prize for chemistry. they were awarded the prize for finding out cells repaired damaged dna. the nobel prize committee says their work could be useful for the development of new cancer treatments. more real news from al jazeera at our website, aljazeera.com. demanding answers in kunduz. doctors without borders want an independent investigation. russia steps up its offensive in syria, launching missiles and isil forces there. the syrians say they have launched ground troops as part of the operation. and rising water threatens

another flood warning in south carolina. ♪ this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm stephanie sy. defense secretary ash carter is speaking out this morning about the u.s. air strike that hit a doctors without borders hospital in northern afghanistan. at least 22 people were killed. the result of what the u.s. military says was a mistake. carter is promising that the military will get to the bottom of what happened and why that hospital was targeted. >> we're conducting a full and transparent investigation, and we'll make the findings of that investigation known as they are found, and we'll hold accountable any responsible for conduct that was improper. >> but doctors without borders is this morning calling for an

in addition to investigation. >> it is unacceptable that the bombing of a hospital and the killing of staff and patients can be dismissed as collateral collage or brushed aside as a mistake. today we are fighting back for the respect of the geneva convention. as doctors, we are fighting back for the sake of patients. we need you to stand with us, to insist that even wars have rules. >> earlier i spoke with the executive director of women for afghan women in kabul. she says one of her organization own facilities in kunduz was burned down by the taliban last night. >> we knew that we would be first on the target if they do concur kunduz city. they came in to kunduz at 2:00

am and our project manager, you know, she was on her feet, and we got the women in our shelter out of there. the first -- you know, that night we evacuated the women from our shelters and the children from our children support center, and most of our staff from kunduz, the first day that they had taken over, they came looking for us. they went to our property manager's house. they ransacked her house. looted the house. they came to our children's support center and looted everything. they came to our guidance shelter, looted everything, and took away our cars, and last night we found out they burned down the shelter itself. >> the americans are being severely criticized for striking this hospital. what is the reaction in kabul to this?

>> people are angry that a hospital was bombed, but they didn't consider the americans the enemy. the enemy is the taliban. that's black and white. because the taliban came into the city. they slaughtered people. there are still dead bodies on the streets of kunduz. civilians, soldiers, even taliban soldiers, you know, there are dead bodies all over the place. people have been traumatized, terrorized, slaughtered. women have been raped and kills. so the enemy clearly is the taliban, it's not the u.s. military or government. >> she says a draw down of u.s. troops in afghanistan would create a security vacuum and lead to more tragedy. fighting in and around kunduz has slowed today. the taliban and afghan forces have been battling for over a week for control of the city. our correspondent is in kunduz and says come residents were finally able to leave their homes. >> reporter: this morning when

the shops were opened, the residents came out to do some shopping to buy some food, some water, and some locals that could afford that they were stuck in their home, they were moving towards a safer location, towards kabul, or to the north to tacar, but the taliban and afghan government were still in center of the city. and any movement is still very dangerous. i asked some then why are you coming out? they were telling us because it is almost ten days now they were living in their homes with no food, water, electricity, they don't have a choice to stay at home anymore. they have to leave or come out to do some shopping. in the past almost 24 hours that we are here in kunduz, we did hear some small air strikes, but

we learned from afghan security forces since the hospital bombardment, it is getting slower -- they are getting less air support from nato. a local health minister there says hospitals have received about 800 patients and 60 dead bodies since fighting began last week. we're getting new images of the russian air offense in syria. the kremlin says it shows russian ships in the caspian sea launching missiles. zana hoda has details from beirut. >> reporter: the russian military intervention as entered a new phase. now the air power is being used to help the syrian army launch a counter offensive against the rebels on the ground, but we

saw, really, over the past week russian air strikes targeting opposition positions in the countryside of homs, and idlib. targeting oppositions on the front line that surrounds government-controlled territory in the west. the aim of those air strikes were to stop the rebel advance in that area, the rebels were advances, to weaken the offenses, and now we understand a major military operation on the ground, the government trying to push further north. the opposition is telling us they are going to fight back. they have also said the latest offensive displayed tens of thousands of people. we cannot independently confirm that, but we have seen video of families packing their belongings and heading north. this area is very strategic, it's located on a main highway between two major cities. it is under control of the

rebels, and the government will need to open the highway if it wants to send reinforcements to the north and push towards the north to capture territory. what is becoming clear is the russian aerial campaign is to help the government change the balance of power on the ground in its favor. while russia says this is a war against terrorists, they are also making clear they are not just targeting isil, for them the majority of the opposition are considered to be terrorists. defense secretary ash carter has ruled out coordination between russia and the u.s. in syria. russia's actions there are one of the topics under discussion in the european parliament. they talked about the european response to the refugee crisis. >> translator: i recognize, i know this, freely, that europe was slow in understanding that

tragedy in middle east or africa could not be without consequence for europe itself. europe did not take the measure of the -- hopes which invested in it, and which many people see europe embodying, and no doubt will for many years to come. >> francois hollande said europe must come together to address this and other issues facing the continent. there are new claims that eastern european smugglers are helping supply isil with nuclear materials. members of criminal groups in moldova were caught trying to sell supplies to isil. a man that was arrested demanded almost $3 million for enough material to make a dirty bomb. some residents near a dam in columbia, south carolina are

being told to seek higher ground because there are fears that dam could break. some 400 roads and bridges are still closed because of the high waters. at least 15 deaths are blamed on the water there. >> reporter: i'm standing in front of one of the hundreds of roadways that are closed in south carolina. you can see the one behind me completely covered in water, and part of the assault there has collapsed. there are voluntary evacuations underway in this area, where you have a major river swelling, but some residences are saying they are not leaving. >> you got it? >> it ain't going to run. >> reporter: ron trotter needs this boat to start. it's the only way he and his wife can make it home. >> we're it. we're the only ones that are braving it. everybody else has left. >> reporter: residents are under

voluntary evacuation, but the trotters aren't leaving. they are spending the night in their home. >> we don't want looters to come in and loot the houses and everything like that. >> reporter: flood stage is at 10 feet, right now it's at 14 and rising. almost reaching their doorway. forecasters predict flood levels with rise another 2 feet in the coming days. >> it will destroy the inside of the house if it comes in. >> reporter: desmond king knows about destruction. it's the first day power is back on in his home. are you going to have to replace all of these things? >> a lot of it has to be replaced. so we're waiting on the landlord's coming today. >> when we went to sleep there was no water outside, and to make up three or four hours later to be engulfed in water,

is pretty scary. >> reporter: he crawled out of his window and got his neighborhoods. >> we held on to each other and grabbed t-shirts. >> reporter: they walked out leaving behind cars covered in flood water. a disaster that washed through their home in a matter of minutes and will take years to recover from. >> you think it just happens to other people and you get to watch it from the comfort of your home, but when it hits home, like it did, you know -- you know, who was to know that a simple rain storm would turn into a flood >> operator. >> reporter: at least 11 dams have been breached so far. let's bring in meteorologist ni nicole mitchell. what is in the forecast. >> the rain has stopped. that's great news that we'll

have a couple of dry days. we will have a chance, but any rain, even lighter stuff at this point is not good. the places highlighted in orange are places that saw two feet or more, a lot of places even outside of that saw a foot plus. the highest report was almost 27 inches, well over 2 feet. and the problem now, even though no new rain coming in, is all of these rivers and tributaries, they start to come together, move downstream, and then join together into some of the biggest rivers. here is a look at one of the rivers. this is just one example, and later this week, closer to the coastline, we could crest out at over 20 feet. we're not even at moderate flood stage yet as all of that water pours in. so that's one example. that's why we still have so many flood watches and warnings across the region.

the other big concern for today, not as profound as what we're seeing in the carolinas, but moisture in the southwest and down pours associated with that. again, this would be much more hit and miss, but this and then another system in the northern tier of the country. that's the one that is going to make its way to the east coast, probably for later on friday and possibly into the carolinas, as we get into saturday and sunday. that's the one we're going to be watching very closely. >> nicole mitchell. thank you. the justice department is close to carrying out the largest release of federal prisoners in history. more than 5500 federal inmates serving time for non-violent drug offenses are set to be freed. officialsest mate that some 40,000 prisoners could

eventually be released. researchers are back in the water today trying to find the voyage data recorder from a cargo ship that sank when it was caught in hurricane joaquin. rescuers have recovered one set of remains, but there is no sign of the other 32 crew members. officials say they have 30 days to find the data recorder before it stops pinging. a strike threat against one of the big three auto makers. workers at fee -- fee at cli

the auto industry is bracing for its first strike in more than eight years. fiat workers could walk off of the job. >> i got 30 years. i would do it. i have done it before. >> reporter: fiat chrysler workers say they are ready to walk off of the job. they sent this letter to management, set an 11:59 deadline for a new deal. the auto workers overwhelmingly projected the proposed deal by a

2-1 margin. the biggest thing dividing them is the issue of so-called tier two wages, the pay for people hired after 2007, they often earn as much as $11 an hour less than veteran employees. union workers are also concerned about plans to move production to mexico, and possible increased healthcare cost. >> if it comes down to that, we have got to fight for what we want. and the company is doing good, and should treat the workers fair. >> reporter: stakes are high for both sides, chrysler could lose $300 million in revenue each day the strike lasts. it's not clear if all workers at the plants would walk out, or if

the union would not demand all strike. this would be the first big strike on a auto worker since 2007. one thing not to expect, replacement workers, the big three auto makers haven't gone down that road in decades. one of the biggest publishers in the u.s. is promising to revise and reprint a geography book. the book referred to slaves as workers. jonathan betz has more. >> reporter: the textbook got his attention for the wrong reason. >> they had africans and african american as workers, implying

pay, as if we had come here willingly and were paid to do our job. >> reporter: the cap -- caption refers to slaves as workers. his mother put it on facebook. furious about what was in the book, and what was left out. >> there is no mention of africans working as slaves or being slaves, it just says we were workers. >> reporter: her message went viral, and forced the publicer, mcgraw hill education to say we made a mistake, and change the wording to describe the arrival of african slaves in the u.s. as a forced migration. these books are used in a quarter of the state's school districts. >> slavery was not the best part of history, it was not a happy story, but it was in fact something that did happen, and

it contributed to the success of america today. >> reporter: the book had been vetted and repeatedly checked by review panels, but the publisher says no one noticed the passage. >> all of these stories, i'm wondering how they are being told outside of world geography. this is the first step in high school history, so now what's the u.s. history book look like? >> reporter: she and her son, offering a lesson of their own. jonathan betz, al jazeera. now we spoke earlier with a former chairman of the texas board of education, he says he is glad the error was found because it was just that, an error. >> we did not down play slavery. the textbooks, the standards written to the textbooks, i really am proud of the standards. there was a statement made by a board member, who was the one social studies expert on the

board about slavery not being a primary cause, but i just disagree with all of that. at the time, you are adopting weeks and weeks of work had been put into those standards as far as board meetings over the several months, and the statement that slavery was not a major cause of the civil war is not in there. the main criticism you get in standards is the fact that you list too many things. the jim crow laws and all of that are important, they are in all of the books. it's really kind of annan issue to me. to me statements that pop up in textbooks are probably written by some graduate hired by mcgraw hill to sit there and write these books. and it just got past their reviewers, the editors, and the public. so i'm glad that kobi has found

it. >> he says this is not a failure of the standards. he insists they accurately describe slavery and other textbooks are factually correct in texas. joe biden is still considering a run.

♪ in less than a week, democratic candidates for the white house will beat for their first debate, but the big question is whether vice president joe biden will announce a bid to join the race.

david shuster has more. >> reporter: sources close to vice president biden say he has not yet made a decision about a race for the 2016 democratic domination. however, he had his regular tuesday lunch at the white house with the president, and oh to be a fly on the wall of that discussion. but members of his team are now strongly indicating to anybody that will listen that biden does not fear losing a presidential campaign. he has run twice before and lost, and the conventional wisdom among democrats has been since the death of biden's son this summer, the vice president would probably decide against another run. the theory being that an unsuccessful bid would be a crushing blow. but his team says he is not afraid of losing another race, and believes he would be

energized and lifted up by the hand shakes and everything else a campaign requires. the vice president is well aware if he does get in, he will face a significant organizational and financial deficit compared to hillary clinton. however, biden is convinced that clinton would be vulnerable. the democratic nomination race will reach a crucial new phase in las vegas next tuesday october 13th. that is the night of the first democratic debate. sources close to biden say he will not make a decision before then. and therefore will not participate. the reportedly feels no pressure to get in the race just get, as a result his aids expect a decision in the second half of october before the deadline approaches. david shuster, al jazeera.

republican presidential candidate ben carson is on the defensive again this morning. >> not only would i probably not cooperate with them. i would not just stand there and let him shoot me. i would say, hey, guys attack him. >> reporter: democrats are accusing carson of implying that victims did not do enough to stop the shooter. critics also say laughing after the comment was insensitive. carson said if he had young children he would be much more comfortable with their kindergarten teacher was armed. the attorney general of new york has launched an investigation into fantasy sports betting sites. it will look into into employees

use insider information to gain an edge. thanks for watching, i'm stephanie sy. ♪ >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ welcome to another news hour from al jazeera in doha, i'm adrian finighan. our top stories. russian missiles syria from the caspian sea. angela merkel says that europe can't solve the refugee crisis by shutting it's a off from the outside world. more clashes between palestinians and israeli forces in the occupied west nk