welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. here are the stories that we are following for you. germany wants of answers about u.s. spy allegations. they are sending their intelligence chiefs to get them. and a new push to stop the abuse of pain killers. the fda now making changes. bulgarian officials say they have found the mother of that little girl pushed into the national spot light. the u.s. is now trying to deal with the fallout from a week of damaging revelations about spying activities.

germany now saying it will send its top intelligence chiefs to washington next week to try to get some answers from the white house. the spying allegations overshadowing a meeting in belgium. also today british prime minister talking about the leaker, and those who publish what edward snowden gave them. >> what mr. snowden has effectively done and what some newspapers are assisting him in doing, and that is going to make at it lot more difficult to keep our countries and our people safe. >> mike viqueira joins us now live from the white house with more on how the white house is dealing with these spying allegations. >> well, they are being relatively tight lipped here. the spokesperson saying the obama administration is committed to engaging bilaterally. yesterday jay carney,

reiterating time and time again all of these are being discussed through the appropriate channels. there is no question this is an embarrassing situation for the obama administration. >> reporter: the controversy is growing and so is the riff with a close ally. angela merkel expressing outrage. >> translator: with regards to the national security agency, i have made it clear to the person president that spying between friends is unacceptable. i said that in june in berlin, july, and yesterday in a phone call. it's about the privatesy among all german people. >> reporter: jay carney did not deny the spying had taken place.

>> what i can't and won't do is answer every allegation that appears in press about spying activities. the revelations that have appeared of late have obviously caused tensions in our relationships with some coup tri -- countries and we are dealing with that through diplomatic channels. and we have also engaged in a review of our intelligence gathering depreciations. >> as carney spoke another shoe dropped. the guardian newspaper is out with more from nsa leaker edward snowden. a confidential 2006 memo reveals the nsa has encouraged senior officials to share phone numbers of foreign leaders, so they can be bugged. such information may contain . . .

in other words they were bugs. in merkel's case there are unique sensitivities. >> she grew up in east germany, and she didn't expect a democratic nation which was a close ally for 50 or 60 years to act this way. >> translator: we said that we need the activity of our intelligence communities in order to ensure the safety and security of our citizens, but at the same time, once there is the seeds have been sewn that doesn't facilitate our work and cooperation. it makes it more difficult.

>> reporter: as you might madge there is continuing frustration with edward snowden and those leaks. he is obviously out of the reach of american law enforcement at this point. in an interview with the department of defense blog yesterday, the leading expressed his frustration saying something has got to be done to stop these leaks. >> mike has the white house responded to the request for talks from france and germany? >> reporter: well, again, the white house is tight lipped. a spokesperson saying the administration is committed to engaging bilaterally and then referred reporters to the statements that came out earlier to explain exactly what was going on with the surveillance of french citizens and angela merkel herself, dell. >> mike, thank you very much. there appear to be two mind sets at play in reaction to the

spying allegations. i talked about that with jim walsh. >> everyone spies. spying is as old as foreign policy. a lot of these countries have asked for or benefited from u.s. intelligence, would probably do it if they could pull it off or can't. i get all of that. but there's domestic politics. the voters in those countries are very unhappy with u.s. surveillance practices and those leaders have to respond to that. and this makes them look leak and compromised in front of their own domestic political audience. so no wonder they are anger. and most international politics it's about national interest and hard-nosed stuff, but personalities, individuals matter, and if someone feels like you are betrayed their trust or crossed the line and they are angry, that does have

reverberations in international politics it looks like angela merkel is pretty ticked off right now. kathleen sabilius is speaking about the health care website. >> i think if we knew we had another six months we would probably test further, but i don't think anyone fully realized that both volume caused some problems, but volume also exposed some problems. >> she was meeting with health care workings in austin, texas, critics have called on her to resign because of the poor rollout. bulgarian officials say they

found the mother of that little girl who made a headlines. it was first thought the girl was abducted. they have said the girl was given to them by the child's mother. thousands of supports of mohammed morsi marching in cairo once again today. protesters are denouncing the government and want morsi to be reinstated. their numbers have dwindled, though, amidst a violent government crackdown. and there has been a ruling on the chinese politician and his last-chance appeal for life. >> 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?

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>> the food and drug administration says that painkiller abuse has reached epidemic proportions in the u.s. now the fda is taking steps to limit the access to some of the most popular prescription drugs on the market. powerful drugs like vicodin with killing people. >> reporter: popular prescription medications are a new effort by the fda to control them. the drugs contain hydrocodone. the ingredient found in these drugs was prescribed 131 million times to 47 million patients in 2011 alone. the decision comes at a time when prescription drugs account for about three quarters of all drug overdose deaths in the us. west virginia leads the nation in the rate of fatal drug

overdoses. but not everyone welcomes the move. tighten restrictions could have unintended consequences. >> by making it harder to prescribe and dispense, our patients are probably going to have a hard time getting good control of their pain. >> reporter: in a statement made on thursday the today said . . . the changes which would take place next year include reducing the number of refills patients can get before going back to see their doctor. currently a patient can get a refill five times over a six-month period before needing a new prescription with the new recommendation that a patient would now need to see a doctor every five months. and would need a written prescription brought directly to a pharmacy rather than having a doctor call the prescription in.

gustavo serrano, al jazeera. detroit almost went flat broke and filing for bankruptcy was its only option. kenneth buckfire testifying on thursday that detroit would have run out of cash even if it cut costs and sold assets. union workers and pension funds will take a loss if the plan is said to be okayed. ♪ in business news an oklahoma jury says toyota must pay $3 million to the victims of a sudden acceleration crash that took place in 2007. one woman was killed and another seriously injured when their camera accelerated and crashed

into a wall. janet yellen path to becoming the next federal reserve chairman could be running into a roadblock. rand paul is now said to be holding up the nomination. and the fed is going to investigate -- whether or not to investigate a fire that learned up earlier this month. there is no indication the fire was caused by a safety deflect, but the model s electric car hit some debris and punctured the battery. a former chinese leader is now going to send the rest of his life in prison. margaret has more.

>> reporter: this disgraced politician's trial was meant to show how serious the government is about fighting corruption. ultimately the public still only saw what the government allowed them to see, but unlike usual defendants in chinese courtrooms, the former mayor, refused to go quietly. he was, after all, tipped to challenge for the presidency before all of this. he did not show atonement in the hopes of getting leniency and his ensuing appeal could on serve to embarrass party leaders further. >> translator: they were following procedure, sure, but everything has been predetermined by chinese leaders. it's all just a show. >> reporter: in his first speech last year, he acknowledged if

endemic corruption wasn't dealt with it could destroy the party. the government has been careful not to expose too many details. since 2008, 32 officials have been charged with corruption-related crimes. ten of them brought to task. but a government report also noted in the last few months of 2012 alone, more than 700 politicians fled the country with over $400 billion u.s. dollars. but many believe more is going on here than just a moral crusade. >> translator: the campaign is just a tool used for its own political power struggle. it can't eradicate a phenomenon

of corruption in the system. >> reporter: until a more reliable plan is put in place, corruption is likely to still happen. saving people who suffer from sudden cardiac arrest is a race against time where every minute counts. there's an unusual new effort in seattle that is aiming to improve the survival rate and it involves cash. alleapt explains. >> reporter: jamie alls is a very lucky man and knows it. two years ago when he suffered cardiac arrest, one of his friends knew where to find these. it zapped his heart back to life. >> it's crazy this technology even exists now. it was there when i needed it

and i'm able to sit here and talk to you. >> reporter: there are 1ing.2 million in public places across the country. miracles in a box at about $1,500 each. >> when a bystander has a defib later and is able to use it before the paramedics arrive, we know that doubles the chance for survival. >> reporter: which is great as long as the nearest bystander knows where to find one. dr. graham nickel has launched a month long city-wide caven g -- scavenger hunt. it is patterned after a similar effort in philadelphia. >> do you have an aed on the premise? >> reporter: contestants like

rob register online and then go out searching. >> nothing there. it was worth a shot. >> reporter: this is a facebook page, 20 preselected golden aed's worth $50 for the first person to find them. >> the individual or team that reports the largest number will win $10,000. >> reporter: but the bigger pay off is the data which they hope to produce an aed map. dr. nickel plans to replicate the game in four more cities next year, ago jamie alls supports with all of his heart. >> put it on a map, and if people know where it is, then they can use it, and somebody's life gets saved, and that's how it is support to work.

money talks. still ahead, big beautiful creatures facing a very big dilemma. coming up working elephants could be out of a job and left with no place to go. 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.

♪ germany is sending its intelligence chief to the u.s. they want some answers about u.s. spying allegations. a new report claiming that america has spied on come 35 world leaders. this man used to be a rising member of china's government but is no longer. he was convicted last month of corruption, embezzlement and abuse of power. this little girl is inneed the daughter of roma parents. they say a woman who came

forward for dna testing is the mother of the girl. the couple accused of kidnapping her say she was given to them by her mother. it appears that pesticides could be causing health problems for people who live in rural communities in argentina. >> reporter: this man and his wife own a grocery store on the countryside, but they won't sell what is produced in local farms. he says there is so much pesticide in the region, fruits and vegetables are unhealthy. he has lung fibrosis. >> they took my life away. life is a journey. i know i won't make it until the end. my life has been shortened. >> reporter: most of argentina's

countryside is now planted with soy, but that wasn't always the case. but people here remember the days when the price of soy was so high internationally, everybody started planting it. the country was called the bread basket of the world. growing and harvesting was faster. genetically modified seeds and pestici pesticide bends were sprayed on crops. >> translator: we have to take matters to hand and speak what is going on. because if we don't talk about it, the government will keep signing off on companies and they will keep killing people. >> reporter: blood samples of children show agorochemicals in

their bodies. activists say the regulations aren't enough. >> translator: spaying has to be controlled nationwide. a spraying tractor should be at least one kilometer from homes and aerial spraying should be banned. >> reporter: this man has taken his fight to congress. he wants to warn millions he believe he could face health problems if the use of the chemicals are not controlled. i'm dave warren, we're starting to get these cooler air blasts that come in from the north, and that drops the temperatures overnight as long as the skies are clear and there is a light breeze, but it quickly warms up with at little sunshine. it's already warmed up. it was down to about the freezing mark, could be back down there again tonight. freeze warnings and a few freeze

watches. we have frost advisories but it just stops right at the mississippi river. lows tomorrow, see how they are warming up. the cold air doesn't stick around for long, but it is here tomorrow morning. it could easily drop to the freezing mark in parts of tennessee and kentucky. it's clear and cold at night. the afternoon nice and comfortable with a light breeze. storm developing here over the great lakes. the temperatures will be climbing here. and maybe a few showers developing. we could see rain oefrn snow across the great lakes. look at these temperatures, 49, up to 52 saturday and sunday. not a bad afternoon, climbing into the mid-to low 50s. new york is clear here. we had those cold temperatures in the morning, by the afternoon it looks like and comfortable.

51 in philadelphia. over the weekend the temperatures will be climbing, close to 60 degrees with sunshine, dell. >> dave thank you very much. this is a story about a tradition that dates backs thousands of years it is about the working elephants working in myanmar. thousands of elephants in the region are left with an uncertain future. >> reporter: this elephant was originally caught in the wile and trained, now his handlers say he is strong, placid and oh bead yen. >> translator: they need to know the nature of their elephant. >> reporter: myanmar has more captive elephants than any other

country. but times are changing fast. from april 2014, log exports will be banned. while that may be good for the forests, the elephants and the handlers face an unsouthern future. >> translator: when logging extraction is reduced what is not economical will be eliminated. >> reporter: private owners like this are in a dilemma. >> translator: we will have to sell our elephants. >> reporter: like in other countries theel facts could be trafficked, sold, or abused, or if released into the wild, they

could compete with farmers. >> the government [ inaudible ] those [ inaudible ] with the elephant those close to the elephant in the jungle they are all responsible. >> reporter: the big question is whether elephants will remain relevant or be relegated to tourist spectacles like these white elephants in yangon. white elephants are considered to be [ inaudible ] in budaism. myanmars elephants face a turning point. now they must survive democracy and the free market. jfrmgs nirmal ghosh, al jazeera, yangon.

>> thanks for watching. i'm del walters in new york city. "the stream" is next. and as always check us out 24 hours a day on aljazeera.com. ♪ >> hi, i'm lisa fletcher and you are in the stream. a nickel mine in minnesota is it a false choice to tell minnesotians they have to choose when work and the environment? ♪ >> our digital producer, wajahat ali is here and he is bringing in all of your comments and questions via our social networks. waj is lot of people in our community didn't know about the controversy up north