>> this is al jazeera america, live from new york city. i am jonathan betz with a look at today's top stories. nsa denies reports president obama was aware of any surveillance of the german chancellor back in 2010. syria meets a crucial deadline outlining its chemical weapons program. iconic rock musician, ledou reed dead at the age of 71. >> the chief of the nsa said he did not discuss the alleged bugging of the german chancellor's phone with president obama. german reports say the u.s. has been tapping the chancellor's phone since 2002 and that

mr. obama was told back in 2010. germany is sending senior intelligence officials to washington. this morning, senator jean shehay says the nsa needs to come clean about its. >> surveillance programs. >> the reflations from snowden and the secrets that have been revealed are doing significant damage to our bilateral relationships with germany, with mexico, with the other countries where the suggestion is that we have listened in. so i think we have repair work to do, and i think we have hard questions we need to ask of the nsa about what's really happening in this program. this morning, the chairman of the house homeland security had a different point of view. >> the reality is the nsa has saved thousands of lives not just in the united states but in france and germany and throughout europe. the french are someones to talk. the fact is they carried out

spying operations against the united states, both the government and industry. as far as germany, that's where the hamburg plot began, which led to 9-11. they have had dealings with iran and iraq, north korea and the french and the germans on the and other european countries. we are not doing this for the fun of it. >> join us from massachusetts, jim walls, an expert in international security and a research associate. jim, you heard the congressman say just then basically president obama should apologizing. is that fair? >> you know, i don't think so. i think it's easy for congressman king to issay that. it's not president of the united states. >> he doesn't have to meet angela merkel when she is mad at him. do the french spy? yes. dot germans spy? yes, they do. do they benefit from the nsa yes, but in those countries, those voters in france, those voters in germany are upset about u.s. surveillance. and i think the leaders, you

know, part of international relations, most of it is national interest, but part is personality. if someone is angry at you or feels like you have betrayed their trust, that does matter and if it's the president of germany, yes, it does matter. i think there is some repair work to do here and when peter king says, we have saved thousands of people, you know let's be careful about our generalizations. nsa does lots of different things. it's not clear at all as senator shehane has suggested that every one of these programs is absolutely necessary in its scope, in its duration. i think there are some questions that have to be answered here. >> explain to me, then, if the u.s. says all of these other countries are doing basically the same thing the nsa does. are these foreign leaders truly upset, or are they just acting upset because it's now public and their public is angry? >> great question. i think the answer is probably both. and why do i say that? you know, i am not a psychologist by training. i work in international relations, but if you look at the statements that the german

chancellor has made this past week, they seemed out of character. they seemed pretty direct. yes, they have -- you are right. they have to -- part of this is domestic politics and you expect countries to spy. but if you were president of germany and you found out that your most important ally was listening to your phone calls, you would probably be upset. you could understand it at some level. why? because spying is part of foreign policy. but personally -- and these are people. these are flesh and blood human beings who have these positions. you would be ticked off, and she is. >> now the question is: how much did president obama know? we heard initially he was told that the chancelor's phone had been told in 2010. now, we are hearing that's not true. is it likely that the president knew what was going on? >> you know, i can't speak to that. but if i had to bet money, i would guess he did know rather than didn't know but, you know, who can say for sure? but i think we need to step back from that and go back to what senator shehene knew. it happened. it stopped. they are not doing it going forward. there are broader issues here

this is a program. going back to that first night when snowden revealed this stuff and i remember getting a call that evening on this. this is a thing that's gotten bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. and the scope has widened. and every day, we find out something that people are doing stuff we didn't know they do -- did before. now, some of that's important, and needs to go on. some of it is just happening because it's been -- it's secreted in the dark and people are not assessing it and are not, you know, keeping great oversight on it. so i think there are some fundamental questions here about what the agency is up to and we need to ask and even the president has admitted there are problems here so i think we need to have a public discussion about this. >> how does this end? the nsa can't be shut down. the united states does need s spying capabilities. can it be scaled back slightly? how does this end? >> i think you are right on to what the important thing is here. hey. i support spying and i support going after terrorists. now, in the past, that spying

has been focused. it's focused on individuals we had reason to believe intended to do us harm. and you would get court orders for this. and it would be targeted to individuals. we are now finding out that we are collecting information about americans and people all over the planet, who my children are calling, the numbers they are dialling, social network analysis. so i think it's about having the appropriate scope, duration and oversight. let's go after the people who want to do us harm. let's go after the terrorist, our foreign enemies. let's spy on them. absolutely but let's not include everything, law abiding citizens in this gigantic net where people are grabbing whatever information thing. that is the wild, wild west of an nsa and i don't think that's appropriate in a democracy. >> jim walsh from mit, thank you for your time this afternoon. >> thank you. syria met a crucial deadline for removing chemicalcal weapons. the government revealed details about its poison gas and nerve gas. it hopes to eliminate all of

syria's chemical weapons by mid 2014. kilheny duchardt has more. >> syria is meeting an ambitious sa deadline for the organization known as opcw to destroy its lethal stockpile by next year. syria handed over the details of its poison gas and nerve agent program thursday ahead of its october 27th deadline. opcw is not releasing what their report says, but it did sar the syrian government disclosed 23 chemical weapon sites. the head of the opcw u.n. team said the country has so far been cooperative. >> we had very good meetings with the syrian government at most senior level, there is continued strong cooperation with the secretary general with opcw and opcw has confirmed in recent statements and we build on this because we have one shared goal which is elimination of the program, which is of benefit to all and particularly

the syrian people >> reporter: but not all are convinced as evidenced on abc's this week. >> in fact, in syria, the chemical weapons are being catalogued. the inspectors are in there and putting a stop to the program. >> we will see. i am a skeptic. i think like a lot of other people are. and i know there are friends in the region who are worried. >> syria is believed to possess around 1,000 metric tons of chemical weapons including mustard gas and saron, which they denied for years. they also continue to deny any involvement in the august 21st chemcam weapons attack that killed 1,400 people there. under threat of u.s. military, russia and al -- an ally of the government brokered a deal for syria to destroy chemical stock piles. this is complicated and has not -- it has not been diced where the weapons will be dismantled. the next step comes november 1st when syria is schedule today

dismantle production and mixing facilities. kilmeny duchardt al jazeera. >> at a timun team is expected to sit down with the syrian government to push for the meeting. for now, the fighting continues close to syria's capitol. al jazeera's nazarene? >> according to different activist groups, kurdish fighters in the providence of alhazica have taken control of the border as well as the town of arabya over heavy fighting the last few days. they seized control and snatched these areas from the area that belongs to the is lallic state of iraq and a group allegedly linked to al-qaeda. we understand that several fighters on both sides were killed in this fighting. now, ethnic kurds in syria have a very complex role in syria's conflict. some of them have joined the rebels and fighting against the

government. some of them remain loyal to the government and some of them simply just care about the future of their minority as a group in syria and the areas where they live in, close to the borders with turkey and iraq. we understand from activists that the group of kurdish fighters that was able to snatch control of el arabia is close to the syrian government. the syrian national council has blamed iraq for allowing security forces based at the shared border crossing to shell the border crossing in order to help the kurds gain control and sees control of the crossing from the fighters from the is lampic state of iraq and they blame iraq of medaling in the syrian -- meddling in the syrian affairs. quoting residents who live in

arabia confirming iraqi forces and no one from the iraqi side had anything to do with these clark and did not aid the kurds in taking over this border crossing. but i guess it's safe to say that the iraqi government would feel more comfortable living next to kurds and sharing a border crossing with them than being that close to members of a group that is allegedly link today al-qaeda. a series of bombings have killed dozens of people in iraq, shiia areas in bagdan were targeted. 54 people were killed and more than 150 hurt. our report >> reporter: clearing debris and washing away blood. this is what it looked like after one of a series of coordinated car bombings. >> translator: what happened here is a catastrophfee, a child, a woman and the father, three members of the same family

have been killed. >> reporter: it was all too similar in other areas as well. the number of attacks in iraq has grown steadily for months. people are demanding answers. >> cars were set on fire and shops were damaged. why does all of this happen to us? where did they come from? it is not a human being who commits such an act. it cannot be a human being >> reporter: iraq's opposition says a ct corrupt and lopsided government has contributed to the sectarianism that has caused the increase in violence. the government accuses sunnis of supporting terrorist groups like al-qaeda. even after this much death, there seems to be no real move to bridge the widening divide between shiia and sunni muslims. the government seems to be losing support. the prime minister is heading to the u.s. and says he is keepful of winning a third time in upcoming elections. a recent study indicated as many

as half a million very long died in iraq since the u.s. invasion but getting rid of a dictator has made no dpifrninifference i lives of the people who have to bury their families. al former u.s. marine held hostage by columbian rebels since june has been released. 28-year-old kevin scott sutee was handed over to representatives and the red cross after being held for more than fourteen four months. he was kidnapped while 0 vacation and accused by rebels of being a mercenary. joining us from bogota. was this something that was expected to happen, allesandro? >> jonathan, negot-haitians have been underway since he was captured in june, but nobody was really sure when this was going to happen because of disagreements between the farc rebels and the government of colombia on the way to make it

happen. the farc wanted this to be a very public release and they asked far mediation of it very well known flags south america and for u.s. human rights activis activists, jessie jackson to participate he flew down to cuba where the farc are negotiating a piece price, ongoing peace talks. still there roughly a month ago. but then he was forbidden to come to colombia by the president who said he didn't want to turn this into a media spectacle or a publicity stunt for the farc. >> so how did this former marine opinion vacation in colombia end up being kidnapped by this group? >> well it looks leak he was just traveling crosses south america and for some reason, he didn't listen to the warnings

that many people that he met throughout the country told him not to go through some particular regions where the columbian con conflict was alive. he was trucking through guaviarde a remote region that the borders with the amazon and venzuela venzuela and that is known to be a drug trafficking corrido corridor, a core dor for the smuggling of weapons and other contraband goods so you can imagine when they met an american there, they thought he was a mercenarmercenary. after awhile, they understood he was just a touristthey met an ay thought he was a mercenary. after awhile, they understood he was just a tourist. i think it took so long because the farc was trying to see what they could gain through his release. i think now was the right moment for them to do it for the peace process. >> okay. now that american head home. live for us in colombia. thank you.

>> a strong storm with a lot of cold wind is coming in to parts of the northwest. in fact, today, we have got high wind warnings going into effect for parts of the columbia basin, the yakama valley and parts of the tri-cities towards the idaho area as well. temperatures look bottoming out dropping 15 to 30 drivers degrees. a an edge of snow along the border of canada but it is mostly a cold rain coming in for parts of seattle first earlier today. now, stretching down towards portland and into the central oregon area. wind gusts have been building as the storm is a very low pressure system dropping out of canada and so the winds are rushing in to fill that area of lower pressure. >> that's bringing gusts up to 35 miles an hour in the last

hour. shoal butsure utah will get wind gusts building up to 30 or 35. over all we will have strong winds down into the sierra nevada, too, and yosemite. temperatures are going to drop all the way down. 42 degrees when you wake up in seattle. the colder temperatures between the cascades and the rockies and colder yet as you get east of the rockics into the low to mid 20s. coming up, i will show you more impact of this particular storm, how much snow we are expecting to come down from montana. jop than? >> thanks, reb he can a he was one of the gourd important musicians, lou reed from the velvet underground has died at the age of 71. ♪ sea change. >> his solo career, he underwent a liver transplant in april this year. al jazeera pop culture bill wynans talks about this from

phoenix. what is it that made lou stand out in such a crowded field of musicians in that era? >> that's a great question. it's a really sad day for a lot of fans. these days, a lot of these old older rock musicians are like our dads or grand dads and in lou's case like our dyspeptic older uncle. let's go back to 1967, the beatles said did lsd refer to the initials of that song? at the same time, lou reed said heroin, it's my life and it's my wife and he made it sound pretty good. that shows you the sort of transgressive era that he came from. back in the time, rock was supposed to be all sex and drugs but it was a little super official. he was from a sexual and drug-in fused demomon. it was out of keeping with the rest of america at the time.

he was the leading voice from that era. >> he put it all out there in his music and frankly sometimes in his interviews. house did that affect other musicians and inspire other artists? >> in a lot of ways, famously, the producer, you know, i believe said something about the velvet underground to the effect that they only sold a thousand records but everyone who bought it, everyone who saw them in concert formed their own band. so he was very important in the diyeth os. the other thing is the sound of the vel freft underground with harsh guitars but he had sort of a pop aspect, he loved doo-wap. there is an atmosphere of loveliness. pop sounds from an underground. that flew came up again -- influence came up with rem and a present band, radio head say they owed a lot to the original sounds of the velvet underground. >> why is it, bill, considering his status, his inc. flew he

knew on the industry, why was he not considered more of a commercial success then? >> well, frankly because he never sold many records. and it's kind of interesting because he really had these different sides. he was dyspepctic. he argued with everyone. a lot thought he held his audience in contempt. he was a big softiffic, there is an island, conie island baby, a lovely caring record. he put out a record in 74 called rock 'n roll animal that made suburban kids across the country take notices to one of the great hard rock live albums but that was his commercial hype. he had a one-hit wonder in 1973, walk on the wild side, ag strange hit single about the characters from the warhol factory. after that, he has been very respected but it was hard to make a lot of money making the sort of music he did. on the other hand, he had a pretty good life. it's really nice to know that the last 10 years of his life, he was with the performance artist laurie anderson and he

was cleaned up. he didn't drink or do drugs anymore. he was 71, which is too early for someone like him to pass away. but he had a rough life. so i think -- i think he was really lurky to end it the way he did. >> and a long career for sure. sad day of the music industry. bill wyman from phoenix thank you. rock pioneer lou reed dead at the age of 71 ♪ sea change. >>unconventional. >>an escape from the expected.

the health and human services secretary is scheduled to appear before the committee this week about the problems with the roleout of -- rollout of the website. they should change the website stats. >> the president has been poorly served in the implementation of his own signature legislation. so, if somebody doesn't leave and if there isn't a real restructuring, not just a 60-day somebody come in and try to fix it, he is missing the point of management 101, which is these people are to serve him well and they haven't. >> in mississippi, only a few dozen people have signed upstatewide. al jazeera stephanie boswell went there to find out why >> reporter: chris miller is a chef at the it 58ian grill until

picayume, mississippi. he is the sole provider for his family of four and says for the last year and a half, they haven't been able to afford insurance. >> i worry about that every day because all it takes is one accident and then you could be, you know, 20 to $100,000 in debt or more than that. you just never know. >> miller says he and his wife are searching for healthcare. but they couldn't even get on the new federal healthcare exchange website. in jackson, barber shop owner chris paige and his customer terri harper say they have insurance but those plan to look at their options under the aca. >> i may get better coverage for the same amount that i am paying because i just got the minimum level coverage. so i can at least have something that would cover me if something was to happen to me. >> neither paige nor har per have gone online -- >> i haven't because they say every time you are trying to go log in there was something wrong with why you couldn't sign up.

you had some computer sglichz. >> mississippi is the only state that the applied to run its own exchange and was rejected. the if he hadral government was concerned the state wouldn't provide enough support for it. that leaves people here trying to use the troubled federal exchange. and mississippi's insurance commissioner says as of october 21st, only 35 people had signed up. healthcare advocates are playing catch-up. >> a lot of the advocacy groups did a lot of work preparing for a mississippi-based exchange. we have been behind the -- we have been behind other states in trying to get the word out about the exchange. >> jarvis dorch is training to be a federally funded navigator, a person who helps people deal with the new healthcare marketplace. >> right now, our focus is going to be enrolling mississippians so they can get health insurances and get the tax credits they are eligible for. >> that may be ease ittier than said than done because many residents don't have

enterinternet access or computers plus >> reporter: according to the united states department and health and human resources mississippi is the you know healthiest state in the nation and has the third highest premiums in the country under the new healthcare exchanges yet mississippi only received $1 million to publicize the plan. neighboring arkansas received 24 million. >> the university of mississippi medical center got most of that money, $800,000. and it's navigators have helped almost 4,000 patients. covermississippi.org which got less money is mapping out a statewide outreach effort to bring computers to the people. >> there is definitely al need for more funding in mississippi. we are a state where you are going to need to go out and actually knock on doors' to help people enroll in these plans and actually walk people through the process. >> chris miller says he may take another look at the new healthcare exchanges but will wait until the federal website is more reliable. stephanie boswell, al jazeera,

picayune, mississippi. > . all right, darren haynes with thespots headlines on this nfl summed. >> after a franchise low, the knths cities chiefs are 1win away from starting a season at 9. the shifts improved to 8 and 0 after a 20 to 17 win over the cleveland browns. ky never trailed anythings one led by alex smith for 225 yards and two scores. kansas city will host the buffalo bills next week. how good history was made yesterday in nascar? darrell wallace, jr. became the first african-american to win a nascar event in nearly 50 years. he took a checkered flag at the kroger world truck series race. the mobile alabama native is on

his first season. he was part of the drive for diversity program in 2010. i am darren haynes. >> that's looking at sports headlines at this hour. >> thanks, darren. still ahead on al jazeera america, thousands risk death to reach new lands and a chance for a better life.

welcome back to al jazeera america. here is a look at top stories on this sunday. a major magazine claims the u.s. has been tracking angela merk merkel's phone for years. some say president obama was told about it in 2010 but did not stop it. nsa is denying that. the syrian government files reports regarding poison gas and nerve gas. it was led by the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons ♪ sea change ♪ >> wrong and role legend lou reed has died.

the 71-year-old was a major influence on music in the '60s and '70s. he is known for sweet jane, "perfect day" and "walk on the wild side". al jazeera america is looking for desperate people around the world willing to risk everything for a better life. the u.n. says not since 1994 have there been so many refugees. war remains the number 1 cause. the u.n. says more than half come from five current trees: afghanistan, syria, iraq, sudan and somalia. afghanistan tops the lists the. one in every four refugees worldwide is afghan. the majority in pakistan and iran. seeking a life awe broad can be filled with dribbles. frequently the routes are dangerous on small boats or trucks and along the way, refugees may face extortion and abuse. receipt ship wrecks in the midteranean have killed hundreds of migrants. that has put more pressure on european leaders. the danger has not stopped

people from trying to reach europe's shores. barneby phillips has more. >> it's been voted the most beautiful beach in europe but how easy it is to for get the drama and tragedy that play had as out every day just a few miles offshore from lampedusa. the italian navy has sent one of its biggest ships to help with the crisis. we were allowed on board and in the hull found a pathetic cargon 0318 people picked up at sea the previous night. most of the africans are young men. many are aratrayans. they paid thousands of dollars to free their country. >> it is very dangerous. so many young persons that day. >> and then, there are the syrians of all ages. none of them know what will happen next. some are too young to understand

where they are. they are registered straight away. the navy will take them directly to sicily because lampedusa are struggling with the my grants it already has --igrants it already has -- the biggest part of these immigrants who wish to go germany and norway and at this moment have a more flourishing economy. this is a historical situation in which people are leaving their homeland because of the change of the sclooiment, because of warsclimate, because of wars. it's a massive activity. >> this is center which the italian authorities built to house migrants for lampedusa. it's built for maximum 300 people but there are a lot more than that here these days. at the moment, there are over 700 inside. we were not given permission to enter.

>> so through the fence, we spoke mohammed from damascus. how was his sea journey? >> so dangerous, so crowded. the waves and it was dang dangerous. >> what do you want now? what is your dream for the future? >> to complete my studies to have respect. >> lampedusa was a sleepy place known for fishermen in some sense but now it has a fame it never desired as the island which risk everything to reach. barneby phillips. >> in the wake of the spring revolution, indonesia has become a transit country mainly from sub is a hasaharan africa.

they are mainly headed to france, germany, italy and the u.k. there are a lot of reasons for leaving war, poverty, famine andling uncertainty. now, nazarine is in tunis. >> the coast guard has clamped down on my grants leaving this part of north africa we understand 30,000 people have made the treacherous journey to europe they have no agreement with italy in terms of deporting people and there are security problems in the country. there is a porous border region of thousands of kilometers. very little security on the coastline. >> that's why my grant did a -- migrants are leaving. they can't find work back home but, also, they are fleeing war,

particularly those who are coming from somalia and aratraa. they are paying thousands of dollars to get onbosis and they can't stay in places like libya for very long. if they do, they will be arrested and detained. >> now, a little closer to home in the plight of those leaving the dominican republic and puerto rico it has risen drastically. many see the u.s. territory as a potentially easy route into the country. most risk everything when trying to cross. al jazeera's andy gallagher has more >> reporter: there is a reputation not just for beauty. >> one, two, three, four, five. >> here, it's easy to hire a boat and captain to cross the treacherous passage to the puerto rico. this man who prefers to remain anonymous has taken several b t

boatloads across these waters. >> the more they drown, the more they keep on attempting to cross on and they are not afraid. a lot of people have died. a lot have made it. we risk ourselves because of our condition. >> the dangers of making the crossing are all too real for lorenzo santiago. she only has this late picture of her husband, pedro who drouvend two years ago. his body was never recovered. now, she is struggling to feed her three children. >> johnny joe told me i am going to puerto rico to go for two or three years to buy a house for the children to give them a better future. i didn't want him to go. i told him not to go, but he told me he had to. >> these folks never made the crossing to puerto rico. they were confiscated here in the local navy yard, symbols of desperation. 20 people will pack into a boat like this spending thousands of dollars in the hope of a better

life. those who make it safely to puerto rico, their journeys have only just begun. >> at the san mateo church, the father offers news ones advice. he has helped hundreds settle in miami and new york. without money or family contacts, many will remain in limbo. >> it's like the lot re, a chance. they look for a better life, and like the lot re, you play to win but you can also lose. they play with their lives. >> despite the massive risks, people like davy delva say they have nothing to lose. >> what we left behind was a dangerous world. >> that's why i am so happy now. we are in a better world. i like that. >> that's why we struggle to get here from a place that has no joy and where we were always

scared of failure. >> these men and women risked all to come here, driven by desperation and filled with hope. while they may not know what lies ahead, they have taken the gamble it's better than what they left behind. >> andy gallagher reporting there. one year ago today, the east coast was bracing for what become a deadly super storm sandy. >> in the years since, homes and businesses have been repaired. others, though, are gone for good. as communities try to rebuild, there is a shadow group of people that have done a lion's share to clean up undocumented workers. kay limb ford has their story. >> lucio and al fredo have worked construction for years. in the days after hurricane sandy, they took to the streets to do what they do best. together with other undocumented immigrants, they formed volunteer clean-up brigades. >> thousands of day laborers who lived in the same neighborhoods that were affected were among the first responders, way before

fema, way before the red cross, they went into the neighborhoods. they brought relief to the many people that give them jobs. the homeowners have given them jobs for years. >> day laborers here world for free clearing debris and distributing food and water. the people were grateful and very happy we were work working but they didn't know who we were. we just came up and started helping without being asked to. we felt compelled to do it. >> it's not the first time undocumented immigrants have been on the front line. one quarter of the workers who helped rebuild new orleans were undocumented immigrants according to a 2006 university of california berkeley study. those researchers say the reconstruction after hurricane sandy is no different. >> in cat rekatrina, they cave the hurricane top participate in the efforts. in new york, we have to your understanding of thousands of undocumented workers who were

directed affected by the hurricane so they are helping the others who can afford the rebuilding process but they cannot every day rebuilding their own dwellings. >> without access to federal assistance, many rely on centers like this for help rebuilding themselv themselves. they offer safety equipment and training. >> we didn't know anything about safety in the beginning. we didn't even have gloves. now, we are going to osha classes to learn about safety >> to learn how to clean out mold to be prepared. >> a year later, day labors say their communities have also changed? >> people looked at us differently after the help we offered them. the americans who once looked at us suspiciously in the street, when we see them, they say hi to us. >> that's when we realized what changed after hurricane sandy. >> the ivorony is while the politicians discuss the future of the 12 million undocumented immigrants in this country, those undocumented i am graspmm

are defining the future of many neighborhoods. this is a case of new orleans. it was day labors who rebuilt that, day labor who brought back the sense of community. >> communities these immigrants say are stronger than ever. kelan ford, al jazeera, new york still ahead on al jazeera america, exporting american football overseas. how the national football league is trying to win fans in europe. >> i am gentlemen taff where the baseball world is shocked. we will have more coming up in sports.

all next week america tonight investigates the campus rape crisis. >> serial rape is the norm on college campuses. >> i know that when i did report, i was blamed. >> then this friday at nine eastern, we open up the conversation in a live town-hall event. sex crimes on campus, a special week of coverage and live town-hall on america tonight nine eastern. only on al jazeera america. >> every morning from 6 to 10am al jazeera america brings you more us and global news than any other american news channel. find out what happened and what to expect. >> start every morning, every day, 6am to 10 eastern with al jazeera america.

>> they same the name is offensive and derogatory to native americans. the owner of the redskins has strongly reds aftate calls to change the name. talks are scheduled to take plates this week. its it's week 8. one of the games was in london. >> that's where the n.f.l. is pushing hard to build excitement in europe. >> london has been ramping up the excitement for this week's game culminating saturday in a massive fan party in trafalgar square, the main streets leading up to the square were decked out. it took on all of the spectacle of a ha show.

there was cold beer, games for the kids, and cheerleaders. even some football legends were on hand to show case the sport. it's all part of the n.f.l. media blitz to increasefall's profile awe broad, part of the international series which began in 2007 with one game and has grown ever since, two games this year. three next season. it's no hail mary play. the fans seem just as passionate about the game as fans in the u.s. >> it's a hard-hitting sport, tack cast, the ches massachusetts match going on, he will gants, all sorts of skills. >> roger goodell is talking about giving london its own team. >> every time when we expanded the series to two games, we sold it out. we are expanding to three games. i hope we do the same like that. you are proving that you are worthy of a franchise. >> how a london based team might work logistically is a big

question, though. the travel is a killer. both teams arrived early in the week and were set up in the idyllic english country side where no expense was spared for practice areas and allowed for the players to adjust to the time difference and to practice in the brisk wet english weather. but even after years of n.f.l. games in london and decades of n.f.l. games on british t.v., they are still trying to educate the audience, teaching british youth that, yes, the ball is obvious belong and no, play is not restricted to just the foot. the pace is also different. soccer is generally more fluid but whone of ball's maifamous ambassadors sessions when there is better understanding, it won't matter to fans here. >> they are just reading and getting ready to run a mu ball wha play when the ball gets kicked backwards. there are times when you can compare. once they understand the rules,

they will fall in love with it. >> that love also trans lates to cash from sales of merchandise to t.v. revenue, ratings have doubled in recent years. the support is now the 6th most watched in the u.k. and ticket sales, london's 90,000 seat statium, wembley sold out in a matter of days. the head of britain's shoveled chapter of the n.f.l. says there are no reason why they can't love american football. >> i don't think that, for example, if someone, say, an arsenal fan that we are asking them to change their sport. we are saying you can be an arsenal fan and a 49ers fan and people love major sports and that's what matters. >> sports certainly matter to the crowds. people have come to town from around the u.k. and even farther away from all over europe. >> it's unlikely american football will ever over take soccer but it's clear from the

turnout here and the interest around the u.k., there is a place for the n.f.l. on this side of the atlantic. phil lintner. >> since they are used to fwaushlings not ball. >> that's true. talking about those two peoples, you know what? the san francisco 49ers look to carry their hot streak overseas. san fran has won 4 straight by an average of 20 plus points awe while jacksonville are waiting for win number 1. in jacksonville for this one, check out colin cafferty. the dude has wheels. 12 yard rushing touchdown and you know what? can't forget about this. the muscle kiss. second quarter, kapernick with his arm, finds veron davis in the corner of the end zone. 16 passing for 164 yards, 21-nothing, san fran. then in the third, frank gore

from two yards out. money. gore, 19 carries, 71 yards, two touchdowns, san fran wins big. 42-10. the patriots looking to bounce back after an over time loss to the jets. so far, not so good against miami, out to a 14-nothing lead an tan hill from five yards out. tan hill 22 of 42, 192 yards, two tds, 2 ints. miami would lead 17 but in the third watch out, pat nation, it only took five plays, a minute and 45 seconds for tom brady to zip one to aaron dobson. brady 13 of 22, 116 yards, one td. pat tree i don't think so tail 15 to 10. steven ridley finds the evened zone. the patriots score 24 unanswered points, 24-17. ball game. giants have lost eight straight on the road while the eagles have dropped 9 straight at home. something has to give. in new york, didn't give michael

vick anything. first the pick and then almost a fumble here and the pressure and knockdown there. not a good day for number 7. then late in the first quarter, b vick pressured and he to weeks a hamstring on the play. mat barkley will replace vick and after starting 0 and 6, the giants, they move on to win this one 15 to 7. >> who had ever seen anonstruction callnd a world series game? not me. perhaps the wildest finish imaginable. st. louis took a 2-1 lead after what many are calling a trip-off win. >> jess is live at busch stadium. what's the mood after last night? >> like we have seen in all of the head lines. luke at the headlines from the st. louis dispatch today. unbelieve alan. as i say, a leg up was the headline there. u.s.a. today calling it a call

of the century. as you can imagine, the creativity on twitter, one of the opinions saying trip, trip away. that was one of them talk about the rarity of a call from the world series ending on a play like this. the last time the world series ended with gawith an error date back to 1986. roncally again, it was the red sox. they lost to the mets on that famous bill buckner play that went through his legs at 1st base. that obstruction call is a call that's not necessarily rare during game because you see this all the time where in the anyst of ball that's in play, batters, you will see the base runners and fielders get tangled up but to have the game end on that, ov overthrew the ball until third base and a game called on the obstruction call is unheard of. again, ironically, the umpire that made that call and he made it immediately was jim joyce. he was the same umpire just two years ago when we had armand

armando galleraga. it was jim choices who had the blown call. last night, jim joyce got it right. >> the base runner has every right to go unobstructed to home plate and unfortunately for middle brooks, he was right there, and there was contact. so he could not advances to home plate naturally. >> touch tough way to have a game end, particularly of this significance when, you know, will was trying to dive inside to stop the throw. i don't know how he gets out of the way when he is lying on the ground. when craig trips over him, i guess by the letter of the rule, you could say it's obstruction but i don't know. like i said, that's a tough pill to swallow. >> intentional or not. he just has to clear the path. i know sometimes it's unfair because he is laying on the ground but that's the way the rule is. >> you know, one thing that got kind of lost in the shuffle of all of the drama at the end was

allen craig. of course, he was injured, wasn't in the starting line up for yesterday's game but he got called in to pinch hit in the bottom of the 9th, made the big play. he will be available tonight. just not starting at first. back to you. >> jessica live in st. louis. thank you for the update, especially on craig. there you go. game 4 of the world series tonight. see what happens. >> hopefully not what happened last night. >> can't beat last night. >> that was incredible. thanks. morning stitch archeologists are coming to construction sites and finding a trove of realics from the city's past. cas turner takes a look at the treasures being found. >> a part of everyday life in manhattan, under these several blocks, south sea seaport the past and present have collided. maintenance has been interrupted to make way for more delicate work. >> working towards the east river, we knew there was

certainly a possibility of finding some artifacts. >> that's why we hired a team to work with us. a top team of carbologist has been called in to help preservea long gone. they have been wiping dirt off of thousands of realics. some dating back 250 years. >> we are getting a good sense of how new york city was developed, hoy the city was bui built, how people were living in the 18th, 19th sent re, how some people stay the same and how things have changed throughout time. >> each speis cable cleaned, packaged and linoleate using books, photographs and other historical references, alyssa have been able to to identify most of their findings and establish how they remember used long before modern conveniences. >> the things women do? >> and not swimming with men. >> among the more intriguing items, a tooth brush and a

syringe made much bones. in its early days, new york city was senterred around the ports and docked and grated to area items. alyssa and her team have been sharing their sdofshingz with younger generations. >> we can make history more alive with the objects people were using in day-to-day life as opposed to facts and figures and names of famous people in a tect book they are hoping the collection will be made into a historical exhibit. >> this parts of manhattan hans been a mix of the old and the new because historic buildings alongside 13ing new horizes but people have been moving back to the neighborhoods, a reminder how-used to be a few feet blow. in new york.

[[voiceover]] every day, events swee

we are bracing for a storm that's going to bring 50 mile per hour wind gusts, six inches of snowfall and a lot colder temperatures. it's 30 degrees colder.

>> that's in the west. right now, we are tracking a storm that has been tracking through texas some areas have gotten three inches of rainfall total from last night into this morning in texas. and even today since midnight, dallas an inch and a quarter of rain while that storm now is starting to fall apart a little bit. still showers lingering around louisiana and alabama but for the most part, we are going to see those showers diminish in intensity. where we are not going to see begin issue in intensity is winds and the west and 30 miles an hour in san francisco. this will build up in the way of wins with a high wind warnings for the sierra nevada's, it's coming out of canada dropping into montana where we will get the valley snow, anywhere flu four to eight inches expected. temperatures tomorrow are going to be -- lucky to hit low 40s for spa cain because that is going to come down

>> this is al jazeera america live from new york city. here are today's top stories. colombia farc gur re gurerillas. john kerry released add statement saying he was grateful for help from the columbian government as well as norway and cuba. the syrian government filed details on its poison gas and nerve agent program at an initial plan on how to destroy them. the declaration was in line with an international agreement led by the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons. the group hopes to eliminate all of syria's chemical weapons by mid