>> a chaotic car chase puts the u.s. capitol on lock down, the women behind the wheel is dead. authorities are trying to determine what drove her to do did. with no end in sight to the government shutdown, president obama cancels a trip to asia saying he needs to stay home to deal with the ongoing crisis. the gulf is gearing up as tropical storm karen free pairs to make lands fall in weekend. ♪ ♪ >> welcome to al jazerra america, i am richelle caray from new york. investment are are trying to figure out what cause addressee woman to go on a wild chase in

the nation's capitol with a toddler inside the car. the 3040-year-olthe 34-year-oldo force her way i don't understand a barricade. >> reporter: it start billion dollar a woman ram aid black sedan in to barricades outside the white house, when a second set of barriers blocked her she turned the car around, setting off a chase toward the capitol. less than two miles away. >> i was walking down first street and contusion and saw a dark, two-door coupe go by at extremely high speed. eastbound on contusion avenue, pursued by numerous police cars. headed up the road. they stopped at second street and constitution at which point more cop -- more police cars arrived. several shots were fired and the police ushered us way from the

corner. >> reporter: witnesses say police vehicles pinned in the black car and officer opened fire. shooting the driver to death. >> we have no information that this is related to tea terrorisr is anything other than an isolated incidents. >> reporter: in the car was a within-year-old child police say are safe. in officers were injured but are said to be in good conditions. the police shutdown senate and house office buildings, law makers and their staff were told to stay put. cortourists ran for cover. >> i kind of dropped to my knees and everybody started -- i looked for to my house, like where do we go? >> reporter: representative juan vargas was talking towards the capital when a police officer walked toward him and stopped him. >> i showed my identification and he goes take your pin off. i said okay, you could be a target. >> reporter: it happened two weeks after a gunman shot and killed 12 people at washington navy yard about a mile away from

the capitol. >> i am like what's going on right now. i'm just like it's shock to go me that so many things have happened that washington, d.c., like the navy shootings. yeah. and now this. i am just like wondering what is with these people. >> reporter: authorities have not said whether the driver was armed and they are looking in to her motives. business has returned to normal on capitol hill and at the white house, but with the heightened sense of awareness after the day's dramatic chase, libby casey, al jazerra capitol hill. >> the house reconvened later in the offense with a brief moment of silence to honor the capitol police officers injured in the incidents of the now to the government shutdown which is in its fourth day, president obama has canceled plans to travel to asia next week. saying he needs to stay home to deal with this ongoing situation in the washington. mike viqueira has more on the shutdown from the white howls >> reporter: the president was trying accomplish two things, first he wanted to warn of the ripple effects in the economy if

the shutdown continues much longer. its affect on his small business loans, the construction company in okayville a beneficiary of those loans he wanted to warn of the ripple effect those companies depend on federal salaries, 800,000 federal workers furloughed right now. the second thing the president wanted to do was to put pressure on house speaker john boehner to isolate him to try to force him to allow a vote on the house floor. that would allow that bill that funds the government just for another five weeks on the floor for a vote with no strings attached. >> it should be that simple. but as i said the problem we've got, is that there is one faction of one party in one half of one branch of government that iso far has a refuse today refuw the yes or no vote unless they get concessions in exchange for doing what they are supposed to

do anyway. >> reporter: john boehner has nod caved to the pressure. they have adopted a stra*t i didn'tstrategyputting smaller be floor, put democrats on the spot. keeping parks open, museums open, the world war ii open for that matter. here is eric canter on the floor. >> we must fix and restore the american people's faith in our economy and their trust in government. especially before we reach our debt limit deadline in a week or so. it's time for the president and senate democrats to put partisanship aside and sit down at a table so we can work out our differences. >> reporter: and we also had this question of the debt ceiling, october 17th congress has to vote to raise it or risk default of the country's credit. there is talk now that the shutdown will bleed in to that. and also talk on the hill that john boehner is going to defy republicans on that one. his core base of republicans and

allowing a clean vote. so a lot of moving parts here but no visible movement at least not publicly. back to you. >> mike viqueira reporting there. with the government shutdown drag on the ground there is another potentially more devastating economic deadline looming the nation will hit the debt controling in two weeks if congress doesn't act the government won't able to pay its bills. treasury secretary says it could affect every american in a usa today op he had he wrote how could we possibly decide amongst supporting our veterans, maintaining food assistance to children in need or sending medicare payments to hospitals. the u.s. has met its local games for morobligationfor his 200 yea nation that keeps it's word a furlough of epa workers means that water safety tes testing hs been suspended. here is what that means. >> reporter: the great lakes hold 20% of the world's fresh water. safe garring them is the job of

the epa: 900 of the agency's 16,000 employees neighborhood wide are working. >> those people may not seem venture shall to people with a political agenda, we want to be comfortable knowing that pollution is being held in check, our water is safe, our food is safe. that there are people with real knowledge and real engagement looking out for the public welfare, that's what's being lost in all of this. >> reporter: in chicago, fewer than 60 of the 1200epa staffers are still on the job. because as the agency shutdown plan puts it, their absence would pled thr*et end th threatf human life or the protection the property. safety testing, water soil and sediment has been suspendedment trips at that hazardous waste clean upsides and citizen complaints about possible violations. main concern is potential risks to public safety that maya rise directly because of the furloughs. plaintiffs exhibit chemical spills or drinking water

contamination. those have happened before. the 2010 pipe accident still 1.1 million gallons of crude oil in to a michigan creek. epa union leader warns mobilizing first responders would be delayed. >> that's not going to happen overnight. people are at home. you have to call them back in, you have to power the agency back up. that will take days. over days, a lot of pollution, a lot of harm can be done. >> reporter: not everyone sees the value. republican representative marsha blackburn tweet third degree week there is some good news out of the shutdown, the epa can't issue new regulations. o'grady argues these regulations are in place to safeguard the public and right now, nobody is on watch. >> we do that through regulations and people being out in the fieldin specting wetlands, inspecting treatment plants, inspecting discharges. if we are not out there, who is? >> reporter: the best case scenario environmentalists say is that the lapse in oversight

will be brief and uneventful. worst case is something nobody wants to think about. al jazerra, chicago. >> major companies with big government contracts say the shutdown is affecting operations and may force them to cut jobs, both says it could delay delivery of some 787 dream liner jets because faa officials who sign off on the planes have been furloughed. united technologies warns it could 75,000 workers home if no agreement is reached by november. the company makes helicopters and engines for the military. the shutdown is also drying up many for pa millions of low income single month nevers trying to buy food for their kids, in the health department in newark, new jersey people are already being turned away. >> reporter: she is a single working mother with two children, she counts on food vouchers for wic the federal women infants and children program. >> i rely on the milk a lot just because it's really expensive. >> reporter: when she walked in to the wic sent never newark,

new jersey, they couldn't give her any vouchers. >> it's hard being a single parent and working a job and not having enough just to get by. so you kind of depend on those just to, you know, feed them and stuff that way. but it's a shame that i can't even do anything until all of this is resolved. >> reporter: with two children to feed, perez hopes that's soon. here in new jersey, 172,000 moms and children rely on wic. nationwide, that number is nearly 9 million. other states like individual are fair better, single moms there shouldn't have to wore. >> i we are monitoring every day. we have funds leftover from federal '13, federal fiscal year '13 that they were continuing to use. >> reporter: that's good news for soon to be mom jennifer who gets $80 a month for groceries. >> it makes me relieved that at least somebody in the government somewhere is thinking of people that rely on these benefits.

>> reporter: the u.s. department of ago tull are culture says the wic program has $125 million contingency funds. but if a shutdown goes late in to the, even that will be gone. al jazerra, newark, new jersey. >> two more agencies being impacted by the shutdown, the national hurricane center, and the federal emergency management agency. of course that's fema. workers have been furloughed at both. that could be a major problem with a new tropical storm system named karen bearing down on the gulf of mexico, the white house says that means some federal workers are now back on the job. >> field uh-huhs recalled employees as they prepare for landfall for tropical storm karen. >> tropical storm warnings in effect from louisiana to florida, mississippi is expected to start feeling the winds as early as friday.

♪ ♪ >> meteorologist: i am peteology davmeteorologist dave warren the is tropical storm karen, little area of thunderstorms around the certainty not that argued but not showing any signs of weakening a bit. so they have the latest information coming in. and the track does actually forecast this to strengthen just a bit. that's all it needs to go to a category one hurricane. minimal hurricane as it moves north. forecasted to turn to the northeast, but impact the gulf coast here anywhere from louisiana to florida, the forecasts have been coming in over alabama, mississippi or the tip of louisiana could see the storm moving overhead by saturday afternoon and evening and sunday. it will be weakening overland. wind goes from 70 miles an hour down to 45 miles an hour. that will be saturday night. trop catropical storm warnings d watches in that area for this weekend saturday to sunday. now, over the next few hours

here overnight, thursday to friday morning we'll see a storm really intensify with some very cold air, we have blizzard warning asks winter storm warnings in effect a foot of snow possible with gusty wind creating blizzard conditions there in the northern plains temperatures this afternoon up in to the 80s but much cooler to the northwest and they will stay that way here in minneapolis as that storm tracks to the south. 60s with rain coming down friday, saturday, and sunday. little warmer in chicago, but that warm air leads to thunderstorms friday and saturday. then that storm moves through and dries things out, cools it off on sunday. monday and tuesday temperatures right boo about 70 degrees, the remnants of karen could interact with that front and bring heavy rain to new york on monday. that is your national forecast. >> tragedy off the coast of italy. dozens lose their lives after a ship catches fire and capsizes. here is something to tweet about. one of the world's most popular social media sites is one step closer to taking the company public.

what happens when social media uncovers unheard, fascinating news stories? >>they share it on the stream. >>social media isn't an afterthought. it drives discussion across america. >>al jazeera america social media community, on tv and online. >>this is your outlet for those conversations. >>post, upload, and interact. >>every night, share undiscovered stories. come, it is here. >> yes, let the games begin. he is fighting for his baseball life and some $46 million. a-rod and all of his attorneys were there fighting his 211-game suspension. the hearing is expected to last less than five days, after that the group will decide to uphold, reduce, or overturn the suspension.

if the suspension is upheld, rodriguez would lose some $32 million in salary, and he wouldn't be back on the field until he is 40 years old. the big story tonight, people, the rays will be taking on the rangers in a tiebreaker in arlington, so we decided to bring in our mlb columnist rob parker. [[voiceover]] there's more to america. more stories. more voices. more points of view. >>from our headquarters in new york ... [[voiceover]] now there's a news channel with more of what americans want to know. >>i'm ali velshi, and this is real money. >>this is america tonight. >>our news coverage, reporting, and documentaries explore, inspire, and reveal more of america's stories. >>i'm here to investigate genetically modified salmon.

>> welcome back. a boat packed with african migrant sank thursday killing more than 100 people. the boat was traveling from libya when it caught fire and capsized hundreds of people were on board. al jazerra has the story. >> reporter: a grim scene on an a lan island where many mold to start hoped tostart a new life. it sunk. >> as the ship started taking on water the fuel started leaking. being worried about what was happening, the crew and passengers set fire to a blanket so that they could be seen from passing ships and cause ahead fire on board when that happened they panicked and move to one side of the slit causin ship cao cap side. >> reporter: more than 100

people were pulled to the waters and taken to shore, it's believed 500 people were on board including pregnant women and children. it's one of the deadliest boating accidents involving migrants and the second this week. italian ministers are calling for action. >> i have to ask for the shared intervention from the european union to adopt humanitarian corridors that would make these trips safer and end trips in which criminals make money off the backs of men, women and children. >> reporter: thousands of my grants arrive in italy and malta every year hundreds killed during the journal. >> i you have to think of the tragedy that lies behind this, which is that these people, many are likely to have been fleeing persecution, human rights abuses in their own countries, this is a tremendous a strategy of multiple layers. >> reporter: with the continuing unrest in africa. boat loads of migrants will make the journey, despite the risks

involved. >> and a rare show of bipartisanship the house has joined the senate to pass legislation pro saddin providinl visas to iraqis who helped in the war. many working with u.s. troops are facing tagger at the time killings and death threats. the program expired earlier this week, putting honester mated 2,000 application in limbo. since 2000 zest visas have allowed more than 12,000 iraqi to his enter the u.s. in california governor jerry brown has signed legislation that allows undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses if they pass the written and road test they can get driver's licenses but there will be a mark on the front distinguishing them from regular. they will beginning issue june 2015. they expect one point power million people to apply. wendy davis has announced her candidacy to replacer requiring

governor rick per. >> i i am proud to announce my candidacy to be the 48th governor of this great state. >> davis shot no national fame this summer after staging an 11 hour fill bust tore defends abortion rights. she's facing an uphill battle. republicans have held the governor seat in texas for the last 19 years. >> i think if she can get to 45 or 46%, in the general election, that will be a huge victory for her. but i think that's about as much as she can get. >> davis says she's not worried because she's used to being the underdog, so far she's raised $1 million in campaign funds ora point texas attorney general greg abbott has raised $20 million. conservationist say a surge in elephant poaching is putting the biggest land mammal on the brink of extensions, marches are planned in 12 cities around the world hoping they can put an end to poachers stealing elephant

tusks for their valuable ivory. craig is in hong kong with more. >> reporter: sadly this is checking an all too common sight here at the hong kong customs department. this is the fourth seizure of tusks in year, in this seizure 189 tusks, 1700 pounds worth about $1.5 million. this shipment of tusks came from the ivory coast headed to the lucrative markets in asaia. primarily china and thailand where they are turned in to ornaments and trinkets. representing know bill at this, health and more increasel increy investment as these tusks more rare, some 34,000 elephants lied last year, the results are right here in this room and this is something that hong kong cut. ups are seeing with more frequency coming through this port which is being used as a transit for the lucrative asian markets. >> craig lee son reporting

there. as many as 10,000 pacific walruses are huddled together on a small remote island off the coast of alaska scientists believe they are there because the polar ice caps are melting and don't have anywhere else to go. the pictures laying on the beach a stretch of beach less than one mile long, the number of walruses seeking re refuge as greatly increaseed in five years. mexico has produced some of the best authors now a push to make sure that future generations are able to read them. on inside story, we bring together unexpected voices closest to the story, invite hard-hitting debate and desenting views and always explore issues relevant to you. millions who need assistance now. we appreciate you spending time with us tonight. up next is the golden age of

hollywood going golden but elsewhere. why l.a.'s mayor has declared a state of emergency for the entertainment industry there. next. on august 20th,

>> authorities are trying to figure out why a woman went on a wild chase in washington, d.c. temporarily locking down the nation's capitol. after trying to ram her car through a white house barricade she took off for capitol hill where she was later shot and killed. it's day four of the partial federal government shutdown, president obama has canceled his trip to asia next week in order to deal with the budget crisis on thursday the house passed a bill to restore funding to the national guard, democrats maintain it will not breach a

reopening of the government piece by piece, hurricane watches are posted from southeast louisiana to florida. as tropical storm karen moves through the gulf it's 400 miles out and backpacking wins about 60 miles an hour. it's pickedded to hit land by friday afternoon. you could soon own a piece of twitter the social media site filed papers to become publicly traded. here say closer look. >> reporter: stands up comedy can be lonely just ask her. anticipating reaction to a joke can be tricky. she has learned to harness social media for instant feedback. >> for a lot of us it started out like, okay, well, i just had this funny thought about a headline in the news, let me just tweet it out as a joke. and based on the retweets you got, base on the responsible gouts that tweet, it became like

maybe i should do it on stage tonight. >> reporter: entertainers and sliccelebrities are the most ac. twitter launched just seven years ago with more than 200 million uses has become a powerful way to share information. and now you can own your piece of the company. twitter is planning to start publicly trading company shares late they are year. later this year, revenue is growing quickly and the audience is pecks today do the same. a frozpros fess or of marketings advertisers won't want to miss out on twitter stocks but should be cautious. >> they will experiment and take some degree of advertising on twitter or through other source to his twitter but won't spend a lot of money until they get a sense that it's paying off and there is a return on their investment. >> reporter: once the company is in the hands of shareholders it must find a way to satisfy advertisers without alienated

too many promoted tweets. twitter's foray into the stock market is being compared to the other big name in social media facebook's public stock debuted in may last year. evening from the first moment of trading the company has struggled. hype surrounding facebook's shares was enormous but soon turned to panic when glitches in the computer systems caused mass confusion for the first couple of hours of trading. share price tanked but recently it has risen sharply because of advertiser confidence in the company. shrewd timing for twitter to go soon it hasn't reached saturation point. >> i think it will get more gross and awful. i see some really awkward tweets out there about personal lives. that make me cringe. >> reporter: and judging by the sustained growth of social media platforms, over sharing is here to stay. al jazerra, new york. >> and mexico just like here in the united states, watching too much tv means a lot less

reading. adam reports on a new program encouraging mexican children to open books. >> reporter: every day before she heads off to school, six-year-old joslin can be found here, she flips between her favorite cartoons, and the occasion soap opera. but all the time she spends watching television means mitch less time for another activity. >> i would like to read but my parents haven't taught me. not more than a few letters. but i want to learn so that i can read stories and write to my baby sister. >> reporter: her mother admits reading isn't a priority. >> we are not a customed to reading books. and not just in this neighborhood, this country doesn't have a do you recall off reading. >> reporter: for decades they used read to go engage a population, then became the rise of powerful media monopolies and the nightly soap opera.

now 95% of mexicans get their news from tv. only 5% from newspapers. reading books is he even less common. >> in the past half century the number the libraries has gone down from 45 to on 45 for 1 miln people to 18 for 1 million people. we are talk about a problem of literacy and education. >> reporter: mexico's president hasn't provided much leadership on the issue. during the campaign he was asked to name the three most influential books he read. he couldn't name one. that's despite mexico's rich literary tradition. many consider it the birth place of magical really. one of the 20th century's greatest literary inventions, authors are known the world over. of course mexico's educated classes take pride in the fact that the country has produced some of the world's most famous writers but the truth remains, year after year, fewer and fewer

mexicans are taking time to enjoy that tradition. but some people are dedicated to reversing this trend. maria started a children's reading program in her home five years ago. now with the help from the government, she started a reading program for hundreds of children in her working class neighborhood. >> children stop me in the street and say, marie, can you lends me a book. we are bored. i think having children read books for fun is a great achievement. >> reporter: and the hope is turning kids onto books might help them tune out other distractions. adam, al jazerra, mexico city. >> that does it for this edition of al jazerra america. i am richelle caray you can follow us 24 hours a day online, that's aljazerra.com. up next, "the stream." thank you so much for your time.

hi, i'm lisa fletcher, and you are in the -- "the stream." how is social media contributing to chicago's gun violence? ♪ the numbers are staggering, gunfire results in chicago about every five hours. this year alone more than 330 violence. >> you pull up on to any corner, and it -- it's almost like