morning. ♪ >> welcome to al jazeera america i'm johnathan betz with tonight's headlines. at least five people are confirmed did and dozens more hurt after second tornado swept across several u.s. states today illinois was especially hit hard. give forward, illinois where 20 homes and businesses were torn apart. entire neighborhood were destroyed. >> relatives of the 50 people killed in the russian plane crash arrived at the crash scene. the pilot was reporting a second landing of the bowing 37 m when it wept down. >> in the philippines president keno unfire for the slow response is in hard hit cook low

ban. he says he won't leave until conditions improve. >> the reel o'reports are reaching more people an some in the remote areas are looking for help. france assures israel it sports sanctions on eye rap and it will not back down. >> they ar50eu6 in israel with talks with the president. this comes days before the talks in again flee have a. >> knows are the headlines we planned to bring you the documentary "tiny" but stay tuned to a documentary on the philippines. tiny will air flex week at 9:00 eastern.

consider this: the news of the day plus so much more. >> we begin with the government shutdown. >> answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> it seems like they can't agree to anything in washington no matter what. >> antonio mora, award winning and hard hitting. >> we've heard you talk about the history of suicide in your family. >> there's no status quo, just the bottom line. >> but, what about buying shares in a professional athlete?

conversation >> welcome back. politics seems to play a roll in the frack somehows history of the philippines, it is the truth today. here in tacloban, the largest city to be levelled there has been a major development. yesterday the president of the county, benigno aquino, arrived in tacloban saying that he plans to stay for an indefinite period to oversee rescue and relief operations, because there has been questions about the pace of those efforts. he'll stay here. benigno aquino is well-known to people around the world. he is the son of a legendary political figure and the son of the first female president of the philippines. we are seeing the arrival of a

political dynasty in tacloban. >> thank you. in the aftermath of super typhoon haiyan relief organizations called on international community to help and donate funds. many countries answered the call. the australians are leading the charm when it comes to humanitarian funding, donating more than $28 million. the u.s. $27 million, the u.k., $24 million, the united arab emirates and the japanese $10 million each. there has been a lot of frustration and criticism about the relief efforts in the philippines. survivors still describe conditions as horrific. many have gone days without water and food. joining us now is lieutenant russel honore. you basically have been credited with turning and a botched response to hurricane katrina, and getting things moving on the ground.

what did we learn during hurricane katrina, and how is it being implemented? >> you have to move with speed. the old saying you have to have a need for speed, and that trumps everything. you have to collaborate and coordinate with everyone and get communications to the ground so the government can be reconnected. until the people can talk to each other, you can't work in a collaborative way. the other is to give the government a set of priorities. what is the priority? it has to be saving lives. in the process of doing that it has to be focused on food, water, medicine, and evacuation of critically injured or ill people. and that has to be played out on the ground. you see in c-130 aircrafts, anywhere a c-130 can land - you

get bigger aircraft in there and you get more people whose lives are threatened to include babies that are problems. get them out of the air. trying to sustain them while you do search and rescue won't work. >> there's need for search and rescue. you heard from families, concerned about families. >> is that a problem. >> you turn the switch in this and it gets solved, it's no that. it's a function of capacity to get the airfields so you can get bigger aircraft in there and evacuate the vulnerable populations out and continue search and rescue. at the same time you need medicine and need to evacuate people. you need a balance in what you

are doing. there's people that have not been touched. the clock is running. many times people see the calendar. as i remind my troops, we are dealing with a watch, not a felipe calderon. >> you are meeting with fima that you observed about cuba, the way they respond to natural disasters. here we are looking at developing nations like the philippines. what did you see in cuba that philippines. >> i made three trips to cuba. we want to talk about how a developing country without fima or private insurance, how do they withstand the hurricanes. they teach preparedness in the schools, from elementary to high school, and do evacuation drills. when the government give a warning that a hurricane is coming, they send cars out to pick people up who are on dialysis.

they pick up the pregnant women and babies under 30 days and evac wait them before the storm, and then they send army trucks in to evacuate people. people know if they don't e vac ute there's no insurance or fima. they put the television, matt res and refrigerator on the truck and evacuate ute. >> some of these things don't happen in the u.s. >> they have 2500 medical people that can deploy within hours anywhere in the world. that's a capacity that we need to organise around the u.n. and u.s. and other nations to have a capacity where we can fly in a couple of thousands docs and medical people with equipment. brigade. >> let's bring into the conversation ben smilerwitz. ben, you have been a

whistleblower over bad responses to storms, hurricane katrina , the initial response. what are you seeing. what are the challenges that you see with all the aid groups help. >> we saw earlier in the segment - you have dedicated skilled people that go in to help out. that's great. the problem is sometimes you have 100 generals moving in at the same time. they say here we don't need 100, just a few. the public and the u.s., when they want to help, it's important to figure out which groups have the greatest capacity to deliver services that are plucked in to the organizations. the philippines prepared for disasters, they have a lot of typhoons. they are the ones that need to prepare for the next one. if the groups rush in and take over. they'll inhib it the response time. >> there's no shortage of people

on the internet asking for money to go and provide help. does this provide hep or create problems. either one of you can chime in on that. >> certainly it's a challenge. but, you know, good intentions - i think some people need to wait until you get to recovery. search and rescue - every helicopter, every aircraft needs food, water and medicine and on the way out carrying people, the vulnerable population that needs to get to a place to be cared for. i don't see how you can move supplies by air. there'll have to be a mass evacuation until you get the infrastructure back up like electricity and water. if you take waterpurification unit in, it will take days. they have a tough problem on the hand.

nothing i say is easy. the priority of work is set. the good news is the president of the country is there. if you don't handle a disaster right. it can be disruptive to the government. >> if you don't spend the money, that can be a problem as we saw after the earthquake in haiti. >> there's a lot of philippines based organizations that are responding. the question is how quickly will they move money and resources so they can deliver services the way they plan. >> otherwise, what, it sits in a bank account and looks good for charity, but not for the people on the ground. >> we saw after sandy, we saw a lot on the ground. half the fund were in the bank. money doesn't have to move fast like a general rule, but if services are needed and you have money and resources, you have it move them. >> what do we need to do to

better prepare the world for the storms happening. one thing you mentioned was technology. >> better technology, communicating after the electricity. satellite communications i villages. philippine is our ally. if someone told us 10 days ago that a foreign army would attack tacloban and would destroy or kill 1,000 people, the pacific fleet would have been assembled and went that way. you know, when we see things like typhoons and tsunamis - we have to start moving. because the first rule of warfare is get there. this is a war when you get attacked by mother nature, kills thousands of people. we have to respond quicker. we have to treat it like if someone attacks an ally and starts moving. we have to stop waiting for people to wait for help.

>> russel honore and ben smilowitz. thank you both for joining us. when we come back, extreme weather closer to homes. twisters touch down in the midwest. we take you to the hardest hit areas. that's coming up >> one other thing points to this being an assassination. >> you've revealed the crime of the century. >> our two-part gripping documentary event concludes.

>> welcome back to, "america tonight", our coverage of the typhoon haiyan. before we continue we have severe weather of our own to tell you about. more than 50 million across the midwest thre midwest threatened by a fast-moving tornado. nearly 50 tornados were reported across the region, five confirmed deaths at the height of the storm tornado watchers were issued from michigan to missouri. rebecca steven joins us from new

york, metrologist, with the situation. >> adam, at last count the storm prediction center showed there was 77 outbreaks. missouri, illinois, kentucky and ohio with the tornados. the storm system started this morning. they broke out from missouri to illinois. by the time we hit noon we confirmed two tornado touch downs in illinois, one to the north and one to the south, that you can barely see a small hooking in the echo of the radar to the south of the red box. after the storms hit, they simply continued on to cause more damage as it worked its way through parts of indiana and into ohio. the rain was

coming down. lightening strikes and wind reports. 300 with the storm. the combination of the two makes it more likely we are going to continue through the wind gusts, continuing across the north-east as the storm tracks into canada. since 1998 storm prediction center is forecast two high risk tornado days. they were in 2002 and 2005. here, sunday, november 17th, 2013, it will go down as day three in the month of november for a high-risk forecast of power thunder storms brought by a difference of temperature and a strong low pressure system. back to you. >> thank you so much for joining us tonight. >> the severe weather forced chicago bear fans to run for cover. the wild weather causing evacuations of soldier field. fans and players

were sent to areas. >> we have the latest. what is happening out there ashar quraishi. >> it is quiet now. earlier this afternoon there were heavy wind gusts, a lot of rain. the spectators that came to soldier field were prepared. there were precautions issued by the office of emergency management for them to be prepared for the possibility of them taking cover. half an hour after kick-off they moved down to the safe protection areas. they were waiting, bracing for a possibility of storms. they were moving quickly through central illinois, chicago, passing the city from the south. the damage was not bad. we had wind gusts and rain that subsided by midafternoon. the devastation in central

illinois ascertained. we understand that washington was hit hard. some of the devastation that we showed destroyed homes, cars overturned and the office of emergency management telling us - saying the injuries could be in the hundreds. it's hard to tell with darkness falling. the illinois national guard deployed a team. >> clean up will take days, if not weeks and months. thank you for joining us. >> nine days ago one of the most powerful storms recorded roared ashore, devastating the philippines. joie chen joins us once again from one of the hardest hit areas. tacloban. what truck me about the last interviews that you conducted. a lot of people want to get out. but they can. >> we have seen al jazeera correspondents span out throughout the central philippines and heard different kinds of stories, stories of

communities levelled, so many stories of towns becoming virtual ghost towns, abandoned by the residents left. in many cases, because communications were the first thing to go and the last to comeback, in so many cases worried son, daughters and family members rushing home to try to find anything left of their family homes. >> this is a category 5 superstorm. the red cross says 15 million need help. >> as always no storm can bring knees. >> this is what rescue crews will see when they reach isolated areas. devastated towns and vielages. >> a tornado passed us. it lasted four hours. >> the extent of the devastation is making rescue and relief

difficult. airports in the central philippines have been damaged. many roads are impassable. emergency personnel walked for hours reaching survivors with aid. >> wanting to be useful volunteers are coming in droves to the government warehouse, working around the clock to help relief efforts for the victims of typhoon haiyan in the central philippines. some haven't let physical challenges hold them back. >> i wanted to help those badly affected by the storm. >> the weather is deteriorating again, leaving people to look for protection in whatever is left of their homes. >> we have to stay here. we don't have money to leave. we don't have anything to improve shelter. we'll have to cope. >> there are so many casualties in tacloban, the main hospital has no time to deal with the dead. some patients are outside, while

tired doctors and nurses take a rare break in the fresh air. most have been working long hours since the typhoon struck. inside there's no electricity and it's hot. >> all 63-year-old rupert wants to do is sleep. he hasn't been able to do that in six days. he may have survived the storm. life. >> translation: how many of us are left? and now this. something else may take our lives. people coming into our houses. you. >> a structure damaged by typhoon haiyan is the local prison. many inmates are believed to storm. >> there's not a second to lose as australian air force troops back their c130 with equipment and supplies. it's a plane full of aid workers, police and a civilian, a young woman holding back tears

in the cargo area. as the plane descends into that landscape she is overwhelmed. her name is delia pagatpatan. hundreds here are desperate to leave - but delia pagatpatan is desperate to get in. she hasn't heard from her family in more than a week and is terrified of what she might find in her home town of taytay. heading east to the ocean, a panay ramma of destruction scrolls buy. once a bustling seaside ham the of 500 families, it's hard to imagine anyone could have lived through this. then, a shout. >> that's your brother. >> it's her older fausto. >> a story of a happy reunion outside of wayan. one of many stories of people looking, hoping to reunite through communications. it's

amazing to think how much we have lost because we expect to have communications. a situation like this reminds us how important it is to build them. >> thank you so much. >> it's truly difficult to comprehend the raw power of the typhoon and the damage it cost. look at the amateur video released by a group plan international. it shows the storm surge. wiping away the homes, the waves, surrounding buildings there before uprooting them from the foundation, and, yes, there were people in some of those homes at the time of that video. these are before and after pictures. digital globe, a private satellite company switched on cameras above the city. you can see the devastation caused by the typhoon, wiping out the city. tacloban was one of the fastest growing cities in the country.

when disaster strikes the need is to save lives, children, especially girls, are at risk after disasters in developing nations. unicef's director is joining us from new york. why are children so at risk after disasters like this? >> well, children are vulnerable. we estimate that tacloban affected over 5 million children. they are vulnerable because of disease. and one of the first things that unicef worked on with the local water authorities as well as ngos and with the support of u.s. and filipino military is getting in the water system in tacloban, getting it back up and running. we can say today that we have restored water to approximately 270,000 people in tacloban. about 80% of the population, that will

avoid disease outbreaks. diseases that children are vulnerable too. we need to look at nutrition, and questions and concerns about violence and separation of children from their families, at. >> good to hear that headway is being made. an alarming report from plan international was released saying girls are more likely to die than boys after disasters. what is unicef doing to try to protect girls in particular? >> firstly, you need to engage girls and women in the relief effort - have plans so that you have dedicated facilities for them, sanitation facilities, ways to have showers where privacy is protected. you need to re-establish education so children get a sense. normal si, and the girl child is

in school and protect the girl child against sexism and gender based violence. getting them back with families, establishing child friendly places to girls and boys are in a place where they can play and get a sense of normalcy. if they are separated from their family, find a foster base arrangement until you can police. >> you bring up an interesting issue, one that is concerning about sexual violence against children. i have read reports of human traffickers trying to get into countries after disasters like this to take advantage of children. how big a problem is that in a developing country like the philippines, and what is it unicef that. >> one thing in the philippines is they have good structures in place, child protection committees.

what is important is to re-establish the structures to keep an eye on children who may have been separated, unaccompanied, children who are vulnerable and make sure there is no traffic. so far it seems that the reports that have been received are rather limited because there has been such a strong community response, because a number of organizations flake plan international, unicef have been on the ground working to establish child friendly spaces, re-establish the child protection committees and take steps to reunify children families. >> we are hearing that they may need six months of aid on the ground. this. >> unicef will be there. it will take six months to get through this initial phase.

restriction. over 1,000 schools damaged or used by shelter. we'll need to be there and stay the course until the schools are running, until health centres are operating. we will be there with the filipino children, supporting the government and civil society in the philippines. we'll stay the course. >> an endless list of challenges. the director of emergencies with unicef. thank you for joining us. >> ahead - more from joie chen reporting from hard-hit tacloban, on your social report "typhoon haiyan - the philippines in crisis." desperate to help, how filipino americans are reaching out to disaster. >> the filipino people are no strangers to typhoons, according to a joint typhoon warning center. 80 typhoons develop over tropic

call waters. 19 into the philippines regions, six of nine make landfall. >> start with one issue education... gun control... the gap between rich and poor... job creation... climate change... tax policy... the economy... iran... healthcare... ad guests on all sides of the debate. >> this is a right we should all have... >> it's just the way it is... >> there's something seriously wrong... >> there's been acrimony... >> the conservative ideal... >> it's an urgent need... and a host willing to ask the tough questions >> how do you explain it to yourself? and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern only on al jazeera america

the stream is uniquely interactive television. in fact, we depend on you, your ideas, your concerns. >> all these folks are making a whole lot of money. >> you are one of the voices of this show. >> i think you've offended everyone with that kathy. >> hold on, there's some room to offend people, i'm here.

>> we have a right to know what's in our food and monsanto do not have the right to hide it from us. >> so join the conversation and make it your own. >> watch the stream. >> and join the conversation online @ajamstream.

>> one other thing points to this being an assassination. >> you've revealed the crime of the century. >> our two-part gripping documentary event concludes. >> audiences are intelligent and they know that their in

"america tonight" we thing about what it means and what you can say to somebody who has lost everything. indeed, that is the case in the central philippines. it raises the question. what is the closest experience these people can have, as part of our series "reaching out" we speak with kimberley rivers roberts, a woman that survived katrina. >> i'm kimberley rivers-roberts, i'm a hurricane katrina survivor. the people in the philippines remind me sort of of what happened here. it looked like a bomb hit new orleans. you saw trash everywhere, you had water up to your waist with

all type of debris and oil and trash. during a disaster it's like time slows down. i hear the roof climbing, clattering, and the shingles and the wood on the roof slamming up against the boards. it made us think the roof would fly off. then you hear the whistle. and that's the wind and the water. circling the house. it was - it was definitely something. i lost two loved ones in katrina. it was a waiting game. it was hard on my family waiting to see - you know, waiting for someone to give us answers

about, you know, if that was our loved one and that. imagine losing them and don't know where the body is. no one knows where they are at. you have to have a funeral three to four or six months later because they finally find someone they say is him or her. you are stuck with an open case, open grief, no closure, because they don't know where - if that's then. the question that i posed to myself is we have to keep moving. you know, we ain't got time to get angry. we have to make a decision. it's your hand. you got to work the hand. you got do the best you can with what you've got. i have water. i know how to take a bath. i know how to look up and see everything is full of mud in houses and flats. and loved ones and people and

decomposing bodies stinking. we had nothing but the close on our back. we had our heart. we had will. we had love and compassion. we did the best we could with that. the first step to recovery is look to yourself, make a decision that you will let this make or break you. >> i see the people in the philippines bouncing back. it's a slow process. we haven't fully recovered as a city. i know in time we'll be each other's comforters in the community, help each other back. and have the - what i - nothing is possible. have the faith in your own ability, which you can do. at the end of the day you need to have something outside of yourself to cling to, especially when you have lost loved ones and all your personnel property, pictures, memory. to the people in the

philippines, i want to encourage you to hold tonne your faith. it seems as if the war has come to an end. it will be tough moving forward, i want you to have the faith within yourself that you can and will move forward beyond this. >> kimberley rivers roberts reaching out and helping to understand the situation of people in central philippines. one thing i found interesting, adam, and that is the sense of resilience that so many of the people carry with them. they seem to have a lot of strength and reserve. ability to become frustrated, anxious about what lies ahead. really, willing to understand that look sometimes is it takes a long time for help to come. sometimes it's not enough to help everybody. sometimes the rides out of the town are not going to be available right away.

there's a sense here look, we can work it out together, and we'll move forward" making the folks resill ent. and you can understand that they back. >> that's joie chen on the ground for us in the philippine. it's morning. folks have a busy day ahead of them. continuing to recover and you reporting to us. thank you so much. see you again with another story here coming up tomorrow night. that's it for us on "america tonight." if you would like to comment on any stories you have seen, log on to the website at aljazeera.com/americatonight. you can join the conversation on twitter or our facebook page. thanks for watching this special report here on "america tonight", good evening, and we'll see you again tomorrow night. .

welcome to al jazeera america. here are the top stories we're following at this hour. five people are dead across illinois after tornados ripped through the midwest. neighbourhoods were reduced to rubble. hundreds of homes destroyed. >> philippines president benigno aquino is promising to remain in hard-hit tacloban. his government has faced criticism for the handling of typhoon haiyan. help is reaching more, but remote areas need supplies. >> 50 people aboard a plane that crash the in russia have been killed. >> a boeing 737 went down 500 miles east of