September 11 attacks, we look at a scandal growing in afghanistan. Did u. S. Military cover up a massacre by u. S. Special forces of afghan civilians . Many of these cases, it has been documented recently in a report, there is just no followup whatsoever with clear evidence of the violation of laws. It is no surprise u. S. Military sort of investigates itself and responsible for holding itself accountable. Amy we will speak with awardwinning journalist matt aikins. All of that and more coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In a major Foreign Policy victory for president obama, republicans in the senate failed to secure enough votes thursday to derail the iran nuclear agreement. The senate voted against clearing the way for a debate of the bill in a 58 to 42 vote, less than the 60 votes needed to advance a resolution of disapproval. Four democrats voted against the deal new york senator charles schumer, maryland senator benjamin cardin, new jersey senator Robert Menendez, and West Virginia senator joe manchin. After the vote, Senate Republican leader Mitch Mcconnell vowed to continue to fight against the deal, a move some say is a futile act of political posturing. Well have more on the Iran Nuclear Deal after headlines. The Obama Administration has agreed to accept at least 10,000 Syrian Refugees over the next year, an increase that falls far short of figures called for by lawmakers and International Aid organizations. The United States has resettled fewer than 1500 syrians since the conflict began. At least four million syrians are displaced outside syrias borders. The International Rescue committee, has called on the United States to take in at least 65,000 refugees from syria a demand reiterated by democratic president ial candidate Martin Omalley and more than 100,000 americans who signed a handful of petitions in recent days. The u. N. General assembly voted overwhelmingly on thursday to approve the palestinians to fly their flag outside the u. N. Headquarters. The resolution, which allows socalled observer states to fly their flags, was cosponsored by more than 50 countries. Palestine became the second observer state in 2012, joining the vatican. Only eight countries voted against thursdays resolution, including the United States, israel, canada, and australia. Riyad mansour, Palestinian Ambassador to the united nations, spoke after the vote. Todays vote is a reaffirmation of the legitimacy of the National Aspirations of the palestinian people, of their existence among the nations of the world and the right to some determination, to be a free people in control of their lives in destiny in their own independent states. Amy in news from the campaign trail, a new national cnn poll shows democratic president ial candidate Bernie Sanders is within 10 points of his rival Hillary Clinton, as support for the former secretary of state continues to erode. The survey released thursday shows 37 support for clinton, compared to 27 for sanders. Speaking to cnn after the poll, sanders outlined the differences beeen himself and Hillary Clinton. I voted against the war in iraq. I believe over a period of years we should raise the minimum wage to 15 an hour, reestablish glasssteagall to start breaking up these large Financial Institutions on wall street. I am very opposed to our current trade policies and helping to lead the effort against the transpacific partnership. The secretary has not made a decision on that. Im strongly against the Keystone Pipeline because i think we need to radically transform our energy system. The secretary has not made a statement on that as well. Amy meanwhile, a new poll shows Bernie Sanders leading Hillary Clinton and i was for the first time. A new abc whole showed on sunday nbc poll, also showed sanders with a nine point lead and clinton in hampshire. Meanwhile, Vice President joe biden received 20 of the vote in the most recent cnn poll, despite having not formally announced he is running for president. Speaking on the late show with Stephen Colbert thursday night, biden cast doubt on whether he will run. I would be lying if i said i knew i was there. Im being completely honest. View, has a right, in my to seek that office unless theyre willing to give it 110 of who they are. Amy Hillary Clinton faces another round of scrutiny after a former staffer who worked on her personal email server chose to plead the fifth during a closeddoor deposition to the House Select Committee on benghazi thursday. The committee has also been probing clintons email use while she served as secretary of state. Bryan pagliano was an i. T. Staffer for the state department whom clinton paid to help maintain her private server. Today, people are congregating for ceremonies in new york city, pennsylvania, and washington, d. C. , to mark the 14th anniversary of 9 11 terror attacks. The commemoration comes after last months death of marcy borders, the former bank of america legal assistant who became known as the dust lady after a photographer snapped a picture of her engulfed in dust as the twin towers began to fall. Borders died of stomach cancer, which she believed was linketo the ash inhaled on 9 11. She was 42 years old. Meanwhile, in chile, people are marking the 42nd anniversary of its own 9 11. On september 11, 1973, democratically elected president Salvador Allende died in the palace in a u. S. Backed coup, ushering in 17 years of brutal dictatorship under augusto pinochet. In yemen, local Officials Say a u. S. Drone strike has killed four people after it hit a vehicle in southeastern yemen wednesday. Officials are describing the victims as suspected alqaeda members. A Venezuelan Court has ordered Opposition LeaderLeopoldo Lopez be jailed for almost 14 years. Lopez was found guilty of inciting violence during street protests in early 2014 during antigovernment protests, which left more than 40 people dead. Scientists have discovered a new species of human ancestors in a cave in south africa. The species name is homo naledi. Naledi means star in the local sesotho language. Scientists say it appears that the species buried its dead. The bones were discovered inside an underground cave in an unesco World Heritage site called the cradle of humankind. The Nonprofit NationalGeographic Society has sold its flagship magazine and other media assets to Rupert Murdochs 21st century fox for 725 million. The deal will turn the nonprofit magazine into a commercial operation. Rupert murdoch has long come under fire for denying the impact of human activity on Climate Change. A study published in 2014 by the union of concerned scientists argued more than 70 of foxs Climate Change coverage was misleading. In new york, a new federal lawsuit claims more than a dozen Corrections Officers are responsible for the death of Samuel Harrell, a 30yearold africanamerican man who died in april after as many as 20 Corrections Officers kicked, punched and threw him down a flight of stairs while he was incarcerated at the Fishkill Correctional Facility in beacon, new york. Harrell was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The group of the officers who assaulted harrell are known as the beat up squad. Samuel harrells father, Samuel Harrell sr. , spoke about his sons death at a press conference wednesday. This was a crime, a criminal act, a homicide that took the life of my son. Instead of getting help for him at that time, [indiscernible] intern i lost a son. Amy the lawsuit comes as a former Fishkill Correctional Facility inmate has spoken out to the New York Times about seeing harrells body falling down a flight of stairs after the beating. Lucas renfrow says he was later harassed by guards and placed in solitary confinement. 28 people have been arrested after forming a human barricade at a Natural Gas Storage facility in upstate new york to protest plans by Crestwood Midstream to expand gas storage in abandoned salt caverns at seneca lake, a Drinking Water source for 100,000 people. People have been arrested in the 400 ongoing campaign. The crowd held a sevenfoottall replica of pope francis recent encyclical letter on Climate Change and signs reading pope francis, we hear you. And African American tennis star james blake has spoken out about being slammed to the ground by five Undercover Police officers as he stood outside his Manhattan Hotel wednesday afternoon. Blake describes being tackled by a plain clothes Police Officers whom he initially thought was an Old High School friend he didnt recognize. He says he was cuffed on the ground for at least 15 minutes until one of the officers recognized him. The police say they had mistaken identified blake as a suspect in a case of credit card fraud. Following the arrest, one of the officers appears to have attempted to cover up the incident by failing to record the stop in the nypd logs. Nypd Police Commissioner bill bratton said thursday the arrest should not have happened. We are very interested in speaking with mr. Blake, and hope to hear back from him to extend an apology for the experience he encountered. It should not have happened. Concerns i have about what eyewitness on the video as well as whatever seemed by chief resnik, the inappropriateness of the amount of force that was used during the arrest. Amy at least one officer has been placed on administrative desk duty after the incident. Speaking on Good Morning America thursday, blake said believes the police need to be held accountable. When you police with reckless abandon, you need to be held accountable. I think im, hopefully, going to let people know that some of them need to be held accountable. These that are doing police work the wrong way need to pay for those actions and be shown it at the door or whatever they need to do to punish them. Amy and those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. Nermeen welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. In a major Foreign Policy victory for president obama, republicans in the senate failed to secure enough votes thursday to derail the iran nuclear agreement. The senate voted against clearing the way for a debate of the bill in a 58 to 42 vote, less than the 60 votes needed to advance a resolution of disapproval. Maryland senator barbara mikulski, who last week became the decisive vote backing the president explained her support , for the agreement. The conditions for the lifting of the sanctions are strict and verifiable, and the lifting of the sanctions though comes more quickly than i would like i believe the snapback could work. But after looking at all of the alternatives, which i believe have limited efficacy, i want to declare that i will support the agreement. Amy four democrats joined republicans in opposing the iran deal Chuck Schumer of new york, ben cardin of maryland, joe manchin of West Virginia, and Robert Menendez of new jersey. View, the overall sanctions relief being provided given the iranians understanding of restrictions on the reauthorization of sanctions, along with the lifting of the arms and missile embargo well before iranian complaints over years is established, leaves us in a weaker position. To me, is unaccountable. Amy after the vote, Senate Republican leader Mitch Mcconnell vowed to continue to fight against the deal, a move against the deal. Well, for more on the political will that what it means, we turn to reza marashi. He is the Research Director at the National Iranian american council. Welcome to democracy now talk about the significance of what took place yesterday on the senate floor. At the greek and classify what happened yesterday on the senate floor is a firstround knockout for president obama and the american people. At the end of the day, because the iran deal isnt a treaty, it did not technically require any ratification by the senate or the house of representatives, for that matter. But they inserted themselves into the diplomatic process and the president decided he would rather fight this fight once the deal was done as opposed to back in may when they inserted themselves in the process. It was a calculated risk that he took, but precisely because the president knew that he had a war weary population on his side in the United States the preferred the use of diplomacy over the use of war, and he tabulated correctly. It is our deeply them a significant foreignpolicy achievement in at least a generation. Talk aboutuld you some of the democrats that initially opposed the deal and came around to it . I think in the house and senate, there were a variety of democrats that were, the very least, skeptical if not outright hostile, to the deal. But part of the president s calculated gamble and not only getting the deal done, but bringing it back to washington, d. C. , was that he was able to provide classified briefings to any member of congress and the house or senate that wanted to learn about any aspects of this deal, including the deal between iran and the iaea, which the u. S. Is not party to because the iaea is a separate international institution. Those briefings took place from the intelligence community, from american negotiators, and even from leaders and diplomats from our allies in europe, it became increasingly clear to a variety of democrats across the spectrum that this deal was not only a good deal, but it was light years better than any of the alternatives because, frankly, there is no alternative except war. Amy can you comment on the power of aipac right now . They and Benjamin Netanyahu, aipac orton how much, was it, tens of millions of dollars to fight this . 30 million to fight this . What this means for aipac, the chief lobbying arm for the israeli government, but also for the Prime Minister. While he spoke out fiercely against this deal, afterwards, using to just go on to other business. That is a great question, amy. I think there is a twopart answer. On the one hand, for aipac, make no mistake, this is a huge blow not only to the credibility, but to this veneer of invincibility theyve had for quite some time. The reality of the situation is that if you go against a sitting american president and you go against the preferences, the vast majority of the american people, youre not only going to be fighting an uphill battle, but youll be fighting a losing battle. And it is not any surprise to me ive heard from sources inside the u. S. Government that aipac went to Benjamin Netanyahu before the deal was even being fought over in congress after got done, and they told him point blank, we dont have the votes to defeat it. The Prime Minister said, do it anyway. That speaks volumes about the significant blow that aipac has suffered and the fact that, frankly, theyre not representing the majority of views within the Jewish American diaspora because most Jewish Americans were staunchly in favor of using diplomacy and supporting this deal is the best way to ensure we dont have a war or an iranian bomb. As a pertains to Prime Minister netanyahu, unfortunately, because there is very little willingness on the part of u. S. Government officials, to a greater extent, western government officials outside the u. S. , very little willingness to hold the israeli Prime Minister accountable, frankly, for anything you does whether it is the palestinians, his insertion into american domestic policy, that iranian issue cnooc or issue. Because there is very little account ability, a lot of israelis dont see weather Prime Minister is doing is