but. i'm ray suarez, and that is the "inside story." ♪ >> this is aljazeera america. live from new york. >> to me, the house of representatives represents what's best of america. >> speaker of the house, paul ryan, promises a new era on capitol hill. the challenges within his own party and with democrats. culture clash, saudi arabia's concerns and demands to the u.s. as iran enters peace talks from the syrian war. >> . >> family plans.

china okays parents to have two children instead of just one. why the change and the economics. and we begin today with a big day on it capitol hill. the house elected wisconsiner, paul ryan, to be the youngest speaker in 150 years. the biggest challenge will be trying to unify a divided chamber. and mike, as we say, he has a lot on his plate, trying to connect with democrats, and how is he going to get it done? >> reporter: you're right, he's new and young, and he's seen as the last best hope to bring unity to congress, but at the end of the day, amid ceremony and smiles, it's clear that paul ryan has his work cut out for him. >> mr. speak, the speaker

elect, paul ryan, the state of wisconsin. >> reporter: paul ryan, the reluctant speak, greeted by both republicans and democrats. and then accepting the gavel he had resisted for weeks, and he realized that there was no turning back. >> i felt like the moon and the stars and all of planets had fallen on me. we should all feel that way. a lot is on our shoulders. so if you ever pray, let's pray for each other. republicans, for democrats, and democrats for republicans. >> of iowa >> reporter: ryan's victory was never in doubt. the hardcore fan of conservatives had blocked one speaker, and for the most part, only nine defection. emphasizing what he called a broken institution. >> how assuring would it be if we actually fixed the tax code,

put patients in charge of their healthcare, grew our military and lifted people out of poverty and paid down our debt? >> but none of that would be easy. the house is divided. not just along the usual party lines, but within the republican party itself. renegade conservative continue to repeal the spending cuts for the affordable care act act. >> everybody who tells me -- >> and as political outsider pop presidential polls, house conservatives will follow their lead, making compromises with the democrats for the speaker less likely. how he does that will define his tenure over the next year. but for at least one day in the house, there was ryan's hope. the man he succeeds, the famously emotional john boehner, came armed for his farewell with a box of tissue. >> i leave wh no regrets, no

burdens. if anything, i leave the way i started. >> reporter: and as ryan's family looked on, along with the man who chose him as running mate, mitt romney, ryan became the youngest speaker since the 1850s. and issued his call to reform. >> only a fully functioning house can truly represent the people. and if there's ever a time for us to step up, this would be that time. >> reporter: paul ryan said that the institution is broken, jonathan, and the public would appear to agree with him. iall of the polls, 59% disapprove of the job that congress is doing, but john boehner did him a huge favor, cleaning the barn, and passing the budget to last well into 2017, two big problems and obstacles removed from the path of paul ryan. >> live finish us in

washington, thank you. and coming up at the bottom of the hour, i'll talk to the republican congressmen about the challenges facing paul ryan. at the third republican debate, the focus was the economy. how the candidates plan to cut taxes and keep jobs and keep your money safe. but some of what the candidates said last night didn't add up. >> this stuff is fantasy, just like getting rid of medicare and medicaid. >> out of the gate, john kasich blasted away at republican rivals, and while it's true that ben carson once suggested that the government get rid of meld care, his position has changed. donald trump hit back hard. >> this was a man that was a managing general partner at lehman brothers went down the tubes, and almost took every

one of them with us including ben and myself. i was there, and lehman brothers started it all. he was on the board and a managed general partner. >> when you talk about me being on the board of lehman brothers, i was not on the board. i was a banker and proud of it. >> reporter: kasich is correct. he was one of hundreds in the organization, and ben carson made assertion busy his past, denying anything more than a paid spokesman for mannitic. >> i didn't have anything to do with them. that's total propaganda, and that's what happens in our society. i did a couple of speeches for them, and i did speeches for other people paid speeches, and it's absurd to say that i had any relationship with them. >> but five years ago, carson credited that company with funding a multimillion-dollar endowment in his honor. >> it requires 2 and a half

million dollars to do an endowment. and i'm proud to say that part of that 2 and a half million dollars came from mannitic. >> and the republican debate also underscored sharp divisions over social security. >> yes, we have stolen and yes, we've lied to the american people. >> reporter: while mike huckabee and donald trump want to protect the entitlement, chris christie wants to cut the social security program. and he justified it this way. >> all that's left in the trust fund is a pile of ious and they have stolen them from you because now they know they can't pay the benefits to social security, and it's going to be insolvent in 7-8 years. >> in fact, social security will not be insolvent until 20 years. and even then, they will be able to pay partial. and government bonds are considered the safest bet in the world. several democrats hammered president obama's economic

policies. >> for the first time in 25 years, we have more businesses closing than starting >> reporter: in fact, according to census bureau beta, that started years ago. carly fiorina attacked with this. >> 92% of the jobs lost during barack obama's first term belonged to women. >> reporter: u.s. labor statistics say that's not true. and to her overall point, employment was actually higher for women at the end of president obama's first term than when he took office. the facts check said that the debate featured more than 20 questionable claims. >> my apologies. >> reporter: david schuster, aljazeera. >> high-level talks on ending syria's civil war tomorrow in vienna. syria will not be represented but a dozen nags including iran will be there. president obama said that he has already met with some of

the major players, including saudi arabia and jordan ahead of the meeting. an >> to hear it from the few diplomats that actually spoke to the press today, they would have everyone believe that just the fact that people have gathered here in vienna, that's cause for celebration, that it really took a lot of renewed impetus to make sure that all of these countries could be here. there were several surprises today. one of them being the fact that iran is already here. early in the day, we were led to believe as well as any of another press corp here, that earlier today, it would be taken up-by-lateral medians of the talks, those being the u.s., saudi arabia, and turkey and russia. but it took several hours and

went late into the evening before the saudis and the russians appeared. and john kerry, going to have a bilateral meeting with the iranians, and lavrov of russia having his own bilateral meeting. iran, coming a day early, and the saudis taking of longer to get here than originally thought. it's going to be a really big divide that's going to have to be bridged tomorrow between the countries participating. yes, it's anticipated that they will be in the same room together. and especially significant that iran and saudi arabia will be across the table from each other, trying to come up with a solution for syria. but we must remember in the runup to the talks, they have not made any type of change on the ground in syria. we're hearing of more aerial bombardment today. and more people fleeing the

fighting, more humanitarian crisis continuing to spiral, and more by the hour. >> and tonight, sheila macvicar joins us from washington and you've been following this, and what comes out of vienna? >> reporter: look at in this way, you have the u.s. and it's coalition allies, including saudi arabia, which are mostly agreed that there can't be a future in syria for assad. and then up the assad supporters, the russians and the iranians and they are not in the position to say that assad should go. putin has put a timeline on this, and he has said 4-6 months for the air campaign, and that clearly is to buy him some time. but what mr. putin wants coming out of this, the end of what may be a very long and slow process of stops and starts, he wants someone who is either mr. assad or looks a lot like

mr. assad. >> so sheila, talk about the ground, and how does russia's entry koch kate matters? >> well, it was already a difficult process, and russia has complicated matters. so you have the u.s. and it's coalition partners fighting against isis and now you have the russians coming in with the irrannians, who are fighting in support of the assad regime. the americans and their allies are not fighting the assad regime, but they want assad to go. and so what we have seen over the course of the last month, the last weeks, with russia carrying out combat sorties, we have seen them working in it concert with the syrian regime, with forces on the ground retaking some of the territory. >> so you have the u.s.-led coalition, and what's the impact? >> great question.

14 months, more than 7,000 combat sorties taking place, and when you look at the map from a year ago, and you look at the map now, and not much has changed. it is known that isil has lost between 10 and 15,000 fighters as a result of those coalition airstrikes, and the battle that they have fought with the kurds and others. but they have been able to replace those fighters through very savvy social media recruiting, so they're not showing any weakness on the battlefield at all. >> so when you consider that, the airstrikes, the talks in vienna, the question of whether assad should stay or go, and what's the way forward here? >> well, it has become pretty clear that as a strategy, there isn't one that is at the moment successful. the u.s. says yes, our efforts to train people to fight against isil in syria were really not very effective, and we made some mistakes and they're going to try that again. there will be more training and

more partnership with allies on the ground like the kurds and the iraqi army. that means more american trainers, and more americans perhaps participating in raids like the one that killed master sergeant wheeler, and it does mean that there will be more american be casualties. >> that's the big concern. sheila, thank you for your time today. and you can see sheila reporting on america tonight at 10 p.m. eastern, 7:00 pacific. people trying to escape that war in syria, refugees pushing their way through metal barriers on the border of austria, and they were waiting for hours in the cold to cross the barrier. the police led several hundred people into austria. this as austria plans to build on its border with slovenia. and many seeking refuge are from afghanistan. the european union has a message for them.

expect to be sent back home. [ unintelligible ] [ unintelligible ]. >> friendships have been forged on the journey. from afghanistan, kalik is just 16 years old, aged by a conflict that returned to his hometown this month. >> they want to make it easier to send them home. >> there's a war going on in afghanistan, and it doesn't seem to make sense. >> there is at the moment, a

return rate of 40% among the afghan, and there's individual questioning to see the situations in which they live, and whether they can go back and what's happening in the war situation will be improving. >> reporter: most refugees are from syria, but an stimed 25% of those entering austria are from afghanistan. now, in many instances, i see people of different nationalities coming together. but i also noticed some resentment over who is most deserving of asylum. a dentist from damascus asked me why i was interviewing afghans. >> the eu wants to send back afghans that it considered migrants. >> [ unintelligible ] there's no order. >> for kalik and his friends, the idea of reaching safety

only to be sent home invokes hollow laughter. they have given up everything to make this journey and they said there will be no going back. aljazeera, on the austria slovenia border. >> children are among the dead after a ship sunk off the greek islands. hundreds of refugees were onboard. and eight are confirmed dead. a boat capsized off of lesbos, and dozens are still missing. >> reporter: for these survivors, a life in europe may become reality. but it comes at a high cost. dozens of their fellow passengers may never be found. and some of the children at the lesbos hospital are not out of danger. the coast guard was still looking for survivors, and fishermen joined in the search on thursday, but anger runs high on the island and a

disregard for human life. >> those people who are coming to the island, they're criminals. they just get money to put those people on boats, to get -- they will be dead. >> reporter: survivors said that the boat capsized when the overcrowded upper deck collapsed on to the people below. the smugglers had already been taken onboard another vessel and they were forced to steer by themselves in 50 mile-per-hour winds. some people put refugees up overnight in their homes. the post-script of the disaster is likely to be more bodies, and not more survivors. aljazeera, on the island of lesbos. >> and still ahead on aljazeera america, they shaped a generation in china. the big changes in the one-child policy.

why the communist party is making a switch. and after a decade in guantanamo, one of the first prisoners is released.

>> a man who spent 13 years in guantanamo is returned to his country six years later. he is the man in the sunglasses. back home. he had been held autobahn guan

since october of 2002, and a suspected member of al qaeda, though the u.s. never showed any evidence of his involvement. he was approved for transfer in 2009, but his release was repeatedly delayed. 113 prisoners are still being held at guantanamo. >> it has been nearly 5 years since an angry young tunisian lit himself on fire to protest his government. the pro democracy movements across the middle east, the most successful movement has been in tunisia. it came many dangerously close to failing after sentiment turned against the moderate islamist party. they were forced to hand over power to a caretaker government at the request of the tunisian dialogue quartet. that group recently won the nobel peace prize. but this week, he was accepting

his own peace award. >> the mention of tunisian sacrifices to establish democracy, proving that democracy are compatible, and democracy is possible. >> when the tunisian democratic experiment was threatened, it hit a very big [ audio difficulties ]

and can seek consolation

without confrontation. >> but will you meet with al all cease see? will you meet with him. >> i will meet with anyone. >> do you think washington understands what role moderate islam can play in contrary arab politics? do you think that they understand what moderate political thought is? >> they have no choice, only to deal with moderate islam, [ unintelligible ] i think still hesitate. didn't decide yet to deal with

the moderate islam. >> why? what do you think is the source of that hesitation? >> i don't know. >> but you met with leaders in the united states, you've met with the political figures in the united states, and you're going to washington. >> i've been in the united states many points of views, and the official policy now is only modern democratic is tunisia, but tunisia is not well supported bit u.s., by the united states, only by [ unintelligible ] the united states invests in confronting tunisia, but doesn't invest in

supporting democracy. >> still ahead in aljazeera america, the challenges for the new speaker of the house. i'll talk to a republican congressman about what paul ryan is up against. and china is ending it's one-child policy, why critics say that the change still breaks human rights. and fire on the tarmac. forced to escape when a jet goes up in flames.

>> paul ryan was officially leaked today to succeed john boehner as house speaker. ryan said one of his first priorities will be to change how the house operates. >> the house is broken. we're not solving problems. we're adding to them, and i'm not interested in laying blame. we're not settling scores, we're wiping the slate clean. >> congressman, blake farron voted for paul ryan to be speaker of the house, and he joins us now from houston, good

to see you. >> good to be with you. >> so you just heard ryan say that the house is broken, and is heed man to fix it? >> i think that paul ryan and the 40 folks didn't vote for him, but when it got to the floor, the house united and we only had nine republicans vote against him. and i think that that shows the vast majority of the republican conference sees him as a healer. >> why did he get such a resounding yes? since you were not sold on the idea of ryan as speaker, you came around and what changed your mind? >> he had a message of unification, and if we didn't come together as republicans and vote for paul ryan, and if he didn't end up winning on the first round, we would have continued through votes, and you may have possibly ended up with a compromise candidates who got all of the democrats and a handful of republicans, and that would have been a bad thing in my opinion. >> so you don't think that ryan

is going to be a compromise candidate some. >> again, i think that he's seen by the republican conference as a unifier. we were looking for somebody who was a good communicator, and push things forward. >> so how do you think that he's going to balance that, with his feet held to the fire within the house? how is he going to bring all of these different factions together? >> i think there was a large group of republicans, and it felt like speaker boehner, and the past leadership weren't listening to them. paul is a good listener, and he's committed to letting the process work and letting the committees do their job, and

not be a dictatorial leader, but empower all of the members of congress. there are 435 members of congress, elected by 700,000 people. and take advantage of the collective wisdom of the group. >> what do you think is going to be his biggest challenge as he takes the reins here? >> i think that it's easy to talk about bringing disparate factors together. and it's going to be actually making it work when we have to come to things that need to be done, getting both republicans and democrats together. we have a feisty crowd of republicans. my group that came in in 2010, came in with a mandate to stop wasteful government spending and reform the way that things are done in washington, and we haven't given up on that. >> you're among the feisty

crowd, congressman, and one of the things going forward, the spending bills that still have to get past. and there's talk that the shutdown could be threatened, and do you think that that's likely? >> i think that boehner cleaned out the barn, as he said, and we're not going to face any -- what i like about paul, he's committed to not letting us run up against these deadlines. if we start far enough in advance, we go to passing the normal appropriations bills. get them passed early, and sit back and cross our arms, and tell the senate, we have done our jobs and we're not going to give you a cr. >> but as he moves forward, he may feel pressured to work with democrats, and president obama, who will remain in office for a year. >> that's the worry for anybody in that job. and it's one of the reasons i didn't run for it. >> but also, one of the fears

is that republicans like yourself might get in the way of that, and might challenge his job and stop him from getting things done. >> listen, i'm loyal to the people of texas who sent meo congress. i'm not loyal to paul ryan. i have to do what the folks back home want me to do. and i'm going to work with paul to try to advance the conservative agenda forward. and hopefully he'll be able to do that. we're not going to have this digging your heels n. and not good enough, my way or the highway mentality. listen, paul is -- i like him personally. he is a person that's easy to talk to. and easy to make friends with. john boehner wasn't approachable to me. he had lots of friends up there, but i was uncomfortable when i was around him. paul, i'll sit down and have a beer with paul. >> it's a new generation, and

a big change without question. congressman blake farenthold, thank you for your it time today. after 35 years, china is ending it's one-child policy, and it's allowing married couples to have two children. but it may be too little too late. china is facing an aging population without enough workers to support its economy. >> the announcement came at the end of the communist party's four-day gathering of its leadership, mapping out the next five-year plan. the strategy sets broad goals for economic development but it's the change in the one-child policy that has been the most eagerly anticipated by many families here. it had already been partially relaxed. allowing families where at least one parent is from a one-child family themselves to have two children, and now that's being extended to all

couples. >> it's not so much demographic, as far as encouraging children to be born, but it's the lifting of a highly restrictive subversive policy as we have hear. >> the one child policy was brought in to control china's burgeoning population. it's cancellation will be popular, but a number of couples haven't decided to have another child. for them, careers and living costs in beijing are the priority. >> my wife and i don't have any plan for the second child. >> their seven-year-old son, henry is in no doubt. he wants a sibling. >> i want a sister. >> as well as the generation of one-child families, the demographic imbalance. they need to be supported by an

ever shrinking population. the one child policy, put in place more than 30 years ago, to avoid a crisis, has to be abandoned to avoid another in the future. >> and joining us now is gordon chang, a contributor to forbes.com, and the upcoming collapse of china. so gordon, good to see you, and first off, how big a deal is this? >> it's important that china is changing it's policy, but the other thing, it's not changing the coercive nature of population planning. because people if they want a child, they have to get a permit. and if they want a second child, they have to get a permit. so the problem of forced abortions and infanticide, that's going to continue. there are people who will want three or more children, and in terms of the control of the chinese people, there's going to be no change at all. >> do you think that this

might cause them to lift the cap completely and allow parents to have as many children as they want? >> that's probably what they should do, but the communist party has ride on population planning to maintain social control. and because the party is insecure, it's unlikely to give up that measure of ability for the chinese people to do what they want. so i'm not very optimistic on that score. even if they go to a three-child policy, they're still going to require permits. >> but now allowing two children for married couples, how is this going to change life on the ground for most chinese. >> well, in urban areas, this policy has been baked n because after all of propaganda they have had since 1979, since they rolled out the program, it encouraged people not to want to have a second child. but in rural areas, and certainly out west, i think this is going to be important. because people will have the

additional child. though in those particular areas, they have had the ability to have people have children out of plan. >> because there are ways to work around the system there. >> and these rules apply differently to minorities, so in terms of what this will mean on the ground, it's not sure. >> there's this argument because the chinese society is so highly competitive, and raising children is so expensive that a lot of chinese may not have more children. >> and in 2013, when the policy allowed some people to have two children, not a lot of people took advantage of it. >> it was kind of a flop, wasn't it? the chinese government was disappointed be the numbers. >> it had to have been. right now, the workforce peaked in 2011, and maybe earlier than that, and the striking thing,

in 2022, china for the first time in at least three centuries, and maybe for all of recorded history, last name be the world's most populous nation. >> does that worry the chinese government? there has been a lot of concern that this was done to help china's economy, and will it help it? >> it will help a little bit. but you have to remember, a person conceived today doesn't join the workforce for 16 years, and in the interim, that person raises the dependency ratio. this was announced at the end of a economy meeting. >> china is the world's largest company. and it has 1 billion more people than the united states, and this policy was enacted because china was concerned that it couldn't support that many people. and do you worry that this might cause a population boom that china won't be able toker support? >> i don't think that that's going to happen for a number of reasons. i think that the chinese government would like to see

more births, but for a number of reasons that might not occur. and the really important thing is the chinese economy is under severe stress, so this is a long-term solution to a critical short-term problem. >> a critical short-term problem. okay, gordon, thank you. thank you for talking to us, we appreciate it. well, talks have been held between the u.s. and china days after a u.s. destroyer sailed close to islands that the chinese claimed. close to the island in the south china sea, china called it a violation of its territory. the chief of naval officers have spoken to the chinese officials, but it's not clear if the sail-by was it discussed. it was consistent with international law. u.s. military jets scrambled after bombers got too close to a u.s.er aircraft carrier in the sea of japan.

the ronald reagan was conducting exercises when the bombers were launched. on the border of afghanistan and pakistan, 350 are dead. relief has not reached remote areas, and officials are worried that survivors will not get help before winter. tens of thousands of homes have been destroyed. and meanwhile, the taliban said that it will hold its fire and will not interfere with rescues. for some in afghanistan, the only way to find a better life is to leave. places that once welcomed them, like germany, say that the number of afghan asylum seekers is unacceptable. and they are deporting them. what this means to them and their relatives abroad. >> reporter: for months, she didn't know if they are 16-year-old son was dead or alive. in july, he left his home in

afghanistan hoping to get to germany. it was a dangerous trip. >> he almost drown, and he said that the boat was sinking. water was up to his neck. they reached land, and they stayed in greece for a couple of days and went to serbia. he said that they only fed them once a day. >> 2 and a half months ago, farsad reached berlin where his aunt lives. the family said that they missed him. but they were forced to send him after the taliban or isil forced farsad to work with them. >> we had no choice, we didn't send our son because we wanted to. >> reporter: farsad's father, a shop keeper, had to borrow

money for the trip. and last month, the taliban captured kunduz city. and they had to flee their home, and there's no way to pay their debt. they hope to meet their son in germany, and that's their only hope. >> we want our son to set up there, and we will join them. if they deport him, what will happen to us? [ foreign dialogue ] >> interpreter: i feel very sad. not only my son, but all of these people went there in the hopes that they would be accepted. they have taken all of this risk, and why are they going to deport them? >> they said that if they had the money, they would leave for germany now, though they know the risks and they have small children. she would rather take the chance to give her children a future, because they won't have one here. thousands of afghans are ready to make the dangerous trip to europe. they are determined to change

the minds of those ready to leave. >> a saudi blogger convicted of insulting islam, he was called to be released from prison. aljazeera's charlie anglo has more. >> reporter: the soccer prize this year will go to the saudi arabian blogger. i call on the king of saudi arabia to immediately grant mercy on mr. badowe and free him. >> a standing ovation in parliament, the 31-year-old has a jail sentence and a public flogging. he was convicted in 2012 for insulting islam after he criticized senior religious figures. following thing death threats,

his wife and three children fled saudi arabia, and living in canceled capped, they campaigned for his release. >> it's very bad psychological and physical situation. he has been jailed for three years, away from his kids and family. and he has been flagged in a public place. >> they have been postponed, and the wounds area slow to heal. his wife says that the lashes could resume immediately, but he suffers from hypertension, and he may not survive. >> stop the flogging! >> there have been protests outside of the embassies, and

little criticism from western governments. the campaign said that this will shine the lights on saudi arabia's human rights record and be a blow to its global image. >> there are people who recognize that this is a very bad move, for wallied and other political prisoners, and hopefully that will encourage them to push for change. >> reporter: for the parliament and individuals and others for the human rights and democracy. but despite pleas from the parliament and the president and many others, it's unlikely that badawi will be free to accept it in person in december. >> up next, disappearing snow caps for the first time in decades, peaks in montana are bare and what it means for the wildlife and the water supply. and stunning photos from

the dryest place on earth. what happens when a desert in chile gets record rainfall.

>> 15 people were hurt today when a jet caught fire on a

runway in fort lauderdale, florida. the engine of a dynamic airways plane, that was leaking fuel before it ignited. the boeing 767 was headed to fort lauderdale with 110 people onboard. and many of those people used the aircraft slides to escape. snow can usually be seen all year on top of the bare tooth mountains between montana and wyoming. but after one of the dryest winters on record, the dry fields of snow dried up this year, and we may have seen the last of them. >> reporter: high up in the bear tooth mountains near yellowstone national park, something is missing. >> normally, at this elevation, we would look up on the side of the mountain and see snow patches. they're gone, we don't have them. >> reporter: snow and ice have been picturures here for thousands of year. >> this one melt that we have been monitoring for years, we

found bison bones in fact. and there of not been bisons at the tree line for thousands ofs. >> but this summer, all of the snow fields disappeared, experts predict forever. >> so is this a warning that we should be paying attention to? >> this is a warning. you could call the loss of the permanent snow the canary and the coal mine. >> reporter: jim wanted to take us into the mountains to see where they competitived but however, winter is coming and the roads are closed. it's more of a seasonal habit than necessity this year. >> over there in the land above the trees, the al pines, look at that snow field on the right. five years ago, it was much bigger, and five years from now, it may be totally gone. >> reporter: we eventually moved into the valley to see the fallout. we're in livingston, montana, on the banks of the yellowstone

river. snow from the mountains drains into the yellowstone. >> welcome to the yellowstone river. >> reporter: bruce starting is from traut unlimited. and he said loss of the snow will have big impacts on the trout. we're not looking at exing distinction, but shifting of the ecosystem. >> we're looking at some local extinction for some of our native species. >> reporter: another concern, a hit to montana's economy. sparling said that fishing brings in $900,000 a year. >> what we have is changes in mid continent, affecting everything from recreation to commerce and agriculture. >> reporter: hitting an ecosystem where a massive thaw out is the new reality.

the bear tooth mountains, wyoming. >> still stunning to look at. for a look at what's coming up at the top of the hour, john seigenthaler is here. >> coming up tonight at 8:00, as the house chooses paul ryan as the new speaker, we'll look at the conservative caucus and what they want, and whether the policies of lo ronald reagan wod receive support of today's lawmakers. and jeb bush, the one time frontrunner, what went wrong and his chances for a comeback. and the chance for plea agreements, guilty or not. >> there's not a defense attorney in this country who at some point hasn't stood next to a client and watched them plead guilty to a defense that he or she did not commit as part of a plea deal. >> and if it will go to trial, why some say that it's bad for the criminal justice system.

and my conversation with singer, joan. >> the audience is why i've had this long career, it's not all just me. >> life on the road and the inspiration for hor songs. all in 4 minutes. >> one of the world's dryest landscapes has burst into bloom. after rare late season rain. rob matheson shows us the transformation. the spectacular group, seen in nearly two decades. >> we have not had such large flowering in the past 18 years. in 2010, we had a large flowering, but already this year has passed all of the previous ones. >> reporter: this life comes from tragedy. torrential storms devastated

chile's northern region in august, causing mudslides, and the rivers so swollen, they missed their banks, and people died. 280 exotic plants lie dormant for years. they in turn from attracted birds, insects, lizards and rodents. for some locals like cores et, it's an unforgettable experience. >> for us, it was a miracle because i've never seen what the grass looks like until now. >> the flowers will eventually die, as the intense dry heat soaks up the remaining ground water. until then, chile's desert is bursting with life. rob matheson, aljazeera. >> a beautiful burst of color. that does it for us at this

hour, i'm jonathan betz. stay here, because john seigenthaler will be back in a few minutes, and then it's the international hour with antonio mora. go to aljazeera.com.