>> the supreme court refuses to stand in the way of a restrictive abortion law in texas - opponents say it effectively shuts many clinics. >> president obama says the federal health care website should be in better shape by the end of the month. they were warned it was not ready. >> 23 people have been killed in a suicide bombing outside the iranian embassy in beirut - an al-qaeda group sakes ownership. >> jpmorgan pays a record settlement for selling risky mortgages that contributed to

the global financial crisis. [ ♪ music ]. hello, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. the supreme court has ruled against blocking a restrictive abortion law in texas. the ruling let's the state continue to enforce some of the strictest abortion restrictions in the country while a legal appeal continues in a lower court. by a 5-4 vote they decided not to intervene to require doctors who perform abortion tos have admitting privilege at hospitals. the law also limits the use of abortion-inducing drugs, bans them after the 20th week of pregnancy and limits procedures to surgical facilities. a legal challenge will be held in jan. >> a victory in new mexico for those in favour of the abortion rights.

voters rejected a ban on late-term abortions in burke. battles are usually fought at the federal and state levels. the law would have barred doctors performing abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. there was no exceptions for cases of rape or inassessment. >> sign-ups for medical insurance are rising. a new report says the barack obama administration was warned about the problems with the federal website. mike viqueira has more from the white house. >> there are continuing questions about who knew what when, in terms of the troubled rollout and problems it would face for healthcare.gov over the course of the last six months, it's a government inept attitude problem that continues to undermine confidence in the enterprise, and a political disaster. a new revelation today - a private consulting form, mckenzie&company, had a meeting

with the government, predict ght the glitches that brought disaster to the health care rollout. insufficient testing, no set targets. the white house admitted the president had been briefed about the report, but again they repeat what they said all along. no one could have anticipated, they say, the size or scope of the problems by this website and the rollout of the affordable care act. president obama was across town at a forum sponsored by "the wall street journal" and was asked about the health care law. >> we probably underestimated the complexities of building out a website that needed to work the way it should. there is a larger problem that i probably speak personally but as the administration could have identified earlier, and that it the way the federal government does procurement and it is just

generally not very efficient. >> when we talk about undermining public confidence, to enter the health care system to buy insurance, it has to be balanced out. by the young not using help and olders that do. the premium is predicated on that. as the health care law becomes undermined with glitches, and more warnings of the glitches, public confidence wane, and it threatens the system. >> mike viqueira reporting from the white house there. negotiations on iran's nuclear program are scheduled to resume in wednesday at geneva. president obama gave progress reports. president obama urged them to give diplomacy a chance. >> let's look let's test the proposition that obvious the next six months we can resolve

this in a diplomatic fashion. while maintaining the essential sanctions architecture, and, as president of the united states, me maintaining all options to prevent them getting nuclear weapons. >> iran's foreign minister echoed the president's statements, saying the geneva talks could end a long-running standoff. >> a group with ties to al qaeda is taking credit for the explosions at the iranian embassy in lebanon. it may be a link to the war in syria. 23 were killed, including an iranian diplomat. we have the details from beirut. >> scenes of devastation. two powerful bombs were detonated outside the iranian embassy in beirut early on tuesday. along with civilians the cultural attacha is among the people killed.

firefighters rushed to the scene to put out the flames and help the wounded. >> translation: i am syrian, working opposite the iranian embassy. on the way to work the first explosion took place, then a minute later the second. i was unconscious and woke in hospital. >> al qaeda claimed responsibility, and it was a message to iran. >> it was a message saying, "we can hit you anywhere. if you are going to be involved in syria, we can hit you in front of the iranian embassy in front of beirut or anywhere else." >> rain iran is a backer of bashar al-assad and hezbollah. the attack appears to be the latest spillover from the syrian war. it was not the first of its kind. a car bombing killed scores of civilians in the southern suburbs of beirut. those who carried out attacks

said it was in retaliation for hezbollah's participation in the syrian war. >> it will not change the political conditions of iraq. for both the fight in syria is their fight. >> this message is useless and our deployment is not only strategic but political. iran's position cannot be changed by such a message. iran and hezbollah will remain allies to syria and hezbollah will fight to safeguard strategic enterprises. sunni and shiite factions support opposing sides. people warn of more afacts in the days and weeks to come as syria's war is fought in lebanon. >> the white house condemned the bombing in beirut, urging

parties to exercise calm and restraint. >> damage from tornados in the midwest could cost $1 billion. entire communities in illinois were destroyed. one cut a path of destruction many miles long. this report on how they are starting over. >> flash lights and batteries. >> this is a community banding together. here at crossroads church, a red cross relief centre is stepped up. a hallway is lined with donated clothing. the making of a warehouse filled with bare necessities. >> peopling are coming in the building to get warm, sit and drink a coffee. we had posters, councillors and people coming in to help. they are dealing with shock. >> seeking the warmth of a coat, retired basketball coach darryl herman's home was levelled.

>> there's nothing left. all the way to the ground. the bare foundation, flooring, concrete. that's what's left. >> cathy was inside at the time. >> here she is over here. >> cathy is meeting with an insurance adjustor, amazed that she's here to talk about the tornado. >> a dry wall came off the basement wall there and laid over in the coffee table in the middle of the room, caught it and made a bridge for me. somebody's looking out for me. >> after a half century of marriage with decades spent in a washington home building memories, the hermans are asking a difficult question - how do you start over from this. this is what their home looked like before the storms. this is what it looked like today. >> it was a small little area that i crowelled out of. >> while they are grateful to be alive, they say it's difficult not to have doubts about their

future. >> i don't know if i want to live in washington now, after all this. >> a question that lingers for them and others when there are more pieces than can ever be picked up. >> six were killed in illinois, the most deaths caused by tornados on a single nova scotia day in that state. it will be a cold morning for many across the north-east. that's because of the cold air ushered in from canada, across the northern plains, great lakes. with the outbreak of severe weather. things will warm up for many here. don't expect it to last too long, by the time we get to the weekend we expected another lot of cold air coming out of canada. we have a lot of rain to talk about, all the the way down,

coming across california as well, and the higher elevation, of course are dealing with the snow - much-needed getting the ski areas to open up. we expect to see a lot of rain making its way to the south-west. higher elevations of the rain will be snow, and some locations that will be pretty heavy rain. for seattle the rain will be out of the picture at least for the next five days. temperatures not going anywhere above 50 degrees. we may see temperatures dipping below freezing in the overnight hours. >> there it is in california. for san francisco - rain showers pushing through. we don't expect it to go far south. los angeles and palm springs, you'll be dry. nevada dry to the south, wet to the north. temperatures in los angeles - 89 on wednesday. look what happens on friday and saturday.

really cooling down, down. for texas, most of the rain is going to remain here towards the south and parts of corpus christy and brownsville. for dallas a high of 70. >> nearly two weeks after typhoon haiyan struck the delivery of aid to survivorsurv we are looking at one town. >> the execution of a missouri man put on hold. why he says he should not be put to death. >> jpmorgan pays a fine. how home owners may ben fix

-- may benefit. cz it's been nearly two weeks since typhoon haiyan struck in the philippines, many survivors are waiting for relief. especially in towns on outlaying islands. the u.n. reports progress in tacloban, a hard-hit area.

food distribution networks are in place, and everyone there has access to clean water. more than 4,000 are confirmed dead. over 18,000 were injured in the storm. doctors are trying to reach some of them. half a million homes were destroyed, displacing 4 million people. paul beban visited a town getting its first medical relief since the storm. >> two u.s. seahawks are on a mission to deliver medical care to the hard-hit town of luanne. the landing zone is a shattered schoolyard. a search and rescue squad - doctors and nurses unload vaccine and antibiotics. first order of business - evacuate this injured man to manila. the team heads to the town hall. it's ripped to shreds and serving as an aid center.

>> it's also a triage center. >> people are coming in, they haven't gotten tetanus injections. they are the walking wounded. >> typhoon haiyan's wind and waves pounded luanne, and amazingly only nine people died. >> how did you survive? >> we swim over the >> off the streets. >> yes, up the street. >> wow. one town official, andy heidelberg, says the town basically needs everything. how many people do you think are homeless? >> almost 80% of the population. 80%. about $8,000 people at least. >> yes, it's almost destroyed. >> antonio em-iing rated in 1982. later he built a home here. he raced back when he heard how

bad things were. >> if no help from international community, this will be a coast town. right now 50% move to manila. >> recovery is about more than food and medicine. these are some of the children of the luwan, playing in antonio's front yard. their games are guided by workers. the goal is to let kids be kids but help them to open up about what they lived through. they are coping with disaster like everyone else - some better than others. >> government officials say rebuilding damaged areas in the central philippines could cost $6 billion. >> the italian government declared a stayed of emergency on sardinia, homes and bridges have been washed out. 16 have died. we have this report. >> eyewitnesss called it a water

bomb. the amount of water that pours in the sunny sardinia over six months filling the space in 24 hours on monday. this is the result. towns underwater. cars swept away, the water gulfing anything in its past. residents stuck in their own houses. >> translation: it got to the second floor of the building. the situation is dramatic. >> overnight the storm lit up the skies. emergency services moved in. many are known to have died. by dawn the scope of the destruction became clear. a state of emergency was declared by the italian government. >> translation: the operation at the moment is concentrating on saving human lives and the assistance to the population that has been evacuated. unfortunately it's a lot of

people. unfortunately the number of the victims has risen in the night, dramatically. >> after leaving death and destruction in sardinia the depression is moving towards the mainland threatening the center in south italy. >> usually when rain hits italy was a whole this is where the eyes turn to. the river. on tuesday, its level drew to up to 6 metres. it's far from the dangerous level of 13 metres it reached last year. with forecasts of uninterrupted torrential rains until thursday, authorities closed access to the tiber in the hope that rome and the rest of italy will weather the storm. >> the italian government has set aside $27 million to help sardinia. details are emerging about the

stabbing of the virginia state senator cree deeds. his 24-year-old son stabbed himself in the head before shooting himself. austin died tuesday in his home. he was given a psychiatric evaluation on monday. the 55-year-old state hospital is hospitalized in fair condition. in 2009 deeds lost to bos mcdonald in the republican race. >> attorney-general eric holder says a decision will be announced on whether george zimmerman will face civil rights charges. he was acquitted of second degree murder and manslaughter in the shooting of trayvon martin. he was charged with assault after his girlfriend accused him of pointing a gun at her. >> a missouri man on death row who admitted to murdering jews and blacks is getting another

start. joseph paul franklin got another stay of execution. he was scheduled to die by lethal objection. he was sentenced to death for the murder of a man outside a synagogue, and targetting jews and blacks from 1977 to 1980. franklin insists he was mentally ill at the time. >> jpmorgan has agreed to pay $13 billion for knowingly selling risky mortgages contributing to the financial crisis. it's the largest settlement of its kind in u.s. history. >> after months of negotiations it's official. >> i'm proud to join our partners in an unprecedented state and federal partnership in announcing a landmark settlement with jpmorgan for misconduct that contributed to the global financial crisis that brought the economy to its knees.

the $13 billion deal requires jpmorgan to shell out there 9 billion to settle civil charges that it and two banks acquired during the financial crisis - mislead investors about the quality of investments. $4 billion is marked - including measures to help struggling home owners. the settlement amounts to half of jpmorgan's profit last year. during the conference call, the chief financial officer indicated the sting may not be as painful as headline numbers suggest. >> it's our understanding ta the $2 billion penalty will not be tax deductible. the $7 million compensation will be deduckible for tax purposes. jpmorgan admitted that it made misrepresentations. it does not absolve it or

executives from criminal charges stemming from its practices. >> attorney-general eric holder is offering his reaction to the jpmorgan settlement and he said, "without a doubt the conduct of this investigation helped sow the seeds of the mortgage meltdown." it's the end of the road for toronto's mair as a tv show host. why the plug is pulled on rob ford's program after one episode. >> new york city bumps a law bumping up the age of those who can by tobacco products. >> and the u.s. post hopes a wizard can weave magic to put a dent in its huge debt.

a florida congressman will appear in court wednesday accused of co-cane possession. trey raydul was a first-time

republican and was rested that washington d.c. he apologised to family and constituents saying: >> he faces a maximum of 180 days in gaol and is a fine of up to $1,000. the toronto's mayors television career comes to on end. rob ford co-hosted a show with brother dug. it promised the booze, dope and the honest truth. "sun" news pulled the plug 24 hours later. rob ford was stripped of his budget powers after admitting to smoking crack. >> mcdonald's is helping a campaign in denmark to boost voter turn out. it's allowing people to vote at some locations during local and regional elections. it hosted debate and allowed candidates to campaign in the shop. it was cooked up by the government and youth

associations. >> smoking just got tougher for those under 21 in new york city. a law against teen smoking is the strictest of any u.s. city. >> city officials say new yorkers started smoking early. a satisfied new york mayor michael bloomberg signed the bill tuesday that will make it tougher. >> i think it's a little bit invasion into people's rights. >> too many people are dying of cancer. if there's a way of trying to stop people getting cancer, by raising the age, that's a good thing. >> at the smoke shop in mann hatton the clerk was glum. he didn't want to talk on camera, saying the young comprised a sizeable chunk of his customers. the mayor insists this measure

is about saving lives. >> this century a billion people will die from smoking around the world. we don't want any of the people that died being new yorkers. that's the one thing we can do. >> this is michael bloomberg's final health initiative before leaving office. michael bloomberg considers himself as maverick when it comes to enacting laws he believes makes new yorkers healthier. he passed a law in 2006 on transact. last year he tried to push through a bill on large fizzy drinks. it's tied up in litigation. >> we didn't find any outraged by the tobacco laws, but they didn't think it would stop kids smoking much imented kids will by it at other places. >> people who really still want to smoke will get the secrets

some way. >> the shift away from nicotine is under way. since 2002. teen smoking has decreased from 19 to 8%. the tobacco law goes in effect next may. mayor michael bloomberg will have left office. he hopes in a generation or two the law will ensure that smoking is no longer the number one cause of preventible death among new yorkers. >> mayor michael bloomberg signed a companion bill imposing penties for discounts on cigarettes. harry potter will pop up on a stamp near you. the u.s. postal service is releasing stamps in honour of the boy wizard and friends. it's hoped he'll help to boost the cash-strapped service. that will do it for al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy. news at the top of every hour. thanks for watching, have a great evening.

>> hi, i'm lisa fletcher, and you're in "the stream." when a child is raised in a loving home with two loving parents, does gender matter in we'll hear from two raised by same-sex parents. >> all right, raj is bringing in all of your questions in the show. we have 600 lights on facebook right now. >> check out my page. this has set the record for the amount of community feedback.