report on activists murdered in the amazon? sadly, i think i know the answer to that question, but i can't bear to say it out loud. >> syrian president if asks u.s. to stop threatening strike if they want them to cooperate.

>> top u.n. and russian officials are trying to find answers to stop syrian war. secretarsecretary john kerry meh his russian counterpart, and mike viqueira is in washington. let's begin with phil. do rehave any idea how much ground the two men covered today? >> well, tony, apparently not an awful lot. al jazeera has been in contact with officials inside the state department shortly after the opening statement that were made here. they broke and went to dinner. they went and came back, but this is not going to be a full session. the first full day of talks will be tomorrow. given the atmosphere in that room during the opening statement this is going to be an

uphill battle for both sides. botthey both put out in their opening statements positions anything different from what they've been saying. there are a lot of issues to overcome, not least of which, even if they can come to an agreement on the u.n. resolution, how to implement it. >> phil, secretary of state kerry said that a military strike is very much on the table, and at the a possibility, correct? >> indeed, he did, yes. and for their part, the russians have come saying that the threat of military strikes need to be taken off of the agenda, but

secretary of state kerry is just saying not only to the russians but to damascus that unless that threat is there, there is very little incentive for the regime of bashar al-assad to come to the table. the russians and syrians say that da mas damascus will sign e convention against chemical weapons and that should be enough. the u.s. is saying no, that is not enough. we've seen what you've done and it was the assad regime mind the attacks. the u.s. is saying to the russians and damascus, we'll believe when we see the chemicals weapons, and not a moment before. >> are these meetings in anyway, shape or form coming in a way to end syria's civil war? >> that is on the table. that is being discussed. it is not immediately on the

agenda as far as getting anything more than a potential cease-fire so there could be teams send in by the u.n. to collect and presumably take out of the country those chemical weapons stock piles. but it has been floated this could be towards geneva two, that's in reference to a meeting last year in which there were negotiations on how to get all parties to the table, and maybe create some sort of coalition, but that is far down the road. right now we're solely talking about an u.n. resolution, and also joe his ticks analso logisd be implemented. >> the crisis in syria seems to be finding a new footing, and mike viqueira is from the white house, and mike, is the

president attempting a bit of a profipivot. >> washington is on pins and needles holding it's collective breath and with all eyes towards geneva during these negotiations for president obama at home to put a fine point on it, the president had a meet cabinet meeting where he talked about a number of domestic issues. meanwhile, the republicans battle among themselves on how best to approach the spending bills and how to defund obamacare. but all eyes are on syria to see how this works out. >> mike, is there a sense where you are at the white house?

that there is a clock ticking on the russians and assad to come to the table with a deal here? >> they're cognizant of syrians going on this. syria has let it be known that they want to follow the chemical weapons convention, which they now say they will adhere to, but they want that 30-day clock to tick. once they notify that they're going to adhere to the chemical convention there is a 30--day window that would open up to allow the syrians to account for all their weapons, and secretary kerry making it clear to jay carney at the white house today that that is unacceptable. we can't take anything the syrians say at face value. very cognizant ar the u.s. are r this, and skeptical if anything will come of this on capitol hill. >> mike viqueira at the white house for us. mike, thank you.

more than 2 million people have fled syria, and 500,000 went to jordan. 460,000 went to turkey, and others relocated to iraq and egypt. but the largest number of syrian refugees fled to lebanon. and for lebanon that means one person in seven is a syrian refugee. robert gray is there looking at the plight of syrians. >> reporter: a few miles from syria, anjar, lebanon is a beautiful part of the valley. but many who cross the border to live here are living in desperation. >> abo was a taxi driver in damascus. he said the syrian regime arrested him twice and threatened his wife and five children. seven months ago they left.

today they live in this makeshift tent city along with dozens of other families. there is no electricity here, food, water and clothing is scarce. resources are non-existent and they're not alone. there are many in places like this on the border of syria. >> they're fleeing the country, just here on the border because of the war. this is a hole dug so all the people here can have a toilet to go in. >> after months of heavy bomb, and fire fights, they left damascus. they said the children were so scared that all they do is cry all day long. >> i never thought we would nobody this situation. we built a new house. it was a very new, beautiful house, we had to leave and come. i don't know what will happen to us. >> roba and her family wer are

helping lebanese relief workers, but she worries without more help from the international community there is little home for these families to survive in these conditions, and the war raging on and the return to syria seems years away. >> they have nothing to wear, nowhere to go, n nothing to eat. come with very sick children. and it's really bad. it's a war. i mean, it is a war. >> this week the european union anointed the immediate release of $58 million in humanitarian i had to help the syrian refugees in lebanon, half of which are children. but more money will be needed to feed and care for the people, and lebanon is helping for more international assistance. with hundreds of thousands of more refugees expected in the

coming months, lebanon's government knows it cannot keep pace with the growing people, and it worries the demands of the influx will affect the stability of the country itself. >> now to colorado, which is struggling to deal with a staggering amount of rain up to a foot of rain has led to flash floods and mudslides in the boulder area. boy, look at these picks. the floods and mudslides have led to roads flooding and this dramatic rescue. this is a car after it fell, how many more of these pictures do we have, and many in communities have been told to leave their homes as rain continues to fall. as we often see in times of real distress, neighbors come from everywhere to help neighbors.

the story is no different in colorado. tamara has been living through significant flooding right now. tamara, first where are you, and i assume help is coming from everywhere at this point. >> yes, help is coming from everywhere. certainly not from the skies. about 15 or 20 minutes ago, tony, i thought the rains were letting up, but as you can tell it they are as heavy they have been overnight. folks behind me have been working really hard. the community is pulling together to help each other out. to take a look at video shot a little bit go, college students and neighbors in the community and folks from the other side of the city of boulder have come out. they're here with their shovels and bags and putting up boards doing everything they can. they're not waiting for emergency crews to help them. they're helping each other out. the rain continues to be just a huge deluge, torrential rain, but people said they're going to do everything they can to help

out their neighbors. >> all the fellow boulder-ites coming out to help. it's going to be an okay day. >> team morning everything is trying to help out the poor residents living on the bottom floor. >> we saw people out here and they were starting to flood. we thought rather than sit inside we would come out and help. >> yes, that's really great, not to just sit inside and have a cup of tea. she's helping her neighbors being flooded. there is a community that is isolated with the floods. now all this area is covered by the boulder county sheriff department. as much as they prepare, this is hard to prepare for. >> this is not your ordinary day. it is not your ordinary disast disaster. and all the preparation in the

world, all the want-to in the world can't put people up those canyons while those walls of water and debris are coming down. >> now, we have very--this is very unusual flooding for us. the ground is completely saturated. also all of the trees in boulder county are impacted by the flood waters to go. it's truly incredible. >> your microphone is going out in and out a bit, but we'll try it. what are the calls of evacuations in the area? >> so the evacuation situation is a little dicey. we heard the sirens blaring to warn us that a big wall of water is coming.

we haven't seen it yet. it's difficult to get people out and evacuated. it can be dangerous. most often when people are killed in floods they're trapped in their cars. emergency crews are careful about which areas they want evacuated and how. >> these pictures are just devastating. look at all the water, and we're back on the pictures of the. rescue effort there from earlier. just dramatic scenes playing out in boulder. we want to get an update on that area. dave? >> yes, the biggest concern there is the terrain and how fast the water is moving. that's because all this moisture is being squeezed out in the rockies. we is need this area of low pressure to lift. before that does you have this wind that flows east, and along the east range of the rockies

and it squeezes all the moisture out. you can see the rain in the past 12 hours it was southeast but now it's starting to turn a little bit and that storm moves to the north. still as this moisture hits to the rockies a lot of rain in that same area. this does not move over 12 hours. we're talking about at least six inches of rain or more in a 24-hour period. that's the bull's-eye there over boulder. this will start to lift, but in the meantime flash flood watches and warning will continue for the area tonight and tomorrow. eventually, though, should see several, but not too soon, unfortunately. >> joining me now from an evacuation center in boulder, colorado, is chip frye, a public affairs representative, we heard from the sheriff from boulder county who said this is not an ordinary day, not an ordinary

disaster. how would you describe what your teams are responding to right now. >> it is really a surprise. i don't remember in the history of living in colorado my entire life anything like this. as you heard in the forecast, very severe heavy rains and our concerns are very deep right now. >> how many people are you providing for and what are you expecting later in the day? >> that's a good question. we're not exactly sure what to expect. we just heard from colorado university, the campus here, they're evacuating two towers that are about a thousand students. that's a possibility that those kids could be arriving in our shelter. we're uncertain because of the large flood plain in downtown boulder home people will have is to evacuate their homes and how severe this will become. we've served 200 people today. we had 40 people in the shelter last night and we're expecting

250 this evening, and we're prepared to possibly open other shoulders if necessary. >> have you been given any idea from the local meteorologist how long you'll be in this type of crisis state? how long this weather event, this rain system will hang over the area? >> we're not certain. it's not moving hardly at all as you heard. we're preparing for at least two to three more days that we will be providing shelter, but we're available to stay as long as we need. >> thank you for your time. on short notice. chip fryes from the bubble affairs office from the red cross, he is handling the situation in boulder, colorado. we showed you the videos, and it's a desperate, dire situation for sure. while the world is watching syria, north korea is busy. a california city tries to help upside down homeowners. we'll look at richmond's

controversial plan.

>> welcome back to the headlines of ange al jazeera. secretary of state john kerry and russian's foreign minister met in geneva looking for a way for syria to handle its chemical weapons. kerry said the u.s.' military strike option is very much on the table. the government announced the extension today of an state of emergency started in august and only was supposed to last a month. it happened after hundreds of people were killed in clashes between supporters and opponents

of ousted president mohamed morsi. and the u.s. research institute has been studying satellite images. >> reporter: a cooling tower was destroyed by the north korean government to comply with an aide. but in april the north said they would restart the reactor. now research at johns hopkins university say satellite pictures shows team from buildings that houses turbines and generators. >> they're building up their nuclear capability. part that have means increasing their stock pile of nuclear weapons. part of it means trying to perfect their means of delivery through construction projects at this main site that are probably

in preparation for future tests. >> reporter: russian's interfact news agency said an diplomatic source describes the reactor to be in a nightmare-ish state, and it says that it's obvious that some works are being conducted. producing plutomium. >> north korea will not give up building nuclear development. >> reporter: u.s. representative for north korea policy arrived in tokyo on a regional tour to discuss policy. this may put pressure on u.s. government for an aid for the

north korea government. they have been stalled since 2009. bernard smith, al jazeera. >> so there is more positive news about the recovery in the housing market. foreclosure activity is at an eight-year low. only 56,000 homes entered the foreclosure process last month. that's a decline of 44% from august 20202021. sales of tablet computers are set to outweighs pc and laptop sales. isales will surpass the more traditional computer. michael dell is taking back the company that he founded, dell shareholders voted for a buyout for his partners and he said the

company is worth more than the 13.8 a share buyout price. okay, ross is here with a look at the headlines. >> reporter: corruption in college football. >> no, really? >> reporter: earlier in the week "sports illustrated" alleged that oklahoma state was paying their players among others things. now yahoo sports are reporting that agents used alabama player as a run for distribute money to buy five scc players. receiving $45,000. now alabama said they're investigating this matter as a prep for saturday's monster showdown against johnny manziel and texas a&m. the new york jets and mark sánchez needs to undergo surgery

on his throwing shoulder. they're deciding whether to do it now or after the season. sánchez guaranteed $8.2 million this season and scheduled to receive another $11 million next season. won't they release him? stay do you know. and finally it will be rocking in seattle on sunday night showdown against the 4ers. in order to control the crowd seattle is planning to hire undercover cops that will be wearing 49 gear. the seahawks are telling everyone that undercover police will be wearing 49ers gear. so i'm not sure that they're undercover. >> it is getting harder to see a doctor these days. the u.s. will face a shortage of 90,000 primary care physicians by 2020. so some patients are finding a way to deal with it.

>> reporter: one-week-old isaiah is having his first checkup. he and his mom are far from alone. this is a group checkup for newborns. welcome to the world of shared medical appointments or as smas. >> i feel well. i actually feel very comfortable, and i learn a lot because there were other moms like me with more questions. >> reporter: these group sessions are a possible answer to the national doctor shortage. here they include one-on-one examines, but the concerns and questions raised by the parents lead to group discussions. zamora was concerned she wasn't producing enough milk because her son seemed hungry all the time the doctor explained what she's going through is normal. and one bonus from the group appointments a lot of moms get the same assure glans a lot of

problems have been solved and a lot of guidance has been given them. >> reporter: when this started six years ago the doctor said not all the patients were on board with it and they didn't ask a lot of questions. but that's not the problem any more. >> these are the same parents. they're going to have the same problems. it looks like a support group for them. >> reporter: group appointments are voluntary, but easier to get than traditional one-on-one visits. medical insurance and medicaid covers them, and the doctor said instead of seeing four patients an hour, she can see up to 15 in a group setting. this might help texas cope with one of the worst doctor shortages in the country. according to the texas medical association, texas has 43,000

doctors for 23 million people. but the share medical appointments make sense providing them with group support and quality medical care. >> a california city plans to buy underwater mortgages. it is a plan to help homeowner necessary richmond, but it is not without controversy. we'll explain why.

>> welcome back. i'm tony harris. we're following a bit of breaking nuts for you out of seaside park, new jersey. let's take a look at these pictures. we understand that an ice scream stand caught fire and led to this inferno. clearly it is threatening other buildings next to it in the vicinity. boy, this is more than an ice cream stand on fire, as you can tell. that is a big blaze. a portion of the boardwalk was damaged during super storm sandy. this is exact same area. you can see that the flames are massive right now. this is cores ice cream on the

seaside boardwalk. and we understand that residents are being treated for ai various situations maybe smoke inhalations. other stories right now. secretary of state kerry and russian foreign minister meeting today. and syria's president bashar al-assad is telling the u.s. to stop threatening his country. he said they won't canned hand overwhelm weapons if the u.s. continues talking about military strikes. and flooding in boulder,

colorado. receiving documents from the assad regime joining the chemical convention. what does this new document mean? >> well, they got the letter now from the united nations from syria requesting that it joins the convention for the prohibition of the use of chemical weapons. that's the convention that nearly every country in the world has signed. syria is one of the few that hasn't signed. syria said by sending that letter and their ambassador spoke in the u.s. just moments ago they're now a member of the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons. you would think that everyone in the world given most nations are trying to get syria's chemical weapons under international control, but i think there is a problem with this. there is a procedure with this international organization.

it is not technically part of the u.n. that looks at the issue of chemical weapons. their normal procedure is if you decide to join you then have 30 days in which to list all your chemical weapons to come up with an inventory of the stocks and missiles, rockets, factory where they're produced and playse plas they're stock piled. that's part of the discussion going on there between the u.s. and russia. we have an idea, i think, tony, of what the western nations want because there is a draft resolution floating around. we had a first draft 24 hours ago drawn up by the french. after that they're working with their u.s. and u.k. colleagues. this draft gives the syrian government if this was a resolution, it was passed just 72 hours to come up with this list. i think these timelines are

important. the western nations are so worried that syria is going to use this whole process to stop bombing and just stall and stall and stall for months on end. >> our diploma diplomatic he dis good to talk to you. and now going to codirector of notre dame's national security program. professor, what are your thoughts? there are real concerns that the process at the u.n. at least is going to be a game of cat and mouse and stalling. >> well, it's going to be a complicated process, tony. even assuming good will on all sides. and of course assuming good will on the side of the syrian government is probably not a good assumption to make. i think there will be a lot of details that will have to be worked out, but i'm guessing the

syrian government will be fairly responsive in terms of admitting to its arsenal in trying to account for it as best as it can. i think the problem isn't going to be the pieces of paper. the problem is the fact that on the ground the chemical weapons are pretty widely dispersed among the syrian military. i'm not sure they can account for everything that they'll put on a piece of paper. >> professor, that's interesting. why is that? i'm assuming, and maybe naively assuming, are you saying that assad is not in control? he does not know where all his stock piles are located inside the country? >> i think what they've done is disperse part of the arsenal engaged in combat, and think dispersed in anticipation of the western strike. that would be prudent thing to

do given the circumstances in that country over the past two years, and particularly in the last month. but i also think there's real questions about just how firm the chain of command is within the syrian government at this point. >> okay, all right, that seems more of the point that i'm taking from you're certification. you also believe there is a possibility that some of these agents might have ended up, might be in the hands right now of the rebels? >> well, there's evidence from the united nations that at least a couple of the previous suspe suspected chemical attacks likely were not perpetrated by the syrian government. and were probably the result of rebel activity. so i think--there is some probability that the rebels have some limited capability whether

it was captured syrian government stocks, whether it's been manufactured, or whether it's been supplied to them from outside. remember, there are countries, other countries in the region particularly libya that had pretty extensive stocks that may be the source of any chemical weapons on the rebel side. >> professor, we appreciate your time. professor desch joining us from south bend, indiana. thank you for your time. >> a victory for one small city in california trying to help its struggling homeowners. judge won't stop richmond from pushing ahead to purchase under water mortgages through eminent

domaiimmanentdemain. several big banks sued to stop the purchase. what is happening today, explain how richmond is using or attempting to use immanent domain and how it works? >> basically what the city is trying to do is try to purchase 624 underwater mortgages that are locked in trust that makes it extremely difficult for the underwater homeowner to negotiate any production. this will allow the homeowners to refinance with cheaper loans, give them equity in their houses and key here, more money in their pockets to pump into the economy and lift the whole city up. the richmond has called on the banks to sell these mortgages voluntarily. there "f" not thif not, the cito

purchase these mortgages under imminent domain. >> so what is the latest development. >> the latest development happened in federal court. the judge said that it's lawsuit is premature. the city has not done anything through imminent domain. now this moves to monday where the judge will decide to follow through with the lawsuit. this is working class minority city that was hit very, very hard by the housing crash. and today it has yet to crawl out of that hole. more than 40%. more than 40% of homeowners with mortgages in richmond owe more on their houses than they're currently worth. >> you're going to follow this

for us? >> absolutely. >> that's an important story to follow. we're going update you on our story out of seaside boardwalk in new jersey. an ice cream stand caught fire and it quickly spread to other locations along the board walk. this is an area threatened by super storm sandy. the ice cream store that started fire is cores ice cream, and it is fully involve as you can see, and it has been since that time. several firefighters residents of that area are being treated at the scene for smoke inhalation. the cause of the fire still very much under investigation, but it will take a bit. first things first. that fire has to be put out, and the wind, as you can imagine, are carrying some of those embers, so this is a very

dangerous situation. we'll keep an eye on it and keep you updated as we get additional information. >> a vaccine effectively eradicates the hiv virus in monkeys. that virus is different from the human strain but it could be a promising development. we have more. >> reporter: monkeys are susceptible to a rivus called siv. it's the same virus in which h.i.v. is thought to originate. and in open of fighting an vaccine, researchers infected 15 monkeys, and making it ready to fight the siv virus. they have infected the monkeys in siv and saw encouraging results in half of the animals. >> it had moved about in various parts of the body at low level,

but it was subsequently cleared. so that by two years later, three years later, the monkeys look like normal monkeys and there is no evidence even with the most sensitive tests of the siv still being there. >> hiv patient timothy brown was declared effectively clear of h.i.v. after a bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia. and researchers are focused on developing a vaccine. >> we might be able to use this vaccine either to prevent infection or when people get it, to have that infection cleared or potentially to apply it to individuals who already infected, who are on therapy. "t" might well work to help clear their infections ultimately they can go off the drugs. >> the researchers have already started working on a human trial vaccine.

they have test it in the next two years. the h.i.v. virus may have originally come from monkeys. now the monkeys are playing a crucial role in the hunt for its cure. >> it is a condition that's been affecting women for centuries. now new hope for many suffering from so-called male menopause. and th

>> ross is here with sports for the nfl. >> thursday has become big. throw a back thursday, tank top thursday for you. how about thursday night

football. the home opener and geno smith and the jets. what can we expect? we go to our nfl insider to discuss that to the topic as >> i think he has zero chance of getting the fine reduced, and i think he's awfully lucky he didn't get his second career suspension. this is his sixth fine over four seasons. he's just a repeat offender. he has got to stop. he got the captainship this year, and they expect him to be better than that. he's great player on the field but he has to quit being a dirty player on the field. >> with tonight's thursday night showdown tom brady and the patriots hosting the jets and their quarterback geno smith. from your standpoint, what is the most intriguing storyline about this matchup tonight? >> well, i do think you have to look at the quarterbacks. i think it was two years ago

that that gisele made the infams remark that tom brady cannot throw the ball to himself. but he may have to do that tonight. he lost a lot of his weapons even before the season started. he'll have to have guys step up. julian he ha he edleson and ridl have to come back from a fumble benching, they've got a lot of problems on the patriot's side. but the jets are excitedded from what they've seen from geno smith. they have not been excited since four years ago when mark sánchez made his debut against texas. this will be a huge test for smith and the new york jets tonight. >> his first division game and it was on the road. this past monday robert griffin

iii looked like a pre-season rather than the regular opener. rg 3's repaired knee or the defense who were shredded by the eagles. >> two things that did he last year was high completion percentage. he was fourth in the nfl last season. he didn't do that. and then the turnovers he had two in his first 14 throws the other night. so they have to get him fixed. >> you have an interesting article coming out tomorrow by johnny manziel's future as nfl quarterback. do you think he will he a be as effective at the pro level as he has been in college? >> he's an interesting prospect. there are only two guys drafted

iunder 6'2", and the concerns ae obvious about johnny manziel. we talk about his size and his arm strength, and off field issues. he'll have to address those if and when he comes out. many expect him to come out this season, and i think he's going to. doug flutie said he sees a lot of himself in johnny manziel and expects he'll have a great pro career. we'll hear a lot about johnny manziel, maybe as soon as next year. >> you heard about geno smith and far as mark sánchez, that's another story. he will have to undergo shoulder surgery. but they cannot decide whether to do that now or at the end of the season. the jets are submitted to smith, the big question is will they

release him? in other football, the americans are not the only ones celebrating a soccer victory. we have the story. >> reporter: for once gunshots in kabul were fired in celebration. afghanistan's international football cup victory brought thousands on to the streets on wednesday night. the nation's team defeated india 2-0 in the final championship in katmandu, and the party started in kabul immediately. after years of violence the police force were happy to let these fans take over the streets. the next day they were still partying. >> in afghanistan after 30 years of war this is a small happiness. we're so happy to celebrate. >> this is the first time ever afghanistan has won a major football tournament. during the taliban they were allowed to play but not on an international level.

the partying could go on for days. >> this was the biggest show of unity in years, and afghans are proud their country is making headlines for the right reason. >> it shows to the world that afghans are not after war. they're not only warriors. this is a peaceful message to the world through sports. [ cheering ] >> afghans have not had much to celebrate for decades. these parties will end, but for the next generation sport has provided more than a distraction from war. it has given them inspiration for the future. jane ferguson, al jazeera, kabul, afghanistan. >> the mexican national soccer team has changed coaches again after losing to the united states. they have named their third head coach in past five days. that's the outside looking in at the world cup. >> do not buy a house to that guy. low testosterone may not be

the problem for men going through so-called male menopause. have you heard of this? new research suggests that men receiving testosterone treatment may also need more of the female hormones trojan. low estrogen levels corresponding to weight gain and low sex drive, and low energy in middle age men. americans getting a piece of the american dream. immigrants buying houses for their families and pumping up home prices. i'm dave warren. we have a lot of activity on the radar. survivor weathesevere weather it and flooding in colorado. see what it all means with the break down of the national forecast coming up. ç]

>> so let's give you an update on the breaking out of seaside park, new jersey. you can see it for yourself. look at those flames. an ice cream stand caught fire and spread to go other locations on the boardwalk. this is an area, it was just rebuilt following super storm sandy. the ice cream stand that caught fire is khors ice cream, i'm sure many are familiar with it.

it started and has been fully involved ever since. many firefighters and residents have been treated for smoke inhalation. for some owning a home is part of the american dream. one that has been hard to achieve. reports of our immigrants have been helping to sustain the housing market. >> home buyers wanted a piece of the american dream but couldn't afford it. >> i used to rent just like everybody else, and then as my family was growing i needed a bigger place to live. >> originally from ecuador he immigrated to the united states in the early 1990s. after years of hard work the shh-year-old father of two and his wife finally bought a two-bedroom home. but it was a struggle. since the housing crisis unfolded the path to homeownership has become

increasingly complex. without a significant down payment, good credit and steady income many immigrants have had a difficult time securing a mortgage. victor found help from a project that helps immigrants to become homeowners through financial guidance and government loans. >> we're helping-- >> looking at 40 years of census data, immigrant homeownership has been sustaining the u.s. >> adding up to tens of thousands of dollars to the value of the home own in cities. >> homeownership has pumped $3.7 trillion, stabilizing areas as long-term residents moved out. in the chicago area since 1970 while 900 residents moved out,

600 immigrants moved in. >> try to imagine chicago with 600,000 of its residents gone. the city would have a lot more troubles in a lot of its neighborhoods experiencing urban decay that you associate with a city like detroit. chicago is doing better. >> reporter: researchers point out less affordable housing options in areas where the cost of live something already high. for victor, finding a house that fit his budget was key to finally creating a better life for his family. >> this is a dream come true. basically owning a home, it is part of the american dream, and i'm glad now that i have a home. >> a foundation for his family and a life well lived. al jazeera, chicago. >> how about this. there is a new health campaign from the first lady, and this time it's about drinking water. lots of it. michelle obama's drink up initiative is to encourage

americans not only--is that shaq? not only to exercise, but to drink at least one more glass of water a day. it's another way to discourage people from consuming sugar beverages and fighting obesity at the same time. >> and we're looking at on the radar. we have severe weather on the northeast and flooding in colorado. this national view this line connects all this flooding in the southwest and the storm popping up in the northeast. and its sagging south. this is a big change in weather we're talking about temperature-wise from chicago east. 79 in chicago now, and minneapolis, 73. but this line drops south and clears up behind it. it has this cooler air moving in, and temperatures have dropped. you can see how it has dropped considerably from indianapolis,

chicago, and this cooler air will continue to spread east. not here yet, if you're in the northeastern states dealing not only with rain but severe thunderstorm weather, the severe thunderstorm watch through this area up through the new england states, that's for the next few hours. strong and severe storms will be moving through the area. but once they're through it will be cooling off. comfortable weather sunday, monday and tuesday. the rain now will not be here for long. it's followed by cooler air. the radar showing that they are still getting a lot of rain in the front range of the rockies flooding conditions from denver all the way up to the border of wyoming because of all this moisture coming in and hitting the front range of the rockies leading to flash flooding warnings remain in affect. that's your weather.

this is al jazeera, i'm tony harris. here are the headlines at that hour. diplomacy at work in geneva, secretary of state john kerry and russia's foreign minister met today. kerry said the military strike option is still very much on the table for the united states. assad is saying stop threatening his country. he said he won't talk about a chemical weapons hand