land on which they work. for their daughters, freedom from both servitude and grinding poverty - remains just a dream. and as long as the wealthy are willing and able to exploit the country's poor, this trade in human beings looks set to this is "al jazeera america" live from new york city. i'm tony harris. president obama addresses the online issues americans are having with health care exchanges. two are dead after a shooting at a nevada middle school. two more are in critical condition. and a slow road to justice for the men held at the prison at guantanamo bay. president obama says there

is no excuse for the problems plaguing the health insurance exchange website. he expressed his frustration during remarks in the white house rose garden. the president says he's confident the issues can be fixed and that health care reform is about more than a website. mike viqueira is at the white house for us. the president could have been the star of his own infomercial today. he is pushing back against some strong and negative headwinds. >> reporter: that's right. he really was pitchman and chief today. he said it's a good program. you get a good price. everyone not insured can go to the exchanges. you can go online, but the administration and the president over the course of the last three week since october 1st when the exchanges launched online, they say the problems are the result of this overwhelming and unexpected volume and interest from the public. 19 million unique visitors they say. today a marked change.

the president marching into the rose garden. all around him were people that benefit from the affordable care act, otherwise known as obamacare. he said these problems go deeper than he thought originally. >> the problem has been that the website that's supposed to make it easy to apply for and purchase the insurance is not working the way it should for everybody. there's no sugar-coating it. the website has been too slow and people have been getting stuck during the application process, and i think it's fair to say that nobody is more frustrated by that than i am. >> the president isn't saying exactly what they're going to do to fix it. the administration officials over the course of the last few days have touted a s.e.c. surge of the best and brightest from the government. they work on it 24/7. they cite changes made already on the website. the president gave out an 800 number. more on that pitchman theme.

he said it twice for folks to call to try apply online that way, but i myself called and several others called on social media and related their experience. there were problems there as well. the individual told me i needed to go back online to fill out an application before he could help me. so some confusion here. i guess the good news is if you're a supporter of the affordable care act and you want to sign up, the deadline to do that isn't until march 31st of next year. there is time to iron out a lot of defects, tony. >> mike, let's be clear here. this rollout is being criticized not just by the president's opponents on the republican side of the aisle but from his own colleagues as well? >> reporter: right. you start with nancy pelosi over the weekend says it's unacceptable and others call it an embarrassment. robert gibbs who stood behind that podium in the white house briefing room behind me for two years said someone needs to be fired over this. you're right. republicans after sort of dropping the message ball pursuing the shutdown and debt

limit strategy that failed over the course of the last three weeks are trying to make up for lost ground and taking aim at this rocky rollout at this website. a hearing planned in the house of representatives this coming thursday, tony. >> mike, thank you. secretary of state john kerry was in paris to meet with arab foreign ministers to talk about syria and the middle east peace process. kerry was asked about iran's role in ending the syrian civil war. >> it's very hard to see how iran can be constructive in the absence of their willingness to come for the purpose of the negotiation. so they accept geneva 1 and want to be constructive to set up a transition government, that's a different issue. until that happens, it would be very difficult to see how it could be constructed. >> as he arrived in paris, he was confronted by new allegations about the extent of u.s. spying overseas. the french newspaper reports that the national security agency intercepted phone calls and text messages of 70 million

french citizens in a period of one month's time. this afternoon president obama spoke with french president hollande and acknowledged legitimate concerns about the issue. we'll have much more later in the newscast. many people in sparks, nevada are asking one question tonight. why? they want to know what led a student to open fire in a middle school east of reno. police say when it was over a teacher and the gunman were dead, two students were wounded. maria is here with the very latest on this story. maria. >> we're learning more information about the teacher killed this morning, but i first want to show you where the shooting took place. right near reno, nevada, four miles east is where sparks middle school is located. it's a public school with about 800 students. the associated press identified the teacher shot dead as michael landsbury. he taught eighth grade month and served in the national guard. he's being called a hero by

police. it's believed he tried to intervene when the student opened fire. those at the scene can't explain the motive behind the shooting. take a listen to a 13-year-old student there describing the confusion of it all. >> the student was pointing the gun at the teacher after the teacher told him to put it down. the student fired a shot at the teacher, and the teacher fell and everybody ran away. we ran across the field, and while we were running we heard four or five more shots. >> local, state and federal agencies responded to this scene. two students were hospitalized, this is what police had to say a short while ago. >> the injured students have -- one has gone through surgery and is out at this time. the other individual is doing well. the one deceased is a staff member of the school. sparks middle school, the other deceased individual at this point in time appears to be a student/suspect in this case.

>> we haven't got all the witness interviews just yet. the initial stuff, as you can imagine, the best description is cha chaos. i don't know whether or not he was targeting specific people or on a shooting spree. >> sparks middle school is now closed for the week. there are still many questions surrounding this incident, primarily the motive behind it, tony. >> all right. thank you. investigators in florida are trying to determine who helped two convicted murderers walk out of prison with forged release doment douments. they were found and captured saturday in panama city, florida. police want to know who forged the documents for them, who helped them get away and who planned to help pick them up in panama city. five men accused of planning the 9/11 attack will be back in a military court in guantanamo bay, cuba this week. we explain why their case is proceeding so slowly. >> reporter: 17 months after the arraignment of the five men accused of plotting the september 11th attacks, there's

still no trial date. legal experts say that's due in part to the amount of time spent in pretrial hearings at guantanamo bay. >> all sides are worried about the legitimacy question, and trying to make sure that whatever happens here, you know, fairness is achieved to the maximum extent possible. the quirky consequence of that is that things are going much slower than usual, and so therefore, calling into question the legitimacy that this longer pace is supposed to help ensure. >> reporter: at this week's pretrial hearing, prosecutors will ask the judge to start the trial on september 22, 2014. they argued too much time is wasted on what they consider irrelevant defense motions, and that justice needs to be served for the nearly 3,000 people killed on september 11th. however, defense lawyers saw they're required to do everything possible to save their clients' lives. they want to see all communications between the bush administration and the cia about

the defendants, their capture, and the torture they suffered. they also want the blocked site where the defendants were held to be preserved as evidence. plus, the lawyers want the government to stop monitoring their meetings with the defendants. then there's this request. defense lawyers want all the information the government game the producers of the movie ""zero dark thirty." they claim hollywood knows more about how the defendants were tortured than they do. from the beginning defense lawyers have moved to dismiss the call because of what they call government bias, but experts say it's highly unlikely they can persuade the judge to do so given the significance of the case. >> this is why this is all taking so long, because we're walking through each issue very, very carefully because i think everyone realizes that the eyes of history are upon them.

>> reporter: trying to balance the rights of the accused with the government's attempts to hold them accountable, no easy feat. rosalynn jordan, al jazeera, guantanamo bay, cuba. one of the strictest abortion laws moved to the courtroom today. they aergued effect next week. providers want a federal judge to block it from, implemented. text lawmakers approved the law in july. it requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges. wedding bells are ringing across nngz for same-sex couples. they're legally allowed to tie the knot. with new jersey included there are now 14 states in the country where same-sex marriage is legal. there are 29 states that pro liberty gay measure by constitutional amendments and six states ban same-sex marriage by law. we're in jersey city where one couple recently said i do.

>> by the power vested in me by the sovereign state of new jersey now pronounce you loving partners in matrimony. >> reporter: they say life as a couple with three children got easier. >> we send them to school. they can say their parents are married and not have them say civil union and have their friends ask them what they're talking about. that in itself is hu.he ceremon the relationship was only recognized as a partnership. now that their marriage is legal they can get shared health care, survivor benefits and joint tax filings. >> we've been trying to figure out how figure out to be two women with three children and two cars and had a deal with our tax returns for many years. i think our tax attorney has a lot of work to do also to figure it out, but that's why we pay them. >> we're all on a learning curve, even if we shouldn't be. >> reporter: new jersey governor chris christie opposes seam sec

marriage but would not pursue an appeal in the garden state. christy is up for re-election next month and may be looking at a white house bid for 2016. >> from his standpoint, you know, it's smart politically. from my standpoint i think from the lbgt community standpoint and residents that supported this, it wouldn't have made a difference at the end. i think marriage equality is here to stay. i think the governor recognized that, and that's where we are. today it's more of a political gesture than anything else. >> reporter: they were legally married in new york, but like many couples in new jersey, it meant more to them to have their marriage count at home. for some that meant tieing the knot at the stroke of midnight. new jersey senator-elect cory booker presided over some ceremonies, even as protesters voiced their opposition. >> speak now or hold your peace. >> this is unlawful in the eyes of god. >> well, sir, would you please

remove that person. >> we are married and happy to be so, but that's not legal in all states in the united states. there are a lot of people who still, even in the states where it's legal, don't believe that it's correct or proper. >> reporter: more couples had hoped to get married on monday, the first day same-sex marriages became legal in the garden state, but state law says a couple must wait at least 72 hours after applying for a marriage license. that means more wedding bells in new jersey later this week. al jazeera, jersey city, new jersey. one of the china's biggest cities has been shut down by overwhelming smog. students are being kept home from school and businesses are shuttered. the city is home to 11 million people. that's like the population of new york city and chicago combined. look at these pictures. this just dayed after the world

health organization declared air pollution a major cause of cancer. firefighters in australia are worried a huge wildfire could merge with another blaze to create a megafire. heat and high winds are hampering efforts to fight dozens of fires near sydney. more than 200 homes have been destroyed so far. al jazeera's andrew thomas has been out with one of the fire crews battling the flames. >> reporter: andrew smith is on the night shift for the third night in a row. >> we've been very busy. >> reporter: normally smith works as a chef, almost 1,000 kilometers away. >> we're going to split up into two, okay? >> reporter: tonight he's one of hundreds of volunteer firefighters who have flown from all over australia to protect the blue mountains and towns near sydney. >> that's what we're going to do. any questions? >> reporter: the hills above lit goe are alight.

tonight's task is to stop the bush fires traveling down to the town. they'll be fighting fire by lighting more fire, but first an edge of townhouse needs protecting. >> there's a 5-meter or 6-meter line of dirt. >> reporter: once the ground around the house is wet, beyond it is lit. >> that will do it. >> reporter: within seconds this. the idea is that these flames travel up the hill amid the big wild bush fire comes init. it can't reach the house and town of lithgow. >> you can see it's coming up. the wind is going to start bringing it back. this is a big one here. if that drops back down in in here, it ignites behind us, and the house is gone. >> reporter: there are hundreds

of operations like this going on across new south wales, much of the work done when it's coolest and the winds lightest at night. >> this will come straight down the hill into lithgow. >> reporter: so you're protecting the whole town? >> yes. >> reporter: the concern is separate bush fires could meet, and that could create what some are calling a megafire. that would threaten not just towns lick lithgow, but even the western suburbs of sydney. this is what's being done to stop it. andrew thomas, al jazeera, lithgow. hello, everyone. mime meteorologist kevin corriveau. let's go back a couple years for austral australia. they have had a drought situation for quite a while, so they're dry. now they enter into their spring, because that's what happens in the southern hemisphere. you add on top of that what is

happening here, we have a cold front moving through. notice the clouds right there making their way to the east. with that, winds come out of the north and down towards the south, and that is also bringing those very warm temperatures with it as well. as we go closer into summer, temperatures across this region are going to be increasing. so this situation that's happening now, we're going to expect this all the way through their summer. now, from space this is an image taken of the fires making -- showing the winds pushing down here towards the southeast. here is sydney and the fires up towards the midwest. they are seeing a lot of pollution and smoke into the city. if you fly to australia, if you have asthma or respiratory problems, that could be an issue right there. sydney is up here towards the northwest. those are the fires. of course, we are worried that the fires will come together as one major fire.

you can see where those sections are. these areas right here we think could become one major fire as well as the one down here. we'll watch this carefully. like i said before, this is the season for bush fires in australia. it goes on for the next three or four months. he need to watch how many rain they get to see what kind of relief they will see. typhoon francisco is going to the north. we think it's going to be a very weak system, tony, by the time it gets to japan. >> thank you. j p morgan chase may be ready to make a huge settlement. we will find out how it might impact you.

[[voiceover]] every day, events sweep across our country. and with them, a storm of views. how can you fully understand the impact unless you've heard angles you

hadn't considered? antonio mora brings you smart conversation that challenges the status quo with unexpected opinions and a fresh outlook. including yours.

welcome back. the cleanup around the fukushima nuclear reactor is far behind schedules. some residents will wait a few more years before they can return to homes. international inspectors reported monday on the response to the sdas disaster. harry fossett has the details. >> reporter: there's been set backs hampering the recovery effort. the inspectors from the international atomic energy agency, though, made it clear that they're assigned to look at the affected areas nearby. the latest situation is for the next assessment team to assess. >> the issues on site at fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant are not under the scope of

this mission. the government of japan and the agency recently announced that another follow-up mission to the assigned commission activities will be deployed in the last quarter of this year. >> reporter: the team spent a week talking to japan's national and local governments as well as people in fukushima preeffect tur. they say they were impressed by the efforts and resources with comprehensive measures ensuring food safety, public confidence was vital and communication strategies had to be constantly reevalued. earlier this month tep poe announced -- tepco announced a problem with a hose. contaminated water is the key problem as storage space fills up, groundwater leaks into the reactors and radioactive water spills into the sea. next month the shift will focus as work begins to remove fuel

rods from an elevated pool at reactor number 4. >> the worst one is number 4. number 4, they emptied the radioactive fuel after several years of radiation from the core one month before the earthquake. they put it in this spent fuel tank. they the quake happened and the explosion happened. that fuel is a mixture of you're rain yaum and plea tone yum. >> there was another less positive assessment from japan's government itself. it said the cleanup in some of the most contaminated towns is so far behind schedule residents had to wait up to three extra years before they could return. harry fossett, al jazeera. we're waiting to see if jm morgan and the government will officials sign off on a reported $13 billion over the bank's sale of bad mornings right before the housing crash.

al i very well shee will talk about it. it's a tentative deal we're talking about here, the settlement. would that hurt the bank's profits? >> sure. in 2012 jpmorgan chase had about 21, 22 billion in profits. this is a big chunk of that. they put money aside for the settlement, so fundamentally i don't know what it will do. the stock was actually up on this rumor of this tentative deal, and it's tentative and we don't know it's there. some things are being leaked to some in the media. we don't know what the deal is. if it's what we think it is likely to be, the stock is up and the company can bounce back from it. it's still serious. there's never been a $13 billion settlement in america. >> this will only settle the civil charges against the bank? >> yes. other investigations going on -- there are many of them. they're going on into jpmorgan chase.

there's a criminal probe in place right now, and there's nothing in the deal that would give them or anybody who works for jpmorgan or past workers immunity from criminal prosecution. that's interesting. that might hold it up. how much does jpmorgan agree to say? do they actually have to say they did anything wrong? do they just settle? that might be the detail holding it up. >> can i ask you another question here? >> yeah. >> i'm trying to understand the nuts and bolts of this. this is a big bank. we talked for years about jamie dimon and the ceo of the bank. the sale of bad mortgages rights before the housing crash, what does it mean? >> like every other bank, jpmorgan chase gave mortgages out and bundled them up and sold it and there's an allegation they misrepresented how good or bad the mortgages were. the other bigger deal is jpmorgan took over bear stearns and wachovia, and there's a sense those banks did it, too.

should jpmorgan have to pay for the misdeeds of those banks? it's a touchy situation. >> that and more at the top of the hour? >> tony. i i said what cove wra and meant washington mutual. >> right. we'll see you at the top of the hour. "real money" is the program with ali velshi. the reported settlement with jpmorgan chase is a record for a bank, but how will it help homeowners? jonathan betz has more. >> reporter: it is a record $13 billion settlement for jpmorgan, and here's how it could potentially break down. $4 billion will reportedly settle claims with fannie mae and freddie mac. another $5 billion is just in penalties to the government. the last $4 billion goes to homeowners. who will get this money? it's not yet final, but earlier settlements focused on people underwater. they owe more than their homes are worth, and they're behind on

payments. they perhaps could get a break on how much they owe. others may be able to refinance with lower interest rates. then there's a chance people who have been foreclosed upon could get a cash payout. jpmorgan's deal is not set, but this is possibly the framework, and analysts point out $4 billion for homeowners is not as big as it might seem and not as large as earlier bank pay outs that helped hundreds of thousands of families. supporters say it's certainly a step in the right direction. jessica is here with a look at today's sports headlines. gentlemens. >> thank you very much. baseball's manager with the longest active streak says he's stepping down. that's detroit's jim leyland. he's not retiring, but he doesn't want to be in the dugout anymore. he made the decision and talked with management in september, but told his team in the championship series to boston.

he spent 50 seasons in the majors beginning as an 18-year-old prospect with the tigers. chicago bears will be without jake cutler for the next four weeks. the qb tore his groin muscle in chicago's 45-41 loss to the redskins. the colts knocked off peyton manning and the undefeated broncos last night but not without a price. wide receiver reggie wayne tore iz acl. andrew luck's favorite target is done for the season. we'll be right back with more "al jazeera america."

welcome back to "al jazeera america." here's a look at the top stories. in northern nevada two are dead after a shooting at a middle school. police say a student shooter is among the dead. two people were also critically wounded. it happened in sparks, nevada near reno. president obama addressed the problems plaguing the rollout of the affordable care act. mr. obama says the product is good regardless of the numerous issues reported with signing up. u.s. health and human

services secretary kathleen sebelius is expected to testify during an october 30th house probe on the obamacare rollout. it could be the largest deal between the company and u.s. government, banking giant jpmorgan chase has agreed to a huge fine to settle investigations into bad mortgage loans. reports indicate that the deal negotiated with the department of justice could be worth $13 billion. reports on the extent to which the national security agency has spied on other nations continue to plague the obama administration. secretary of state john kerry was confronted with it when he arrived in france today for a diplomatic conference. al jazeera's tim friend reports now from paris. >> reporter: the timing could not have been worse, as u.s. secretary of state john kerry stepped off the plane in paris, he was immediately embroiled in an embarrassing controversy between france and the u.s. the national security agency had spied on millions of french

citizens, according to the leading newspaper there. not only suspected terrorists but leading political and business figures. it prompted this angry response from the french foreign minis r minister. >> translator: i have summoned the u.s. >> reporter: the ambassador arrived at french foreign ministry to hear the displeasure. this was supposed to be the day that john kerry briefed officials about progress in the middle east. instead, he is facing new questions about u.s. spying on allies. only last month mr. kerry was describing france as america's oldest ally.

because of its willingness to join in my possible -- they were intercepted in a 30-day period. the french public so shocked. >> reporter: the french authorities were not informed, and then america must be held accountable. >> translator: to target this specific individual, is a danger. why not? to target the whole population is a problem. >> reporter: the documents came from the former u.s. security contractor edward snowdens given a haven in russia. he's wanted on espionage charges in the united states. tim friend, al jazeera, pakistan. >> he told the french president

there are concerns about the issue. mexico has looked into it. by establishes as fact that every country has intelligence agencies and that all countries spy? >> without a doubt. i mean, the real issue you look at here is who does it better? talking recently to a former central intelligence agency director, he said sort of tongue in cheek that a number of countries are sort of holding the u.s.'s feet to the fire on this or embarrassing the u.s. a little bit because they're basically a little jealous because the u.s. does it better than they do. this is really what they believe is going on. yeah, everybody does this. there's no shortage of people, organizations or countries out there doing this. >> let's start with the -- well, let's move on to these reports.

the reports suggest that the u.s. intercepted 70 million phone and text messages in france within a month. is that an excessive amount, particularly given that france is an ally? >> only if it is a small set of people. if you're looking at a large population group or a population center, probably not, because people use their devices an awful lot during the course of a day and certainly during the course of a month. the real issue, i think, here, tony is what was -- there are two things. what was the intention, and what happened to the information after they collected it? i think that is the -- those are the real questions here. 70 million -- it has to -- there needs to be more qualifiers in there to figure out if that was a lot or not. >> do you see any relationship between secretary of state

kerry's visit to france and the release of these reports? >> yeah, yeah. without a doubt. it was journalistic prowess, i think, to time this to his arrival there. let's be clear about this. the folks that have been in possession of most of these documents and most of these files made it clear that they want the u.s. to be on the hot seat in any way to find to do it. they're going to do it including timing, releases of information to specific important individuals. >> we're talking about edward snowden here, aren't we? we're talking about edward snowden? >> yeah, yeah. the documents that snowden released to glenn greenwald and others doing it is timed to embarrass the u.s. >> does this hurt any opportunities to actually exchange information, useful information with out friendly governments? >> no, i do not think so. again, everybody does it.

everybody knows that once you get caught, they have to come out and take a strong stand against the u.s. otherwise, if they didn't do that, then their constituents would say, why are you so quiet about this? are you doing this, too? it's almost an obligatory situation where they have to call the ambassador in and hold the u.s. in account for them. everybody is doing this and it won't injure or damage relationships at all. there's too much at stake like john kerry said today. >> it's almost two messages. there's the public message that they're outraged by all of this and protecting you, and then there's the message the diplomats share with one another. >> j.j., great to tau toubing. newly released video shows soldier says loots in the maul after the four-day siege.

at least 60 people were killed. many in kenya are angry over the footage. a female suicide bomber killed six people aboard a bush in southern russia. it adds to security concerns ahead of the winter olympics games. we report now from moscow. >> reporter: at the moment this suicide bomber detonated her device was caught on a car's dashboard camera. she had just boarded the bus, which had more than 40 people on board, many of them teenaged students much an unexploded hand gr grenade was found under the bus. she was from the republic of dagestan. investigators say she were suffering from a degent active bone disease was and on tranquilizers and painkillers. her husband, who is 22, was converted to islam by her last year, and now he goes by the name of abdul jabar.

they met while studying at university in moscow. he's believed to be in dagestan. investigators allege he's an expert in explosives and joined a group fighting to establish an islamic elm rate in the north for the last ten years. they also say he's been implicated in other bomb attacks in the dagestani capital. the leader of the movement recorded a video in june this year calling on his followers to use maximum force to ensure the winter olympics in sochi did not take place. >> translator: this was most probably something like a test shot ahead of the sochi olympics. it's quite leer -- clear that the international terrorist groups are acting on orders to create an atmosphere of fear and panic before the start of the olympics. >> reporter: three days of mourning have been declared for

the victims of the suicide attack. the city is more than 600 kilometers from the north. so far there's no claim of responsibility. eight people remain in hospital in a critical condition. president putin has staked his reputation on the winter olympics going ahead without disruption. russian special services are keeping updated on all developments. he's already ordered a boost in security with the olympics now only three months away. david chater, al jazeera, moscow. at least five people were killed after a train bombing in pakistan. the explosion happened in the southwest region of the country. officials say bombs were planted on the tracks, and 16 people were injured in the blast. most of passengers were returned to the capital after celebrating the holidays in neighboring towns. in italy a sat service for more than 300 that died at sea. their boat capsized earlier this

month off the coast of lampedusa. today's service in sicily several miles from lampedusa where the migrants attempted to enter yoeurope. those unable to travel to sicily held their own memorial for the victims. thousands of children in east africa suffer from an little understood disease called nodding syndrome. the cause is unknown. one group of children appear to be getting better. malcolm webb explains why. >> reporter: walter can no longer talk, and he can barely eat. he's 12 years old, but the growth of his body and brain are completely stunted. he has nodding syndrome obl found in certain areas of east africa. here in northern uganda thousands of children have it. there's no cure, and eventually it kills. his sister grace has it, too.

most of the time she's too weak to come out of the hut. the parents don't know what to do. >> translator: it's very difficult to look at these two children. as hey mother, it's unbearable. i hope for any kind of support from any well-wisher. with that fact, i feel useless and eventually i think they will die. >> reporter: just a few kilomeres today is a completely different scene. these children also suffer from nodding syndrome, but they come to this special center every day for a year. the improvements in their health is astounding. they're given basic education, balanced meals and the staff help them to wash every day. >> those not talking can now talk. we have some of them here. you can see them. those who could not play, they are now jumping and kicking. they were having no smiling on

their faces. now they laugh and jump. >> reporter: they're still not cured. the children still get seizures, although they happen less frequently and staff are trained by doctors how to handle them. medicines for treating epilepsy help and vitamin supplement, too, but the drugs have a limited effect alone. the whole program of daily activities at the center is crucial. it was set up by two american doctors. they run a charity for nodding syndrome victims called hope for humans. nodding syndrome has baffled disease experts. they don't know what caused it, and there's no known cure. but the children here have improved considerably. they're relatively healthy and happy, and that's because they're getting what all children need, some balanced meals and exercise and suitable education and simple hygiene. that suggests that the reason nodding syndrome is so devastating in this area must be

in part be because of the broader context of extreme poverty. water is soo f -- too far from the center to walk there. the government provides services for children with nodding syndrome but with much less success for most it causes great suffering and usually death. day four of a strike stalling thousands of commuters in san francisco. they were met this morning with gridlocked roads, long lines for buses and ferries and no word on if or when b.a.r.t. workers will return to the job. negotiations between the workers union and b.a.r.t. stalled last week. strikers halted their pickett lines on sunday after a deadly b.a.r.t. train involved accident. saturday investigators with the ntsb are on the scene today. the train hit and killed two maintenance workers repairing a section of the track yesterday afternoon. coming up, jessica has a preview

of the fall classic matching the boston red sox and st. louis cardinals. also, international diplomacy with a hip-hop player. that's next on "al jazeera america." what happens when social media uncovers unheard, fascinating news stories? >> they share it on the stream. >> social media isn't an after-thought, it drives discussion across america. >> al jazeera america's social media community, on tv and online. >> this is your outlet for those conversations. >> post, upload and interact. >> every night share undiscovered stories.

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the world. >> the situation has intensified here at the boarder. >> start every morning, every day, 6am to 10 eastern with al jazeera america. you might call it old school hip-hop, or you might call it modern diplomacy. a group of young men in iraq is reaching out to residents of the largest middle eastern population in the country. deer born, michigan, and we have more. >> reporter: on a sunday afternoon, the sounds of hip-hop music emanate from the walls of the arab-american national museum in deerborn, michigan just outside of detroit. these young men, who traveled

here from iraq, are taking center stage. they call themselves the step crew. it's a group of six men in their early 20s who have embraced urban american hip-hop culture through dance. >> it's an opportunity that, you know, you can't experience. it means a lot. we really are thankful for this opportunity. >> reporter: hussein was first introduced to hip-hop through an african-american u.s. soldier serving in a small town just north of being baghdad in 2006. it was a brief, onetime encounter that changed his life. >> he was like, come here. i go to him. he does this to me. he goes like, watch. and i was like, how did this guy do that? it was something that really inspired me. >> reporter: six years later hussein and his dance mates made their way to the u.s. and

auditioned for "american voices," a nonprofit organization based in st. louis, missouri, that provides musical and dance training to young people from around the world. after 12 months of training, sponsored by the u.s. state department, the group emerged with new steps and a name. the step scr crew, as they are called, is now displaying their talents across the u.s. forming the step crew was not easy. some literally risked their lives to break dance in baghdad. they believe that hip-hop dance is art. john ferguson is executive director of american voices. >> these guys, especially the two from baghdad, have used hip-hop as a way to get a positive message to young people and try to find ways to go beyond ethnicity and

confessional differences and find a way to unify around a common art form. >> i guess it's kind of like inspiring to express myself more, because it's different here than in iraq. so just imagine if they could do it, i can do it, too. >> hip-hop brings people together. >> reporter: the step screw will spend the next week performs in boston and new york. they hope the day will come soon when they're able to share what they learned here with those back in iraq. gentlemens is here with a day of sports. in one team you lose a heavily contested playoff series and the manager. >> detroit's game 6 acls championship series loss to boston marked more than the end of a season for the tigers.

it also ended the era for manager jim leyland who says he is stepping down. leyland has the most wins of any active manager. he said he's not retiring from baseball. he just doesn't want to be the dugout anymore. when he took over the tigers, they went 12 years without a winning season. under leyland just once did they finish under .500. this was his 50th season in baseball dating back to him being an 18-year-old prospect with the tigers. here's leyland on how he broke the news to management and his team. >> when it's time, it's time. it's time. it's time to step down from the managerial position of the detroit tigers and accept another position yet to be determined. on september 7th in kansas city after we shellacked the royals friday night, i asked dave if i could meet him for coffee in the morning. i did that, and the conversation

basically went like this. i said, dave, i don't know what your plans were for next year. he said, well, you're my manager. i said, well i'm not going to be the manager. i said it's time. that was the first part. the second part of this was i informed my players saturday night after the game in boston that i would not be returning. i didn't know how to take it when they clapped. i wasn't sure. [ laughter ] i informed them, and you could hear a pin drop. >> they clapped, but they were very sad. plenty of baseball to talk about his announcement and the upcoming world series. we're going to turn to our mlb insider bob nightingale standing by in boston. what do you think led to the decision, and what effect will it have on the tigers team? >> reporter: i think he just got burned out, like tony la russa in st. louis a couple of years ago. i think of course jim wanted to leave with a world series

championship like tony did. i think he thought it was time for a fresh voice in there. he wants one of his coaches to take over for him. we'll see what they decide to do. you have lavello and dusty baker. you have a bunch of different options right now. >> they certainly do. let's talk about games under way. world series underway on wednesday. boston is hosting, and the it's the red sox/cardinals. the starting pitchers has been dominant in the playoffs so far. let's talk about the advantage. who has it when it comes to the staff? >> i think it's got to be the st. louis cardinals. those guys are so young and throw 95 to 100 miles per hour. we're in mid-october now. a lot of guys are tired. the bats are tired and the hitters are tired. these guys come out throwing bullets. i know boston red sox likes to wear out the on posing pitchers by taking pitches, but i think these guys are phenomenal the way they've been pitching.

>> we talked about pitching. let's talk about the offensive side of the ball. how much of a factor is a dh or lack thereof, how much a factor when it comes to the world series? >> up until a few days ago, it would be a huge advantage to the boston red sox with david ortiz. we saw what he did in game two of the american league championship series with his grand slam. he's one of the best designated hitters in baseball right in and out. allen craig is coming back to the st. louis karlcardinals. he's one of the best hitters in all of the baseball. all of a sudden that big advantage is even. >> you just spoke about the red sox, too. let's talk about john farrell. he's pushed all the right buttons this off-season for boston. how much is the red sox manager figure into their turn-around this season? >> it's been huge. bobby valentine was a one-year experience, and he blew up in the face. they lost 93 games last year. the players didn't like

valentine and he didn't like the players. a fresh face came in there, the pitching coach in boston. the players gravitated toward him right away and had the great communication. this clubhouse is probably one of the closest-knit clubhouses i've seen in 20 years. they all go out to dinner together and do things with one another, and he's been a great breath of fresh air for the organization. >> we'll see if the chemistry cares over to win. what are your predictions for this one? >> i think i've changed about ten times in the last hour. >> understood. >> i'll go st. louis cardinals in six games primarily because of the young 22-year-old pitcher named michael wacha. he'll pitch game two and game six if necessary. this guy is phenomenal. >> thank you for joining us. we'll see if that holds true. we look forward to wednesday. it should be a fun series to watch, and i like big papi

coming back from the last time they won the world series. hasn't changed. >> all right. thank you. kevin is up next with a check of the national forecast, and then it is "real money" with ali velshi. coming up, reports of a $13 billion settlement between jp pour began and the federal government. a new precipitation for improving health care by relying on data generated. all that and more on "real mone money".

on august 20th, al jazeera america introdu

hello again. we have some cold air coming in out of canada. you are going to get cold in the northern plains, and later on this week we're talking about what is happening over here across the northeast. that's a lot of cold air, especially for the world series on wednesday. i'll get to that in a moment. right now minneapolis is 38 degrees. that colder air is shifting down towards the southeast. you can see chicago is looking at 43. fargo is at 40 degrees right now, and you can see those blue.

thunder bay in the great lakes is looking at 34. just barely above freezing. we have a problem right now with advisories and warnings. we'll show you those in a moment. you see a mix of rain and snow coming down in some locationses here across northern minnesota as well as in north dakota. that will continue through the evening. this is what we are looking at in terms of snow over the next 48 hours. as that system comes out of canada, some places get 2 to 4 inches. down here in northern illinois we expect 4 to 6 inches. we do have a freeze warning in effect overnight and expect the temperatures to go below freezing. frost advisories are in effect as well in chicago. these are the overnight lows on tuesday morning. fargo at 24 degrees and bismarck is looking at 27. for the world series on wednesday, it will be rainy. hopefully by 7:00 it will end. that's a look at your national weather. have a great evening.

have is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm tony harris with look at your top stories. in northern nevada two people are dead after a shooting. the shooting happened in sparks, nevada near reno. secretary of state john kerry arrived in france for talks about the middle east, but wound up answering to new allegations of spying. later president obama told french president that there are legitimate concerns about the

issue. president obama addressed the problems plaguing