welcome to "al jazeera america." i'm richelle carey. captured and headed back to prison. two escaped florida felons face a judge. the u.s. is resuming more than a billion dollars of financial aid to pakistan. drones may soon be used for journalists. it was very brief, but convicted killers charles walker and joseph jenkins appeared before a judge vee yo videoconference in a courtroom in panama city.

they was caught saturday in panama city, florida. they were on the run after using forged doupts to get an early release from prison. robert ray joins us from outside the courtroom in panama city. you have a lot of information on what these two were up while they were free, but be sure to tell us what happened in court today. >> reporter: exactly. both men 34 years old, convicted killers serving live sentences and had documents forged that said to the state they were going to go free because they served 15 years. the documents stated that their 15 years were done and they could go. they left the franklin correctional institution. one on september 27th and one on october 8th. this morning in panama city, bay county judge in the courthouse behind me had the two on a videoconference. those two killers are at the jail right now, and the judge was here and he sentenced them both with charges of escape, one

count each. they are on no bond, and they're being investigated and questioned by authorities as we speak right now over at the county jail here in bay county. richelle. >> okay. tell us a little bit more now about what these two were up to while they were free. >> reporter: well, it's interesting. like i said, they left -- one of them left on september 27th, another on october 8th. at separate times they made their way back to orlando where they were sentenced, and they went through the process of when you get released from prison, you have to go back to the county and the court where you were sentenced, and you have to have your picture taken, fingerprints taken, and put on the convicted felon list. they did all that, and everything went smooth. they went and hung out with their families. in fact, one of them had a birthday party scheduled for him on october 1 # st that he never

showed up on. they didn't think it was weird. in the past few days, when the story became public and the media found out and the family members found out, the two seemingly met up with each other in orlando somehow, obviously, freaking out they had been discovered. they found their way by -- we don't know exactly how they made it here to panama city, but they were held up at a hotel, the coconut motor inn, room 227 to be exact. nearly two dozen of them surrounded the hotel and they got on a speaker and told them that, gentlemen, we are here. please come out. we have found out. sure enough, they did come out. they were surprised, from what we hear, that they were found in the hotel. they did not have any weapons on them according to the u.s. marshals, and that the apprehension went smoothly and

they were brought to the jail. the big question is now was this an inside job? both of these convicted killers were put into prison at ages 19 and 20. they're each 34 now, so they've been in for 15 years. clearly uneducated men that couldn't have pulled off this without the help of someone else. florida correction agencies and authorities feeling quite embarrassed at this moment and trying to figure out whether they have an inside person helps these two men and perhaps others, and just good thing that these guys are off the street right now and sort of the state of florida can breathe a sigh of relief. richelle. >> we'll have to see what comes out of the investigation. thank you so much, robert, live from florida. a navy commander, a captain and agent from ncis have been charged with corruption in a

scheme that cost the government millions of dollars. al jazeera patty culhane joins us live from washington. >> reporter: it was some sort of kickback scheme that services navy ships. it was overbilling the navy, and these two navy officers are accused of sending ships to certain ports where the company would win the contract. the ncis agent would tip off the company if there was a criminal investigation. they believe there were several times they did that, because they have all the e-mail where he alleges to have done that. they've arrested all five people, two people from the company. in exchange they say what these navy officers got in return was prostitutes while they were in as ia and travels arranged and in one case of tickets to a lady

gaga concert. >> what they're accused of, and it amounts to tickets. wow. what's next? >> reporter: these five will face various charges and could see prison time. it seems likely that others will be charged because the charging touments list unnamed navy officials, so more could be arrested. the navy isn't commenting saying it's an ongoing investigation. the $200 million worth of contracts with the navy have been canceled. >> $200 million. i guess. we have to see how widespread this is. thank you so much. >> okay. the subject of financial assistance is on the agenda this evening as secretary of state john kerry meets with the pakistani president this evening. white house officials -- drone strikes that killed pakistan civilians. puerto rico is becoming a major hub for drug smugglers.

once drugs are on the i land, they can head right to the u.s. mainland without go through customs. we have the deat a times. >> reporter: this is an unannounced search for drugs. puerto rico has become a major transit hub for south american drugs headed to the united states. according to the police, this is an average find. 15 pounds of pure cocaine. >> translator: the person realized we were here, so they came and left the backpack in the bathroom and just went walking out like any other person. >> reporter: the drug runner lost this cargo. here it's worth $140,000. in miami or new york, it could sell for half a million.

>> translator: we must congratulate the dog. he's very efficient and did a good job. >> reporter: the u.s. federal government reports an increase in drug interceptions over the past few years. local authorities say that's only a fraction of what actually makes it into the island. lieutenant carlos figueroa fights the drug trade on the streets of san juan. a murder victim was just found here with drugs in his pocket. witnesses say a motor scooter after hearing the gunshot. now the police are checking for suspects. >> if you enter into this world, you will die. it's like a death sentence. soon or later, someone will kill you. >> translator: they prefer the easy life and easy money, but their life will be short because they will die.

everybody thinks it will turn out different for them, but that's never true. there will always be somebody waiting behind your thrown. >> reporter: puerto rican police are constantly fighting this battle. with more and more drugs coming onto the island, prices are dropping and there's more business to fight for. chemical weapons inspectors are making progress inside syria. so far they've checked 14 of the more than 20 sites on the list. syrian state tv showed inspectors at the site. security remains a concern for experts as the civil war driven violence inside the country goes on. they have about nine months to find and destroy all of syria's chemical weapons. a suicide bomber killed at least 30 people in syria's central city of hama on a busy road on the outskirts of city. the government is blaming the

attack on the rebels. they saw some of the largest demonstrations against the syrian president's rule in the first months of uprising. a massive fire is burning in canada after a train derailed and exploded in alberta. this fire is so big emergency crews are going to let it burn itself out. this is the second time this year a train carrying petroleum derailed and exploded in canada. at least 42 people were killed? july when a train exploded in quebec. saturday demonstrators blocked a major highway in new brunswick where an energy company is planning to tap shale. they have been demonstrates for

years now. john traveled to nebraska to tour the only laboratory in the world making drones for journalists. >> reporter: for the newest media frontier, the sky is the limit. nat said he was watching a demonstration of an unmanned aircraft photographing the landscape to make a map when he had an epiphany. >> i watched this and said there's every tornado i've covered, every hurricane, flood, wildfire, biblical disaster. use your imagination. >> reporter: drones have long served as the eyes and arms of the u.s. military and intelligence agencies but he believes that they have the capability of $1500 drones like this could be useful to

journalists. the university of nebraska launched the first lab for young journalists. >> we are quite literally creating this new tool for journalists to use, because there is no -- there are no guidelines. there are no suggestions on how you should use this, what you can use it for. we're just making everything up, and i want to keep doing that. >> reporter: this might be wobbly but with refinements it could look like. it could mean almost no place is out of reach. they're still a work in progress, but a drone is already in use in australia to cover cricket. could airborne paparazzi be next? so far the law has left many

questions unanswered. >> if i see it outside my house, i'm going to shoot it down. as silly as it sounds, it's not clear whether or not they could do that. when we think about it, we are kind of writing the rule book. >> reporter: for now commercial drones are illegal in the u.s., but aviation authorities are crafting new laws that could have drones like this filling the skies by 2013. al jazeera, lincoln, nebraska. white house officials say about half a million americans have applied for health insurance through the affordable care act. that's 460,000 applications in federal and state exchanges, but officials are not saying have enrolled. it's difficult to determine if the program is on track to reach it's goal to cover 7 million uninsured americans. technical glitches on the healthcare.gov website have plagued the program since it began, and that was a subject of much discussion this morning. >> we just heard news overnight that the 400,000 or 500,000

approximately people have gone on the website and left some information. that tells us no information as far as how many people enrolled. that's a relevant matter because if enough people don't sign up for the exchanges, the rates are astronomically and undermine the entire private health insurance industry in the country. >> there are computer glitches. look, every major tech company has computer glitches. you read about them about apple and all other major tech companies. those will be solved. the administration is working to do it. they're putting in a tech surge and more people in the call centers, and if you need health care, the fact that you couldn't get on the computer right away isn't going to stop you two, three weeks from now when they're fixed from going on. >> the white house says additional maintenance was performed on the website this weekend. next on "al jazeera america," one college stadium goes peanut-free. we'll tell you why. >> hi, i'm phil torrez. coming up this week on techknow:

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welcome back. here's a look at our top stories. they used forged document to get out of prison. they were captured yesterday in panama city in a motel there. two naval officers and an ncis agent have been arrested and charged with corruption. the three alleged helped a contractor who overbilled the defense department. officials confirmed that billions of aid will be restored to pakistan over the coming months. the government may be up and running, but the impact is felt across the country. the gates at the great smoky mountains national park are open again, but for many local businesses that depend on park visitors, it may be too late. we have this report.

>> reporter: steve garrett and his league of llamas are just getting their footing again, taking fall foliage lovers through the smokies. during the government shutdown they were stuck hanging under this shelter. business came to a complete standstill. >> immediately the phones stopped rings and the e-mails stopped coming. my reservations stopped to come in. >> october is one of the our busiest months of year. yearly we get over 9 million visitors a year, and in october alone we get 1.1 million. they're coming in to see the fall colors. >> reporter: the great smoky mountain national park is in north carolina and tennessee. local businesses suffer. >> it was big. with the park not open, it really hurts. >> reporter: realizing mother

nature wouldn't wait for the government to figure things out. the governors of tennessee and north carolina brokered a deal to get the national park gates back open, but the damage was already done. a study by western carolina university shows what local businesses already know. north carolina and tennessee lost more than $30 million in visitor spending, 12 million in lost wages, and 3 million in local and state taxes. while some businesses wilted, others flourished. >> fortunately, the people that were in the park had 48 hours to get out. then immediately we, as a city, wanted to help them -- those folks coming out find a place to go camping and places to stay. >> reporter: there may be better news for tennessee and north carolina. the states may get a partial refund on the money used on get the park back open. regardless of what happens in washington, d.c., mother nature is already putting on a show in the smokies.

>> i think it's a really good timing with the peak right now at 4,000 feet is really pretty. we have a couple more weeks, two or three more weeks left of colors. >> reporter: those banking on the fall, the crowds now are too little and too late. >> i'm not sure we're going to be able to recoup it. i think it's going to be something that's water under the bridge at this point, unfortunately. >> reporter: jonathan martin, al jazeera, the great smoky mountains national park. and it is turning out to be a very nice day to check out the fall color across parts of southeast including tennessee and the carolinas. a little bit on the cool side, though. we are seeing temperatures in the 50s and 60s, and we're not going to warm up that much more than where we stand at this house. now, it's warm across florida. that's where temperatures are already in the mid-80s around orlando, and that's pretty much where we're going to peak throughout the day there. still watching a frontal boundary as it kind of just hangs out along the southeast coastline.

not a lot of rainfall along with it, but we see a mix of clouds and some sunshine with it. then we're watching a few spotty showers off the coast of the carolina, but further inland the pressure builds in. into the east we have showers overnight. that's really about it in western new york. so very localized moderate to heavy rainfall at times can be found here around erie so keep that in mind. the bulk of the action through the upper midwest has rain and also a mix of rain and snow. it is making for a pretty tough go along roadways. in minneapolis it's mainly light rain for us, but as we get into the late part of evening, as temperatures cool, wee see a rain/snow mix. here's a look at the forecast. temperatures well blov average. typically we peak in the mid-50s, but today with the clouds around and rain changing over to snow, 48 degrees.

we drop into the 20s overnight. it looks like we have brighter skies though for our work week ahead. at least the weather will be quiet as far as precipitation is concerned, but temperatures do stay cool. much of the u.s. is dry and we're watching an upper level disturbance into the four corners. that brings snow into the higher elevations of colorado. across the southwest it's been the fog that we dealt with through the morning hours, but very warm temperatures hanging on around los angeles. richelle. >> thank you. peanuts are a fan favorite at stadiums all across the country, but they can be deadly for an increasing number of americans, especially children, who are allergic. that's why one university decided to shelve the treats completely at least for one football game. andy has the story. >> reporter: eli had never watched his favorite college

football team playing at northwestern university. his family didn't want to take the chance because of his peanut allergy. it nearly killed him as an infant. >> okay. row 12. >> i'm happy to be here. >> reporter: today eli is going to his first wildcat game ever because the university has banished peanuts, at least for this game. and they're making a big deal out of it. they call it peanut-free day at ryan field. no peanuts sold and none allowed in. >> it's just fantastic. otherwise you can't do it. it's not safe. you go to wrigley field, and they just have peanuts and they're all over the place. it's just like playing russian roulette with your kids.

>> in preparation they hosed down the stadium to remove any trace of pea mutt peanut residue from last games. >> if you sit in a seat where someone eats peanuts and you touch it and kids put their fingers in some orifice 20 times an hour. >> 1 in 30 u.s. kids have a food allergy the most common is peanut allergy. they have had some kind of severe reaction. >> they can very rapidly go to an anaphylaxis which are severe symptoms like throat closing, swelling, trouble breathing, drop in blood pressure. it can quickly lead to death. >> reporter: outside the stadium tailgaters munched on pregame peanuts but didn't mind the ban. >> to give it up for one day? >> yeah, everybody knows it ahead of time so you don't accidentally take some in with you. >> reporter: how has it come to

this? why has the number of peanut allergies in kids tripled since 1977. dr. gupta says there are plenty of theories, but nobody knows for sure. she said we may have become too clean as a society. all the antibacterial products we use may keep kids from getting common infections that ultimating pooeverevent food allergies. at northwestern today the loss of a popular treat for fans is really a big boost for them. the legendary disaster has become a million dollar collector's item. we have that next on "al jazeera america." news stories? it drives discussion across america. >> share your story on tv and online.

an iconic artifact from the titanic brought in a record

price at auction. the violin believed to be played on the deck as it was sinking brought in $1.6 million. andrew potter reports. >> reporter: corroded by the ocean and no longer playable, but it's what this violin represents that makes it of usage value. these initials stand for wallace hartley. he was bandleader on the ocean liner titanic, which so famously sank on its maiden voyage in 1912. they played to comfort passengers as the ship went down. it's thought this was the instrument he used. >> it represents bravery in human nature, the way this young man and his colleagues and all the people on the ship stayed and fulfilled their duty. >> reporter: it also represents a substantial investment for one selector after going under the hammer at auction. >> at 900,000. it's going. >> reporter: 900,000 british pounds, that's $1.4 million and

more than four times the expected value. >> it's not about the cash. it's about what it is. it's the most iconic there is. it's history. it's a brave man. the money is secondary. it is a very valuable item. there's no doubt about that. >> reporter: the violin was discovered in an english attic in 2006. there's been fierce debate about its authenticity, but this auctioneer is adamant it's the real thing saying hartley strapped it to his body in a leather case before becoming one of the titanic's 1500 victims. there's no word on who the buyer is yet, but it's hoped the instrument will remain on public display. american cities are adopting spaining running of the bulls traditi tradition. atlanta played host to the great bull run on saturday.

the event was 3,000 people doing their best to dodge angry bulls. a few runners fell or were knocked down. there were no reports of injuries. thank you for watching "al jazeera america." i'm richelle carey. "earth rise" is next. you can go to our website as well, aljazeera.com.