welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy here are the stories we are following for you. senate republicans go to the white house for a meeting with the president over the shutdown and debt ceiling. secretary of state john kerry is in afghanistan. >> the nobel peace prize for 2013 is to be awarded to the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons. >> a chemical weapons watchdog group wins the nobel peace prize.

we begin with breaking us in of a ship capsizing off of the coast of lampeduce island italy. two italian navy ships are in the area to help the passengers. president obama is meeting with senate republicans to hear their ideas over ending the dead lock over the government shutdown and the debt ceiling. mike good to see you have, how productive have these meetings been thus far? >> i think the key was last night when house republicans were here. they are the ones that have been holding out to pass that clean spending bill to keep the government open. i don't know whether you can see stephanie, but just over my left shoulder, the north portcall of

the white house. this was the fourth and last group to meet with the participate. mitch mcconnell, he is the leader of senate republicans. he is an interesting figure. in past crises like this he and joe biden have gotten together and hashed this out and struck a deal that hasn't been to the liking of many. but this year he has largely stood on the side lines because he does have a challenger from the right in the commonwealth of kentucky, but he is inserting himself more and more into this process, and earlier before coming to the white house we spoke on the floor of the sen e senate. >> this will be a good opportunity to engage in a frank exchange of ideas with the president. if that's what he is looking for. but if all the president wants is to just drag us over there to say he won't negotiate that won't be particularly

productive. >> the president will sign the six-week raising of the debt ceiling. but the senates will have their own idea, and that would be an extension for a full year, and that would take us past the elections for midterms of congress. i understand there is new polling when it comes to whom americans blame for this crisis, is that putting pressure on the gop? >> today it is a very interesting day, and it absolutely is putting pressure on the gop. mitch mcconnell has a challenge from the right. that challenge is being encouraged by tea party types that are backing senator like

ted cruz. ted cruz speaking at a summit, he and other conservatives dishing out the red meat to core republican voters, but if you look at the polls, the rest of the population isn't looking so favorably on them now. 30% of the public says the president is to blame, but now 53% say it is the republicans fault. and if you look at the republican approval rating among americans, it is at 24%. that is an all time low and sinking, according to that poll, in the history of that poll. so certainly these poll numbers are jet fuelling republicans to the bargaining table. all right. we'll continue to follow that today, mike viqueira from the white house. wall street is still solidly in the green thanks to fresh hope in washington stock are

moving higher on hopes that the dead lock could be broken soon. the families of fallen solders will once again receive military death benefits. president obama signed a bill restoring funding suspended during the shutdown. it reinstates the $100,000 families receive on top of funeral expenses. all 401 national parks have been closed and 20,000 park employees have been furloughed. governors in at least four states want to reopen parks to help struggling economies. five counties in utah have declared a state of emergency due to the crushing loss of the closed park. in benghazi libya a car bomb

exploded in front of the swedish consulate. the bomb seriously damaged the building. last year's attack on the u.s. embassy killed chris stevens and three others. a former libbian rebel group said it -- secretary of state john kerry is in afghanistan meeting with president karzai. they are discussing ways to move forward after the nato-lead military mission ends in late 2014. jennifer glass is in kabul, and she joins us now on the form. have beheard anything yet about the outcome of this meeting? >> reporter: no, we know the two men did have a meeting and had

dinner together. we know their relationship is very warm and cordial, but the state department has been playing down any expectations for this meeting saying senator kerry is not expected to close a deal on this bilateral security agreement which spells out what u.s. troops can and can't do if they are to stay here after 2014. the two laiders will discuss areas of mutual concern and try to move forward with this agreement. >> these talks have been going on for a year now. what is holding up a final agreement? >> there were two big sticking points. the first is the american's troop ability to carry out missions on their own after 2014. that is something president karzai has long opposed. and the second point is whether the u.s. will guarantee

afghanistan's security if other troops were to attack the country. that's something the united states doesn't want to put itself in a position to do if there were problems with neighboring countries such as pakistan. so those two sticking points holding up this crucial, crucial security agreement. >> okay. jennifer glass reporting to us from kabul. we'll continue to follow that store re. but now we'll return to our breaking us in. a ship cam size -- capsizing off of the coast of lampedusa italy. karl tell us what you know. >> reporter: so far, stephanie it the navy is conducting a major maritime incident. this is the second incident we have had of this sort, where a boat carrying more than 200 men

and women has capsized. it is dark and there are many coordinating the search and rescue mission. the seas are not so good at the moment. we must also remember this incident happened just a few days after the migrant tragedy in lampedusa where 320 lost their lives. >> do we know how many people were on the ship and how many are in the water? >> reporter: the maltese navy reporting at least 200 men and women have been spotted on board this old fishing vessel which lefted libya some two days ago. an sos was launched by satellite

phone, but it took time for rescue efforts to get to the area. because nautical miles are quite far from the coast. and it took at least an hour to get to the area, so basically we know the rescue operation has been coordinated thanks to the sos call which managed to locate the boat via gps. >> can you talk about these migrant ships for people that might not understand -- [ technical difficulties ] -- >> reporter: right. these are sub saharan africans, and they walk for days if not months towards the north african state of libya, where there they will wait for a couple of months and each pay an average of $1,500 each to get on these rickedy boats. it gives them access -- a

gateway to all of europe, so they are searching for beater future away from the war-torn states that they have come from. >> what time is it there now? >> local time is about 7:00 in the evening. it's october now, and the sea conditions are not that good. although the weather is still hot. there is a the possibility of a storm forming over the mediterranean area which will make the rescue operations difficult, stephanie. >> all right. the maltese are among folks trying to help rescue people in the water right now. it's still early. it's dark there. here is what we know. some 200 people, migrants were on a boat near the island of lampedusa, and an active rescue operation is underway. it is the second incident in two

weeks in that area. we'll be right back.

protests are underway in several cities across egypt. egypt's health ministry says one person is dead and seven others injured in the clashes. they have held protests nearly every day, demanding morsi's reinstatement since his ousting in july. hundreds marched to the presidential palace. police used tear gas to disburse protesters in the capitol. and we're joined by our correspondent in egypt whom we are not going to name for security republicans. so earlier these protests seemed to be pearceful, and now we're hearing about injuries and clashes. what is the latest? >> injuries and clashes and one

death, were not in cairo. there was one death in the governet that is the home area for the ousted president morsi, but in cairo itself no reports of injury, certainly no deaths and peaceful process. but several hundred protestants got to the palace, one of the presidential palaces here, an important palace year that was symbolic, but today the anti-coup alliance strucked its protesters to be peaceful. they abandoned their intents to get to the square and one of our crews manage to get through one of the protests in another city and follow this, and there were

several thousand people there. another development of note, which is that a leading member of the anti-coup alliance has issued a statement which restates the position of the anti-coup alliance, but it's notable in that it doesn't mention the requirement that president morsi be returned to power. and that might be, might be, i stress only might be, an effort towards some kind of reconciliation here. so it could be seen as a development. >> okay. we'll continue to follow that story. our correspondent from cairo, thank you. the winner of this year's nobel peace prize is the organization known as opcw. the general accepted the award. >> i take this opportunity to comment all of those who have

contributing to making the ban of chemical weapon an enduring universal norm. i look forward to accepting this award. >> the award was a surprise to many, only recently has the organization been in the spotlight because of syria. si simon has more. >> the nobel peace prize for 2013 is to be awarded to the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons, opcw, for its expensive work for eliminating chemical weapons. >> reporter: it was a surprise announcement. the opcw has until recently been a relatively obscure body.

it has been thrown into the recent spotlight by the recent use of chemical weapons? syria. a team of 30 is in syria now with the ambitious plan of destroying all chemical weapons by next year. recent events in syria where chemical weapons have again been put to use have underlined the need to enhance the efforts to do away with such weapons. >> reporter: they win the award ahead of stiff competition, including the girl from pakistan, many people's favor to rain. the prize going to an organization is not to everyone's taste. >> the inspiration should come from the inspirational acts of an individual, not an organization. and i hope in the years to come it won't become habit to give

these awards to organizations. i hope it will go back to individuals, and the individual services. >> reporter: but in some ways the opcw winning the award does hark back to having disarmament at its heart. schools now have to decide how to treat access to bathrooms, and locker rooms based on sex youal gender. >> reporter: this is joey. >> she is a pretty strong kid. she presents as i can take care of myself. >> reporter: but about five years ago she reveals something she could no longer keep to

herself. she was born a boy but felt like a girl. she changed her name from ian to zoe. zoe's friends classmates and teachers positive reaction is part of the changing tide. >> this is a -- a new step for our society. >> reporter: aiden key trains teachers and parents on how to address the need of transgender students. he was one a he is. aside from the basics like which bathrooms a transchild uses. key wants to change the way we think. >> how do we refrain gender, how do we create a gender inclusive environment that works for all kids when none of us grew up experiencing that.

>> reporter: three years ago a seattle school district proposed some guidelines on how to deal with the transgender teens. >> they are going to have barriers to learning if they are not accepting of who they are. >> reporter: experts tell us that transgender students ash the country still feel margin marginalized. zoe's mom feels good about the way things are now, but worried about the future. >> the teen years, puberty, hormones and zoe feeling like she is not quite in step with her peers. and really not being. >> reporter: a growing issue for schools across the nation as they try to figure out how to

meet the needs of transgender students. a lawsuit has been filed to protect graffiti. the effort to protect one special building in new york.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. here are your headlines. updating our breaking us in from italy, the italian coast guard says boat carrying migrants has capsized off of the island of lampedusa. there are reports of people in the sea. more than 300 people died when another boat carrying migrants capsized in that same area last week. republicans from the senate have just left the white house after a meeting with president obama. secretary of state john kerry made an an unannounced visit to afghanistan for security talks. they are talk about the presence of american troops in that country after the nato mission

ends there next year. . in new york a group of graffiti artists filed a lawsuit to stop the demolition of an old factory complex. kristin has more. >> reporter: on the subway train to manhattan, one building stands out in the urban landscape, ablaze with color and creativity, it is known at 5 points. it's a mecca for graffiti artists. jonathan coen serves as curator. >> there is no other such location that offers wall space at any given time, at any given date for artists whether you are amazing, horrible, or in between. we do offer that. >> reporter: an icon of street art it has been a backdrop for

music videos and films. the name five pointz refers to the five burrows of new york city all coming together. it attaches artist and admirers from all over the world on a daily basis. these artists came all the way from france. >> all around the world, everybody talk about five pointz, you know, many graffiti artists have come here. >> reporter: the owners plan to build two high-rises on the site. plans include gallery space for artists as well as a place for their artwork outside of the building. the city councillor helped negotiate the deal. >> the folks at five pointz wanted it to be whatever it is kind of forever, and that wasn't possible given the private

ownership of the land. >> reporter: but the artists aren't happy. they filed a lawsuit under what is known that's visual artists rights act which gives artists some say over their works regardless of who owns them. >> it's really fighting for the artists and giving them a voice. >> reporter: the destruction of five pointz would send these artists back underground. ♪ i'm meteorologist dave warren, we are tracking a number of storms causing problems here in the u.s. and around the world. the first one in nebraska moving to south dakota, already dumped a lot of rain in areas that had a lot of snow, that plus the

warmerer weather and more rain is leading to flash flooding and high wind warnings as the wind will really start to increase in the few hours. then we have the possibility of square foot veer storms in northern minnesota and over towards chicago and iowa. warmer weather ahead of the rain, but then getting a little colder. next storm off of the east coast, giving wind and rain to maryland, delaware, new jersey, and pennsylvania. that persistent northeast to east wind creating more title flooding, that tide gets higher and higher and piles the water up in the back bays, and all of the rain coming down in central pennsylvania leading to flood warnings there. most likely we'll see more flood advisories and coastal flooding

over the weekend there. this is tie phone nauri. we're watching that closely because it will reintensify and effect vietnam once it moves over the philippines. big cyclone palen. this is the equivalent to a category 5 hurricane and it shows no signs of weakening, the forecast will have it making landfall saturday local time. wind down to 150 miles an hour. a lot of wind and rain going right in the center of where a lot of people live. that area has 42 million people right along the coast. stephanie? >> dave warren thank you. and thank you for watching al jazeera. tech -- "techknow" is next.

for more information head to our website, aljazeera.com. ♪