some kind. >> reporter: it is intensifying. thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars now rest on what jessica discovers. and the latest on all of these stories and all of the day's development on our website, aljazeera.com. ♪ >> we agreed that the military should get into connect with each other, very soon. the u.s. and russia agree to hold talks and russia carries out a second day of air strikes in syria. residents on the east coast brace for a category 3 hurricane. and fighting for control of kunduz, the taliban push back into the northern city, after

afghan forces claim victory. ♪ this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm stephanie sy. russian officials are now admitting that their air strikes in syria did not just target isil. according to syrian state tv, russia has carried out 30 air strikes over the past two days. u.s. officials say at least some of them hit u.s.-backed rebels. moscow has denied that. it says it went after a wide range of people it calls terrorists. senator mccain said he has proof that the kremlin specifically targeted free syrian army rebels. russian military involvement in syria isn't new. the kremlin has been supplying

weapons for years. peter sharp has more on why the u.s. and nato are concerned. >> reporter: it is what do you call the people who are -- who are in support and fighting against the -- the -- the assad government. they are termed terrorists. so that has allowed, i think, the -- the -- the russian direction to be on -- on these people, to be more wider spread than perhaps they are suggesting, it's just an operation against isil. but coming out of the states, there's been clear message that the russian motive is to -- is to protect assad, and to -- to guarantee itself a presence in syria after the -- the war is -- is over. they are basically turning a little toehold into syria with this weapons supply into a

proper fighting base. and there's real growing concern from nato. for instance they have brought in some very, very sophisticated surface-to-air missiles. isil don't have an air force that could threaten the base. and what nato ally commander is saying, that they are very worried that these -- that these surface to air missiles are being used to create an exclusion zone in the eastern mediterranean. the syrian opposition says rur sha's strikes have killed at least 36 civilians. the kremlin is denying that claim. we're expecting sergei lavrov to speak in the next hour, and we will bring that to you life. there is now a major hurricane that could effect millions along the east coast. it is now packing winds of at

least 110 miles an hour. residents are building sand barriers to try to limit the damage. let's bring in nicole mitchell with more. >> winds are 120 miles an hour, a category 3 storm, and it has been slowly moving its way through the baja mas. this is in warm water, so it has been intensifying, and it is possible it could make it to category 4. this dotted line is where we have already seen this storm go, and you can see a meandering track there. most of the bahamas, are up for hurricane warning, some for tropical storm warning. and what we're going to see is this will finally get picked up

by a trough, turn its way to the north, and that's when we need to monitor the united states coastline. a few are turning this out to sea without a land fall. so we'll need to monitor a couple of different things. we already have a front across the coastline that will cause a lot of heavy rain force. so regardless of the tropical system, we're going to see some heavy potentially flooding rains. i would say especially north and south carolina, some places could get up towards 12 inches total, and then you add into that the storm system. that's why we have different flood watches and warnings all the way through the mid-section of the united states. first it will be the front, and then whatever we get from the tropical system. right now, i think flooding is our biggest u.s. risk, and then we'll see what adds into that. fierce fighting in northern

afghanistan between the taliban and government forces. the taliban says it is one again in control of areas the government claimed it has retaken in kunduz. now afghan forces are getting help from u.s. air strikes and u.s. advisors on the ground. nato troops are also helping, and some of them are said to be american special forces. our correspondent has more from near kunduz. >> reporter: the reports that we are getting that heavy fighting is still continuing, now it is in the residential areas, street-to-street, the two sides are facing each other. we are hearing also american special forces involved on the ground they are fighting alongside with afghan security forces. taliban are saying that they have gained the control of some areas that they had lost this morning. we have received so many calls

this morning from civilians who are caught in the fire between the two sides. they are complaining, they said in the past few hours now both sides are using artillery and heavy machine gun, targeting civilian residential area, and also they blame taliban for it. they say the taliban are hiding in the residential area, and the afghan government forces are targeting them with artillery. people are very miserable and confused what to do, and also we are receiving reports from the hospital, from the local hospital in kunduz city. the doctors are telling us that they are overloaded, so many injuries, and that bodies arrive in the hospital, and they have shortage of medicine, and shortage of staff, because many of their doctors run away from the province before taliban take it.

israel in a few hours will get a chance to answer angry claims from the palestinians. benjamin netenyahu is expected to respond to president abbas, and the accusations that israel is defying the oslo according. abbas said that the palestinians would no longer follow these agreements since israel has not. i spoke to a key figure in initiating the process that lead to the oslo accord. he believes the palestinian authority should be dissolved. >> in a way netenyahu is now the one who is worried about canceling the oslo agreement while people like myself are telling the palestinians who would like to see a two-state solution, don't continue this game of the palestinian authority. you have a flag. and you have recognition in the u.n., and you are met by world leaders, but you don't have a

state. >> let's head out to john terrett live at the united nations this morning. john, what message will prime minister netenyahu present to the general assembly? >> reporter: well, i think they have been burning the midnight oil over at the israeli mission here in new york, drafting and redrafting the speech that prime minister netenyahu will deliver to the general assembly this morning. he is going to push back against the words of abbas, and he is going to push back hard. we have an indication of what he is going to say, because his office put out a statement late last night after president abbas spoke in which prime minister netenyahu talked about abbas's words being defeatful, and called on the palestinian authority to actre responsibly. let's listen to some of the speech, and how he sets up, now, what prime minister netenyahu will have to respond to this

morning. >> translator: we therefore declare that we cannot continue to be bound by these signed agreements with israel, and israel assume fully all its responsibilities as an occupying power, because the status quo cannot continue and the decisions of the palestinian central council last march are quite specific and binding. >> reporter: and i have to say, stephanie in all fairness, there's a lot of head scratching going on here today about why he did this. i think he did it because he wanted to get this particular middle east peace crisis back on the international agenda, but it's difficult to see how he can really carry through with his bomb shell as he put it. for example, the security situation is handled jointly between the palestinians and the israelis, and the palestinian

authority pays everybody in the west bank and in gaza, which is hamas. so without that level of services and security, it's difficult to see how his people can fall in to line behind him. we'll have to wait and see. steph? >> yeah. in his previous speeches, netenyahu has focused on iran, are we expecting a return to the iranian nuclear issue today. >> reporter: of course he'll mention it, because he hates the deal, and he wants to renegotiate it and get another one. but take a look at these pictures. do you remember when netenyahu came here and held up that cartoon bomb and drew the red line, and he said this is as far as israel is prepared to go regarding iran's nuclear ambitions. i'm told he will mention this today, but not as much as he has done over the past two or three years, and the reason for that, prime minister netenyahu is

slated to meet with president obama in november, and is looking to show he can be a statesman at least with regard to this issue and move on, even though, as i say, he hates the deal. the obama administration frac-ing regulations are on hold today. a federal judge in wyoming has blocked them. the judge said the interior department had no authority to issue the rules. it only covered frac-ing on federally-owned land, right now 80% takes place on state and private land. jury selection begins today in the trial of a former coal executive in connection with the 2010 mine disaster that left 29 people dead. lisa stark looks at what happened at the mine, and what the victims' families are looking for. >> reporter: these memorials to the 29 miners are a vivid

reminder of what happened in april 2010. tommy davis barely escaped the blast, but lost his son as well as hi brother and nephew. >> i go to the graveyard and i talk, and i say daddy is still fighting for you, boy, and i'll continue to until i think justice has been served. >> reporter: what is justice? for the families of those who died, it would be the conviction of this man, don blankenship, the former ceo of the company that owned the mine. federal investigators blamed the blast on a series of safety violations. the mine has racked up more than 500 federal safety violations the year before. >> he knows about everything that went on over there, but for him not being the man he should have been and the chief, and step up and push the button and

say stop, let's make it safe for these men, he let them men die that day. >> reporter: blankenship is charged with lying to investors to prop up stock prices after the explosion. he has pleaded not guilty. in a youtube documentary he funded, he painted himself as a safety pioneer, and insisted safety and prosits go hand in hand. >> i am smart enough to know that keeping your coal miners safe and not having accidents is very profitable. >> reporter: but the indictment describes him as obsessed with production and cost cutting above all else. in a note to an executive who was not keeping costs down enough, he writes: his attorneys may argue that he oversaw dozens of mines and was not responsible for everything

happening underground at just one of those properties. proving a ceo's direct involvement in day-to-day operations can be tricky. >> they have got to get to the jury's gut and just going after a ceo, and saying he was there and he should have known, that is not going to be enough for most juries. >> reporter: victims' families say they will be in the courtroom until the jury decides his fate more than five years after one of the nation's worst mine disasters. the new york city police department is unveiling new rules for tracking incidents of excessive force. officers will have to document every time they use force even if it didn't end in arrest. officers will face discipline if they do not step into stop colleagues from using excessive

force. two high-ranking drug lords are in the united states this morning after being extradited from mexico. they are former top leaders in two different cartels. they are being held in new mexico, the same one where el chapo guzman escaped over the summer. the sheriff in tulsa steps down over the shooting of an unarmed man, why a grand jury thinks he should be held responsible. ♪

♪ a funeral service is being held this morning for a new jersey high school quarterback who died last week. he died suddenly after collapsing on the football field. an autopsy determined he has suffered a rupture's spleen. his death is raising new questions at high schools around the country over what can be done to save the lives of young athletes. >> reporter: athletes at this high school are allowed to practice full contact for no more than 90 minutes a week. a safeguard to prevent injuries in a sport often criticized for being too violent. >> there are situations that happen, emergencies happen, accidents happen. >> reporter: five high school athletes died playing football last season. these players are more likely to

suffer from catastrophic injuries than college athletes. the latest is this boy. an autopsy shows he died of a lacerated spleen. >> it is one like this. >> reporter: mark harris with sports depot, says his store has seen an up tick in sales since his death. what does this protect you from? >> your spleen, your back, the whole area. >> reporter: but he says getting players to gear up is a challenge. >> reporter: they want to wear as little as possible? >> in many cases yes, because they want to be as light and mobile and agile as possible. >> reporter: flak jackets are

not mandatory for high school players. if he was wearing this do you think it could have protected him from a lacerated spleen? >> yes. >> reporter: one way to make high school football safer is to increase the presence of athletic trainers, so they are not just at the games but also at the practices. the school said it had a trainer and physician at the game. but nationwide 37% of public schools employ full-time athletic trainers. >> they are not multi-million dollars athletes, but that doesn't mean they don't need the same protection. college athletes are reviewing their options today after an appeals court ruled they should not receive payment

for paying. the ruling is generally seen as a win for the ncaa. but judges said the agency's pollty of limiting what the players can receive is a violation of anti-trust laws. the tulsa county sheriff is out of a job this morning and facing charges in connection with the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man. stanley glance resigned on wednesday after he was indicted. erika pitzi reports. >> reporter: an indictment handed up by an oklahoma grand jury says tulsa sheriff concealed evidence in the investigation of the deadly shooting of a man in april. the suspect had allegedly tried to sell an illegal gun to an undercover office. when he fled, a deputy's body camera captured the chase.

73-year-old volunteer deputy fired a shot. >> i shot him, i'm sorry. >> reporter: baits said he meant to reach for his stun gun but accidentally grabbed his pistol. >> he shot me! he shot me! i'm losing my breath. >> reporter: the deputy snaps back, f your breath. harris later died of his injuries. questions immediately arose about whether he should have been wearing a uniform in the first place. he worked briefly as a police officer, but at the time of the shooting, he was a volunteer deputy, retired after a career as an insurance salesman. he also gave thousands of dollars of cash and equipment to the sheriff's department. according to the grand jury indictment, the sheriff withheld

information from investigators, including a 2009 report that raised questions about bait's fitness for duty. another state begins selling legal recreational marijuana.

meeting, conference, whatever can be done as soon as possible ♪ as of this morning, recreational marijuana is officially for sale in oregon, as alan schauffler reports

residents over 21 can legally buy it in stores without a medical prescription. >> reporter: it's a big day for sellers and buyers, you will be able to pick up a dream queen, by seeds, and bud, and do it recreationally without a medical marijuana card. that's the way oregon is rolling out recreational marijuana. there is going to be a tax holiday until the first of the year. and eventually oregon's tax system will be considerably lower than washington or colorado. one of the folks very involved in the business is this man. what have you had to do to get ready for this day? >> we have doubled our staff, brought in a lot of extra

product. updated systems, and just really getting ready to go. >> reporter: oregon joins washington and colorado as states where people can legally buy and sell recreational marijuana. there will be much more on this story on al jazeera america this evening with a look at how sales did on day one. thanks for watching. i'm stephanie sy in new york. a live look now at the united nations. we're awaiting a news conference from sergei lavrov, and an address by greek prime minister. we'll bring that coverage to you in just a moment. [ applause ]

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♪ >> we are awaiting a news conference right now from sergei lavrov at the united nations. he is the russian minister of foreign affairs, and according to syrian state tv, russia has carried out 30 air strikes in syria over the last two days. russian officials released video of some of the air strikes a short time ago. u.s. officials say at least some of those bombs have targeted u.s.-backed rebels. >> it is one thing, obviously, to be targeting isil. we're concerned obviously if that is not what is