and somalia is critical as we work to advance peace and security are out somalia. we are dealing with how to best adapt our travel policy for somalia, to more robust -- to more robustly execute our dual-track approach, the city of u.s. personnel, the paramount importance when considering travel inside somalia. we will not shrink from this obligation to the current budget and find it will have an impact on our ability to effect a positive change in somalia. support for amazon trip contingents, the needs of the fledgling tfg will continue for some time. on the development and peace building side in fy 2011, somali received approximate $25 million in government support to assist our dual-track approach but we're also providing $48 million in humanitarian assistance this year as well as 80.3940 managing assistance for those who have fled somalia. even as resource constrained and budget and find a nice discount continues to do as much as possible to promote our core goal of building a peaceful and secure somalia. during 2011, we have used funding to assist some always i

commentary on somalia. he has traveled frequently to the northern regions of somalia and has collaborated with non- governmental organizations. she is a scholar at the one earth future organization. our next witness is a business at the center for maritime policy space studies. he was a senior fellow at the center for strategic and budgetary assessments in 2008 and 2010. he has authored a number of books, chapters, and articles on somali policy and related topics. finally, we will hear from dr. david chin. he served 37 years in the u.s. foreign service and held the position of ambassador to ethiopia, director of east african affairs, deputy director of the somalian task force, and officer fourth somalia and djoubuti. thank you ambassador for being here and all of you for your patience. >> thank you, chairman said. mith. thank you for the invitation to appear before you to discuss the consequences of the failed state of somalia and the policy of america toward the challenges that arise. i will summarize my p

due to the security situation and their government in somalia, they cannot go back to somalia. they are stuck in the camps for almost more than 20 years. >> this situation sounds much worse in somalia. with the aid flight be enough to help pple there? "aid flights will help. that is for sure. the problem is how to target beneficiaries. it is very difficult for a organizations to work in south somalia due to the security considerations. it is very difficult to identify who is in need, who needs help it was mentioned earlier that doing this by air drops, which is quite difficult to handle for people who are probably disabled or pregnant women or elderly to go to the places where they drop the food, and also to make sure they get their portion, which is quite difficult in such a situation. >> that was a representative from care germany. we're going to have more on the famine in the horn of africa a little later on in the show. for norway's prime minister, he says his country's response to last friday's double terror attack will be "more democracy." an independent commission is inv

since the fall in 1991, somalia both now areas of somalia have been the only areas of effective governance. they seek international recognition, but others do not. while they recognize obvious support the eventually integration into greater somalia requires ongoing support. today's hearing offers a valuable opportunity to examine u.s. policy on a variety of issues involving somalia. i'd like to now turn to ranking member, mr. payne, for any comments he might have. >> thank you very. let me thank you for calling the very important joint hearing on assessing the consequences of the failed state of somalia. and it's a pleasure to see my good friend, mr. royce back who chaired the subcommittee at some point in the past and has maintained a strong interest as have congressman smith. and so it's a pleasure to be here at this very important hearing. unfortunately, i will have to leave a few minutes before ii. -- 2:00. i've been invited to be a part of the presidential delegation that will celebrate the new state of south sudan and must leave in a hour or so to juba to be a part of that great achi

somalia racked by little rain. malnutrition rates are among the highest. 1 mother makes a desperate plea for health. >> we are dying in the absence of humanitarian assistance, where is the u.n., where is the muslim world? we are suffering so the world should take action to save our lives. >> the united states is looseening rules meant to prevent funds from falling into the hands of al-qaeda-linked groups, al-shabab. >> aid going to refugee camps has no real down side. this is a massive humanitarian crisis wh 11 million people threatened by it. the concern policy makers have the aid organizations forceed to pay taxes to al-shabab or kick backs, this is something financially bull sters the organization. >> somalia is the most dangerous country in the world to work in, frequent kidnapings, killings. because of the drought they have recently resended that ban. >> they are rethinking the idea, you have 5,000 smallies going into ethiopia and 110,000 refugees and over 300,000 somalia refugees in kenya. 1 of al-shabab's re

somalia has a transitional federal government. the 14th or 15th, depending how you count them, such entity in 20 years. and it's a government in name only it controls virtually no territory, provide those services and about the only thing its ministers are good at is stealing the aid that they get. the last audit report showed that 96% of the aid they received had been stolen. >> suarez: so if you look at a map of the region the problem is concentrated in two parts of the lower part of ethiopia, bakul and lower shabel who is in charge there? >> well, in those areas the shabab which is an umbrella group for an islamic group has some links with al qaeda and other rival groups but clans and others they reign over the area but you have competing clan interests but you don't have a government per se. >> suarez: so how does an aid agency, jeremy, figure out what to do? al shabab has said it won't cooperate without with outside efforts to get food to the suffering. and to be honest, outside governments are not that happy to have to do bu

a top also leader in somalia supervised this recruiting. one minnesota recruited was a suicide bomber whose 2008 attack on northern somalia send shock waves of alarm for the u.s. homeland security agencies because of its implications. another would-be bombers for minneapolis was shot and killed by peacekeeping troops on may 30th. moments before detonating. when one cleric spoke out against al-shabaab inside the minneapolis mosque for many of the missing young man they once worshiped he was physically assaulted according to a police. for those still skeptical that there were some of the lasers and side of the community it's worth mentioning the committee willing when an audiotape of the incident was posted on overseas internet forums before the authority to minneapolis even knew about the instance. there's an enormous amount of travel by the americans between the u.s. and east africa. and most of the truffle is legitimate. senior u.s. counterterrorism officials have told the committee they are very concerned of individuals did not identify o

but snola has crossed a -- somalia has crossed a grim threshold.amine officially occurs when a third of young children are acutely malnourished and four out of every 10,000 children are dying daily. >> the figures are -- as a result of declaring family or completely different from those for declaring emergency. it's a completely different scale to help the disaster victims on the ground. >> the horn of africa is prone to drought and crippled by poverly but its conflict made somalia special. two decade worth of anarchy. it's hardly a sanctuary and yet people are now coming here in search of food. militants control most of the countryside. last week they announced they were lifting a ban on the foreign aid organizations, but the u.n. says too many obstacles remain. british charity says the "f" word, famine, will promote a new surge in donations. but the short term looks bleefpblgt longer term, not much better. >> children in somalia are being systematically recruited as child soldiers by islamic insurgents. the human rights grouped urged internationa

has contributed $60 million to help the people in somalia. and we're now reaching some of the areas that now are are newly accessible, but also in the north and are center, we can wreech, again, over 1.5 million people. this support is vital. and, , again, we're airlifting in these nutritional products for children with the support of the u.s.. >> brown: is the situation in terms of access better in the countries surrounding somalia? >> oh, absolutely. this is the worst drought declared in 60 years. but we have to ask ourselves why we're not seeing death in ethopia or kenya like we would have in past droughts, and in part it's because resiliency efforts have been put in place. the world food program, we have been building up our after thes since last august, seeing this drought coming and where we can reach people, we're not seeing the times of daegz or out-of-control situation. so the world actually has been doing a good job, and our world has contributed half a billion dollars so far since january to build up supplies to the people affected

silent war complete with secret cia sites we'll talk with a man shining a light on the shadow war in somalia. it's thursday july fourteenth eight pm in washington d.c. and christine for us now you're watching our team. well let's start this evening with the economy where it seems to be at least here in washington what everyone is talking about not just the economy jobs lack of jobs and so it seems to the deficit and how to shrink it now just a few hours ago president obama and vice president biden met with lawmakers to talk about just that and the latest round of talks on coming to an agreement on raising the debt ceiling president obama was meeting with some of the highest ranking lawmakers after what was apparently a heated meeting yesterday in which obama reportedly stormed out of one person who won't be in today's meeting but does want obama's job as texas congressman ron paul he is out with his first official campaign ad in which he gives his answer to the great debate over debt. reagan. and of course. we were. like well our party just repeat the mistakes of the big chill compromise. on

the silent war complete and secret cia sites on top of the man shining a light on the shadow war in somalia. this thursday july fourteenth i'm christine for zero in washington d.c. and you are watching our team. and start out with the economy this afternoon where it seems to be at least here in washington what everyone is talking about jobs the lack of jobs on everyone's minds and so it seems to the deficit and how to shrink it just a little while ago president obama and vice president biden kicked off yet another meeting with top lawmakers to talk about just that in the latest round of talks on coming to an agreement on raising the debt ceiling well one person who won't be in today's meeting but does one obama's job is texas congressman ron paul yesterday he got into some heated exchanges with fed chairman ben bernanke you know over the way congress and the fed have dealt with some of these problems during the last three years now he also asked chairman bernanke you what he said about what he sees as an important fix to some of these economic woes gold take a listen. do you think all this

hunger pains in somalia millions of people are dying of famine yet no one in the world seems to care so why is there no attention being brought to this disturbing mess matter. as the mastermind behind the twin terror attacks in norway leaves not guilty what's behind his masonic ideology and should it be taken seriously will decode the symbol. and as the youth of spain protests over their country's economic situation whole weekend of debt talks in d.c. came to nothing so when the going gets tough love on americans get going into the streets. you sort of users you know this is the family and they will serve as a stronger only plus i'm asking reality with some comic con really why don't these people get together for real issues like to save the world from economic doom. and of league of their own even after title nine why are women still on the losing end when it comes to school. it's monday july twenty fifth and christine fair is out in washington d.c. and you're watching our team i want to start by talking about the dire situation in somalia in east africa drought high food prices and

report says there is famine in somalia.s is 100% baseless and sheer propaganda. >> the u.n. and the international community face a mammoth challenge. >> it is very dangerous and risky, but we have to reach people. they are not making it all the way to mogadishu. these other ones lucky enough to make a year and these centers are overrun. >> in northeastern kenya, they need food aid simply to survive. but it is the conflict in somalia that has created the famine that is the worst in decades. >> for more on the challenges in getting aid to those who need it most in somalia, i am joined by the project director at the international crisis group. it might seem like a paradox. why is al-shabab ordering aid agencies out of areas where people are starving? >> al-shabab made the argument in 2008 that humanitarian agencies were actually disturbing the food market in southern somalia and making the argument that they were does incentivizing -- dis incentivizing the farmers from growing their own food. the argument was to make the farme

gunmen on the ground, but these men work for somalia's government backed by the west. they control a small pocket of territory here. it's a magnet for families desperate for food and safety. first we see makeshift camps in the wilderness, then the latest arrivals. this family arrived a few hours ago, escaping from a town controlled by the islamist militant group al-shabab, they're exhausted but count themselves lucky. >> al-shabab -- they're killing people at home, al-shabab are preventing aid from reaching our area. that's why we had to flee. those left behind will die. the battle now is to stop more people fleeing their homes by getting aid directly into the heart of somalia's famine zone. that's not impossible but because of al-shabab, it's slow, complicated and very dangerous. it's also imperative, with the famine set to spread and the refugee camps overloaded, western aid officials are exploring every option. >> this idea that shabab areas are no-go zones, it's not true. categorically not true. we have evidence of organizations that never left somalia that they ar

and hunger pains in somalia millions of people are dying famine and no one in the world seems to care so why is there no attention being brought to this disturbing matter. plus as the mastermind behind the twin terror attacks in norway pleads not guilty what's behind his masonic ideology and should it be taken seriously or try to decode the sim. do you go to museums or is you know you did good to get that land that i come from so he has a stronger economy masking reality with some comic con belief why don't these people get together for real issues stuff like saving the world from economic doom . and a league of their own even after title nine why are so many and why are women still on the losing end when it comes to sports. it's monday july twenty fifth eight pm in washington d.c. and christine and you are watching our team. all right everyone the clock is ticking just nine days to go until the deadline to reach an agreement to raise the debt ceiling so essentially right now the u.s. is dancing with the phones now over the weekend a series of talks between president obama and top law

. >> famine in somalia, the u.s. says it will allow its 8 into areas -- rebels say they will allow aid workers into the area. >> of the british prime minister, david cameron, has defended his integrity in parliament as ministers defended the phone hacking scandal. the british establishment has been really. mr. cameron defended hiring andy coulson but he said that in hindsight he would not have made the same choice. this report contains flash photography. >> a french in need -- a friend in need is a friend. they become a massive headache. david cameron has always defended his decision to give andy coulson a second chance. >> with 20/20 hindsight, i would not have offered him the job and i expect he would not have taken it. you don't make decisions in hindsight, you make them in the present. you live and you learn, believe you me, i have led. >> the prime minister said he was extremely sorry. what he -- was he ready to say sorry for hiring him? >> if it turns out that i had been lied to, that would be a moment for a pr

robert gates legacy as secretary of defense and another shadow wars drones are now being sent into somalia and hundreds of thousands of protesting in the u.k. today against austerity cuts in the streets of d.c. pretty quiet so if you compare that both countries and we'll look at another state where the economy is being hit thanks to strict immigration laws that are making hispanic populations but first let's take a look at the mainstream media has missed. finally it looks like the casey anthony trial is winding down but that doesn't mean the coverage is if the mainstream media is just savoring the last bits of a case that has allowed them to slack on the job and just let all the cameras roll inside of the courtroom the defense is working its way through its final witnesses casey's mother father and brother among those called back to the witness stand today other testimony today included how they buried family pets and we are in day thirty two and the pot boiler drama continues the bubble over in court as the personal life of her father george once again comes under scrutiny george anthony'

here is this report. >> clouds over somalia, but no rain.f we are heading to a region close to the famine zone. gunmen on the ground, but these men work for somalia's government, backed by the west, and they control a small pocket of territory here. it has become a magnet for families desperate for food and safety. first, we see some makeshift camps in the wilderness. then the latest arrivals. this family got here a few hours ago, escaping from a town controlled by the militants islamist group, al-shabab. they count themselves lucky. >> they are killing people at home. al-shabab has prevented aid from reaching our area. that is why we have to flee. those left behind will die. >> the goal now is to stop more people from fleeing their homes by getting eight more into the heart of somalia. it is not impossible, but it is slow, complicated, and very dangerous. it is also imperative. the famine is said to spread and the refugee camps are overloaded. western aid officials are exploring every option. >> the al-shabab area is a no go zone, is what h

it cannot fix somalia. >> secret testimony from the disgraced former u.s.sident richard nixon is set to be released to the public. president nixon testified to a grand jury investigating the watergate scandal in the early 1970's. he may have been to be involved in covering up an incident at headquarters. a federal judge has ruled that the testimony about -- far outweighs the arguments of keeping it secret. the united states has completed two days of talks with north korea, exploring the possibility of reopening discussions on the weapons program. the u.s. says it is open to better relations and shows its commitment to dismantling the issue. neither reported any progress from the talks. >> [unintelligible] the idea was to explore if there is any basis to resume negotiations on the weapons program that broke down two years ago. they wanted an exchange on security guarantees. the americans were very cautious about what they hoped to achieve from this meeting. the outlook seems to be pretty good. both sides talked about construction. this suggested that context

has already launched drone strikes in somalia see another sign of those creeping shadow wars and you know what that means sorry to break it to you but war ultimately leads to destruction and to death so instead of incessantly covering a case where one little girl died as horrible as that is maybe you could find it in you to just think of all the soldiers that have died or gotten wounded in our wars already how about the civilians maybe you could think of what increasing shadow wars even if the teams are smaller the supposed risk to soldiers is much smaller what that could mean maybe you could ask why the hell we still have so many troops in iraq and afghanistan if your own warfare has become the pentagon's go to well today three u.s. service members were killed in iraq that means that fourteen troops have now died this month and out war bars that's supposedly over and that makes this month the deadliest for troops in iraq since two thousand. nate and you want to know some totals on the lives lost at this point or report yesterday broke down the sad news that in iraq thirty two thousa

now and i will speak with jeremy scahill about his new report on the cia's secret sites and somalia well take a look at a number of new polls that show the majority of americans think tax increases need to be in the budget deal and then we're going to ask why there are still so woefully unaware about income inequality overall and after more than a year old wired has finally released what they claim to be the full chat logs between bradley manning and adrian lamo and these are details that you need to hear we're going to have all that and more for you to night including a dose of happy hour but first let's take a look at what the mainstream media has missed. of all the corruption of the world all the lies that are told all of the wrong doings which case would you pick to have the media report on something tells me it wouldn't be this one. the judge in this case says that he may have no choice but to clear a mistrial after prosecutors violated his order that if there is a mistrial then we'd have to start all over again this jury would be dismissed there have to be another pool called in th

the real problem is that in somalia and these two regions of somalia, aid hasn't been able to go thereffectively they were able to get to those people and help mitigate the drop in the southern parts of somalia. not just the fact that they can't get in but the lack of funds. the uk charity and others are saying there's a funding short of about $800 million. the u.s. says it will give more money because of this famine call. but that's not enough. other rich countries need to give money, according to the people here toll save this crisis. there's also a climate

somalia is sinking into famine.t is the first time that compelling word has been deployed in almost 20 years. the united nations is hoping it will dilute the world into action. extreme drought and conflict have driven thousands of somalis into camps like t one. a former irish president was here during the last famine. she is back and wondering cheerfully why the world could not prevented from happening again. -- she is back and wondering tearfully why the world could not prevent it from happening again. >> i was here in 1992. i am here again. these people just want food and water for their families. >> a substantial aid operation is already under way. supplies arrived in neighboring kenya. the u.n. is asking for an extra 185 million pounds immediately. the international response has been mixed. britain has given 23 million pounds to somalia this year. united states has given barely half of that. germany and france are among those accused of ignoring the alarm bells. >> contributions from other countries has been dan

>> reporter: there's a long standing group operating in southern somalia.y are an al qaeda affiliate and they have been gaining strength in controlling territory in that part of somalia for some time. this is the region where so many somalis are at risk. and the group banned aid groups from two years ago coming into the region and offering help. a few weeks ago they said okay they would let aide groups in. but within the last few hours now they said no, they reversed their position and they once again are banning international aid groups from coming in to somalia and help these people. the obama administration says it will not cut a deal with this group. it will not support aid going in if it means paying bribes, paying their so-called taxes. the catch 22 here fundamentally is that u.s. entities cannot deal with declared terrorist groups, that's what it is. and that's what making it even complicated now to get aid to these desperate people. >> are other european, other african countries, international nation, the u.n., what are they doing? >> there are a nu

about 1300 people are trekking across somalia to a refugee camp in eastern canada. >> the aid workers here are pretty overstretched. this is a very overcrowded camp. there are new arrivals coming in every single day. the total number of people, 380,000. that is expected to rise to 400,000, maybe half a million. this is already the size of a city. at the moment, that aid agencies are struggling to cope. some of the people arriving are so weak and malnourished, they have walked maybe four days, maybe four weeks from somalia. they are fleeing the civil war, there is also intensifying drought. what tends to happen is that the men folk stood behind in somalia and sent on their women and children and maybe the elderly. some of the people are arriving here are the very weakest. the real tragedy is that when children sometimes arrive at this camp, they are almost at their weakest and they can die within a day or so of writing. what the workers are doing is to sort out the weakest cases they measure the children, they weigh them. they take the weakest and they take them to an intensive center

a fan is about to be declared in at least two regions of somalia. the mud of word is rarely used. images like these, ethiopia, 1984. somalia has now crossed a grand threshold. -- grim threshold. 4 out of every 10,000 children are dying daily. >> the international response mechanisms have triggered as a result of declaring a completely different emergency. it is a completely different scale. >> the horn of africa is prone to drought and poverty. in a recent visit, two decades worth of anarchy. people are coming here in search of food. militants control most of the countryside. an ounce they were lifting a ban on the organizations. the un says that too many obstacles remain. they are hoping that famine will provoke a surge in donations. but the short term looks bleak. the longer-term as much better. >> children in somalia are being systematically recruited as child soldiers by islamic insurgents. to protect the rights of children in the country with tens of thousands fleeing the extreme drought. >> the impact of the humanitarian emergency as hundreds of families seek help for the ch

world food program camp in somalia.e warned that the situation is dire. >> this will be five times as bad come the end of the year if we don't act now. it's as simple as that. people like the brits, the canadians, ourselves, we put our best foot forward and there are other countries as well, but we do need more. but it is a direct appeal to people across the world, governments across the world to do their bit. >> brown: a u.n. donors conference set for wednesday in nairobi, kenya, will try to raise as much as a billion dollars in aid money. meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled from somalia into kenya. martin geissler of independent telelvision news is spending time at three hospitals there this week. and be advised: this story contains disturbing images. >> reporter: this is the biggest humanitarian crisis on earth. the intensive care unit at this hospital. the children they treat here have made it out of somalia but only just. the influx of refugees has put a huge pressure on state and staff. they onl

so-called counterterrorism approach in somalia has relied on two primary things one is the u.s. is doing unilateral strikes using j. sock or the cia in rural parts of somalia and in some cases civilians have been killed making the shabab even stronger and angering local populations on the other hand inside of mogadishu the only thing that the u.s. can rely on for the most part as a replacement for intelligence is indiscriminate shelling by the african union forces known as amazon that are funded and armed by the united states they just indiscriminately shell areas where the shabaab are believed to have strongholds and and they force everyone to flee the shabaab and the civilians that were living there and it really is just a replacement for accurate intelligence and it's angering enraging a lot of people and causing a lot of civilian damage and civilians to be killed and as part of that this counterterrorism training program the cia has is in theory aimed at doing more surgical operations but these somali intelligence sources that i spoke with said they've only tried one operati

somalia is sinking into famine. it is the first time that compelling word has been deployed in almost 20 years. the united nations is hoping it will idle its the world into action triggered a conflict has already driven -- into action. the conflict has already driven people into camps like this one. the former irish president was here during the last famine. now she is back wondering why the world could not prevent it from happening again. >> since i was here in 1992, and when i looked around and see again, and these are very resilient people, and they want the best. they want food and water for their families. >> of substantial aid operation is already under way. supplies are arriving in neighboring kenya, but the uae is asking for 185 million pounds immediately. international response has been mixed. britain has given 23 million accounts. the united states early have five. germany and france are among those accused of ignoring alarm bells. >> they have been dangerously inadequate. britain is setting a good lead, a

back in somalia, there was a war. we have no relatives there, so we fled here. >> in the hospital, these children have parents, but precious little else. drought and war mean their bodies have been horribly weakened by malnutrition. by the time they reached the clinic, it can be too late. the doctors are working frantically to save as many lives as they can, but too often they have to register the names of their patients in this, the clinic's death book. inside, the names of the children who died are registered by date. on sundays, two or even at three children here have lost their fight for life. the cause of death is a variety of illnesses and diseases. the recalls is always the same, chronic malnutrition. -- the root cause is always the same, chronic malnutrition. this one-year-old it is causing doctors serious concern. >> we need food, water, medicine, shelter, and everything else a human being needs. we're never going back to somalia. >> hospital staff said they are under resource and overstretched and indeed the

across the border in somalia, the situation is more desperate and much more dangerous. the militant group al shabab, affiliated to al qaeda, controls parts of the country. only now is it letting some aid through. all the while across parts of east africa, the conditions are worsening and the famine is spreading. nbc news on the kenya-somalia border. >> what's sadly common about this is that it's been going on for some time, but the world is just taking note, and before long there will be camera crews and journalists there. we'll continue to cover this story in the coming days, and we know a lot of our generous viewers will want to help the people in the horn of africa. there is a list of charities who are doing just that on our website tonight, that's nightly.msnbc.com. >>> in washington tonight, the clock keeps ticking away towards the treasury department deadline on the debt ceiling, and as far as progress towards a solution is concerned, the situation remains, as they say, fluid. next's kelly o'donnell watching it all with us tonight. kelly, good evening. >> reporter

in somalia though, people cannot wait for the aged to reach them. war and hunger are driving more than 100 somalia's into kenya, into this desperately crowded refugee camps. the arduous journey takes its toll on the week. today, laid to rest in the camp. nairobi, bbc news. >> in other news now, standard and poor's has become the latest ratings agency to cut the rating of greece again, this time to adjust to the levels above default. earlier, moody's downgraded greece, while another agency said it could follow suit. it could be ruled that the country is in a selective default, because the eu plan will cause losses for creditors. police in china say they have read -- captured 89 babies in an effort to break up some gangs. more than three other people in southern provinces arrested on suspicion of trafficking baby girls. some had been drugged with sleeping pills. as suicide bomber with explosives concealed in his turban has killed the mayor of the southern afghan city of qanbar. -- kandahar. a spokesman for the taliban says they carried out the attack.

in somalia alone, tens of thousands may have already died from famine. nbc has traveled to the region and filed this report from a refugee camp in dadaab in northeast kenya. >> reporter: new graves are being dug in dadaab for those who made it here but made it too late. hunger and disease are killing many people, even within the camp. 1,000 new refugees arrived today. zana and her family were amongst them. with her uncle and two sick children, she's walked for 15 days from somalia. having made it to the edge of the camp, they struggle to find shelter, food and water. they seem helpless and they leave us to search the outskirts for a place to stay. dadaab is turning into a city. that's the fastest growing city in the world. and every few days on the outskirts, a new settlement springs up just like this one on land that was previously uninhabited. across the border in somalia, distributing food is difficult and dangerous. in the town of dolo today, the u.n. world food program managed to get fresh help to the hungry. >> we're already reaching 1.5 million in

the food airlift was supposed to begin today to somalia and kenya. now it will fly on wednesday. 11 million people are threatened by famine, hundreds of thousands are waiting for food in camps all along the horn of africa. >> they keep on streaming into kenya even of the camp is bursting at the scenes. there are 400,000 people here and much more are arrive every day. many are in a desperate state. the international community is planning to deliver aid directly to somalia. >> we have to make every effort possible to bring help inside somalia both to prevent people from having to take the long walk to assistance across borders and then potentially create a refugee problem. also, because time is not our friend. >> the situation in somalia is dire. at this makeshift camp in mogadishu, the islamist rebels on not as strong here in the capital as in the south here. -- are not as strong here in the capital as in the south. here, there is fertile food, drinking water, or medicine. >> we have been displaced by a terrible drought. we need help. >> supplies need

their father died in somalia's civil war. last month, their mother was killed as well. >> it is better here. back in somalia, there was war. we have no relatives there, so we fled here. we now have a foster mother to look after us. >> in the camp hospital, these children have parents, but little else. drought and war mean their bodies have been horribly weakened by malnutrition. by the time they reach this clinic, it can be too late. the doctors in this clinic are working frantically to save as many lives as they can. too often, they have to register the names of their patience in this, the "death book." inside, the names of the children who have died recently are registered by date. on some days, two or three children here have lost their fight for life. the causes of their death are registered as a variety of illnesses and diseases. the root cause is always the same thing -- chronic malnutrition. he is one year old, and so frail that like many children here he is causing doctors serious concern. >> we need food, water, medi

to somalia has plummeted just as drought took hold. aid organizations say they will help even with the physical risk of air tack, or the legal risk of inadvertently delivering aid to al shabab supporters. >> it's no coincidence the precise geographies that have been labeled with famine are precisely those areas where al shabab has limited access, harassed aid workers. >> reporter: many worry aid workers are at dire risk. >> i think aid organizations that trust shabab are walking right into a -- a civil war. >> reporter: now, other countries, many european nations as well as islamic aid organizations, have really tried to pick up the slack and help in somalia in recent months. but this is a place where doing any kind of work is very tough. al shabab maintains its control. it is a very lawless, difficult region and so many need help now. fredricka? >> barbara, i wonder as long as there is this kind of lawlessness, i wonder if the only option for international aid groups to try and offer aid to a number of the somalis who are leaving soma

world food program camp in somalia. that the situation is dire. >> this will be five times as bad come the end of the year if we don't act now. it's as certain el as that. people like the brits, the canadians, ourselves, we put our best foot forward and there are other countries as well am but we do need more. but it is a direct appeal to people across the world, governments across the world to do their bit. >> brown: a u.n. donors conference set for wednesday in nairobi, kenya, will try to raise as much as a billion dollars in aid money. meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled from somalia into kenya. martin geissler of independent telelvision news is spending time at three hospitals there this week. and be advised: this story contains disturbing images. >> brown: . >> reporter: this is the biggest humanitarian crisis on earth. the intensive care unit at this hospital. the children they treat here have made it out of somalia but only just. the influx of refugees has put a huge pressure on state and staff

the world food program lost 14 people since 2008, 14 of our relief workers in somalia, simply tryingt food to a child. >> reporter: the people are fleeing somalia by the hundreds of thousands, many to makeshift camps in kenya. this woman tells me to get here she walked for an entire month from northern somalia with her children. along the way, she took in another child, she found him alone, his mother had died from hunger as they traveled south. concern is greater for those they left behind. those who can't find aid and haven't yet been found by the relief agencies. it might seem unusual to describe ahmed or any of those children as being lucky, but in one way they are because they have found assistance and there are many more children right across this region who have no immediate prospects of any help. lester? >> all right, rohit kachroo, thank you. >>> as we said last night, we'll be continuing to follow this tragic story in the coming days. in the meantime, for viewers who want to help, we have a list of ways to do that on our website. the address is nightly.msnbc.com. >>> up nex