fly away. each of us put in the work. we practiceded hard. >> and with prize money of nearly $1,000 they can afford to eat well as well as skillfully at their celebration dinner. >> good for them. more on the website. taking -- how stupid are the people of iowa. how stupid are the people of the country. the republican presidential

hopefuls taking on iowa voters and ben carson. this is al jazeera america live in new york city. i'm dale walters. the pentagon this morning saying it's still trying to figure out if it was indeed jihadi john that was killed in that strike. >> we are reasonably certain that we killed the targetna we intended to kill which was jihadi john. >> it was his covered face that appeared in all of those videos showing the killings of western hostages. john, what is the latest on the strike and whether they did indeed kill the man we know as jihadi john. >> we just don't know for certain. there is a press conference going on at the moment by the

pentagon briefing room here in washington d.c. coming in from baghdad, it's being hosted by colonel steve warren. according to him, there was a drone strike carried out yesterday, a very routine drone strike according to colonel warren using hell fire missiles. according to him, the people that they expected to be present when the drone carried out the attack were carried but what they can't say for certain at the moment is whether anybody killed in that group was jihadi john who has been seen talking in the most egregious fashion and beheading a lot of american citizens including james foley foley and steven sot lo.

isil, according to him, he's an isil celebrity. and probably the damage to isil is probably a lot greater than it is to their reputation than to the tactical situation because he is a celebrity and not a tactical figure. he called himself a human animal. now it's going to take a while to find out whether he's dead or not. there are no u.s. special operations forces on the ground and no troops in this part of the caliphate. they will eventually know. but it will take some days. >> the pentagon was also talking more about the strategy in going after isil in tar getting the oil fields. >> according to steve warren, this is not a new tactic. we also have pictures the pentagon has released and they're pretty dramatic as you

can see. this is really more of a refinement of the operation going on rather than a direct switch of the tactics. but as i say, according to him, that really is more of a refinement than anything that is out right new. >> john, thank you very much. >> families of some of the hostages that killed at the hands of this man say his death does not bring closure. >> he was shown in those sickening videos of the beheading of british aid workers. he posed a threat not only in

syria but around the world and in the u.k. too. he was isil's lead executioner and let us never forget that he killed many, many muslims too. and he was intent on murdering many more people. so this was an act of self-defense. it was the right thing to do. >> it is his job to prevent isil from recruiting british citizens. they take advantage of anger in young people trying to get new members. >> there are grievances that have been taken advantage of by charismatic recruiters. they're taught a particular world view. they actually create this new sense of identity based on victim hood, a whole range of different things.

and then say the only way you can find solutions to your grievances is to join our gang. that world view is the soft end of recruitment to violent extremism and really need's to be tackled. the same way that we do with racism, fascism. >> kurdish forces in iraq making major gains in their fight against isil retaking the city of sinjaar. it sits on that key supply route between raqqu and mosul. here's more on the strategic significance. >>reporter: without facing any stiff opposition, pashmerga

forces have gone into the town of sinjaar and claim they control the whole town now. the north was controlled by them before. they took that in an operation in december where they opened up a humanitarian corridor allowing yazidis trapped on the mountain to flee. something strange is happening here. isil social media accounts are on blackout meaning there's no information coming from them on this. they're quite active. also i've spoken to a journalist saying many of them have left on november 11th. this is discrepancies. they were monitoring radio transmissions from isil commanders were telling them they needed to stay or they would be executed. they has not seemed to happen.

it's very crucial and strategic because of where sinjaar lies. where i am is on one of the major supply routes. let me just show you what's happening behind me. you can see a sign to mosul. rabia and saloneigh. that's where the president is and he's monitoring events very closely. when isil took over in august they actually got as far as where i'm standing at the moment before they were beaten back by kurdish it's -- pashmerga forces. >> despite todays progress, u.s. and kurdish officials are saying the situation in sinjaar remains dangerous. >> more blood shed today between israelis and palestinians. a palestinian died of wounds suffered in hebron as well.

palestinians taking to the street. soldiers there respond, rubber bullets an teargas a secret service agent going to court today on charges he solicited a teenager for sex. prosecutors say he sent the messages while he was on duty at the white house >> elections officials in myammar saying it's official. they will now be able to form the first civilian government there in decades. she is barred from becoming president though she will still lead that new government here in the u.s. donald trump making headlines for his latest comments on the campaign trail. this time about ben carsons history. >> he took a knife and he went

after a friend, and he lodged, he lodged that knife into the stomach of his friend but it hit the belt. it hit the belt. and the knife broke. give me a break. >> i have a belt. somebody hits me the belt is going in because the belt moves this way. how stupid are the people of iowa? how stupid are the people of the country to believe this crap. so here's the good news. he's now saying all of that stuff happened because otherwise he's a liar. >> the republican party this morning according to the washington post so concerned about both trump and carson that there's talk about trying to draft mitt romney to run for president again >> a fight over a child in utah.

a lesbian couple can't keep the baby. why the state of utah is coming to their defense. and students marching over the issue of race and how they're going to pay for school across the country.

>> moscow has banned egypt from flying into the country. this follows putin's decision to suspend all russian flights from fly into egypt. today the supreme court could decide whether to take up

its first abortion case since 2007. it's looking at two cases from texas and mississippi. one says women should not be forced but a different panel from the same court came to the opposite conclusion taking a look at a texas law. >> the state of utah stepping into a custody case is speaking out against one of its judges who ordered a lesbian couple to give up their foster child. john henry smith reports. >>reporter: for the last three months, april and becky have been state-approved foster parents and this week a judge said no. >> he said he found out that kids in homosexual homes don't do as well as they do in heterosexual homes. but he would not show his

research. >>reporter: now the state of utah is standing behind the couple. officials will appeal the ruling. >> on the one hand i'm not going to expect my caseworkers to violate a court order or the law. >>reporter: utah law does not prevent couples of any orientation from serving as foster parents. they say the judge is wrong and the research is not legitimate. >> he made an uninformed biased decision. >> we've been told to care for this child like a mother would and i am her mother. i mean, that's who she knows. and she's just going to be taken away in seven days. to another probably good loving home but it's just, it's not

fair. and it's not right. and it hurts me really badly because i haven't done anything wrong. >>reporter: the couple has hired an attorney who is planning to appeal the judge's ruling in early december. college students pledging for protests after marching nationwide. thousands taking part in the million student march at college campuses across the country. they want public universities to be tuition free and for all student debt to be canceled as well as a $15 minimum wage for student employees on those campuses. it's following the issue of race nationwide at college campuses. university of michigan saw a similar protest in 2013. in many ways, the fight continues. >> i definitely relate to the university of missouri and i stand in solidarity with them.

>> at the university of much mitch, she's one of the roughly 4% of black students on campus. she says her year's long fight for more diversity at michigan took a turn when protests erupted at the university of missouri. >> do you think that could happen here? >> definitely. and i don't think that our students are afraid to do it either. >> in 2013 after a number of racially-charged incidents, kendall helped launch a movement that helped shed light on the challenges african americans face on the predominantly white campus. #bbum, being black university of michigan, has taken off. last year, michigan's black student union issued a list of demands calling for improved racial diversity and inclusion

on campus. kendall says that so far a few of their demands such as providing more financial aid have been met but says much more needs to be done. >> all i can say is when i walk around campus, there are a couple of new black faces i see but it's still an uncomfortable environment for african american students. another senior patty mckinny says she's seen progress. >> i think they're now aware and have acknowledged that we do not have a diversity that we claim to have and that our atmosphere and campus climate for marginalize students is

treacherous. >> diversity and equity are paramount to what we do. >> i definitely plan to hold the university accountable if i'm not satisfied with the plan. >> university leaders caution that change will likely take time. >> the number of children being diagnosed with autism is on the rise. just over 2% are children age 3 to 12 now have some form of autism. that's up from 1 in 80 people in the overall number of parents reporting any developmental disability in their children remaining about the same just under 6%.

researchers caution it's probably due to the way that autism is now diagnosed. >> and the cleveland clinic now just months away from performing the first uterus transplant in the united states. finding the inner beauty in ugly fruit. and a major international store closing its doors on thanksgiving day. why h and m says the move will help their bottom live.

we're now just two week's away from the biggest shopping weekend of the year. some stores are switching things up by deciding to stay closed. >> employees at the clothing store h&m will now be able to spend thanksgiving day at home this year. they followed staples in closing its stores on the holiday >> i'm really proud of what they're doing. i like the idea

that they put families first before the bottom line more than two dozen other retailers including home depot and rei close up shop on thanksgiving day but rei is taking it a step further. the outdoors store is keeping its doors shut on black friday as well. >> there were tears actually. you know, the idea of being in retail and having the opportunity to spend thursday and friday with your family is pretty special. >> retailers say decisions like that try to generate brand loyalty among customers who support letting workers spend the holiday with family. but there also may be a financial factor. black friday weekend sales were down 11% last year. retailers say that could be because of the earlier thanksgiving day sales. two weeks from today, the lure of black friday's deep discounts will still bring out the

shoppers, including those who hit the stores mere hours after eating their turkey. but last year fewer shoppers headed out to stores. in november 2014, shopper traffic dropped about 5%. many choose to go on the web instead. >> a lot of the the strength in holiday sales these days really does come from those online channels. especially with mobile toting consumers. and while several brick and mortar stores will be closed, the web will be busy. an 18% increase is predicted in online shopping that day worth more than a billion and a half dollar for sales. more than half of that will be done on thanksgiving making this thanksgiving the biggest mobile shopping day of the entire season. one of the world's largest glaciers is melting at a mass of

5 million tons a year. eventually there could be enough melted ice to raise levels around the world by up to 18 inches. warming waters are causing the melt. the glacier in yosemite is almost melted. it is called freak fruits and this is why it's so important. nearly 5 million people in this country don't know where their next meal comes from but nearly half of what is grown is not eaten. it's wasted. it's just not pretty enough. >>reporter: before this 6-year-old eats, his food will have traveled through a vast system that ends at grocery

stores where most persons buy their fruits and vegetables. the global food chain includes farmers, field workers, and grocers. they all want to get approximate paid and so they work to ensure the prettiest fruits and vegetables make it to stores meaning in a country where 48 million people don't have access to food, billions of pounds of fresh local produce is never eaten. >> it's wasted because of these cosmetic imperfection. >>reporter: she's a culinary nutritionist and author of the book "what the fork are you eating?" ". >> they have certain standards and don't want anything too ugly so 25% is being rejected because of standards. >>reporter: the standards come

from the u.s. department of agriculture. the u.s.d.a. has produced tens of thousands of pages filled with diagrams and pictures detailing reasons why fruits and vegetables should be put into different classes. this is a grade one potato and a grade two. >> it's not just the grocer. i think our government is involved in grading standards they create. >>reporter: the u.s.d.a. rejects the argument that its standards lead to food waste. it said in a statement to al jazeera said changing them would not have a businesses that choose to sell aesthetically pleasing products. it went on to say the produce industry requests grade standards to determine levels of quality and value in the marketplace. a small fraction of this produce ends up at food banks which are

not the psalm as supermarkets. we saw some of these so-called uglies in if a massive warehouse just outside of manhattan. jim dunn is the associate director. >> most people are used to this. it looks great and before on a shelf. when people see this, i mean, you could drop this on your foot and break your toe with it. so they're a little aprehencive and most produce houses won't store stuff like this on the shelves. while you were sleeping a piece of space debris collided with the earth. it most likely burned up and what didn't burn likely ended up in the indian ocean. thanks for joining us. the news continues live from london next.

a victory for iraqi kurdish fighters as they recapture the key town of sinjaar from isil. >> isil has also suffered a set back in northern syria. details coming up. our other main stories. two israelis killed in a drive-by shooting in the occupied west bank as two palestinians are also killed in other incidents. five years to the day that her house arrest ended, her party passes the threshold for a