Good morning, this is Al Jazeera America live from new york city. Im stephanie sy. United airlines had to ground its fleet for more than an hour this morning. Planes are starting to move again now, but passengers across the country were stuck while the airline worked through the prom. Lets go to lisa stark with the latest. Reporter apparently about 8 45 eastern, there was a major computer problem that united started experiencing. Whatever you call it it was chaos for the airline and its passengers. They had to stop all of their flights. Mainline united and United Express flight although those regional flights resumed fairly quickly, but for over an hour united was stuck on the ground. Long lines began forming and are still forming at the airports especially the airlines hubs. United said it was working as quickly as possible to resolve the issue, and in fact stephanie they did get it resolved fairly quickly. It lasted for just over an hour thankfully. But now they have to unravel the mess that began the morning commute. Obviously one of the nations largest carriers lisa. How long does united say it will take to work through the entire backlog and get back on schedule . Right. United is the fourth largest carrier, it has about 49 hundred daily departures a day. The airline is not saying how long it will take to resolve this, but it will take hours. The carrier is saying it is going to wave any change fees or rebooking fees for those passengers who need to change their flight. So i wouldnt be surprised perhaps to see some flights actually canceled and it will take some time to unravel this. Lisa. Thank you. European leaders are giving greece a few more days to reach a new bailout deal. The Prime Minister told the European Parliament today that he wants a deal that is just and fair. The countrys formal request is for a threeyear loan coupled with tax and pension cuts. Until then greek banks remain closed. Dominic kane is in france. Reporter in an impassioned address to the European Parliament, the greek Prime Minister outlined the economic pain and suffering he said that his country has endured for the past five and a half years. He acknowledged some errors by his government that has been in office for five and a half months, but said that other governments have a responsibility to bear equality. And he outlined in some ways the sorts of proposals his government will make to try to guest one last bailout from the european union. And it was an urgent call for help. Translator we demand an agreement with our neighbors, but one that gives us a sign that we are on a longlasting basis exiting from the crisis which will demonstrate that there is light at the end of the tunnel. An agreement that will bring about the necessary reforms, but we have to recognize over the past five and a half years reforms have been put in place which have been a burden on what pensioners can take what employers can put up with that they can stand as well as ordinary citizens. Reporter the problem he faces is the euro zone leaders, the president of the European Council and the European Commission have put a time limit on these negotiations, and overriding all of this is the fact that the greek government and economy still owe very considerable sums of money. The imf payment that was meant to be made on june 30th. That didnt happen. They are in arrears to the tune of 1. 6 billion. They must make another payment to the ecb on july 20th of 3. 46 billion euros, and there is no sign so far, they will be able to do that. So why mr. Tsipras was applauded by some parts of the tarl, there were also stony icy glances from other members of the parliament and from the president of the commission and council, and it all means that the greek government now face a very difficult task in coming up with proposals that the euro zone leaders can accept and which can be voted through the other parliaments around the euro zone. Talks on Irans Nuclear program are in overtime this morning. They have now given themselves until friday to reach a deal but they have to overcome many Sticking Points. Ali velshi has more from tehran. Reporter it is wednesday morning in tehran. The sun rising and it is another day after which another deadline has passed for a nuclear deal. In fact things have slowed down a little bit in vienna. Some Foreign Ministers have left the negotiations. However, u. S. Authorities and iranian authorities insist that negotiations are continuing. They still remain in their own characterization closer than they have ever been before. And there is still talk of a deal by friday. The Sticking Point now is the u. N. Embargo on convention alarms in iran, not nuclear arms. Iran has for sometime been unable to trade legally in nonnuclear arms and it would like the right to do that again. In most cases the western powers think this is a nonstarter. They dont want more narms this region, fearing that iran will arm others in the region in what some are calling a proxy war. On the other hand russia is interested in iran having more armaments for a few reasons. One of which is that russia could sell those arms to iran the other of course is that russia is a player in this region, its biggest ally is syria, and syria is a very weakened player at the moment so to have a strong iran that has arms is useful for the russian federation. So there are a lot of things going on here that are dividing the six world powers negotiating in vienna, and that might be slowing up the negotiations. Others say if we had gone down the list to the point where were discussing conversion alarms, and lifting the embargo on that maybe were in a good place. We have missed the july 7th deadline were not going to have a deal that goes to congress for a 30day up or down vote. Congress will have 60 days to approve this. But iranians are not agreeing to a deal that isnt going to pass muster at home. In that means the Supreme Leader who has been consulted throughout this process. So thats where we stand. Ali velshi reporting from tehran. The South Carolina house of representatives began debate a short time ago on removing the confederate flag. The state Senate Already voted overwhelming to take the flag down. Diane eastabrook has more on the debate. Reporter the house members are going to be voting on the flag legislation a second time today. They voted yesterday to move the legislation directly to the floor and bypass the committee. Today, though, they are going to be voting on a number of amendments that essentially would replace the current confederate battle flag with another confederate flag. The House Speaker yesterday implored members of the house to vote down those amendments. We now ask that they not erect hurdles, that they not try to pass other amendments and put other a flags and symbols of the confederacy and other symbols of hatred and racism that they allow South Carolina to move forward. We would ask that the General Assembly of South Carolina specifically the house, take the flag down and give people nothing to fight about. That they remove the flag and the pole and that no nothing up in its place. Reporter if they can get through all of those amendments today, vote on the legislation, they have to vote on it a third time, that could come as early as tomorrow. And if the legislation is passed the governor could sign it by the end of the week and possibly the flag could be removed sometime soon. Diane eastabrook reporting from South Carolina. New information this morning about the case of an undocumented migrant accused of shooting a woman to death in San Francisco. A source close to the investigation tells al jazeera the gun used in the killing belonged to a federal agent. Katherine steinly was killed as she walked along the beach one week ago. The suspect in the killing had been deported five times. Her death is making San Franciscos sanctuary law a focus of criticism. Reporter its a crime that has raised uncomfortable questions. In a jailhouse interview this man admitted killing a 32 year old woman on the citys waterfront waterfront, but said it was an accident. Did you shoot kate steinly . Yes. You did shoot her . Uhhuh. Reporter Lopez Sanchez has a history of drugrelated crimes. He has been deported five times to mexico and is exhibit a for critics of San Franciscos sanctuary policy. The police should have notified ice, but had a policy not to. Reporter its a city policy not to actively cooperate with immigration enforcement. Saying in a statement, quote but San Franciscos sheriff fought back saying the burden was on ice. Ice needs to get a legal federal warrant or a court order to facilitate his transfer. That did not happen. Reporter while many cities across the country choose not to cooperate with federal officials, San Francisco standings out as a particularly safe haven for undocumented immigrants. Reporter this is a vulnerable population that there are elements that will pray upon a population that they knew know will not interface, will not have contact or communication with government and that frankly was exacerbating public safety. Reporter state attorney was also quick to support the policy, saying quote you cant really blame the sanctuary policy for this event. You also cant blame the sanctuary policy for whatever this particular fellow did. There are dozens of people released every day, who are subject to ins holds who dont commit crimes. Reporter still the city is on the defensive with the mayor saying he would investigate the matter, though it is unlikely anything will change. Melissa chan al jazeera, San Francisco. We spoke earlier with a man from the National Immigration law center. She supports sanctuary laws. Reporter its just an unquestionable tragedy what happened in San Francisco. Its an unfortunate and senseless loss of life. I think at the same time it would be unfortunate and dangerous to use one example to inform wider policy. The reason that so many local Law Enforcement officers have responded in this way, and said let us do our job, dont make us play the role of immigration enforcers is because we havent wholistically addressed our nations immigration problems. We have over 11 people who are a part of our lives, and we havent been able to find a way to make sure those people have an ability to remain safely in the United States without fear of being ripped apart from their families. Do you think those jurisdictions need to reexamine those laws . This i think the jurisdictions are all responding to a much more significant problem, which is the fact that they dont want to be used as immigration enforcers. It gets in the way of their ability to do their job, and we have seen this response from so many over 300 jurisdictions in the countrieses, precisely because local Law Enforcement has said if we cant get our communities to provide information about crimes and the community, we cant do our jobs and so this is actually a response to that. Lopez sanchez has pleaded not guilty in the shooting. He said he has come to San Francisco because of the sanctuary law. Heavy rain has made a mess of the midwest wednesday from nevada to kentucky. In some places water was so high people were trapped in their cars and homes. Lets bring in nicole for more. Just standing in six inches of moving water can knock you off of your feet about a foot starts to float a car, so be very careful. Always go around. There is that core in the midsection of the country, although the front extends up into the northeast, and theres monsoon flow in the west. But like i said oklahoma texas have been under the most persistent line. Widespread areas, looking at those flood concerns through the course of the day. Most of this is today. But we have chances for rain for the next couple. This is how this ads up over a couple of days. Not just in that core but also in that line that extends across the great lakes. So if you are in the thick of it two, three, inches some isolated spots, five or six. And some places so much standing water, they say the mosquitos are really going to town. Thank you. Pentagon Officials Say iraqi officials need to step up. Plus it felt very very good to be able to be myself and be in uniform at the same time. The battle for acceptance by transgender members of the armed forces. Welcome back to Al Jazeera America. It is 10 48 eastern, taking a look at todays top stories. An investigation is underway in South Carolina after an air force fighter jet collided with a small plane. It happened tuesday as both planes were flying over charleston. Witnesses reported debris falling across a wide part of the area. Two people aboard the small plane were killed. The f16 pilot ejected safely. And the pentagon has confirmed the army will reduce its ranks by roughly 40,000 soldiers. About 490,000 soldiers currently serve in the army. Microsoft is set to cut another 7800 jobs by the end of this year thats in addition to the 18,000 employees the tech giant said it would layoff a year ago. Most of the cuts will be in the smartphone sector. The pentagons top officials are defending the president s strategy to fight isil. Defense secretary and joint chiefs of staff chairmen faced some tough questions on capitol hill, but they also dropped a hint about what they hoped would be a huge victory. Jamie mcintyre has more. Reporter it was a strengthly hearing, but general Martin Dempsey revealed what all of those advisers in iraq has been up to. Pentagon sources tell Al Jazeera America, the campaign to retake the city from the isil forces that captured it two months ago is set for this month. And shaping operations could begin in days. In his testimony, general dempsey revealed one of the first things u. S. Advisors did was stop iraqis from rushing back into ramadi without an adequate plan. The Ramadi Campaign which was about to be executed precipitously, is now a very deliberate campaign, first to isolate it and then to go back and recapture it with a supporting effort in fallujah. So our presence in the Anbar Operations Center is allowing the Iraqi Security forces to take a more deliberate campaign approach and to avoid the very toothpaste aspect of the way isil squirts around the battlefield when you squeeze it in one place and it turns up in another. According to pentagon sources, the plan follows classic u. S. Doctrine focusing on ramadi and setting up blocking forces around fallujah as well as positioning additional blocking forces to the west of the city to pin isil down. U. S. Air power including drones and Surveillance Aircraft would support the attack. Ramadi needs to be retaken, and the way to do it is to have a force under the competent command and control of Iraqi Security forces commanders which has been a challenge, and a plan and the means to as you say, make sure that they dont bog down and they are able to take ramadi and move through ramadi, this will be a test of the competence of the Iraqi Security forces, and its a test that they must pass. The linchpin of the u. S. Strategy is to support and enable local forces but not to do the fighting for them. Chairman dempsey pushed back on the idea of putting American Special forces or spotters on the ground with the iraqi forces saying that was not a Silver Bullet. The Silver Bullet he said is getting the iraqis to fight. It has been four years since the pentagon ended dont ask, dont tell now gay and lesbian Service Members can serve openly, but theres one group that is still in the shadows. Jonathan betz has the story of the first army officer to publicly come forward as transgender. I have been in the military close to 15 years now, and i have been transgender my whole life. Reporter she kept her gender identity hidden for years. She enlisted as a man, but inside she knew she was a woman. Your psychiatrist said as recently as october, that you were unfit for duty. Yes. How devastating was that . Just even mentioning this to anyone, i could lose my job. I want to serve the country. I want to deploy. I have been in since i was 17. This is my chosen profession. I want to serve. [ cheers and applause ] reporter four years after dont ask dont tell ended the military still officially disqualified anyone who reports psychosexual conditions including transsexualism. But the American Medical Association last month said that there was no medically valid reason to exclude transgender people from military service. Major henry is the first active Duty Army Officer to publicly come forward as transgender, but she is not alone. There are an estimated 15,500 transgender Service Members in the military. Making it the largest employer of transgender people in the u. S. Transgender people are more than twice as likely to serve in the armed forces than the general population. Reporter former navy pilot is a director at sparta where Service Members will respect tolerance for all. Its essentially very much like dont ask dont tell. You are people who are hiding and people who if they do come out can be discharged administrative administratively. President obama hosted six transgender members at the white house. We were invited and told to wear and given authorization to wear the uniform that conforms with our gender identity. It felt very very good to be able to be myself and be in uniform at the same time. Reporter and lifting the ban will finally allow her to be herself too. Im like ill have my career back. I can be like any other doctor in the gill tear. Like that that is incredible to me. Reporter Jonathan Betz al jazeera, washington. Why the world cup payout for the u. S. Womens Team Highlights a gender gap. The world soccer champions of team usa are getting a big honor this week a ticker take parade in new york city. Its the first time any womens team has been honored like that since 1960. Good morning, steph, some lawmakers and athletes are speaking out about this pressuring the sports world to pay women the same as men. Their third world cup championship coming in the most watched soccer game in u. S. History. Even president obama took notice. The next time i see the mets team, i will have to remind them that you guys beat the men in viewership. Reporter but for all of their talent they will be paid less than the men. Compare that to the u. S. Mens team they made about 9 million after losing in the round of 16 last year. This teams win is putting pressure on fifa to level the pay scale. An on Line Campaign is now gathering speed. It does not mean that you should take a [ inaudible ]. This is 2015. It is time for fifa to stop discriminating against women. Reporter some point to far more sponsorship money paid for mens soccer compared to women. And more tournaments for men. But one lawmaker says fifa has to set an example, writing the online petition has gathered 60,000 signatures in the first day alone, and it will be sent to fifa next week. You should not take anything away from their win, but pay them. Exactly. Russian authorities are out with warning, be ware of the selfie. They have launched a Public Information campaign to steer people from danger. Star wars fans get ready for another big screen release. Disney is planning a new spinoff about hons solo. Thanks for watching. Im stephanie sy. The news continues next. Announcer this is al jazeera. From al jazeeras headquarters in doha this is the news hour. Here is what is coming up over the next 60 minutes. Where home is a giant pile of rubble. One year on from the war in gaza, and thousands of people are still homeless. Chinas stock market plunges after a surge of panic selling, and the fear is spreading to other markets. A show of support at the