you can also find us on twitter. >> good evening, everyone, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. health care corrections. president obama's latest fix for a broken promise, why republicans say it's not enough. a week later the disaster in the philippines, the despair for typhoon survivors, and the rising death toll. we'll take you live to the center of the catastrophe >> justice denied, why evidence is unexamined tore years in thousands of -- for years in thousands of rape cases. >> using the force. it's open call for the inter-galactic set - we go inside the auditions for the

next star wars movie. we begin with president obama's damage control for his health care plan. he's under pressure and under fire over the law he championed and has to change. the latest fix is a big one, the president says insurers can reinstate the millions of policies they cancelled, but they are not forced to do so. new customers will not be able to sign up for the plans. all this comes as the house vote is scheduled tomorrow on a republican-backed bill allowing insurers to sell existing plans for everyone. mike viqueira has more from the white house. >> it was a remarkable appearance by president obama, he was trite, apologetic, shouldered the blame and gave a solution for some of the problems. >> with public support sinking and democrats on the verge of

revolt president obama decided it was time for a full mea cull pea. >> that's on me. we fumbled the roll out on the health care launch. >> the president denied he was aware of prelaunch tests warning of disaster for healthcare.gov. >> i was not formed correctly that the website would not work. i don't think i'm stupid enough to go around saying, "this is going to be like shopping an amazon or travelosity" a week before the website opened if i thought it would not work. >> millions saw policies cancelled because of the law. the president proposed a fit. >> insurers can extend plans that would otherwise be cancelled into 2014, and americans whose plans were cancelled can reenrol in the same kind of plan. >> there's no guarantee insurers will offer the old plan. in a statement the top lobby ests slammed the proposal.

changing the rules after plans met the requirements of the law could destablilize the market and result in higher premiums for consumers. it was not good enough for republicans, they took turns telling tails of cancelled coverage. >> 25,000 lose plans. >> democrats of greater concern, pushing to defy president obama. the isn'tates marie landrue faces a tef re-election fight in louisiana. >> the president's announcement was a great first step. we'll probably need legislation to make it stick. >> late thursday president obama sent top aids to capitol hill to calm nervous democrats. the eroding support threatened the second-term agenda. >> it's legitimate for them to expect me to win back credibility on the health care law in particular, and on a range of issues in general. >> as he shoulders the blame

president obama insists in the end his health care reform will work. >> these are two things in a game, two fumbles in a game. the game is not over. >> the first vote comes on the house of representatives, voting on a republican bill allowing insurance companies to offer the old plan and sell the old plan to new customers, and the fix would go beyond 2014, what the president proposed. >> it's been a long road for president obama, and his push for a massive overhaul of the health care system. promises have been made. challenges were enormous. >> right here, right now. we'll have yun fersal america... >> if you like the plan and like your doctor, you won't have to do a think. >> if you like your doctor, and

your plan, you can keep doctor and your plan. now it's one of the best ideas of both parties, and show the american people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. now it the time to deliver on health care. it's time to give the american people more control over their health care and health insurance. >> if you like your current insurance, you will keep your current shirns. >> i completely get how upsetting this is for a lot of americans, particularly after assurances they heard from me that if they had a plan that they liked, they could keep it. ultimately i'm the head of the team. we did fumble the ball on it. what i'm going to do is make sure we get it fixed. >> let's bring in al jazeera's political contributor dave lefen that will, a reporter at the center for public integrity. >> good to be back with you.

>> what was your reaction to the press conference? >> this is one of the louse yesterdays for president obama during his second term, and perhaps during his entire president sis, it's not every -- presidency, it's not every day or year that the president gets in front of people and says, "i'm sorry in every which way he can, he said it nine or six times. what he's trying to do - two things that are going on. number one is a practical consideration. this is about a bad a roll out as you can imagine. she's trying to write the ship to get the plan - it's his signature piece of legislation during his five years in office - get it right and going on the path he wanted it on. there are political considerations. you have so many democrats concerned about the effect on prospects for re-election in 2014. democrats want to retain the senate and capture the house back, if this is hanging over

their head, the sort of damocles from now until next november it's unlikely that will happen. >> that has been going on for more than a month, what took so long. >> when you have something constantly changing or shifting, the people in the midst don't know how bad it is, you are slow to react. at this point finally it got so bad that the president chose today to take the moment to say, "all right, we'll make a game-changing move. it remains to be seen if that will take place" republicans smelt blood - whether it's legislation or things that will happen months from now in terms of political advertisements or non-profitab - there's a lot of badness on the democratic side to be dealt with >> there was a lot of complaints by the republicans during the

government shutdown. there are serious problems. what damage has been done to the insurance system, the health care system? >> there's a damage to the faith that person people have in the ability for obamacare to work. there's a lot of confusion. we talk to people. they were confused as to number one, whether they can sign up on the website. whether they should go to the federal website or a state exchange. some are having a relatively decent go. others are having a disastrous problem with trying to sign up or know how to have the knowledge to access the requisite types of forms and formats to sign up for obamacare. so there's an educational gap. there's a gap in terms of people being able to have the knowledge in order to educate themselves to a point where they are comfortable with the system, that they are making good

decisions that will be good for them. long term, a couple of years down the road as well. >> we'll see if they can fix it by the end of november. >> it has been a week since the typhoon haiyan devastated the philippines, an estimate from the governments says 4400 people are dead. aid workers are trying to get supplies to hundreds of thousands of displaced people. paul bevans joins us from cebu in the philippines. >> good afternoon. we are here at the military side of the international airport in cebu. this is really the hub of all the activities, transport planes, constant streams behind me going out to the hardest hit areas bringing back evacuees. taking people onward to manila and other locations. we have been walking around the base, seeing the activity.

up the road is a building that's been converted into a processing center and makeshift triaround center where people are being brought in. >> what we have is a first aid station. those with open wounds and minor injuries, we treat over here. we do wound dressing. bit of a challenge that we have is we are running out of supplies. our tetanus shots are good for 40 people. we are expecting a few more. it's a bit of a challenge now. we'll do what we can. >> that was a local volunteer helping to coordinate nurses and medical teams. they are running low on supplies, tetanus, vaccines for people with open wounds. we heard from another aid workers. there's no point doing a needs assessment because they need everything.

>> i see the supplies behind you, and i imagine that more is coming in, but the real problem is getting it, i guess, from the airport to the place where people need it the most. >> that's right. there is a constant stream, as you mentioned, of supplies and personnel and aircraft going out to the disaster zone towards tacloban, an hour flight. the difficulty is once it gets there, is getting it around in the city, and out to the outlying areas where they may not have received any aid. the aid is pouring in. the difficulty is getting out to the areas where they need it the most. >> deep in the underground forest in the philippines. for more on the disaster and relief efforts, let's turn to craig leeson, on a boat on the way to banti, an island - the first to deliver aid to this place north of cebu. >> we spent the night on the "mg

gemini 6" heading to the typhoon ravaged islands off the northern tip of cebu. this ship is packed with food, water and building materials, as you can see here, so that the people on the islands can start the process of rebuilding their lives, it's set up by a local government from cebu and organised by a rapid response unit, a local civilian volunteer group and all the goods have been donated by the government or private individuals. one of them has been up there and told us that the island has been 95% destroyed. people are living up there without shelter and little food and water. the medical condition up there is dire. a main problem is diarrhoea and pneumonia among the children who

have no clean water or shert. >> craig leeson on a boat in the philippines. >> several organizations are mobilising aid. i spoke to lynette lynn who works for save the children. she spoke about problems on the ground in cebu. >> save the children is trying to get aid to the children and families that have been affected by typhoon haiyan. you can see the children. save the children arrived yesterday. there's logistical challenges to gather relief out of the plane into warehouses. the plane arrived at 1:00 pm in the afternoon, and 12 hours later we were unloading the plane. that is because of the overwhelming load of cargo coming into the city now, and the inability of the airport to deal with the impact. they have been working for up to 48 hours, and it's still a huge

challenge to get all the aid into where it needs to be. >> you mentioned that the plane - they are unloading the plane with the food. how do they get the food to the people that need it the most? >> there are several ways to get it into the worst-affected areas. the first way is air. and secondly to go by boat, in a vessel, from cebu, into tacloban. but, of course, trucks need to be arranged on the other side to ensure the aid can travel from the port or the airport to the worst affected areas, where the roads are still blocked with floodwaters, electrical lines down, and trees that have fallen during the storm. authorities now are working around the clock to get the trees out of the way and get the trucks moving into the worst-affected areas. everyone is doing their best to reach the worst-affected children right now. >> that is lynette lim with save the children.

earlier tonight i speak by phone with brigadier paul kennedy. he is commanding u.s. military relief operations and i asked for an update on relief efforts. >> we have got generators inbound on aircraft today, that will allow the city to re-establish power. i'm not saying that that is on a strict timeline. it will take effort to put it in place. that will translate into the philippine government taking civil authority back and trying to provide services from their end, rather than it being provided by the military community. that is a positive development. the other development is we an outlaying cities that have reported in. they are in bad shape. the reports are a couple of days old. we received a report that the second largest city - looks like

they may have their own city water restored. we have pushed folks there to test that. that's huge news. the other development is last night. we opened the airfield up for c 1724 hour operations. that's huge. last night we had ground convoys arrive. they began to break down pallets and distribute them to neighbourhoods. we are seeing a huge surge of effort, all together, right about now. we have been doing - what we have been doing since day one, you are seeing a huge effort today. >> there's a navy presence that arrived. tell us about how that is helping too. >> the george washington showed up.

it is a carrier strike group. they bring a number of ships. they are equipped with helicopter, they make pure water, hundreds of thousands of gallons of water. they have containers to put the water into, that we wan distribute it into outlaying regions. they have search and rescue - they can go to places we can't get to and make contact with stricken populations. they have transport aircraft that can fly into a couple of airstrips identified on leyte, and other islands. the u.s.s. "george washington" has a huge capability, it's kind of arrival of the cavalry at the right time and place. >> thank you general, for the information and bringing us up to date. we appreciated it. >> my pleasure. food is so scarce in some parts of the philippines some typhoon

survivors take whatever valuables they find and swap them just to feed their families. >> with their homes destroyed, food and drinking water scarce, aid deliveries insufficient or delayed many people in tacloban are forced to do this. they barter what goods they sal vigeed and find what they can in people's destroyed homes. one man is selling baby milk under $7 a box. half the price people paid in the stores. we acquired these. we are selling them to buy rice. another man swapped three kilos of rice for a kilo of beef. >> there's nothing to serve with meals. i have rice. we barter. >> a woman hadn't received help and was desperate for rice.

>> if we find someone to barter, we'll give them bacon and sausages. >> close by the dead are lined up in body bags. more than six days since typhoon haiyan ripped the city apart. survi survivors are in need of food and water. half a million have said fled from their homes. many areas have not received emergency aid. >> the storm ripped the vegetation off the trees that line the road. families sit under what makeshift cover they have. they have little choice baut to wait for the merge -- but to wait for the emergency help their government says is on the way. . good evening, when you watch the videos notice that the clouds and the sun is out.

no rain has fallen, that's a good thing for the last 48 hours. the philippines has been dry. there was a disturbance push through. it's here, across the south china sea, making landfall. it's bringing rain to vietnam. 5-8 inches. worried about flooding and mudslides. when it comes to parts of the philippines, for the next couple of days we don't spect the rain. a system meandering is the other problem. we expect heavy rain showers making their way to the southern port of india, that could be a problem. more news on the air flow when i return. >> it is the newest habit for toronto's embattled mayor. rob ford is sorry again - find out why. >> a football player less than 5 feet tall making a huge impact

on his teamfeet tall making a h on his teamon his team.

on his team on his team >> making the case to be the next fed chief, janet yellen's hearing got under way. she told senators she was committed to the economic recovery and would do whatever is necessary to create jobs. wall street investors liked what they heard, the dow up 55 points, s&p up 8. rob ford kept quiet. the toronto mayor cannot stop talking, he admitted to buying illegal drugs and used lewd language. >> rob ford had to apologise for a first appearance. asked about allegations of sexual approaches to a female

member, he denied it using inappropriate lang wig, he knew it was wrong. >> i used unforgiveable language. i apologise. the allegations are lies. >> the embattled mayor confirmed he's receiving treatment for drink and drug use. >> i'm receiving support from a team of house care professionals. taking accountability and receiving advice from people with expertise. i do not wish to comment on the particulars of support. >> this video obtained by a canadian furp shows rob ford swearing and ranting about killing someone. police confirmed they were investigating a drugs case when they found the footage. during a council meeting they demanded the mayor take a leave of absence. >> have you purchased illegal drugs in the last two years?

>>. >> yes, i have >> ford repeatedly apoll gived, but refused to step down. newly released documents from a criminal case against a mayor's friend linked him to more drug use, drink-driving, threats staff, and other issues. a hugely popular mayor, his popularity has been plummeting. demonstrations outside city hall calling for him to go have been getting bigger. a man who admitted drink and drug problems has no problem saying he'll continue. even as the city waits to see if there's more to come.

>> michael eaves is here with sport. rickie incognito wants his suspensioneneded. >> he's tired of being away from the field for the miami dolphins. he filed a non-injury grievance against the dolphins who suspended him for conduct detrimental to the team when alleged that he bullied jonathan martin for a year. he's missed a game. the suspension by the team can last a maximum of four games, he wants to play sooner than that. jonathan martin is scheduled to meet with an nfl investigator tomorrow. >> in baseball, the america's valuable player for a second season, cabrera led on slugging percentage. >> n.b.c. andrew mckuchon drove an 84 runs and stole 37 base, claiming 28 of the 31st votes.

finally, doctors forced indianapolis winner to retire because injuries suffered in a crash make it too dangerous for him to race. he fractured a spine and suffered a fracture in houston. more sports coming up later. >> see you then. prove of evidence - a test not done that could help thousands of rape victims >> former first daughter, barbara bush, tells me about her life and passion after the white house. >> maybe a superstar tomorrow - standing in line today - we take to you the star wars casting call.

>> good evening everyone. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. here is a look at the top stories. health care overhaul. president obama says he's heard the anger about his law. and now he's making a big change. the president says his administration will no longer require insurance companies to

cancel policies that fall short of the new health care law minimum coverage standards. >> it can extend plans that would otherwise be cancelled into 2014, and americans whose plans have been cancelled can choose to reenrol in the same kind of plan. >> an associated press survey found more than 4 million people received cancellation in theses. >> a woman nominated to become the next head of the reserve says job creation is the top priority, yellen says the economy is too fragile for an increase in interestiates. >> it's been a week since typhoon haiyan hit. the u.s.s. "george washington" arrived to deliver aid. 1200 american ships are there or on the way.

>> in the heart of disaster zone stories of hope and progress. veronica pedrosa has that part of the story >> hospitals, schools, homes - places of worship and work - all devastated. about 30 people were killed by typhoon haiyan in amoc. everyone has been affected. the city government says 97% of people have been displaced. the roofs have been blown off nearly all the homes. the rains keep coming. graffitti on a riverbank is a cry for help against tremendous challenges. >> people here, including the military and government officials say it's not true, that there's a law and order problem. people here have been waiting for petrol. they are cueing in an orderly fashion. there's a shortage of fuel and

police keep a chose eye. there haven't been raids on grocery stores since the first day after the storm. the city is run from another broken building, but in spite of the conditions people here say they are getting order to the operation, getting buy with what is available. >> today was better than yesterday, yesterday better than the day before, so on and so forth. we tried to be systematic and organised because we don't have - we don't have too many resources. >> are crucial to the aid effort, the chief of the philippines armed forces told local government officials to stories of bandits and communist rebels were not true. this is a city in rouinruins, be streets are filled with people trying to get on with their lives, even though everyone

realises it will be month, years, before public institutions like colleges are back to normal. people are starting to rebuild. >> a stone faced whitey bulger received his sentence. the 84-year-old former mob boss will spend the rest of his life in prison. he was found guilty of 11 murders, he spent more than a decade on the run before being captured in 2011. he was taken to the maximum correctional facility 40 miles south of bostan and he plans to appeal. >> in the united states there are hundreds of thousands raped every year. rape kits are often the only evidence that stands up in court. prosecutors in detroit are revisiting thousands of unsolved cases after the discovery of rape activities no one tested. with money running out that could be in jeopardy.

>> over 11,000 untested rape kits - some dating back over two decades. for years, kids which hospitals used to collect evidence collected dust inside an old detroit police storage facility. >> i was surprised, but not completely shocked. >> wayne county prosecutor kim worthy made the discovery during a tour of the warehouse in 2009. >> there was nothing else to do but pursue it and make sure at some point in these victim's lives that we get justice for what happened to them, five, 10, 15, 25 years ago. >> fighting these cases come at a cost. without funding the office depends on grants and donations to vet the rape kits. money is running out. resources are thin. the fact that i have to have a

fundraiser to source the office is what i have to do? >> is that normal? >> no, it's ridiculous. >> 1,154 rape kits have been tested and reviewed by michigan state police. through dna analysis 300 suspected rapists have been identified and 59 serial offenders. over a dozen have been prosecuted, including this man. >> mr grand you'll be sentenced do a minimum of 7... >> 39-year-old antonio grant, a serial rapist sentenced 7 to 20 years in prison for raping a woman in 2004. the rape kit crisis isn't exclusive to detroit. carol part in dallas texas was raped in 1984. her kit was not tested for two decades. she speaks about the issue.

>> i want them to know there people like me that will speak about the rape kits until we get the money we need to have them processed. an additional 15 million is needed to test the kits and investigate and prosecute the cases. with rape victims out there, the prosecutor hopes funding issues will not jeopardise justice. >> we are joined by a sexual assault survivor, waiting 15 years to see her assailant brought to justice, she is the founder of natasha's justice project. her organization works to get through the backlog of untested rape kits. thank you for being here. this is a matter of money? >> i wish there were a simple april like it's just a matter of money, and we can take care of

the situation, there's several layers. money is part of it. we are living in a time when the technology is amazing and we haven't caught up to it. law enforcement, prosecutors, they are not ready for all the amazing things the evidence can do. >> these are extremely serious crimes. some could be solved if the money was spent. it seems to me - i'm having difficulty releasing why this is still going on. >> you know, that's a reaction we have nationwide when we talk about unprocessed rape kits - why is this occurring. the reality is even though there's a cost to test the kits. what's the cost of not testing them. what we know about rapists is they are not specialists, they don't stick to that crime of the the man that raped me at gunpoint in 1993, for the 15 years it took for him to have a dna match, he was on a

nationwide cim -- crime spree. >> i want to show a map. detroit is not the only city. this map shows the big spots where it's a problem. shell by, tennessee, denver county - it's all over the country. >> certainly. really the anomaly of detroit is they are admitting they have an issue. the map illustrates the fact that this is an issue occurring nationwide. they are municipalities that have come forward saying, "this is a problem we are facing", when we are not hearing from other municipalities, it doesn't mean they don't have a problem, but they haven't reached the point where they have a leader like the case of kim worthy in detroit saying, "you know what, we have a problem, let's admit it." >> you have a documentary about

this. >> i was fort nit -- fortunate to be part of a documentary on hbo. it highlighted the amazing s crimes unit. they do a tremendous job. new york city has not had a backlog since 2004. >> most americans who watch the criminal justice system know there are problems obviously, but when you try to get people off the street who are committing crimes, continuing to commit crimes, it's difficult to understand why - how much does it cost to test a rape kit? >> a rape kit costs between $500 and 1500. as the technology develop, it's cheaper. if you wanted to eliminate 5,000, 10,000 cases, you could do it. >> it's 500 a kid. if you look at the bulk rate. there's unique ways of testing. there's y screening where you

are not touching the kit, you isolate the male chrome scro some. there's way -- chromosome. there are ways to make it cheaper. >> what would you like to see? >> we have to take care of it assist a nation and certainly one of the great things about working with the media is really they are going to lead the charge. not enough people know about the issue, first and foremost programs such as yours talking about it and the approach needs to be on a state by state basis. >> i didn't know about it until i saw the story. it's interesting. hopefully action will be taken. good to see you. >> thank you. >> she's the daughter of former president george w. bush and barbara bush, devoting her life to making the world a better place, the global health corp. they seek solutions to

challenging problems. they went to the capital recently to tape young kids about the risk of aids. >> the risk of aids in dc is the highest. it's a great way the curriculum has been brought from a global setting and using it to address a health need in the u.s. >> casey gill borne is a fellow implementing a program that started in africa in the united states. it uses sports as a tool to mobilise communities to stop the spread of hiv. barbara bush visited al jazeera and told me how a former president's group, founded by bill clinton, helped her launch the global health core. >> clinton's was one of our first partners. they were doing great work in africa. we wanted the tupty to learn from their work. >> what are the biggest

challenges in global health. is this patterned after teach for america. >> teach for america was a big inspiration. when i graduated 20% of my class went to work for teach for america. we want to do that for global health, bringing young people into the field, allowing them to have opportunities, and more importantly get them on a path to changing how be address it. after spending a year, and you have a new crew coming in next year. >> we have 106 current fellows accepted out of 2%. it is great. it means that people are dying to work on the issuings. it's hard, because we want to grow and bring more people into the scale. what do they say when they

finish a year. >> they say they are getting started. >> it inspires them to do more work? >> absolutely. the majority works on the issues. what is more remarkable is they work together and reach across boarders and sectors to communicate what is working and not working. it's the same way of providing proof in concept. >> your father in politics, your sister a journalist, you decided to go this way. i mean, this was something burning inside of you, i guess, in college. >> it was. i mean, i - i think that if we have the opportunity to solve major health issues that exist, and we do - we know how to treat the majority of killers and diseases. we are working on getting excellent talent into the field to solve the problems.

>> what is next? >> we are growing - our applications are growing, we are recruiting the next class of fellows serving now and will be the future of global health throughout their lives. >> sounds amazing >>. a crackdown on ivory poachers. how america is trying to save the elephants. in sports, the smallst player in college football is making a big impact on the team.

a the buying and selling of elephant turfings assist a $ -- tusks is a $10 billion business a year. soints in denver -- senators are

in denver tried to send a message, in the form of destroying a stockpile of ivory. >> a giant crushing machine, the same to pull verize rock and concrete on road projects. it went to work on ivory. 6 tonne confiscated - turned to dust, sending a message that selling touching from elephants won't be tolerated. >> we are the second largest market of legal ivory market in the world. unless we have control of our markets, how can we ask china to do the same. by doing this we are taking the first step. >> much of the ivory heads for china and other countries in asia. confiscated ivory has been collected and stored at this

warehouse outside of denver for 20 years. >> ivory is trading on the black market. there's incentives for poachers, hunters and traders to move small pieces of ivory. it means it's not just hunters removing a single elements, it's poachers taking down a whole herd. >> wildlife experts say illegal poaching is carried out by terrorist organizations and cartels profiting in ivory rather than drugs. >> individuals can make hundreds of thousands, if not millions, on ivory or rhino horns in a short period of time. in a lot of countries they won't face gaol time. >> we have a choice. we'll be witness or solution to an unfolding ecological disaster. >> wildlife advocates say

efforts need to be ramps up. >> one elephant is dying every 15 minutes. 30,000 a year. just by simple maths. in less than 10 years, elephants are gone. the time is yesterday. we are running out of the time. >> some of the remains from the ivory destruction will be saved to build a memorial for slaughtered elephants, others will be saved for schools and museums. >> michael eaves is here with sport. rickie incognito back in the news. the nfl's investigation is not complete yet, right? >> it is not. he wants to play regardless of how long that takes. battled miami dolphins rickie incognito wants to play and is willing to challenge his indefinite suspension to make it

happen. nfl players' association confirming that rickie incognito filed a non-injury grievance against the dolphins suspending him for conduct detrimental to the team after allegations emerged that rickie incognito bullied jonathan martin for more than a year. he missed one game. there is a mandate that it can last four games. rickie incognito is seeking a hearing to end his suspension sooner than that. >> when ed-reith least the baltimore ravens, a reason he joined the texans was to go for a second trophy. he signed a contract with the jets. he's expected to play against the bills. signing with the jets reunites him with rex ryan, who served as an assistant coach with the ravens in 2002 and 2008.

>> it feels good, it is right. i'm comfortable and happy to be here. it's a great situation. my goal is to come here. i never played this game, no holding back. i never will. regardless of age, people saying it's a step back, he's slower - this, that and whatever. i'm glad to be in new york. i have seen you guy, i have known you for a long time. i'm worried about who to please. >> less than one half of 1% of young men get the chance to play college football. for a player his odds were smaller than that. mark schneider reports from houston. >> he has to be the least intimidating college football player you have seen. jason carter stands 4 foot 9 weighing 135 pounds. his presence on the rice owls is

no joke. >> it's a full-time joke. i spend more time here than sleeping. >> as a member of the scout team, carter runs the offence in practice to help the defense prepare for the game. his work ethic and athletic ability has team-mates looking up to him. >> he can lift up to three times his poddy weight. by that -- body weight. even though he's smaller, he has a higher sense of respect from a lot of us. >> late last month late in the game rice had a huge lead. after watching him hustle the coach decided to call a play for number 25. >> he came in for me. when i see him, i just my eyes stopped i was, "okay, well, go on in". >> how about this. >> one of the more memorable one yard runs of the season.

>> just a little fella. >> it was something you have never seen - someone smaller than anyone else is on the field. it was a surprise. almost at the end of the fourth quarter the coach told me, "you're going in to run the play", said, "i'll be on stand by." he's been a vital roll. he earned the right to play at a football game. it was agreed to get him in there and let him live part of his dream. >> coach david bailiff said when he saw carter, he had no plan to hut pim on the team. high praise convinced the coach to give him a shop. for carter it wasn't a big bell. >> it was not a surprise going against guys bigger than i am. i have been doing it for as long

as i condition remember. it's never a challenge. >> it proves if you have a dream and are willing to work hard and put your heart and soul and energy behind it - nothing can stop you. >> carter has no idea that the one-yard run is the only play of his career. if it is, he'll be satisfied knowing he did something only a small merge of people have done, no matter their size. >> now to baseball. cabrera, it was hard to top his last season. someone argued he had a better offensive season. for his efforts me was the most valuable player, batting averages higher than last year, and he led the al in all three categories for the second

consecutive season. the first back to back winner since thomas. >> the the mpv to mccutchen, driving 84 run, claiming 28 of 31st-place boats and the pirates at the play-offs for the first time in 21 years. both worthy recipients. >> michael has the weather next and the search for two new star wars icons - the young actors and actresses hope the force is with them.

is . attention jedi knights now is a chance to be in the next star wars movie. we check out the auditions in chicago. >> it's freezing, bitter cold and windy. hundreds are in full force. hoping for sci-fi stardom. some people camped out overnight. the director is stepping away from the franchise reboot for a lucas film and disney.

casting directors are casting a net in search of a male or female to play major roles. they were instructed not to come in costume. >> i was looking forward to doing the job with my bigeni. it's a good idea for that. star wars - my brother got me hooked on this when i as seven. i'm doing it for him. he's in japan. >> auditions like this took pleas in st. louis and england. after a day in chicago, the team moves on. online video auditions are being accepted. the two characters are rachel, young, beautiful, smart, athletic, 17, the young man, 19-20, smart, athletic. if the hope fls make it through

the audition process. it will be years before they are seen in a galaxy far, far away. it's not scheduled to hit theatres until 2015. . hello again. before a start here with the united states, i want to take you to antarctica, to the pyne island glacier. the nasa scientists have been watching the area because coming off the pine island glacier there's a big mass of ice that's cracked on 28 october. just in a couple of weeks, it did crack and started to move. this is a huge glacier, 35 miles wide, 12 miles in width, the size of singapore. do we have to be worried? not really. it takes a couple of years about it moves to open water. that is one things.

it was interesting to see. for the united states there's a big change. great weather across the east coast of the towards the north-west is a system moving in, bringing know, especially to the higher elevations, across many parts of the north-west. some places could see up to two feet of snow. there are warnings for winter snow across the area. that system is going to make its way to the south-east, and for chicago, you'll see some pretty good thunder storms by the time we get to saturday and sunday - gusty winds, thunder storms could be severe. as we get to the beginning of next week, the storm continues to the north-east and it will be new york that sees the bad weather, on monday. it will be a stormy weekend for many people. that's a look at your national weather. have a great night everyone.

welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york, and here is a look at the top stories. >> that's on me. i mean, we fumbled the rollout on the healthcare reform. >> president obama takes the blame and reverses course. millions of americans should be allowed renew individual coverage plans, that insurance company planned to cancel, he says. getting the economy on course the fed chief nominee scran et yellen testified before a senate committee saying she supported low interest rate policies. >> a confirmation vote may be held next week.