this is al jazeera america, live from new york city, i am tony harris. crushed to death. more than 700 pilgrims killed during i'll stampede at the annual hajj pilgrimage. the chinese president arrives in washington, d.c. to talk trade and cyber security. and prayers at st. patrick's. the pope's first vent in new york city. ♪ ♪ perhaps perhaps.

let's look at live pictures now of pope francis at st. patrick's cathedral in new york city. the pope will lead an evening prayer service there and give remarks in spanish. we will continue to monitor the service and bring you complete coverage rear view the pope's historic visit in just a moment. but first, taj is a struck on the one of the holiest days in is lament. over 700 people crushed to death in saudi arabia in a stampede during the annual hajj. hundreds more were injured. saudi arabia's king salman has promised a swift investigation in to one of the deadliest accidents during the hajj in two decades. omar al saleh reports now from mean a. >> reporter: a second tragedy within weeks, saudi authorities say a sudden surge among the huge crowd of pilgrims led to a deadly stampede. hundreds of people died, many more were injured. >> translator: we were coming back and on the way back i met

my husband, the pilgrims began pushing each other and pushed people to the ground. i was about to die. >> reporter: the pilgrims were making their way to take part in the stoning of the devil ritual which is part of the hajj pilgrimage. >> translator: the accident was a result of a stampede at some pilgrims had move in the wrong direction and met the crowd. the number of victims is extremely high. hundreds have been killed and the numbers is expected to rise. however, what is important now is to save the wounded. there. >> reporter: have been hundreds of deaths from stampedes in previous years, but this is one of the deadliest in recent years. in 20006 the saudi's built a multi-story complex to handle the people taking part. more than 1 million pilgrims are performing the hajj this season. a logistical nightmare for the saudi authorities. this tragedy has completely

overshadowed the hajj this year. it put the saudis under the spotlight and raised serious questions about safety in general. but at the same time, it highlights the lack of safety awareness among the pilgrims themselves. they have been known to go in the wrong directions and to garth never wrong places. some of them sleeping and eating in the open on crowded roads. this season started with tragedy just before the hajj began. a crane fell killing 107 people two weeks ago. the mosque around the area had turn ed in to a construction site as part of an ambitious ex-play plans plan this, latest disaster omar al saleh, al jazeera. >> hajj has a history of deadly accidents. in 200600s ill killed at the

same lotion. 244 people dead on the final day of the pilgrimage in one to their four. but the worst hajj related taj is a so far happened in 199-1426 approximate ill grimes were killed in an overcrowded pedestrian tunnel lead to go holy sites, earlier a spoke to a.j. plus reporter, she witnessed the aftermath of the stampede and has been at the scene all day. >> reporter: i got close to the area. the soldiers wanted to stop my filming. they are totally forbidding anyone taking photos or talking -- the soldiers aren't talk, i talked to people in the stampede who talked about, you know, people rushing from all sides. some people falling and falling over and over them. one man i talked to talked to about how he was literally over three or four bodies before being taken to the hospital. its really horrendous. the footage if you have seen any of it. it's devastating it's a mountain

of bodies. >> a.j., you are reporting that large groups of people are moving in opposite directions simply collided. but as we all knowinger if you are going to have a stampede, you need people running. so describe for me what you saw and what happened? >> reporter: the system to get to the pillars and back has become a lot more organize the in recent years the way you go and come back are different. they have made them one way to avoid precisely this happening, where people coming back and people kind of hit in each each other. they panic and it's really, really hot. the temperature today, i was only out for a couple of hours and i had an automatic bell a and water and a hat and sunglasses and i honestly felt terrible. just after two hours, people have come all day, they had been walking all night, 10-kilometers, five miles, they are literally just you just push them over and they fall over. the area where you go to is air conditioned the actual pillar so people want to come back that

same way because it's air conditioned rather than go around where it's hot and much longer. it's just some of them, you know, one person falls, immediately there is literally no second, if you fall, more people will fall over you. people panic, it's extremely hot. a lot of them suffocated. and it's just mayhem. one man i talked to was literately he said once you are down, you are gone. there is no way you will be able to get back on, you will be trampled on by thousands of people. >> wait a minute, this has to be better organized, doesn't it? this can't be allowed to continue from year to year. i know it's been more than a few years since the last stampede and mass casualties, but as i am listening to you describe this situation, it almost sounds as though this could happen again during this hajj. >> reporter: no matter how much you organize, there is always a risk when you have this huge amounts of people congregating in a tiny area that disaster will happen. there is organizing, but, you know, i have heard nothing is

confirmed yesterday, but how these -- yet, but how these people managed to go back in the same way. no one is there to stop them. this is the problem. if you try and go against the rules, it's not like it's a blocked door, where you can't enter the door, it's literally a street and it's blocked from both sides. but not from in front and back. so if you try and walk whack parts you can do that. because there is not enough people to actually enforce those rules. so that's definitely something that needs to be changed. >> i appreciate the time, thank you. a.j. plus reporter. and she witnessed the aftermath of the stampede there during the hajj. thank you. >> reporter: all right, thank you. and coming up at the bottom of the hour i will talk to a crowd control expert about mass events like the hajj and how to keep people safe. pope frances began a prayer service just moments ago at the historic st. patrick's cathedral in new york, live pictures right now. he actually arrived just, well, just minutes ago, a short time

ago. new yorkers will have several chances, several opportunities to catch a glimpse of the people as he makes his way around the city. but this evening's service is important to note is not open to the public. jonathan betz is live at st. approximate patrick's with more on the pope's arrival. jonathan, who has the pope met since landing here in new york city? >> reporter: yeah, tony, he landed exactly two hours ago, arrived here at st. patrick's cathedral right on time. there were concerns he might be behind but that did not ham. and already he's made quite an impressions here in new york city. greeting thousands of people that have been waiting for him a lodge fifth avenue. waiting to catch a glimpse of the pope as he rode by in his pope mobile and arrived here in front of st. patrick's cathedral greeting 500 people on the steps, largely school children as well as construction workers who helped refurbish st. patrick's cathedral. a three-year project finished early in time for the pope's visit. also here was governor andrew cuomo as well as the mayor bill

dude blasio is here. inside the 9,000-pound doors here, opened as the pope arrived, the music from an 85-year-old organ played thousands cheered and the golden light from this newly refurbished cathedral spilled to the street without question a mag enough september scene as the pope entered the service here, to begin the prayer service underway right now, tony. >> i am really inclined to pause a moment and listen, maybe we'll do that if we have time at the end of our conversation here, jonathan. how many people would you expect are at tonight's service? >> reporter: it is close to 2500 people inside st. patrick's cathedral. most of them are members of clergy, different priests and nuns, brothers and sisters, there are some lay people here as well. as well as the leaders of several colleges within the archdiocese, this is am homebly that i that will be delivered in

spinach. the pope an neat i hav native le directed at the clerk toy encourage them to to do their good work and not lose faith. >> what is on the pope's agenda for this evening and i am thinking about the rest of his time in new york. >> reporter: this is pretty much the last stop for the pope today. he obviously has had a very busy day beginning his morning in washington, d.c., flying to new york this afternoon and tomorrow without question say big day. including a visit to a school in harlem. there will be a papel parade basically for central park where 80,000 people are expected. as well asthmas later in the evening at madison square garden with 20,000 people there. >> wow. jonathan, appreciate it. i am tempted here so i am going to try it, patrick i want to hear a little bit of the singing, so let's listen in to some of the singing right now inside st. patrick's cathedral. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ patrick horn beck is the chair of fordham university's theology department he is providing excellent commentary for us all week on the pope's vicvisit. first of all, patrick, what is being sung? >> this is a service calls vespers in the roman catholic that i think, monks, previouses

lung play the liturgy of the hours five times or more every day stopping to prayers that include music, somes, in this case the pope will gym a homily or sermon. cardinal dolan. we have just heard song 31 being sung in spanish the pope's native language by a member of the choir there at st. patrick's the music was written bite director there jennifer pasqual who is the first music director at the historic church. >> terrific. have you had an opportunity to read through the pope's homily his remarks to be made later? >> i think what he will do is address the clergy of the city of new york and the archdiocese of new york. there has been a pattern established throughout the trip where the pope has spent the mornings talking about public policy. he was at the white house yesterday, congress to the. the u.n. tomorrow. and then he dedicates the afternoons and the evening eveno

specifically religious sell breaks, canonizing serra yesterday. tomorrow the large mass at madison square garden in new york city. >> what are you anticipating the speech of the u.n.? >> that will be an everybody bigger version of the agenda that we saw pope francis articulate today. when he was at congress today he spoke about climate change, immigration, he made a specific call to end the death penalty in america. and we are going see those issues on the an even broader scale tomorrow with all of the world leaders in town here in new york from the u.n. general assembly and he will speak to the sustainable development goals. a major theme right now at the u.n. >> patrick, thank you so much. you have been terrific. patrick horn beck, and he is take. >> stacey: i canning around by the way. pope francis had several clear messages, for congress today during his address on capitol hill, he drew cheers from both sides of the aisle when he urged lawmakers to welcome immigrants to take action to combat climate change and to help break the cycle of poverty that affects

americans as well as the international community. let's bring in libby casey, she joins us live from capitol hill. libby, among all of those hot button issues, what was the pope's overall message today? >> reporter: tony, he was really personalizing these political issues in many ways they are also issues of philosophy, issues of a general dark but when he talked about immigration it wasn't just as something sort of out there, he talked about his own experience as an immigrant, he looked around the room and said, many of you come from foreign places. and let's welcome the next generation with open arms. when he talked about the migrant crisis in europe and people fleeing syria as refugees, he said don't see this as an overwhelming number, see them as individuals, see them as people. and even though he didn't directly use the word abortion or pro-life, he did talk about the importance of protecting life.

which is really a call to antiabortion activists. and he talked about it in terms of respect and in terms of seeing human life as valuable from start to finish, including as you guys just mentioned, being against the death penalty. so it was very traditional cath i can message in many respects but he also threw in these items that have gotten a lot of attention like climb al change, overall, though, he called on members of congress a body that is often very divided here on capitol hill to try to work together. take a listen. >> we must move forward together as one. in a renewed spirit of fraternity and solidarity. cooperating generously for the common goal. >> reporter: ask and, tony, as he talked to members of congress

he addressed their own personal role in trying to lead the country but also be humble as they do that. tone. >> i hey, libby, what moments seemed particularly, i don't know, to have left a mark especially memorable? >> reporter: members of congress walked away with their strongest impressions and you saw some emotional moments in the audience, speaker boehner often wiping away tears, presidential candidate marco rubio the son of cuban immigrants to seem to get teared up as the pope talked about welcoming immigrants. senator from alaska a republican had a moment where the pope came over to her and touched her rosary beads. and so members really had even if they were amongst throngs of other people, they had a very percentage connection as did really the thousands of people who watched the pope travel throughout washington. you will be experiencing that here in new york city. and the moment that really resonated where one -- where he brought the entire caucus

together. as you talk to republicans and democrats, they are pulling out things that they liked. they are pulling out their political messages that might have resonated with them. but a lot of them are talking about his call to live by the golden rule. do unto others as you would have done to you. and regardless of where you sit in the political spectrum, that seems to have stuck with some of them, tony. >> you know what, i am going to have you stand by for just a second here. i am going to try to time this so that we can hear a little bit of the remarks from pope franc francis. [speaking foreign language] >> translator: i would like to express two sentiments for my muslim brothers and sisters.

[speaking foreign language] >> translator: firstly, my greetings as they celebrate the feast of sacrifice. i would have wished my greeting to be warmer. my sentiments of closeness. my sentiments of closeness in the face of tragedy. tragedy that they suffered in mecca.

in this moment i give assurances of my prayers. i unite myself with you all. prayer to almighty god, all merciful. >> boy, and you cannot accuse this pope of not being on the news. the pope, patrick, just a moment ago acknowledging the tragedy in mecca. 700 pilgrims killed during a stampede there at the happen yol hajj pilgrimage. patrick,ism you itching to go make a comment here.

>> departing from his prepared text, toneism that's pope throughout the course of his trip and papacy isn't always as comfortable having the text in front of him. even in cuba he took the speech and gave it to someone else and said i will leave this with you you can read it later, let me speak from the heart. i think we are seeing that here. remember, also, it wasn't that long ago in the history of the catholic church that take talking favorably about islam was something popes wouldn't do this is a pope who especially on his visits last year to palestine and to israel, made such an important show of solidarity with the three abe am i can faiths, christianity, judaism and islam, bringing with him an argentinian rabbi and an iman he had known for many, mean years, they are seeing this pope's heart not just from christians, but for all people of faith. as well as toss for no faith

he's not somebody that likes to judge. >> you buttoned that up really well, patrick. like libby casey, are you still there? i have another question for you. >> reporter: i am tony. i want to mention when the pope spoke to the speak'ser's balcony today. he asked them to pray for him. something he often does you he said for the no one believers among you, he still asked for well wishes basically, which is an acknowledgment, a very simple acknowledgment that not everyone is of the catholic faith or even christian or even believes in god. it doesn't seem revolutionary but it certainly is significant,ersly come from the pope. the head of the roman catholic church. >> i am wondering about this visit in political terms happening as it does in this election cycle. that questioner in right now. i am wondering what affect this pope's visit, his speech today. the themes of his trip might have on the 2016 election cycle?

>> reporter: we had some presidential candidates here today. some like bernie sanders who loved the calls for trying to deal with income and equality. we mentioned marco rubio. it wasn't just them. ben carson was there. we saw chris christie there. jeb bush while not attending the address today did go for mass in washington yesterday afternoon led by the pope. so they were listening. but, of course, just how much this restless made and how long-term the effect is is i real question mark. already today the senate took a controversial vote looking at planned parenthood funding and the bigger picture of the budge he would. congress faces a huge battle next week, republicans are threaten to go shutdown the government over funding planned parenthood. you'll see evening in the short-term just the sort of team rollerring on of business as usual. we may see some of the elements

that the pope talked in sprinkled in to the message that candidates deliver. they were very active on twitter today talking about what he said. but ben carson, who was here today, went asked about some of the messages of climate change and other issues that don't really fit with his philosophy, he said he didn't really get all that the pope said because he had a little trouble understanding him and didn't seem too concerned about places they diverged. so once again people are picking and choosing what they loved about what the pope had to say and leaving behind what they frankly didn't agree with, tony. >> patrick, do you want to weigh in on this? >> what's interesting is no one wants to be seen as disagreeing with this pope. regardless of where you are on the political spectrum. make they said they didn't understand him or think through it but opposing him it,. >> wouldn't seem to be a smart move. >> it's not a smart move. it's something that's so different from even just his predecessor's visit in on 20008.

>> thank you. patrick. libby casey, thank you. live pictures from st. patrick's cathedral in new york where the peep is leading evening prayers, let's sneak in a quick break and we will be back in a few minutes. the only way to get better is to challenge yourself,

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we'll credit your account $20. it's our promise to you. we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life. not the other way around. from st. patrick's cathedral in new york where the pope is leaving an everything prayer, wrapping up what has been an eventful day for pope francis.

more to come later in the this newscast. the white house says president obama has accepted an invitation to meet with russian president vladimir putin next week when both leaders are in new york for the u.n. jenna decemberly. it will be their first face-to-face meeting in more than a year, the syrian situation and eastern ukraine will be at the top of the agenda. president obama is also expected to ask russia to join the fight against isil. and tonight chinese president is meeting with president obama for an informal dinner in washington they will told a meeting before the state dip in the meeting. it comes as the united states is investigating cases of corporate espionage and identity theft enlargedly at the hands of chinese hackers, the u.s. has said it won't pose any sanctions before the trip. let's go to to jamie macintyre, it's clear the two presidents will have a lot to talk about.

>> reporter: that's right, tony. you know, just last week president obama says he gets it. he understands, countries spy on each other. everybody does it. but what he says is unacceptable, what he called an act of aggression is for china or its proxies to engage in industry espionage targeting u.s. companies. and the president while not using the word sanctions, says he is preparing countervailing action to his get china's attention. almost as soon as chinese president x.i. jinx pitching stepped on u.s. solely said things he wanted to hear. he told business leaders that china has been a victim of hacking and is a strong defender of cyber security. >> the wipe ease government will not engage in complier shall theft oregon encourage such attempt by anyone. but commercial cyber theft and hacking are crimes that must be

punished in accordance with laws and relevant i want national treaties. >> reporter: china denies it's engaged in cyber espionage against the u.s. and the white has has stopped short of saying publically what did privately suspects. that chinese hackers were behind the sensitive compromising of informs of 25 million americans. just best arrival. a press release disclosed that the hackers also stole the fink prints of 5.6 million of the victims, five times the original estimate. without blaming china directly. president obama is nevertheless turning up the pressure. last week while discuss china at a business roundtable. mr. owe bomb able sifted while the u.s. surprise on others it, does not engage in industrial espionage. but he said it could.

>> we have still the best at this. if we wanted to go on the offense a whole bunch of countries would have significant problems, we don't want to he soot end net weaponized in that way. >> reporter: the press is also given his treasury secretary jack lew authority to impose financial sanctions against anyone deemed a bad actor in cyberspace. which the white house argues puts countrys like china a notice. >> merely putting it on the table can surveys deterrent and can serve to advance the interest of the united states. it. >> reporter: in not continue front being gin pink directly. eric holder last year announced the indictment of five officers of the chinese people's army on hacking charges. >> these represent the first charges for infiltrating the

united states targets. >> reporter: scuttling any chance of reaching an agreement on cyber security. this time china factors say the u.s. is likely to move cautiously but forcefully after president li. >> i think there will be frank discussion about we have had enough of this. you have to stop it. the next step will probably be a shank against some lower, you know, some less important chinese company. not one of the big state-owned organizations. >> reporter: a ban on state sponsored sib air at could be as tough as nuclear talks and will likely take years before broad concepts are accepted and more countries sign off. and ann as chinese president has arrived at the white house now for that informal dinner with president obama, it appears that the president's strategy of talking tough but holding off on actioning tough is design today

gift chinese president an opportunity to come to an understanding that it is in both country's economic and national security interests for them to have a responsible behavior in cyberspace. tony. >> jamie macintyre for us at the pentagon, jamie, thank you. turn to this tragedy now at the hajj in saudi arabia. more than 700 were killed today in a stampede. hundreds more were injured. saudi leaders have think practice uss an investigation. it is one of the deadliest accidents during the hajj in two decades. but it is not the first time disaster has struck the annual pilpilgrimage to mecca. racks sanaa saberi has more. >> reporter: hajj the annual muslim journey to mecca attracts two to 3 million pilgrims from every corner of the globe each other. >> you couldn't view such a more beautiful act that taking your wife ande ander who they are to. >> reporter: being one.

five principle that his define islam. most believe it's the ultimate religious experience. believers perform it at least once in a lifetime if they are physically and financially able. this sees knowledging journey takes place over five days in the last month of the muslim lunar calendar. with that many people found in the same place at the same time, the annual pill grim i believe has been prone to devastating disasters in the past. during thursday's stone-throwing ritual, meant as a symbolic rejection of the devil, a crowd surged and hundreds were trampled to death. the incidents is captured in this footage, showing the chaos that unfolded. this latest vent is one of the worst tragedies to strike hajj. since 1990, when more than 1400 pilgrims were killed in a stampede. disaster has marred the vent numerous times over the law few decades, in 2006, thousands of muslims rush to go complete the

stone-throwing ritual tripped over luggage causing a crush that killed more than 360 people. after that incidents. the saudi government tried to improve safety by building a wider bridge to the pillars representing the devil. three years earlier, several lost their lives performing the same ritual. >> it's the last ritual a lot of pilgrims are tired, also kind of worked up, and so there is a lot of tension in the crowds. and over the past few years, it has always been that these incidents occurred. and it's probably very difficult to have sufficient civil defense people at the right places when the crowd like that surges in to a very confined space. >> reporter: thursday's disaster comes less than two weeks after a crane collapsed killing more than 100 people. both incidents a blow to the i believe crafted by the saudi ruling family which considers itself the leader of the muslim world and defines itself as the guardian of islam's holiest places. the government takes pride in hosting the millions who visit

the holy cities of mecca and ma between a and spent billions on infrastructure but this latest accident will raise new concerns about the ability of the government to continue to guarantee the safety of pilgrims taking part in the hajj. roxana saberi, al jazeera. pale is the founder of crowd manager stram i strategies. he joins us from los angeles. paul, good to have you on the program. look. >> thank you. >> pleasure to have you. this is not the first time something like this has happened. >> correct. >> what about the saudis do in response? we just heard from roxanna, billions spent on comfort and security. did they miss something? >> well, i -- there certainly is a problem, yes at the hajj. and the saudis have dedicated millions of dollars, many, many millions of dollars to try to improve things. but -- and they brought in experts from around the world.

what gets my attention is that it seems to be a meis mila preach or at least done in stage when a express i have crowd safety approach -- comprehensive crowd safety approach, physical and management is really needed at the same time. they have just moved the problems or maybe what they have done has created a problem somewhere else. that often can occur when you don't have a comprehensive plan and you don't undertake it all at once. >> wait a minute. what i seem to be hearing is in the analysis this area, jam rot. you have a situation where you have a lot of people moving in to relatively speaking a small place. and you have this moment on many

occasions where you have people that's when we have this collision. and we ghetto turns of the stampede. and what we also heard is that perhaps there is no effective way to police that kind of traffic. do you accept that? >> no, i don't. police is not the appropriate word. manage the crowd. i don't believe that. i believe that there is a way to address this crowd. but it's not -- it hasn't been instituted. and i would say first of all, as i mentioned, you need a comprehensive approach here. you can't just fix one area and leave another area okay. but it can create -- one area that works can make another area worse, the weakest link so to speak. the other thing is, and i say this with all due respect.

that i think in mecca, and in india and around the world, there needs to be a radical change to the way events are planned. >> okay let's get to. let's get to the radical change then? ing. >> okay.in this case as you have mentioned and another consultant or expert mentioned, it's a confined space. and it's too many people. it will never be enough space to hold 2 million or 3 million or the future crowds that are anticipated. we are in a world where population is an explosive state. so the space can't be made big enough to fit everybody. no matter what they do. i would argue that, again, with all due respect that the king and that the religious leaders in saudi arabia think about changing the length of the event of the hajj. >> right.

>> controlling crowds, limiting crowds during different days. setting up different approaches. spreading out as best they can the event. look, i know there are holy places, the same thing is occurring in india where you have hindu temples on the top of mountains and narrow paths. perhaps we've got to -- they have to rethink how many people can -- need to have these experiences and give them experiences -- give the pilgrims certs in other ways. you know, i was watching the pope in america, and i was discussing the upcoming philadelphia visit that he's going igoing to make, they can't all the people in to the space so they do the -- lake many other big vents do, they create jumbotrons so people don't have to feel the sense of surging of crowding, of being close. >> okay. paul i can't imagine jumbotrons

coming to the hajj. but i take your point. -- >> it's a point. it's a point. >> i take your point. >> they have to find another way. it's just an example. i didn't suggest that either. >> you about the idea of limiting the people and times and everything else for the pilgrims at the hajj that might be third rail material, i don't know. but at least you are willing to come forward and suggest it. paul, he's an expert in crowd management joining us from los angeles, paul, appreciate it, to you. >> my pleasure. >> yeah, pleasure. another look now, live pictures, st. patrick's cathedral in new york where the pope is leading an evening prayer. let's take a break and we are back with more in a moment.

>> let's take you back to the live pictures now of pope francis conducting an evening prayer service. and patrick is searching through the program for find out where we are. he is delivering his remarks in spanish. and he arrived just a few hours ago to jf k. let's listen in. >> let us pray to the lord. ♪ ♪ >> patrick, talk to me about where we are in the service.

and talk to me about, look, i -- this pope is 78 years old. >> he have 78 years old, tone. >> i this is a grueling schedule. >> it has been a very long day for this pope. he woke up this morning in d.c. he addressed congress think met with homeless people, to get on a plane, he came here to new york. he boarded the pope mobile eventually and took it a few blocks to st. patrick's cathedral, greeting people all the way. and here he is in his last public event of the date. a prayer service called vespers, it's part of the daily ritual of catholic prayers said all over the world by monks and nuns and previouses, what we were hearing is a part very close to the end of the service. something called the upper sessions where people pray for the needs that are on their mind at the point. in talking about having prayers for priests, for future priests. interesting the music that we are hearing compose woods a priest a member of a congregation of priests based here in new york.

with the mother church just on columbus avenue. there are a number of touches throughout this service that reflect a very new york attitude towards the pope. and towards prayer it just popped in my mind how did he settle on the name francis, do you remember that story? >> it's a great story, it says so many interest who this pope s the way told the storyfter he was elected was that as the cardinal were all sitting there and the votes were being counted and it became very obvious that jorge mauro was about to become the 266th hopeful you have to imagine what the man's feelings were at that moment. evening though that this might happen. it's just about to happen. apparently within of the other cardinals leaned over to him and said don't forget the poor. don't forget the poor. immediately went to a great saints who have focused on sending its friars out in the toes citie --to the cities of t.

and live in poverty. so it says so much, st. francis the patron saints of the animals and creatures. whether the pope intended it or not, this name serves a dual purpose and points to two major focuses, both out to the margins and caring for the poor on one hand and caring for the environment on the other end. so we are hearing just a very end of this prayer service. they'll say the our father together. pope will pray a concluding prayer and the last major item on the agenda so onto speak are words from them three dolan the arcarchbishop of new york officially welcoming the pope here to the big apple. >> terrific, patrick. let take a quick break, our last break of this hour. i believe. and we'll come back with more. there he is, pope francis, st. patrick's cathedral in new york city. this is al jazeera america.

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once again live pictures from st. patrick's cathedral. new york city. an evening prayer service with pope francis. earlier in the day the pope spoke before a joint meeting of congress which takes us back to washington and lisa starks reporting with just seven days before a possible government shutdown. the senate is now on track to pass a funding bill after democrats today stopped an attempt to cut off funding for planned parenthood. lisa stark joins us from washington. lisa, if you would, tell us about the procedural vote today and what it all means. >> reporter: right. so they heard from the hope and then got down to business, tony. essentially what happened today is that the house -- or the senate, excuse me, voted not to advance a bill that would have funded the government through

december also would have cut off funding for planned parenthood. now, the majority leader mitch mcconnell knew the bill wouldn't pass but he still urged people to vote for it. here is the majority leader. >> even if our democratic colleagues may not agree with this issue. let us agree that the scandal surrounding planned parenthood is deeply, deeply unsettling. let us agree that it makes sense to at least place a scandal-plagued political organization on leave without pay. >> reporter: but to do that, mcconnell needed 60 votes, he only got 47 votes to try to advance that bill. every democrat but one, two independents, even eight republicans voting to stop this bill. they knew it was a lost cause. >> here we stand, days before funding for the government expires. wasting time on publicity stunts. every morning republicans squander on pointless votes brings us closer to an unfunned

federal government. >> once again it's women's health being used a is a tea party political football with republicans attempt tinge to cut off women's access to care. and once again workers and families across our country are watching congress and wondering whether their elected officials can do even the absolute bare minimum. >> reporter: now, right after that vote today, mcconnell introduced a bill that would fund the government going forward and would also fund planned parenthood. the senate expected to pass that easily next week. of course, up for grabs, still, is the house. >> yeah, what do you think about that? what happens in the house or do we already know? >> that is really the wildcard. tomorrow speaker boehner will meet with his caucus and try to decide how to move forward. but tony, you know there are a number of house members, more than 30 that say, look, we are willing to shut the government down rather than fund planned parenthood. we'll see to see what happens next week. >> lisa stark in washington for you, lisa, thank you.

the fallout of the volkswagen scandal continues. virginia is joining a multi-state investigation in to the tampering with he minutes tests. virginia is the 28th state to join the inquiry. meanwhile, there are reports that several top executives could be fired and that vw might not be the only car company with this problem. ali velshi is here with more. >> ali. >> yeah, listen, it's been a rough week for volkswagen. earlier this week the company admitted that it intentionally installed software in its cars that allowed it to cheat on emissions tests. this affects half a million cars in the united states, but volkswagen admits that 11 million of its cars worldwide could have the cheating software. those cars have en innings, where -- engines where emissions shown in tests are noticeably different than emission that his you see on the road. now, the ceo has resigned, tomorrow porsche chief is expected to take over as ceo.

porsche is part of the volkswagen edge prior by the way. this is somewhat media reports are saying. martin wintercorn was the ceo of volkswagen for the last eight years, he stepped down yesterday. he says he accepts responsibility for the, quote, irregularities in their diesel evening i understand but is not aware of any quote, wrongdoing on his company's part. the company's supervisory board thanked him and said goodbye and said that he had no knowledge of the manipulation of emissions dwighdata but the german governt has opened a criminal investigation. i think back to ford and fire stone, toyota and the car mats and the brakes and general motors this one has moved a little more quickly. the ceo on gone, real investigations with everybody else you had to force it a little bit. >> is it my imagination, it seems that these scandals are becoming more and more common? >> it seems like that. because it's true n wake of vehicle having un's news, bmw

was found to have curiously high emissions on its very popular x3 model of the company rerailroad release ahead statement coying it does not rigor manipulate any emissions tests offense scandals like these only come with short-term damage. volkswagen has taken a $25 billion hit to its market cap but doesn't tend to hurt their sales or profits in the long run, look at general motors the emission switch defect linked to 169 death they had record sales afterwards. toyota had to recall cars that suddenly he can are accelerated both underwent investigations and paid out huge fines, volkswagen sal salt is likely ta criminal investigation. but consumers keep buying. consumers see scandals has white noise when if comes to buy a car it has little impact i have find it fascinating but it does actually turn out to be the case. >> all right. what else do you have on the show tonight, ali?

we are taking a very close look at hillary clinton's brand-new opposition to the keystone connection sell pipeline, she used to be on the side of it going ahead then started not taking questions about it. now she's onside. i am going to talk to the sierra club's director michael brown about what all of this means. >> good toe sue. >> thank you. >> you can watch "on target" at 10 their eastern time. right here on al jazeera america. for a look at what's coming up at the top of the hour,. tcoming up tonight at 8:00. tragic death, hundreds dead, hundreds more injured and we'll have more on the islamic pilgrimage to mecca and what it's like to be in the middle of so many during hajj. outrage, criticism over a border patrol agent who killed a mexican teenager. >> translator: to me it's a crime with no justification. because he wasn't doing anything, he was just walking. he wasn't doing anything. >> that agent is now indict today murder. but how does that change the case when the incidents happened

across international borders? also tonight, of course, pope francis, you have been watching the live coverage of his trip from washington to new york, he's still in zat.rick's right now. but how he gets around town in many cities has drawn a lot of attention, you know, it's the pope mobile. and there have been many iterations over the centuries, from horse-mountained carriages to mercedes benz to the fee on the he's been driving in washington and the jeep wrangler, we'll have those stories and more coming enough a few minutes. >> thank you, appreciate it. patrick, last thoughts from you today and in to tomorrow? >> it's been a wonderful historic day for pope francis, the first pope to ever address congress, right now we are watching the conclusion of the prayer at st. patrick's. climate change, economic quality, immigration, this is the pope from the any world. and he is showing us a new emphasis within the catholic church. >> patrick, terrific, thank you

so much. see you tomorrow. >> thank, tony. and that is all of our time for this news hour i am tony harris thank for watching, john siegenthaler is back in just a few moments, have a great evening. ♪ ♪

hi everyone, this is al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler. [ siren ] catastrophe at hajj. >> the accident was a result of a stampede. >> hundreds killed in a stampede near mecca. why did it happen. the latest on the disaster, and questions of accountability. >> call to access. -