>> welcome to aljazeera america. i'm del walters, and these are the stories we're following for you. the senate is said to take up a bill that would outlaw discrimination against gays in the workplace. and talks over iran's nuclear program. iran indicating that a deal might not be far from reality. and the markets are alla twitter as the social media giant launches it's initial public offering. the senate is said to take an historic vote today. lawmakers are poised to approve

a bill that would ban employers from discriminating against gay, by sexual and transgendered americans. according to the american civil liberties union, in 29 states, it's illegal to fire or not hire someone based on their sexual oshtation. in 43 states, transgender people can be denied employment. mike joins us from washington, and mike, how likely is it that this bill is going to pass this time? >> it's increasingly likely, but as days go by, approaching the vote, in the senate floor, 45 minutes, a 60 vote threshold that the senate has to meet in order for the legislation to make it more than likely that it will clear that hurdle. and then later this afternoon, the final passage, the senate

majority required. if it gets 60, 50, it's likely to pass, and it would be an historic vote. the speaker said he was against it, and it would cause too much litigation for small businesses. it's already illegal in this country, banning discrimination on the basis of sex or orientation. but the indication of the changing public acceptance of the lgbt community over the last years, accelerating recently around concerns of that community, gay marriage being foremost among them, more acceptance, and that's translated to more political action here in washington. look at some of the republican senators expected to join every

single one of the 55 democratic senators in in favor of this. john mccain, rob portman, conservative names, kelly and great news for the lgbt community. anand politics on capitol hill. >> and speaker boehner has indicated that he believes that current federal law already protects these groups. is that true? >> as a matter of fact, as you outlined in the open there, as you reported, it specifically does not, sex, gender, ethnicity, yes, and race, and federal law of course does. the republican party has a problem, and it's the same story

that it's a schism, and many republicans in the establishment want to get away from social issues. they think that it's hurting them. and or tuesday night, with the social conservatives, coming close and still losing, there's more evidence of that, causing consternation among republicans. >> mike in washington. thank you very much. secretary of state, john kerry, said that he's confident that a syrian peace conference is going to be announced in the next couple of days. he's now in jordan meeting with king abdulla, and he said that some clarity has been established. this despite public statements of frustration from benjamin netanyahu earlier in the week. back at the negotiating table in switzerland, finding a

way to end the long stand off over iran's nuclear program. phil is where the leaders have been meeting, and phil, we're already seeing developments there. >> yeah, that's right, del, everybody is keeping it close to their chest. but something is happening here. the foreign minister, the iranian foreign minister, the head of the delegation, has canceled the short jaunt that he was supposed to take today over to rome for talks, and he was staying here because they're holding a series of bilateral meetings with the europeans, the chinese, and the americans. the foreign minister sitting down with the secretary of state, and it does appear that some developments are happening in geneva. >> how are they going to get

around the hard liners, which is israel, that says that military strikes may be needed if iran continues down it's current path? >> yeah, whatever happens here in geneva, they will have to go back to their respective nations to through to sell it. and that includes selling it to the hardliners. there are obviously hardliners in the government and on the streets. and the massive protest on november 4th outside of the embassy there. and before the talks began, the u.s. delegation held a background briefing and they said that further sanctions have been imposed by congress will not be pushed through because they say that the iranians are here, already here because of the sanctions that exist already. let's not push it too hard. now that they're here, let's not poison the well. and as i say, del, something is happening here in geneva because the talks do seem to be having

some results, and there's a sense of optimism here. >> live in geneva, thank you very much. palestinians are reacting to an investigation that strongly suggest that yasir arafat's death was caused by poisoning. they confirmed that they did find elevated levels of poison in his body. and they can't say where it came from, but it's not common. >> [ inaudible ] in the room... >> we have more on the palestinian reaction from ramallah in the west bank >> reporter: well, for many palestinians, the findings in the report are not surprising or shocking.

they believe that he did not die a natural death and rather was poisoned. so far, we have heard that the plo is demanding an international and credible investigation into the death. and the palestinian authority has yet to make an official statement. we understand that the central committee is meeting this morning to discuss this report. and however, we also understand that we won't be hearing anything official from the palestinian authority until the head of the palestinian investigation committee announces publicly the results of the swiss report, as well as a russian report, a similar one that was submitted to the palestinian authority on november 2nd. now, the palestinians await the next step that the palestinian authority would take, and whether they would demand an international investigation, and then they say, maybe press ahead and move ahead to take the case to the international critical

court. the palestinian state is a non-member state acting in the united nations, and it does have the right to request membership at the international criminal court. >> taking a look at money news. yesterday's exuberance on wall street seems to be fading, after initially starting higher, the dow is falling off of its highs. there's a decline in business and consumer spending, but the big news involves a company that's famous for its messages of 140 characters or less. live at the new york stock exchange, with more on twitter, who just began trading a few moments ago, and heidi, you can go over 140 characters, but why are investors excited when 2013 has yet to turn a profit? >> just minutes after trade open, the twitter shares are more than $46 a share, and

that's significantly more than the initial offering at $26 a share. but twitter, there are a lot of questions of how it's going to be making money now that it's public. but they know that there's a lot of potential as well. and that's what is driving this. >> heidi, a lot of people comparing this to the ipo of facebook, but what you're saying, twitter is heading in the opposite direction of facebook. >> early things are going well, so it could be volatile. but the major difference of what happened at facebook, and twitter, twitter traded on the nasdaq, which is more volatile than the new york stock exchange. s this a person specifically watching for things that might turn south. and he will jump in and smooth things out if trading starts to go south. the other thing here is that they tried to learn a lot from

what was wrong with the facebook ipo. and over the weekend, they went through all of this, and things went well. and they're confident is that things will go out without a hitch. >> for mark zuckerberg, do you expect it see twitter changes? >> twitter is doing this because they needed money to expand. they got $1.8 billion last night because of the initial offering. and of course changes are coming, and that's what expansion means. what does that mean for us and our twitter handles? last night they lost more than $100 million, del, and where are they going to go? is this a good investment. and a lot of people are saying, wait while before diving in. >> on the floor of the new york stock exchange, we're at twitter blue. from twitter to the torch.

olympic torch is taking a different path to the winter games, with a rocket ship. >> the spacecraft with truly an olympic leap. >> taking off from kazakhstan, on saturday, they're going to take the first ever spacewalk, and of course the torch won't be lit. foo e. >> still ahead, the floating mystery seems to have been solved. coming up on aljazeera america, the google barge. and veterans turning to mixed martial arts as a way of dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.

>> in other business news this morning, we're seeing mixed signals from uncle sam.

the economy expanded at better than ex expected. 2.8%. but consumer declined. imports were behind that increase. the other big economic story of the week, jobs coming out tomorrow. and we'll have full coverage on aljazeera america. transfat could be a thing of the past for americans. the food and drug administration wants to eliminate the artery clogging substance. vegetable short thing is a major contributor to heart disease. and it has not yet set a deadline. it's time to say good-bye to blockbuster. dish network is closing the last stores, laying off 2800 workers in the process. it's dramatic for the company that was once valued at $5 billion. it went bankrupt in 2011, it

couldn't compete with apple and amazon. and turns out there are deals too good for wal-mart. the computer glitch finding that the website is prices too low. selling for just 9 bucks. wal-mart said that it canceled all of the orders, and the errors have been fixed. the website is back to normal this morning. all this week, aljazeera has been showing americans creative solutions for economic struggles. we're calling them the champions of the economy. today we look at microvending. those are the programs that loan people small amounts of money for their business ventures. they are growing in popularity here. jennifer london has more in los angeles. >> a farmer in kenya, a weaver in guatemala, and a small business owner in hollywood, california, might seem as

different as the countries they live in, but they are connected with a dream and financing. >> i was able to get a loan of 15k, which is a lot of money for me. but at the time, i had this $15,000 microloan, and i had some of my own money, and i felt like i had enough. >> enough for michael elliot, a former screen writer, to have hammer and nail. don't call it a salon, just for guys. michael knew he had a unique business plan, but when he asked for a small business loan from his bank, the answer was no. >> there are so many people who could be doing big things. >> in fact, seven out of ten small business loan applications are denied by banks. >> making a loan is a huge amount of cost. and banks are not set up to minimize those costs in a way that would make it feas feasible. >> michael elliot ended up

finding a financial friend at vedc, a non-profit specializing in microfinancing. loans of $50,000 or less. >> it closes the gap between opportunity and talent. here, we really believe that talent is universal and opportunity is not, and through small business financing, they can start today. >> historically, microlending has been associated with launching in east africa in 2005, but it has since spread to 73 countries, including the u.s. loan amounts can be as small as $25. last year, a partnership to expand microlending here in los angeles. home of the largest number of small businesses in the country. so far, they have loaned to 63

entrepreneurs. >> oval, in this roll with job creation, as well as holding on to the entrepreneurial spirit that gives to the american dream. >> i'm driving down melrose avenue, and one of those businesses is mine, and i'm 46 years old. and i'm getting a second chance. at a dream. >> a small business, funded by a small loan, can be big business for thousands of entrepreneurs around the world and here at home. jennifer london, aljazeera, los angeles. >> well, the mystery has been solved. we now know why google decided to park those two barges off of the coast. they will be used to help people learn about new technology.

government inspectors signed confidentiality about the barges in san francisco and maine. they would be used for floating data centers. twitter is the latest high-tech to go public. and it means that some people will be very very rich. there are challenges that come with such a life-changing event. allen talked to one person who went through it, and found a meaning in life. on plenty of afternoons, you'll find paul gross pounding the trails on his mountain bike. it's one of his passions and one that he can indulge in. he retired at 20 years old, with more money than he expected. >> the dream come true, growing up, everybody wanted to make it. it was the american dream, and iit was happening.

it was fun. >> he spent money on golf and cars and travel. and it made him uneasy. >> i started to learn spanish, and tried to play a musical instrument and i was just drawn to things with computers and making changes with people. and i wasn't feeling rewarded >> so he came here to teatle based social partners, looking for the best way to make his life and all of that money more relevant. >> significance, what do you want on your tombstone. >> uct jones works with non-profits in need. sdp hases in 34 cities, and it has given out money to 36 different organizations. it was a good fit for gross. >> if we pool our money, our human capital and our time, we can do a whole lot in social issues, much more than we can do

so on our own. and paul gross is a perfect exactly of that. >> after giving time and money to support a local school, a new reason for giving and caring dropped into his life. his son was born three weeks premature. >> as the layers unpeeled -- >> gross turned his mission to hydrocephalous, embraced the new mission and a simple philosophy. >> there's an obligation to help others be comfortable. >> he has since donated 1 and a half million dollars and raised more to support research for what has been known as water on the brain. he serves on the board of the high ro cephalous association. he offers advice to newcomers in the game. >> find whatever it is you're

passionate about and do something. because how much more do you need? how much more can you have? >> it's a responsibility this bike rider said that he didn't understand until the life trail he was following made him rich. aljazeera. >> still ahead, it's not just a workout. next on aljazeera america, veterans are turning to mixed martial arts trying to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder.

>> mixed martial arts, and it's not just for the workout. combating the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. and talking to one veteran doing just that. >> when steven bruno is training and fighting, he says he's so focused on mixed martial arts, or mma, that all of the other thoughts slip away, including a

flashback of nearly drowning in the persian gulf after a helicopter crash. >> it's my peace. there's nothing that will make you feel more alive than being put through the wringer in here. >> reporter: the 34-year-old is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. the helicopter spiraled 80 feet into the water. >> and then i was drowning right after that. i knew how to get out and i knew where the door was, and i knew the helicopter was going to flip over, and i was in bad shape. i was in pain. >> bruno broke his back, leg, and he's haunted by the memory of watching a photojournalist onboard drown. he thinks about the crash, but fighting professionally and training people in mma has been his therapy. >> there's a lot more you can get in here than sitting around in a circle and hugging a

pillow. it's a positive environment similar to the military that you're around, with fighters and elite people and specialized groups. it's just part of being in a team and working toward the common goal. >> neuroeologists work with injured veterans, and you see why they find a catharsis with mma. >> not only your mma skills in the rink, but against an opponent, gives you an enormous amount of controller and security. >> so far there's no data backing up his experiences. he's concerns about taking blows to the head, which are unavoidable in mma. >> 40% of the time they're going to be sustaining a head injury, a light concussion to a severe concussion. i think that that kind of damage might do a lot more harm to

these guys than help. >> reporter: bruno those that ptsd might be the most formable thing he might face. >> i'm meteorologist, dave warren, and we're watching the cooler air slowly work its way east. dig drop in temperatures on the east coast, 30s 4 to 40s to 50s. er you sigh the temperatures on i-95, in the 60s. and not far away, we see 40s with the temperature expected. rain coming down, and the front will move through pe pennsylvan, and new england. ones it clears out, 40° cooler, and right about the same as yesterday. milder temperatures, dropping in

the next 12 hours. tomorrow, 40 in the morning, and 51 in the afternoon. it's drier with a cooler breeze. mid it low 50s friday and saturday and monday, that will be the story here on the east coast of the united states. rain and clouds, no rain coming in, cool air and flurries, and storms developing in the pacific northwest. we have wind advisories, where the higher elevations are getting snow. this is a super typhoon that's going to impact the philippines. strong gusty winds, wind coming in from the north. and that will coincide with the high tide. so flooding rain, and storm surges expected on friday local time in the philippines. >> thank you for watching aljazeera america. i'm del walters, and inside story is next. a reminder that wide receiver is twitter over twitter. $45 a share, up from 26 when it

opened. >> a squeak center purple virginia, and in the deep state of new jersey, a republican route. a look at what election 2013 tells us about the future. tonight on inside story. >> hello, i'm frank se sno. the ing goes all is politics, but the national implications are to be found in the political tea leaves. in virginia, a brass knuckle campai