>> hi everyone, this is aljazee. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. the risk after the u.k. raises is terror threat level. what are the issues for the united states for the islamic state group. boiling point. ukrainian pushes for full membership in the united nations. nearly half all syrians forced to leave their homes

because of war. and voices from the past. the punk rocker preserving syria's ancient holy music beforists too late. -- before it's too late. >> the white house says there are no plans to raise the u.s. terror threat level despite warnings out of britain about the risk posed by the so-called islamic state. today the u.k. raised its own threat level to severe, mainly saying the attack is highly likely. libby casey joins us from washington with more. libby. >> john, british government puts the number of people who traveled to iraq at more than 400. that means they could be getting trained and battle tested and come home to commit acts of

terror. >> that means a terrorist attack is highly likely. but there's no intelligence to suggest that an attack is imminent. >> reporter: in front of gathered journalists, friements david cameron -- prime minister david cameron announced. >> we need to do more to stop people traveling. to stop those who do go from returning and to dedecisively with those who are already here. i will be making a statement on the house of commons on monday. new legislation that will make it easier to take people's passports away. >> a release of a video showing the beheading of james foley by allegedly a bric british citize.

>> a british terrorist recorded on that video. it was clear evidence not that any more was needed that this is not some foreign conflict thousands of miles from home that we can hope to ignore. >> reporter: the u.s. is not raising its security level. secretary of homeland security jay johnson put out a statement that said at present the u.s. department of homeland security and the fbi are unaware of any specific credible threat to u.s. home land from i.s.i.l. but he did warn the islamic state group known as i.s.i.l. also remains a serious threat. josh ernest said that across the nation they face heightened challenged. >> i would observe publicly from here that part of the british concern is that there is according to published reports, a relatively large number of individuals with british passports who have gone to the region to fight alongside

i.s.i.l. the published reports as they relate to the number of americans who are there is somewhat lower. >> reporter: earl yes this week the national -- earlier this year, confirmed douglas mcarthur mccain. american intelligence officials have identified nearly a dozen americans who have traveled to the region to fight for islamic state. while the u.s. says it's still weighing its options in syria including use of military might, u.s. forces destroyed four islamic state armored vehicles near mosul dam. u.s. central command or centcom says this brings the total number of vehicles destroyed in iraq to 110. john. >> libby casey, thank you. thomas sanderson, work

focuses on terrorism, extremist groups in central and middle east. thomas, welcome. >> thank you, good to be here. >> 500 by some estimates the number of british sentence wh who -- citizens who have joined the islamic state group. how difficult is it to track those people? >> extremely difficult. you'd have to know their intentions before they're leaving and britain does have good security services at home with mi-5 and the police. but they can maybe pick up what they're planning to do in syria and iraq. they see this as a legitimate battle so they may not necessarily hide it. but once they go and coming back and tracking them and finding them is very difficult. you may not know they've gone to syria. they may be traveling to different parts of the world, and if they don't have a stamp in their passport which they will not, the british may not know where they've gone to fight

or do anything. >> could that number be higher and we just don't know them? >> oh yes, i'm sure the estimates are below what is really. the russians at 800, i think those numbers are higher because some people go and cover their tracks exceptionally well and i think those individuals don't rise to the surface for those looking. >> how much more? >> oh, it's impossible to say, of course. but look, we have anywhere from 8 to 12,000 fighters, foreign fighters who are in syria who have gone to syria, that's so many more than what we had in iraq we don't know where they are, we don't know how many other people they have inspired but the incredible media exposure we've had on i.s.i.s. for the past couple of months now certainly good for informing citizens what's going on but it certainly draws more people to what's going on now and enables

i.s.i.s. to recruit better. but of course they use social media to do most of their recruitment. >> we've heard so much about the intelligence operation, of the united states government, delving into social media and computer and internet, is that the way they follow people? >> oh yes certainly. social media provides positives and negatives, i think on better it's been better for the militants to use social media in the way that they have because it's excellent for a recruitment, for the small degree of fundraising they do do, via that method. but it also just allows them to demonstrate that one they hold territory, two that they have been successful in attack being, and killing shiites and others. , and to claim the mantle of the global jihad. we can use it to identify

individuals perhaps locating them, certainly markers from our country and from the u.k. and other places that appear on these individuals who are on social media, is to our advantage. but i think ultimately and for last couple of years the militants, the extremists out there have used social gleed a very effective -- media in a very effective way. >> is that the reason the threat level was raised today? >> well i think there's probably a combination of things and though they don't have any evidence of an imminent attack i think that the intelligence services and the security services in the u.k. have probably picked up some chatter. but number 2, yes, the number of individuals there is high. number 3, heavy net, british individuals killed uranium foley is another -- james foley is another indicator that they are willing to do incredibly violent

and disgusting things. >> thomas sanderson good to talk to you. thank you so much. >> thank you. now to the crisis in ukraine. no doubt, u.n. secretary-general says, russia has sent troochtion into many ukraine. simon macgreg gor wood has more. >> despite moscow's hollow denials, it is clear that troops have crossed the border into eastern and southeastern ukraine. this is not an isolated action but part of a dangerous pattern. >> reporter: on thursday, nato produced the satellite photos which said it proved russian

artillery and armored columns are now operating on ukrainian soil. in kiev prime minister under the stakes. he said he was asking parliament to back a possible bid to one day join cincinnati, a move that will further infuriate moscow. >> would like to consider the law on abandoning ukraine's nonaligned status and back ukraine's desire to become part of nato. >> joining european union was what started this whole thing. nato secretary-general said membership was not discussed. but any decision ukraine took would be respected. >> each and every nation has an inherent right to decide itself on security policies and its

alliance affiliation. >> powered scorn on nato's accusations. >> translator: from the very beginning of this we have been blamed for everything. so it's not the first time that we hear all sorts of conjecture. not once have facts been presented to us. there have been reports of photographs from space shoak russian troops but at -- showing russian troops but as it turned out it was a computer game and images were taken from there. >> reporter: europe's foreign minister are meeting in milan. eu letters will take up that issue in brussels where they will also express their support by hosting petro poroshenko. simon mcgregor wood, al jazeera. set their sights on a major

ukrainian see port and vladimir putin also fired back at nato and reminded the world that russia is a nuclear power. >> putin was speaking outside moscow and he said it is now time for kiev to begin talks. talks should not be just about technicalities like prisoner exchange but also fundamentals about what rights should people in the southeast region expect. and he also compared the actions of the ukrainian military with those of the german troops and the second world war. he said, sad as it may seem it reminds me of world war ii where germans would surround our cities like leningrad. they are expected to be unveiled at a meeting of eu letters in brussels on saturday.

investors in moscow very nervous. the renewable fel renewable felt point since 1960. >> p.j. crowelly joinp.j. crowl. hello john. the challenge is it would redefine not just ukraine's relationship with russia but in essence redefine europe's relationship with russia by bringing the alliance white to russia's doorstep. >> again, do you think it's likely or not? >> i think there are some very formidable hurdles to overcome. i don't think it's likely, first off, to be clear. for one, are you don't bring a border dispute, an active border

dispute into the alliance. so for ukraine to qualify for nato membership somewhere down the road, it would have to clear the dispute or, you know they're still looking for russia to be fully integrated into the global system. they want to see russia as a constructive partner. they're very concerned about russia's activities here. but this would be isolating russia even further than it already is. >> and in fact nato condemned russia today saying it had illegally crossed the border. can we expect nato to take further action? >> well, by definition, you know, nato has a responsibility to defend its own countries. and so it does not necessarily have a specific obligation

regarding ukraine. that said, i think among the things that will be considered over time, are there things that nato can help ukraine do with its military capability. obviously those things have to be done within the context of trying to resolve this problem not necessarily needing further russian adventurism. but certainly there will continue to be military operations, exercises and so forth, that should russia's adwretion continue that -- aggression continue that these will be defended. >> do you think nato would engage militarily with russian forces? >> i don't think that's the case. as the president said yesterday, he does not see a military

situation to the ukrainian situation. you know and does not want to pursue one necessarily with ukrainian membership in nato. but certainly, this is as much a political challenge as anything else. and this is precisely why nato expanded and why countries in the baltics, poland and so forth, pursued nato membership expressly because they feared russian aggression. but i think -- what putin wants to do here, he wants to continue to influence the future direction of ukraine. he does not want to have a military confrontation with nato. >> you could have fooled some people because there are a lot of people who watch this and think he does want a military confrontation. if this -- if nato is not going to engage militarily, what's to stop vladimir putin from running roughshod over the ukrainians? >> in the previous report, it's the impact on the russian

economy, the impact on putin's cronies and ultimately, reshape the relationship between vladimir putin and the russian people. and there's a fine line here in terms of trying to you know serve the interest and the psyche of the russian people but there's a way in which he can go too far. so i think it's about the west and particularly about europe continuing to impose real costs on vladimir putin. because the dilemma right now is that putin is continuing this game of infiltration into ukraine and he's not yet paying a cost that he thinks is too high. >> i mean that is the question. sanctions haven't worked, have they? >> well, they haven't worked yet. but there is this disparity here john, which is that ukraine is far more important to vladimir putin than it is to the united states or europe. and at least for the moment putin is prepared to pay a fairly high cost, to continue to find ways to control ukraine's

future. at some -- you know this is a game of gradual steps, and it is important that as we continue to see further documentation of russian subverse of the ukrainian state, that europe in particular because its economic relationship with russia is far more deep than the united states, that it has to continue to take actions even at cost to itself to impose costs on putin and oaf over time hopefully change his calculations. >> p.j. crowley, thanks so much. >> all right john. >> what do muslims have to say about the threat from the islamic state group? plus how a punk rocker is saving the ancient music of syria.

>> the rise of the so-called islamic state in iraq is a major topic of discussion at a muslim convention this weekend in detroit. bisi onile-ere has more. >> reporter: many people here have been speaking out against the islamic state and what it stands for. there appears to be a shared understanding that the islamic state does not represent the majority of muslims, with a lot of people here saying that this group is unjust and inhumane. this convention is attracting thousands of muslims from across the country here to detroit and a lot of them have very strong opinions about i.s.i.s. the u.s. recently identified nearly a dozen americans who have joined rebel forces in syria. i had the opportunity to speak to an organizer here about the troubling report, and efforts to combat recruiting. >> i think what they're going to

target, and i hope that they don't is these lone wolf disenfranchised muslims, that have no meaning the their lives and go overseas and join these groups. >> reporter: some groups are trying to link these to extremists. the group says that is far from the truth, they are about peace and unity. this is a four-day workshop that features speakers such as former president jimmy carter. bisi onile-ere, al jazeera, detroit. u.n. committee on the elimination of racial discrimination studied u.s. records and concluded minorities, especially african americans are unfairly targeted. the u.n. panel says the shooting of an unarmed black teenager is

not an isolated incident. the death of michael brown sparked several days ever protest and violence. also this officer, police officer was suspended a after pointing a semi automatic rifle at ferguson citizens has resigned. the immigration crisis costing hundreds of lives each year an the federal budget to combat the issue is declining. for one county in southern texas it's a problem compounded by dying immigrants and aging police force.

>> life line from 91 calls from the desert. too often the caller is dead by the time the bodies are found. why here, 80 miles north of the border. the checkpoint down the highway is key. the sheriff says smugglers will drive smugglers no further than this point and here is where they would take off on foot through the rough terrain. the nearest town is ten miles away. >> i get on everything that comes through. >> reporter: but because brooks county doesn't actually touch the border, it doesn't qualify for federal funding. so the sheriff's office resorts to selling its used vehicles. >> we're walking through your dealership? >> yes, this is my dealership. >> most of these were seized from smugglers.

40 go up this month for sale. the money keeps this place alive but even this speaks more of death. >> we'll see more of this in depth story, in our coverage all next week. our one hour special five days along the border airs at 8 and 11 eastern time. one of nascar's biggest stars will be back on the track this weekend after his collision that killed a driver two weeks ago. jessica taff is here. >> tony stewart's race is the first time, since that tragic day, stewart talked publicly. >> this is been one of the toughest tragedies i've ever had to deal with both professionally and personally. and this is something that will

definitely affect my life forever. this is a sadness and a pain that i hope no one ever has to experience in their life. that being said, i know that the pain on the morning that kevin ward's family and friends are experiencing is something that i can't possibly imagine. >> tony stewart went on to name each of kevin ward's immediate family members and says he will rely on his own racing family when he climbs in the driver's seat since the tragedy on august 9th. stewart and ward had been dueling, when ward's car spun out on the wall. the car in front of stewart had to swerve to miss ward but stewart's car hit and killed ward. stewart has received clearance to return to the track. he would have to one one -- to

win one of the two remaining races to go into the playoffs. >> jessica what are the community members saying about this? >> there are so many things in place to keep precautions as far as making tracks and cars safer. but what they don't have is when a driver gets out of a vehicle, that's out the door then. >> jessica thank you. staggering humanitarian disaster, almost half its people can't go home. and as the u.k. raises its terror risk, a look at how big the risk is to the u.s.

>> this is al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. coming up, the refugee crisis in syria getting worse. 3 million people have now fled across the border. how can the world help? plus, ebola spreads to another

west african nation. world health organization warns it could spread further. and why kiev is stepping up the pressure on the west. >> here's the latest from syria tonight. the u.n. is calling the crisis the biggest humanitarian emergency of our time. 3 million syrian refugees have fled to neighboring countries. another 6.5 million are displaced within the country. that is nearly half of all syrians, having to abandon their homes to survive. for now, nisreen shimala reports. >> reporter: stranded no man's land, oma hamad comes, left her

husband and daughters behind. this is where they start their lives as refugees. they've been handed some basic items and now they're on their way to see where they're going to live for what could be an extended period of time. oma hamad is disappointed when she gets to her prefabricated home because it doesn't have any flooring. cash strapped, unable to construct cement floors. her first day here she's already facing grim challenges. >> translator: at the beginning you have to suffer to adapt to life here, no one can immediately settle into this reality. first i have to get used to living in this home and then i have to get used to my neighbors. i'm worried. >> reporter: the massive refugee camp can some day become the largest in the world.

a lot of effort went into the planning of the camp but it needs much more funding to become fully operational. the camp is four months old and the 11,000 refugees living here still do not have electricity. the plan was to provide it for all units but the aid agency hasn't received enough donation. searing heat with no electricity for too long. >> translator: the most important thing we need electricity and flooring for our homes. if we don't get this, many people will return to syria. >> reporter: if the international community does not adequately support syrian refugees but the humanitarian issues around the world is not helping either. >> the issue is with mushrooming

crises around the worlds and very serious once, obviously, choices have to be made by donor countries and we are affected by this. >> reporter: the fact that 3 million syrians are displaced outside their country is depressing and solution seems like a remote possibility. al jazeera. >> weaponnize the bubonic plag plague. tunisian student, how to build a chemical weapon t. the fight to defend the united states against the islamic state group is proving to be costly.

the pentagon says military operations in iraq cost more than $7 million a day and they've been at it since june. the operation is to protect american interests in the region but we're learning of the vulnerabilities here at home. jonathan betz explains. jonathan. >> reporter: john, the united kingdom is very worried about its citizens fighting in iraq and returning home and launching attacks. there are ways to evade the authorities. as britain raises its alert level -- >> we will respond calmly and with purpose. >> reporter: the united states is taking a very different approach. >> it is my understanding that the white house has no plans to change it. >> the rising threat of the islamic state group. >> it is one we are monitoring and focused on for quite some time. >> reporter: the united states says its approach is evolving,

must go beyond the military involvement. >> believe me, we share the same sense of urgency of awhat the threat the i.s.i.l. poses. >> reporter: 3,000 westerners have joined the fight in syria many with north american or european passports. >> that brings them some freedom of movement the could allow them to come back to the west and carry out acts of violence. >> reporter: especially troubling for the united kingdom, 500 of its citizens are thought to be in syria. >> the action going on in syria. >> reporter: but of the 100 americans there only a dozen have been identified. tracking them has proven very difficult. some have returned home unsnowed. make -- unnoticed, making islamic state militants the biggest threat to the u.s. since 9/11. >> you can't rule out anything

with these individuals and that's certainly the way the intelligence community is playing it. they're not taking any chances on anyone. they recognize that each and every one could be a serious threat. >> reporter: tracking these fighters by using tracking devices and chat rooms. a lot of fighters not afraid to brag about their cause on facebook and twitter, many are silent and unknown john and those are the ones of particular concern to authorities. >> jonathan, thank you. tom, welcome. >> good to be with you. >> tom you have british roots. why do you think that hundreds are fleel fleeing from u.k. to t for islamic state? >> well, i think that there are a number of issues underway here. first off, there's an increasing appeal, although that will be hard for a lot of people to understand. but for young british pakistani

man, which are a very small minority of the british pakistani community, who feel they are differentiated from the rest of society and who see the islamic state achieving what can be called at least by extremist preachers an ordained series of victories, there's a sense of violence, i've described it in the recent piece, like the grand theft auto computer game in the flesh. a religious fervor which has appeal. >> an imam said there was a disenfranchisement. but it's hard for americans to understand, can you help explain? >> yeah, sure. no, it is a big issue. i think partly because of the

british class culture, partly because of immigration to the united kingdom after the second world war period and partly because of a lot of immigrant communities in the united kingdom in contrast to the united states quite a mixing of different ethnic populations have in the u.k. lived together, and have been somewhat isolated, and judged with some prejudice, actually, by the british state. that does foster extremism. it certainly is the main cause here, the interpretation of salafi extremism by preachers, there is no excuse for this keep of activity. but there is a social problem that has to be addressed. i think the british government realizes that it has to be addressed as well. >> what do you think the u.k. raising the threat level today? >> i think what that's about is the branch chiefs are telling

the joint terrorism analysis center, which is the body that has decided to raise the alert level, that they simply to not have the confidence that they would wish to have that when these individuals come back to the u.k. they will be able to monitor them, to the degree that they would wish to. so it's a caseload overload if you will. in a sense there are a lot of people they're concerned about but there is a limited amount of resources to be able to monitor these people. so by raising the alert level they take functional steps to try and mitigate what could happen if people fall through the cracks. >> aren't some of these people already back? >> yes, some people are already back and they are being monitored but again there are a lot of people who aren't back. so this is a step trying prepare for that where, when those people do come back there are greater protective measures on airports and other public places, so if a number of people do attempt to do something,

there is a greater capability to address it. >> how secure are british borders given ease with which europeans move about? >> yeah, i mean that's the big issue, really. and that's why we've heard a lot about european passport holders because of the european union, free movement, whether from britain or france or the germany or any eu country, crossing international borders. that's why the united states is very concerned about european passport holders tearing a flight to the united states and being able to say look i have a british passport, i can't be that bad, they get through immigration and can't be that bad. globalization, the ease of travel is at the heart of what the islamic state threat is expected to be by intelligence

services. >> tom rogan thank you very much. >> thank you. >> the u.s. is trying to secure the safe return of 44 peace keepers. there is fear that hard liners in the riej will complicate the efforts. jackie roland has the story from the golan heights. >> there has been intense fighting for days. on wednesday antigovernment forces including fighters affiliated to al qaeda, took control of the kanitra crossing into the israeli occupied golan heights and a day later, dozens of u.n. peace keepers stationed in the area were taken hostage. >> 44 figians and others, leave records with the mission. >> filipino peace keepers in golan heights are in a standoff

with syrian rebels as the former tried to storm their position around 10:00 a.m. syrian time yesterday. our peace keeping forces are holding their ground in theirs respective positions. >> reporter: speaking at a- an forum. >> these courageous peace keepers had deployed to create greater stability for the people in the area. we will do everything possible to secure their early release. >> it is the third time peace keepers have been taken hostage in the area. in previous occasions, they have been released. on sunday five rockets fired from syria landed here in the israeli occupied golan heights and on wednesday an israeli soldier was moderately wounded

by stray fire from syria. elsewhere inside syria there are different front lines. this video apparently shows syrian army soldiers in the northeast being forced to march and cheer by their captors, the islamic state group. the syrian human rights observatory said dozens of them were later executed. the soldiers were captured after the islamic state group took over a government air base. more than 500 people were killed during that fighting. in the past week the islamic state has been gaining more and more territory inside syria. taking it from government forces or other rebel groups. and it's the battles near previously quiet frontiers which are making neighboring countries worried. israel is bracing itself for a potential spillover of the war in syria. jackie roland, al jazeera in the

occupied golan heights. >> now to ebola, the disease has spread to a fifth country in west africa. a student was in close contact with ebola victims while in neighboring guinea. according to the world health organization this outbreak has cild more than 1500 people -- killed more than 1500 people and scientists are warning the virus is mutating which can complicate treatment. staying out of eastern ukraine. today ukraine asked for a full membership in nato. president putin warned the world that kiev is a nuclear power.

paul brennan takes us there novoazovsk is a small town in eastern ukraine. the fighters who now occupy it refuse to the filmed. the residents were almost as reticent but a few were prepared to express their fears. >> translator: i'm worried. i want everything to be fine. i want to have everything in order and peaceful sky above us. >> reporter: ukraine and its western allies say the town is one of several along the border which were captured in recent days by a combined force of separatist fighters and russian regular soldiers. effectively a russian invasion. for at least three days now the separatist militia, donetsk people's republic have been firmly in control of this town

of novoazovsk. a sign on the wall says that people who are concerned should get in touch with the militia commandant. the military were 30 kilometers away, much closer to mariupul. the frontier is just 10 kilometers from novoazovsk. the crossing is open and the fighter calling himself the frenchman shows evidence of the recent fighting. separatists have at least six tanks here but fighters deny they are from russia. >> there are no russians here, there is no russian equipment coming through here. we are fighting with the machinery the ukrainian army abandoned. in. >> reporter: in their path lies the important city of mariupul, helping the ukrainian

army dig defensive ditches. direct russian involvement on ukrainian territory, ukrainian's russian allies still remain reluctantly to respond with direct involvement themselves. paul brennan, al jazeera, novoazovsk. >> a former army officer john anthony walker jr. sold military secrets to russia for 17 years. he was caught in 1985. his actions were considered one of the most damaging in history. the 77-year-old was scheduled to be released from a north carolina prison in less than a year. a tip from walker's ex-wife led to his arrest. hamas and israel have agreed to negotiate on several issues, one of them, gaza's border crossings. six entry points, three are

open. andrew simmons reports. >> reporter: more aid splice for hundreds of thousands of bereft people in gaza are getting through. but control of the crossings that dictates the level of hardship here has so far only trowrnd what it was before the -- returned to what it was before the war. what changes the ceasefire agreement will make because the level of need is so high. >> in order to need half a million people both in shelters as well as back in their homes we'll need to develop new ways and means to do it. we need access. we need security. we need the capacity to receive those goods. >> reporter: not only that, gaza somehow needs the capacity to rebuild. but supplies to do that are nowhere in sight. u.n. officials and building contractors say unless border restrictions are lifted the future looks grim. >> it's going to take five years ten years 15 years, god knows it

depends on the lift of the siege. >> that's one of many calls for the reopening of border posts like this one in an area devastated by gaza's third war. this is the carney crossing point. it was blocked in 2007. that questionnaire belt -- quayor belt was stopped in october 2008. sense then nothing has come in or out. and that's the way it might stay. israel says it was closed for security reasons. now it wants guarantees that palestinian fighters won't rearm and build tunnels despite what their leaders have been saying. many in gaza believe a lifting of the blockade is still a long way off. they want to know will it really be eased? >> translator: what we are hoping for is the opening of all

crossings. but based on what we're seeing on the ground we're convinced the israeli occupation is not taking the necessary steps to facilitate it. >> reporter: and also crucially, there is no indication from egypt whether it will open the rafah crossing. andrew simmons, al jazeera, gaza. still to come, the syrian muk and how a -- music and how a rapper is trying to save it.

>> the sound of fog horns is common around australia. all this past week especially starting wednesday, thursday and again friday, the fog has been so thick we've had international flights diverted to some different airports. we've had issued with arriving flights and so far, departures

are not having a problem out of melbourne. it's been such a problem because winds have been light around melbourne and we've had a lot of humidity in the air. as temperatures cool overnight the air as it cools doesn't hold very much moisture and its develops, condensing and it's thick and we're going to see this problem for the early morning hours. we're hoping to get a little bit more breeze in because that will help lift the cloud cover. when we talk about fog, okay we usually move into the fog season across parts of the united states as we get into october and fall, our temperatures start to cool. but we have about the same number of days of fog in the appalachian mountains than in the rest of the u.s.

al jazeera america news continues.

>> the war in syria has destroyed countless historic sites and artifacts. it's also taken 200,000 lives. people who held ancient music in their heads passed down for generation to generation, and some of that might have been lost forever except one american saved it. jason hammake are in our friday night arts segment. >> i was inspired to go to syria because i'm a musician. i play drums in hard core bands in d.c. for the last 20 years. i was trying to find something new. i ended up stumbling into this chaft -- chant that takes place in syria and finding out there were no recordings made of this

chant. so i decided to take the reins and go make the recordings. first time we sat down, was a priest and an elder, was on the holiday of ede in 2008. it's considered some of the oldest christian music on earth. many of the people that i've worked with, over the years, are gone. the archbishop that sponsored this initial trip that is been abducted by terrorists, some of the guys i worked with have been murdered, and perfect group nawa were a group of nine guys that got together to practice the

ancient or older sufi traditions of the city and they've all fled. they don't perform together anymore. so a lot of the recordings i have can never be replicated just because of -- the buildings are gone or the neighborhoods are gone. for example, the armenian orthodox record that i recorded that neighborhood is levels. i have hours and hours of recordings, but i've chosen five of the best to be released in the lost origin series. so i'm using the series as an example to highlight the cultural relics of not just the city but the region, through the

music that used to be practiced there. when syria settles, when people start to rebuild, i hope my audio recordings may inspire some younger children at that point to learn the practices of their parents or great grandparents. >> coming up, all new tonight on our are broadcast at 11:00 eastern time, the growing demand for micro-apartments, the cost, the construction and why owners say they love them. plus pop art and pop culture, musician, science fiction, more of the artists we talked to this summer, all of that coming up 11:00 eastern. finally, toronto mayor rob ford showing off his singing moves. just before members broke for

lunch and clearly the mayor joined in. ♪ ♪ ♪ talk about love ♪ >> ford is up for reelection after admitting his problems with drugs and alcohol. polls show he's trailing by 3 percentage points. that's the news, i'm john siegenthaler, i'll see you back here tomorrow night.

>> welcome to the city of culiacan sinaloa, a place that is known as the cradle of drug trafficking. >> ahead of you lies a treacherous border crossing. >> people have died there and so we're like practically walking into a death trap. >> this is the most dangerous part of your trip. >> so the first day don't kill ya, it's the third day that kills ya. >> we are really walking into the valley of death.