>> the motor city running on empty. today, a federal judge will does in deciding if detroit will be allowed to move ahead with the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in u.s. history. >> i stayed in sparks middle school. can you please send police out here. there's a kid with a gun. >> new 911 calls are released, showing the chaos inside a nevada classroom after a student goes on a deadly school shooting spree. >> u.s. drone strikes coming under fire. two top human rights group say on going drone attacks in pakistan and yemen have killed innocent civilians. >> the world's most famous baby

will be christened today in front of a very small group of royal family members. >> good morning. welcome to aljazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> i'm thomas drayden. >> to do a federal trial gets underway to determine if the largest municipal bankruptcy filing can move forward. >> with detroit more than $20 billion in debt, there is little doubt it is in dire financial straits. >> a city manager has taken over and proposed cutting worker pensions and benefits to help the city get back on track. labor unions and retirees will argue rolling back pensions view lathes the state's constitution. >> the bankruptcy itself is

quickly becoming a costly affair. >> for the motor city, first came the debt, then came the bankruptcy, then the bankruptcy bill. it's soaring like detroit's skyline. the city council dutifully keeps meeting, but since the finances taken over, it is the city manager calling the shots. he's handed contracts to lawyers and bankruptcy experts worth more than $62 million and counting. only his office knows the real total. >> my question is, has it seen exceeded $62 million. i don't have that answer and issued as an elected official. >> for this working class auto town facing the largest city bankruptcy in u.s. history, one thing's for sure, the price of paying the legal elite will rise. >> i was talking to a group of attorneys and i said it's going to cost tens millions of dollars.

they laughed and said it won't be tens of millions of dollars. they said it will be hundreds of millions of dollars. >> those of just the legal fees. >> the more contentious the case, the more people fight. this is a contentious case. the money lost by way of written off debt is going to be in the billions of dollars. >> the city's asking some creditors to accept 10 cents on the dollar. >> detroit is finding that going broke is expensive. this report shows law firm jones day gets $18 million. the accounting firm gets $8 million. in the final humiliation, the auction house is paid $200,000 here at the detroit institute of art to find out what treasures like van gogh's self portrait would fetch if solid. >> nat affected, a new arena for the redwings hockey team backed by 200 ate $5 million in public money. the bankruptcy costs add to the woes that have taken the once

mighty motor city down to 700,000 and home to thousands of abandoned buildings, vacant lots and a serious case of the blues. aljazeera, detroit. >> for more now on the start of the bankruptcy hearing that could have broad implications for many municipalities across the country, let's bring in bisi onile-ere. >> this really is a case pitting the city of detroit against its creditors. you have labor unions and retirees who believe that the city's financial manager did not bargain in good faith when trying to work out a deal. on the other hand, you have the city, the emergency manager basically saying that a deal couldn't be reached and that he had no choice but to file for bankruptcy, which leads us to where we are here today. >> how long are we expecting the

trial to take and is there a chance that worker pensions could be saved? >> well, i'm told this trial could last a couple of days and when it comes to those retiree pensions, they strongly believe that they can be saved, so there's a possibility, because these pensions are protected by the state constitution. >> it's a real sticking point. we understand that despite detroit's financial woes, there are signs of economic life there. >> ironically, over the last couple of months, the word we've been hearing is bankruptcy, but the city's economy is making strides. >> i know you'll have more on that coming up at 7:30. for now, reporting live from detroit, thank you. >> judges are set to decide whether the beneficiaries of extra pension payments can keep getting those checks. for years, the city made additional payments to thousands of retirees thanks to a surplus in the plan's investment

returns, but now that the city is filing for chapter nine, the federal judge says the extra payments vital federal bankruptcy laws. >> just how bad is the financial situation in detroit? well, more than one third of its residents live below the poverty line. there are some 78,000 abandoned structures in that city, and just 40% of street lights work, but perhaps the most important indicator of detroits decline is the massive number of people who have left. more than a million have moved away since 1950, when the city was a thriving national hub of industrial manufacturing. now, 700,000 people are left. >> authorities in nevada are still trying to figure out what may have driven a 12-year-old to bring a gun to school and open fire. he shot two classmates and killed a teacher. police say if it was not for the heroic actions of that teacher, it could have been much worse. we report. >> recordings of the first 911 calls to police from a middle

school in sparks, nevada capture the chaos a a 12-year-old students unleashed 15 minutes before the morning bell. >> 911 emergency. >> it lasted just three minutes. when it was over, two 12-year-olds were wounded and michael lansbury, a beloved math teacher was dead. >> i'm a student at sparks middle school. can you police send police out here? there's a kid with a gun. >> police are not identifying the 12-year-old shooter out of respect for his family. the seventh grader took his own life. this girl knew him from math class. >> i saw kids pushing him around, and doing a lot of mean things to him. >> police have interviewed dozen was witnesses and are looking into any prior connections the

victims may have had with the shooter, but there are no easy answers as to what prompted the boy to take a nine-millimeter handgun from his home and open fire at the school. >> everybody wants to know why. that's the big question. the answer is we don't know right now. >> what police do know is that teacher michael lansbury was killed trying to save his students and his actions gave other kids time to escape. he is described as a devoted husband and father to two daughters and a marine who served in kuwait and did two tours in afghanistan. his bravery at the school monday comes as no surprise to his younger brother, reggie. >> just electric i think ultimately. >> the school is closed for the

week as students add to the growing memorial for their teacher. >> the two students shot are improving. the young shooter's parents could face charges in the case. it is illegal to allow anyone under 18 to handle a gun without supervision. the boy's parents are cooperating. >> the lawyer for the suspected senior al-qaeda leader said he needs months to prepare for trial. he happen i am flicked in the bombings of two u.s. embassies in africa. he pleaded not guilty to the charges. he was captured in tripoli and flown to the u.s. earlier this month to stand trial. >> the white house is defending the use of drone aircraft following a pair of damages reports from human rights groups, saying at least 57 civilians were killed in six drone strikes in yemen since 2009 and in pakistan. amnesty international reports

more than 30 civilians were killed in four attacks between may of 2012 and july of this year. white house spokesman james carney said the obama administration strongly disagrees that the u.s. strikes are a violation of international law. he says the u.s. takes all possible measures to avoid civilian casualties. >> coming up, we'll take a much closer look at the issue of drone strikes. we'll hear from noreen shaw who report the report critical of u.s. drone strikes for amnesty international. >> the latest tug of war between the obama administration and congress, a house committee will hold hearings to find out what went wrong with the medical insurance rollout. a spokeswoman for the health and human services secretary said she can't make it until next week. house speaker john boehner said that amounts to a refusal to

appear. he said hearing from an assistant is not good enough. meantime, a fixer has been called in to help with the web side glitching. president obama tapped long time economic aid jeffery zints for the job. he helped streamline the government and cut costs in 2009. >> 70 bush fires are burning across australia. firefighters are bracing for what could be the worst day yet. >> weather conditions in the eastern part of the country are expected to get worse, with hot temperatures and high winds in the forecast. officials say it could be even more devastating than conditions that first fueled those fires. andrew thomas has more in new south wales. >> john cameron wasn't taking any chances. he was packed and if necessary, prepared to flee. >> we will leave when we're told to, when we believe it's appropriate. ok? >> everything's ready to go. >> everything's ready to go. >> down the road, a neighbor was

putting up signs before she left, don't forget the animals, watch out for the fuel. can wasn't leaving yet. >> if i'm seeing flames coming up through the bushes, i'll be out of here, but we've had a lot of smoky days up here. i'm quite at ease, but if the wind changes, i think i will leave. >> it was the wind causing the most concern, governors of up to 100 kilometers now can spread flames fast, and although some water dumping helicopters were working, others had to be grounded. nevertheless, from those taking a few minutes break, the early message is things weren't as bad as had been feared. >> it's cautious optimism, it hasn't been as bad this morning as we thought it was going to be, but, you know, it's moving constantly and just in the last hour or so, we had two major flair you wees in the area. >> one of those was up mount york with a monument

commemorates the first road across the blue mountains. the firefighters were watching as much as acting. the day was young. resources needed to be preserved. >> you can see how the wind is pouring the smoke across the hill tops, but also spreading embers and they are starting new fires. most of those aren't of great concern. the firefighters merely watch them to make sure they don't get any bigger. where they are a threat, they want to get on top of them. what they don't want to do is waste their water. >> in springwood, the closest town to sydney, flying embers meant authorities urged residents to get out. north of the city, a new fire broke out near newcastle, but by afternoon, hadn't gotten much bigger nor reached homes and the worst predictions of fire chiefs hasn't materialized. aljazeera in the blue mountains, west of sydney. >> this is going to be one of the worst days for the bush fires because of high winds. >> let's bring in meteorologist

nicole mitchell. >> weather plays such a huge impact on fires out here. this has been the case in australia. the broader look across the count arery, you can see really dry skies. if we look, the initial frames on this, you can see right here, that little piece of money, and sidney is more in kind of this south and a little east part of the continent. well, we had some light rain, very light rain didn't help a lot with the fires, although it helped with the humidity slightly, so that was a good impact on that, but hindered some of the firefighting efforts when that was going on, so it was kind of a 1-2. here across the country, you can see all the fires. these are the ones we've been talking about on this east side, because this is a more populated part of the country, as we zoom on in and look at sydney, it's the blue mountains, which are interior from there that we've been talking about and some of the fires there. if you wonder why the blue mountains are so named, they have a high concentration of

blue eucalyptus trees and give a blue cast to the sky. too wet is our other tropical feature, raymond is still stuck in place, bringing moisture to mexico, flooding this direction. u.s., colder air. i'll talk about that next. >> thank you. >> a new proposal in egypt that many up in arms. >> it would ban mass demonstrations like the ones used to topple a dictator and out of the a president. why some say the steps to end protests in egypt infringes on basic rights. >> dust in some chicago neighborhoods. we're going to tell you what's causing this growing problem and what some people who live there are doing about it. >> this season, everyone may have less time to file their taxes. i'll explain why the shutdown is to blame.

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>> good morning. welcome back. egyptians have i said the power of protest to bring about spectacular change in their country. now that right to prosecutor test is being challenged by a law criminalizing demonstrations. we explain. >> hundred was protestors marched through cairo after friday prayers. to them, being able to take to the streets like this is an essential part of their protests. >> we cannot stay silent about what is happening. we will not accept military rule over us again. we need a government. >> since the revolution two years ago, protesting has become almost a daily event across egypt, but since the toppling of hosni mubarak, the daily demonstrations have been regulated. there have been violence during many street protests. this draft law was first written

during the mothers a morsi gove. >> it's a national human rights law, providing freedom of speech and assembly as basic fundamental human rights. these are fundamental human rights, but international law also requires that they have a duty to protect their citizens, to protect the lives and property. it's those two sets of rights and duties that are being balanced here in any kind of law governing public demonstrations. >> members of the anti coup alliance say without spontaneous demonstrations, their move would you've the proposed law would give the government the power to cancel protests like this one. the protestors would have to

give the police 24 hours written notice of their plans. >> that is a step too far for people like this man. he helped plan a protest group under the old mubarak regime. he said the draft law attacks basic human rights. >> it's important to have a law that regulates protests, but there needs to be a social dialogue about it. we cannot cancel the right to protest or prevent protests under the slogan of fighting terrorism. >> and now, many parties across the political spectrum seem to agree with that. the influential pro government movement has indicated its option to the proposed law, campaigning against it. despite this political consensus, the current cabinet believes that it is necessary at a time when the security situation is uncertain.

aljazeera, cairo. >> we should add the measure would ban protests not approved in advance by police. it gives senior officials sweeping powers to cancel any demonstrations and establishes protest-free zones around state buildings. >> it could be a negative start to the trading day on wall street. we have the latest headlines. >> good morning. stocks futures right now are slightly lower at this hour. investors appear ready to cash in profits from the markets run-ups. the federal reserve will likely maintain its current stimulus program longer than expected. the dow gained 75 points and it was another record for the s&p 500. it opens at 1,055.

>> stress tests for banks could require banks to up their cash reserves and therefore make them seem less profitable. a sharp sell off in asia, shares dumped after a report surfaced china's biggest lenders have a significant amount of bad loans on their books. >> speaking of the federal reserve, with the shutdown over and job reports out, wall street is back trying to figure out when the fed will begin pulling back from the stimulus program that's kept interest rates so low. one market watcher said policy makers will begin watching next month's jobs report. >> it's definitely the october number, because everyone wants to know how much of an impact the government shutdown had on jobs on the nation's jobs performance. i think november 8 is the one, is the date. >> the next meeting is scheduled to begin tuesday. it's not just the government

that wants j.p. morgan to pay up. investors are seeking $6 billion from the bank. those investors want j.p. morgan to repay them. the two sides have had on and off settlement discussions. these talks are separate from tentative deal that's worth $13 billion between j.p. morgan reached with the justice department. >> free is going to cost you more at am don. the on line retailer is raising the minimum order requirements for free shipping to $35, up from $25. the change comes ahead of the halladay shopping season. it's also when amazon makes most of its money. >> the i.r.s. is considering delaying the 2014 tax filing season by up to two weeks because of the government shutdown. the i.r.s. says during those two

weeks, 90% of its systems were down, and it will take extra time to get it back up to snuff. >> you said by up to two weeks. when will we know the exact dates. >> the i.r.s. have a range. now it won't be before january 28, and it won't be after february 4, but of course, the big one, april 15 is the deadline to file your taxes. >> that's still the same. can you just mail in your return to try and get the refund earlier? >> you recognize a a really good point. there are a lot of people who use the tax system as a sort of savings account hoping for that return. the i.r.s. says sure, you can mail it in, but don't expect any special treatment. they're only going to take it when they're ready to receive it. they said the preference is to e-file. >> in chicago, some people who live in southeast chicago say every time the wind blows, black

dust blankets their yards and homes. the dust is pet coat, a byproduct of refining oil. residents say they have had enough. >> from her second floor amount, susanna gomez can see mounds of black suit. >> see how it's much thicker? it's not like regular dust. >> because of concern about what's in the air, she tries to keep her kids indoors. >> hard to breathe around it. it just gets very sticky. in the summertime, you can see it stuck on your skin. >> these piles of black powder are a high sulfur, high carbon byproduct called petroleum coke manufacture thousands of pounds are stored on chicago's south side. >> the dirtiest of the dirty oil in the world is being refind. it's being refined and leaving a waste stream of pet coke.

>> it's shimmed from b.p.'s whiting indiana oil refinery to kcbx terminal, controlled by industrialist charles and david koch. community activists say when the wind blows, clouds of black dust blanket their nearby neighborhoods. >> the dust travels throughout the community. our concern is it's in the air we breathe, it affects our property values. we have children who are playing outdoors and breathing in this stuff, so we're very, very concerned. >> there's reason to be concerned. >> there are various cancer causing chemicals that ride along with this dust from this type of source, so all of these can cause long term health effects. >> while no state law requires pet coke to be enclosed, the illinois e.p.a. and attorney generals office are investigating kcbx's permits. it did not respond to aljazeera's requests for comments, but b.p. did. in a statement, they say: b.p.

has community indicated expectations that they will comply with those requirements. environmental activists and concerned citizens hope the state's investigation will lead to better containment or strict regulation of pet coke. that's little sole lass for residents like susana. >> b.p. is the second large evident pet coke producer in the country. when expansion is completed by the end of this year, it's expected to produce 2 million tons of pet coke annually. whiting, indiana. >> environment groups are asking refineries to enclose and contain it, sealing it from the wind and elements. >> the obama administration is

defending its drone strike program. >> the policy could violate international laws. >> we will explain a report. >> gutsy entrepreneurs are starting businesses in detroit. >> time to play ball. game one of the world series between the red sox and cardinals as good as it gets. hopefully, mother nature will cooperate. we'll have a preview of the fall classic in just a bit. together unexpected voices closest to the story, invite hard-hitting debate and desenting views and always explore issues relevant to you.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> i'm thomas drayden. >> p.o. will meet with the pakistani minister. >> pakistan is offered

assistance in afghanistan. he remains and outspoken chrisic of u.s. drone attacks in his country, calling them a violation of pakistan's territorial integrity. >> the meetings comes amid accusations that u.s. drone attacks have killed civilians in pakistan and yemen. >> international law is accused of being violated. >> investigators say they researched nine of 45 known drone attacks which occurred between january, 2012 and august, 2013. in one strike, they claim in a laborers were reportedly killed. >> the most challenges situation we have to face was the complete and utter secrecy of the u.s. authorities. because of that, we cannot be

100% certain, but we are extremely concerned that these and other killings documented in our report may constitute executions or war crimes. >> the pakistan prime minuter expressed concern about u.s. drone policy. >> mauricely, our political parties in a national conference have declared that the use of drones is not only a continued violation of our territorial integrity, but also detrimental to efforts at eliminating terrorism from our country. this issue has become a need to stress the need for drone attacks. >> yemen is a target for u.s. drones. the u.s. launched 80 targeted killings there since 2009, killing 473 people, among them civilians. >> we found that despite assurances from president obama

that it's doing its utmost to protect civilians from harm that in fact in many cases, it is killing innocent civilians. dozens if not more. this is a clear violation of international law, even if it was not the u.s. in tent. it should be held responsible. >> earlier this year, president obama spelled out america's drone policy at the united nations general assembly. >> we have limited the use of drones so they target only those who pose a continuing eminent threat to the united states where capture is not feasible and there is a certainty of no civilian casualties. >> the president is accused of escalating the use of drones from 2004 to 2008 it is reported that there were 42 drone strikes in pakistan. in 2009, president obama's first year in office, there were 56, and in 2011, 127.

randall pinkston, aljazeera america. >> the white house strongly disagrees with the reports from amnesty international and human rights watch, saying the u.s. drone strikes are not a violation of international law, saying the u.s. is making every possible effort to avoid civilian casualties. >> u.s. counter terrorism is precise. our preference is always to detain, interrogate and prosecute. >> carney said there must be near certainty no civilians will be killed or injured when a drone strike is planned in areas where there are no active hostilities. he says it's the highest standard the u.s. can send. >> joining us is noreen shaw, and advisor at amnesty international u.s.a.

she is joining us in washington, d.c. good morning to you, miss shaw. >> good morning. >> she's are damaging claims here. how can amnesty international, the claims that the u.s. has breached international law, how can you be 100% the u.s. has breached international law. >> this is a highly politicized issue. we were incredibly careful about the evidence that we assembled and the specific cases that we documented here. we assembled specific teams to interview people in north pakistan and corroborated eyewitness accounts of these attacks with satellite imagery, video evidence. we were careful about what we found here and had a lot of serious concerns. >> most of the drone strikes in pack 17 and yemen occur in areas that are hostile to outsiders, making your groups assessments very difficult to confirm. >> that's true. that's one of the reasons it was

so important that we only focused on a few cases. we are not in a position to corroborate claims about an overall number of civilian casualties. we can tell you that a 64-year-old grandmother was killed while picking vegetables in her large, mostly vacant family field. she was blown to bits before the eyes of her grandchildren. another attack, in a villagers were killed, among them a 14-year-old boy. we have certainty that this is the eyewitness accounts that we are hearing. it's up to the obama administration to come forward with more information and establish whether these strikes were lawful. >> no one ever wants civilian casualties here. terrorism no longer has boundaries. doesn't the united states have a right to defend itself against suspected terrorists, wherever they are. >> the u.s. faces real threats in the region and so too do the people who live there. we are talking about a region where there are not adjustment u.s. drone strikes, but attacks by armed groups on the same village. there are attacks by the pakistani military.

our report is focusing on not just u.s. security, but security and the human rights of the people living there. >> what's the alternative to drone attacks here? are we talking about boots on the ground? what are are you hoping for? >> it's not a position that we oppose drone technology. it provides an advance in technology and proliferating rapidly to countries around the world. what we are concerned about is the use outside the bounds of international law. the u.s. government is among the first to use this technology. it should be sending the right signal to the rest of the world. right now the signal it is sending is that drone technology will be used to conduct secret, unaccounted for killings. >> maureen shaw, thanks for joining us this morning. >> thanks for having me. >> american's top intelligence officer denies the nsa is spying on the telephone conversations of french citizens.

a report which claims the n.s.a. swept up data on more than 70 million phone calls in france is inaccurate. the report is based on leads from former n.s.a. contract or edward snowden. the french government is demanding an explanation. >> returning to our stop story, in just a few hours, detroit's bankruptcy trial will begin. the city plans to implement unconstitutional measures to get detroit back on track, namely cutting worker possessions and benefits. for more, let's go to detroit. bisi, good morning. >> good morning to you, thomas. as you know, detroit city workers or retirees have a lot to lose if this bankruptcy goes through. they are fighting tooth and nail to protect their health. we fits and their pensions. these are benefits that they strongly believe are protected by the michigan state constitution. arguments today, they're supposed to be very dramatic on both sides of the table. what's interesting is while the focus has been on bankruptcy,

bankruptcy, bankruptcy, the local economy is actually showing signs of renewal. >> this is the detroit most of the world knows, high crime, blighted neighborhoods and poor city services. not this, new stores, restaurants and growth in small business. >> i've never seen it this busy in detroit. >> mark with the detroit economic growth corporation says right now, economic development in the city is thriving. tech start ups and small creative based companies are looking past detroit's financial problems and finding opportunity. a luxury wristwatch factory could have been based anywhere in the country, but. >> we came to detroit about two and a half years ago, met some fantastic people in the business community, found an amazing energy that was about moving forward and less about the past. >> since 2008, more than

$11 billion have been invested in business here. the downtown landscape has seen a resurgence, buildings with vacant office space are filling up, and residents like benjamin bueller are moving in from the suburbs. >> i came down thinking i would spend two or three years having a decent job and then move out. you get down here and notice that there's so much more to the city than you ever really imagined. >> some here even think a bankrupt detroit might help the city's revival. >> the bankruptcy is a process that at the end of it will only improve city government and its ability to deliver services. better services will actually be more attractive to long term investors and to businesses and more importantly, residents. >> while the bankruptcy judge may decide the city's larger fate, small businesses have already started rewriting detroit's future.

>> the federal bankruptcy judge is really trying to move this process through. this trial is expected to last about five days. since this bankruptcy filing was made back in july, there have been several hearings. they've attracted protestors who are strongly against this bankruptcy. i'm told that today's crowd is expected to be the biggest yet. back to you. >> we'll see how this one plays out. thank you. >> the budget battle that led to a partial government shutdown has dealt a major blow to the republican party. according to a new post poll, public approval of congress and the gop is at its lowest level in decades. congress' overall improvement rating slipped to 12%. 85% disapprove of what congress is doing. approval ratings for congressional republicans is in the tank, 32% found them to be favorable, 63% unfavorable, the lowest in 60 years.

democrats fared better, a record high for dems in this poll. while 49% had an unfavorable opinion, the president is holding steady at about 50-50. >> with it's lowest approval ratings in generations, many believe republicans need to do serious soul searching to win back the hearts and minds of gop hopefuls. trying to do that, we welcome senator here this morning. thank you for being here. you have said that there is an empathy gap in the republican image. what do you mean by that? >> i think, you know, being known as a party that says no just doesn't get you anywhere. i think the challenges over the immigration issue has hurt the party. the numbers in polls show that. people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. i think part of what

conservatives have to do is show that we care in the path we're talking about then is the best path for people. >> it reminds me of that compassionate conservatism. how much damage has the tea party caused the republican party? >> i think the strategy of shutting down the government, it's a bad strategy, doomed for failure. you weren't going to defund obamacare. >> has that done real damage long term? >> i don't think so and maybe i'm an apartment mist here. it has done damage in the poll numbers. the battle now is going to be switching to things republicans are pretty good at talking about, cutting back on the debt, doing with entitlements. the president hasn't offered anything in terms of dealing with entitlements. if we don't, it will kill our kids' future. the future is right if we focus on those things americans care about. if we don't do foolish things

like shutting down the government. >> you work with the american unity fund, working on the employment non-discrimination act, rewarding the gay community. you do not support gay marriage, yet support gay workers have been more rights in the workplace. is that moderating? >> it's consistent with economic freedom, the idea that you don't discriminate to race, religion, color, gender or sexual orientation is economic freedom. this is one in which you can be against gay marriage and many republicans are, the polls are shifting, we know that, but many don't and i don't. on the other hand, this is about economic freedom and republicans should be pretty strong about economic freedom. you really should be supporting anti discrimination measures. >> you're saying it's not an

effort to reach out specifically to the gay community? >> it's not an effort to moderate, but i think it is reaching out. we should be reaching out to women, hispanics, reaching out across the board to gays and leslesbians. we should be the party, even though we don't agree on every issue. >> this is sort of a personal question. you switched from being a democratic to a republican at one point. given all of the disfavor of the republican party these days, do you regret that decision no. >> when i switched, i didn't change a position. my party left me. my party got too liberal and still is. you looked at the detroit bankruptcy story, i was the mayor. >> what do you think about it? >> i tried to reform government, but my unions wouldn't let me. i objected to the union contract and got involved in a big battle. had i not done that, st. paul might be bankrupt today. >> you are saying unions led to

the bankruptcy. >> i think pensions are a big part of it and that's what you see folks trying to change today. >> i wonder if you have a desire to get back to capitol hill. >> when i get together with my friends, senator chambliss, i'm usually the happiest guy in the crowd. >> i can see why. republicans were unsuccessful in defunding obamacare. are they now focusing on those bread and butter issues, entitlement reforms, social security, medicare reform? >> i think we always have. senator cruz stepped on our message when we talked about defunding government. we have been the party that says we have got to deal with medicaid and social security. if we don't, our kids' future is going to be bankrupt. now the battlefield shifts to issues that we are pretty strong on, which i think could change the dynamic before 2014.

>> when you start talking about medicare and social security, you get into discussions of class warfare and the republican party being the party of the rich. >> ask a young kid today whether they think they are ever going to collect on social security and they are not going raise their hand. so we're killing our kids' future. you can do that and none of the plans talking about taking away from seen years. they're talking about making change. if you don't, we're going to be in big trouble. hopefully, with we're pushing it, the democrats aren't offering solutions. i think our future is bright. >> coming up, cold air is moving into the east coast. >> not ready for that one. for more on the national forecast, let's bring in meteorologist nicole mitchell. good morning again. >> yes, definitely cold out there, and a lot of you have noticed it. the cold air in the midwest is

continuing its way across the country, so now, we have had that all up and down the east coast. temperatures that were in the 60's yesterday will only be in the 50's today and already a cold tart to the day in many cases, so many locations, 30's, maybe 40 said for those morning starts. you'll need the extra layer. i would recommend that extra layer might be a rain jacket. we have chances for rain. see all these different blues? these are where we have freeze warnings and kind of the cold air advisories basically. if you're one of those people that has the plant outdoors or vegetation you haven't cut back, it's time to do that and bring everything in before it starts to die outside. you only see this early in the season. once it start getting the hard freeze, it's pointless to tell people to bring things back in at that temperatures in the midwest right around that freezing mark, especially around the midwest. as this front has gone through, bringing a little bit of moisture along with it and over

the next couple of days, the pattern that will be over the great lakes and the colder air, we could toward the weekend see some of our first lake effect snow coming in. today, better chances for rain hit and miss across the region. it's colder, so you might want to make that from layer a rain jacket. we're seeing just a little spotty activity. the cloud cover is beneficial for us. it helps insulate things a little bit. without the cloud cover, we would be colder this morning. that's the one little bright side i can give on the cold air. back to you. >> meteorologist nicole mitchell. thank you. >> tonight's the night for game one of the world series already. >> it's time to play ball. game one of the world series tonight in bean town between the red sox and cardinals. weather could be a factor. temperatures expected to dip into the low 40s and rain is in

the forecast. the baseball forecast, as good as it gets. you have two storied franchises who both won 97 games this season, tied for the best record in all of baseball. john henry smith is up to bat, because he's in boston and has more on the fall classic, which features a pitching matchup of boston's jon lester versus adam wainwright. >> a very good boston red sox rotation had what it took to get past a great tigers rotation. they'll work more magic in the fall classic as they contend with a cardinals rotation that is the second best in all of major league baseball. the best of the second best is pitcher adam wainwright. in his first three starts in the postseason, striking out 20 and only walking one batter so far. he says he and his catcher have been plotting on how to beat the boston red sox. >> i know i have my work cut out

for me. one of my favorite things to do in the world is game plan for a game. i mean, i love it. i'll spend a good amount of time today and tomorrow coming up with a nice plan. yadier and i will get together tomorrow and figure out a way to do it. >> both wainwright and job lester are 2-1 this postseason, but wainwright coming off nine days rest when he throws out the first pitch in the 2013 world series pitting boston against the st. louis cardinals. >> the price is right for the cincinnati reds, because they hired bryan price as their next manager. the 51-year-old is getting his first shot as a big league skipper. he has been the pitching coach for the reds, and mariners and expect is as are high, because this reds team is stacked. >> where we are is a very talented group. i think a team that's capable of doing even more. i think we certainly should talk very optimistically about the three playoff appearances in the

last four years and maybe somewhat discredited because we haven't gotten beyond the first round, considering where we were the 15 years prior. it was definitely a huge step in the right direction, but we all have expectations of getting beyond that. >> tim lincecum is staying in san francisco after the giants signed him to a two year deal for $35 million. the two time cy young award winner is coming off a disappointing 10-4 season, but did throw a no-hitter. he has a short term deal to prove himself and a no trade clause. he was a free agent but now is staying in the city by the bay. tonight, it's all about fenway park, game one in the world series. we will have all your action covered with live reports throughout the evening and of course pregame, the national anthem, my favorite, mary jay blige will be singing. >> thank you. >> it's being called a low key

christening. >> it's as lee key as a royal baptism can be. william and indicate are breaking royal traditions, but sticking with others for george's big day. >> how old are you? >> nine. >> how old were you when you

first started working out here? >> seven. >> fault lines how children are hired by us agriculture to help put food on america's tables. >> in any other industry kids need to be 16 years old to be able to work. you don't see any of that in agriculture. >> they don't ask, "is she 12?". they just want their job done. >> how many of you get up before 5 o'clock in the morning? on techknow, our scientists bring you a sneak-peak of the future, and take you behind the scenes at our evolving world. techknow - ideas, invention, life.

>> royal watchers have been hoping to catch a glimpse of prince george. this is supposed to be a low-key event. not the case, my friend, a lot fanfare. >> absolutely. this is great britain and they do pomp and circumstance about as well as anybody, so this will be a day of celebration, and it's not just ceremony. we kind of get lost in the symbolty of things, but he is the head of state and being baptized a christian. there is weight to this. he's the head of state of great britain and 15 other nations within the commonwealth, so there's some weight to this aside from all the ceremony and

all the pretty events that will be happening. >> significant moment. prince william was christened at buckingham palace. why the change? >> that's right. normally, they are christened here at buckingham palace, but are taking it to a smaller palace right around the corner, st. james is where it's going to be christened. they wanted to do that just to keep it low key. it's where diana was interred, but it's quieter than here in the middle of town. >> joining us live from london this morning, phil, thank you. >> at the end of our first hour, detroit's bankruptcy trial begins today. a judge will decide if the city is eligible to file for chapter nine protection. it would be the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in u.s. history. >> pakistan's prime minister is meeting approximate president obama today a day after a report

finds drones maybe violating international law. >> hot dry and windy weather could fan the flames in australia. >> the ugly situation at grambling state. we'll have more on the fallout. >> cold air invaded the east coast and a few places could see their first snow by the weekend. >> as an american city goes through a bankruptcy trial, a european country is trying to come back from crisis. >> aljazeera continues in two and a half minutes. >> del walters coming up next.

(vo) al jazeera america we understand that every news story begins and ends with people. >> the efforts are focused on rescuing stranded residents. (vo) we pursue that story beyond the headline, past the spokesperson, to the streets. >> thousands of riot police deployed across the capitol. (vo) we put all of our global resources behind every story. >> it is a scene of utter devastation. (vo) and follow it no matter where it leads, all the way to you. al jazeera america. take a new look at news.

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.

>> the motor city running on empty. a federal judge will begin to decide if detroit will be allowed to move forward with the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in u.s. history. >> can you please send police on you here? there's a kid with a gun. >> new 911 calls are released showing the chaos inside the nevada classroom after a student goes on a shooting wham page. >> u.s. drone strikes under fire. a human rights group say ongoing strikes in pakistan and yemen have killed hundreds of innocent civilians, many of them children. >> policy in iran and syria creating tension with saudi

arabia. >> good morning. welcome to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. it is a pivotal moment for the future of the city of detroit. today, a federal trial gets underway that will decide if the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in u.s. history can go forward. with the city $20 billion in debt, there is little doubt that detroit is in dire financial straits. a city manager says that pensions and benefits have to be cut to get the city back on track, but labor unions and retirees argue doing so vitals the state's constitution. the bankruptcy itself is becoming a costly affair. >> for the motor city, first came the debt, then camel

bankruptcy. it's soaring like detroit's skyline. the city council dutifully keeps meeting, but since the finances have been taken over, it is the city manager calling the shots. he's handed contracts to lawyers and bankruptcy experts worth more than $62 million and counting. only his office knows the real total. >> my question is, has it even exceeded $62 million. i don't have that answer and i should as an elected official. >> for this working class auto town facing the largest city bankruptcy in u.s. history, one thing's for sure, the price of paying the legal elite will rise. >> i was talking to a group of attorneys and i said it's going to cost tens of millions of dollars. they laughed and said it won't be tens of millions of dollars. they said it will be hundreds of millions of dollars. >> those are just the legal fees. >> the more contentious the case, the more people fight. this is a contentious case. the money lost by way of written

off debt is going to be in the billions of dollars. >> the city's asking some creditors to accept 10 cents on the dollar. >> detroit is finding that going broke is expensive. this report shows law firm jones day gets $18 million. the accounting firm gets $8 million. in the final humiliation, the auction house is paid $200,000 here at the detroit institute of art to find out what treasures like van gogh's self portrait would fetch if solid. >> not affected, a new arena for the redwings hockey team backed by $285 million in public money. the bankruptcy costs add to the woes that have taken the once mighty motor city down to 700,000 and home to thousands of abandoned buildings, vacant lots and a serious case of the blues. aljazeera, detroit.

>> oh we are live in detroit. bisi, what are people the city saying about all these financial troubles? >> good morning, del. i can tell you that reaction for the most part is pretty much mixed. you have one section of the community. they believe that at this point, bankruptcy is the only option. to tell you the truth, the city didn't get to this point overnight. there's been years of corruption, as well as financial mismanagement, so a lot of people see this bankruptcy, if it goes through, as a way to get out of the financial mess that the city is in. they say let's start off on a clean slate. then you have another portion of the community. they are strongly against a bankruptcy. they feel at this point that the city is just trying to look for an easy way out. >> do we know how long this trial could take and is there a chance that workers' pensions could be saved? after all, they paid into that system for years. >> well, del, this is what i can tell you about the length of

this trial. it's supposed to last about five days. the bankruptcy judge is really trying to push this process through. when it comes to those pensions, of course, that's what has a lot of retired workers and detroit city workers just afraid of what the future holds, and when it comes to whether or not those can be saved, retired workers and labor unions say they should be ail to save them, because they believe that these pensions and health benefits are protected under the state constitution. >> joining us live from detroit, thank you very much. >> president obama meets today with pakistani prime minister at the white house, saying he wants to improve relations. u.s. forces prepare to withdraw next year. the u.s. is going to restore $1.6 billion in military aid that pakistan had been suspended after osama bin laden was found. despite this new effort to find

common ground, mr. sharif calls drone strikes a violation of pakistan's territorial integrity. aljazeera's randall pinkston has more on what has become the most controversial tool in wear fair. >> amnesty focused on drone strikes. >> we have a face the complete and utter secrecy of the u.s. authorities. because of that, we cannot be 100% certain but are concerned that these killings may constitute war crimes. >> the pakistan prime minute at her visiting washington today expressed concern about u.s. drone policy. >> more recently, our political

parties in a national conference had declared that the use of drones is not only a continued violation of our territorial integrity, but also detrimental to efforts at eliminating terrorism from our country. >> this issue has become measured as well. i would stress the end of drone attacks. >> human rights charges the u.s. launched 80 targeted killings since 2009, killing 473 people, among them civilians. >> we found that despite assurances from president obama that it's doing its utmost to protect civilians in harm, that for the most part, it is killing dozens of innocent civilians, if not more. this is a clear violation of international law.

if the u.s. in discriminately killed, it should be held responsible. >> president obama spelled out america's drone policy at the united nations general assembly. >> we have limited the use of drones so they target only those who pose a continuing eminent threat to the united states where capture is not feasible and there's a near certainty of no civilian casualties. >> the president is accused of he is slatting the use of drones. from 2004 to 2008, it is reported that there were 42 drone strikes in pakistan. in 2009, president obama's first year in office, there were 56, and in 2011, 12011. >> meanwhile, the u.s., the white house is defending its use of drones following those damages reports by amnesty international and human rights watch. white house spokesman saying the white house strongly disagrees with the claims that the u.s. strikes are a violation of international law, saying the u.s. takes all possible measures

to avoid any civilian casualties. >> u.s. policy toward iran and syria is causing a wrist with one of its staunchest allies, saudi arabia. the country is not too happy with america right now. secretary of state john kerry said those comments may be premature. we have the story. >> the leaders of the u.s. and saudi arabia have always been extremely friendly, exchanging kisses and extravagant gifts, but now there are signs the relationship has hit a really rough patch. the saudi intelligence chief told diplomats his country would shift away from the united states. allegations that secretary of state john kerry seem to dismiss after meeting the saudi foreign minister. >> i saw the comments printed today, they were printed from several days ago, before this conversation took place. i think people need to touch base and kind of get a sense

from prince saud himself, who is the foreign minister, exactly how he sees this. >> officials have made clear for years they've been unhappy with much of what the obama administration has done, calling for egyptian president mubarak to step down, criticizing saudi's health and cracking down on protestors in bahrain. the saudi, unhappy with the u.s. overitures toward iran and its refusal to launch strikes in syria, the inaction one saudi official said they wouldn't take a seat on the u.n. security council. >> whether or not saudi arabia takes the seat on the security council is of course its own decision. >> there are analysts in washington warning the obama administration not to take this lightly. >> i think the americans make a mistake undersometiming the importance of this decision, because the saudis not people who take risk easily and not make statements that they aren't

very concerned about. >> the u.s. exports $17.9 billion of goods to saudi arabia, and the u.s. import the equal $55.6 billion. much of that from oil, but the u.s. is now the world's largest producer of oil, reducing some of saudi arabia's influence. the oil markets have barely moved on the latest moves. saudi arabia has looked to the u.s. for most of its military hardware. in fact, just last week, the u.s. agreed to sell $6.8 billion worth of missiles, including bunker buster bombion to the kingdom. if this is more than talk, that order could be canceled. >> saudi arabia is also lashing out at the united nations, coming days after the kingdom won then rejected its seat at the security council. the countries u.n. ambassador saying the body has failed to

resolve the israeli-palestinian issue. >> some 70 brush fires are burning across australia. firefighters there are bracing for what could be their worst day yet. weather conditions in the eastern part of the country be complicates things with hot temperatures and high winds in the forecast. we have more from new south wales. >> john cameron wasn't taking any chances. he was packed >> we will leave when we're told to, when we believe it's appropriate. ok? >> everything's ready to go. >> everything's ready to go. >> down the road, a neighbor was putting up signs before she left, don't forget the animals, watch out for the fuel. karen wasn't leaving yet. >> if i'm seeing flames coming up through the bushes, i'll be out of here, but we've had a lot of smoky days up here.

i'm quite at ease, but if the wind changes, i think i will leave. >> it was the wind causing the most concern, gusts of up to 100 kilometers now can spread flames fast, and although some water dumping helicopters were working, others had to be grounded. nevertheless, from those taking a few minutes' break, the early message is things weren't as bad as had been feared. >> it's cautious optimism, it hasn't been as bad this morning as we thought it was going to be, but, you know, it's moving constantly and just in the last hour or so, we had two major flareups in the area. >> one of those was up mount york with a monument commemorates the first road across the blue mountains. the firefighters were watching as much as acting. the day was young. resources needed to be preserved. >> you can see how the wind is pouring the smoke across the hill tops, but also spreading embers and they are starting new fires. most of those aren't of great concern. the firefighters merely watch

them to make sure they don't get any bigger. where they are a threat, they want to get on top of them. what they don't want to do is waste their water. >> in springwood, the closest town to sydney, flying embers meant authorities urged residents to get out. north of the city, a new fire broke out near newcastle, but by afternoon, hadn't gotten much bigger nor reached homes and the worst predictions of fire chiefs hasn't materialized. aljazeera in the blue mountains, west of sydney. >> for the latest on those conditions in australia, we turn to nicole mitchell. >> today has been one of the more troublesome days out there. the combination of low humidities and high winds, 60 miles per hour, that just fans the flames and fuels everything, spreading it along. here's the broad picture of australia. you can see really ringing the continent with the fires, those are some of the areas where you have more vegetation. some parts of the outback, you

don't have vegetation. that's why we're not having a fire problem here. it is the eastern portion of the country that is the most populated, sydney kind of in the southeastern section you. get interior for that, that is where we have the blue mountains, and that is the fire area, very close to sydney. they're called that because the trees emit an oil that makes a blue haze when we don't have the smoke out there. this is the areas we're looking at. it's been very dry in this area. early in this image, you see those clouds coming by. they dumped just slight light amounts of rain, so enough to help with the humidity, not a lot for fire help. it actually slowed down some of the crews, because they had to suspend some of the plans that they had with that little bit of rain out there. it can be a good and bad thing when you get a little moisture, but not a lot. as we get back to the united states, we are a country divided between the warm and the cold. the one warmer part of the

country, the west, we've got a ridge of high pressure, so some of these temperatures in the 60's, 70's, 80's, not the case in the east coast. we'll have more on that coming up and maybe you want to dress like del this morning with that big scarf on. >> you saw that. they told me not to take it off or keep it on the air. thanks, nicole. still ahead: >> new 911 calls are released in that nevada school shooting. the first calls that capture the horror and chaos inside the school. >> the u.s. pushing for a joint terror trial for a suspected al-qaeda mastermind. >> your tax returns facing a potential delay. why it may take the i.r.s. a little longer that get you your money. >> netflix just picked up more than a million new subscribers. i'll tell you why one big investors has almost a billion reasons to like it.

on inside story, we bring together unexpected voices closest to the story, invite hard-hitting debate and desenting views and always explore issues relevant to you.

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>> authorities in nevada are still trying to figure out what caused that 12 oriole bring a gun to school and open fire. he shot two classmates and killed a teacher. police say if it was not for the teacher, it would have been worse. we report. >> recordings of a 911 call capture the chaos a 12-year-old student unleashed 15 minutes before the morning bell. >> it lasted just three minutes, when it was over, 212-year-olds were wounded and michael landsberry was dead. >> police are not identifying

the 12-year-old shooter out of respect for his family. the seventh grader took his own life. this girl knew him from math class. >> i saw kids pushing him around, and doing a lot of mean things to him. >> police have interviewed dozens of witnesses and are looking into any prior connections the victims may have had with the shooter, but there are no easy answers as to what prompted the boy to take a nine-millimeter handgun from his home and open fire at the school. >> everybody wants to know why. that's the big question. the answer is we don't know right now. >> what police do know is that teacher michael landsberry was killed trying to save students and his actions gave other kids time to escape. he is described as a devoted husband and father to two daughters, and a marine who served in kuwait and did two tours in afghanistan. his bravery comes as no surprise to his younger brother, reggie. >> just because i think

ultimately, students and the kids, he cared about them so much, i think, that it was probably a reaction, you know, like you would with your children. >> sparks middle school would remain closed for the rest of the week as students add to a growing memorial for their teacher, aljazeera. >> police say the two students who were shot are improving. the shooter's parents could face charges. it is illegal to allow anyone under the age of 18 to handle a gun without supervision. the boys parents are cooperating with police. >> the latest violence is another reminder, a harsh one of the challenge that remains just keeping our kids safe. the associate executive director and general counsel of the national school boards association is in washington, d.c. this morning. the shooting at sparks, the 16th mass school shooting this year alone, do you feel a sense

of defeat just trying to keep the students safe? >> i think that the first thing i would say is we're quite -- really feeling the same feelings that everybody in the country is about the tragedy in sparks and our thoughts go out to the sparks school community, as well as to the families of that brave teacher. schools still remain the safe evident place for kids to be during the school day. i think it's important for parents and the community across america at large to understand that. >> i hear parents across the country saying they may be the safest place, but in a violent world, they are also saying they're not safe enough anymore. >> well, i think that the question for school districts and for school boards is what can we do in our very limited way to address the issues before they arise. school boards across the country are taking steps to be prepared

for emergencies, not just school shootings, but all kinds of emergencies, like natural disasters. whether it's a shooting at sandy hook or a natural disaster as hurricane sandy, school boards are putting policies in place to try to stem any issues, to address them as soon as they happen and keep kids safe as best as they can. >> with the numbers going up, guns, video games, movies, becoming more and more prolific, violence becoming a way of life, is it simply that we are just becoming a more violent society and that is being mirrored amongst our youngest? >> i'm not a social scientist, so i can't really give you a commentary about what drives student violent behavior, but what i can tell you is that school districts and school boards as leaders of their communities share the same concern about the potential acts of violence that happen.

what school board members are doing is leading their communities. we need to remember public schools are community schools and as a result of that, what school board members and districts are doing are engaging in the conversations with first responders, law enforcement departments, fire departments, all other kinds of emergency personnel, redesigning buildings in some cases, and then training school personnel and staff to respond quickly. in this case, tragically, a teacher lost his life. i think responding in a very brave and heroic manner. remember that in sandy hook, it was the actions of those brave teachers as well who followed their training and kept a lot of children safe. >> but those teachers are not trained to be saving lives. they are there to be handing out textbooks. the associate executive director and council of the national school association. thank you very much. >> you're very welcome. >> the u.s. its requesting a

joint terror trial for ago libby. he pleaded not guilty to charges of con percent to kill u.s. citizens connected with the bombings of 2u embassies in africa. the u.s. wants to try him with two other suspects waiting for trial. his lawyer says he needs months to prepare. >> even though the federal government shutdown is over, the i.r.s. is saying it has been forced to push back the start date for processing returns next year from january 30 to january 22. for early filers hoping to get a check, that means a one or two week delay, but your federal taxes are still do april 15. >> wall street looks like it's in a selling mood this morning. stock futures point i can down,

profits from the recent market run ups, investors ready to cash in. investors believe the federal reserve will likely continue its stimulus program. the dow gained 75 points. the s&p opened at 1,755. >> the european central bank is outlining a stress test for banks. they could require banks to upgrade cash reserves and make them less profitable. in asia, investors are dumping shares after china's biggest lenders have a significant amount of bad loans on their books. hong kong and shanghai both lost more than 1%. >> with the shutdown over and job reports finally out, wall street is back trying to figure

out when will the fed begin pulling back from the stimulus program that's kept interest rates low. one market watcher said don't expect any fed changes at least until march. >> i don't think the fed want to risk hurting or disrupting that period by possibly tapering its purchases of mortgage loans. we might see the fed perhaps taper in its treasury buying and leave its mortgage alone. >> the fed's next meeting is tuesday. >> banks think twitter is a good investment. facebook also received a credit line before going public last year. >> shares of netflix are falling a day after they sunk 9%, but billionaire investor carl icahn

bought 9% of the company just 14 months ago when shares cost around $58 each. today, they are worth more than 300. he says he sold off half his stake, earning $800 million. finally, applications for home loans dropped slightly. the mortgage bank association said a slight rise in demand for home loans wasn't enough to counter the effects of decreased financing activity. >> they are already in the basement, so what is keeping refinancing activity down. >> people refinance, the main reason is to get that monthly payment lower. we have seen interest rates steadily rise. for that reason, people are saying well, you know, it's not attractive enough for me to wind up with a possibly higher rate. >> nothing from nothing leaves nothing. >> still ahead, the political battle over the president's troubled health care website.

>> spain crawling out of yet a second recession, but the unemployment rate having a major impact on generations of families. >> hurricane raymond delivering the latest blow to an already hammered acapulco, mexico, now fighting to stay afloat. >> it's time to play ball. game one of the world series between the red sox and cardinals should be as good as it gets and hopefully mother nature will cooperate. we'll have a preview in just a bit.

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. >> welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. in just a few hours, detroit's bankruptcy trial gets underway. labor unions are challenging the constitutionality of proposed cuts to pensions and benefits. detroit is struggling with as much as $20 billion worth of

debt. the cities manager says rolling back it is pension and health care benefits are needed to get the city back on track. just how bad is the financial situation in the motor city? more than one third of its residents now live below the poverty line. there are 78,000 abandoned structures in that city, and just 40% less than half of the street lights work. perhaps the most important indicator of detroit's decline is the massive number of people who have left. more than a million people have moved away since 1950 when the city was a thriving industrial hub. now just 70,000 people left. >> spain is dealing with the issue of depression, the economy taking its toll on people who live off of pences. over a quarter of the workers are out of a job there and unemployment checks are running out. more and more families are relying on mom and dad to foot the bill. we have more. >> the autumn years of ones life

are for relaxing. at least that's the vision many europeans hold dear and until recently felt was achievable. it hasn't quite worked out that way for miguel. >> the former miner has had a tough life and now at 77, his pension is supporting him, his daughters and until he died recently, his son, too. >> i help my two daughters and my son when i was alive. he lost his job and didn't have any unemployment benefits for two years. he was supported at home by his two sisters and myself. my 23-year-old grandson is unemployed. i help him. >> miguel is certainly not alone. in post crisis spain, where jobs are often poorly paid or have been lost altogether, the family members state pension can become a vital lifeline. >> in 2012, 26% of families

survived on a state picks, one in four families live thanks to this. in 2006, it was 14%. >> despite the growing importance of pensions, it's likely tomorrow's elderly will be poorer than today's. the numbers are grim, 18% of spaniards pensioners like in most european countries, the elderly population is growing, but pensions are not keeping pace with inflation and over the next two decades, pensioners could lose 20% to 30% of their purchasing power. state pensions haven't been slashed like other. we fits, but the spanish government cannot afford the system in its current state. >> current pensioners are privileged compared to future ones, because if society doesn't

create jobs, and young people don't work, then income won't be generated for social security, and what this is leading to is the increase in private pensions. >> most spaniards expect the pension age to be put off in the coming years, so future pensioners may well be older, poorer and yet still the only source of money for millions of people. aljazeera, spain. >> youth unemployment among the worst in the country, close to 6 million are out of work, that is a quarter of spain's population. under 25, it is more than half, 60%. >> problems with the health care website is the latest tug of war between president obama and congress. a hearing will open tomorrow to find out what went wrong and why, republicans insisting the health and human services secretary should appear.

house speaker john boehner saying her not being able to appear until next week amounts to a refusal to appear. he says an assistant appearance is not good enough. a fixer has been called in to help with the website. he joined the white house back in 2009 to help streamline the government and cut costs. >> with the health care debate now front and centered, the president's agenda is on the table again. pro immigration groups are hoping to have a vote as soon as thanksgiving. we have the executive director of the national immigration forum. thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> immigration, something hispanic groups have been begging the obama administration to do about since he took the oath of office. do you think this will be the year it happens? >> we are optimistic.

immigration reform is different from any other issue this congress faced. right now, the debate, you see support and demand for changes that create a functioning system. both from the left and right, no other issue enjoys the support across the political spectrum. >> it has been like that since he took the ocean of office and yet here we are five years into the president's term and nothing has changed. why is that? >> i think what has changed is that we see among political conservatives, we have evangelicals, small business owners across the country saying republican members of congress, we're ready for a forum. for the senate to have passed their bill this year, things are perfect for the house of representatives to move this fall and we think that boehner and the rest of the leadership in the house are ready to go. >> what are you doing to make sure the pressure stays on congress? >> there's two things happening.

next week, there are 350 conservative leaders from across the country, 30 states in d.c. to tell their republican members of congress we are ready for reform. the second thing that is happening is done among the latino, asian and progressive vote. you have the same type of pressure being applied to democrats and republicans to come to the table. from pressure from the left, support from the right, it makes for a very powerful begin a i guess. >> latinos came out to vote in record numbers, mitt romney saying maybe there should be self deportation. that was a flop. isn't this a good chance for republicans to open the door to the latino vote, or do you believe it's too late. >> it's more than that. it has to be both republicans being able to compete for the vote and republicans being able to tell their base, the conservative base of the republican party, you want reform, we're going to work with

dems and find a solution. republicans, yes, they've got to get right with the electorate, but pay attention to their base. >> one of the key questions that came out when president obama was running for his second term is why haven't you fixed this yet. why the optimism when there seems to be so many negative factors involving immigration reform. >> the president could have and should have exerted greater leadership. you have a senate that has passed a bill. on the house side, republicans are feeling the pressure from the base to pass reform. that just has not existed at any point in our history on this issue. >> executive director of the national immigration forum, thank you for being with us. >> hundred was people have left their homes on mexico's pacific coast on fears of flooding by

tropical storm raymond. it was downgraded just a short while ago. that comes on the heels of manuel, another tropical storm that devastated acapulco. we look at the damage. >> oscar lost nearly everything last month when tropical storm manuel hit his acapulco neighborhood. waters rose a meter and a half filling everything with debris. now another storm, raymond that flooded the area. with gangs roving the neighborhood, he asked us not to use his real name. >> i'm devastate understand and exhausted. this is the third flooding. i keep having to sweep out water and mud and my car's completely useless. >> soldiers patrol for looters

and gangs. the area faces the threat of repeated flooding. >> new developments have sprung up across low lying areas in recent years, attracting thousands of people to these new neighborhoods. as you can see, they are prone to devastation when the floods come in. >> 10,000 people in the surrounding state are displaced a month after manuel swept through here. the storm caused one pointed $7 billion in damage, and left about 120 people dead. broke after years of rising crime and declining tourism, acapulco declared bankruptcy last year. the mayor said the storms revealed years of neglect by officials. >> there has definitely been poor planning here in acapulco and we are facing the cops convinces today. we have to fix that. that's what it is, bad planning. >> poor planning playings much of mexico, which is rife with

corruption. money is tighter now that he has had to rent a place while he repairs his house. >> these homes should never have been built here, period. it's that simple. >> regardless, he's planning to return as soon as he can. he doesn't have anywhere else to go. aljazeera, acapulco, mexico. >> again, the good news is that raymond is now a tropical storm, but then again, so was manuel. let's look at our national forecast and the latest on that. >> i have a couple piece was good news, that we now have a tropical storm versus a hurricane, so this is lessening in intensity. also, finally, this is kind of stagnant and just sitting in place churning. at that point, it doesn't matter if it's a tropical storm or hurricane, because it's still dumping water over flood soaked areas. now it's starting to move slightly out to sea, so will move away a little bit, lessening chances for rain, that

will be beneficial across the area, too. that is one thing. about an inch or two, but watch for the rip currents, you don't want to be back on the water yet. we are also watching the pacific. you can see very easy to pick out, we have two tropical storms, one has been projected to approach japan by the end of the week, and kind of similar to last week, enough to cause damage. the two systems probably on saturday bringing moisture to the pan. speaking of moisture, we've got the moisture moving across the great lakes region through the east coast today. you need the extra layer, because we have the colder air, so maybe make it a rain jacket. you have the cases covered out here. pretty hit and miss, not talking about heavy rain. the interesting part is we'll have moisture sticking around the great lakes both from the system that moved through, but by the end of the week, it's going to be a flow out of

canada, creating moisture in those lake effect areas. as temperatures drop over the next couple of nights, you could see some of that rain switch to snow. the good side of this is the ground is still pretty warm. we're not expecting accumulation in most cases, but in some cases, this is going to be our first snow of the season. temperatures right now still brisk. a lot of 30's and 40's as you head on you the door. we've had numerous areas with freeze warnings and advisories heading out the next couple of days. once we get the hard freeze, they don't bother to put these up anymore. still a warning to people. it is still cool, in the midwest, temperatures in the 30's. the west coast, we have the warmer than average air. most of the eastern half of the country below average. minneapolis maybe will get in the 40's today, maybe not. it's going to be a cold one either way, so definitely a chilly forecast here and the east coast, all of that has

definitely moved in, so places dropping about 10 degrees from yesterday. the east coast, a lot of places in the 60's into the 50's today. i see a lot of those space heaters starting to come out at work. >> that is why i brought the scarf this morning. the vatican is reaching out to those who practice other religions, using contradict as an olive branch, hoping to play against other teams of other faiths. cricket is popular in india, pakistan and bangladesh. the vatican team hopes to hit the field by next spring. >> we have sports now, and the highlights of what could be coming the fall classic game one tonight, get out the ho the dogs. >> you got to love it. some chowder. >> chowder. time to play ball. two storied franchises that both won 97 games this season, the

best in all of baseball. for the first time since 1999, they are ming in the fall classic. the red sox were an absolute disaster last season under bobby valentine, lose in 93 games. the team underwent an extreme makeover with the new manager john farrell while adding clubhouse leaders like shane victorino and jonny gomes and now the red sox have a chance to go beyond worst to first to world series champions. jon lester will be channeling his prefers postseason experience. >> i just remember nerves. i remember just the anxiety of just trying to get to the field and calm down a little bit. a different point in my career, too. obviously tomorrow there will still be nerves, all of that to be expected, but i think i know who i am a little more as a pitcher and what to expect for

myself, and what to expect from the crowd, and all the different things that go along with getting started in the world series. >> now, this is a rematch of the 2004 world series that boston dominated four games to none. the cardinals will be looking for revenge. the second year skipper is a natural born leader with a laid back attitude and considered an excellent communicator. the 43-year-old matheny will have his guys ready to play, because they're a confident bunch and they do not fear the beard. >> if they're intimidated by the beards, we're in trouble. as far as their players, we have the jut most respect for anybody who gets to this level, lot alone the ones with long careers and great success. there couldn't be a better ace for a club.

the combination of he and chris carpenter, who is so valuable to us. you talk about the young talent, if you don't have a couple of guys standing there at the top telling them and also showing them how it's supposed to be done, you're set up for failure. hopefully, these young guys, we've told them a lot and they do get it. they should be grateful in the example that they have in adam wainwright in the club. >> tim lincecum signed a deal for $35 million, coming off a disappointing 10-14 season, but he did throw a no-hitter. he wanted a short term deal to prove himself and he also has a no-trade clause. lincecum was scheduled to be a free agent but now is staying in the city by the bay. >> the ugly situation at grambling state gets worse. jackson state is planning to sue them for their financial losses.

they claim they had revenue loss for the homecoming game, and the city could be worth millions. the players are back on the football field after their protests, trying to move on. >> sleepless, i've had most of the time, you know, worrying about the kids, making sure that, you know, the university was concerned about their concerns. >> everybody here as a team wanted to play, but because to get what we feel that was right, we had to take a stand. we had to face our worst concerns. >> they will be looking for their first win hosting texas southern on saturday. tonight's game one of the world series, john henry smith will be there live. mary jay blige will be singing the national anthem. >> still ahead, three thieves

making their plea in court for a daring heist of several high-priced paintings. one suspect notions the museum that he is accused of breaking into and is suing it. >> the new academy that is going to help prepare a nation's troops. >> britain's future king set to make his second official outing. why his parents are keeping it low key this time.

on august 20th, al jazeera america introduced a new voice in journalism. >> good evening everyone, welcome to al jazeera. >> usa today says: >> ...writes the columbia journalism review. and the daily beast says: >> quality journalists once again on the air is a beautiful thing to behold. >> al jazeera america, there's more to it.

>> a hearing at a remainian court is making news in the art world. three men pleading guilty tuesday to stealing seven masterpieces last year from a dutch museum included works by picasso, and monet. the paintings have yet to be recovered. one suspect is suing the museum saying the lack of security made it much too easy to steal those paintings. >> afghan's first military security is opening. we take a look at the school's

first year, now underway. >> these men hope to be the leaders are afghanistan's young early. now they just have to get through the training. the recruits are seen as the future of a sustainable military. >> to make a strong army, we need educational institutions, like this, which are the basis of building of a country. >> the afghan army has a high attrition rate. most of the regular soldiers are illiterate. >> 10,000 afghans competed for 270 slots in the academy. they are about to start a 42 week course. if they graduate, they will be officers. >> the course will be rigorous intellectually and physically. the recruits say they're ready.

>> we will tighten our belts to serve our country, accept sacrifice so we can rescue the children of this country from dark times. >> the academy is still under construction. eventually, 1350 men and 150 women are expected to graduate every year with the help of international mentors from five nations. >> we intend to be here in 2023 or until the afghan government decides that that is enough. >> nato's future here depends on afghanistan's pending security agreement with the united states. that plan will be debated by a national gathering late next month. if it's rejected. this add my and afghan security forces could find themselves without international support until the end of 2014, years before plan. >> that academy hopes to better train and strength then the afghan forces. last year, more than 1,000 soldiers were killed, 3,000

seriously wounded. >> a teachable moment from a mayor in japan, offering children who live near the field power plant a chance to go to school. starting in april, a group will move 200 miles away. the city will spend $140,000 a year to house them and pay for care takers. the mayor has experience with disasters. he performed life-saving cancer surgery on more than 100 children following the 1986 nuclear plant explosion in chernobyl. >> egyptians used the power of protest to bring about spectacular change but now that right is challenged by a law decriminalizing demonstrations. the measure would ban protests not approved in advance by police. it gives senior officials sweeping powers to cancel any demonstrations. we have live pictures that we want to show you coming in from

the u.k. which just went dark. they are live pictures of the christening of prince george. the heir to the throne will be christened in just about an hour. it is a low key event. not all the other royals will be there. it will be a small, intimate gathering. >> what would you pay for a ride into space? there's a private company called world view enterprises saying it would charge $75,000 a person for a space tourism adventure. the company plans to send people up in a capsule. the high altitude balloon will take them 19 miles into near space. actual space starts at about 62 miles above the earth. pending approval by the f.a.a., the first launch could come in 2016.

>> a monkey, piranha and mini frog were found in the amazon. their has been tats are endangered. they include a new species of the monkey. their babies have an endearing straight, they purr. the vegan piranha can grow up to nine pounds, but unlike other car any of russ piranhas, this one eats only plants. >> a tiny frog's latin name means it may be lost. >> that's it for this edition of aljazeera america.

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