- are here in support of kim davis, they are posters quoting verse and chapter from the bible. down the road a group of people are singing hymns and praising god. as you said, 90

john terrett is live for us at the u.n. this morning. hn, relations have improved a lot, but there is still that embargo and the u.s. presence and occupation in cuba's words at guantanamo. >> yeah, we saw raul castro yesterday. one of the moments of history was the appearal of raul castro, the brother of fidel, he was one of the original members of the cuban revolution all the way back in 1959, and yet here he was yesterday making history, his first-ever general assembly speech before the united nations. and it become very clear during the course of that speech that relations have really warmed between washington and havana after years of no talking and no trading, certainly. but there are still mom you mental problems to try to overcome. castro hinted that he wanted to get guantanamo bay back from the american movement, he is looking for issues of what you might call soft diplomacy to stop things like broadcasts and internet contacts to people in cuba. it is very difficult to hear, i'm not sure how many cubans really listened, but i know

right now where our john terrett is out there as well. as soon as the president of poland is done speaking we're going to be listening to the president of china as well. so john what is happening out there right now? >> we're still assessing the president obama speech. i don't think it was boring or the worst speech we've heard from a worst speech. >> you made our analysts chuckle. >> well people are saying it here as well. [ laughing ] >> i think it was more what you heard was the obama doctrine in many ways. this cooperation this working together. we are prepared to work with anybody, russia and he listed all those countries where diplomacy has been a success cuba iran, and many more as well. i think perhaps it wasn't the most exciting speech we've ever heard here at the general assembly, but it was pure barack obama, of that there is no doubt. now we move on because coming up next we have a whole lineup of global word leaders who are heavy hitters in their own right. the president of poland is finishing off his speech. i think he has go

. >> john terrett at the u.n. thank you very much. >>> 19 countries including the u.s. are now backing a new fund to help the united nations combat the refugee crisis in europe. today they have now pledged $1.8 billion. the money will go to the u.n. aid agencies, including those running refugee camps in turkey, lebanon and jordan. in afghanistan, u.s. military advisers are now on the ground near a strategic city. there are reports that some of those troops are special forces. afghan forces have been fight to go retake the cities of kunduz and countries north. another airstrike on taliban positions this time aiming for the airport. we talk with afghan fighters on the ground. >> the latest that we're getting from kunduz city, from the civilians, that the talibans are searching house to house, and forcing afghan civilian boys to join them in the fight against the government. also they're announcing in the loud speakers to the people of kunduz, the residents to continue their normal lives and also asking shop keepers to open their shops they're promising people that they wo

john terrett joins us live from the u.n., and john, what did the pope have to say? good to see you >> reporter: good to see you as well, my friend. and this was a different kind of speech than the one that we saw yesterday in the house when the pope was in washington d.c. it was a much more solemn occasion, and the pope spoke in spanish, so that slowed things down a little bit. he had two real themes on inequality and social justice. he called for everyone in the world to have a home, food on the table and boys and girls often get left behind. and religious and spiritual freedom. and the other thing that came out of the speech is climate change. he is passionate about it, and he thinks it's a problem and mankind can do something about it. and today at the general assembly, he talked about humanity's right. [ speaking spanish ] >> in effect, the selfish and boundless thirst for power and prosperity leads to the misuse of available natural resources and to the exclusion of the weak. >> and an example of how passionate the pope is about climate change, he mentioned the

john terrett joins us from the united nations with this pretty remarkable speech. john. >> reporter: richelle, good evening to you, mahmoud abbas effectively is handing the keys to the occupied territories right back to israel. the palestinian authority is bound no more, that's the threat by palestinian president, mahmoud abbas. he went before the general u.n. assembly and said that los angeles israel continues to break its agreements, palestine will. >> israel has left us no choice that we last name be the only ones committed to the agreements. >> the oslo agreements, with arafat and rabim, did not demand the two state solution to pave the way for peace to settle their differences, but while the agreements mark the first time that israel and palestine recognized each other, key measures failed to be implemented. israel remains in control of much of the west bank, though the agreements called for full palestinian authority in 1999. as many as 3,000 additional israelis went to the west bank when the accords were signed. checkpoints in west bank it cities not borderin

john terrett is here with the story. >> good evening, the summer fighting season in afghanistan has been tough for the afghan military, and relatively successful for the taliban. this weekend, with the help of u.s. air cover, a town was smashed back from taliban control. >> reporter: afghanistan's southern helmand province has been the scene of heavy fighting as afghan troops with air support from n.a.t.o. tried to check afghanistan advances. the area has been a battle ground since the invasion in 2001. >> it's a long time taliban strong hold, and an opium reach trafficking hub where hundreds of troops lost their lives before most foreign forces left. that tug of war forced tens of thousands out of their homes. taliban efforts to take control of the region intensified after the withdrawal of u.s.-led coalition forces. about 10,000 american troops remain, mostly to train and advise. afghan forces stood their ground, but continue to struggle with disorganization, low moral and widespread drug dependence. despite an afghan offensive. the fighting season saw the taliban make gains, both in t

let's check in with john terrett for the latest there. >> thank you, richelle. temperatures have dropped dramatically. it was hot and steamy and now we're all freezing outside of the general assembly. we'll take a look inside to see who is speaking, the lebanese prime minister. and the lebanese prime minister is here because the lebanese parliament has been unable to elect a president. rather than have a presidential representation from lebanon, they have the prime minister. and he's speaking now. the big headline here today, and it is a big headline is mahmood abbas, who addressed the general assembly an hour ago and did dropped a bombshell. he promised to, and he did. he said that the palestinians are no longer bound by the oslo accord as long as israel is not committed to them either. now we have a situation where the palestinians are saying to the israelis, look, you don't comply with many, many aspects of the oslo accord, now we're not going to, and we'll make you responsible for policing and services in the west bank. now it's not immediately clear whether

. >> john terrett,age. >> there are currently two muslims in congress representatives andre carson from indiana, and keith ellison in minnesota. ellison said, quote: >> now to the other side of the aisles, hillary clinton has increased her lead in the poll. a new cnn poll shows clinton has the support of 42% of prime minister voters. bernie sanders is holding half of that. vice president biden's support increased slightly even though he is not officially running. volkswagen stock is plummeting as the company tries to make amends fo for a scandal in emissions test. now cars are recalled to fix the problems. >> volkswagen said that it will stop selling it's 2016 and 2015 marked clean diesel in the u.s. after the epa accused the company of cheating on an emissions test. the german automaker wrote: . >> invital regulators accuse volkswagen of installing software in half a million diesel cars that would turn on the emission control system only when an emission test was taking place. the rest of the time the car exposes people to pollutants 40% that of allowable standards. >> particularly for

john terrett has more. >> good evening to you. it was" as usual at the county court house in moore head kentucky. for kim davis it was a big day, indeed. she was back at work for the first time since being released from gaol. marriage licences to all couples gay and straight are issued, without her name or title on them. that could deep her out of gaol, but not out of the courts where her lawyers are promising new legal commence. >> ta 15 minutes before the doors open to the public, kim davis appears, refusing to give out marriage licences to same-sex couples, facing a difficult choice. >> my conscience or freedom. my concerns or liability to people that i love. >> good morning brian. how are you? >> reporter: davis said she will not violate her religious conviction so the task to give out marriage licences to all comers goes to clerks. davis remained in her office while this couple received a marriage licence. >> any unauthorised licence issued will not have my name, titles or authority on it. instead the licence will state that

al jazeera's john terrett joins us with more. >> good evening. here at home in the u.s., and in countries like great britain, priests have long been able to forgive those. today's move extends the ability for a year to priests in countries like italy and elsewhere, where only bishops can handle such things. >> another unexpected move by pope francis, this time concerning abortion. the pope says he'll give catholic priests the power to forgive women. >> if a woman comes to confession, the priest must have her wait while he contacts the bishop to make sure that it's possible to grant ab solution. >> the women will be able to seek ab solution during the holy year or jubilee, a year of mercy. in a letter published tuesday. the pope describes: in roman catholic church teaching abortion is a grave skin. women that have the procedure or doctors that performed it are subject to automatic excommunication. >> is this a sign of how seriously he takes the power of god to forgive and the power of god to heal people who come in, seeking mercy. >> the announcem

john terrett is at the office. >> reporter: there is a bit of a folk festival going on here, people againstame-sex marriage, protesting the notion that kim davis was locked up at all. of course she is now free from jail, and we were expecting her to turn up from work here in her position, but she has not come. her lawyer says she will be in to work again on friday and possibly even on monday. the issuance of marriage licenses to straight and same-sex couples will go on. speaking to mark who is in from san francisco with his partner of seven years, alan, he works for the celebrity website, and mark is here, really, to make a point. >> no matter where we had rights to marry, i think part of it is now we have the right to marry everywhere. >> reporter: he also says that he doesn't think the jailing of kim davis is right. that it makes her a martyr, something in his view she most certainly is not. are these marriage licenses legal or not. the attorney general in kentucky says they are. but kim davis's team says no they are not. here is her lawyer. >> the licenses that were issued were issued wi

. >> john terrett, thank you >>> scott walker drops out of the republican presidential race. more non-traditional candidates are searching. carson sets out. after volkswagen skirted the administration rules, the obama administration looking into what other automakers are going. >> tomorrow morning on al jazeera america, china's president comes to the u.s., hoping to improve ties. with cyber security issues, will it detrail the visit. >> start with a global perspective. >> when i lost the job, i think that's what really put my credit in a bomb. >> the way i felt when i was turned down by the bank was humiliated. >> i didn't have bad experiences with credit until i went through divorce. all the credit, our lives were intertwined. >> i felt like a failure. >> the car was part of one of the disputes in the divorce. they took my car one night. >> have you been denied credit or are you paid hi interest rates. join thousands relying on credit scare.com. >> one day we seen the credit repair, and >>> the justice department is conducting a criminal probe into volkswagen, accused of rig

john terrett joins us from moore head in kentucky. >> moore head kentucky home to the rowan county clerk's office. there's no sign of davis. who spent her first night at home. mark is here with boyfriend, and they are looking to get a marriage licence. >> now we have the right to marry ever. if they wanted to get parried. they want to. mark is delighted. if the boss tells him not to when she gets back to work. rowan is not the only county where licences are refused. there are none in casey county. only in a thriving l.g.b.t. community, an alliance based on university, moore head state. >> i chose moore head state. it's close to home. you can find your home here. >> reporter: the primary focus of alliance is to work for l.g.b.t. rights, the kind of organization that flourishes in moore head, but not elsewhere, where l.g.b.t. are brushed under the carpet. >> moth views of the l.g.b.t. communicatee -- most people's views of the l.g.b.t. is, you know, we don't talk about it. there's a sparkling community there. this gives everyone a chance to come together. >> there's evidence attitudes toward

escalating repress and killing and, in turn, created the environment for the current strife >>> john terrett joins us now. vladimir putin spoke later, and there was an intense back and forth between the two. >> literally the two titans essentially agreed to fight i.s.i.l., but disagreed on almost everything else about the entire day at the united nations. president obama had choice words for vladimir putin today, but the russian leader managed to get in his own jab. bashar al-assad, at the center of the clash, president obama said bashar al-assad must go. vladimir putin says there's no alternative to him. >> reporter: russian president vladimir putin was not in the room when he heard president obama call him out over his annexation of crimea and involvement in eastern ukraine. but he did have a message for president barack obama when it comes to who should remain in power in syria. >> translation: we think it's an enormous mistake to refuse to cooperate with the syrian government and its armed forces. we are valiantly fighting terrorism face to face and should acknowledge na no one but the k

john terrett had for . >> reporter: it's been a long time coming, but al jazeera producer mohammed badr, freelance producer mohamed fadel fahmy are free at last. >> this nightmare is over. the nightmare is over. we can live like normal people and go home, enjoy life and that is it. >> reporter: a pardon by abdul fatah al-sisi, marking the end of a long ordeal that began upon arrest in 2030. alongs with correspondent peter greste. al jazeera media says according to human rights watch, egypt arrested, charged and sentenced at least 41,000 people between july 2013 and july 2014, extending treatment to international tv journalists shocked the world. a report from the committee to protect journalists in june said egypt has the highest number of journalists behind bars since they began keeping record. in june, a cairo court sentenced the al jazeera team toll seven to 10 years in prison. last january, the court of cassation threw out their convictions, and ordered a retrial. in february, after a year in gaol, egypt allowed peter greste to be deported to his native australian. mohamed fadel fah

john terrett, we'll see you throughout the day.hank you. >>> the house of representatives begins its debate over the iran nuclear deal in just a few hours. 42 senators now back the accord, and that is enough to support -- to filibuster to a vote of disapproval. libby the president seems to have the support needs, so why do they want to block the bill from geting to the president's desk? >> reporter: democrats that are supporting the president's agenda would like to see as much support as possible. with 42 on his side, that could indeed keep a bill from even getting to the floor. basically it helps the optics for the president and for the history books if the white house goes down in history as having a congress not fighting them tooth and nail. the white house feels like it will come out better in the end. we just heard from the house republicans this morning. this is their first day back in washington talking to the press. speaker john boehner still calling this a bad deal and saying a majority of members of congress do not suppor

john terrett is there and has the latest. >> it's an extraordinary case where a local county clerk isn gaol for her plasts. cast your mind back to june, when the supreme court ruled gay marriage was legal in all 50 states. here in kentucky, kim davis was having none of that, refusing to hand out licences to anyone, on the grounds she may hand one to a same-sex couples. in court today, she was made to answer for this decision, and at the end of the court case, she said she would rather go to gaol than hand out marriage licences to same-sex calls. >> okay, gaol it is. she's in a local county gaol and stay there until she decides, in her capacity as a local official to issue marriage licences to all couples, gay and straight couples. five of six deputies great to open the office and hand out marriage licences, all except for one. the judge decided not to charge him with conterms of court. >> reporter: one of the largest lakes in northern america is under threat of pollution. blooms damaged the tourism industry, worth billions. we have this report. >> reporter: each summer a growing under

john terrett joins us now. a lot of people are excited about this.n washington, and around the country. >> absolutely. >> it's been quite the day today with his arrival. pope francis's visit, of course, long anticipated, now at last he's here, and just in the first few minutes on u.s. soil, there were first and plenty of symbolism too >>> cheers for the pope as he steps off for a welcome in mary lands. the first time pope francis set foot on u.s. soil. his visit got under way with another first. president obama and first lady michelle obama, and vice president and his wife jill on hand. never before has a sitting president and vp been at andrews air force base together to great an incoming dignatory. the scene witnessed by nearby bleaches from guests from the archdiocese from washington d.c. pope francis arrived from cuba, wrapping up a visit with mass at a kooth eid ral -- cathedral in san diego. he had a message for families. >> translation: without family, the warmth of a home, life is empty, we feel the lack of networks that support us in our div

[cheering and applause] >> reporter: john terrett, al jazeera. , toronto. >> steven ellis is directoread vo cass and i communications at the international press institute, he joins us live via skype from vienna. thank you for joinings you here a al jazeera. we saw a final picture of the report from peter greste very happy. but for him and another six journalist who his have been tried in absentia, their charges and sentence still remain. what can be done about that, do you snow? >> we need to continue to apply pressure to the egypt government in this case. it's important to know this was a positive development for two of the journalists being finally released from prison again, many other journal assists are affected as your correspondent needed they are subject to a de facto travel ban to any country that may have an extradition treaty t to egypt. it's not just this case but other cases some 18 to other 20 journalists are behind bars in egypt. international attention needs to remain focused on this country. which is suffering from a very repress i have press freedom climb eight right

john terrett it live at the u.n. this morning. hn, relations as we all know have improved drastically between the two current trees, of course, but in his speech at the u.n., castro made some problematic demands for president obama. >> reporter: he really did, randall. good morning from the united nations. history made at the general assembly again yesterday in so many ways, not least of all because raoul draftro, the 84-year-old president of cuba, brother of if i had he will, leader of the cuban revolution back in 1959 coming to the general assembly for the very first time. to be honest with you ramdz, what he said yesterday could have been said by any cuban leader going back over the last 50 years but there was common ground with the president obama because castro called for lifting of the trade embargo imposed by washington and so did president obama when he addressed the general assembly yesterday when he gave a list of diplomatic successes, he listed iran and cuba, called for the trade embargo to be lifted but it is not in the

john terrett, al jazeera, toronto. >>> peter greste, seen celebrating at the end of that report was one jazeera journalists convicted in absentia, now he was deported from egypt earlier this year. after spending 400 days in prison and he's now in australia. well, peter doesn't yet know if he, too, will be pardoned al jazeera's andrew thomas has been speaking to him. >> the great news, not just the good news but the fantastic news is that fahmy and bahar are out of pretzel broughting the freedom that we should never have been denied almost two years ago. and the problem is that we just don't know what the situation is for myself or my six colleagues who were convicted in absentia. it's been wonderful to get this far and, you know, we are very grateful to press sisi for releasing my two colleagues, but this won't be over until everybody who was convicted not just in prison, and sent to prison but also convicted in absentia has their names cleared. until we know exactly what the situation; we really won't be able to celebrate completely. this is an absolutely wonderful day. mind, okay, nev

john terrett, al jazeera. >> republican contender scott walker is to unveil a plan today to eliminate unions for federal workers and institute right to work laws nationwide. he wants to shut down the national labor relations bored. the wisconsin governor spearheaded right to work laws in his state. joining me now is a campaigns reporter for politico. good morning, good to see you. let's talk about these polls. >> good to be on. >> how concerned should hillary clinton and the democrats be about recent polls showing truck running neck and neck with her among all registered voters? >> they should be somewhat concerned, but also the heat of the campaign hasn't started yet. a lot changes once a campaign actually begins. the general election campaign is a very, very long way from beginning. >> that is true. >> there still hasn't been t.v. ads attacking donald trump for any number of things you can attack him over. thinking the nomination will be a cake walk, these numbers indicate that is not the case. >> although we are six months away even from the first primaries, hillary clinton has bee

john terrett joins us more. petro porashenko had a lot to say. >> good evening, he did. petro porashenko came out swinging no less at the general assembly on tuesday. he called the charter broken, and accused the the security council are of undermining world piece, and without mentioning him by name left vladimir putin in no doubt as to what he thinks of involvement in the don basket. >> reporter: ukraine's president petro porashenko pent before the united nations gem by and tack -- general assembly and took aim at a security council. this same the aggressor is the russian operation. they lopped is list of reasons. specifically against resolutions and the downing of a malaysian airjoins get in 2014. you rain accuses separatists of downing the plane. >> they used it as a licence to skill. russian president vladimir putin continues to deny his country is involved in ukraine, while petro porashenko never referred to the leader, he marked vladimir putin's call to an international coalition against terror which he made to his speech on monday. cool story, hard to believe. how

>> john terrett thank you. >>> steven coen is professor of mer advertise of russian studies.hat do you think of this sideline meeting? >> i think as we have talked about for a very long time, and we both know what happened today at the u.n. is a faithful moment. you have got this terrible crisis unfolding because of the it lammic state. and these two leaders don't like each other, and now we see what leadership has come to. >> what is putin most worried about when it comes to isil? >> most worried about, and for i would say, john, two or three years he has been clear on this, that it will blow back into russia. russia has 17 to 20 million muslim citizens. it has areas of muslim terrorists. according to putin himself -- he said this the other day, there are 2500 russian islamic citizens fighting with the islamic army. that's his number one concern. the second concern, is that russia and the united states have diametrically opposed views as to why there is this monstrous terroristic evil in the middle east. russia thinks it is significant due to american policy -- >> he blames

john terrett has been tracking it. >> it will be interesting whether it hurts ben carson. at least at this hour, what on earth was he thinking we'd have to say. last week donald trump didn't speak up when a supporter made outlandishly racial comments on thursday, and ben carson, the man until this moment pretty much was behind trump in the polls is saying he'll meet with muslim leaders after becoming embroiled in his own controversy regarding muslims in america. >> reporter: for the second time in a week islam is dominating the 2016 presidential campaign. dr ben carson is telling "meet the press", that a muslim shunt occupy the white house. >> i'd advocate that a muslim not be put in charge of nation. >> he said he would vote for a muslim voting on capitol hill. >> congress is a different story, depend who the muslim is, and what the policies are. fresh from their own controversies, republican front runner and defending the way he handled supporters on wednesday, calling into question president obama's religion. >> there's a problem in this country called muslim. we know t

. >> john terrett has that part of the story. >> pope francis in his weakly address in st peter's square delivered a messages to the faithful. do more for the refugees seeking shelter in europe. >> translation: i appeal to the parishes, religious communities, monasteries and sanctuaries of europe to show the true meaning of the gospel and take one family. >> in a gesture of solidarity of thousands fleeing iraq and syria, the pope says the vatican's two parishes will be the first to step up to the plate, taking in a family each >>> the pope's call to tens of thousands of catholic parishes comes as the number of refugees arriving over land, through the balkans and across the mediterranean sea is hitting record levels, 350,000. vatican insiders say there's over 200,000 parishes in italy, and thousands in other european countries. not all are expected to welcome it pope's intervention. >> ordinary catholics will be encouraged by what he's saying. in the vatican, there's olympics. they may say that's a faced in from the holy father, this is not for the church, but the government. the >> repor

. >> john terrett, thank you. >>> the superintendent of seattle's public schools is seeking legal action to try to force the city's teachers to end a strike. summer vacation was extended for 53,000 children today, after the teachers union voted to strike hours before school was to begin. >>> up next, use of force, a controversial police shooting in wash state. why the prosecutors say the officers will not face charges. >>> and a deadly sapped storm gripping some of the biggest cities in the middle east. >> three lives in pacifica, washington, will not be facing charges for the deadly shooting of antonio zambrano. police officers shot and killed him in february after he was throwing rocks at them. and it quickly caused protests. sabrina is live in pasco, and good england, why won't the officers be facing any charges. >> the prosecutor in this case said that he looked closely at washington state law m the washington state legislature looks at the use of deadly force and police officers, and what they have said, that if police officer are acting in good path and without malice, they have th

john terrett explains. >> if a woman comes to confessi confession, the priest must wait. >> a priestbe able to give ab solution, during the year of mercy. in a letter published by the vatican on tuesday. the pope writes: >>> in roman catholic church teaching abortion is a sin. women that had the procedure are subject to ex communication. this is a sign of how seriously he takes the power of god to forgive and heel people seeking mercy. >> the announcement coming weeks before the pope arrived. a country divided. a poll suggests that -- a poll suggests 51% say they should be illegal. 45 say it should be illegal. francis, born in argentina, is the first non-european pope in 1300 years. his papacy showing tolerance to taboo topics. earlier this month. he declared divorced catholics that remarried deserve better treatment. perhaps with the most attention the remarks made on gays. the pope said "who am i to judge." vatican watchers point out that the pope is showing no intention to retract opposition, but is sfol jing a pattern of taking a less forceful tone. church and people have to chan

here we have more on that controversy with john terrett. >> on multiple, multiple levels. you have to ask yourself what was ben carson thinking when he made the remarks. first we had donald trump who didn't speak up. >> and ben carson, until this moment was behind donald trump. he's in hot water, his views on muslims in america. >> >> reporter: for the second time in a week islam is dominating the 2016 presidential campaign. dr ben carson is telling "meet the press", that a muslim shunt occupy the white house. >> i'd advocate that a muslim not be put in charge of nation. >> he said he would vote for a muslim voting on capitol hill. >> congress is a different story, depend who the muslim is, and what the policies are. fresh from their own controversies, republican front runner and defending the way he handled supporters on wednesday, calling into question president obama's religion. >> there's a problem in this country called muslim. we know the current president is one. >> some thought i should have defended the president in terms of what was arrived. my attitude would he

john terrett joins us from canadian.ive us a bit more about the background to this case. >> you know this, is an extraordinary religious freedom case. it has sprung up in the last couple of months. cast your mind back to the day in june, when the supreme court ruled same-sex marriage is legal across all 15 states. in the south of the country there is a county clerk whose name is kit davis, she was having none of that, deciding not to issue marriage licences to straight or homosexual couples on the ground. she does not believe in same-sex marriage on religious grounds. she is a christian, and she has refused to hand out licences to anybo anybody. there has been protests at her office, and today she was dragged into court by a civil liberties group. at the end of it all, the upshot was that she'd rather go to gaol than handout any marriage licences to same-sex couples. gaol it is, and that's where she is. after a long day in court. she's in the hands of the marshalls who have been taken away. the judge said they can only c

i want to head out to john terrett, who is at the united nations. john what were some of the other highlights of the pope's address. >> well, you know, stephanie in the end this was a very different speech from the one we saw yesterday in the house. yesterday it was in english, it was easier for him to pick sound bielts to be use this was an academic speech spoken from a father who came here to tell the rest of the world his thoughts on how it should move forward in the future. the moment baneky moon approached, right out of the bank he called on financial agencies around not to come up with or allow oppressive kengding for developing nations. right there he is going after the security council, the international monetary fund, the world bank, and even wall street just on the other side of this island. on the environment, a key theme, we always knew it would be. he said that any harm done to the environment is harm to humanity. he said man kind is not authorized to abuse the environment let alone destroy it. on economic exclusion, such things are a gr

. >> john terrett reporting to us from ashland, kentucky. thank you.ction at the courthouse where davis works appears to be mostly in favor of the judge's ruling. al jazeera's diane esterbrook joins us from moorhead kentucky with that. >> erica, this is a small county only about 23,000 people, and it's really been in the eye of the storm these past few weeks with davis not issuing these licenses, but today, the attention shifted from rowand county to about an our west of here in ash land where she went before the federal judge and was given jail time for not issuing those licenses and violating the court order. earlier today, we went to the clerk's office just to see if we could get in. we went in about 8:15 this morning. it usually opens at 8:00 o'clock. we found a sign on the door saying that davis and her deputies were going to be in federal court. the office was closed for the day, but it would reopen tomorrow. we were also here today when the judge handed down that decision, and people coming in and out of the court house doing business thought th

john terrett is outside davis' office in kentucky. first, do we expect her to show up for work today and is there any doubt she won't follow the judge's orders if she does show up for work? >> well, those are two excellent questions. the answer to the first one is we simply don't know. yesterday, when she was released from county jail, the expectation was that she would come straight back to work today but we are hearing from her lawyers that she is probably going to have a couple of days off and may come back to work on friday or monday. that doesn't mean she won't come back to work tomorrow, thursday or even today 8:00 a.m. when this office opens. as whether she would radio bide by the judge's orders, we simply don't know. yesterday on release from the county jail, her lawyer pointed out to everybody present that she is a deeply committed christian and also deeply committed to her job. many think because these licenses have been issued, she may interfere with that process. we are going to have to see today when she shows up at work.

. >> john terrett in kentucky, thank you. >> fighting same-sex marriage bans is piling on big bills for some states, which are now required to pay the lawyers who fought those bans. let's bring in our guest from michigan. he has a new article and has done investigation on this topic. it's published on aljazeera.com. steve, let's take a look at why states are footing the bill. apparently, it has to do with the 40-year-old federal law saying that the court in its discretion may allow the prevailing party a reasonable attorney's fee as part of the cost. will this law hold? >> oh, yeah, there's no doubt it will hold. several states have already paid out and also, it is part of the design of the civil rights law is to encourage lawyers who otherwise wouldn't get paid, these are not cases where anybody would get damages, their only purpose is to fight for civil rights. >> lets take a look at states that have paid the attorney fees so far. pennsylvania paid out $1.5 million in legal fees, wisconsin a little more than a million, virginia 580,000 and oregon a little more than $100,000. many atto

john terrett, al jazeera. >> kentucky clerk kim davis is still in jail this morning, launching an appeal of the ruling that put her there. a judge jailed her last thursday for refusing to issue marriage licenses because she says her faith objects to same-sex marriage. the supreme court declined to get involved in the case. she has no plans to resign but is willing to issue marriage licenses again if her name and title are not on them. >> the minnesota dentist who unleashed a global backlash after killing a revered lion in zimbabwe has ended weeks of silence. walter palmer says he will be back at work within days and if he had known cecil's status, he would not have killed the lion. palmer told the minneapolis star tribune that everything was done properly, this was a legal hunt for a lion in zimbabwe. >> president obama has a labor day gift for workers today, an executive order requiring paid sick leave for employees of federal contractors. the president will announce it at a union rally at a breakfast in boston today. 300,000 workers will be entitled to one hour of paid sick leave for e