headlines are up next. ♪ welcome to al jazeera america i'm john siegenthaler. here are tonight's top stories. president obama and house g.o.p. leaders are moving closer to a solution to a government shutdown. the house republicans have offered a proposed al to raise the debt ceiling. but it would offer cuts to benefit programs. the house will be in session on saturday. as the house rolls on some states have struck a deal to re-open a few national monuments. >> this weekend the statue of liberty will welcome visitors and on monday the grand can job ancanyonand mt. rushmore will o. private fund are being used to

open mt. mus rushmore. a cyclone is making it's way toward eastern india. some areas have seen damage from the storm. authorities have ordered thousands of residents to evacuate. those are the headlines at this hour i'm john siegenthaler i will see you next week. americ"america tonight" is up nn al jazeera. you can get the latest information and weather on aljazeera.com. on "america tonight." left hanging. wash dithers on the stalemate. the most vulnerable of workers

worries about what is going to happen tomorrow. >> i don't know if i will have a job when this is over. >> also tonight. a low down on lobster. a gourmet glut. and why it's become a mainer willing misfortune. it's like everything else. spy and demand. we have an over supply. and a threat as great as hurricane katrina. millions stand at risk as another super storm bears down. good evening and thanks for being with us i'm joie chen. it's a cold comfort on a chilly night here but the most

washington was able to offer to round out another week of the shutdown is the white house and the house republicans have at least agreed that more talking is a good idea. the optimism that an end to the shutdown and a chance to avoid the debt ceiling breakdown was near, well that eevaporated earlier in the day. the president turned down a tide of the short term debt increase deal or no deal. the pressure is growing. even the workers that are not expecting a may check from the government tonight. sarah joining us to explain. >> feeling the pinch of government shutdown are the non-federal employees that work inside of federal buildings. i met with two gentlemen waiting in limbo. alexis is sitting in his bedroom. the 18-year-old was the first in his family to graduate from high school. his mind was set on becoming an architect. he put his college plans on hold to support his family after his father lost his job this summer. >> it was really hard for me.

imagine doing that seven days a week. it was something that i didn't want to do but i had to no order to get the amount i needed to be able to support my dad. he is unemployed. and now i am the one he depends on instead of me depending on him. >> he took a job at mcdonalds inside of the smithsonian national air and space museum. when the becausey season ended his hours were cut back. forcing him to get a second job to make ends meet. now the government shou shutdows forced him to look for work to support his sister and father. vasquez is among the private sector employees loc locked outf work. for them the government restart won't guarantee their jobs back. i don't make enough anymore and that is a lot to take care of. i asked my dad help me out a bit and i can't do it myself.

and the bills come for the rent and that is another situation and the gas and i have to worry about those things too. i have never taken care of that ever until now. and i'm only 18. zblj i'm not taking care of myself, i'm taking care of my father and sister. last night cone congress started negotiations to end the shutdown and the debt ceiling. house speaker john boehner had this to say. >> will you re-open the government if the president does not do anything to change? >> if ands and butts were nuts every day would be christmas. fred turner is not laughing. i'm upset about it because, i don't know what is going to happen. i don't really know if i'm going to have a job when this is all over with. because of the shutdown turner a grandfather of 7 lost his job at the eatsries inside o smith sown yan history museum. he was forced too take his job

after his former employer downsized. he fears they may not recover this time. >> the government shutdown and i wasn't ready for it. so now i'm out of work. no pay. >> and without that income, turner can't pay his mortgage. >> and if shuttings down the government is going to help solve our problems and you feel that is the only way to solve our problems you all need to straighten up the house. y'all need to come together as one and say it's time for the american people to go back to work. it's not just federal employees that are hurting from this. there are people that are working on federal grounds that are not federal employees they need to go back to work. >> you are ready to work right? >> you are strong? you are ready to work right? >> you are ready to work right now. high ranking politicians join

forces with employees out of work like turner because of the shut town. shutdown. there is a disconnect between the politicians and the public. you have a lot of contract wrorker workers who are out of a job and are not going to see their wages. this is immorale and wrong to deny them from the wages they rely on. >> we had a guy stand up here and say look i'm a single datd andadand i can't feed my son ani can't pay my rent. congress needs to know that people like me are in trouble. we need to think about how we need to be taken care of as well. we have been put out of work and we are not working and we need to support our own family. they need to know how we are being affected by the shutdown.

>> we heard back by both companies. mcdonald said we are currently reaching out to the employees to let them knee wlet them know the continuing to pay them and where they can pick up their checks. and for restaurant associates they said we are making every effort and attempt to look for opportunity within our company to reemploy the employees. where reemployment is not possible the employees are on furlough status. tonight. there is another storm brewing and it's a massive one. the threat of cyclone pi phailin the rains are arriving and tens of thousands of coastal villages are leaving their homes.

the storm stretches across the entire bay of bengal it's roughly the size of frank. frank -- france. it equals a category five hurricane with winds 160 miles-per-hour. falling roofs and massive flooding and very likely death. 9.5 million people topping the population of new york city are in the storm's path and thousands are evacuating. the evacuation effort stretches over 200 villages. the storm is expected to hit first. just a short time ago i spoke to the vice chair of india's national disaster authority and i asked him how affected. >> we are expecting about half a million people to evacuate. and that should happen in the next you know few hours. i think most of it has been accomplished.

and in about 12 hours it should be the landfall as it has been predicted. >> we do remember here the terrible storm of 1999 as well where so many thousands of people, i believe 10,000 people namay have lost their lives in that storm. is your concern that this storm is it going to be as great and significant in this area? >> well i think it may not be -- it is not going to be as severe as the 1999 super cyclone has been. and at that point in time, the super cyclone hit the coast and the state was not prepared

for that kind of cyclone. but over the years the level of preparedness and in the neighboring states have been very much enhanced. >> we hope they are well prepared. >> wwe hope they are well prepared this time. from the national disaster management authority in india thank you for being with us. meantime al jazeera meteorologist kevin corriveau has been tracking the path of the storm for us. there. >> we have been watching this sings mondascience sirchesince monday and the stors grown large. we have seen the storm on tract for the northeastern coast up there. so it's moving up to the northwest. and it's grown and has category

five equivalent for the last 4 hours. 24 hours. what i'm concerned about is the storm surge. 106 miles-per-hour sustained winds and the winds are over 195 and what is happening with the storm? the storm surge is going to be a major problem. and that is going to be in the north east part of the storm. in 1999 the storm surge was over 20 feet. we expect the same thing. a lot of that storm surge went 1 miles inland because of the way the terrain is. that is going to be a major problem as we go through saturday. it's saturday morning right now and sunrise in many parts. we think it's going to be a major problem until it makes land fall tomorrow night. it's moving slowly six or seven miles-per-hour towards the northwest. a lot of lingering rain and it's

not until sunday we will see what the result of storm is. >> the popula population? that is a big problem as well. up toward the eastern part of india that is where the population is the most. anywhere between 800 to 1600 people per square kilometre in this particular area. if that is not bad enough, we have another system that is to the east of that. that has moved towards the philippines. and on sunday we expect t to ths storm to be making land fall in vietnam. we have a lot on our plate. we'll be making updates as we go. back to you. >> in the height of the cyclone season in the pacific as well. center. coming up here lobster landings in record numbers. why markets are not chilling out

>> next... from lucrative denfense contracts, to behind the scenes lobbyists... >> did the egyptians ever think that aid would ever be cut? >> never >> fault lines explores the enduring relationship between the american and the egyptian militaries... >> i don't think we will suffer now, we have already airplanes...tanks... >> they haven't changed the nature of what they provide us...why would we want to change what we provide them? >> fault lines business as usual? egypt and the usa next on al jazeera america

maine lob stepha stephan lobstermen are feeling

the pinch. why too many lobster mean less money for the lobstermen. >> dawn is just breaking on a crisp morning. while most of the country is sleeping te steve train is leavg the shore. the sea has been the source of steve's livelihood for 25 years. >> you guys about ready? , heave that o leave that on th. >> he is a lobstermen. one of 5,000 lobstermen who is the backbone of maine's economy? >> growing up as a fisherman is something i wanted to do. when i was a kid playing with lego instead of building houses we used to build lobster boats. >> now steve's way of life is threatened. jolted because the economy of

maine is going in different directions. >> they have to be three quarters of an inch. the lobster harvest is at a record high. >> those are good ones? >> but prices near and all time low. >> it's just like anything else, spsupply and demand. we have over supply and no demand to math it. match it. climate change have led to an explosion in the lobster catch. >> how many? do we have a count? >> so many lobster the prices plummeted falling from six dollars a pound whol wholesale o three dollars a pound today. >> what would happen economically as would in any industry. some people will survive and some will not. some people will leave the industry and try something else. i don't know what we have for

jobs except for fishing. if you are not making the money in the community are you spending it in the community. pat is working as the commissioner of the marine resources he develops and pro promotes the fishing industry? >> that is a lot of lobster. >> twenty-six million pounds in maine alone and you look at canada and we have a supply and demand issue. when you put that much volume out in the markets you have to be able to keep pace. zblarchland right now the pace e is over running demand. >> steve needs to haul 300 of these lobsters. >> ten years ago he needed half as many. >> that is before anyone on the boat gets paid a dime. that is if nothing breaks. that is just operating.

with a little luck we can do better than that every day. you take what you can get. it's fishing. >> i used to go out and make money a day. i changed my attitude now. it's nice to go out and not hughelosemoney. >> right now when you are a fisher mane yo maine you have bait at and all time high and gas at and all time high. they are looking at finding ways to be more profitable and it's difficult when you look at the expenses associated with the fisheries. >> maine is launching a new two-and-a-half million dollar marketing campain. and new processing facilities like this may also help save the industry. it's amazing to see how fast everybody is working and how much product you turn out. you have been doing this for a long time.

are you still in awe when you walk in and see this? >> i have a great team. the folks me behind you are pickers and they are tremendously skilled. luke is the found er of a restaurant chain called luke's lobsters. he grew up in maine before moving to new york city. >> the average price was 30 bucks and now they are screwing it around. >> luke opened up his first restaurant aimed at serving his simple sweet lo lobster roll. we have three in d.c. and you are here at cape seafood which is our latest venture. this facility has processed 45,000 pounds of lobster a day. all of this meat ends up at humidex's luke's lobsters.

>> do you find away to better the path. >> we are finding away to ship lobster and is there an opportunity to make it more successful on the west coast and internationally? i think so. >> with the amount of lobster we harvest and put on the market now we need people like that that are selling that type of product that have people look at lobster in a different way. it's not the big cooked red center plate item. it's also something you are goings to have for lunch. oust you cayou can have a lobstr lobster soup or lobster mac and cheese. it's a great ingredient in a lot of meals. >> all of the challenges are not stopping a new generation. justin is a resent physics gratd waigraduate.

now a full time lobsterman. >> how does a guy with a physics degree fish? how do your parents feel about that? >> i'm not sure. you look out and this is your o fs. office. you can go out and make $2,000 or you can lose 300 300 there. 300. it's exciting. yo.you are a physics guy you knw mat. -- math. when i started a 45-gallon drum is now 190. and lobster was 4 and a quarter and now three and a quarter e it was two and a quarter three weeks ago. >> what does that math tell you? >> it fluctuates a lot and you have to catch a lot more lobster to make money.

>> is it interesting to you that a guy like dustin who is 22 and has a degree in physics wantses ttobecome a lobsterman? >> i think a lot of us were there. whether it's 1* 16 or 19 or 22. >> you were all there at one point. >> people say why don't want to do that? why do you want to put up with that? >> it's away of life zplenchts . this morning when we went out the sun was coming up. you don't want to give that up. you get hooked on it. every good day you will put up with two or three bad days for another one. i have been doing this for 21 plus days aroun and i still take camera out to take a picture of the sunrise. >> twenty-five years at sea and each day ends the same steve and his crew take stock of the day's catch and their

goal was 300 to break even. not a lot. >> how did it go? >> we have had a lot better days than this. but we didn't lose money today. if we make money it's a good day. >> it's a good day. >> a good day in maine. that was adam may. still ahead here, still spinning in a digital music world. why are the japanese so obsessed with cd >> next... from lucrative denfense contracts, to behind the scenes lobbyists... >> did the egyptians ever think that aid would ever be cut? >> never >> fault lines explores the enduring relationship between the american and the egyptian militaries... >> i don't think we will suffer now, we have already airplanes...tanks... >> they haven't changed the nature of what they provide us...why would we want to

change what we provide them? >> fault lines business as usual? egypt and the usa next on al jazeera america 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. hi, my name is jonathan betz,

access to music on-line has led to a drop in sales for cd's in many parts of the world. but in japan the cd is still holding it's own compared to digital downloads. >> here is rob mcbride. i see your son has the new miles davis. his friend says, cool. barona gives it a first spin through a pair of 1 1979 jbl speakers. the whole bar says "cool." >> owning it is part of the joy. you want to touch it and read the jacket cover. >> with thousands of vinyl records and cd's this bar is a shrine to physical media. the patrons own many thousands more. cd's lovingly kept at home in a land of tiny apartments not

designed to hold them. >> for all of my customers it's the same. fighting with their wives for storage space. >> it's a fight being fought throughout japan. an icon of the 20th century the cd is nevertheless alive and well in 21 still t 21ment 21st c stores. zblrntioclever marketing keeps s buying. >> the japanese will have all kinds of extra like tickets to events and they keep coming with new ideas? >> remember the facts? japan does. many businesses rely on them. japan's newspapers are along the world's largest selling and comics holding their own in an on-line world. but time may be catching up even with the japanese cd. >> with more people having smart potential cd's will decline here

as well as people skip the download phase and go to live streaming. >> back at big boys that is not so cool. >> as long as there are people that appreciate cd's they still exist. if we stop that will be a problem. >> so spin it again while you can, and stay cool. and that was rob mcbride reporting. that is it for us on "america tonight." if you want to comment on anything you have seen here tonight log on to our website al jazeera america.com. you can get sneak previews and tell us what you would like to see in the nightly current affairs program. join the conversation on twitter or the facebook page. good night, we'll have more of "america tonight" tomorrow. ♪

>> cairo is a dangerous place to be. hundreds have been killed on the streets. there's a curfew enforced by military check points in every neighborhood. >> is it ok to film now? just let us know. >> we're trying to be very, very, very careful. very under the radar while we're here. no filming on the streets,