... this is al jazeera america, live from new york city. i am thomas drayton with a look at today's top stories. four days before possible defaults. looking for signs of hope in washington. india avoids a major disaster as cyclone eileen storms ashore. a deadly accident at a religious festival. good to have you with us. thirteen days in and still no deal. talks between the white house and house republicans have gone nowhere. now, the government showdown has

moved from the house to the senate. the majority leader harry reid says he is hopeful for a compromise soon, one that will break the budget impasse before default. i want to bring in al jazeera's john terret joining us from capitol hill. i hope you have a record player because i have a record i would like to sell you, albeit a broken record >> reporter: i am going to go get one after this broadcast in the light of what you said. >> that's for sure. we could lead a long playing record into the we small hours. there is a lot happening, but there is no real progress. the headline news, i think, is we just heard in the past few minutes with harry reid, the majority leader in senate had a telephone call with his republican counterpart, mitch mccog. we are told it was cordial. we know they met face to face yesterday. today, we are told they simply agreed to keep on talking. we are also told that nancy pelosi, the minority leader in the house had a telephone call with president obama today at

which they both agreed the need for a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government and a clean continuing resolution to raise the debt ceiling by thursday. give us that, they say to the republicans and then we can talk about other issues. so really, all of the action is on the senate floor today. the senate came back into business at 1:00 o'clock this afternoon. there is no house today. they are off until monday. but on the senate floor, plenty of people are using the opportunity to have their say including a handful of republicans who were trying to get under from the stone that was placed on them yesterday by the democrats, yesterday very much a democratic day. republicans hardly got a look-in on the media. they are trying to change that around today. we are hearing from republican senators but first of all, here is the nathaniel leader, harry reid, the first to speak and as you said in your intro, he was at least a little bit optimistic. >> i met yesterday with senator mcconnell. we are in conversation today. i am confident the republicans will allow the government to

open and extend the ability of this country to pay its bills. and i am going to do everything that i can throughout the day to accomplish just this. americans want congress to reopen the government, take the threat of default off of the table and sit down to talk about a long-term budget deal that will creates jobs and strength in the middle class. i am confident and hopeful that will be accomplished. >> harry reid. here is the 7io senator from wyoming, a republican and as you will hear, he thinks there is plenty of blame to be shared around both parties. >> we went to the white house the other day. and the president did the a marvelous job of going through a speech and questions and answers. and i was very disappointed at the end because the end speech was: give me what i want for the shutdown and government. give me what i want for the debt limit increase, and then we can

tall talk. the reason we are talking is because we have the government shut down and we have this looming debt ceiling problem. there ought to be other ways that we can talk. but we don't. so like i say, there is plenty of blame to go around >> reporter: five democrats have responded to mitch mcconnell. the republican leader in the senate. they don't support his bill, they say. >> that's not. news just in. the senate continues to meet. we continue to wait. the house is back in tomorrow at around about midday. as i said, tom, a lot happening but not a great deal of progress. >> can't say it enough, john terret, on capitol hill. thank you for the update. the obama administration is allowing states to use their own money to pay for park operations, and some are jumping at the chance here so let's go through the list. nearly a dozen national parks and monuments have temporarily re-opened gates thanks to state funding. one of those is the statue of liberty in new york city now

available to tourists for the first time in almost two weeks. friday, utah re-opened six atracks including the arches in zine national parks. a day later, it opened canyon lands in the grand canyon national area. arizona's grand canyon also opened on saturday along with colorado's rocky mountain national park. tomorrow, south dakota's mount rushmore is scheduled to reopen. over in washington yesterday, park police had to bring in a small army to guard what is usually an unmanned lincoln memorial. this after protestors pushed past barricades into the memorial. the group says they are angry over the closure due to the government shutdown. police eventually escorted the protesters away from the memorial. veterans in washington sent a very clear message to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle this morning. thousands showed up to rally at war memorials in d.c. and across the country. organizers of the million vet march says veterans have been

dishonored due to the shutdown. they are asking for congress to introduce legislation that would prevent any member of government from closing memorials except for maintenance purposes. the federal government shutdown is causing problems on florida waterways. christina puige reports from miami. >> for power boaters in biscayne national park, columbus day weekend is traditionally the biggest party of the year. the waterways south of miami is home to some of the best scuba diving and snorkeling in the nation. it provides access to nearby havens like elliott key but this year because of the federal government shutdown, the park is officially closed. >> you can boat through the park. you can't anchor. >> patrolling the waters is not a matter of just putting up a sign and closing a gate. >> we have hundreds of miles of boundary out in the ocean, unmarked boundaries. so we are putting the word out that people are closed. we are asking people to stay

away from the park. >> with 30 park rangers furloughed, state and local law enforcement officers are pitching in with the challenging task >> reporter: voters who did venture out were given this notice, told they could do so if they were fishing or transiting through the inter coastal waterways. they can only anchor if they were seeking safe haven. >> if you are using it as a safety harbor, you are not going to get in trouble? >> that's going to be your argument? >> that's going to be my argument. >> it's kind of confusing. they are telling us yes. some are telling us know. i don't want a 5,000 dollar ticket. the money i make, i can't afford it right now. >> i think there is plenty of space in the water out there for everybody to have fun. >> closed nearby is everglades national park where fishing has been prohibited and where at least 100 boats gathered last week to protest and send a message to washington. >> the park being it closed means we can't go fishing. that means we can't make any money. and that means the days of fishing we are losing, we don't

get back >> reporter: the fishermen are not the only onesphy feeling the financial squeeze. >> federal employees crosses the country are having to think about their finances and make temporary arrangements because we are not getting paid at this time. >> reporter: which means that on top of the angst over the spectacle in the south florida bay, park rangers are actually feeling the pain, themselves from the government closure. christina puigue, al jazeera, miami. joining us to discuss whether senate leadership will be able to break the budget stale mamat stalemate, for a responsible federal budget, mr. goldwine. >> thank you for having me. >> it took long enough. here we have the two main leaders, senators mccogand reid. they are talking. senator reid saying he is confident after those conversations. should we jube just as confiden? >> it's great news they are talking. i think we are still a bit away

from resolution. there is still a lot of tough issues that these men need to work through. >> all right. so you put everything on the table, entitlement reform, affordable care act and you begin to negotiate. what do you think will be left on the table? >> well, the president's position is he first wants a clean debt ceiling and clean continuation of the government funding and then he will talk about entitlements and other things like that. so these two leaders need to decide what order are they going to negotiate in? and what comes first. >> congressman ryan talked about relieving some of the pain of the sequester in turn, entitlement reforms but do you think democrats will accept that? >> this is a great idea. the sequestration is mindless, abrupt, and hitting investments and low income programs. replace that with more gradual intelligent spending is a good idea. whether the parties can agree in the next few days, i think remains to be seen. >> we have four days and counting here do you think this will be solved before we hit the

october 17th debt ceiling deadline? >> well, i sure hope so. the important thing to note is the 17th isn't the deadline. the 17th is when we are down to cash. we can probably make it to the last week of october. we don't want to take that risk. we don't want to push this thing to the very edge. >> on the track we are going, will the u.s. default, do you think it will default? >> i don't. i think that we will do the right thing before it's too late, but i am afraid that we are taking it too close to the line. >> so, how do you reach a compromise and deal with the underlying problems, historic levels of debt and deficit? >> well, i mean we have sort of three ss. we need to stop the madness, stop the shutdown and the risk of default, start bi-partisan discussions and then solve the problem. the solving is the hardest part because that's going to require everyone to give up things they like. it will require democrats to give on social security and medicare and republicans to give on tax reform and revenue. you can't even do that until you begin the discussions.

>> what is the true test moving forward next week? >> well, if they can get an agreement that has broad support for reopening the government and having a process for further discussions i think that would be a great start. >> mark goldwein for a responsible federal budget. appreciate your time today. >> thank you for having me. >> secretary of state john kerry says that a partial agreement was reached with afghanistan on a security deal but the issue of war crime jurisdiction remains unsettled. kerry spoke with president karzi saturday before leaving afghanistan. both men say they have agreed on a series of contentions, sovereignty issues including the safety of afghan citizens at the hands of american troops. war crimes committed by u.s. soldiers, karzi said the afghan court should have jurisdiction, not u.s. military courts. now to syria where six red cross workers and a syrian crescent

volunteer were abducted. red cross said they were kidnapped from their convoy as they were returning to the capitol of damascus. two car bombs damaged the state television building. so far, no deaths have been reported in those blasts. with more on this, we are joined by omar al sala, from turkey. omar, what can you tell us about the car bombings in damascus? >> reporter: according to the news agency, two suicide car bombs exploded just outside the headquarters of the syrian state television. now, the news agency said that each car was carrying at least 100 kilograms of explosives. so it's quite big. now, they didn't give any word on casualties, but they did say that the damage is mainly materialwise. now, also, in the same area, this is in the center of the capitol, damascus, not far from

where at a time took place. there are some government buildings as well as security buildings. so it is pretty interesting that such an attack takes place at the heart of the syrian capitol. >> on the other news that we are following, any more information on the red cross workers? >> yes, well, according to news coming from syrian activists, we are speaking to, they say the islamic state in iraq is the strongest and the biggest armed group that's located in that part where the icrc workers work. now, of course, this is an al-qaeda-affiliated group. now, i have to say that that group did not claim responsibility or any responsibility for the kidnappings, but according to activists, they are blaming this al-qaeda group. another piece of information, that area is very notorious for

criminal activitiy. so that fact could also be behind the kidnapping of the icrc workers. >> quickly, do we know the nationalities of the aide workers who were kidnapped? >> no. we don't. and the icrc didn't reveal that. but again, according to the activists, they did say that they include some arab nationals as well as foreigners. >> omar al salad, thank you. at least 80 people have died during a religious festival in ind india. anu pataganar reports >> reporter: some pill grams have fasted for nine days. on the 10th day, they went to pay their respect to the hindu goddess, derga. the festive mood changed as thousands of people tried to cross a bridge. rumor spread it was collapsing. that caused a stampede that killed dozens. it happened in datea in central

india. it started on a bridge over the sind river. a number reported to have jumped in the water. the pill grams were trying to get to the temple on the other side. people across india are marking one of the most important festivals in the hindu calendar. crowd control is a persistent challenge in india, especially during religious festivals. the rescue and recover efforts only beginning right now along india's eastern coastline as cyclone phailin, from the state of odisha taking a hit from the massive storm. it's the most powerful storm in 14 years. it weakened but it was four times the size of hurricane katrina. more from the capitol of the indian state of odisha >> reporter: while the

authorities in the states of odisha are saying they are relieved to see a low level of casualties from cyclone phailin, from what we are hearing, some of the biggest challenges are yet to begin, to deal with the rest oration of infrastructure, keeping in mind the capitol, suffering some level of power difficulty. also n terms of sectors like agriculture from the people that we have been speaking to today, some farmers telling us, look. we are alive. we are safe. our houses are still standing, but our leaflets are all but gone given the devastation to crops whether by flooding, water damage and wind damage. in many respects, this is quite a crucial thing to remember there have been many lives that have been saved. but there is a big challenge that these states face particularly the state of odisha and how the authorities will tackle the idea of help and immediate relief for people

thousands of villages, tens of thousands, we are hearing of people that certainly need very, very immediate help. we should also report that just in the last couple of moments, the rain has certainly picked up. in the depression is strong in the area, strong winds and rain still very much a part of the equation, something to be mindful of as we go forward. >> for the latest on the storm, let's turn to ebony dion tracking the latest >> reporter: while the worst of the storm has moved well, it is certainly weakening. it will will could not to do so. we have a lot of moisture left behind. we are now starting to see more thunderstorm activity unfortunately moving back into coastal areas of odisha, as this system or what's left of of it continues to head northward, we will see more rain moving just a little bit further north with that lingering cloud cover to put down rain in some areas. we will be watching out for more flooding unfortunately there. now, it looks like parts of west bengal, around jakar, where we

are expecting more rain to fall through the overnight hours and even as we head into the day on monday. we are not done with the rain and thunderstorm activity. here is a look at some of the damage left behind, weak structures, just destroyed totally and the clean-up will continue as a lot of trees have come down and continue to cause problems for folks just trying to get around in this area. back to you. >> ebony, thank you. growing outrage over an oil spill hidden for days. the impact many fear the spill will have on the quiet lands of north dakota. >> it's just a really little tiny baby piece. >> miniature gold rush in colorado. weeks after devastating flood waters ripped communities apart. 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.

[[voiceover]] no doubt about it,

innovation changes our lives. opening doors ... opening possibilities. taking the impossible from lab ... to life. on techknow, our scientists bring you a sneak-peak of the future, and take you behind the scenes at our evolving world. techknow - ideas, invention, life. welcome back. an oil spill has been discovered underneath a north dakota farm field. the spill is the result of a leak in a pipeline running and has raised questions about pipeline safety in t and /* sav

and the state's to the sign. diane estabrook is on the story. >> i am in tie oath tioga where the oil line rupttured. now, there is about 20,000 barrels sitting blow the surface above a layer of clay. what is outraging some of the residents in this area is they didn't know about this until just recently. some people who live in the area found out about it when they noticed smoke in the air when the company was burning off that oil that had flowed into farmer's field. there are a lot of questions. one of the questions that the residents and the state have in particular is: how does this farmer notice it? and the company didn't? the company said it has sensors on its pipeline that monitors that pipeline 24/7. obviously something went wrong because the company wasn't notified by that sensor that something was up. the other question that the state has is: how is this

company, tesoro corporation going to clean up this oil. it's giving the company about two weeks to come up with a plan and the state will either accept or reject that plan. >> diane estabrook reporting many people are still cleaning up in colorado. others have found an upside trying to turn misfortune into a small fortunate. from golden colorado >> reporter: there is a silver lining to the flooding in the foot hills of the rocky mou mountai mountains, gold. >> anywhere in the stream, you could actually find gold. what's happened over the last month or so with the floods and everything, we have got a lot of material that's moved down from the mountains. >> the flooding kicked up creek beds. >> this is a sluice box. what its designed to do, it's merely separate the gold and any other heavies that are in with the sand and the rock.

>> so gold that had been sitting at the bottom of colorado'swaterways for years is now flowing down for the hills. these men and women belong to a group called gold prospectors of the rockies. for them, the past month has been golden. >> it's just a really little tiny baby piece. >> these may be small, so small you need a well-trained eye to spot them. this is a golden moment for panners like pam schmidt. >> i have the first one that has seen it. i found it. nobody else has ever laid their eyes on it. >> if you are lucky enough to find something here, you can do one of two things: you can hold on to it and show the grandkids or cash it in and make all of this work worth your while. >> gold-n-detectors has felt the effects in the new found fortunes, too. >> let's see what you've got >> gold i have bought from customers that have been out panning and sluicing. >> louise smith inspect every

flake. >> this looks reallically clean. what do you think that would be worth. >> that would probably be worth around $600. >> a pretty good price. >> yeah. it's just about half an ounce. >> this is where the first colorado gold rush began in 1858. it's exactly the same as back in the 1800s. only thing is, our equipment is so much updated, much better, made out of aluminum, made out of plastic. >> but the technique is basically the same. try to get the cold that's suspended in the water to drop to the bottom of your pan. >> it's been doing us good. >> when the waters are flowing like they are now in much of colorado, there really is gold in them thar hills. >> that's a fact. there is gold here, seven miles from downtown denver, and we are getting gold. >> gold's current price, william over $1,200 an ounce. jim hulie, al jazeera, golden, colorado. >> harnessing the power of "the sun" to the finish line, a team from the netherlands has won the world's solar challenge, a race

in which high-tech sol arizoar from around the worldcom pete. vehicles were allowed only five kilowatt hours of stored energy. the rest had to come exclusively from the sun. andrew thomas has been tracking this race since it began. he spoke with one of the competitors. leslie, you are one of the drivers. congratulations. an amazing achievement and this car did it all powered by the sun. what was the toughest moment? >> it's very hot inside this car and on the fourth race day, we had wind gusts 50 kilometers an hour. the car ways 160 kilograms. you swerve. long truck, big trucks cruising past you. and i had a grasshopper, a five centimeters in my carhopping around all the time while i had to focus. it was an exciting race. >> it wasn't sunny the whole time, though? was it? what do you do when the sun is not shining >> we calculate the whole race how fast we are to go every 50 minutes. so we knew that rain was coming,

and we saved some energy in our battery so that we could still continuing cruising on the last day. >> what was it about this car that proved victorious spirit? >> we had three add vantages above the rest of the competition. we had a better laminates over our sol area panels. >> we had concentrate orders, which are lenses that focus sunlight on to very small but really efficient solar cells and the best areodyneamic design. you darren hayes joining us with sports. >> after the detroittizingers took game one, 2 outside of the no hitter. the red sox have their hands full in game 2 of the american lead championship series. the tigers, they send back scherzer who will likely win this year's cy young award comes in with the most wins in the

majors. the sox will counter that with bucholtz. finishing with only one regular season lost in 2013. first pipelle pitch in boston at 8:00 o'clock eastern standard time. timothy bradley made his claim by winning split decision over marquez on saturday night. it was a third straight close win by decision for bradley. he won a hotly disputed bout with manny pachiou. the pittsburgh steelers finally, get their first win of the season defeating the new york jets 19 to 6 today, stealers kicker accounted for tu13 of th team's 19 points. ben roethlisberger threw for 264 yards on 23 of 30 passing, plus this 55 yard touchdown to emanuel sanders. it gives the jets their first home loss this season. >> that's a look at sports. more sports headlines at this hour coming up. >> we will see you then, darren. thank you. preventing a deadly outbreak in

the midst of a massive pilgrimage. the precautions health officials are taking in the heart of mecca. two years since the civil conflict in syria and now a new look at the accusations of torture at the hands of syrian forces.

>> welcome back. here is a look at the top stories we are following at this hour. the senate's top two leaders are leading the negotiations to end the government impasse. harry reid and mitch mcconnell met. they will resume talks. eighty people have been killed, more than 100 others badly injured in a stampede in northern india. the case os broke out as worshippers feared the bridge they were crossing would kwlaps. the media says thousands had gone to the remote village as part of a 10-day festival. it could be days before we know the extent of the damage in india after a strike by cyclone

phailin. the massive storm weakened before roaring ashore but was a dangerous and deadly cyclone. the states odisha took a direct hit. random detension and torture by syrian security forces have become common occurrences in some torture victims say the reality is worse than the reports. omar al salar reports from turkey. we want to warn you, his story contains disturbing images >> reporter: abash recalls the torture he endured. he was detained three times for inciting violence and calling for the regime to be toppled. a court released him in june for lack of evidence. >> i would hope to die every second to the point you would confess to anything hoping they would kill you to end your suffering.

there were a lot of people screaming with the sound of the electric shock and smell of burning flesh. i was blindfolded and forced to sign a paper. they told me to confess against my mother. they brought a woman in and started beating her. i was screaming like a madman. i fainted. she wasn't my mother. >> a recent report by human rights watch suggests that torture and abuse has been used as a tool in syria's prisons. mohammed amakwad spent 40 days forn prison for filming a demonstration. he says he was given electric shocks, burned with cigarettes and beaten while naked. >> you you would confess to anything under tore tune. many were innocent including women and children. they treat animal did better than us. >> is the syrian -- >> the syrian government said answers of torture are baseless though bashar al saad admits to

some mistakes. syrian lights groups and activists have posted videos like this on the internet. they say it's proof of the widespread mistreatment of prisoners. al jazeera cannot verify these videos. they show did i say turning i hopages of the mistreatment of wounded men in a hospital. other individual yes, sir were too graphic to show, but this is a glams of what it's like at this temporary detention facility. and this is said to document the agony of the teenager. the violation, documentation center in syria says torture is indemic. at researcher for this group in turkey was also detained and waiting for trial along with other colleagues. we agreed to conceal his face. >> the violations in syria could compare to the medieval times

when there was nothing called human rights. we concluded that there is systematic torture and orders came from higher officials. >> mohammed's scars will not disappear. his name can be added to the long list of victims of syria's ward, al jazeera. in egypt, supporters of deposed president mohammed morsi have called for protest against the military-backed interim government. the anti-coup alliance is calling for small mars around the country, advising against a large takeover of cairo's tahrir square. dozens in the last two weeks have followed demonstrations against the military takeover. at least two million muslim pi pilgrims are expected to take part in this week's hague as they prepare to head to mount arafat. it's the largest gathering of miss lim people in the world.

many say they will pray for peace in egypt and syria. keeping so many people healthy is always a challenge. this year, health authorities are taking extra precakes because of a virus which often proves fatal. moshim alhandra reports on what is being done to prevent an outbreak >> reporter: this is one of the biggest gatherings of people in the world. millions converge in the capitol for the hague. this year, is different. health authorities are on alert for anyone suffering from mers. it has affected 119 people in the kingdom. 51 of whom have died. some people wear masks for protection. but many have no idea whatsoever about the disease. >> i was more interested in learning about how to perform hague. yes care about diseases. it's been eight days since i arrived, and i am fine. >> in the coming days, millions

of pilgrims will perform rituals in crowded areas a situation where disease is like mersa and could spread. >> part of the problem is that world health organization has what it called only limited information on how it spreads. still, the saudi health minister who toured field clinics and hospitals at the holy site says his confid -- he is confident >> i would like to assure everybody that the status of hague is excellent. the health of pill grams are excellent. we don't have any indication of any epidemic disease or any infectious disease including mers virus. >> in this hospital, i am shown isolation rooms where any patients with infectious diseases like mers will be treated. >> for the time being, hage authorities are asking pilgrims

to wear masks and maintain personal hygiene standards. people with chronic diseases were told to defer their hage. >> there is very little known about the exact way that the virus transmits. we know that it transmits from human to human. but mechanisms and the speed of transmission is still unclear. >> pilgrims with respiratory problems are treated in hospitals like this one. samples are taken and analyzed, but as serious as mers is, it isn't the only health concern during hage. stroke and people's underlying health issues have in the past proven to be the biggest threats to pilgrims. doctors hope that the middle east respiratory syndrome doesn't do anything to change that. al jazeera, mechanca.

>>. >> gabby giffords toured a gun show in new york on sunday. still partially paralyzed after being shot in the head, giffords came to support a call for tighter gun control. raelyn johnson has more >> reporter: it might be one of the last places you would check a shooting victim to be, at a gun show. >> gaap gabby, one of our female firearms dealers in new york. >> but it was safety, not sales that brought the former congress woman here >> now is a time to come together. be responsible. democrats or republicans, everyone. >> her visit along with husband mark kelly is part of the couple's national campaign to expand background checks for gun sales. her crusade ties to the history of her asale ent, jar jared law ner. he purchased his gun legally. his mental instability never having been determined and that allowed him to pass a background

checks. giffords has come pled to lawmakers to close loopholes that allow criminals and mentaly ill to purchase guns. >> you must act. be bold. be courageous. americans are counting on you! >> gabby giffords deserves a vote. the families of newtown deserve a vote. the families of your or a deserve a vote. the families of tucson and blacksberg and the countless other communities ripped open by gun vote, they deserve a simple vote. >> while gun control legislation failed in congress, states like new york had made it harder to purchase firearms. the safe act passed in new york earlier this year expands a ban on military-style weapons, requires mental health professionals to report threats

and creates a registry to keep guns out of the wrong hands. >> the organizers of sunday's show had made an agreement to adopt rules that will track sales that shows, provide on the spot background checks and man data roof of purchase before buyers exit the building. it's a model giffords sees a compromise that doesn't infringe on second amendment rights. giffords still struggles to walk, speeak, read and write. she is determined to take her gun control message to an audience least likely to want to hear it. ray lin johnson, al jazeera. >> rescue crews are searching through the rubble of a building in colombia. it collapsed late saturday night. the high-rise apartment being is located in the mountains in the northwestern part of the country. eleven people are missing. local emergency officials say many lives were saved because the building had been evacuated. cracks and in the building friday night. of the miss ing, nine are

workers who were there to repair those cracks. in peru, there are no survivors after an overcrowded bus crashed killing 51 people, including children who were on the bus when it veered off of a cliff into a river. peruvian authorities say the passengers were on their way to a celebration. some of the bodies were recovered more than 300 feet away from the crash site. last year, more than 4,000 people were killed in similar accidents along the roads in the peruvian andes. >> a native american nation is taking on u.s. corporation giants to stop an invasion of heavy machinery. a road passing through necessary perce lands in idaho has been used by companies exploring lucrative oil reserves in neighboring canada. rob west went to find out how this is through the scenic river corridor >> reporter: a road that twists through the wilderness lies at the heart of a battle, pitting some of america's most powerful

corporations versus a small tribe of native americans and their allies and the corporations are losing. >> we are not going to stand by and let this happen again and again and again. highway 12 runs through the nez perce through their culture territory along the blanks of the clearwater and loxa rivers in northern idaho. it's the cheapest route for the exxonmobil, conoco film in hopes and general electric corporations to transport giant oil-processing equipment like this from manufacturers in asia for use in the tar sands of alberta, canada. the shipments called megaloads are too big to fit beneath overpasses on larger highways. they take up the entire width of the 2-lane road. the highway 12 corridor is protected from development under federal law as a place of unique natural beauty and environmental value.

plans to run hundreds of mega loads through the corridor appalled lin lovely and borge hetchederson who lived nearly all of their lives through the river. >> it's almost incomprehensible something as beautiful, spiritual, historical as this could be industrialized. >> this area is too important to the american people to sell it to ex exxonmobil or conoco phillips or ge or anybody else who wants to transform this route into an industrial route to the tar sands. the couple began organizing legal action to stop the mega loads. mean while, a worry that mega loads would harm the habitat of salmon that swam in the clearwater and loxa got the nez perce involved. >> the river system here has been our life blood for thousands and thousands of years. my worry about the mega loads is

that it's the tip of the iceberg of leading to something bigger and possibly more dangerous to the environment. >> in august, hundreds of ne nez perce blocked the highway inside the reservation, halting a general electric megaload. this cell phone recording was recorded by one of the demonstrators. over several nights of protest orders, dozens were arrested. the mother of two was one of them. >> i was picked up by two state police officers, man handled. i was bruised ceph overly. my arms were hurt. >> ge's equipment passed through, but to date, that was the last megaload to roll down highway 12. >> on thursday, a fred recall judge reaffirmed an order barring any megaload from travel okay this highway until further environmental, cultural and social impact studies are

completed. >> a ge spokesman contacted by al jazeera said the company had no comment on the court ruling. the nez perce have fought powerful adversaries to a standstill before. warrions won a series of battles with the u.s. army before tribal leader chief joseph surrendered to prevent a massacre of ne nez perce women and children. the fight against mega loads is also a fight against the ecological damage in the tar sands region of alberta. many also believe it's a blow in the battle to stop man-made climate change. >> i believe the world is looking at us to stop a lot of this depending upon us >> reporter: so far, the ne nez perce and their allies are winning the battle. on the banks of the loxa river, idaho still ahead on al jazeera america, we will show you an engineering marvel designed to

protect the city of venus from rising water. ross? >> the red sox, if you loto sco runs tonight against the tigers after getting blanked last night. it's going to be a tough task against detroit's mac scherzer. we will have a preview in just a bit.

daryn hayes is back previewing an n.f.l. sunday and another big night of baseball. >> during this month, it's always big, but last night, the detroit tigers took a 1-nothing series league over red sox and came within two outs of the first come bind no-hitter in post-season history. now, tonight, the tigers send another ace to the mound in boston. >> that's where we bring in ross who is at fenway park. how important was it for the tigers to pick up that first win knowing that 21-game winner is on the hill tonight? >> reporter: as they say, darren, in baseball, good pitching will always be good hitting. >> that's exactly what happened last night in game 1 of the

american league championship series. detroit sanchez was lights-out against the big bats from boston. dig this: sanchez had a no hitter through six innings and struck out 12 batters. the tiger's bullpen kept that no-no, going. daniel nava got the one and only base hit against wajoaquin been. it doesn't get easier for boston because detroit will send matt scarser to the hiherzer to the y your alc cy young swwinner. >> it's about attitude. >> a little more experience he got to where he could repeat his delivery mechanically on a more consistent basis, added a cur curveball as another weapon f pitch but basically because he kept his mechanics intact for the most part. and he was able to do that

consistently. >> it has been the same from the day i arrived in the big leagues to now. i believe confidence is a choice, and i always doose that i am going to believe that i am going to come out on top. it doesn't matter if you are struggling or on topchoose that i am going to believe that i am going to come out on top. it doesn't matter if you are struggling or on top. you always have to believe you are going to have success. this year, i had the same confidence level i had my entire career >> reporter: so he will be on the hill looking to give the tigers a lead because this series heading back to motown for games 3, 4, and possibly 5 and, of course, detroit will have justin verlander on the hill for game 3. as for boston, they will send clay bucholtz to the hill. >> ross, johnny peralta was a difference maker offensively for the tigers last night. how important is his presence in the line-up after the 50-game suspension or is this a tale of redemption? >> reporter: yeah, johnny

peralt back from his 50-game suspension for being involved with the bio-genesis scandal but he came back on september 26th. his teammates welcomed him with open arms. he went 3 for 4 last time, he has hit 417 in the al division series. so peralta has just been unbelievable, plus he is more of a team player because he switched positions from left field where he is playing now compared to a shortstop position because when he was suspended, they had to trade for jose iglesias. >> how important does to pick you will this game 2 win knowing ver lander will pitch in game 3? >> reporter: when you talk about the red sox, you are just talking about grinding away because that's what post-season baseball is all about. they understand it's going to be great pimping, great defense, someone has to come up with a timely hit. they are a veteran ball column. they understand that. they will be fired up. they understand, yeah, games 3,

4 and possibly 5 back in detroit and you've got justin verlander on the hill for game 3 and they are ready to roll. they are excited and they understand what play-off baseball is all about. >> a big game, ross at fenway park. game 2 will be tonight at 8:00 o'clock. thank you, ross. now, heading into week 6 of the n.f.l., the new york jets and pittsburgh stealers in two different directions. the steelers are winless this season and looking bad on both sides of the ball until now. mike tomlin coming off of a bye week looking for win number 1. third quarter in this one, third and two for the steelers. look out ben roethlisberger pitch and catch with emanuel sanders, 55 yard touchdown strike. that puts the steelers up 16-6. mean while, the ups and downs of geno smith continues, jets driving on the steelers 23 but smith gets picked off in the red zone to end the jets' drive. late in the fourth, smith again

gets intercepted this time from the 12 yard line. that's not good. that seals the game for the steelers. 19-6 is your final there. meanwhile, the chiefs looking to remain unbeaten and it was the jamal trall show today. the chief's running back with two scores on the day. the first one, from seven jars out. he finishes with 78 yards on the ground. the chiefs beat the raiders 24 to 7 as they move to 6 and 0. out in buffalo, mike nuge in t nails the 43 yard field goal in overtime as bengals move on to 4 and 2 with a 27 to 24 win. i am darren haynes. >> that's sports. >> of the highlights, darren, thank you. flooding is a constant concern for the city of venus. new engineering technology may block high rising waters before they can cause problems. claudia lavunga reports >> reporter: rising to the surface after decades of planning, this is what should

save a world heritage site from rising sea levels. the first four mobile gates of a system of barriers built to protect the city of venus from high tid es were tested on saturday. when completed in 2016, 78 will be raised from the bottom of the lagoon to stop tides from reaching the city. chief engineer says the barriers will protect venice without taking away all of its trademark high waters. >> venice, when the water reaches 80 centimeters above sea level but we are going to close it only when it is one meter and 10 above sea level. otherwise, we will be obliged too much times. 1.10, asked to close five times. 80 september meters will oblige more than 50 feet three times a dear. this will affect the ecosystem an the port authority.

>> many rising sea levels and land subside he knew means they are higher and more frequent. in the last one 00 years, venice has sunk 23 centimeters. experts have long called for a solution before it's too late. >> the system of barriers has been in the making for a long time. it was first conceived 30 years ago, and it has been under construction for 10 years. at $7 million, this is one of the most expensive and complex projects ever attempted in italy. but while it is supposed to stop high tide from reaching venice, the barriers have attracted a wave of criticism. >> local residents believe stopping the tides from coming into venice will change the lagoon's ecosystem and will turn venice into a stagnating pond. some say they will only be activated when necessary and it is the only way to make sure that venice is forever. >> the lagoona will not change its behavior because this is only a temporary closure.

the number of closures will be limited, especially in the first year. so the lagoon will be interrupted only for a few moments or a few hours. so this will not damage the lagoon, itself. >> with the first test being the success hopes are rising that venice will finally, be shielded from the forces of nature. lavagunga, venice. al jazeera america... >>introduces... "america tonight". >>a fresh take on the stories that connect to you. >>grounded. >>real. >>unconventional. >>an escape from the expected.

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this this this to the south of the bajh pennsylvania. lots of moisture in the southern plains across mexico and into texas. we will continue to watch for more rain and thunderstorm activity here it's been very intense here across southern areas of texas today. so much so that there have been a number of water rescues in uvalde and hayes county. roads have been closed and we have seen upwards to 10 inches of rainfall in spots in less than an 8-hour period. flash flood watches will continue as we get into the work week ahead. this moisture will be lingering through at least tuesday. sot shower and thunderstorm activity will be with us until we finally, dry out by the middle of the week. across parts of the west, we are watching unsettled weather conditions across utah. 2450sz where we are expecting to see rain change over to snow around salt lake city.

>> this issays america, 4r50i6 from new york city. i am thomas drayton with a look at today's top stories. >> the senate and house's top leaders, harry reid and mitch mcconnell began saturday to reap preliminary talks. read said a short time ago he is optimi optimistic. veterans in washington sent a clear message to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle this morning. thousands showed up to rally at war memorials in d.c. and crosses country. organizers of the million vet mercier veterans have been adorned due to the shutdown. in damascus, two car bombs damaged the state television