>> good evening, everyone. welcome to al jazeera america. i am john seeingenthaler in new york. >> i want to apologize to you that the website has not worked as well as it should. >> public apology. the trouble with the healthcare website and the promise to fix it. going too far. members of congress send a message to the nsa. what about the spying on allies? plus... wall street record. stocks to all all time high. invasion of the locust.

>> we begin with pay policy jeez and anger over the affordable care act. the first time since the problematic rollout four weeks ago, the obama administration is apologizing but that did little to ease the outrage on capitol hill. mike viqueira is standing by >> reporter: it's gone from a proud moment to an embarrassing episode for president obama and his administration. now, a top official concedes it's about more than just glitches. >> at first, they blamed unexpected volume, calling it a sign of public enthusiasm. now, four weeks into launch, the official in charge of the website offered this: >> to the millions of americans who have attempted to use healthcare.gov to shop and enroll in healthcare coverage, i want to apologize to you that the website has not worked as well as it should. >> that isn't good enough for republicans who say the faults run much deeper. >> the problem with obama care isn't just the website.

it's the whole law. i have heard from hundreds of my constituents who are seeing their premiums rise. they are seeing their policies being cancelled. many again are lose can their plans. >> after their failed strategy to kill the law by shutting down the government, split the party in two. iranians are unified in sfaking problems on the website. >> i don't think anybody would deny this fact, these past 29 days have been nothing shorts of a disaster. >> when pressed, marilyn taffner refused to say how many people had actually been able to get insurance through the website. >> are you getting those numbers? >> am i getting those numbers? not yet. >> you have no numbers on who is enrolled? so you have no idea? >> well have those numbers available in november. >> if you don't have insurance by march 31st you face a fine. if the problems persist, more

democrats are joining the republican call to delay that deadline. tavener vowed to fix what's wrong. ? >> i want to insure you that healthcare.gov can and will be fixed. we are working around the clock to deliver the shopping experience that you deserve. we are seeing improvements each week, and as we said publically by the end of november, the experience on the site will be smooth for the vast majority of users. >> as contentious, it's a warm-up when her boss, health and human services, cabinet secretary kathleen sebelius will testify to another house panel dominated by republicans. >> mike viqueira, thank you. several reports say as many as two million americans won't be able to renew their current plan next year. >> that's not what the president has been saying. as david shuster reports, these reports are becoming a practical and political headache for the white house. >> president obama has repeated

said that anybody who likes the their existing healthcare coverage can keep it. but the reality is that insurance companies are required to make adjustments to comply with the new healthcare law. and that means hundreds of thousands of consumers in state after staff are being forced to cancel plans unless they had them prior to march, 2010, when the new law was passed. starting next year under the affordable care act, insurance companies must immediateh meet certain basic standards called e searchcial health benefits. there are 10 that must be covered, including doctors' visits, emergency care, hospitalization, maternity care, mental health treatment and prescriptions plans and more. any plan that does not include all of these can no longer be offered. insurance companies are sending cancellation letters to people whose coverage lacks some of the benefits. people most affected by this are people who buy insurance themselves, just freelancers and independent contractors. in all, nearly 14 markos moulitsas americans currently buy insurance this way. nearly everybody else who gets insurance through their employer or medicare already has a plan

that meets the new standards. the great irony in all of this is that according to the kaiser foundati foundation, which has been studying this for years, about half of the people who get these cancellation notices will ultimately pay less mainly because of the tax benefits and cheaper plans available through the new exchanges. the other half will have to pay more for insurance than they are paying now. for example, one woman in california is currently paying $98 a movement the cheapest plan she could find under the new law is $238 a month. she and other people do not understand why they should be forced to pay for things in their plan that they don't want or think that they will not need. the white house insists it has always been clear that some americans were going to have to pay more on the front end in order to bring totals healthcare costs down for everybody over the long-term. >> david shuster reporting. on another part of capitol hill, the nation's top spy officials were offering no apologies.

the head of the national security act see says he would rather take a beating for what the cut tree is doing now than face a terrorist attack. he says many published reports about spying are wrong. randall pinkston on today's nsa actwitchties, he joins us from washington, d.c. randall? >> reporter: john, two intelligence officials gave vigorous denials blaming part of the problem on a misinterpretation of leaked secret documents. they also gave a rare insight on details of america's intelligence techniques. >> confident and almost defiant, the top spy chiefs made no apologies. vigorously defending the job their agencies do to keep america and her allies safe. >> there has not been a mass casualty here in the u.s. since

2001. >> that's not by luck. they didn't stop hating us. they didn't say that they were going to just forgive this. they continue to try. >> the work of the national security agency is under fire because of revelations by former nsa analyst, edwin snowden. s scongressman james sense en brenner is expected to propose a new law, the freedom act, which would stop dragnet collection of phone calls of american citizens, place stronger restrictions on who is targeted and .a special advocate to the super secret fisa courts to protect privacy rights but director of national intelligence james clapper and general keith alexander told the schmidt the content of phone calls remain secret in a virtual lockbox unless there is a link to possible terrorism and that,

they say, is rare. >> there wiat would only be loo when we had reasonable and articulable suspicious that we had connection to a foreign al-qaeda or related terrorist group and look into that box. in 2012, we had 88 such selectors that we could go and look into that. >> that's it. of the billions of records, only 28 yeah. >> at the committee hearing, there was relatively little discussion about allegations the u.s. had spied on america's allies but at the whitehouse, it was still a hot topic. press secretary jay carney says president obama assured german chancellor angela merkel there is not and will not be any spying on her. but this was the reaction when carney was asked about leaders of france and japan. >> i just don't have anything more specific about specific alleged operations or conversations the president may or may not have had with foreign leaders. >> the chair of the senate en

't 'tilgention committee, senator dianne feinstein says she does not think america should be spying on the leaders of al libraried nations. meanwhile, the white house is saying that it is reviewing intelligence gathering techniques. john. >> randall, thank you. joining us to talk about this is heather hurl better, . senior advisor and speech writer for president clinton. welcome back, heather? >> thank you for having me, john. >> you know, it strikes me that the problem is that it may be the problem is that the administration really didn't tell the american people what was going on until now. but when they were forced to. do you see it that way? >> one of the more interesting back and forth in congress today was an argument among committee members about whether the president had told members of the intelligence committee what was going on. so, it seems clear that either some things weren't shared or some things were shared in a way that maybe it was easy not to pick up on

what was actually going on, which for that matter seems to have been the case with the president, himself. >> it almost seems like the american people need a scorecard to try to figure this out. they hear one thing in published reports. then the response from the administration, then something else from the allies. how can american people figure out exactly what's been going on, or can they? >> the plates to start is to remember that after -- shortly after 9-11, we passed a bunch of laws and the american people gave a pretty clear message to congress, which was: keep us sa safe, and we are happy if you do whatever it takes to keep us safe. and so the root did of many of the disclosures that we have had in recent months are in the patriot act and some of the other legal changes that either took place or things that were sort of adopted and shroud to stand after 9-11. so the way that americans are ever going to understand all of this is making sure that their elected representatives understand that keeping us safe

and knowing what's being done in our name are part and parcel of the same thing as long as members of congress think that they will lose e elections if they raise questions about intelligence programs. they won't raise the hard questions. >> there have been a lot of talk about the damage that's been done to intelligence gathering. do you agree that these published reports have really damaged u.s. intelligence? >> well, what they have really damaged is relations with our allies, and at some level, there is a certain amount of hypocracy in that because what i do, or the administration folks are absolutely right about is everyone spies on everyone else with every tool they have available to them. but there there has always been a certain level of trust and of denyability, that embarrassing fact wasn't going to come out in public. number one, it came out in public, and, number 2, the u.s. has tools and ability to do this that maybe not all of our allies do with the met a data. it's going to be politically much more difficult for our

european allies to trust, to share intelligence with us and to share politically with us in the same way. so, that's different from saying, oh, you compromised operation x or you compromised the hunt for terrorist y, but in an age where we need to do intelligence, we need to do counter terrorism operations, we also have a big trade deal we want to complete by the way. we need a policy that takes all of that into account. >> what's the difference between spying on versions spying on american citizenship? >> william, our constitution has a set of rules in our legal practice over the centuries. it has a set of rules of how americans can treat americans. so on the one hand, when you are picking up a phone record, a bit is a bit is a bit. there is no -- there is no difference. if you are picking up the nodes, there is no technological difference anymore. we have a legal system that says there is a difference. we as americans have to decide

how we want to thank about that set of laws in a world where my cell phone can't tell where your is coming from and my skype doesn't care whether i am setting in washington or abudabi. >> the u.s. congress is considering legislation that might cut back on the so-called spying of american citizenship. and what does that accomplish? >> well, one of the things that was interesting about today's testimony was that clapper and alexander couldn't give you any specific ways that any of the proposals for oversight would actually hurt, would actually hurt the u.s. so it's -- one thing i think it does is whatever reform is passed, at least then that reform will have been the rule and it will have been publically discussed. the for march reaching of the proposals would end this practice of collecting meta data about fanlights and that would mean this database of hundreds of millions of phone numbers and

dates and times and places of calls wouldn't be so instantly available, you know. it's like google of phone calls for the intelligence community and it wouldn't be quiet so easily available. >> the rules have been broken. correct? >> yes. they have gone on google data basis to look up ex-girlfriends, you know, that is something we all to be scandalized being done with our tax dollars. there is both the question of what are the rules and this information is so easily available and, frankly, the private sector already has it. let's not kid ourselves that, you know, google or apple or whoever else doesn't know what we are doing. what kind of oversight will actually prevent it from being sort of an open secret that, hey, if you go over here into this file, you can spy on your ex-girlfriend. >> so let me get you just one last question to put on your political speech writer hat

formerly and talk a little bit about the two things that the obama administration is dealing with: spying and, also, healthcare. how damaging are both of these issues for the white house? >> you know, it is -- it is actual ugly, ugly, ugly right now and they have the opportunity to dig themselves out of it and have this be something that is largely forgotten by the beginning of the next year, or i do think there is the possibility that one or both of these permanently mark them. and you know, the challenge i see is both that it's very hard for government to keep up with technology. it's very hard for government to figure out how to use it effectively. and frankly, we don't know how to talk to americans about it. i never had to write a speech about a website. i wouldn't -- i wouldn't know hoy to start. the breadth of understanding/not underth is so huge. we don't know how to talk to americans about this thing that has grown up and seeped into every part of our lives over the

last decade. >> i have a feeling that the president's going to be making more speeches about the website in the future. >> that's just a guess. heather, thanks very much. great to see you? >> good to be here. on wall street, both the dow and s and p finished the day in record territory. the dow gained 1 less than points. traders were reacting to disappointing consumer numbers that signaled the federal reserve would have to continued with the economic stimulus program. connell if i had he knew plucngd to the lowest level in six months because of the debate in washington over raising the nation's debt ceiling and the government shutdown. and, auto sales tumbled in september suggesting sluggish growth ahead for the third quarter. wall street traders waiting to see if the fed decides to continue the bond-buying stimulus policy, a decision expected on wednesday, the central bank is spending

$85,000,000,000 a month on buying bonds to keep borrowing costs down. good evening. i am meteorologist kevin korreveau, it is nasty, a beginnings of rain, snow as well as freezing rain right now. first of all, down here towards the southwest. we are looking at the area of low pressure that we were talking about last night, still in the same spot, pumping up moisture up here towards the northeast. so we are going to be looking at this and seeing a lot of watches and advisories for winds, snow, as well as freezing rather than. temperatures are coming down, billings is down to about 29 degrees. that is going to go even lower as we go toward the overnight hours and salt lake right now, you are at 48. we are looking at flooding as well here across parts of missouri. that is purning through. we are going to get some more rain across this region. up here towards the north, it is the freezing rain that is going to be a major problem through north and south dac owkotdakota

back to you. >> beaten but not broken. survivors of super storm sandy are moving on exactly 12 months later. these are the images millions may never forget. sandy was the largest storm ever to build in the atlantic and the storm is blamed for about $65,000,000,000 in damages. one year later, many storm victims are complaining about the slow federal relief process and many others are still fighting over insurance claims. union beach was one of the hardest-hit areas off of the jersey shore and many residents in the small community found their businesses completely washed away. one of those business owners is gg laguna dor who lost her entire restaurant last year. gigi, thanks for being with us. >> thank you for having us. >> one year later, where are you now? >> we are in a small endless

cycle of trying to figure out how to get back to business. we are -- we have been in one year of delay, denial and unpaid insurance claims. and we are fighting hard just to try to get back to our normal. >> you are in the middle of your restaurant. from all appearances, it would look like you are back to business. you are back to normal. and, you know, it's great to hear customers enjoying themselves there. but tell me what -- how tough it's been for you in the past year. >> in the past year, it's been very difficult. we were able to open up this temporary location on april 8th. and it has been, you know, it's been high and low it's been very difficult trying to keep business afloat. tonight, extra wonderful because we had a celebration up on the

beachfront and we had all of the children in the community involved with the candlelighting service. so tonight, we have a little more activity. >> you say you have played by the rules, paid for your insurance, but then when it came down to it, you didn't get the money you expected. right? >> exactly right. we -- we do play by the rules. and everybody who has been affected by this storm has played by the rules. our one carrier for lloyd's of london is $1.2 million. $850,000 for a building, $300,000 is for our business interruption. there was another policy there to relocation. so it's over $1.2 million worth of a policy, and they offered us 9,657.14. our deductible is 10,000. so can't do much with that. >> i understand that governor christie, you got a chance to talk to governor christie today. tell me what he told you.

>> well, he was in town. we have -- i have been part of gateway church of christ. they have done a lot of grassroots fixing up in the town. so we -- he went to a house that they had done over. and when i saw him, he said, how are you doing? and i said, i am not doing too good. and he said, how can i help? i said, do you want to go to london? he kind of chuckled and looked at me and i said lloyd's of lopdon. can we go over there and get some movement with this insurance? so he just, you know gracefully said -- he gave me a card and said he would contact me tomorrow and we will try to have a three-way call with the commissioner of banking insurance and himself. he is going to actually call but we would try to figure out to get some kind of -- some kind of movement going with this insurance policy. >> quickly, how imports has the governor been to this clean-up. >> you know what? he has been great. you know, he has been hands-on. he's got that jersey strong

attitude. it's -- he is good, you know, he is trying. but i -- you know, i honestly feel that a lot of things that have been -- he has been getting handcuffed from above. everything comes from the top, down, and he can only do so. >> what's the name of your restaurant? >> jacobob's cafe. i have two boys, bobby and jake. >> we wish you luck as you continue to serve those people and feed the people of your area. thafrmingdz for joining us tonight and good luck. >> thank you. thank you very much. have a good night. >> israel just released 26 more palestinian prisoners, a decision that did not sit well with the israel prime minister plus. >> all i have to do is claim stand your ground and that i believe i was threatened and the victim is dead. >> a mother who is son was shot to death tells me why the stand your ground laws need to be

swaininged. >>grounded. >>real. >>unconventional. >>an escape from the expected.

[[voiceover]] every day, events sweep across our country. and with them, a storm of views. how can you fully understand the impact unless you've heard angles you hadn't considered? antonio mora brings you smart conversation that challenges the status quo with unexpected opinions and a fresh outlook. including yours.

>> israel has released 26 prisoners. it calls for more than 100 detain easy who have been behind bars. the first 26 were released in august. the israel supreme court cleared their their release in a move meant to release the peace talks. this group is part of the 104 which are part of the oslo accord prisoners. there is still around 5,000 prisoners around bars. anyone will tell you people have been in and out of prison quite a lot. every day there will will be an israel incursion to the occupied west bank. people will be arrested. today, there were around two 3 people arrested. so people are being released.

people are being brought back in. so they are part of a revolving door. i think president abbas saying there will be no agreement without all palestinian prisoners being released is something that is rather optimistic. we already see the conflict is with israel politics, very hard words from the economy and trade ministers saying this is absolutely against what he wants but now saying that this is essential for peace. he said it was one of the most difficult decisions of his term as prime minister. it's something that needed to be done. >> hike is here with the sports headlin headlines. we have a day to contemplate. >> what could happen if it goes that far because the world series back to fenway park in

boston. the red sox will have a chance to close out the cardinals tomorrow night and claim the third-world series in a year. bot posted a 3-1 win in st. louis, given the red sox the 3-2 series advantage. boston looking to secure the first championship at home toto since 1918. 21 years after it was stolen, proce football is reunited with his super bowl ring stolen from a san diego bar in 1992. last month, he received a phone call demanding 40 ,$000 for the ring, which was then put up for auction, scheduled for next month. and in soccer, david beckham has chosen miami to be the site of his soccer franchise, the option of becoming a team owner was included in his mls contract when he joined the the galaxy. he will pay a discounted rate of $25 million to started his expansion team. charles barkley tells us about the favorite for the nba a little bit later as al jazeera

continues.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i am john seigenthaler in new york. here are the top stories. one year since the east coast was slammed by super storm sandy. he elected officials say more work is needed to rebuilding new jersey's governor and new york city's mayor toured the storm-struck regions today. the head of medicare apologizing for the rocky rollout. marilyn tavener said things are improving. her boss, health and human services kathleen sebelius will testify tomorrow. some have called for her to resign or be fired because of the problems. the head of the nsa is making no apologies for spying on allied leaders. general keith alexander told the house committee, house intelligence committee what the security agency does is legal and helps defend the nation. alexander said he would rather take a public beating than stop a program that presents a terrorist attack. it has been five months

since the world first came to know edwards snowden and a lot has changed since then, especially for the people who helped leak the information. jonathan betz has a look at that story. >> it's a global story that began in the summer with edward snowden. he is now in asylum in russia but the scandal keeps unfolding because he reported handed over almost all of his secrets to two journalists, greenwald who is based in brazil. he keeps breaking stories printed in papers all over the world, usually until countries where they will make the biggest splash. greenwald works as a columnist for the guardian. on thursday, he is leaving that british paper to help start a new journalistic venture funded by the founder of ebay. that site will likely continue revealing nsa stories. his reporting partner will join him there. she was actually the first to connecticut with snowden but works mainly behind the scenes. she is a film maker putting together a documentary about all of this and then there is julian

assange. he had a minor role. nudge went to wikileaks but he did help him avoid u.s. authorities. he remained holed up in london. he like snowden has not been as vocal. snowden has taken a backseat. he shared everything he knows and is waiting for the fallout. >> jonathan betz reporting. now, to the much debated stand your ground law in the headlines again but what does the law say and how is it different from self defense? the original stand your ground law was en acted by florida lawmakers in 2005. by more than 20 other states since this then. a version of self defense but with a twist. with self defense, you must e escape if you have a safe opportunity to do so. with stand your ground, you can stay and defend yourself. it also expands the castle

doctorine number you are allowed to go. we asked our legal contributor, jamie floyd for more insight into that law. >> stand your ground in florida is a motion you bring before you really get to trial. you say to the judge, look, judge. i don't even need to get to trial. i was standing my ground. this was a justifiable homicide. i was justified in killing this person because it was kill or be killed. and if the judge agrees with you, there is no trial. >> two mothers in florida have experienced stand your ground laws on a very personal level. sabrina fulton, the mother of trayvon martin and sab breathe a bath have lost their children to gun violence. shooters in each case believed they were justified. now, ms. fulton and ms. mcbath are appealing to congress seeking changes to stands your ground laws. natasha has nor >> reporter: two mothers used grief to make i am passed pleas

and similar statutes across the country. the law allows a person to use deadly force if he believes his life is in danger. >> because an angry man who owned a gun kept it close at hand and chose to demonstrate unbridled hatred, one baumy evening for reasons i will never understand. these laws empowered his prejudice believes and subsequent rage over my son's on life, his liberty and pursuit of happiness. the imagine charged with killing jordan davis is citing the law in his defendants. davis died nine months after unarmed teen trayvon martin was shot and killed. on the states stand your ground law the person that shot and killed my son the person

subpoena walking the streets today. this law does not work. we need to seriously take a look at this law. >> that's what the senate judiciary committee did. it heard from both sides. >> these laws aren't a license to be a vigilante or behave recklessly. they protect law-abiding citizens leaving a place. >> john lott railed against the notion that a racial disparity has emerged since florida had the law and others facted. >> blacks make about 16% of the population but account for 31 of the defendants invoking stand your ground laws. black defendants justify their actions -- to justify their actions are acquitted almost 8 percentage points more often than whites. >> the association of prosecuting attorneys is recommending changes to the law because it says they negatively impact public safety and stymy prosecutors.

>> mcbath hopes the changes come before another family loses a child. >> now, i face the very real possibility that my son's killer will walk free, hiding behind a statute that let's people claim a threat where there was none. i spoke to lucille mcbath and i asked her about the message that she was trying to send to congress. mrs. mcbath welcome. >> thanthank you very much for having me. >> what did you want to tell congress today? what was important about your son's case that you want congress to know. >> i want congress to know that the gun culture in this country and the direction we are going

with the rampant gun vi violencs a means of self destruct for our country. and our citizens are not going to stand by and continue to let it happen. >> do you think there is going to be something that happens in congress that will make a difference? >> i believe over time. i know it will not happen overnight. this will be a long drawn out progress and any time you have a change in culture. and when we are trying to change culture in our nation, it's long, drawn out progress it won't happen overnight. >> we are ready. i'm working with advocacy groups and we are prepared for the long haul. >> what do you think happened that night. night? >> i think michael dunn was in a very deep dark place and very agitated by something. and of course we don't know what that something is.

and i think that the gun that he had empowered him to use his anger in a way that was just so detrimental to my son and the boys that were involved. >> in your son's case, a young black man is shot to death by a white man. is this about race or stand your ground? >> well definitely race plays an element in it. but it is more about stand your ground because the stand your ground laws affect adversely everyone in this country. the gun culture and the gun violence has gone beyond any boundary of race, ethnicity, religious upbringing, socioeconomic standing it's gone beyond any of those boundaries. >> double this law is being used for people who kill someone else and then hide behind stand your

ground? >> absolutely. i believe this law empowers people to do that. for whatever reasons they believe they need to protect themselves and whom they believe they need to protect themselves from. i believe this law empowers them to do is that. they believe i have a right and all i have to do is stand your ground and claim i was threatened and the victim is dead. the victim cannot speak for his or herself. the victim cannot give duce. this child was h so special in o many ways and very difficult for you to have him. >> he was a high pregnancy risk for me and i lost a couple of children beforehand. with jordan it was a 50/50 chance if i would be able to carry him to full term. i sat in a bed i in a wheelchair

for nine months. >> the anniversary of your son's death is a matter of days away, how will you on that day? >> there are two memorial services for jordan. one smaller service in georgia where he was raised in georgia. we'll have a small ceremony for him at the cemetery where he is buried. and then the next day on the 23, which is actually the day that jordon was murdered in jacksonville, florida this is a candle light vigil for him there. >> mrs. mcbath we are so sorry for your loss. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> for the first time members of the congress have heard testimony of the victims of a drone attack. today her relatives shared their loss with the u.s. lawmakers. kimberly has more on their testimony from capitol hill.

>> they traveled from 11,000 kilometres from pakistan to the u.s. congress in washington, d.c., their goal to tell mention mention -- americans what happens when a u.s. drone targets a family. >> it was 2 years ago whe when e was hit by a drone. >> i could see and hear the drone hoovering overhead. i didn't worry. when the drone fired the first time the whole ground shook and the black smoke rose up. shrapnel hit his sister minutes later. she said it was hard to stop the pleading. shwhen she ran she heard her grandmother screaming. the loss of his mother has devastated his family. >> nobody has ever tol told me y

my mother was targeted. we had to bor borrow money and l land to pay for the medical treatment. treatment. there has been no compensation to pay for the bills. the pakistani government has confirmed pi my bills but says s not responsible. the cia has never publicly acknowledged it's se secret droe program. that is something that the democratic members of congress want changed. >> we need greater transparency and disclose you disclosure of f targeted killings. the congressmen who sponsored the previousing says there are real morale questions whether someone such as a president should have a power to decide who is targeted by u.s. drones. >> i'm personally uncomfortable with the idea that the president makes these decision

unilaterally. >> as the 5 535 members just 5 members have showed up up for the briefing. this 13 th is the first time the testified. they hope it will lead to a hearing. the first step in a process that could lead to change in u.s. drone policy. >> he is optimistic. >> with the grace of god i hope that it does. if they have good intentions i put trust in them that the drones will come to an end. >> as a school teacher and a father he says he has just one wish. he wants to see pakistani children grow up with the same sense of security and safety without drones that he sees americans taking for granted. >> and in about 15 mention americ15 -- 15 minutes"america p

on al jazeera. joie is standing by to tell us what is going on in the program. >> we are going to continue our week long focus on sex crimes on campus. we are going to tr crash a party and get a handle on the culture. the binge drinking is not just a routine part of college life. many experts see it as a troubling epidemic on campuses one that leaves women vulnerable. it's far more ex-fo extreme than remember from campus life. we'll talk about the risks ahead oahead. >> thanks very much. they are coming in swarms. billions of locusts bearing down on ma madagascar leaving millios without food.

game six of the word series less than 24 hours away. the red sox have a chance to clinch at home. town-hall on america tonight nine eastern. only on al jazeera america. determining using some sort of subjective interpretation of their policy as to whether or not your particular report was actually abusive, because if it doesn't contain language that specifically threatens you directly or is targeted towards you specifically, they may not consider it abuse. they may consider it offensive.

and in that case they just recommend that you block that person. >> i don't want to minimise this, because i mean, there's some really horrible things that are on line, and it's not - it's not just twitter, what has happened through social media and the anonymity of the net is that you see websites, hate-filled websites targetting all sorts of groups, popping up. there has been a huge number of those that exist as well. (vo) friday night ... >> does the nsa collect any type of data on millions of americans? >> no sir. (vo) fault lines investigates what it's like to live under the watchful eye of the nsa. >> they know everything that you do, everything that you think, everything that you fear. they know how to manipulate and control you. the state has all the power. >> we have done more to destroy

our way of life than the terrorists could ever have done. >> a swarm of locusts billions of bugs are destroying crops and leaving millions without foo ond on the southeast coast of africa. >> these farmers were helplessly lesslywith alesslywhen a swarm d on their rice patties. their animals are also suffering. the locust ate the food for the bulletbulls and they too weak tw so everything has to be done by

hand. >> the locust came from the south blown by the wind. they flew silently in a huge swarm. we were surprised. they passed like a huge cloud and they blocked out the sun. >> at the height of the infestation the swarm affected 70%. this years' harvest is down 21%. a third of the rural households are hungry. with 10 million more at risk. the first swarms appeared in 2009 but a political crisis that gripped the country sun since ap left officals helpless too. >> all of the conditions were right and the same time the political and social and economical crisis hit. >> the locals grew out of

control. >> an eradication program starts in november. 2 million hectares of land will be sprayed by pesticide. mamadagascar has to raise a quarter of the $40 million needed to start the plan. >> this is the best time to start the program because the insects are on the ground reproducing and laying eggs. >> the reduced harvest means staple food are more expensive. wfp feeds a quarter million children a day. it could be their only decent meal. a brief reprieve from a life that is harder from things out of their control. >> michael is back with sports. so the st. louis cardinals are

walking into a tough home crowd in boston tomorrow. >> a challenging task ahead of them. but a little history is on their side. prior to the world series title win in 2004. the re red sox were under aked without theiaked--were haunted r inability to win a title. they will have the chance tomorrow night as they host the st. louis car cardinals for gam. they've a 3-2 series advantage. we have changes in the line-up ahead. john henry smith reports from boston. >> no one under the age of 95 have seen the scene that could unfold at fenway park. in game six the red sox have a chance to clinch a world series title at fenway park for the first time since 1918. in a game that featured a yankees babe ruth.

certainly the red sox have advantages. they are playing at home. they were the best of the american league and they are getting a reinforcement back inn the line-up. mike napoli. >> that is down to the wall. one run scores. here comes pedroia. here comes ortiz. 3-0 boston the first. the cardinals are 3-and-0 and wacca pitches after a loss. he has been a stopper for the cardinals and we hope he can reproduce that effort again on wednesday night in game six of the world series. >> with baseball taking a day off the nba gets a chance of the

national sports spotlight. lebron james and the miami heat are looking to be the first team to win three straight titles sings th since the laker. the return of chicago bull star point guard derick rose who missed all of last season with a knee injury. >> he cannot only jump higher he is shooting with both hands now and he is healthy. i think he will be even better than he was before, which is saying a lot. he was a fantastic player before. the problem is the miami heat are still great and the indiana pacers are great and the one thing i remember some two years ago the eastern conference finals is lebron james with a 66'8" frame guarding derick ros. when it comes down to playoff time.

as great as derick rose could be they will counci counsel countso guys. >> let's talk about the competition in the eastern conference. it's stacked with rose and lebron. can they win their third straight nba championship. >> when the 20 is thi 2014 nba s arrive. the miami heat can do that. they cab ge can get in rare com. it's the pacers year. the reason being, the pacers were one win away from knocking out the heat last year. now danny granger is out with a calf injury and he will be back in three weeks. and precautionary reasons they will be better. because of him i like the indiana pacers making it to the final. >> doc rivers is bringing his

pedigree to the clippers the clippers may be the up and coming warriors. >> i covered doc rivers in boston when he got gar garnett d allen to go with paul pierce. he did a masterful job. he could get the clippers to the finals and get their first championship. he is challenging chris paul to play better. he says he has not done anything yet. he is getting jordon to defend. and he is trying to get blake griffin to face the baskets more. i think you will see a better clipper's team. and they will shoot a lot of 3's. this team is good and deep and has an elect i electrifying plan stephane curry. they could be a team that could hurt feelings come playoff time. >> as for the other playoff team. when can we expect kobe to be

back on the court and what are our expectations for the lakers. >> people have to stop worrying about when he is going to play. start worrying about when he is going to practice he has no the practiced yet. i talk to the coach yesterday and he said kobe will need several weeks of practice before he is able to play. buckonce he is able to run somes and jumpers i think that is when they will have idea when he will return. >> the nba is going to b talking about the nba at least until june.

on august 20th, al jazeera america introduced

>> hello again, for the northeast many people are going to see deteriorating weather over the next couple of days receipright now we have seen rar new hampshire and very moment.

vermont. that rain has ended:but unfortunately it ther there is a storm system here in the mid west. everyone is wondering what is going to be happening across boston. the rain is going to end we think by 8:00 it's going to be good for the roast o rest of th. if it goes to game seven you will need to bring your umbrella. >> it's going to be rainy on thursday and even on friday. bostoboston is going to be seeig rain during the day and it's going to end at 8:00 and the rain will be worse on thursday and friday and it will be a beautiful weekend with temperatures in the low 60's. we are looking at the storm system across the central plains. this is the one that is making it's way out here to the great lakes. and it's bringing rain across missouri. it's bringing with it flooding

conditions and that is affecting arkansas as well. we do have one system as well and that is coming out of texas. and out here towards th toward . that low pressure system that is spinning it's been here for a couple of days now. now that is leading to the know smack. we are seeing in colorado another six to eight inches of snow in the next 24 hours. what is happening with the atmosphere? a big trough here in the west you can see the temperatures coming down and that is giving us nice temperatures. memphis at 79° and atlanta at 76°. as that shifts over we'll see cooler weather across the central plains. >> that is a look at your weather. the headlines are coming up right now.

♪ >> welcome to al jazeera america i'm john siegenthaler in new york. here are the top stories. the director of the cia says what the security agency is doing is legal be a he makes no apologies for it. many of the spy reports are false and the spy chief says he would rather take the public beatings than give up a program that could prevent terrorist attack. >> the u.n. has confirmed a polio outbreak in syria. they are concerned that the disease could spread to a half million children who have never been immunized because of the civil war. at least ten cases have been