Transcripts For ALJAZAM News 20240622

This is Aljazeera America. Good morning. Live from new york city, im randall pinkston. Tropical storm erika is dumping five inches of rain on puerto rico, as it continues its path through the caribbean. Four were killed as erika dumped 15 inches of rain on that small island nation. Twenty people are missing there. Fastflowing rivers swept up cars, landslides blocked roads, power and Water Supplies knocked out. The storm now heading towards florida. Kevin joins us with details. This storm has been inconsistent and hasnt gotten its act together. Since yesterday, taking a look at the satellite and radar, you can see the rain showers in puerto rico. The radar ends here, but the satellite as you can see, the Actual Center of the storm is not here, its here towards the west. We do think that as randall said, puerto rico will be getting up to about five inches of rain over the next several hours, but my concern as we go through the rest of the morning into the afternoon is the Dominican Republic and the reason being is its a very high island with very high mountains across the region and when you get a storm passing this area, a lot of rain comes out of the this. Were going to be watching this very carefully as we expect the tract to go over the island, so flash flooding is going to be a major concern i tn near future here. Then as we go out towards the next day or so, we expect the system is going to push into the bahamas and keys and across florida. Yesterdays tract compared to todays tract, thats where we see a major difference. Yesterday, they did drop the tract down towards the south and when you make a small shift in the tract, later on, that makes a big difference on whether the storm is going to go, so heres what we expect to see. Just to the north of cuba sunday, going towards monday morning, then up towards wednesday, we do expect this is going to remain a Tropical Storm, but as we go towards the rest of the week and into next week, some pretty good rain we expect for florida is going to help the drought situation in south florida. We probably want to keep ate Tropical Storm, but we do need that rain. Keeping watch, thank you, kevin. Today, former president george w. Bush visits new ear leans 10 years after Hurricane Katrina changed that storm forever. It slammed into the other gulf coast states one year ago tomorrow, killing thousands and leaving unprecedented destruction. The days after the storm hilt highlighted the bush administrations slow response in the immediate aftermath of the storm and floods. Today, the former president will go to a high school that he visited on the First Anniversary of the storm. On thursday, president obama was in the big easy. He told residents their resilience in an inspiration to all americans. Because of you, the people of new orleans working together, this city is moving in the right direct. I have never been more confident that together, we will get to where we need to go. You inspire me. Your efforts inspire me and no matter how hard its been and how hard and how long the road ahead might seem, youre working and building and striving for a better tomorrow. But president obama acknowledged theres still more work to be done to help people find Affordable Housing and employment. Coming up, well go live to new orleans with a look at how the city is moving forward, thanks to some new residents. Turning now to the massive wildfires out west, fire experts have told a Senate Hearing in seattle that the best way to stop the destruction is with controlled burns and greater fire barriers. At the same time, washingtons governor inspected the front lines of the states biggest wildfire ever, rising temperatures and fierce winds are stoking the flames, but in some spots, firefighters are getting a break. The winds are actually pushing portions of the giant fire back on itself. The jury in a New Hampshire rape trial is now deliberating the fate of the former prep School Student accused of sexually assaulting a freshman girl last year when they boot attended school. During closing arguments, the prosecutor said the alleged attack was part of a senior class culture of sexual conquests. He had to use tactics to get when he wanted. He had to confuse and manipulate a 15yearold girl to get what he wanted. Lebrie insisted that he was innocent, saying the accuser now 16 years old had flirted in the year leading up to the alleged attack. A major new ruling is making it easier for fast food workers to unionize. For the first time, workers will be legally entitled to bargain with corporate parents, such as mcdonalds. Before, they could only deem with the franchise where they worked. This could lead a wage changes on a national level. These kinds of business arrangements, contracting arrangements, franchise arrangements appear in a multitude of industries, whether its hospitals that contract out certain services, some hospitals will use staffing agencies to augment nursing staff. I dont think theres an industry around that isnt poteen r. 10 shelly affect by this ruling, and that would mean there are millions of employees. Thats former chair of the National Labor Relations Board, Franchise Owner is not happy with the ruling. They argue that they would not be ail to run their own businesses if they have no control over the pay and benefits of the employees they hire. Business groups are calling on congress to overturn the ruling. Police have shot more than 100 mentally ill people across the country so far just this year. One familys tragedy has already reached the Supreme Court and today begins a new legal chapter in San Francisco. The case could erratically change how American Police are trained to deal with the mentally ill. Jacob ward that details. August 7, 2008 in this San Francisco group home for people dealing with mental illness, the resident social worker be checked in on teresa. She has schizo affecting disorder. She ordered the social worker out of her room, telling him she had a knife. He called a nonemergency number asking for help to transport her to hospital for a 5150, the code for a psychiatric evaluation. Two Police Officers arrived and entered her second floor room, finding her on her bed. They say she threatened them, they retreated to the hall, she closed the door on them. Then they forced their way back in and shot her at least five times. The last one was pretty much im trying to think of the words, execution style to her temple. The doctors and surgeons said that it was a miracle she survived each one, let alone all of them. After she was shot here, her family filed suit against San Francisco. The question now in the courts is whether the police are in fact violating the civil rights of the mentally ill under the americans with disabilities act by going after them in an aggressive way when they know theyre in psychiatric streels approximate the Supreme Court has sent it back here to federal court. Imagine how Different Police work would be if the family wins its case. One quarter of the people who died so far in custody this year were mentally ill, according to a newark to know post study. Those people would have to be treated differently under this new ruling if it does go forward. The police would have to be able to extinguish between the mental states of different people and they would have to do it because the a. D. A. Would compel them to do so in the same way it compels architects to build wheelchair ramps to make buildings accessible. C. I. T. S, crise intervention teams, just over 3,000 of the american departments have c. I. T. s. San francisco has a team, although its not clear by the officers in teresa case doesnt summon it. C. I. T. Requires an approach that is almost the exact opposite of how most police are trained to handle a potentially violent person, no threats, no arguing, just calm discussion. The c. I. T. Officer stays calm and focused and continues to attempt to resolve the situation without a confrontation. Ok. Ok. Hey, im here for you, man, im here to help you out. All right . This anything like going to jail. Youre not doing anything wrong, youre just trying to do some shopping. I was trying to find my keys. I understand. The idea is to defuse the situation. It is put into effect with wonderful results. That has happened. Wonderful, you know . Thats how it should happen, but why isnt that the standard . If this were your sister, your mother or daughter, would you feel that that type of action is warranted . Is this really reasonable to someone who has know bearings on where they are at the time mentally . It needs to change. Until it does, francis said shes learned from other families with a mentally ill member that in a crise, the last thing to do is call 911. San francisco. A plea to congress to approve the Iranian Nuclear deal. Give diplomacy a chance. From nobel lawyer yachts to prisoners, lawmakers are asked to support the agreement. Top architect david adjaye. For architecture to be emot welcome to Al Jazeera America. It is 7 44 eastern time. Taking a look at todays top stories. Rescue teams pull the bodies of refugees out of libyan waters. Hundreds of feared dead after two boats capsized, just the latest tragedy in a growing humanitarian crise. Wednesday, 71 refugees were found dead in an abandoned truck in austria. A former Vatican Ambassador accused of abusing children have died. He died of Natural Causes in a vatican room where he was under house arrest. He was awaiting a vatican tribunal on the charges. He was a former catholic ambassador to the Dominican Republic. He faced possible jail time fed been convicted. Greeces new Prime Minister appointed her caretaker cabinet members as the country heads to early elections. She is greeces top judge and its first female Prime Minister. Alexis tsipras resigned from the job last week in the midst of the greek debt crisis. A group of high profile iranians have launched a Video Campaign urging congress to vote in favor of the Iran Nuclear Deal. May not have been jailed by their own government for their political views. I support the iran deal because sanctions are violating the human rights of people and more importantly because its time for americans to contact their representative in the congress and ask them to vote for peace. The whole world is watching. Joining us now is an iranian american journalist and activist. She helped spearhead the Grassroots Campaign in the deal. He will to how this project began. It was a completely grassroots movement, a group of friends literally got together in new york. I heard concerns for iranians especially in the u. S. That they kept hearing the opposition to the deal, all these advertisements, the money thats been spent by different lobby groups and even iranian dissidents who have been coming against the deal, so the younger iranian americans kept telling me they feel like they need to do something and let their voice also be heard in the world media, especially in the u. S. Media so the American People know what they say. The target is u. S. Media. Definitely u. S. Media, and the lawmakers were supposed to vote only. Are the people participating for the most part iranian expats or are some of them still in iran . So there were two different events that happened. There was an event, a more grassroots event of just regular citizens, mostly iranians across the world who came together in 100 cities and with the banner of peace and supporting the nuclear deal and preventing a possible war with iran, but theres a series of videos, personal messaging that are by prominent iranians who support the deal. I would say the majority of them are outside iran, most living in exile. Theyve paid a very high price for human rights and democracy, but theres also some inside ran. There was one audio message from inside a prison in iran. As you know, all dissidents do not support the agreement. Thats right. One published an article in the daily beast criticizing what they called western apologists and appeasers of iranian theocrasy. They dont trust iran period. How deep are the divisions within the dissident community . The majority of the authorities inside iran want it to happen, mostly for economic reasons. Iranians outside iran who are not directly impacted by the sanctions and economy are also worried about the political and social situation if this deal breaks. Thats why human rights defenders and democracy fighters came out in support of the deal, saying not that the human rights situation in iran is perfect, but this deal will help open up the platform in a domestic debate about human social and Political Rights inside iran, and if this deal doesnt happen, with the absence of peace or more tension, the situation for the activists on the ground will be worse. Here in america, yesterday we had someone on our broadcast, canningman, democratic, who says that he cant trust iran, that the deal does nothing about human rights, does nothing about people who are in prison, reskyian. Jason resighian. Yesterday a report accuses iran of building a structure that may make it more difficult to verify whatever theyve been doing. Isnt iran doing things to vital the trust . The iranians also have a lot to say about how they mistrust the u. S. , tried to reach out to the u. S. And abandoned during the bush era, especially. Theres been a lot of back and forth during the last 35 years of u. S. Iran animosity. Basically the majority of the iranians are saying lets give peace a chance, let this work out. Lets see what happens after three decades of just tension and calling out each other, and, you know, doing things behind the scenes, lets see what this new chapter is bringing us. No one is expecting 100 success, but this is the best chance that we have right now to move forward. Lets not break this, lets see what happens. Lets give it time and if it doesnt work out, well get back to square one. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you for having me. Coming up, live to new orleans to track the citys revival as we continue our coverage of 10 years since Hurricane Katrina. This morning, we continue our in depth currently of Hurricane Katrina, the 10th anniversary looking back at how the region has fared since the storm and tracking the recovery. Jonathan betz is live in the big easy. You covered katrina 10 years ago. In your opinion, whats the biggest change be youve noticed . I was actually living in new orleans the time katrina struck. This city has grown into something very new and different. Younger people have been attracted to new orleans in the ruins of americas worst natural disaster, they saw opportunity, but i can also tell you this is a change that many fear does not welcome all. For generations, henry and emmanuels family has called new orleans home. She cant help but notice how different the city and its people look. I hope people come back. Its been a concern since katrina emptied new orleans. This city will be chocolate at the end of the day. How to make sure some people arent left behind in the boom of rebuilding. The issue that is near and dear to my heart is to make sure that those individuals who are naturally born new orleans dont feel the city is moving forward and there is no place for them. For the first time, we have young people coming here, many anecdotally are white. Some are drawn by adventure, others by opportunity. She arrived to cell tee shirts from her living room. Her on line business quickly grew. In los angeles, you have to be beautiful. In new orleans, you just get to be y and thats what i love about being here. Lured by tax credits and a thriving culture, leaders of all colors are coming for opportunities hard to find anybody else else. Before katrina, i felt there was a network that was scared, a change, a now it is open to new people, new ideas, and really sort of the sense of popularity. Moving from new york to new orleans, he started a company. How many does a city go through a complete renewal and youre invited to participate in a process . Thats a once in a generation opportunity. Many worry that change keeps others out. New orleans now is a lot more affluent than prior to the storm. Many blacks cannot come back because of the Economic Situation here in new orleans. Some say it is more complicated. There are still as many People Living in poverty and many africanamericans prefer to move instead to the suburbs. Proportionately, the poor have returned to the same race as the other africanamericans. You are saying . Im saying that there were a lot of people who chose not to return. It did not matter how much money you had. Thats right, a lot of people may have had the means to return, and chose not to. For henrietta emmanuel, there wasnt any other choice. She had to be home. Im just hoping and praying that a lot of other people come back, too. Until then, as new orleans changes, many worry how to keep the spirit the same, even if the city looks different. The mayor said he doesnt think the change is all that dramatic. He said the culture here really transcends race and that new orleans will change any newcomer before they change the city. Randall. Jonathan betz. Back home in new orleans, thank you. Well have much more on whats changed in the 10 years since katrina sit tonight on a half hour special, katrina after the storm at 8 30 eastern right here. Thank you for joining us, stephanie sy is back in two minutes with more Aljazeera America morning news. You can keep up throughout the day on aljazeera. Com. On Al Jazeera America, technology. Its a vital part of who we are. They had some dynamic fire behavior. And what we do. Dont try this at home tech know, where Technology Meets humanity. Only on Al Jazeera America at least four dead and now Tropical Storm erika headed towards puerto rico, the Dominican Republic and florida. Police arrest three in austria after finding 71 dead refugees crammed in a truck. President bush returns to new orleans today a decade after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city. This is Aljazeera America live from new york city. Im stephanie sy. Tropical storm erika is dumping several inches of rain on puerto rico as it continues its path through the caribbean. Four people were killed as it dumped 15 inches of rain on the island nation. Twenty people are still missing this morning. Fast flowing rivers swept up cars, landslides are blocking roads. Power and Water Supplies were knocked out and the storm is heading towards florida. Lets check in with meteorologist kevin to tell us about the track of the storm. Wheres it heading. Yesterday we were getting images, no casualties then, but now we know differently how powerful even a Tropical Storm can be and the damage we can see with it. This is the radar summary, as well as the satellite. The low pressure is here. This afternoon, it is going to be the Dominican Republic we are going to see the storm passing over and that is what we are going to be concerned about as we watch the storm tracking toward the west northwest. At 5 00 this morning, this was the track of the storm from the National Hurricane center, taking it directly over the Dominican Republic then into parts of the bahamas. There has been a change since yesterday with the storm. This is what we are looking at. The jello is the track, the white is the 5 00 a. M. This morning track. It shifted down towards the south. We are now looking at a landfall here across parts of hispaniola. Its a very mountainous island. Flooding is going to be a major concern there as we watch this afternoon. We could see eight inches of rain falling there. As that water is funneled, we could be seeing areas that see one to two feet of rain in the lower elevations, so thats going to be a major concern and well be watching that carefully. Towards sunday, this is probably our best indication of where were bog to be seeing the storm heading next, but theres still a lot of uncertainty. We probably wont know how the United States is going to be affected until we do get to sunday and then we see a new track there. Kevin, thank you. Thee suspects are under arrest in hungary this morning for human trafficking, including the alleged owner and driver of a truck we now learned included 71 people, including several children, all suffocated. Police believe the victims are Syrian Refugees and were probably dead when the hungarian registered truck was discovered. Vienna is 45 minutes away from where the truck was found. Austrian officials fears this was coming. Its come out in the last day or so that in fact the Austrian Police had arrested three Truck Drivers on tuesday in separate incidents suspected of having driven ref vees and migrants across the country. There were 34 Syrian Refugees crammed do ili, chosing 10 children. Thankfully, they were saved. They in their witness reports said that they had been suffocating and feared they were going to die in that truck, so what hams yet was awful that in a way it was a danger, a horrific incident that was coming, if you like, the trends have been there and the flow of people across austria is dramatically increased from last year. Austria itself expecting 80,000 asylum applications this year, up from 28,000 last year, but of course austria is a Transit Route from germany, the bigger country to the north, which we know is the destination of most particularly Syrian Refugees. Hungarys response to the crisis has included building a fence along its border with syria. As we report, there is more than one way around it. This is the three and a half meter high security fence that separates hungary from serbia. Its controversial for many reasons, not least of all its cost, millions of u. S. Dollars, but also, many refugees have managed to cut their way through the razor wire or get over it using various devices and also cut through the fence. Theres another problem, and its big. The fence ends just here, leaving a wide open space. You can walk in from serbia without any interruption, you can walk back into serbia. Im there right now. Whats the reason . As i walk backwards, im coming into romania, which is an e. U. State. You cant put a fence or wall between 2e. U. States, therefore, you have this anomaly with people being able to walk through three different countries. The nearest Hungarian Village is over there. Its a sleepy place with the local mayor has sympathy for the refugees, but anger towards the hungarian government. It wont solve the situation. Its not for the migrants. The government want to prove that theyre pete receiptic and saving the country. Within a few minutes of our arrival here, the hungarian Border Police did arrive that ask us a few questions, much later on, the Romanian Police also came to find who we were. They even tried to explain the layout of the land. Here is the border. At nighttime and in large numbers, refugees could easily cross here. Right now, they prefer more suitable areas nearer towns, but when the fence is completed, this problem will always remain, a president obama pen she will hot spot, place that could be exploited by criminals, an example of the amomlies, the problems the e. U. Faces in police be its borders. Andrew simmons reporting from the hungarian border. Joining us now is spokesperson for the hungarian government, good morning, thank you for your time. That truck where 71 people suffocated to death originated in hungary. What is your reaction . That is a horrible tragedydown description and a symbol of what is very, very wrong with the crisis the entire European Union is facing approximately that should have never happened. Those arrested are hungarian and afghan citizens as a matter of fact are part of an organized ring of human traffickers who are helping or rather abusing these migrants. What were trying to establish is law and order in the southern borders of the country. Our borders with serbia which provides within the area the freedom of movement for all european citizens. So building a fence is one means, one tool to reestablish law and order. We have reinforced forces, as well as we are going to negotiate next week in parliament a new set of laws and rules that are going to be helping us reestablish law and rule. As you said, part of the strategy includes building this border fence, which our reporter just said has a lot of holes in it. What are you really trying to achieve with it . Well, the fence is not finished yet. The first phase is going to be finished by the weekend, by the end of the month, and some elements and phases finished as soon as possible, we are trying to close the green borders, which are exploited by the influx of Illegal Migrants and channel these people to the official crossing point. Its completely unacceptable on the European Union states to have people come in these numbers and we have reached 146,000 this year to date to come illegally and that will. We need to reestablish some kind of discipline into accepting, receiving these people. Theres always been and theres always going to be a means to apply in hungary for asylum and the refugee status, so we are going to prepare ourselves for that, but definitely we are going to stop the illegal flood of migrants. You said you believe these people are exploiting the border. How do you and other hungarians view these people. Are they fleeing conflict that have no other choice but to get into a truck, a small truck stacked in there with their kids possibly to suffocate and to die . Do you believe that those people are desperate or exploiting the border . Well, we have seen the desperation that is spreading. They are coming through at least four countries before coming to the hungarian border and that raises issues and question. In greece, in macedonia and in serbia, their life is not in danger anymore, so you have to be able, i mean, the European Union, ourselves, the European Community should be ail to handle this situation at its root, and that is provide all the necessary means for these people to come to europe if they wanted to and if they really need asylum in an orderly manager. What we are facing at the moment, this orderly flood of Illegal Migrants coming through the borders cannot be sustained anymore. Germany is facing 800,000 claims this year. Thats their projection, as you mentioned, austria is preparing itself for 80,000 and other European Countries as well are going to face an enormous pressure on their Asylum Seeker system. Part of your response is what is called by human Rights Groups a humanitarian crisis, as you call it law and order and i understand your government is thinking of deploying more military to the border. Let me ask you this. What does a soldier do if he confronts a migrant . What are his orders . I really have to correct you. The government can obviously not make any kind of decision without the approval of parliament. Well parliament is part of the government. The soonest it can happen next week. Now in no way, parliament is the supreme legislative body of the country and the government is only executing it, so parliament is in no way subdued by the government. Any how, its not about using the army, but handling the numbers. The hungarian system is prepared to provide them all that is required by international and hungarian standards. Even the migrants dont comply with the rules, so those you would find in stations, in trucks, trying to enter germany illegally are basically trying to avoid the system europe is using at the moment, therefore, we cannot take care of them. One major element of the problem and issue we face is that these migrants are desperate, they are prepared, they are getting news from someone or underground that germ near and the northern European Countries are land of promise, thats why they are desperately trying to reach those destinations. Spokesperson for the hungarian government, we do appreciate your time this morning. Today, former president george w. Bush will visit new orleans on the 10 Year Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The epic storm slammed into louisiana and other gulf coast states 10 years ago tomorrow, killing 10,000 people and leaving widespread destruction. The people outside of the superdome in the days after the storm highlighted the bush administrations slow response in the immediate aftermath of the storm. Today the president will go back to a high school that he visited on the First Anniversary of the storm. On thursday, president obama was in the big easy. He applauded all the efforts to bring new orleans back. What you are seeing here is an example of the incredible federal, state, local partnerships that have helped to revitalize this community. Part of our goal has always been to make sure not just that we were covered from the storm, but also that we started dealing with some of the structural inequities that existed long before the storm happened. After katrina, hundreds of thousands of new orleans residents south refuge it baton rouge, birmingham and atlanta and many made new lives in the accident. That is where Heidi Zhou Castro joins us live from dallas. Good morning. I understand buses are offered to take people back today to visit their former homes. Of course, the accident taking on a huge brunt of the refugees after katrina. Thats right, stephanie. This is the tate that took on the most a katrina evacuees, evacuating first to the astro dome in houston, we remember the images of the crowded conditions, overwhelmed within one day and neighboring cities like dallas and san antonio opening researses to katrina evacuees, as well. Local resources in the accident were immediately overwhelmed until Texas Governor rick perry made an i am passed plea to surrounding states to take on more evacuees. Ten years later, echos of those times, but with a celebratory note of the survival and recovery and all it took to get here. This bus behind me is an example of that, this bus taking former katrina evacuees, former residents of new orleans back to their hometown for the weekend to participate in these activities. Theyll be the guest of honor in many of the events here. Its meaningful for them to have this opportunity to go back and be there on this momentous occasion. How did the exodus of residents from new orleans change the entire region . I think fema called this the greatest Mass Relocation of people in u. S. History. Certainly it did change this region in the south. Theres no hard numbers on how many katrina evacuees stayed in texas, but you just have to walk down the street, talk to the shop keepers, the dentists, your childs teachers and many say i came from new orleans, laid roots here in texas, welcomed here with open arms and they set up shop here. The states have benefited from it, as well. I interviewed on this anniversary one fellow from new orleans problems planted briefly but moved back. What about the transplants youve been speaking to. Do they generally have plans to return home . A lot of them have certainly laid roots here in dallas, and elsewhere in the accident, so i think that, you know, some may be wanting to go back especially to help revive their city again, but those who stayed here felt welcomed and state has benefited, as well. Heidi zhou castro, live in dallas. Thank you. Well have more on whats changed since katrina hit at 8 30 eastern right here on Aljazeera America. On the agenda today, president obama will make the case for the Iran Nuclear Deal in a live webcast with Jewish Community leaders and activists. Similar web casts were held with Benjamin Netanyahu and Energy Secretary ernest muniz. American teenager appears in federal court for sentencing. He pleaded guilty to charges he supported and was involved in isils Recruitment Campaign in the u. S. National security advisor susan rice in china today comes ahead of the chinese president s First Official visit to the u. S. Next month. Los angeles launchinged largest Body Camera Program in the country. There is controversy over who will get to see the votes. A jury is deciding whether owen lebrie raped an underaged freshman. Hman. Welcome back to Aljazeera America. It is 8 20 eastern, taking a look at todays top stories. Chinese stocks closed up for a second straight day, climbing nearly 5 at the close. A five day crash leaves the market down 8 for the week. U. S. Stock futures point to a higher open after the dow finished up 369 points with wednesdays rally, it marked the best two day point gain for the dow in history. 3,000 u. S. And south screen troops staged the biggest ever joint live fire drills in that country. The exercises were conducted 12 miles south of the demilitarized zone. Previously scheduled drill follows a dispute between north korea that was just resolved tuesday. Police investigating a shooting in georgia. Christopher died at the hospital after a agreement in the student union. No one has been arrested. Grief counselors will be on hand in campus today. The jury in a New Hampshire rape trial is in deliberations, the student accused of sexually assaulting a 15yearold girl last year. Prosecutors said the alleged attack was part of a senior class culture of sexual conquests. We have this report. For months before the senior salute, he knew what he wanted, and this was the night he was going to get it. In his closing argument, prosecutor said owen lebrie planned the rape. He said the team brought a condom and blanket to the condom building where he and the girl agreed to meet two days before he graduated. He had to use tactics to get what he wanted. He had to confuse and manipulate a 15yearold girl to get what he wanted. Lebrie took the stand in his own defense wednesday, the only witness his lawyer called. Were you doing anything to cause her pain, harm . No. He insisted under cross examination that he was innocent, and that he liked the accuser and she liked him. And you wanted to have sex with her, correct . I i i dont know what you mean. You dont know what i mean when i say you wanted to have sex with her . When . Your words, you were interested and you wanted to slay her, correct . Yeah, i was i was fond of her. When his accuser took the stand, she said she froze when the events of that night went beyond what are envisioned. I was raped. Other classmates testified he admitted having sex with the young woman. In closing argument, he said he lied to detectives and the jury when she says she didnt recall telling her best friend about the sex act she wa she was prepo perform on lebrie. He was a teenager. I submit he told you the truth. The case focused attacks on sex abuse on campus and forced the boarding school to defend its reputation. In a statement, the school says these are indeed allegations and not proven facts and judicial system will weigh them and determine how this case is ultimately resolved. We will move past this as a school community, stronger, united, and committed, as always to ensuring our students safety and well being. Al jazeera. Planned parenthood defends its practices to congress where there have been growing call to say defund the health care provider. The organization said that videos that showed planned parenthood employees discussing feet tall tissue transfer was heavily edited. The Group Alleges planned parenthood is selling fetal tissue. The Los Angeles Police department will take the First Step Towards becoming the Largest Department in the country to outfit each and every officer with a body camera. The goal is 7,000 cameras. The matter of who gets to see the videos is up for debate. Good morning to you. 860 officers will get cameras to start with more to follow. Not everyone agrees the program is a good thing. The mayor says los angeless partial rollout of Police Body Cameras is the first step toward keeping the type of Police Civilian cant recoveries that are plagued places like ferguson, missouri and baltimore maryland from happening in his city. These cameras will provide both the officers and the angelinos with recording evidence of their interactions, helping to address the uncertainty and questions that playing so many investigations. On monday, 860 devices will outfit l. A. P. D. Officers, they will go out to officers in three of l. A. s 21 divisions, as well as to special units like metro and swat. In the coming months, the city plans to deploy more than 7,000 cameras in call. That would cover most of the force and make l. A. The largest city to use cameras on a wide scale. The first wave of cameras cost 1. 5 million, about 1,700 per camera, paid for with private donations. It will cost just over 1,000 per camera per year to store the video they capture indefinitely. City officials consider that money well spent if it builds more trust between police and citizens they protect. The city wide program for body worn cameras will protect the community, as well as the officers wearing them. Not everyone in the community is happy about l. A. s body camera plans. The most controversial aspect, lapd policy allows officers to review footage before writing reports or giving statements on internal investigations. Democrats dont have to publicly release any recordings unless they are part of a criminal or civil court proceeding. Body cameras only help transparency if you release the video to the public. We are not required to produce investigative records. We have not produced investigative records in the past. With limited exceptions and never on car video or other types of video. Some also worry police will use cameras as surveillance tools. Existing trust with l. A. P. D. To not tamper with body cameras. They will only increase surveillance of community members. Still others in the community favor the move to body cameras, but want to make sure Police Departments dont stop there. I think its only part of Something Else, the Something Else being it is still a place for training. The l. A. Police Commission Says it will review the program in february and assuming all goes well, it willfully deploy the cameras to june of next year. New york city officials the nypd is working towards outfitting its force in the very near future. It has been 10 years since Hurricane Katrina slammed the gulf coast. Many people have since left new orleans to rebuild their lives. Well hear from a 92yearold preacher who refused to leave. Plus tracking the illegal ivory trade in africa, how fake Elephant Tusks are being used to fight poachers. Welcome to Al Jazeera America. It is 8 30 eastern, taking a look at todays stop stories. Four were killed and 20 still missing this morning as Tropical Storm erika batters the small island. At least 15 inches of rain fell. Landslides blocked roads and swept up cars. Power and Water Supplies are knocked out. The storm is heading towards florida. Austrian Authorities Say there were 71 bodies found in a truck alongside a highway near the hungarian border. Police say the corpses are badly key composed, but they believe the victims are Syrian Refugees. Hungary arrested three suspects in connection. Fire experts say the best way to stop wildfires in the west is with controlled burns and greater fire barriers. Fierce winds are stoking flames, but in some spots, firefighters are getting a break, the winds pushing portions of the giant fire back on itself. Today, former president bush will visit new orleans on the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Yesterday president obama visited the city, meeting with the mayor and residents and saw how many have rebuilt their lives. Rolling up his sleeves as he walked through new orleans historic neighborhood, president obama was greeted by a crowd eager to show areas rebuilt. What you are seeing here is an example of the incredible federal, state, local partnerships that have helped to revitalize this community. While the president celebrates strides made in the past decade. He acknowledged that anyone can see, there are still large parts of new ear leans struggling, the poverty rate is 27 and more than 50 of black men in the city are unemployed. Many here remember the president s visit in 2008, when then candidate obama said america had failed the people of new orleans. He vowed to help the city rebuild. The fact that he singled us out as one of his priorities, i think that allowed him to kind of separate himself from the bush administration. University of new orleans Political Science professor says across party lines, most residents feel the president has kept his promises. He can certainly point to the billions of dollars that have been devoted to rebuilding the Flood Control system. That took a lot of work in terms of Convincing Congress to fund that particular project. The citys new billion dollars University Medical complex celebrated its full scale health care in the city was built with largely federal disaster funds. The white house touts the 100 million in federal dollars set aside to overhaul the cities failing Public School system. 90 of Public Schools are Charter Schools in new orleans. Advocates laud attendance rates. Residents were able to apply for rebuilding grants. There is criticism of the program. They give you 30,000 to build a two story house. Come on now, and you got to beg a learned to give you the rest to finish. State senator says federal help has been critical. If we didnt the federal dollars from president obama and the administration and the commitment from the department of education, from the department of housing and urban development, from the department of energy, we would not have been able to collaborate as citizens with that engagement to get it done. But she says it took plenty of work on the ground to force the hand of the federal government. It drove the recovery, which pressured federal officials. Even louisiana governor bobby jindal, often one of the president s harshest critics acknowledged the assistance from washington. This is a time for us to come together, put aside partisan differences and celebrate we had help from the federal, state and local government. Still, new orleans population is 20 less than before katrina. The flooding damaged an estimated 70 have the housing stock. Today, thousands of homes remain abandoned. Part of our goal has always been to make sure not just that we recovered from the storm, but also that we started dealing with some of the structural in equities that existed long before the storm happened. Al jazeera, new orleans. We are also looking at incredible stories of how people survived and helped rebuild the gulf coast. Jonathan betz has been reporting from new orleans. You were there a decade ago, witnessed the devastation firsthand, but youve also met people in the last few days who made a big difference for the community. Yes, stephanie, a lot of incredible survivor stories. Ive been checking in with one, reverend Johnny Montgomery over the years. Ever since i first met him with Hurricane Katrina, even in water up to his neck, he refused to give up on his city. At the church of god in christ, the members have plenty to praise. The Church Stands and their pastor lives. Im still here. A true survivor, at 92 years old. Ten years ago, during katrinas worst, i found the reverend in water up to his chest, refusing help. Like so many, he refused to abandon his city. Everythings all right. Everythings all right. He waved off rescuers and stayed behind. We left him, worried about his safety, but the reverend is not one to be underestimated. God was in the storm with me. Later, i learned waist high water filled his home. This is where i slept here. He was living in a swamp, something he still does not regret. The water was, you know, had high. So the water was here and your dresser was here. Right, just above the water. His bed flooded, so he slept on his dresser just above the water line. It kept me cool, because you know, it was hot during that time. It was scorching hot, but by me staying here in the water, kept me cool. Meanwhile, his wife had fled far from home, terrified and unsure if her husband was alive. It was torture. I just cried. I just cried day and night, day and night, i cried. After seeing our footage of montgomery on the news, she went down to new orleans herself and begged rescuers to get him out. Only then did he agree to leave. He had lost 25 pounds in those 12 days. He had blisters all over him, had to take him to the emergency and get him treated, but he was doing fine. Hes still doing fine. In good health, and grateful. Its good to have things, but when you go through it, thats where you get your victory. You go through it, when you go through it, come out on the other side, thats where you get your joy and look back. Not so for his wife. Katrina brings back darker memories. It hurt me physically. I have not been the same. My doctor says it stripped something out of me. I cried for 12 days until i got here. They rebuilt their home with insurance and aid money. Reverend montgomery is still leading the church he founded 50 years ago, but now with a new message, and a stronger faith. Everything you want and desire, and you can lose it in a split second. Dont take long to lose it. Love what you have, love your family, be close to your children. You know, of all, be close to god, because hes the only one to bring us out. Something to praise indeed, staying focused on all katrina gave, rather than what it took. Lessons from katrina for all of us, the value of gratitude, depreciation and humility. Far too many people know how quickly it can all be taken. How strong the spirits of that couple and so many people in that city, so you witnessed the strength of the people that survived katrina. What about the infrastructure of the city after of the storm. Yeah, i mean considering when i was living here, stephanie, there was not a single store open, not a single functioning traffic light and mud over everything, so enough to see the city and how much it has improved, how much ambition it has, how much energy it now has. Its truly astounding. New ear leans is a new new orleans. There are neighborhoods that lagged behind others but there is a new focus and energy here. A lot of people are certainly focused on the future and not necessarily on the past. Jonathan betz, thank you. Well have much more on whats changed in the 10 years since cat karina hit so night on a half hour special, katrina after the storm right here on Aljazeera America. A major new ruling is making it easier for fast food workers to unionize. For the first time workers will be legally entitled to bargain with corporate parents before they can only deem with the franchise where they work. This could lead to wage changes on a national level. Antonio mora reports. Protests have called attention to the plight of fast food workers nationwide, leading the minimum wage increases in some parts of the country. Now a major victory could help in their fight for higher pay. On thursday, the National Labor Relations Board handed down a ruling that enables labor unions to negotiate directly with large Parent Companies, such as mcdonalds, wendys, burger king, corporations that operate using local franchises as well as those that rely heavily on outside contractors. These kind of business arrangements, contracting arrangements, franchise arrangements appear in a multitude of industries, whether its hospitals, that contract out certain services, some hospitals will use staffing agencies to augment their nursing staff. Hotels very often will contract out the housekeeping services. I dont think theres an industry around that isnt potentially affected by this ruling, and that would mean there are millions of employees. Until now, these Parent Companies were considered joint employers of workers if they had direct and immediate control over employment matters. Many corporations argue this ruling could destroy their business models, one of the benefits of franchising and sub contracting is to spread the brand name while minimizing the legal risks and responsibilities. Some of them, i think are really looking at doomsday scenarios about what this ruling will mean. I think their predictions are very overheated. This new ruling may affect an upcoming case, the nlrb filed against mcdonalds and its franchises for retaliating against workers who joined protests for higher wages. The bottom line of this decision is that all that being said, that workers rights are also important. Antonio mora, al jazeera. Franchise owners areun happy with the ruling. They argue they wont be able to run their businesses if they have no control over the benefits of the employees they hire. Business groups are calling on congress to overturn the ruling. California marks a major victory against drought. Residents cut water use 31 . It comes after water saving measures were mandate for the states 30 million residents, that includes watering lawns on specific days, using water saving devices and punishing heavy users with fines. Tracking ivory poachers in africa with fake Elephant Tusks. A new National Geographic Program Shows how investors are getting creative to learn the traveling routes. A fake Elephant Tusk and inside, i want him to embed a custom made g. P. S. Tracking system so i can follow it. This is the antenna itself. We are trying to create ivory that can pass muster with an ivory trader. I can actually look at this and see those lines crisscrossing in there. You see that . You can. Yeah. We need to get it to look right on the outside. It makes a certain sound. Its got that ping to it. It needs to so you didnt right. We really wont know until we make a cast of this tusk. If this works, this technologies going to be able to show me what route this ivory takes, where does the transaction take place . What port is it going out of, what port is it going into . What carving studio or what shop is it ending up in . No ones ever watched it go as one activity all the way into the hands of a kingpin. Joining us now is the reporter in that piece, National Geographic magazine contributor brian christy. Good morning, thanks for being with us. Did it work, did the fake Elephant Tusks help you find where the trafficking is coming from, where its going. They showed us some amazing facts. They showed us a path that ivory is taking north out of congo into what we discovered is sudan. Ok. What did you do with that information . We published the story, were telling the story. This is the story of massive poaching going on in northern congo, theyre killing elephants and theyre killing people. This is the story of terrorists groups operating in that area, and this one group, the lowereds Resistance Army is apparently moving ivory up through Central African republic into sudan. Who came up with the idea of putting g. P. S. Tracking devices into fake tusks. That would be my idea. Ok. My backgrounds as a lawyer and i look at this not as an animal issue, but as a crime, a criminal issue. This for me is the same if i wanted to track a cocaine dealer, id want to put a tracker inside with the narcotics. How dangerous was it for you, this assignment . I understand you were in this region for 18 months, talking about the l. R. A. , you were talking about serious criminals involved with poaching. For me, there were certain risks, but the story here is the story, the risk, the people on the ground are enduring. These are the rangers on the ground in these remote parks are protecting not only animals, but the people in the villages. How did the government feel about you doing this investigation . Well find out, i guess. Talk about other highlights that one would see in this program. Sure, im we spend both time with elephants and with the victims of terrorist organizations. They tell their stories. One of the more exciting things is we get inside with exResistance Army soldiers. They talk about what life was like, how they were poaching, where the ivory was going and my ivory follows the exact path they described. Its extraordinary. There were somewhere between 400,000 and 600,000 elephants left. These are extraordinary creatures that are sort of being wiped out en masse in sinner parts of the world. This is one of the challenges in our lifetime. Is the o African Elephant goingo survive or not and that was worth years for me to devote to. Thanks for joining us. You can watch the film this sunday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on the analogy graphic channel. The dead sea, which straddled israel, the west bank and jordan is world famous, attracting visitors from around the world. It is slowly disappearing, losing water because of heavy pot ash mining and the consequences are disastrous. We have this report. Its one of the most popular tourist destinations in the region, but environmentalists say the dead sea, which borders israel and the occupied west bank and jordan is shrinking rapidly. The ancient salt lake famous or its water and mud has been losing meters of its water every year. An israeli tour guide said the decline of the dead sea and apparent indifference of neighboring governments has been shocking. I see the dead sea as a national property. Its really one of a kind in the word and it should be International World heritage, an instead of, we are destroying it, and its being degraded from day to day. The dead sea is shrinking because 70 of its natural water sources are being diverted mainly by israel, jordan and syria for farming and drinking water. The remaining 30 of tee at her reaction is called by pot ash mineles operations in israel and jordan. Environmentalists are concerned about the hundreds of sink holes that have opened around it. Some are as deep as 14 stories. The sinkhole development is because of the drop of the level of the dead sea and associated with that drop is the drop in the ground water level. That causes areas that were previously within salty water to be flushed by pretty sure water. Some projects have been launched to try and save the dead sea, but environmentalists warn that it could take decades to repair the ecological damage, and that until the neighboring countries stop diverting waters through the ancient lake or put an end to mining practices, its all but certain to dry up. Al jazeera at the dead sea. Apparently the moon was not enough for buzz aldrin. The 85yearold astronaut has teamed up with the Florida Institute of technology to develop a plan to colonize mars by 2039. That would be the 70t 70th anniversary of his own apollo 11 moon landing. Protecting tribal rights, native americans say a 150yearold treaty lets them harvest or nearby land, but they could be prosecuted for doing it. It. Attorneys for Robin Williams wife and children will be back in court today in a bottle over his state. His children accuse the widow of holding on to items of personal property that is theirs. New federal rules to hold on to rivers, streams and we had lands are in affect today. A federal judge blocked the new regulations after 13 states challenged them. North dakota said it will cost them more money and an infringement on state sovereignty. A story we used about police using cell phone devices, nearly 2,000 cases are being reviewed to see if criminal convictions based on that surveillance should be thrown out. They are called sting race and have been used to investigate all sorts of crimes, even minor once. They never told how they obtained their information, which maryland law requires. A native american tribe is putting an 1855 treaty to the test in minnesota. Members gathered wild rice outside their reservation, saying they are guaranteed pit that they said if they are allowed to harvest that rice, they should have a say in the use of that land. The plan was to divide state rules about gathering wild rice. Special permit from the department of Natural Resource witness harvest rice today. Im glad to see that. Very glad to see that. Tribe member tore up the special one day permit. We never requested this or never applied for it. The chip with as wanted to be ticketed so they could challenge the state in federal court. They say minnesota is ignoring a treaty allowing them to hunt, fish and gather rice on hundreds of miles of land they concreted to the federal government in 1855, land that the state could allow a proposed pipeline to cross. Rice is a staple in the chip with a culture. Its a spiritual thing. They fear the pipeline could destroy a way of life. All these lakes are a spider web. I dont care where youre going, theyre all connected in one way or another and any oil that breaks down and gets in our waters, our rice is done. Its done. Some members were disappointed that a possible confrontation with the state was defused for now. But tribal attorney said it could be a sign that minnesota officials are listening to them. We believe that they have to give us meaningful consultation and we believe that they need our consent, because if we have property rights, they have to be dealt with through the due process clause, because we have a treaty. Victory today tribe members say theyll come back to hole in the day lake friday to harvest rice again, but they may not get the welcome they received on this day. This is a one day only deal. Correct, its a one day permit. Tomorrow they could be on site. Then we will enforce the state regulations and owl people fairly. In our healthbeat this morning, the f. D. A. Approved a new drug for treating high cholesterol levels. Its the second in a new class of drugs that works differently from statins. These work by suppressing genes that let cholesterol be soaked up like a sponge. It helped lower cholesterol levels by 60 more than statins. The Oxford English detectried ad a few new words to on line edition, including man spreading, if you use Public Transportation anywhere in the world, you know what this is, and for many commuters when its done, its beer or if you prefer wine. Smart phone users now about this one, the butt dial. That made it, too. For those who Square Instagram is too square, the company is looking outside the box. App users can post images that are portrait and landscape formats. Thats it for us here. Thanks for watching. Have a great morning. In order to save my children, i had to try to save everyone elses. Chicago mothers, fed up and fighting back. What weve essentially done is created an Outdoor Community center. Changing the city one block at a time. Im out here to encourage them, to tell them theres a better way. This was the worst Civil Engineering disaster in the history of the United States. 10 years after Hurricane Katrina. It was like a nuclear bomb had gone off everything smelt like dead bodies. One constant. Music has been the essence of this city. Inspires a community to rebuild its city. We gonna bring this city back one note at a time. And overcome hard times in the big easy. We are bigger, were better, were stronger. This is al jazeera. Hello, welcome toll another news hour. From our headquarters in doha, Hungarian Police arrest people after refugeess bodies are found in a truck. A boat carrying refugees capsizes off the coast of libya. Security is tight in iraqs capital ahead of Anti Corruption protests later today