>> hello, and welcome to aljazeera. i'm tony harris in new york, and our top story, inside of the capital, process, procedure and a looming government shutdown. new clues into the shooting at the washington navy yard. there has been a split in the rebel leadership in syria. and a powerful earthquake kills hundreds of people in pakistan. the senate has begun debate on the bill for partial government shut down in days. the senate voted unanimously to

start the debate on the bill already passed by the house. it would keep the government running until april 15th, but it would block money. now that the phase is underway on the bill passed by the house, what's next? >> okay, tony, stay with me here. at 2:40 washington time yesterday. ted cruz rose on the senate floor and began talking. he railed against obama scare. he had literary references, and he read from the dr. seuss classic, green eggs and ham, and from the declaration of independence. he talks through the night and to this morning, and boom, the gavel comes down, and there's a vote. it's a unanimous vote in favor of moving forward. and even ted cruz is voting for it. he's trying to get people on his side to vote against what's ultimately going to happen here.

harry reid has the votes to strip out the controversial provision that ties the defunding of the president's healthcare initiative to pass next tuesday. if you look at the clock here, it's going to go over to the house of representatives with perhaps hours to good before a government shutdown, and the house has a difficult decision to make. do they keep trying to strip out the obamacare funding or pass a clean, a continuing resolution, which funds the government until november 15th? today, jay carny, the spokesman, returned republicans against any more shenanigans. >> we don't have a lot of time. and instead of taking the road of compromise, the house republicans decided to, as everybody here wrote and said on television, embrace a cr that was dead on arrival

ideologically driven exercise. >> so it would was a procedural vote. and there are more procedural votes that could last through the weekend and even to sunday. and boom, harry reid puts the hammer down and then it's crunch time for the house. tony? >> okay, so just to be clear here. is there anything that republicans can do at this point to stop this train from moving forward? >> well, they can stick to their guns in the house, which would provoke a government shutdown. this debate, tony, which we saw on the senate floor was a long speech and it demonstrated, one, he and the conservative rivals joined together. rand paul and marco rubio, to talk about their distaste of the president's healthcare law. and then many called them the

establishment and the old guard who said this is crazy. we can't hold government funding hostage for the sake of defunding the president's healthcare law. >> thank you, and this was the second day of speeches at the u.n. general assembly, lots of wards of words. secretary of state, john kerry, met with the five members of the security council. and there's a draft agreement for resolution to rid syria of its chemical weapons. let's turn to john of the united nations, and that's something that everybody was anticipating, and a resolution, and you detail why. >> reporter: the point worth making is that the whole point of the united nations is that they do this work on the sidelines. that's why these leaders come here and make speeches and

televise some of them. there's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes. and that's really the point of why they have to come to the united states. but we're learning now that they're very close, tantalizingly los to dropping a security council resolution to turn an agreement between syria and the unite united united stae told by senior dep mats that they're not there yet. there will be a resolution soon so, we're looking at tomorrow, thursday or friday, and we are looking for the documentation to be presented. the u.n. has gone back into syria today. and they are there to pick up where they left off a couple of weeks ago, but they are likely to be the collectors of the chemical weapons stockpile as

they can. and that was what they talked about yesterday with secretary john kerry, so once again, it's another example for you, and they did business over lunch today. >> tomorrow will also be a big day. secretary kerry will meet with the iranian prime minister. >> they have not had a high-level meeting, certainly of this magnitude between the secretary of state of the united states, and the foreign minister of iran, so it's absolutely huge, because it follows president obama and president reaching out to each other. i can sell you that the news anchor here at aljazeera america has just spoken to tony blair,

and he's now the special representative of the quartet, russia, the united states, and the eu. and talking about it, he said it was an opportunity, but it would have to be tested. you can see that here on aljazeera eastern. >> john terry for us, thank you. in syria, 13 rebel groups say they don't recognize the syrian coalition, and this is a blow to the coalition. several members are in new york root now asking for the government's support in the assad regime. more on this from turkey on the civil war. >> it couldn't have come at a worse time. highlighting the disconnect and the opposition between the

syrian opposition. on the one hand, the politicians versus the rebels who are actually fighting on the ground. time and time again, the rebels on theround have express frusion, and the have extended support. and they are completely disassociating themselves from them, and they want to push ahead with the establishment of an islamic front to prevent in syria. a very terrible time for the international community, which has gathered at the united nations, of the assembly, trying to reach an agreement for the timing of the peace conference in geneva to bring together the syrian opposition and the syrian government. but with the rebels not recognizing the entity, there's a big question mark on who exactly will represent the opposition at the peace conference if it happens.

so once again, a big blow to the credibility of the syrian opposition. >> a year after the benghazi attack, the state department said that risks in security still exist. the deadly attack, libya was unbiased. but the state department said that the risk management and incomplete security recommendations, they do say that progress has been made since chris stevens and three other americans were killed in the benghazi attack. new details are emerging about the began man who opened fire at the navy yard earlier this month. no one knows why aaron alexis shot and killed 12 people and wounded several others, but they may have a clue. >> there are multiple indicators that alexis held a delusional belief that he was being controlled or influenced by extremely low frequency, or elf

electromagnetic waves. my elf weapon, the receiver of the remington shotgun is believed to have referenced these electromagnetic waves. >> the video was released of alexis driving a rental car into the parking garage, and then he went in to carry out the rampage. what we know about the rampage. >> silence before the chaos at the washington navy yard. the fbi has released this 31 second video of aaron alexis in the minutes before he started killing. this is alexisa the trigger of his remington shotgun. soon building 197 was filled with the police.

>> three were fired upon by the shooter. they returned fire and pulled the mpd officer to cover after he was shot. >> reporter: federal investigators released the video and photos of the crime scene ten days after the massacre. >> we have not determined there to be any previous relationship between alexis and any of the other victims. there's no indication that he targeted anyone that he worked for or with. we do not see anything as trying it. and we believe that his victims were random as he walked through the hallways and stairwells of building 197. >> investigators are still reviewing what they think happened next. 12 people good-byed down, four others seriously injured. a police officer killing alexis somewhere on the third floor. but they did find proof in

alexis' backpack, and on the guns and the receiver, indications of his mental state. stretched on the left side of the receiver, better off this way and my elf weapon. and that's not why he started shooting. so they have to do more work to give the families of the coworkers of those killed better answers. >> the legality of wire tapping by the nsa will ultimately be decided in court, according to supreme court justice, scallia. he said there were no provisions of wire tapping because they have not been granted privacy protection, but that has changed. and now it will end up in court. wire tapping by the nsa after edward snowden discussed classified details of u.s. programs! >> activists in montana aring it that a judge who sentenced a

former teacher to just one month in prison for raping a 14-year-old student, a formal complaint against judge g. todd baugh. and the judge is under fire for the remarks this he made during the trial, suggesting that the teenager was partly to blame. joining us from billings, montana, and paul, what are the specifics in the complaints against the judge? >> good evening, tony. i have a copy of the complaint right here. this is what was taken to the state jeweled i shall standards commission yesterday. and i'm going to read you some of the details. it's a fascinating document. and it doesn't happen very often in montana or anywhere else.

the group now submitted this petition. and they're asking judge baugh to be relieved from the bench for his misconduct in the handling and the speech about the rape case involving stacy randall. and they're asking for a mandatory education program for all judges in montana about sexual assault and what they're called victim blaming, relating to some of judge baugh's remarks. of as he refers to the teenager as being complicit, that she was as much in control of the situation. and she looks older than age. there's no age to consent for a boy or girl looking older than their age. here are a couple of the of violations that they allege judge baugh committed.

"a shog shall academy at all times in a way that promotes confidence in the judiciary. and also accusing him of race, sex and gender bias, in alleging that sherries morales is possibly in control of the situation. so tony, a long list here, a fascinating document. and we'll have to see how it plays out as it works its way through the commission how the montana supreme court decides how to handle what comes next. >> paul, appreciate it, thank you. >> . >> in pakistan, at least 327 people are dead, following a powerful earthquake. thousands more are injured. the 7.7 magnitude quake shook the southwest coast of pakistan. it was so powerful, it created a small island. and many houses have been destroyed. communication has been cut off to some of the hardest-hit areas.

>> the northeast has had beautiful fall weather. and the northwest, beautiful fall weather and warming temperatures, but it's the northwest and the southeast, two opposite ends of the united states, that have gotten all of our weather. you look at the southwest area, basically, a cold air mass tracking in from the north, and it has moved in, creating a significant difference in temperatures. in the last 24 hours, we have had almost a 30° cool down for parts of the west, including utah and washington and oregon. but if you look at albuquerque and denver and cheyenne, you've warmed up 30°. any time you see a difference in temperatures this big, this close, there's going to be trouble somewhere. we have watched for a pickup. and we have definitely had a

pickup in the wind. it has been a blustery evening in the southwest. gusting 40 miles per hour in las vegas in the last hour. and we'll continue with gusts 30-40 miles per hour until about 11:00 mountain time. and then you see the winds slowly finish, and then the cold air riding in. we were going to keep the advisories in place until midnight, but then i'm going to tell you about mountain snow. >> until now, the promise of cheap, clean energy has been unfulfilled. but a breakthrough discovery by ibm could change all of that. are you feeling richer? how americans are better off. that's next on aljazeera.

>> it is official, we're getting richer. how do you feel about that? the federal reserve said the net worth of all u.s. households jumped 6% in the first half of this year. that's an increase of more than 4 trillion dollars. and we'll be talking about that at the top of the hour, and ali, wow, what's going on? >> you don't want to hear. people never want to hear this, because it is the gain in the stock market that is behind the gain. people don't like investing in the stock market. and more than half of americans don't like it. but it has come up with the gain. some of it is the housing market, but it's the stock market. the s&p 500, if you've been invested in that, it's up 20%,

and we're only in september. i'm going to discuss at the end of the show what happens between now and the end of the year. but the fact is that stocks are accounting for a lot of the gain. >> but we still have an issue, very much in this country, of income inequality. and do affluent people tend to buy and own stocks? >> yes, that's the problem. and the fed says that we have an increase of $52 trillion, but 52% of americans don't have any stocks. and who do, a lot of it is passive investments. and not really in the stock market. so a lot of people don't feel the wealth effects. so while we're officially richer collectively, we're not. a lot of people can't afford to buy stocks, and they're just trying to make ends meet.

but those who feel cheated by the financial system, i get that. that's why when people tune in at 7:00, i'm going to tell you why you need to talk about this. >> didn't you write a book about this? >> nobody listens to me! >> i certainly remember one, i have a signed copy of it. >> i'll send you the second one. >> at the top of the hour. >> we're just two days away from the united nationsed submit focusing on global climate change. how nations are dealing with it. like system, 40

times largish, harnessing enough power for ten homes. put a row of those in a strip of desert, and you get a 10-megawatt power system, meeting the needs of a small town. and harnessing the power of 10 suns tends to get very hot.

here they cool the system with seawater, river water, even waste water, all freely available. having used the heat from the cells, the water evaporates, and it's so pure that you can drink it. >> that's pure, pure water. >> but not good for drinking. >> not good for drinking, but a small amount of sunlight. >> it's not too bad. >> getting my education, my understanding was that ecology and economy you need to make an economical compromise, and now the system allows to you make your own parallels. that's the great thing. as we make energy cheep cheaper, we can help to save the planet. and this doesn't cost economically a lot.

>> reporter: it's the culmination of eight years work for michelle, and what gave the world the technology, and bunt andsupplies of energy and clean water. >> and thursday, we'll take you to the deserts of namibia. folks are said to move their things 100 miles away to find food. michael is here, and america, did this really happen? >> it did happen. and it's the greatest comeback in american sports. it was the comeback of all comebacks. after only eight races, the u.s. rallies to win eight straight to beat new zealand and win the america's cup. it's the biggest comeback in the

50 plus year history of the sport. team usa on san francisco bay. and we'll have more from san francisco later on in the program. >> . >> after establishing himself as a premier player in the nba this last season, it could be worth $50 million, and more than that. 17 points and eight rebounds last season, and he was named the league's most improved player. an nfl player's association is looking into whether the raiders followed protocol after being knocked out of the game with a concussion. after being hit by bronco linebacker, wesy, he headed back into the locker room more coming up in 20 minutes.

>> construction equipment is moving through rocky mountain national park. and joining a massive highway rebuilding projects following the severe flooding in colorado. eight people died from the kassic flooding. and damage is $48 billion. 17 counties, 32 square miles in the state have flood damage. there has been a lot of talk. fascinating talk about peace at the united nations general assembly. that's the question in a we'll ask next on aljazeera. and health insurance, how much government plans will cost when they go into effect next week.

>> welcome back to aljazeera, i'm tony harris, and here are your headlines. the fbi has released videos of aaron alexis. voting to keep the government open. 327 people are dead in pakistan after an earthquake. the 7.7 earthquake was so strong that it created a small island off of the southwest coast of the country. it has been a fascinating few days at the united nations with a powerful speech by president barack obama, the iranian president. but we all know that there's a difference between the words that we hear from the leaders and the actions that follow. and that leads to the question.

what happens now? joining me is professor of global affairs here in the city. and professor, good to see you again. what are your thoughts on the iranian president? let's start there. hassan rouhani, is he offering more than cosmetic change? >> this is a guy that was popularly elected, and he's a reformer and he has some credibility. and not just that he's saying nice things to us. >> can i stop you there? we call him a reformer, and why is he thought of as a reformer? >> one thing, the first thing that iran did domestically, he released prisoners. and that's what constitutes

politically acceptable behavior within iran. so clearly, he believes that a certain easing up of political conformity inside of the country is necessary. and i don't think this is just to us, but it's real. and i think that he's responding to a clear, popular mandate in iran for a more open, more liberal posture toward the world. this is a country that has suffered tremendously from sanctions. >> and i want to get to that, but i want to take bits and pieces of the speeches that we heard yesterday. and i want to play some of them. so let's start with president obama. >> i don't believe his political history can be overcome overnight. the suspicions run too deep. but i do believe that if we can resolve the issue of iran's nuclear program, that can serve as a major step down a long road

toward a different relationship. one based on mutual interests, and mutual respect. >> professor, what did you think, generally speaking of the president's speech? >> it's a good thing. it's very pragmatic, very realist point of view. you want to talk to the audience and talk about the serious issues. if we can resolve the nuclear issue, additional things are possible. the priority is the nuclear issue. and he says, later in the speech, that the united states is not prepared to accept an iran with a nuclear weapon. and he has not one budged on tht bottom line. you have to wonder if he's committed to the use of force. but he has not changed his position on that one bit. >> and i want to take a moment here and listen to a portion of

president hassan rouhani's speech. >> i listened to the speech by president obama today in the general assembly. the political will of the leadership in the united states and hoping that they will refrain from following the shortsighted interests of warmongering pressure groups. we can arrive at a framework to manage our differences. >> okay, professor, true or false in your opinion, the sales, and money transfers have worked and have led to this change in tone. >> correct. >> you believe that? >> i believe that those sanctions, in the way they hurt the iranian population is part of the reason that he was

elected in the first place. and certainly, with the open conversations with us on the issues. >> one more piece of sound from israel's minister of intelligence. >> to comply, already existed with the resolutions, [ inaudible ] even this was not said in the speech. [ inaudible ] >> what do you think? >> he's correct. his country is very nervous about what is going to happen in these conversations. so this is a reminder to americans, and to the obama

administration, that rouhani has not given an inch, and neither has obama given an inch. it will be play. >> are you looking forward to tomorrow? and the meeting, with secretary kerry in the room with iran's foreign minister? >> nothing will happen in the brilliant light of publicity. but that is the group that will eventually sit down in private and start wrestling with these issues, and hopefully come up with a process in which there are mutual concessions on both sides, toward a successful outcome. but all of the hard work is yet to be done. >> has the u.s. decision, not to bomb syria at this moment,

created an opportunity for discussion here, and room for rouhani to deal with in a positive way the united states? >> i think that had obama gone ahead and bombed syria, either through his own authority or through congressional process, it probably would have been a cause in his opening. i think that the opening would have happened eventually anyway. the iranians are doing this for their own purpose. they're using the iraqi chemical weapons. but you may not have had the theater that surrounds this in the general assembly sessions but i think eventually, there's enough commonality of interests. >> professor, thank you for your

time. >> thank you. >> pleasure. the u.s. has become the 91st nation to sign onto the u.n. arms trade. john kerry signed it this afternoon, and it requires countries to control arms sales. but however, it upset many groups, including the nra. secretary kerry assured people of their lights to wear arms. >> this treaty will not diminish anyone's freedom. in fact, it recognizes the freedom of both individuals and states to obtain, posses and use arms for legitimate purposes. make no mistake, we would never think about supporting a treaty that is inconsistent with the rights of americans, the rights of american citizens to be able to exercise their guaranteed

rights under our constitution. >> france has it's own chemical weapons. but these bombs and shells are 100 years old, retrieved from world war i battle fields. jackie in france. >> reporter: the soldiers from the world war reenacts the trenches. this was the first modern war, which meant new weapons. and for the ordinary soldier the most terrifying weapon was gas. he survived. but he had health problems all of his life. his great grandson keeps his memories alive. >> he was traumatized by the gas, along with the corpses and the massacre, the daily horror. they had to become animals to survive. >> the earliest chemical attacks used teargas, but soon deadlier

gases were produced the. attacking the lungs and internal bleeding but what happened in france, hundreds of years later, shells with mustard gas have still being discovered in the countryside. and the facilities don't exist to make them safe. the stockpile from the old battlefield. and the more time passes, the more unstable they become. despitdespite the outrage over e of chemical weapons, historians say that they were largely ineffective from a military point of view. >> the impact of gas, there's no victory. we cannot tribute by using gas. in fact, the most important

ecological impact. >> france has to start managing weapons in 2015, a century after they were produced, which puts into perspective trying to destroy syria's stockpile. >> the complete introduction of it in 12 months, for me, is unrealistic. >> this is the legacy of chemical weapons. generations after a conflict, when old enemies are now friends, the danger lives on. jackie roland, aljazeera, northern france. >> beginning next week, the federal government will run new insurance markets in the united states. the first time the obama administration is releasing details of what the prices could be. policies come in gold, silver and platinum, including doctors visit, and drugs and stays.

second covers 70% of medical expenses, and it will cost individuals $378 a month, and the costs will vary widely. consider with an income of $54,000, can you see $600 a month in arizona to more than $1,000 in mississippi. earlier today, i spoke with sherry glee, dean of the new york university's wagner service. and here's what she had to say about the different coverage rates. >> these are the numbers at which the insurance companies are promising to sell them at october 1st. and they're credible. and they're plans that are going to be on the market. >> so are there any rates or any cost factors that we need to think about here that are not

necessarily included in the numbers. >> those are premium numbers that you pay for the plan, but you have to pay deductibles and cost sharing to go along with that. so this is not the amount that the family would spend on healthcare through the year, but the premium they would spend. >> we have been hearing a lot about cost variations, depending on where you live, and what explains that? >> there are many factors that affect the costs generally. even in the medicare program, there's about a two-fold difference in costs in the country. how much medical care people use, the prices of medical care in different parts of the country. how well negotiators are able to insure to the priders, and who is going to find out? >> do you have any concerns that the changes will be navigating the questions? >> i think that n most places,

they will be up and ready and ready to go. for sure, there will be minor glitches, new programs always have them. but i anticipate everything will go well. >> it will came dawn to one finally race. if team usa was able to win the k piment. >> and a peace activist and russian border dogs.

>> so mike, i asked you before, did this really happen. >> yogi berra said it ain't over

until it's over. and little did we know he was talking about yachting. we as americans love comebacks, and we can do both. yachting's most coveted prize, the america's cup. the americans came in as heavy favorites, and were racing on their open turf of san francisco bay but it didn't stop sweden from jumping out to the 8-1 lead. but the americans came back to win eight consecutive races, including the winner take all affair to keep the america's cup on american soil. in the biggest comeback in the 150 plus years in the history of the event. today's comeback had people thinking about the greatest comebacks in sports history, such as the toronto maple leafs coming back in '03 to win the stanley cup. and then the red sox over the

yankees in baseball. and now we can add team usa to the list with the dramatic comeback. joining me from france i san frs katie, and thank you for joining us. for novices to the sport of yachting, put into perspective how dramatic of a comeback it was. >> it's an incredible comeback. i don't know that i've seen anything like this in yacht racing. it's about playing well on that day. you have winds, water, and all kinds of things that actually come into play. so it's a long time with wind, and the mind, and technology development. so this comeback is extraordinary. it almost seems like they had a little help from somebody up there. >> early on, they had difficulties with being docked a

couple of points, and they fell behind. but making changes on the boat and the crew itself, how important those two moves were? >> well, certainly, when dillon came out of the box and won six races in a row, they knew they were off pace, and they had to make dramatic changes. and at that time, we saw unforced errors, which we know in sports can happen so easily. the pressure comes down, and it becomes do or die very quickly. and so those changes were dramatic. they put their science guys in the back, on high overdrive. what do we need to do to this boat in and they said okay, we need to change the way we make zigs. they brought in ben ansley. a multiple gold medalist from great britain, who is cool under pressure. and a top-notch sailor, but he

was not melding well with some of the decision, so they went for the big changes, and they could see they were going to lose otherwise. >> americans dominated the sport for some time. and back in the early 80s, it became a big story for america when america lost the cup and got it back. americans dominated, i would assume that want viewers have backed away from the sport. and do you think that this today, katie, can bring a lot more viewers and fans back to the sport of yachting? >> it's very interesting. the boats are phenomenal, and the technology amazing. but we only had three competitors trying to take on the u.s. so it certainly brought a lot of life blood into it. and a lot of eyeballs, and people are excited. but the cost is extraordinary,

there has to be a medal in there. so hopefully we'll see great technology, and hopefully a cost coming down to get more teams in from all over the world. and that would make it the best ever cup. >> everybody remembers the comeback, it was such a big of a hole and america retained the cup. but no one wants to be on the losing end of that comeback, and that's where team new zealand is right now, what do you think it would be like to be on the losing end of such an historical event? >> my heart breaks for them. this is going to be tough. any team that had that big of a lead to lose, and kudos for them to continue to fight every day. every day, they were fighting, and clearly, the changes made by oracle were too much to

overcome. they were in the finalists in in the 2007 cup. and i don't know what they're going to do. probably take a long break and see what they want to do next. you know, that country is only the population of l.a., here in america. so for them, this is a devastating loss, and it's going to be hard. >> katie, thank you for joining us and go enjoy the party. it's going to be a big one there in san francisco. >> thank you very much. >> tremendous effort. and katie pettibone, and she made history with the all-women's team. >> more on this tonight. and i can't wait to watch t. >> we'll cover it next year. >> let's do it, appreciate that. green peace, an environmental advocacy group,

they're at odds with the russian government. their ship, the arctic sunrise, was seized and the fate of its crew is uncertain. >> until now, the only film of last wednesday's protest of the oil rig has been green peace footage, but this new video, provided by the russian authorities, gives a dramatic new perspective, and raises questions about green peace's tactics. in choppy and dangerous water, the coast guard is trying to bring the two protesters down from the side of the platform, and the largest appears to be trying to push his way between the coast guard and the activists. the coast guard in orange clearly waves at the protester's boats to back away at a safe distance.

instead, the much larger green peace boat surges forward, and only then are the warning shots fired. it underlines the considerable danger faced by the activists, the coast guard officers, and the oil rig staff. >> they knew who we were, that we were entirely peaceful. and we were peaceful when we were putting them up, and things were more aggressive when the coast guard came in with knives, and tried to sink our boat and shot into the water. >> reporter: the cruel of the sunrise have been taken in to be questioned, allegedly on suspicion of piracy. but that specific charge is said to be dropped. not least because the russian president said on wednesday that a piracy always is not

appropriate. >> i don't know the exact details of what has happened of course, but it is absolutely evident that they are not pirates. formally though, they were trying to seize that platform. >> pro-ing a green peace group presents a dramatic situation for the russian authorities. release them quickly, and the activists may think they have won. but to detain them, it might put unwelcome attention on russia. green peace says that it was the russians who violated international law. in it the meantime, the crew from 18 nationalities are waiting to hear the prosecutor's next move. >> rebekah stevenson is up next with the forecast and then it is "real moneyy" with ali.

>> is it too late for you looking on the sidelines, and how obamacare is trying to make insurance affordable for small businesses, and the winds of change in texas. all that and more on "real money."

>> welcome to al jazeera. i'm tony harris. here are tonight' top stories. the senate took a step closer to passing th the measure. it will be taken by the senate again on senate. the showdown where the house still looms that could lead to a government shut down on octobe october 1. today lots of speeches at the u.n. general assembly. lots evelots of words from the d