it. >> welcome to aljazeera america. i'm it delle walters, and the stories we're following for you. a grim it scene in the 4 philippines as hundreds are buried in mass graves. and why lawmakers say they want to hold up for fed share. and this it massive sink hole swallowing up an entire louisiana neighborhood. is of. >> we're going to have the latest on the typhoon in just a minute, but president obama is

it set to address the nation within the area on the affordable care act. he will make a statement around 11:35er eastern time. and aljazeera will carry the president's, remarks in their entirety. and now to the philippines. the island nation remains in a state of crisis. in the hardest-hit areas, survivors are starting to find food and water and other supplies, and they're starting to bury the bodies. that it storm hassle killed 3,057 people and 3800 are injured. and 7700, listed as had missing, and another problem seems to be security. margaret has more from tack la ban. >> all he wants to do is sleep. but he hasn't been able to do that in six days. his home was destroyed friday morning when typhoon haiyan slammed into the island.

he survived the storm but he still fears for his life. >> how many of us are left? now this. something else. people coming into our houses, and in you fight back, they will kill you. what about allies? so few of us left as it is. are they going to finish us all off? >> reporter: his be neighbors share his concern. they said it's bad enough that haiyan turned their lives upside down, without the confusion now overrer security. security. one of the system structures it damaged by haiyan was the prison behind me. and they are believed to be behind the recent wave of crime. a state of emergency, they're trying to it stabilize peace and

order. but many say that nothing has been explained to them. and rumors are rampant and this is the return of dicttorial marshal rule. who are they? are they military or not thieves? we have received no news, and what's the real it will situation? he hasn't let the uncertainty stop him. he has gone back to work as a driver, though he says what money he might earn now is worthless here. >> what happens to us is up to god. i will not leave here. this is our home. no matter whatle tragedy befalls us left, if it takes our lives, that's okay. >> reporter: it still rains here on most days. he and his family cram into the makeshift space in their shelter. sometimes they stand like this through the night. even the gentle sound of rain now is cause enter fear.

aljazeera, tacloban. >> then there's the issue of getting food to those in need. there are 2,000 islands in the chain, many reachable only by boat or helicopter. there's no had way to get survivors to it. >> it's gridlocked here. and there's plenty. but none of it is getting to the people who need it. the problem is, there's no fuel for the trucks, and nowhere for the aid to be distributed. so it's not going anywhere. at the same time, aid workers, international many aid workers are hello flooding the area. and the citizens, early on today, the city cannot cope with this number of people. this is a moment of intense frustration, and does it extremely interesting it see how it's going to be broken with

this kind of clash with interest in agendas between the local politics and the local communities. people who are starving, literally, and the international international kind of aid effort. >> president obama's had nominee to 4 head the nation's central bank is on capitol hill. and confirmations before the senate. if confirmed, janet would be the first woman to head the federal reserve. >> for the last six year, it has been challenging for ouring nation and difficult for many americans. we experienced the worst financial crisis since the great depression. the effects werer severe, but they could have been far worse. >> libby, wall street seems to like janet, but what about the central banking committee? >> so far she's handling with a

cool held. how janet yellen handles it, she has been behind the scenes, and she has served with the federal reserve off and on for 20 years, and she has only gone before thing profess before. and so far, democrats are giving her questions about unemployment and how the federal reserve can help the american people. and the republicans are talking about the stimulus and what her plans are for the future. so there's a lot of focus on how she's performing today. there's no question that janet yellen has the economic chops to lead the federal reserve. and she's going to need them. she has a monumental task, unwinding the federal reserve's stimulus program. >> she has been the engineer of the current policies and will most likely had pledge to keep them in place.

>> reporter: perhaps just as challenging for yellen as dealing with the stimulus will be getting the banks to be more unified. she said the best way to stimulate the economy is better communication with the public. but it deeply it divided the federal bank. >> you have the voices from all over with differential views, and there has been a lot of confusion in the markets in the last months ago. that's one of the dune down sides. >> yellen may have a difficult time to get other officials to tow the line, putting her owning communication it will skills to the test. >> two fed presidents that have had opposed from the beginning, will bel voting members next year, so janet yellen is going to have a lot of defense. >> thanks to the bond buying

industry, but they are anticipating a lot more soon. what they want as a parting gift isle commitment from yellen. >> as we see how she treats the public and answers questions, that's the market's response. >> if confirmed, yellen will take over the reins of the fed when bernanke steps down in this january. and she may learn that her political skills are just as important as her economic skills. one republican senator tried to this pin her down on when papering would happen. that's the easing off of the stimulus and she wouldn't give a date. she said, we'll look at the labor market and signs of improvement and make a decision every time we come together. so so far, she's handling it all. >> wall street was probably listening. 45 people are dead after a

series of the violent attacks that occurred across iraq. gunmen shot and killed the mayor of fallujah, he was visiting a pumping station there. and it others died, and a bomb exploded at a police checkpoint. that violence many coming as millions of shiite pilgrims it are commemorating islam. >> reporter: this rally is religious, and it should not be seen as a challenge is that hezbollah's leader has said. but clearly, it was a message of defiance, a projection of power, and a show of support to the armed group. a few hundred thousand shiite came to where the hezbollah

live. and where car bombings havele killed of civilians. >> we're not scared of people or terrorists. >> reporter: we won't bow, is what they chant. it is a telling slogan. hezbollah is under pressure, it's rivals here and abroad crews the group of from dragging lebanon into a war, but it's backers disagree. >> if we would not have come to fight them there, they would kill us. >> reporter: she means the sunni opposition in syria. around the suburbs, it's tight. and no cars are allowed to enter the district where half a million people live. other measures have been taken in other shiite airs in the

country. the president himself says that the threat is real. nevertheless, people had heeded his call and turned out in large numbers. >> reporter: he joined the crowd. he rarely makes it for security reasons. but the hezbollah leader wanted to give a message. [ speaking foreign language ] >> we have seen on several occasions, that the presence of ourle soldiers on 4 syrian soil is toker support lebron james -d the resistance. >> reporter: it's a it decision that has lost hezbollah support in much of the world. it does receiver shorting among the lebanon shiites, who are the line of defense in the openly sunni syrian opposition.

aljazeera, beirut. >> investigators want to know what caused the training accident in california. four marines were killed in an operation to clear munnitions from a training raid. it comes after seven marines died in a training accident in nevada. up next on aljazeera america, we'll tell you what a facility that holds onto an illegal bounty.

>> earlier today in denver, the u.s. fish and it wildlife took a load of ivory, taken from elephants and their it tusks. it's part of a $10 billion black market. and aljazeera has more. >> reporter: this is the national wildlife repository, a

federal warehouse in denver, overknowing with an exotic or illegal collection. >> we have six tons of ivory that we're going to crush, the six tons that we have seized in 25 years. >> all of this from the massive elephant trunks, to the trinkets, carved from ivory, is destined to be extraordinary. >> this is intricate and what does it represent. >> i at the least, it represes one dead elephant. >> reporter: tens of thousands of elephants were killed for their ivory last year. it's criminal cartels. >> it's like cocaine, but ivory it horn is the substance being illegally smuggled into the country. >> in this container, you have thousands and thousands of ivory bracelets and necklaces.

one ton of ivory from one seizure. >> it represents a threat from the elephant population. the size of herds declined drastically. and experts see that they're killing young elephants. >> we're seeing smaller and smaller turnings and what really look like youngster's teeth. that's shocking. it's telling us that ivory is trading at such a high market on the black market, that there's a place for smaller pieces of ivory. >> so this giant crushing machine, the same for road building, is used to destroy the ivory. the fish and wildlife wants to send a message to poachers around the world. >> by principle and policy, the united states doesn't sell or put a value on endangered or threatened species, and since this is illegal ivory and it

came into the country illegally, we're not going to sell it. >> some pieces of cultural significance have been saved and some will be used to build a memorial to the slaughtered elephants. denver, colorado. >> with no real surprises from janet yellen before the central banking committee, investors are sending both the dow and the s&p for their highs for the day. big board now up 50 points on the dow. and by the way, both the bough and the s&p will set new records if they close higher today. disappointing headlines for retailers coming out of the shopping season. wal-mart it said that the sales fell for the third quarter, and it will hurt sales for months. and kohl's is reporting

sales decline of 2-4% this quarter alone. coming up on aljazeera america, here's something that doesn't hit the market often, a ghost town. and it could be yours if the price is right.

>> we want to turn to breaking news on the sentencing of crime boss, whitey bulger. handing down the sentence the day after relatives of victims spoke out in court. and all eyes on the sentence. what was it? >> hi, del, no huge surprises here. following the federal sentencing guideline, happening down to bulger, two consecutive life sentences plus five years for a handgun charge, and 19 and a half million dollars for restitution. the judge said the reason behind happening down the seps that she

did. one, she considered the scope, the nature and the call usness of the crime that bulger committed. and two, the history. and in that, he did not submit a presentencing report to the court. so she had nothing to go on from his side determining the sentence. and she talked about the fact that h he was a fugitive for 16 years, and when he was found, he had several thousands of cash with him, which indicated to her that he planned to stay a fugitive for several years, perhaps the rest of his life. and she also talked about the letters of that she got from the families of the victims who had appeared in court yesterday. talking about what life had been back without the family members for decades. she said that bulger was motivated by money. that he was an intelligent person, but made decisions that

were astronomically heinous. she said, in handing down the sentence, she had discretion, but did follow the federal guidelines, but said that it was comfort to the victims. now, bulger will have an be opportunity to appeal. he has 14 days to appeal. and we'll have to see if he in fact does that. but it's likely that he will probably spend the rest of his life in prison. >> and he was 84 years old. so the estimates were, that no matter what he got, he was going to be behind bars for the rest of his life. and diane, no one really expected anything other than that, so i'm taking there was no surprise involved today. >> no, there wasn't. and actually, in the report yesterday when the families of the victims were speaking, he didn't make any eye contact with anybody, and he looked at his legal pad and doodled the whole time and showed no emotion.

and today he looked at the judge while she was delivering the sentence and talked about it. and why she had handled down the sentence. he was respectful and looked at her the whole time. and there were no outburst as the sentence was handled down. he took hands with his attorney and proceeded out of the courtroom. >> james whitey bulger looking at two life terms. and here are other stories making news. president obama is set to address the nation within the hour, and he'll talk about the affordable care act. the president will speak around 11:35 eastern time. and aljazeera will carry his remarks with their entire. and democrats are talking about ideas to fix the plan. nancy pelosi said awhile ago that the democrats have a proposal that they could vote on as early as tomorrow. workers in the philippines

are burying their dead from typhoon haiyan. aid is pouring into the country, but some say that it's not being given out fast enough. and one of the nation's largest sinkholes has caused residents in a neighborhood louisiana to follow it. and now it's supposed to double in size. robert ray has our story. >> this is a neighborhood where people don't live anymore. a year ago, the entire cajun town of corn, louisiana, 350 people, evacuated. mystified, scientists from around the world, along with federal and state regulators came to find out why. what they found was the swamp being swallowed, and the bayou burping natural gas and oil. how to stop a 5,000-foot deep

sinkhole from growing any bigger. dennis landry and a few others came back a few weeks after the evacuation. >> we talked in august, and what changed since then? >> we have become aware that there's a lot more gas retain under the subdivision than previously thought. >> but that may change. lately, the ground has become unstable. >> microearthquakes, where before there were 10 or 15 noticed through the equipment. and several weeks ago, it got as high as 326 in a 24-hour period. >> reporter: because of the quakes, parts of the swamp have sunk more than 2 feet. texas brine, the mining company, which the state blames for the disaster, is out digging holes to release the gases. >> it has to get into the air

before its ignitable. >> that's the real threat? >> yes >> reporter: in the meantime, computers are monitoring the gases 24-. half of the town has been brought out by texas brine. they are cutting the streets completely open. >> are you able to talk to us for five minutes? >> reporter: we tried to talk to a texas brine representative, it to get their take on the situation. >> reporter: texas brine officials seem to be uninterested in talking to aljazeera america today, but there's a flurry of activity as subcontractors begin to dig new wells to take up the natural gas. >> reporter: despite being held up by the situation for a year, dennis landry is determined stay unless. >> if it gas gets into

somebody's house, it would be a game changer. >> that's exactly why texas brine and louisiana officials are rushing to vent out these once vibrant neighborhoods, but it's a big job. >> it's estimated to be 6 million cubic feet of natural gas is located beneath the earth. >> reporter: meanwhile, libertier insurance, which is suing texas brine, argues that they don't have to cover damage caused by the mining collapse because texas brian knew that mining the salt cavern, thousands of feet below the surface, was riskily. while all of this goes on above ground, the scientists believe that the sinkhole will keep burping, swallowing land. >> and we have seen the cold air

come in, and it feels like it could snow at any time in the southeast. the storm watches are favorable. and it will happen extreme, but not yet. satellite shows that we just have clouds and maybe sprinkles, but the computer fast, we can expect to see snow in the northwest and throughout the day tomorrow. air quality, it's clear, and a lot of snow coming down in the higher elevations where it's a little bit warmer. there will be rain and wind and rain. higher elevations, 7,000 feet, snow there, and the roads are clear, and it will change throughout the day tomorrow as the snow really begins to move in. the temperatures are cold in the northwest and really cold in the southeast. but it willer warm up. the front will pull ther warm air back.

not of happening in the country as far as the rain goes, but look at the seattle temperature. snow in the higher elevations for the next few days, and then the temperature change, warming up in the midwest. and the temperatures will start to climb. look at chicago, going from 50-52, up to 5, and that storm will bring in rain and thunderstorms in, 60 by saturday and sunday. and looks like a wet weekend in the northwest. >> by the way, dave, if you ever wanted to own a small town, it's your chance to do so. the town of seneca, california, is on craig's list. the town, in the sierra nevada mountains, it can only be reach bid narrow dirt roads. seneca was up toed in the 1850s. and all that's left is a cabin and a bar, and it comes complete with a liquor license. i'm del walters, inside story is next, and we'll bring you the

president's address if and when it happens. and bring it to you live. equality movement hits a new movement in america. that's on "inside story." >> hello, i'm ray suareza. when the governor of hawai'i signed same-sex marriage into law wins it brought the issue full circle to where it began. it was 1991 when a woman sued to have the right to marry her partner.