Transcripts For ALJAZAM News 20150912

Leftist leader. Health service. What hes doing to trade unions. Shaking up british politics with his liberal message, he should be the future of the end of britains labor party. And still on alert. Continue to claim the lives of innocent people across the world. Remembering the 9 11 attacks on america. 14 years later, a look at the threats against the u. S. Today. Good evening, this is al jazeera america. We begin tonight with a deadly crane collapse in saudi arabia. It happened inside the largest mosque in the world. 107 people died and 200 more were hurt when a towering construction crane crashed through the east side of the mosque during violent weather. Officials say heavy winds may have caused the collapse. Footage inside shows part of a huge red crane crash through the mosques roof. The mosque is islams most sacred site and the destination for millions of muslims undertaking their pilgrimage that begins later this month. They want to increase the space to accommodate more than 2 Million People at once which is why the construction is being done. Reporter theres been heavy winds and strong rains. During the storm, a massive crane fell on the eastern side of the grand mosque. It caused death and carnage. Dozens have been killed and injured. It happened at 5 23 p. M. Due to the severe rain and wind. The crane collapsed on the upper side of the area causing the collapse of a small part of it aints another section. The bridge area around the holy cabba. I spoke to some people inside the mosque and basically they said the crane fell on the third floor of the grand mosque and the doors were shut. People were locked in and it was scary. I just spoke to someone who lost a friend who got caught up in the actual movement. Some casualties took place not because of the crane falling but resulting of people trying to escape. It is the busiest time of year for the most sacred mosque in islam in the city of mecca as millions arrive to saudi arabia to perform the haj which starts later this month. The entire complex is surrounded by cranes. Work is expected to last a few more years. There were no major incidents during the expansion work during the seasons over the last few years. The saw District Attorney government has called for a full and swift investigation but now this tragic incident will force the saw District Attorney authorities to increase safety increase safety measures. Over the past week the Arabian Peninsula has been hit with bad weather. Its probably linked to an area of low pressure. Now weve seen that area of low pressure bringing back a change of wind direction and atmospheric conditions. So as a result weve had the ideal combination for major storm development. Heat which of course is in abundance across the peninsula and also up lift, winds coming in across the mountains. This range goes all the way from yemen all the way to saw saudi. The saudi. And an saw we have not got official records at the airport in terms of the guests of winds. But they are a feature of the weather this part of the year. Unfortunately it had to happen across mecca. Today the european refugee crisis was called the greatest challenge the eu has ever faced. They reject the suggestion of mandatory slovakia met in prague to discuss ways of controlling the number of refugees they take in. Were talking about people who refuse to cooperate with the authorities in hungary. Mother, they attack them and moreover they attack and throw objects at them. Police have done an excellent job without resorting to the use of force. Eu leaders plan to meet monday for more talks on distributing refugees throughout the region. Officials in hungry have also launched an investigation following the release of video showing disturbing treatment of refugees. Reporter in an overcrowded refugee camp, the hungry are frantic for food. In this scene of chaos and confusion, the authorities distribute what they have by throwing it through the air. The lucky ones are able to catch their meal. The refugees on these buses behind us are waiting to be taken into this camp. Were trying to get in as well but the authorities are not letting us or other journalists in but everybody ive spoken with are worried about what theyre going to face once they get in. Im trying to get to holland but ive heard that germany is the only cub tri that will take refugees who have been processed and fingerprinted here. Causing even more concern is how theyll be treated. They are frankly wanting to make their lives as miserable as possible so word gets out to the many thousands to try to avoid hungary. In a statement to al jazeera, hungarys interior Ministry Tells us these images have been taken out of context and that the media should not jump to conclusion. Here on the border with serbia, the influx continues even as the weather worsens. They use anything they can to remain dry. Throughout hungary, their stories are only getting worse. Theyre desperate and deprived and cant understand why theyre unwelcome. I met a man who escaped from a town held by isis and he told me sitting there in the station with his three children its better in syria because in syria if theres an explosion, you die once. Here im dying a thousand deaths of humiliation in front of my children. Having fled their homes and separated from loved ones and lost their possessions, the last thing they ever expected was to be stripped of their dignity. New numbers out today sho an owing number of people in iraq who have been forced from their homes because of the violence there. Mostly clashes between the government and isil throughout the country. Thousands have been killed so far and more than 3 Million People have been displaced by the fighting including more than half a million families. Most of them more than 96 have fled isil controlled regions and volume tile Anbar Province west of baghdad. Russias support for the president of syria includes antiaircraft weapons. The Missile System is raising questions about russias true intentions because isil doesnt have an air force. Also its reported Russian Troops are participating in combat operations on behalf of the syrian regime. Turkey says it will finally lift a weeklong curfew in a southeastern city. It will end this saturday. It was imposed to support a military operation against kurdish rebels. The curfew sparked concerns of a humanitarian crisis. Theres a food shortage, a lack of medical aid, and residents are not able to bury the dead. Europes human rights body wants independent observers allowed inside. A controversial politician is poised to take control of britains labor party. Some call the left wing mp a warrior for the working class but others call him and his grassroots supporters delusional. How his election could dramatically change the face of british politics half a Million People pack the streets of barcelona calling for a catalonian independence. This is a great place to work. Not because they have yoga meetings and a juice bar. Because theyre getting comcast business internet. Comcast business offers convenient installation appointments that work around your schedule. And it takes done. About an hour. Get reliable internet thats up to five times faster than dsl from the phone company. Call 8005016000 to switch today. Perks are nice. But the best thing you can give your business is comcast business. Comcast business. Built for business. Hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets of barcelona calling for an independent catalonia. This years Independence Day parade comes two weeks before parliamentary elections there. If some candidates win they promise to begin the process of separating from spain. On saturday, the labor party in the United Kingdom will meet to reveal the results of its leadership election. At this point everyone expects a former long shot to win. In context tonight, lawrence lee reports on the selfdescribed socialist whose election critics say could threaten to destroy the labor party. Reporter for a man who himself thought he had no chance at winning, his rise has been the most startling political story. His message, maybe corporations pay more tax, nationalize more services, reshape the economy to help the poor. Its been run by a whole bunch of people who know nothing about our lives at all. These are millionaires. How cothey understand understand a mother going out food to feed her children in a first world country. Reporter the former Prime Minister thinks these people are delusional but at rallies like this, nobody is listening to him anymore. What it represents is the most extraordinary result against a labor party imagined by tony blair. It appears the majority of the membership is a warrior who will fight for the abandoned British Working class. Reporter his rise is full of contradictions. Corbins rocketing support is not shared by most labor mps. Many say they will not work with him if hell be the new leader. Im sure there will be some interesting discussions. We want to oppose welfare, health services, and what hes doing to peoples lives through cuts hes making through the budget and gross inqualities in britain. This was a crucial marginal constituency. All the signs in middle england in economic decay. The places labor should have won but failed to. Jeremy corbin . No. No. No. So if he wins, corbin faces the most enormous challenge, keeping the Party Together in westminster, and trying to show a cynical public things can be different and taking on a hostile media. It could be very interesting as well as the end of the labor party. Joining us from washington is the presenter of al jazeera englishs up front show. He wrote a biography of former Labor Party Leader ed millban. Lets start more why some think collecting corbin is electing corbin . Hes antiamerican. Accused for apologizing for putin and castro. He said it was a tragedy that bin ladin was killed without due process. Why has he then struck such a chord in britain . I think for different reasons. One of the reasons is the pressure from people in england liking an underdog. The labor party is going through all sorts of convulsions. They just lost an election badly this year. And Jeremy Corbin literally came out of nowhere. No one imagined this guy who was 100 to 1. The bookies put him at 100 to 1 to win the labor leadership and hes done it because hes authentic, seems like a real person. And people are fed up with main stream politicians across the western world. Here in the United States we have the trump phenomenon, Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbin in britain is doing the same thing. Here he is saying i want to stop austerity and stop foreign wars. This grassroots up rising that youre talking about the United States and youre seeing this on the left and right. Greece and spain as well. On the other hand youve got the right in france and the National Front even in the u. K. So did they simply underestimate whats going on in the western world in general . I think the labor body definitely underestimated what was going on. You look at what happened in scotland where labor lost almost all their seats to the inas you are insurgence of the party. He rebelled against his own party between 1997 and 2010. They thought he would come last and maybe third. They underestimated how upset a lot of young people are and their own activists are about the austerity message. Will it just be a fluke where hell be elected by the minority. Hes described as a fringe group where people refer to each other as socialists and call each other comrade. Its a suspect minority because you only have to pay three pounds to vote and even conservatives might be lining up to vote because they think hell be a disaster for labor. Theres been lots of claims about how fair is the voting. These rules are fair and square. The story we just ran mentioned how some say theyll refuse to work with him. Could there actually be a split in the labor party . Its a very good question. Its one of the oldest, most wellknown parties in the western world and it had a split in the 1983 along these very similar grounds. It was seen as two left wing within the party and a bunch of right of center politicians split away to set up the sdp party which basically went nowhere. On the other hand, he could actually strike a chord and could lets see. Stranger things have happened. Dont rule anything out. It will be interesting. Very good to have you with us. Thanks. Thank you. Also in britains parliament, members today defeated an assisted dying bill in a land slide vote that would have allowed doctors prescriptions to terminally ill patients. Many have taken advantage of right to die laws in nearby switzerland. The party that has ruled singapore has once again swept elections. The Prime Minister cast his vote this morning. His Peoples Action Party won 83 of 89 seats in parliament. The Opposition Party failed to take advantage of widespread dissatisfaction over some issue including freedom of speech restrictions and income disparity. Human rights watch is saying it exposes the extreme deterioration of the rule of law in venesuela. He was found guilty of inciting violence during protests in 2014. Caroline malone has details. Reporter tears of sadness and disbelief from supporters of the venezuelan opposition leader. He was convicted after a closed trial that ended suddenly even though many defense witnesses had not made it to the stand. Hes been given the maximum sentence for inciting violence in protests last year. 13 years is a long time but 87 days go by quickly. In 87 days we can have a National Assembly that puts lopez out on the street by the sovereign decision of the venezuelan people. Reporter the prosecution said lopez had encouraged violence when his people rallied against the president. 40 people were killed. There are groups of people who agree with that view. Government supporters gathered before the verdict calling for the court to find him guilty and to keep him in jail. Hes being held in a military prison since his arrest in february last year. Lopez does not respect anything to us what we want is he remain a prisoner and pay for his mistakes. There were many deaths because of him. Lopez is a harvardeducated politician. He was a popular mayor in a district of caracas and one of the strongest opposition candidates. The United States, the u. N. , and International Human Rights Groups have all called for his release. Cuba has announced it will pardon more than 3,000 prisoners ahead of the popes visit this month. Cuba which denies holding any Political Prisoners has said none of them will include people who have committed crimes against the states. This will be the third time cuba has released prisoners ahead of a papal visit honoring the victims of the september 11th attacks 14 years later. The tributes held in the u. S. And around the world come with a warning about threats still facing the homeland. Also, jamie mctire looks back at what it was like to be in the pentagon when American Airlines flight 77 crashed into the building and the personal battle hes waged against those who say it never happened. Welcome back. Coming up in this half hour. Donations flooded into the philippines after a typhoon. Two years later well look at whether the money got to those in need we begin with the United States remembering the september 11th attacks 14 years later. [bell ringing] at the memorial in new york city tribute was bayed to those who lost their lives in new york city in 2001. The dead were also honored and a new Visitor Center opened in shanksville, pennsylvania where flight 93 crashed. And in washington d. C. , president obama and the first lady led a National Moment of silence from the south lawn of the white house just after 8 45 this morning the exact time that the first plane struck the World Trade Center in new york. The Washington Area also took time to remember the victims of the feint gone attack. Pentagon attack. 184 people died there. Jamie mctire was working for cnn at the pentagon that day and became part of the Conspiracy Theory that grew up around the attack. He went back to the scene of the crash at the pentagon and filed this attack. Reporter this was the side of the pentagon hit by the plane september 11th, 2001. I stood on this very ground and watched it burn. Its now a memorial to the 184 people who died. 125 in the building and 59 on American Airlines flight 77. This was back in 2001 before smart phones so all i had with me was my Old Fashioned flip phone and a small digital camera. Heres one of the first pictures i took. Smoke in the hallway beginning to reach the outer ring on the side of the pentagon opposite the attack. When i walked under the main river entrance of the pentagon, i saw the defense secretarys battle wagon ready to wisk him to safety but he did not leave. As i got further down the parade field, i paused as a loud speaker warned another plane may be coming. The only planes i saw were f 16st tea roaring overhead. On the ground were thousands of shards of aluminum as well as a cockpit windshield. You see that the floors have all collapsed, that didnt happen immediately. Little did i know as i was doing this Life Property in the early afternoon that i would fuel the doubts of socalled 9 11 truthers who believed the attack was an inside job. These were the words that fed the theory. From my close up inspection theres no evidence of a plane having crashed anywhere near the pentagon it sounds as though im saying no plane hit the building but listen to the question i was asked how much of the plane actually impacted the building. I thought when months later i was the first to obtain and broadcast these still frames of the moment of impact from a Pentagon Security camera it would end the debate but where i saw an airliner in the low resolution image, Conspiracy Theoryist said it was more like a cruise missile. To this day millions of Americans Still doubt the official account of what happened that day. As i sit here in this memorial garden, i cant help but reflect about how the world has changed and how the conspiracy surrounding the september 11th attacks persist to this day despite all facts and reasons. I know a plane hit the pentagon that day. I was here and saw the wreckage. But in all my years of engagement with 9 11 doubters, ive never changed a single mind. A u. S. Aircraft carrier deployed to the arabian gulf to carry out air strikes threw a wreath into the sea. The carrier is in the region to carry out air strikes against isil targets in iraq and syria. There was also a 9 11 wreath laying at the headquarters of nato forces in afghanistan. The top u. S. General there said the fight against those who would do harm is far from over. Terrorists continue to claim the lives of innocent people across the world. Here in afghanistan new organizations are forming and condu conducting and planning against innocent civilians and continuing the legacy of destruction of violence that has no limits. Afghanistan is going through its most deadly year since the end of the u. S. And nato combat mission. Joining us now is james jeffrey. Ambassador, always good to see you. Lets start with a question we ask every year on this sad anniversary. Are we safer here in the homeland . In the homeland, were definitely safer. The ability of al quaeda or any other terrorist group to launch anything like the attack on 9 11 has really all been arat erradicated. Weve seen that time and time again here in the United States. We saw it a couple of weeks ago on a train from brussels to france. There will be individual people and there may be casualties. The thing that the u. S. Government correctly focuses on is the kind of mass casualty headline grabbing attacks that we saw on 9 11, that we saw in london sometime later, in madrid, i understand knee that, jordan. Those are the kind of attacks al quaeda wanted to do to grab attention and expand influence. What is the greatest danger to the u. S. Today . Should we be more worried about conventional opponents, russia, china . Are they more of a threat to the u. S. . Its all of the above. Theres no doubt that the remnants of al quaeda still dream of attacking the United States. Far more power than al quaeda is the director of National Intelligence general clapper pointed out recently but its focused on the region, not so far on us. But that could change. Were seeing a whole variety of what general dempsey, the outgoing chairman of the joint chiefs called hybrid threats the both nation states like russia, iran, and china, quasi terrorist groups, north korea, isis, al quaeda, hezbollah. And nation states that use irregular means to attack their neighbor states and us. Its a very broad and very deep set of threats that the United States has to face simultaneously. How much blame do you put on u. S. Foreign policy when you talk about this insecurity around the world . Many have argued that the u. S. Has retreated and when it does try to lead it does so speaking softly and with a small stick . Rightly or wrongly, the American People were very, very unhappy with our engagement in afghanistan and iraq which of course was one of the results of 9 11. That produced very low support for the kind of Foreign Policy of defending outside of our perimeter that has characterized us since 1945. President obama dame in on a came in on a wave 06 support for a less military role of the United States and hes lived up to that by retrenchment across the board in most areas continuing in iraq, certainly in syria where he didnt engage, and in several other areas. The problem is absent an american leading role in these regions things tend to fall apart and thats what were seeing right now. You were part of a group of influential bipartisan policymakers and legislators who wrote the president earlier this year asking for the iran year to be more robust. Will this agreement make us safer . That remains to be seen. One thing the president did do in part to the voices such as us and in part to win votes in the senate and the house was to make some of the commitments we wanted him to make that he would take a tough line against iran. That he would use every power in this agreement to constrain irans ability to cheat and get around some of the less than perfect provisions of the agreement but also that he would really try to contain iranian influence in the region and you just saw the leading Democratic Party con tender Hillary Clinton come out with an even tougher washington is waking up to the necessity that with or without this agreement we have a big problem with iran. We have to work in the region with our friends and allies and military might if necessary to do something about that. Thank you. An indian court today convicted 12 people for carrying out the 2006 train bombings in mumbai. A judge found them guilty of murder and criminal conspiracy. He acquitted one person for lack of evidence. The 12 will be sentenced on monday. Nearly 200 people were killed after bombs exploded on seven commuter trains during the evening rush hour on july 11th of 2006. The violence playing brundi took aim at the head of the army today who survived an assassination attempt. Gunmen attacked the convoy he was traveling in killing three soldiers and a civilian. Two of the attackers were also killed in the gun fight. No break for flood ravaged japan and the number of missing continues to rise and a look at the rescue charity started by an american man and his italian wife. You parts of japan are under water because of a typhoon and 90,000 people have been forced from their homes. We were preparing to evacuate when they rushed to tell us that the river bank collapsed so we got in our cars to escape the flood but by that time the water was up to our knees. 18 typhoons have hit japan this year. Some areas that rarely experiencings those storms are seeing them. It was one of the strongest tropical storms ever to make land fall almost two years ago. Gusts reachings 234 Miles Per Hour killing more than 6,000 people. In tonights off the radar segment, we go back to the hardhit city in the philippines to share how people there are still piecing together their lives. He wondered how hed carry on. He lost everything to the most powerful storm on record including 53 members of his family. He still has night mares. Things are slowly starting to help from other places outside the country because if we were to rely on the government here wed get nowhere. Reporter many people here feel the same. 90 of the city was destroyed but it seems busier now than ever before. Residents put it down to the influx of foreign aid. Because it has not necessarily been channelled through the government, Officials Say with 4 Million People left homeless, most of that money has gone into housing but thousands are still living in temporary shelters like these. Along side the government, at least 45 aid agencies are also working on rehabilitation. They say coordination has been challenging. There is no permanent Government Agency to oversee disaster recovery. The Philippine Government has set up a website for all groups to post project undates but there are still allegations that corruption and red tape are slowing things down. Allegations that are par for the course here as far as rupert is concerned like many other survivors, they have had to help themselves. And they hope to withstand the next typhoon Washington Area refugee areas are getting ready to welcome an influx of people fleeing the war in syria. Southea southeast. The United States has only accepted about 1,600 refugees. The agency is petitioning the Obama Administration to resettle. More than the roughly 10,000 refugees the white house has promised to accept an american man and his italian wife started their own effort living in malta. Were overwhelmed by the recent response by the many people who adopt want to be bystanders to this tragedy. So youre saying things positively that youre overwhelmed by the reaction of people trying to support the migrants and the refugees . Yes. Im up to some kind ago there were many people talking about this globalization. As a foundation, we have said that we want to stand up to this globalization of indifference and when chris and regina set up this foundation some time ago this is exactly what we did. We think over the past few months and particularly over the past few weeks, more people are joining the coalition of those who say that people just do not deserve to die out at sea no matter what. And you saw that tragic haunting picture of the little boy who was found dead on a beach in turkey. Yes. I mean, in a way, he has humanize the whole tragedy, the whole issue. We have been saying for quite a while we need to stop talking about statistics of how many people die and focus more on the human aspects of the tragedy. Focus on the human stories. Talk about the people who feel compelled. How do your efforts specifically work. You have a 130foot boat and two remote controlled aircraft. Do you send them out every day . These are high end drones which have the capability to cover 900 square kilometers in six hours. That is us being proactive. Whenever we see a vessel of interest we report to the rescue Coordination Center which is which has the responsibility to conduct rescues. In many of the cases where were involved, we were actually responding to a direct request by the rescue coordinations. When you see a boat struggling, what do you do . According to international law, its the responsibilities of the rescue Coordination Center to then determine a place of disembarkation. Each and every rescue weve done weve always been after them to embark in italy and in most cases in the island of sicily. Do you think european nations are finally getting their act together to help these people out or is there still much left to be done . Well, as a foundation, we want to tell Decision Makers we represent that part of society. If people die at sea obviously weve not reached our goal. We hope one day theres no need for more. Best of luck with your efforts. Thank you for the opportunity very much. Thank you and good night. A century old coal burning locomotive is giving the public a glimpse into the life of a pope. Plus, the oldest Film Festival in the world, venice, which this year is pioneering a whole new era in cinema. Shh now a look at various events around the world. The writer says a build up of the Russian Military in syria has left the white house in a tight spot of either confronting the kremlin or fighting with russia. Russia claims it wants to fight the rebel group but at the same time is supporting the president of syria. The u. S. Wants him out of office also taipei times in an editorial china flexes tech muscles before visit to u. S. The writer says the chinese leaders plans to hold the forum in seattle with tech leaders is upsetting the barack Obama Administration. Last week, law makers referred to the refugees as a tsunami but the papers pointed out a tsunami was expected and a recent ad campaign urging refugees to stay away was money poorly spent because it was likely they would still try to come to denmark. Venice is home to the worldest oldest Film Festival and this year netflix is set to screen two films here. Just another sign its a threat to the traditional movie distribution. Reporter like the ancient city itself the venice Film Festival has had a sinking feeling that cinema is dying but this year theyre riding the wave of change welcoming films from netflix. Their first ever feature film is the harrowing tale of a child soldier in an unnamed african country. The other, a documentary charting change in ukraine. The films will screen in cinema s and on line on the same day. When im on a train and i see young people with two sets of headphones watching a movie on an iphone, it gets me really upset because i think okay theyre missing something thats very important and integral to what the cinema experience is that weve had since 1895. Reporter here at venice they realize the way people watch films is changing and they dont want to be left behind and just like video on demand is tearing up traditional ways of distribution, crowd funding is also changing the ways of finance. We want to make it without the interference without the interference of the big studio process. Reporter the producer says this funding model provides endless possibilities. We asked for 200,000 and wound up with 406,000 which was, yeah, it was a miracle for us. And we chose to go this way because we had a specific vision and its our job to protect these guys and their stories and ideas and dreams for this project. The pope decided to open it to the public and spend summers in the same Vatican Hotel where he lives. It will make the castle for accessible for visitors. America tonight is up next. We leave you with new york citys tribute in light honoring the victims of the september 11th attacks