>> this is al jazeera america live, i'm tony harris with a look at today's top stories. >> i can tell you the president assured the chancellor that they will not monitor communications. >> more accusations of spying as germany's chancellor raises concerns. discussion of diplomacy and drone strikes at the white house. and john kerry and benjamin netanyahu talk iran's nuclear program.

>> well, first it was brazil, then france, then mexico, now it's germany. another ally has accused the u.s. of spying. german chancellor angela merkel comcomplained to president obama that there have been spying on her cell phone. what else is the white house saying about these accusations. >> reporter: allegations that the spying program that has been so controversial in the wake of edward snowden, first it was france alleging that french citizens of 75 million telephone conversation have been eavesdropped on by the nsa. today out of the blue here comes

the german government, the spokesman for the chancellor making those charges that you just outlined. today jay carney was asked about it. this was his response. >> i can tell thought president assured the chancellor that the united states is not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of the chancellor. the united states greatly values our close cooperation with germany on a broad range of shared security challenges. the president said that we ensure th the balance of the protection of our nation and our allies and the privacy, and the goal of protecting the security of both countries and of our partners. >> reporter: and tony, it's really an decision of how serious the white house takes this. this call was taken from angela merkel to president obama. they spokespersonly by phone one-on-one. and if you pars that statement

very carefully, and identical written statement was put out by the white house. jay carney said the united states is not and will not spy on the communications from angelcommunications from angle m angela merkel, we asked for clarification, and they wouldn't go any further. >> today's allegations, as we've noted, aren't the first for the u.s. it seems the u.s. is explaining this kind of activity a lot to its european allies. >> reporter: and it certainly is raising a lot of sore points. mexico would be another case. you remember the g-20 in st. petersburg. the president had to have an informal bilateral discussion with the brazilian leader over just such a story. the european union is coming forward with their own allegations about an nsa spying program demanding more

information from the american government, so this so far this week i might add at this moment the president and the prime minister of pakistan are inside the oval office talking with the press, and there is controversial there over the drone program. a lot of focus on these international--this international intrigue, the covert programs run by the c.i.a. run by the nsa and the rest of the intelligence community certainly embarrassing the president over the course of the last several days. >> mike as usual you have teed me up perfectly for the nest story. mike viqueira at the white house. the relationship has been described as rocky. president obama and prime minister sharif tried to change that. joining me now from washington to discuss tensions between the two countries is a national security correspondent with "the

new york times" and the author of the way of the night, the c.i.a. a secret army and the war at the ends of the earth. my goodness, good to talk to you. does prime minister sharif wan wanting is specifically from president obama to take back home for domestic consumption on the u.s. drone program? >> he would like it but he won't get anything that is definitive on the drone program. he needs to say to his--to the population back home that he has lodged his protest to president obama. he brought this up in the oval office and they had a serious discussion about it. i this sharif has been around along enough to know that obama is not, at his request, going to stop this. as always with the pakistan relationship there are public statements and private statements. and i think that sharif certainly would like the drone program to end sooner rather than later, and knows that won't happen tomorrow.

looking more towards the end of 2014 with the u.s. pull out of afghanistan. >> yes, and part of the reason he's not going to get that is the language from president are there any other real options for the united states in the tribal areas other than drone strikes once united states has developed information on the target in those areas? >> reporter: president obama has always said they would only carry out drone programs, and they carry out this sort of drone strikes, an there has been hundreds of them. now one of the ways that the united states has managed to keep this going was that they are targeting not just those who

are considered enemies of the united states, but they're also targeting people considered to be enemies of pakistan for instance, the pakistani taliban. it's a americay relationship that has been going on since 2004. there has been some dupe policety ido youpolicety duplicn the pakistani government. >> there has been the pakistani isi, the pakistani military, how much does the prime minister now how much is going on between the isi and military. >> the military and the intelligence services still hold

most of the power in pakistan. so not only is sharif not told everything by the u.s. but he's not told everything by his own military. so yes, there have been arrangements between the c.i.a. and the isi over the years between the american military and the pakistani military. that has frayed over time. the united states has decided to do more unilateral operations and cut the isi out. but to the extent that they do collaborate, they don't always tell prime minister sharif. >> is there more pressure for transparency on the drone program. >> that's a good question. there has been times when the pressure has increased. i don't sense that there is a real build up of momentum here

even with these various reports. >> the international human rights watch. >> right, even to really force a change in policy. but it does, it could build over time and some number of months. we have not heard president obama talk about this since his speech in may. maybe this will gradually build up and push the white house, but i thin don't think that the acty this week will push for that. >> thank you. secretary of state john kerry and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu laid out different ideas of what should happen with iran's nuclear program. >> the case of iran it's essential that it be made to live up to security council and demand an end of enrichment and enrichment capability and

plutonium heavy water capability for nuclear weapons. >> in order to be satisfied with respect to the u.n. sanctions, to the demands of the iaea as well as to our own security requirements, we will need to know that actions are being taken which make it crystal clear, undenybly clear, fail safe to the world that whatever program is pursued is, indeed, a peaceful program. >> it is a make or break moment for the future of detroit. a federal trial is underway that will determine if detroit's bankruptcy filing can move forward. if so it will be the biggest in u.s. history, and the bankruptcy itself is quickly becoming a costly affair. >> reporter: in the motor city first came the debt and then the bankruptcy, and then the bankruptcy bill. and it's soars like detroit's

skyline. the city council dutifully continue meeting but since the state of michigan took over motown's finances it appointed emergency manager kevin orr who calls the shots and he has 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 have that answer as an elected officials. >> reporter: for this working has auto town facing the largest city bankruptcy in u.s. history one thing is for sure. the price of paying the legal elite will rise. >> i was talking to a group of attorneys. i said it's going to cost tens of millions of dollars and it will be a very expensive process. they laughed at me. they said it won't be tens of millions of dollars. it will be hundreds of millions of dollars. >> those are just the legal fees. >> this is a con ti contentious.

it will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. >> reporter: the city is asking some creditors to accept $0.10 on the dollar. >> this report shows law firm jones day gets $18 million. and in final humiliation the city is paying the auction house christie $200,000 to find out how much to traits like van gogh's self portrait would fetch if sold. not affected by the bankruptcy is the red wings arena. home to thousands of abandoned buildings, vacant lots and a serious case of the blues. al jazeera, detroit.

>> al jazeera's bisi onile-ere joins us from detroit. good to see you. what happened in court today? >> reporter: tony a federal bankruptcy judge heard from both the city and its creditors in opening argument lawyers for the union and the retirees basically came out saying that they don't believe the city of negotiate, that thedetroit,that they negotd faith back in july, and they're saying under the michigan constitution that healthcare is off limits. the city can't touch that. right now the city is saying bankruptcy is the only option since the city is facing $18 billion in long-term debt. governor rick snyder is expected to testify in this case and he's expected to take the stand on monday. this is a really big development in this trial.

we're hearing among many questions he'll be asked why he allowed state appointed emergency manager to move forward with this bankruptcy filing. >> well, bisi, look, i'm wondering how long this trial could last, and is there a real chance that worker pensions, we're talking about pensions and healthcare as well actually could be saved? >> i'll answer your question in regards to how long this trial could go. the judge said he'll give both sides time to define and explain what they believe negotiating in good faith means. so initially we thought this trial would wrap up in five days. now it looks like it will go more into november. they're saying possibly november 13th. when it comes to those retiree benefits, the pensions and the healthcare, lawyers, they're stressing that those benefits are protected under the state

constitution. what was interesting one of the attorneys said today even if it comes down to selling off city assets such as works of art at the institute of art, then it has to be done. anything to spare those retiree benefits. >> bisi onile-ere in detroit. you know it has been a terrible season for wildfires. 40,000 plus fires and over 4 million acres burned. now the researchers are taking over. they are taking to the skies, actually, gathering and studying smoke particles as learn more about how clouds form and affect our environment. >> reporter: this gleaming department of energy is a flying laboratory packed with instruments. not room for the scientists on board. >> it's like a spaceship. >> they target the tiny particlecals that form smoke clouds caused by wild land

fires. they can attach all kinds of data gathering devices on this aircraft, and so far they've flown through the smoke burning in oregon, washington and idaho. today they're heading east of boise. >> we will be flying downwind. >> it's pretty exciting. you get an appreciation for the vastness of the fire. >> reporter: pretty exciting because to gather the data they do this. fly the plane directly into the smoke plume. >> you can smell the smoke in the cabin it's smokey when you go through the plume, and it can get dark when you fly through a cloud. >> reporter: she scoothey scoopp aerosol particles. >> we want to know about all different kinds of particles and how they evolve over time, and how they impact cloud formation. >> reporter: and how those tiny

particles reflect and absorb light and change chemically could lead to answers about the nature of clouds and help our scientists see our planet's climate future more clearly. >> it flies over planned agriculture culture burns in the memphis area. >> reporter: i'm meteorologist dave warren. we're talking about the fires. this is happening in australia. today was a key day as the storm passed by delivering a little bit of rain. it passed by just south of sydney 24 hours ago. you see that clockwise spin. that's the storm passing by. the rain picked up the wind and win gusts of 60 mph in the blue mountains today. this was key. the rainfall that came down. here is sydney. we need a lot of rain and an

inch or more well south of where the fires are. no rain expected now. they had to keep dumping the water down. as the wind dies down, a few of these had to be postponed or canceled because the wind was too oh strong for the flights to happen. but the firefighting conditions. this is helping the situation, it's not as windy, but also little to no rain in the forecast. at least it's a little cooler and the wind not nearly as strong. talking about the wind in our area. it's a northwest wind that brings in cooler air not only dropping the temperature but we have lake affect snows to talk about. >> appreciate it, thank you. boy, breaking news for you now. a big win for the government in the case related to the financial crisis. a federal jury said bank of america is liable for fraud for selling bad mortgages to fannie mae and freddie mac.

the justice department said it will ask the judge to order bank of america to pay more than $800 million in damages. still ahead on al jazeera merrimacky messages tweeted anonymously now a staffer is unemployed. >> reporter: the applications process is frustrating thousands of students. i'll have that coming up. >> some of us can't wait for it, others dread it. tax time winding down and many of us may be getting a return. hard-hitting debate and desenting views and always explore issues relevant to you.

>> you know the ripple effects of the government shutdown just keep coming. next year's tax season will be delayed due to the shutdown. the irs said they are behind schedule, which means that

returns could be delayed by one or two weeks. john terrett. whawho is this irsdeadline goin. >> reporter: i thought this was a tax tip for tony. >> lovely. >> reporter: and in one sense people should know about it, but it's not what you think. you think oh, my god, now i have two weeks extra to file my tax returns, wrong. now who knew that there were people out there who filed their taxes super early, companies and individuals. apparently there are, and one of the members of our staff is one. the reason is to get that rebate back as soon as possible. the earlier you get the tax return in, the quicker it comes back if you're owed any from the irs. it affects those people and probably not the rest. we have a graph to help you understand this just a bit better. for instance, tax day still

stays april 15th. the original day to begin tax season was january 31st. but they moved it, and they're moving it between the 28th of january and the fourth of february 2014. no sooner than the 28th. they'll tell us which day they're going to choose in december. >> it makes a difference if you're an early filer and if you want to buy some things for the holidays. >> some people have to pay the gas bills and household bills. >> other people may like to get a weekend away. >> how badly hurt was the irs by this shutdown? >> reporter: surprisingly hurt. all this is coming down. now we know that basically of this 94,500 members who work for the irs right across the

country, 90% of them were pressurfurloughed. the point is that when that government shutdown was going on that was slap in the middle of the season when tax people at the irs are busy preparing their computer programs getting documentation ready. they couldn't do it. so the point is now they've had to kick this whole thing, kick the can down the road, as they say, for two weeks. >> good to see you. thank you. >> thank you. >> technical problems a nightmare for those trying to submit early deadlines for college applications. maria reports 1234 it used to be in the old days not too long ago you would submit an application folded and off to the college but now it's all electronic. not only is it electronic, but it's centralized.

students use a common application. they fill out their name, test scores and put their essays in there and submit it to all the colleges they're applying to. but over the last several weeks college app has been having problems with log in and multiple payments. on august 1st they rolled out their fourth phase of the application. hundreds of colleges use this form of application, including all the ivy leagues, and one of the reasons why this is concerning so many people is because on november 1st is the deadline for early application for students. 35% of schools use common app exclusively. that means it's the only way that students can apply. now i spoke with joan who helps students apply for college. here's what she had to say. >> when everybody is going to take a deep breath and mutually

acknowledge that we are having issues here. we're having trouble with transcripts getting delivered on time, we're having trouble with recommendations and people being able to get online with formatting issues. so when everybody sort of agrees that there is a problem i think colleges will be obviously completely understanding. >> reporter: and some colleges are extending their deadlines. duke university for one, columbia university. now common apps has been fixing some of these problems, and they put out a statement saying none of these issues impact all users but each introduce a level of frustration for students which adds anxiety to an already stressful process. among the fixes, tony, they will also be reimbursing all those people who have been charged multiple times for one application. >> this is a real headache.

here is good news for college students and parents, the price of an education is rising but at a slower pace than before. now the college board said the cost of a four-you're public university is up 2.9% this year. that is the smallest increase in more than three decades. private universities are up 3.8%. here's the bad news. the smaller increases are offset by a drop in federal student aid okay. left to drown on the high seas. next on al jazeera america. what refugees are saying about the moment before their boat sank. plus he is called the bishop of bling. has his lavish spending cost him a holy suspension. we're just under four hours away for the first pitch from the world series. we'll have more wer from fenwayk

in just a few minutes.

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>> welcome back to al jazeera america. david shuster joins us now. >> reporter: in massachusetts a 14-year-old student at a suburban student is in custody after allegedly killing a teacher. the police stormed the school after discovering blood in a second floor bathroom and then found the body of the math teacher in the woods behind the school. the identity of the student who allegedly murdered the teacher has not been released. this is the second murder of a teacher this week. in nevada a 12-year-old boy in nevada shot and killed his teacher. the mystery of a little girl is shredding claims of the form of the government's bureaucracy. they're still unknown t unable y

the girl they found. and it was pure luck the girl was found and rescu rescued from alleged child trafficking. back in the united states two florida murderers who briefly escaped from prison made a court appearance today. charles walker went before a judge who found official paperwork to send him back to prison. last week they used forged documents to get them out of prison. in israel the day of the day is shalom aggie. texas governor rick perry is traveling to the holy land and he just announced that he plans to create a branch of the school

in israel and it will foster o understanding and education. he's trying to bolster his foreign policy credentials. in italy, items like these, bags, ties and scarves were sitting in a van in milan's fashion distract. the drivers left the v vehicle unattended as they went to get breakfast. an italian chief grabbed $500,000 worth of accessories. the police were able to apprehend the thief but not before hermes had to cancel a fashion show. when you go to breakfast make sure that someone is watching

your accessories and your car. >> it's europe, it's in one of those mini coopers, one of those little boxes. but thanks for the head's up. >> all right, appreciate it. thank you. a white house insider with the senior level national security clearance turns out to have had a dual identity, one on the job, and one online undetected until last week. we have more. >> reporter: josie joseph was director of nuclear none proliferation issues at the national security council working on need to know senior issues such as nuclear talks with iran. for two years he had a secret persona and took shots at those in the administration. this tweet, i'm a fan of obama but his continuing reliance on

valley jarrett concerns me. another one, can someone again brief am bass door power that bashar al-assabashar as said lit follow her twitter feed. >> he was saying things that were on people's minds that people were to afraid. certainly that was the case but it was also mixed with a lot of things that people would not say because they were incredibly rude or misguided. >> reporter: his covert communications offered daily insight on the intimate working on the government. now fired his twitter account has been taken down. >> i think it's important to note that unless you have an authorized official twitter account or social media account as some of us do, white house employees are not able to access social media sites like that at

all. obviously for personal use. you can't go on twitter and sign up for an account unless it's authorized. joseph was quoted by politico saying what started out as an intended parody of d.c. culture developed into mean spirited comments. i sincerely apologize to everyone i insulted. >> reporter: one expert i spoke with said this may send a warning to washington employee who is may want to think twice before they tweet. >> so we want to focus on a bitter dispute in one of canada's maritime provinces over how to pull natural gas out of the ground. that dispute led to protest that turned violent last week. we have been following the story. roxanne in a, what is this dispute about? >> reporter: it's about fracking that is common here in

the united states. in new brunswick demonstrators are taking on trying to block one company's efforts to explore the a land for natural gas that would be done by fracking. the police tried to disperse them with pepper spray, rubber bullets. and some retaliated by setting police cars on fire. fracking forces water in the ground and forcing natural gas out. the fracking would be done on land inhabited ofag of aborigin. it would harm the environment and quality of life. >> they're offering money and jobs. that's going to be gone in a year. what are we going to do after? there is not going to be any

water to drink. the animals that we hunt, you can't eat them. >> part of the dispute here has to be over the question of who actually owns the land, right? >> reporter: it is, and the spokesperson for the new brunswick government said that the land belongs to the government. but the abarininal people say unlike the u.s. they never gave it up to the government or gave it by force. >> we never surrendered any land. this is where we're from. it's not like we can just pack up our bags and move away this is our land. this is where we're from. >> reporter: the energy company exploring for gas in the area is a subsidiary of u.s. based

company. they said on their website. they will use safe and responsible natural gas and oil exploration. >> survivors rescued off the coast of malta after their boat was shot by libyan traffics. this highlights a growing refugee crisis in the region. we have more from the maltese capital. >> reporter: what you are seeing are hundreds of people, men and women and young children trying to stay afloat in the cold mediterranean waters. the boat has capsized and many cannot swim. these are mostly syrian refugees trying to escape from the war

only to end up like this. on this instance they are spotted offering a rare and frank glimpse of why the mediterranean is called a cold and wet graveyard. on board a father pulls the soaked close off his little girl. off in the distance more float in the water waiting to be rescued. this is not the first time something like this will happen, and it won't be the last. when boats like these packed full of people rescued like this is actually very rare. the maltese government has taken the lead in the european union to create an awareness of how

difficult the refugee in theine is. >> pope francis has taken an unusual step and suspended a bishop in germany, called the bishop of bling for his lavish lifestyle. >> reporter: articles showing the bishop of lindberg had blown the budget on his residence which includes a museum, conference room and residence for nuns by a factor of six. to say that the budget we know from $7 million to $42 million. this the pope said he wants the catholic church to be a poor church, so there is a disconnect if you will between the vatican and what is going on here in

germany with the man nicknamed the bishop of bling. as a consequence of his trip to the vatican he was made to wait eight days before being granted an audience by the pope. he has been more or less suspended, is the out of his diocese. we don't know what is going to happen to him until an inquiry conducted by the church is completed. >> millions of millions of women affected by breast cancer. now fighter the disease and for their families. 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.

(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. >> an ohio man who confessed to a deadly drunk driving accident on youtube will spend 6.5

years in prison for the june crash. his driving privileges have also been revoked for good. he admitted to being drunk when he hit and killed a man. october is bless cancer awareness month. doctors are feeling openful about fighting breast cancer. recently several startling new treatments have emerged making a big difference in patients lives. >> reporter: tony, more than 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, but doctors say they have not been this encouraged in years. the break through that fights cancer but does it without hurting the patients. >> hi. >> reporter: 15 years of karen's life has been filled with doctor's visits and painful visits for breast cancer. >> i lost my hair. i would throw up and it felt like a death sentence.

it was very scary. >> reporter: but now she has hope and strength after being among the first in the country to receive a new medication called tdm 1. >> this is one of the newest medications out there. it's tdm-1. it works like a smart cell. it kills the bad cells leaving the healthy cells alone. that means she won't get sick or lose her hair. >> i'm amazed, and it seems to be working. that's the key. >> reporter: approved in february. tdm-1 treats only one the most severe types of cancer but it's encouraging doctors at the farber-dana institute who were

one of the first to use this new drug. >> it is a very effective drug yet it is accompanied by very few side affects. >> reporter: it is the latest of several new targeted therapy treatments to emerge within the past few years. it comes as researchers better understand breast cancer as a family of diseases, not just one, and how different tumors grow and spread changing everything from the medicine to radiation and surgery. >> i think it is very reasonable to hope that 20 years from now across the board for breast cancer that we will be able to say that no woman should have to die of this disease if she is able to get treatment for it. >> reporter: for now, breast cancer remains the second deadliest cancer for women killing 40,000 a year. these new drugs like other chemo therapies can have side effects but patients now feel better. no longer wracked with illness

from kimo, she's traveling and visiting family. >> i'm stage four terminal. i don't look at myself like that. the treatment i'm having now, it's working, as long as it's working i'm alive and fine. >> reporter: she's not cured but now has hope one may be within reach. she has been on this new medicines april and will continue taking it for as long as she can. the doctors caution they are still a few years away from the a cure but many feel we're finally on the right bath. >> michael eaves is here with a day in sports. fingers crossed for a fall, a true fall classic. >> reporter: well, it's fall. we'll see the classic games. we'll find out starting tonight. the boston red sox and the st. louis cardinals led their

respective leads in wins with both teams reaching 97 victories. it seemed quite fitting that these two teams would meet in this year's world series. >> reporter: their paths to reach the world series were vastly different. for the red sox they had the pitching pieces in place but reloaded with battle-tested bats. the one factor that would put it all together. this last place 69-win team i in 2012 and former socks pitching coach who guided many of these save pitchers to the 2007 world championship. >> it is very much a privilege, i'm honored and extremely humbled to be standing here tray. >> reporter: starting rotation that showed flashes of greatness from years past was back to being dominant and the line up clicked right from the start. they showed team unity by gro

growing beards with the fear the beard campaign. >> we started to experience some things and answer some challenges that we felt like we had a good team and a close knit group has helped us overlook some of those challenges. >> we have guys who bought in to the team, and it's been a different guy every night, and i'm just brought of every single one of them. >> reporter: for the cardinals this path to the postseason and deep run into october has become old hat. reaching fourth world series over the last decade winning twice in 2006 and just as recently as 2011. they've lost big pieces over the years, but the best managed franchise in baseball continues to run like a well-oiled machine. >> we take a lot of pride in what has been able to define the cardinals way, and how we go about our business. we also realize we're about right now. we got to be able to focus on

what we need to do, and not anything beyond that. >> reporter: the emergence of tremendous pull ben and better line up. these pitchers are th the produt of a team of cardinals scouts. >> they're pitching is talented and they're great. i couldn't ask for a better band of mates going forward. >> reporter: these two franchises meet for the fourth time in their storied histories. however these two particular teams were destined to face off both taking completely different paths. buckle up, it should an bumpy ride to see who will ultimately be crowned king. >> joining us now from fenway park is our very own john henry smith. these two teams have not met in the regular season since 2008, but all the fans remember was the 2004 world series meeting. do you get a sense of animosity

between the two fan bases? >> reporter: you really don't. i mean, certainly boston has its shares of fan bases that really can't stand them. the new york yankees fan base most notebly. you don't really get that sense from the st. louis cardinals fan base. there seems to be a mutual respect. you referenced 2004, back then it was game four in st. louis, and the cardinals realized their jig was up and they would lose this series. and bush stadium they opened up the gates and let all the red sox fans in t to celebrate. i think it's very cordial between the fans bases. >> as far as the history of the history of this series how important is it for th the teamo

win the first game? >> reporter: incredibly important. going back to 1903, 62% of the time the team that has won the first game of the series has gone on to win the series. that includes nine of the last ten. that includes ten of the last 14. so of course, the pressure is really on. adam wainwright to bring it big when the two teams kick off the 1109th world series. >> and the advantage would be red sox. >> reporter: let's throw these numbers at you. 22 of the last 27 world series winners have had home field advantage. let me tell you if you are a person who hates the idea that the home field advantage goes to the league that wins the all-star game, that will have to stick in your craw. that's only been in effect the last few years. the numbers don't lie.

home field advantage plays a tremendous role in winning the world series. >> john henry, we'll talk to you in the next news hour. >> reporter: you got it. >> we'll have another report coming up. >> let's play ball. michael, appreciate it. thank you. nor'easter is just off the east coast. dave warren is back with a look at the national forecast in just a moment. 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.

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. >> while you were asleep, news was happening. >> here are the stories we're following. >> find out what happened and what to expect. >> international outrage. >> a day of political posturing. >> every morning from 6 to 10am al jazeera america brings you more us and global news than any other american news channel. >> tell us exactly what is

behind this story. >> from more sources around the world. >> the situation has intensified here at the boarder. >> start every morning, every day, 6am to 10 eastern with al jazeera america. >> 70 bush fires are burning across australia. firefighters are bracing for what could be the worst day yet. weather conditions are expected to get worse with hot temperatures and high winds in the forecast. officials say it could be even more devastating than the conditions that first cured the fires. >> john cameron was not taking chances. he was packed and if necessary ready to leave. >> we'll leave when we are told to or when we think it's appropriate, okay?

>> everything is ready to go? >> everything is ready to go. >> reporter: down thkaren has se before and was not leaving yet. >> if i see flames coming up through the bushes i'll get out of here, but we've had a lot of smokey days up here, but i'm quite at ease. if the win changes i think i'll leave. >> reporter: and it was the wind causing the concerns. gusts that can spread flames fast. although some water-dumping helicopters were working, others had to be grounded. the early message was that things weren't as bad as had been feared. >> en cautious optimism. it's not been as bad this morning as we thought it was going to be. but it's moving constantly in the last hour or so. >> reporter: one of those is up

mount york where a monuments and firefighters worked to preserve. the wind is spreading embers that are starting new fires. the firefighters measurely watch them to make sure they don't get any better. what they don't want to do is waste their water. in. >> reporter: in spring wood the closest to the sydney they urged residents to get out. north of sydney an entirely new fire broke out near new castle. and the worst predictions from fire chief had not materialized.

>> that was the storm just south of australia. now things are quiet here on the satellite picture but he can see the area of clouds just moved off the close. as it passed by it picked up the wind speed. it's moving off and the wind will die down that's good news there, but still no rain in the forecast. a lot of cold air from minneapolis to chicago and it's warming up there in texas. but it's the rain that is the focus along the east coast. you see the radar picking up snow where it's cold enough and spotty showers. that's what you get when you get cold air moving in. an indication of how cold it's going to get. the storm developing off the coast will intensify off of eastern canada. that brings the wind going. the temperatures now are in the

50s, barely dropping quite a bit from yesterday, and dropping even more so tonight. as the wind dies down and the skies clear up you can see temperatures dropping to the freezing mark. the first time in the season that we have seen numbers drop down in the 30s. at the en end of the growing season, maybe some frost not cold enough to drop down to freezing but frost in a few years. and friday, 55 in boston. the rain clears out tonight. the cold air sticks around friday, saturday and sunday mid to low 50s. there's that cold air coming in from the north. but look how it warms up just a bit. east side of the great lakes as you get the cold air coming across that warmer weather, you could be talking about a foot of snow in parts of new york.

>> this an al jazeera america live. this is tony harris with a look at today's top stories. new allegations of spying in the united states. germany said there is evidence that the united states monitored angela merkel's private phone calls. president obama spoke to her to assure her that the united states is not and will not monitor her private communications. secretary of state john kerry met in rome with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. and new