supreme court and argued in front of nine justices that we shouldn't be married. when he saw us get married, he couldn't help but rejoice in our happiness and that, i take, is a very powerful and important sign of progress because nobody led the effort more than mr. cooper, and nobody understood better when it was over why sandy and i wanted to be married. >> i am thomas drayton. >> this is al jazeera america. live in new york city, i'm tony harris. there is a chance that troops will be put on the ground to fight isil. >> this is a global threat that demands a global response. >> president obama calls ebola

outbreak as a global threat to security. and the use of russia's rockets. >> america's top commander he will send ground troops to fight isil, but even then general martin dempsey said that american troops will be used in very specific operations. rosalind jordan is on capitol hill with the story. >> reporter: pentagon officials went to capitol hill on tuesday to convince congress they have a plan for fighting the group that calls itself the islamic state islamic state in iraq and the levant or isil. military assessors are now

assisting and advising iraqi troops on fighting the group, and they say there is a chance that u.s. ground troops could be deployed. >> this coalition is the appropriate word for it. i believe it will be true. but if it fails to be true and there are threats to the united states, i would then go back to the president and make a recommendation that may include the use of military ground forces. >> pentagon officials stress that the focus is on defeating isil, but senators accuse them of misreading the situation. >> our focus is isil. that is a threat not only to our country, to our interests, and to the people of the region, what you're hearing us express is an isil first strategy, a fundamental misunderstanding of the entire motivation and concept of the freeway syrian army. it is bashar al-assad who has killed many more than isil has. for us to say that we're going to go in and help and train and

equip these people and only to fight against isil, you're not going to get many recruits to do that, general. >> senators also criticized the recently formed coalition for having no apparent mission. >> i have no idea based on your testimony what our coalition partners are expected to do or even what we want them to do. >> and with domestic midterm elections just two months away, senators told hagel and dempsey is that they're not convinced that it is worth it. >> i'm not supporting assad. i think he should be gone. but as long as he's able to remain there, he's fighting the same people that we're training to fight it makes no sense to me, and i can't sell it. >> reporter: it's highly unlikely they'll prevent the

obama administration from taking on isil, but supporting is mission that could take years or assign ground troops is hard to predict. al jazeera, capitol hill. >> there is a national coalition to fight isil in iraq, but so far the president is on its own and there are fears that isil will flee to its stronghold there is if stopped in iraq. it is a logical next step after iraq, did we get a better sense of what the operational plan would book like for syria? >> reporter: this is a complex problem for the administration. there are a couple of ways to look at this and a couple of items to get to. one thing that we get from that hear something that the administration newest mates there are 31,000 of isil fighters in iraq and syria, but two-thirds of them are in syria itself. it seems local if isil is to be degraded and destroyed the united states is ultimately going to go into syria and will

have to do that to route them from the stronghold. now the comment that we heard from roslind jordan's piece, it has drawn a lot of attention, first the white house walking it back saying that general denver certificate wadempsey was just creating a hypothetical tactical situation. they said among others things that the general believes the current strategy to counter isil is appropriate. now when and if this is expanded into syria and the expanded air campaign under way in iraq who is going to be targeted. what's going to be targeted. the command and control areas for isil opposition safe havens of isil will be hit. >> mike, look, how does the u.s. get the syrian opposition? i'm assuming here we're talking about the free syrian army to

carry out this particular mission. >> this is another tough issue here. we know that the president, his aides have prevailed on saudi arabia to do something that is surprising, to train and equip on saudi territory. that will take a minimum of five months to get ready, and then you have the question of who you're going to be training in saudi arabia. we hear that it will be a year before the first 5,000 of those troops will be trained. that's a number that many feel acknowledge was going to be inadequate. meanwhile we've got leaders of congress saying this does not go far enough what the president wants to do. they want to go further. john boehner, the most senior member of congress as speaker of the house, this is what he had to say just today. >> if our goal here is to destroy isil, we've got to do more than train a few folks in

syria, and train a few folks in iraq and dropping bombs. i just don't know that it's enough to achieve the objective of the president's outline. >> reporter: initially aid to the rebels would be small arms, communication and training, and there is still a lot of reluctance. the chairman of chief of staff say if they prove trustworthy, only then, a year out, more effective types of arms could be transferred to transition. >> trustworthy and effective to do what, look, a free syrian army would be trained and armed to do what? it's mission is to go to damascus. is the free syrian army expected to take on isis in syria? >> reporter: that was a major line of questioning from john mccain among others in that hearing. no, they're not expected to go

into damascus. they're being armed for the express purpose of fighting against isil and their stronghold of two-thirds of the 31,000 fighters who are located in syria now. the question becomes if we're on the side of the free syrian armies and other moderate vetted opposition that we're arming, training an along the way. does the coalition go after them at that point? and the question was answer in an ambiguous and vague way at best. no one is looking at that video. it's a short answer there, tony. >> that is part of the discussion that needs to be had. it's good to know that it's starting. mike viqueira for us at the white house. mike, appreciate it. today's senate arms hearing was interrupted four different times by protesters. [ banging of the gavel ]

would you stop taking advantage of the freedom of the place. leave the room. >> demonstrators of code pink called for the return of all troops. an unified iraq is a necessary part of the presidential strategy against isil. the result, iraqi and kurdish forces are left battling isil without government support. >> this convoy of recycled russian artillery and tanks is not enough to hold a line for much longer. in a bunker on the front line we talked to the field commander for the area of operations from mosul all the way to the syrian border. the general is worried. [ explosion ] >> reporter: this peshmerga

forward position is 10 kill matters from the gate, the area from syria to the road of mosul and the direct route to the sinjar mountains, but they say they're battling against a much superior force. >> as an army we need everything from a to z. everything from uniforms, rockets, body machine guns, tanks, night vision goggles. even if they send us mortars we don't have enough night vision equipment. beneath the whole package. >> can you win the ground without other fighters. >> no. >> after the head of the u.s. military revealed that he could really recommend the 1600 american advisers currently in iraq go on combat missions. the general is already getting help from an unlikely quarter. syrian fighters from the kurdish group, the ypg, have taken two

neighboring paces on iraqi soil. >> these are heavily fortified castles built by saddam hussein. it's relief that the ypg took control of them, not isil. if you control the fortifications you control the whole area. [ explosion ] >> reporter: the perso peshmerga trying very hard to hold these positions. they need help, and they say the airstrikes from the sky can sometimes take two hours to get here. the target often has dissipated by then. as he heads back to his headquarters the general talks about how the delay allows the fighters to disappear or put women and children in their vehicles. >> when we started this operation the u.s. jets responded very quickly. now there is a huge delays. many times we ask ten times and many times they don't respond at

all. >> reporter: but he believes the aerial bombardment can only do so much. a ground offense is can only win this war. this promised weapons, equipment, and expertise can't come soon enough. al jazeera. >> president obama says the world needs to move quickly to prevent the ebola outbreak in west africa from spiraling out of control. the world knows how to fight this disease. it's not a mystery. we know the science. we know how to prevent it from spreading, we know how to care for those who contract it, we know that if we take the proper steps we can save lives. but we have to act fast. >> well, the president unveiled an aggressive response to the outbreak during a visit to the cdc headquarters in atlanta. this comes hours after the "world health organization" who said that the death toll from the outbreak is nearly 2500.

andy gallagher is in atlanta with more on what the president had to say. >> we heard president obama use the term global threats on more than one occasion in this speech. it is something that he's clearly taking very seriously and it's very clear that the u.s. will now take a lead in coordinating and trying to control the outbreak. in all they will commit $500 million and they will deploy 3,000 troops. we expect the boots to be on the ground in around two-weeks time. those troops will be placed in senegal, libya, and once there they'll set up field hospitals where there will be 100 beds in each one. they'll train 500 health workers each and every week and hand out tens of thousands of kits to families who are potentially suffering from the ebola outbreak. he's making it clear that the u.s. is taking a lead here. in the few days time the u.n. will meet to get all the charities and health workers to

work on this together. it seems president obama is extremely committed, is taking this seriously on wants the world to know that he will now take the lead in taking on the ebola virus. >> that was andy gallagher, and we'll look at how the outbreak is impacting west africa. >> reporter: this is the deadliest outbreak ever. the "world health organization" said 5,000 people have been infected since march. that is spread over five countries. nearly half of those cases have died close to 2500 people. now the hardest hit country is liberia even though the virus was first spotted in neighboring guinea. more than 2400 case there is. 1300 people have died. the united nations said most of the ebola cases are in the area where sierra leone, liberia, and guinea all meet. if more is not done to stop this outbreak the number of cases

could double every three weeks. >> the israeli army said tha that a mortar shell fired from the gaza strip entered it's border. charles strafford is on the ground in gaza with more. >> israel has confirm there had was a mortar fired in southern israel. there were no reports. any damage or anyone hurt. we spoke to the palestinian factions here. they deny any knowledge that have attack, and they say they're still committed to the peace talks that are due to resume in around ten days in cairo. those talks being mediated by egypt. it comes at a worrying time in which so little has been accomplished during the peace talks. the piece of gaza don't want any type of escalation whatsoever. tens of thousands of people's homes destroyed.

thousands of people still living in schools. a worrying time in gaza after this reported attack. but no signs of escalation thus far. >> charles strafford reporting for us. the united nations says that the u.n. israel and the palestinian authority richard a deal to allow reconstruction work to begin in gaza. the palestinian authority and private sector will play key roles. thousands of buildings were damaged or destroyed. more than 2100 palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed. the ukraine parliament has come to a landmark decision which it hopes will finally bring peace. >> reporter: two historic votes in one day. deputies in kiev backed compromise with ukraine's east. a law handing significant powers over to rebel-held areas, and cooperation with the west by the ratification of the association agreement with europe.

>> ukraine is europe. that's what the ukrainian people said and did. >> reporter: mps make no celebration of the autonomy handed to the east. perhaps fearful of the public's reaction. many fear it will be capitulation to the rebels. the past few days have seen more civilians killed and injured. the precarious cease-fire is often flouted. both sides put away their weapons the government promises amnesty. regions of the rebel control would manage their own affairs but would remain very much part of ukraine. this is something that the rebel leadership says is unacceptable. >> you understand that neither the donetsk enemy's republic or the luhansk people republic has

no intention to be part of ukraine. we are part of the russian world and we have a right to develop in ways that we ourselves see necessary. >> reporter: it may seem out of step with the reality here, but on another level they're promising what vladimir putin has wanted all along, special status for eastern ukraine. so if moscow likes the idea of this autonomy deal, the rebels may be more willing to listen. al jazeera, donetsk. >> nasa said it will launch astronauts from american soil again in the next three years. a big announcement that puts two companies on the launch pad. and the hacking attack at the home de home depot could cost millions in fraudulent charges.

>> nascar driver tony stewart's fate will be in the hands of a grand jury. it was announced that a grand jury will decide if stewart will

face charges in the death of kevin ward jr. stewart hit and killed ward during a track race in new york city. the counter ruled that 20-year-old ward got out of his car died of blunt force trauma. stewart said that he'll continue to provide his full corporation. the nasa shuttle program was grounded in 2011. but the space agency announced a new deal that will send astronauts into space using russian rockets. we have more on this from seattle. tell us about the deal. >> reporter: a big deal. it involves to contracts. two companies that involves many billions of dollars. $6.7billion, in fact, and that will be split between boeing and space x. they will both continue to develop systems for delivering scientists and astronauts to the

international space station. the announcement coming today that they will both continue to do that. it will cost $70 million a seat for american personnel to go on board the russian rockets. they are are all saying this is a way to get back into space. >> what kind of impact will this deal make on the international community? and how will it impact the private sector? >> reporter: well, it gets us back into the man space business and it should impact the private sector considerably putting a buzz back into engineering design and development. boeing and spacex both designing the system. boeing's space capsule will take people to the international space station. the dragon v-2 that spacex has been developing will also be

involved. nasa administrator is describing this as a big step in a bigger picture, much more than a deal to whether a fancy space. >> how soon until nasa restarts launches. >> reporter: at this point, 2017 hopefully if things go well. it could be later, but hopefully during the year of 2017. >> alan shuffle letter, appreciate it. evethe state's automobile association said that tesla was trying to operate without required licenses by selling cars directly. but there are no rules to deny tesla from operating its business. >> it seems that every week or so the stock market is reaching a new record high, yet a new report out today tells the story

of a feeling left behind. ali velshi tell us more about the report. >> reporter: tony, this is a report that is put out every year by the census bureau. it's about income and poverty. the median household income in the united states in 2013, a report for 2013 was $51,939. the median is the number at which half of all people earn more and half of all people earn left. the reason why we use medians is because rich people earn so much money that it skews the average. $59,939 is relative for a few reasons. it's 8% below the 2007, we're earning less money, and unchanged in 2012. the percentage of people living below the poverty line fell a little bit. it's only 14.5%.

14.5% of americans living below the poverty line. that's the first drop in the poverty rate since 2006. the bad news, it's still two percentage points higher than 2007, before the recession. 2% higher poverty rate, and record stock market levels. that sort of tells you the story. >> it really does. what does america's economic future look like? >> well, job gains are key. this is the main thing. you really need enough jobs and good enough wages. the gains are slow and steady. so-so in august. but employment has generally been strong. yet again we won't get back to our pre-recession levels, however, until 2019. if you could hold out, if you could hold out you can get ahead. but it's slow been. >> okay, what else is key here to sort of getting ahead? hanging on is one thing.

is there more to it that than? >> it's easier if you have good credit, job or capital. if you have money you can put it in the stock market. if you have been putting your money in the stock market since march 9, 2009, the bottom of the market, you would have way more than doubled it. if you invested in a home in 2008 or 2009, you're doing very well. if you don't have credit, a job to take advantage of it, then that is a different situation. it is very hard to do the right thing and you're basically operating at the whims of the economy. hopefully you hang on to your job. but that's the problem that we face. >> wow, think about that for a second. ally, what else are you working on. >> we'll talk about vladimir putin winning a major victory in ukraine without firing a shot. and two big threats that the president is focused on right now, ebola and isil. and we'll look at how america is

finally replacing the space shuttle. we've a very, very full show. i know you watch it, so we thank you for that. >> yes, yes, you are packed. ali velshi coming up on al jazeera america. thank you. the recent credit card breach at home depot could mean up to $3 billion in fraudulent charges. the credit protection company said that it could affect 60 million customers. it's believed that it sold customer information on the black market. they may have made as much as $50 million. coming up the nation's top military leaders tell strong about plans to take on isil, and they say that ground troops could play a part in that fight. also the special suits that help health workers help ebola patients pose dangers of their own.

real reporting that brings you the world. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america. >> on tech know, fire, devastating and out of control >> what's at stake here? >> there's approximately 360 homes... >> but now experts say they can predict how a blaze might spread >> this has been in a fire, now we gotta get the data out of it >> playing with fire... >> you guys are working just to save lives... >> i hope so... >> tech know every saturday go where science meets humanity >> sharks like affection >> spot on... >> don't try this at home... >> tech know, only on al jazeera america

>> america's top military commander said if the coalition fails to defeat isil he may recommend sending in u.s. troops. some are surprised by general martin dempsey's comments today. he was clear that the u.s. troops would only be considered in extreme circumstances. have a listen. >> they are not participating in direct combat. there is no intention for them to do so. i mentioned if i found that circumstance evolving that i, of course, change my recommendation, an example, if the iraqi security forces were ready to remake mosul, a mission i would find extraordinarily complex, it could be very well part of that particular mission to provide close combat advising

or accompanying on that mission. but day-to-day i don't see necessary at this time. >> at capitol hill to sell president's four-point plan to congress, there is some skepticism that it will not be enough to slow rapid growth of isil in iraq and syria. we go to the senior fellow for american progress, larry, very good to talk to you. what is your answer to the question of whether or not what is articulated by the administration will be enough to slow the advance of isil in iraq and isis in syria? >> well, i think we've already slowed the advance of isil in iraq. basically they were not able to take erbil. they've been chased out of am erli. they don't have the dam in mosul or fallujah.

just last night, you know, our time, the u.s. used airstrikes to help an iraqi military group fight isil down south of baghdad. so i think that they've stopped the advance in iraq. syria, of course, is a completely different problem. you don't have an army of ground forces there that could help you, and we'll see what some of these other countries are willing to contribute. but you know, it's interesting. when you got a military person, and you ask them well, what happens if it doesn't work? of course he's going to ask you for more force. that's not surprising. but remember presidents don't always do what the military wants. before the invasion of iraq i in 2003 the army chief of staff general shinseki said that we need 400,000 troops. we said he doesn't know what he's talking about, and they only sent 100.

>> has the administration, in i couldn't view, garnered enough support from allied nations to rule out ground troops in an operation in iraq? let's start there. >> well, iraq because i think you have the peshmerga, very loyal. you've got shia militias that are backed by iran that will fight because they don't isil, either. i don't think you're really going to need ground troops. isil did well when they came in because they captured our equipment. that's what we've been destroying by air up until now. when you look at what happened last night, they destroyed armor personnel carriers and things like that that they had taken from us. you talk of training and arming, my question is to do what? to fight against isil in syria,

isis in syria, or has been their stated mission from day one to take on assad forces and to take damascus. what would we be training the free syrian army to do? >> well, that's the $64,000 question. you have to separate iraq from syria. right now you have to go after isil. that will mean being de facto allies of assad. you hope over the years you can train a free syrian army that will fill the gap that's created if you weaken isil, and then at some point you're going to have--i wouldn't say negotiate with assad with assad's people, the alawites, and come to some sort of arrangement where th

the alawites are part of syria, and then divide up the rest, but they're not ideal solutions. if isil is the threat, you have iran on your side and assad. just like in world war ii with the soviet union. >> wow, larry, the former assistant secretary of defense and senior fellow at center for american progress joining us from washington. good to talk to you. thank you. back to our other top story, president obama outlined the administration's plan to expand efforts in west africa to fight the ebola virus. ebola haliberia has been the hardest hit by the virus. >> reporter: motored by taxis in the liberian capitol is the preferred way to travel for a lot of people. but in the grip of wide-spread illness many are preferring to stay indoors while others are

forced to go to work in the risk. >> you liberians have been advised to stay home. prior to the ebola outbreak liberia had spent 1 hyundai a-league per person o in healthcare each year. but that has seen to be ineffective. analyses say the last thing that liberia needs is an economy and recession. the country has a population of 4 million, but fewer than $50 and healthcare facilities are overwhelmed. the u.s. has pledged more money and resources. >> the trend lines in this crisis are grave. and without immediate

international action we are facing the potential for public health crisis that could claim lives on the scale far greater than current estimates and set the countries of west africa back a generation in. the president of liberia in a crisis that will cost $600 million u.s. >> one way that americans will protect themselves is through bio hazard suits. they'll train 500 workers a week. that is needed to surviving the epidemic. and even small mistakes can be the difference between life and death in. >> reporter: even in the midst of the epidemic you have to be rigid about the rules that you follow in your health worker. even if you break the smallest of those rules the effects can

be disastrous. when experts talk about putting on or taking off a suit like the one i'm going display here they talk about ritualizing the process. you have to make sure that everything is perfect. the ritual begins with drinking water. if you get dehydrated bad things can happen to you, not the least is fainting while on the job. you're supposed to down water. i'm here in a climate machine controlled western office building, but i'm still going to sweat my brains out doing this. but in west africa where you're dealing with 100-degree temperatures, high humidity, and having to wear this thing for hours on end. imagine that i've just come from treating an ebola-infected patient. the seal around my gloves is really crucial thing, and so you're instructed to prepare

these sort of pull tabs m that make it easier to put it off. you have to make sure that they're on the outside of the wrist and not on the inside where walking can wear them away and break that seal. i'll get out of the suit and show you the critical mistake that can get so many aid workers into trouble. they're exhausted. they've seen a lot of blood. they want to get this off. they pull it off. [ breathing heavy ] the fresh air hits their face, and the first instinct is to wipe their brow because they're so we hady. this blood is contaminated. this is where it gets into mucus membrane, the eyes. for every person you want in one of these suits out treating people you'll need a second

person trained in the use of the suit to get that person out of it. that yo buddy system is necessary to keep me from being infected. that's one of the things that makes this epidemic so frightening. there is so much chaos on the ground, yet aid workers are expected to abide by these high standards. standards that are impossible to follow even in a climate-controlled environment. that's going to be the challenge going forward. >> appreciate it, jake ward. in today's power politics seven weeks until the midterm elections and house republicans are supporting obama administration bills they previously opposed. what is going on here. david shuster joins us with more. >> the house republican leadership made it clear they want to avoid any drag from washington dysfunction heading into this election. the election that favors the republicans. house speaker john boehner has

convinced his caucus to pass a bill without a fight and will pass the import expert that many g.o.p. hated, and they will give the president the money t needed to fight isil. >> i think the president's request is a sound one. i think there is a lot more that we need to be doing, but there is not a reason to do what the president has asked us to do. >> reporter: ratcheting down washington gridlock, at least not making it worse, will help the republicans. and senator rand paul is trying toepiece his chances for th the 2016 presidential election. after syria's assad used chemical weapons against its own people, paul opposed any syria reaction. now he supports it.

>> all i've been saying is i'm not an isolationist. i look at every instance of whether we need to be involved. i look at it reluctantly. i don't want to be involved in war but i do look to see when american interests will be threatened. >> reporter: we'll see if that holds pup. paul's home state of kentucky minority leader mitch mcconnell is sending off a tough midterm challenge in allison grimes, and they're spending money on ads on immigration reform. >> their plan, citizenship for millions who broke the law. illegal immigrants will be eligible for taxpayer benefits. obama and grimes, two liberals for amnesty, too liberal for us. >> reinforces a republican theme we've seen through the years that democrats, according to republicans, want undeserving people to have things for free. well, in the democratic

playbook there has long been the charge that republicans want to shred the social safety net protecting leaders. here is the late frees arkansas. >> reporter: cotton voted to cut social security benefits and raise the retirement age to 70. we can't trust tom cotton protect seniors. >> democrats are picking up a similar theme in the louisiana senate race. >> my friends and i are keeping a close eye on bill cassidy. >> congressman cassidy consistently prioritizes tax cuts for millionaires. >> meanwhile, michelle nun is now running a campaign against david purdue, and she's focusing voters, particular women, on a sex discrimination lawsuit. >> and purdue's company was forced to pay $18,000.

if david purdue didn't right by its women in his company, why would he do right by the women in georgia. >> cars, jeeps, and now we have an ad that makes its point by featuring an inhaler. watch. >> moms always prepared. but what if she had to prepare for terry linn land. she opposes a plan that would protect clean air for our great lakes region, meaning more smog, mercury, terri lynn land slam, let polluters pollute. >> the air is thick in michigan. >> all these poor markets being inundated i inundated.

>> reporter: tony, a st. louis grand jury now has until january to decide whether to charge darren wilson with the death of michael brown. wilson is the police officers who fatally shot the unarmed teen last month, starting protests. protests. the parents of a woman killed in the 2012 movie theater shooting in aurora, colorado, are suing for answer line retailers. those stores sold ammunition, body armor and tear gas used in the attack. the lawsuit alleges they failed to screen holmes who killed 12 people and wounded several others. he has pled not guilty by insanity charge. a play blaze has forced

hundreds to evacuate near the state's northern border. >> i've seen the flames heading up towards the school. i'm thinking i'm alive. i'm thankful that my children are alive. >> reporter: california's record-breaking drought combine with the heatwave has contribute to the recent wave of wildfires. in philadelphia a receipt left by eagles running back la shawn mccoy, he left his serve a $0.20 tip. ithe receipt is being sold for $100,000. i can't brief that someone is offering that for a receipt. >> well, leshean, he's making

millions of dollars. what was his line? the service was bad. >> reporter: that the service was terrible. j. >> ouch. thank you. coming up on al jazeera america, new numbers from the government showing the number of uninsured people is dropping--a lot. we'll look at what is behind the change. and health officials in louisiana say that the water is safe to drink, but locals are not buying it. on the edge of eighteen only on all jazeera america

the country. >> we've gone through some rough times... probably will be a good town again some day. tonight starting at 7, only on al jazeera america >> in louisiana thousands of people are waiting to see how a brain-eating amoeba ended up in their tap water. jonathan martin joins us now. jonathan, good to see you. what records have been mixed up, fouled up here, and how could it have happened? >> the officials are asked how

could this happen in the water that is chlorinated. chlorine killed the apee about a. so when the state tested the water in this particular community they found there was absolutely no chlorine in it, now people in the community are wondering if someone's testing messed up and if this whole crisis could have been preven prevented. in st. john perish just outside of new orleans, the they are in a state of emergency. >> hast month testing showed the presence of a brain-infecting

amoeba. it usually leads to a brain infection if it gets into the nasal cavity. >> we wanted to minimize that. >> right now the water in the community does taste and smell a little different because officials here at the water treatment plant has had to double the level of chlorine in the water. >> reporter: louisiana's health department has mandated that the chlorine levels remain that high. >> test 70 sites. and those 70 sites have to be tested once a week in one day. >> reporter: no illnesses have been reported. still cheryl is not convinced that the water is safe to drink, and she won't serve it to her customers. she's wondering how this happened.

>> i'm making sure that my employees are doing what they need to do. >> reporter: louisiana state police are now forgetting the local water districts because the samples taken in august show no chlorine in the system. the state tarted requiring all water utilities to retain a chlorine level in response to two amoeba-related deaths in louisiana. >> we don't want to make speculations on what happened or what the reason was, we just want to make sure that we get it right. >> reporter: weeks of purchasing water is expected to cost the school district $20,000. they feel it's a small price to pay for precaution. >> reporter: again, the cdc is saying that the water is safe to drink. they don't believe it will cause

damage to the digestive systems. it's if it nets into the nose or brain it can cause problems. but they're not drinking the water. they're not going swimming, and a lot of people are not brushing their teeth because they're concerned. >> part of that, jonathan, i'm wondering of clearing this up, who are the police talking to as they investigate the cause of this crisis? >> reporter: well, they're talking to the parish officials, and those testing the water here. are they doing a good job, following procedures. and they're looking into if there is fraudulent reporting when it comes to the level of chlorine in the water. all of that will have to be ironed out. thank you. >> the number of americans without health insurance is dropping. the cdc announced that nearly

4 million more americans have insurance this year compared to last. it's the biggest increase since 199. roxana saberi with us. i imagine the obamacare had something to do with this? >> reporter: that's likely the case. this is the first numbers when the affordable care act extended coverage to millions of people. experts i talk to say it's one reason americans are more insu insured. >> i the obama administration has used ads like this to convince americans to sign up for the affordable care act and said 8 million have enrolled so far. while many had insurance the increase accounts for some of the drop of uninsured americans. there were 45 million americans without health insurance.

the number fell this year. that's a drop of 4 million. there are reasons for the change. the biggest drops were among adults age 19 to 25. people considered poor and african-americans. still as in previous years racial minorities will less likely to be insured than white americans. the average number of people without insurance may be lower than 41 million or 13% of americans. because half of the people who signed up for the affordable care act got their insurance cards after the survey was done. >> i can continue to be in a transition period, try different things. >> reporter: next enrollment starts in november. >> i asked one of the authors of the report, the findings show that the medical care act is

working. >> the answer is yes. >> they said we're not looking at cause and affect but just numbers. >> yes, that could be construed as a political statement by some. roxana saberi. thank you. passengers on board a flight banned together--one of my favorite stories of the day- day--against two politicians.

>> so have you sign this seen this, angry passengers claiming that their flight was delayed because they were waiting for two to board. >> reporter: tony, passengers on board the pakistan international airline flight told two politicians last night to get off that plane. take a look. >> get off now. [screaming] >> reporter: travelers refused

to let a member of the national assembly along with the pakistani senator on board the plane after they were accusing them of delaying their flight last night. the passengers say they waited more than two hours, tony. >> that will get you going. >> because the doctor and senator malik were late to board. passengers made sure that malik, the country's former foreign minister, could not even step foot in the aircraft. >> i'm sorry. you're not a minister any more. you're not a minister any more. if you're not a minister, we don't care. we don't care any more. you people have have become humans. >> they're following them down the jet way, crazy. >> the plane took off without the politicians. the senator went on twitter to defend himself saying he wasn't the reason for the delay. he also said that neither the vip nor ever have i behaved like

a vip. the airline said it was because of technical difficulties, but the vip has been trending. >> thank you. that's what we'll end the show with. i'm tony harris. "real money" with ali velshi is next on al jazeera america. >> vladimir putin just won a major victory in ukraine without firing a shot. and how some non-profits spend big bucks on races but keep the names of the real donors secret. and plus, the winner of america's space race. nasa's new deal to replace the space