welcome to al jazeera america, i'm john siegenthaler, and here are the top stories. members of the house say they will try again tomorrow. republican house members tried twice today to come up with a plan to end the government shutdown and extend the debt ceiling. neither plan could win enough support from conserving. senate leaders had been discussing their own bipartisan proposal but were waiting today for the house to act. america's aaa credit rating is now officially underreview. a lower credit rating means it has cost the country more to

borrow and potentially drives up interest rates forconsumers. a plea of not guilty from abu anas al-libby. he appeared today in new york. he was captured by u.s. special forces in libya earlier in october. he is accused of helping al-qaeda bomb u.s. embassies in tanzania and kenya. and iran says it no longer wants to, quote, walk in the dark. it joined other powers in geneva to hopefully end a standoff over its nuclear program. that is the latest. "america tonight" is up next. you can get the latest on aljazeera.com. on "america tonight," an exclusive story from heardland america, high school athletes and the sexual assault of two young teens. was there a cover up? >> i felt like i needed this

storyo come out. >> also tonight the second part of our report on the frac-ing boom, a west texas town, awash in new gas wealth is left without a drop. >> i turned the water on, and that's when i went oh my god, the town is out of water. >> and the next steps in haiti's recovery. soledad o'brien on the healing hands that are helping haitians find their way. ♪ good evening, and thanks for

being with us. i'm joie chen. the story is a disturbingly familiar one now, high school athletes, alcohol, the sexual assault of teen girls and outcry spreading through social media. this case involves who betweeners who say they were doubly victimized because they soht justice. lori jane explains. >> reporter: maryville, missouri may be a small town, but right now it's under a huge microscope because of a rape case that dates back nearly two years and it is just now getting national attention. >> i felt like i needed this story to come out for me also, and i needed to be able to voice my opinion along with my mother, and it's just -- we didn't have this kind of support when

everything happened, but now that we do have a lot of support and people listening, it's like a miracle. it feels really good that it's finally getting spoken about. we have waited for this day for a very long time. >> reporter: for the first time the 15-year-old is speaking out about the ore deal. she says she was 13 at the time, and claims she was one of two victims assaulted after drinking alcohol and sneaking out with friend to a high school football players home. >> they separated us when we got there. and a boy had taken me another into room and sexually assaulted me after telling him no. it was very scary. i was really confused and i didn't understand really what was fully going on, and i was in shock, really, and i was very

worried about my friend, and i mean -- it was freezing out -- so . . . i don't know. there was just a lot of things going through my mind. >> it was january 8th of 2012, and it was 22 degrees that night. and when daisy was left out in the front yard -- >> daisy coleman claims she was also a victim of rape that night. left outside drunk on her mother's front doorstep after the assault. the sheriff's arrested three boys, a juvenile and two older high school students who were both charged in adult court. one faced a misdemeanor charge, and sexual exploitation. the prosecuting attorney would not go on camera but told "america tonight" . . . although one boy admitted to

recording the incident on cell phone video. the sheriff said the video could never be found, and the victims refused to cooperate. >> i disagree completely with what he is saying. he did not give us a reason at the time as to why he dropped the charges. matter of fact he didn't even tell us he dropped the felony charges. and to me that's completely unreasonable. >> paige says she is home schooled now. he claims she endured days of harassment after the incident. >> it was pretty heart breaking. it just made you want to hide and not say anymore, and back down. but i knew i couldn't just back down. but it is one of the worst feelings in the world to be called all of these things and to not understand why people

wouldn't listen to your side of the story and why they were being so mean. >> daisy's family had to move out of town. it wasn't until a kansas city star reporter brought the case to light. >> greetings world. two young girls have been raped in the town of maryville, missouri. another high school football star has backed free. the people of maryville turned their backs on these victims and one family has been forced to flee the town. >> this video is just 2:36 long, but it's impact may be known for years to come. already it has more than a hundred thousand views. the group is also rallying people on twitter, fuelling campaign to protest the law enforcement officials involved in the case, and pushing community members to take action

to make sure justice is properly served. >> reporter: the group anonymous got so heavily involved and spread an online campaign to encourage people to put pressure on the attorney general. but the attorney general's office put out a statement saying it has no authority over this case. but then the lieutenant governor released a statement saying in part . . . so joie he is now calling on the attorney general to ask the prosecutor to convene a grand jury so they can decide whether or not charges could come forward. >> let's talk more about how the case was handled lori jane. i heard from the sheriff who's investigators lead the way on this case. and i asked if he feld they had done the right thing?

>> yes, one young man was charged with sexual assault, another young man was charged with sexual exploitation of a minor. >> there was the question of why the statutory rape charge was not made. did you feel the evidence was presented that would have lead to a statutory rape charge? >> not even close. the crime that occurred did not come anywhere meeting the elements of the crime of statutory rape, so the appropriate charge of sexual assault was filed. >> because of the age of the young woman and young man involved in >> whether you are a juvenile or adult if you are in an incapacitated condition, you are not considered to be able to make that rational decision. so it wouldn't matter if the victim was 14 or 40, they would be considered to be incap

-- incap pass stated. >> but it was a sexual assault charge. >> correct. and that's a class c felony. and i think in support of that, if you look at the past history of these young men, they have previously been prosecuted in the county by our current prosecuting attorney for other crimes. so our prosecutor is not afraid to file charges or pursue criminal prosecution when that is the appropriate thing to done. >> why were the original charges dropped? >> the victims absolutely refused to assist in prosecuting the case. they absolutely refused to -- to assist in any way at all, leaving the prosecuting attorney with little alternative. >> you understand the victim's mother says that is absolutely not the case, that she did want to move forward with additional

charges. >> i understand that's what the mother said. i have seen her on tv and heard her say that, but i can tell you that when the -- when the victim comes to the prosecutor's office in -- for the purpose of giving a deposition and the victim invokes her fifth aamendment right to not self incriminate, that leaves the prosecuting attorney no place to turn. >> there has been a lot of attenti attention about this case. can you respond to that? >> as far as the social media goes, i think the social media has been nothing but a hindrance to not only this case, but a lot of other things that go on in our community and society as a whole. there have been any number of threats made towards citizens in

this community, myself, my family, people that work at the sheriff's office, and i would say to those people, it's very easy to hide behind an anonymous user name and make threats and assume a lot of things that you don't know, but if you want to say those things have the courage to stannd up and be identified. >> obviously we had some difficulties with the sheriff, but we wanted the audience to hear what he had to say. lori jane what happens next for the girls? >> the sheriff says his hands are tied. but if the girls really want action to be taken, especially daisy, she should go back into the prosecuting attorney and say yes, i'm willing to cooperate at this point. here is what i'm willing to do, and the prosecutor will have to make a decision on what is going to happen next. but at this point it's out of the sheriff's hands.

>> let's talk about the social media impact. and the sheriff talked about it there. >> yeah, anonymous has a big impact worldwide people follow them on twitter and facebook and really get involved. and when i was speaking with thester if, i was trying to do an interview with him, and he said i shut down our website because we were worried about these people hacking into our system, and he needed to protect the integrity of the other cases they had. >> yeah, i think a lot of people would like to know more about anonymous. >> yeah, and coming up tomorrow night i'm going to have nor information on anonymous. i'm going to take us to ohio where there is more outrage over another high profile rape case. >> we had 2,000 people standing there peaceful, and rape victims

speaking online for the first time. it was very powerful. >> so that's on wednesday. >> thanks very much. still to come here we are going to be talking about texas wells running dry. is frac-ing to blame? "america tonight"'s frac-ing boom series continues after a break. ♪

♪ now we continue our series, the frac-ing boom in barnhart, texas tonight where the first frac-ing trucks arrived two years ago, and then the wells started going dry. for the people in town turning on a tap can no longer be taken for granted. >> reporter: keith has been fixing water wells in this area of west texas for nearly 30 years. these days business is almost too good, and not in a good way. >> we're as busy as we want to be. we could stay running all day

and all night if we wanted to. >> reporter: water wells all over the county are drying up. >> i have seen some of the real shallow water, like 40, 80 feet, i have seen it go, but never any as deep as some of these. they are 600 feet and going dry. some of it has to do with the drought, but not all of it. >> reporter: today he is working for a rancher, shutting down a dead well. >> all of the shallow water in this country is pretty well gone, thanks to all of the drilling going on. >> reporter: the frac-ing boom has arrived in west texas. and it is changing everything in small town life in this area. the permian basin is one of the largest oil and gas-producing areas ever discovered in the us. with some 82,000 active wells,

but most of its riches are only accessible through frac-ing. >> frac-ing uses a lot more water than conventional drilling. conventional drilling they would have a vertical hole and it would use maybe a hundred thousand gallons. in frac-ing they inject a lot of water to hydraulically frac the rock. you are talking 3 to 6 million gallons per well that is fracced. >> reporter: now the frac-ing boom may be pushing some towns over the edge. once a sleepily intersection off of the highway, barnhart, texas is now teaming with new people. at last count 300 trucks, most of them 18-wheelers run through

barnhart every hour. beverly mcguire and her husband settled in barnhart 35 years ago. >> everything that you see my husband built. >> reporter: wow. >> i want to show you our well, or what used to be our well. you can tell we haven't been in here lately. >> reporter: you don't think it will ever come back? >> i don't think so. >> reporter: and her own well went dry, beverly borrowed 1500 from the bank, and paid to be hooked up to the town well. >> the month i got that bill, i got up and i turned the water on, and that's when i went oh my god, the town is out of water. >> reporter: the town well had run dry. for three days last june residents had to truck in water

for drinking and basic needs. >> our friends on the ranch out here, their wells are all gone. our friends out here on the ranch, their wells are now gone. >> reporter: in texas water is governed by the rule of capture, if you own the land, you own everything beneath it. residents say some of their neighbors are cashing in and selling fresh water. vendors are pumping from deeper wells, dotting the country with newly dug pits like this one, all for frac-ing. >> reporter: what do you say to your neighbors who are selling water? >> oh. >> you can't say nothing. it is legal. >> reporter: beverly and allen say without water they might be forced to sell. >> it is heart breaking. you did the best you know how and it wasn't enough. >> reporter: ten times a day

bernard fills up his truck, and halls it to the frac-ing wells. >> we try to do the best we can, especially with the water being low. they run out of water quickly. we have got to be chasing up and down. >> reporter: we're here on the western edge of barnhart, we came up here to talk to people who are selling fresh water for frac-ing. but the subject is so sensitive that no one will agree to speak with us. there is another catch, water used in frac-ing is so contaminated that it can never be used again for any purpose without an expensive cleanup. the gas companies have built a massive new contaminated water storage facility right in town. beverly took us to see it. what is going to happen when all of these trucks start coming in. >> we're going to have lights

and a small city. it will be constant trucks, 24-7 all day all night. moving in and moving out and waiting. they will be all up this road, all waiting to dump. >> we are a town that greed destroyed. greed on the part of the oil companies coming in here, but worse than that, it was the people that lived here that embraced that greed. >> reporter: john is a local rancher and vice president of the barnhart water board. >> our infrastructure has been overtaxed overburdened. we can't meet the demand that the influx of oil people have put on all of this. water, housing, electrical, to a lessen degree. >> reporter: so the whole infrastructure -- >> everything. every aspect of it. >> reporter: you have a situation in town where you have that salt water -- >> yes, it's an injection

facility. the tanks there are there to hold it until it's pumped to whatever depth it is going to. >> but that means lots of trucks. >> reporter: lots and lots of trucks. that means 200 to 300. >> a day? >> yes. >> reporter: what about the people that live there? >> they are a non-entity. we have fought each of these salt injection wells, and gone to austin, and to no satisfaction. oil companies have a lot deeper pockets than these people do. >> hydraulic fracturing is the reason that texas and the rest of the nation is doing so well. >> reporter:back in austin i sat down with debra his -- hastings.

there was a bill always before this last legislative session, i think number 873 that would have widened the requirement for permits for drilling for water use. why was that law not a good idea? >> the process that we have right now is working, and so we believe that it wasn't broken. >> reporter: but why if other large users including municipalities and big agriculture have to get permits why would oil and gas be exempt. >> the timing is the most important part of that permitting process. we want to make sure when we have a rig available that we can use it. >> reporter: frac-ing companies can't need to use fresh water, but since the other water has to be treated it costs more.

the oil and gas industry maintains it is only using 1% of the water in texas and is not placing an undue burden on the state. not too long ago john ran hundreds of head of cattle on his leases ranch. but then the water ran out and now he is down to a couple dozen. >> reporter: they say the industry uses only 1% of water. >> this is probably true, but there's 254 counties in this state, and my question to the oil industry is what is that percentage in the 25 counties that is impacted mostly by that. no one will answer that for me? >> reporter: do you think they know? >> i'm satisfy they do. those people aren't dumb. water will be the limiting factor in this oil boom. when water gets tapped, the oil boom is going to dry up.

but of course this country without water is going to be absolutely worthless. >> reporter: scientists say of all of the fresh water used in the county that is home to barnhart 25 to 30% goes to frac-ing. in another county it's up to 54%. in all 30 towns across texas are in danger of running out of water before the end of the year. >> sheila just this last weekend we were talking about flooding in texas, heavy rains all of that, should about that make a difference? >> people in that part of texas may be the only people in the united states who are wishing for a hurricane. they talk about the need for what they call biblical rain to just begin to replace what has been lost on the aquifer. and every day those oil companies are in there and pulling tens of thousands of

gallons every day. >> just yesterday we were in southwestern pennsylvania, and up there, the challenge -- look at it is so lush and green -- >> beautiful. >> really beautiful. but again, communities making choices between the wealth underground, and the wealth of their lifestyle. >> in texas many people feel as a community they don't have a choice or a voice. you heard john say they went to and upand said do you have to put these storage sites right in our found? there is lots of open land, but that's where the texas commission on railroads decided they would go. so in some cases, yes, there's a lot of money, but there's a lot of people who are feeling their lives are being ruined. >> sheila macvicar thanks so much. coming up here on "america tonight" -- fresh classified

documents from edward snowden. you could be sharing your online rolodex with the government. that's coming up next. status quo with unexpected opinions and a fresh outlook. including yours. >> what do you think? >> consider this. unconventional wisdom. 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,

now a snapshot of stories making headlines on "america tonight." the death toll is rising in the philippines after a powerful earthquake there killed at least 110 people. but they say there is no threat of a sue nammy. abu anas al-libby has pled guilty in court today. charge of felony false imprisonment and battery, the disgraced former mayor pleads not guilty. even as edward snowden remains a fugitive, halfway across the world new revelations are still growing out of the

documents that he leaked. the latest involves hundreds of millions of email contact lists, and yours could potentially be among them. the latest disclose the reach of the agency. the data drawn from address books and instant messages groups could allow the nsa to map out a person's life. the agency has not been authorized by congress or by the special court that oversees foreign surveillance, the so-called fisa court, to collect contact lists of americans in bulk. but some lists are being gathered up in the data dragnets. the nsa claims this is not in direct violation of the foreign

intelligence surveillance act because the collection occurs in foreign countries when data crosses international borders. nsa chief dismissed charges of massive infrigment on personal privacy. >> the press claimed evidence of thousands of privacy violations. is false and misleading. >> it claims it is not technically able to restrict its contact lists belonging to specified foreigners. joining us now is the coauthor of that research article. thanks for coming in here. we hear drips and drabs coming out of the snowden releases. how significant is this? >> that's a really good question. i think there's one key point to observe which is many people were introduced to this issue

with the prison revelations, this is like when the government was going to companies like google and facebook and -- apple and asking for information >> uh-huh. >> they can request information on a foreign intelligence suspect. but here they have been able to capture the data without going to the companies or the company's involvement possibly due to the company's negligence, but the truth of the matter is rather than having to knock on the door with a legal document, they can collect it themselves, and they are overcollecting -- >> how much? >> we're told somewhere around 440,000 address books a day. somewhere in the 700,000 a day address books from the various like big four web mail providers. >> 700,000 per day?

>> that's right. >> who becomes a politic. i think i have contacts in the middle east and asia, certainly would i be at risk of being picked out this way? >> yes, i think what is clear is what the targeting guidance is. we know from other leaked documents that for example, targeting guidance on the 702 precedent -- sorry the 702 guidelines, allow you to collect information on anyone who is corresponding or has in their address book a foreign intelligence suspect. so it's not clear what information they are collecting, but they -- >> or why they might be? >> or why they are accessing it. the other interesting thing is the distributing nature of these web mail providers are not restricted to geography. so when you are interacting with

google from new york it's not necessarily the case the servers will be located in the us. a lot of times they are in the cloud -- >> so to their claim that it is just too complicated, that's sort of splitting hairs, right? >> they are collecting it from the backbone of the internet. they are collecting it as the data goes by through these pipes through what are known as sigads or these links in the internet through various countries. they are able to access it, and record it. >> thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you. back here in washington it's looking more and more like ground hog day. the discord on capitol hill is

as deep as ever. even with words that a major rating agency without out a watch today for possible downgrading of the nation's credit, talks ended again. it was clear there just weren't enough votes to get a bill passed in the lower chamber, much less in the senate. >> we tried to find a way forward in a bipartisan way that would continue to provide fairness to the american people. >> i think it's time that the president go into obamacare. and i mean really obamacare. >> they are attempted to torpedo the progress with a bill that can't and won't pass the senate. >> reporter: david hawkings rejoins us again this evening. i mentioned ground hog day, and

it does sort of feel that way, we go two steps forward, one step back. what y did things fall apart again today? >> well, the deal that mitch mcconnell and harry reid were close to reaching -- and they still hadn't reached it yet -- but when they told john boehner about it, and asked him to test market it to his house republicans -- there were not the votes to pass it. they had -- the house republicans -- there are a couple of dozen house republicans the tea party caucus who will not vote for anything that raises the debt limit. >> and also turns things back. it had more obamacare elements in it. >> that's right. they took what reid and mcconnell were doing and pushed it a little bit more to the right. it was enough to capture the republicans, but it was enough to loose all of the house democrats. so they tried to move it enough

to make it an all republican vote and it didn't work. they ended up with zero democratic votes and not enough republican votes. >> so now we are back to square one. >> they are back to talking right before i came in to talk to you, i got a message on my blackberry they are near a deal again. they are very, very close. it sounds very much like what they were proposing a day ago, so it sounds like we could have missed this entire ensewed and missed nothing. they are back to marketing to their own side what they think can get democratic and republican votes and they hope john boehner will conclude that the only way to get this off of his back is to pass a bill with combination of republican and democratic votes. >> but what the senate is talk about is still a delay, not a

complete resolution to all of this. and there would have to be budget conferences after that -- >> that's right. we are really only talking about something to keep the government open early into the new year, keep the debt limit at bay until early february, and require in some way that i still haven't read the language, but require some level of budget negotiations between now and christmas that would then be compelled to be put to a vote before the two deadlines are made. >> are they not getting besides the individual suffering, and now what you have is a situation where this enormous credit rating agency says look, we're watching you, united states, we're talking about downgrading you. shouldn't that be some impetus for movement? >> it is for some. but there is still this group of republicans who fundamentally don't believe the debt limit is

that big of a deal even with a warning like that. they believe there's a conspiratorial view that a new of them have that this is all sort of a game to put pressure on them to buckle. some of them just don't believe that we can't prioritize our debts. so they are not buying it. >> all right. david hawking thanks very much. cory booker is coming up wednesday on "america tonight." and coming up one step at a time here, an amputee's reality in haiti. soledad o'brien tells us more about the program that is giving many haitians new hope.

♪ left behind in the rebel of the 2010 earthquake in haiti are surviving victims who's wounds will never heal. they lost nearly everything, and now three years later, some of haiti's youngest are adjusting to life without limbs. soledad o'brien finds what works with young amputees who are slowly taking their second steps towards a new way of life. >> reporter: and seven years old he seems no different from other haitian boys his age. he spends his summer afternoon in a fierce battle alongside his brother. moments later our come -- cameraman seems to capture his attention.

his family lost everything when their house collapsed during the earthquake in january of 2010. this is the life they have managed to rebuild in three years. his father works as a driver and teaches his boys religion songs. but his mother worries. this is why. he was injured in the earthquake. what happened? >> translator: the foot was badly damaged. the house collapsed on him and his brother. >> reporter: the next day they reached a hospital. one doctor saad there was no need to amputate, but a second opinion from an american doctor delivered the terrible news. >> translator: the white american looked at it, and said if we don't cut the foot off, the child will die. they cut his foot off on the 18th of january. >> reporter: it must have been

terrible to see your son lose his leg. there are some words that need no translation. >> translator: it was horrible. i looked at him for a moment, just a moment, it was so painful i didn't want the foot cut off. >> reporter: she feared the physical pain her son was facing and the lifetime of hardship? haiti when you are missing a limb you are considered an outcast, called a cripple in creole. children can't go to school and adults can't find a job. >> reporter: how come when i walk around the streets i don't see people on crutches? >> they prefer hiding it. >> reporter: why? >> they feel that they are rejected from this society. >> reporter: ashamed? >> exactly. >> reporter: he is the education

director at healing hands for haiti. a nonprofit that offers pros prosthetic limbs for those who need them. >> there is also a cultural matter in haiti, only the strong. if you have a handicap you are done. they throw you away. >> reporter: handicap international came in with a partnership that saved their program and created a successful model for how international aid can hell haitians solve a haitian problem. >> translator: when we arrived in haiti after the earthquake, there were no professional rehabilitation services. so there was an urgent need to bring in specialists from

overseas. >> reporter: the partnership built this new center, training local staff to replace the foreign specialists. moisi has an appointment to get a new prosthetic. >> every day he grows -- >> reporter: which is good except the prosthetic is not growing. yes. so he needs a new one every six months. >> reporter: he is growing quickly, and when they try the new prosthetic, it needs a new adjustments. when they come back, a second fit is a better fit. he walks up and down and up and

down, as therapists check his balance. but for his mother every visit here, every fitting is another reminder that an already hard life in haiti will be even harder for her son. this man oversees the prosthetic workshop. he is optimistic. >> reporter: what is the prognosis? how will the little boy we saw today? how will his life be when he is 30 or 40 or 50? >> he just miss a part of the leg. he continue to evolve like a normal boy. >> reporter: one big challenge facing host countries like haiti is the eventual departure of the ngo's that support them. in this case handicap international has made sure they are self run and self-sufficient, setting them up with funding for five years mostly from the u.s. and canada. >> translator: we started a

training program for the medium term to ensure at some point there would be a transfer so haitians would be capable of providing the care themselves. >> reporter: this is the workshop where the prosthetics are made, each one from scratch. next door technicians show the velcro straps that will hold the prosthetic to the patient. the facility also hosts a training center. >> and after we have time to go to -- to school and to learn more. >> reporter: so it's a good gig? it's a good job? >> yeah. >> reporter: few places this port-au-prince are accessible for the handicap. the lead therapist says the tragic earthquake could have a silver lining. >> a lot of people in the

beginning before the earthquake they used to reject people with handy caps and after the earthquake they are starting to see them in another way. >> reporter: this is his new reality. every few months he'll travel to and from the city's downtown to get a new leg. so him it's like an answer to his prayers, the ones he sings about with his father, especially in places like haiti where the next steps are anything but certain. what has been absolutely critical for success if you ask the folks that work at any facility, they would say what has been key is putting all of the efforts into the hands of haitians. they would say the experts are there to train though haitians, they are there to take over the facility. and everything is done with an eye to leaving it all in hair

haitian hands. >> it's so reassuring to see some money making a difference there in haiti. and we have watched your previous reports, and i have a friend who comes to me and says how can we help? what can people do best who want to contribute to haiti now? >> first of all there are more ngo's in haiti than any other country in the world. at the same time there is a lot that needs to be done in post earthquake haiti, and there are a number of ngo's that are doing pretty good work. the key thing is transparency. if somebody wants to give money, they should investigate whether or not that ngo is transparent. the biggest challenges is when people are not transparent about how they are spending the money out and specifically what they are going to.

there are a couple of great ngo's we showed you those, and there are many more that are very good, but i would say if you are looking, make sure you have information about transparency, and whether the money is going, that's key. if you are talking about governmental funds, the key there is going to be land rights. that's been a big problem. it is very hard to solve the issue of the approximately 300,000 people who live in tent cities before you can figure out who actually owns the land in order to make big decisions about how to move them. and even there has been big problems with transparency, as you know the piece we did involving -- >> right. >> -- really trying to track down that money? >> is there any indication they have become more transparent? >> i would say no. i would say the issue has been put on the back burner since the

government shutdown has become front page news. there was an investigation trying to figure out where that money was going. and a lot of that with the government shutdown, that has now moved to the back burner. >> let's talk about going forward, though. you reported previously in your series about your meeting with the legendary figure in the haitian world. if there is a trial for him, how does that help haiti's future? >> i think there are many people who would say if he is in fact able to face trial, if they don't say there is a statue of limitations, it would be a big symbolic victory, because it would show a lot of people inside and outside of haiti that there is an effective rule of law in that coup country, and

there are obviously implications for that. for people who are investors and international funders. they want to see the law that the country has a legal system that is effective and working. so i think it could be -- i think a lot of people consider it an important and symbolic move, if in fact he does face trial. >> so many people want to see haiti move forward. thank you so much, soledad o'brien. and still ahead here tonight preconditions for marriage. the new rules for nighing a knot for multi-cultural soul mates in south korea. bring you a sneak-peak of the future, and take you behind the scenes at our evolving world. techknow - ideas, invention, life. that's all i have an real

money. victoria azarenko my name is ranjani chakraborty,

♪ finally tonight south korea is introducing some new rules for citizens who are look fog marry foreigners, including income and language requirements. this is an attempt to tackle some of the problems associated with multi-cultural marriages. >> reporter: nita came to south korea from the philippines.

14 years later, theirs is one of 270,000 multi-cultural families. these marriages often run into trouble overlanguage, money, gaps in age, and culture. >> for me it's very hard -- it's very difficult because of the tradition. because korean tradition and philippine tradition is very different. because quran, they said man is heaven and then woman is land. >> reporter: after early difficulties nita says her marriage has flourished. she now is a translator at a program that is tailored to help meet expectations of husbands and in-laws. now they are bringing in new

rules. but one organization that helps foreign spouses says that won't address the issue of marriage brokers who don't care about the futures of the couples they set up. >> the government thinks that such strict regulations would prevent brokers from arranging marriages thoughtlessly. but there are many individuals who do it. they will continue their business and it's difficult for the government to control them. >> reporter: the wider problem is discrimination between multi-cultural couples and their children. >> when they first told me about it, i was definitely bothered and upset, because be half black and half korean i have been through prejudice on both sides. i hope the best for my son being here where it's a culture that

doesn't know much about other nationalities and stuff. >> reporter: it's a hope that a growing number of families share. >> and that report came us to from al jazeera's harry faucet. that's it for us here on "america tonight." if you would like to comment on any stories you have seen tonight, log on to our website, aljazeera.com. please talk to us on twitter or on our facebook page and we'll have more of "america tonight" tomorrow. ♪

>> welcome to al jazeera ameri america. here tonight "r" tonight's top stories. the house has adjourned for the evening and the fate of the government is now in political limbo. republican house members tried twice today to come up with a plan to extend the debt ceiling before thursday's deadline, but neither plan could win enough support from conservative members. senate leaders have been talking about their own bipartisan proposal but were waiting for the house to act. one of the big three credit rating agencies said america's credit rating is officially under review. the dow's future has fallen for than a hundred points.