remembered as the sport's first global superstar. richard martin, al jazeera. plenty more stories for you any time on our website, the address for that is aljazeera.com. and you can also watch us by clicking on the watch-now icon. aljazeera.com. ♪ [ gunfire ] >> gunfire erupting in this paris suberb. the police force raiding the app apartment of the suspected mastermind of last week's attacks. at least two of those suspects are now dead. more under arrest. french investigators are trying

to find the people responsible. ♪ this is al jazeera america live in new york city. i'm del walters. there is another search going underway right now in saint-denis in france. this is one of the apartments the forensic teams are going through, looking for clues, trying to find the mastermind behind the bombings in fransz. there are reports that a car owned by one of the suspects has now left the area. adam raney has more. >> reporter: this is a northern suburb of paris where police conducted a massive raid here in the predawn hours. it was a raid in which they were looking for suspectses tied to these attacks on friday and it ended up being a much more explosive and dramatic event than they could have been prepared for. police began moving in before

dawn this morning at about 4:20 am local time, carrying heavy machine guns and moved through the northern paris suburbs of saint-denis. a series of explosions and heavy gunfire could be heard as the french special forces moved in on a row of apartments. paris prosecutors say the target was one of europe's most wanted suspects, abdelhamid abaaoud. he is a 27-year-old moroccan who lived in belgian and is allegedly the chief architect of friday's attacks. a woman believed to be his cousin blew herself up during the raids. authorities say they were following up on tapped phone calls that suggested abdelhamid abaaoud was taking refuge in a

safe house here. paris police have detained the owner of the apartment. >> translator: i found out that it's at my house, and that the people are holed up at my flat. i didn't know they were terrorists. someone asked me a favor. i did them a favor. someone asked me to put up two people for up to three days, and i did them a favor. it's normal. i don't know anything. if i would have known do you think i would have done it? >> reporter: there has been no confirmation where the suspect was caught or killed. police were edgy, pointing their guns at us as we approached. peopling didn't know what was happening when they heard all of the explosions. >> translator: for three minutes it was extremely loud, it was going back and forth on both sides, not just the police but on both sides. >> reporter: you can really tell how big this operation was,

because there's more than a dozen police vehicles just to carry in the hundreds of officers who came here and have been here for more than eight hours. despite the massive show of force, there is still concern that the fugitives from a cell that now seems much bigger than previously believed may still pose a serious security threat for the country. after police opened saint-denis back up, forensic experts were combing through the rubble of the apartment where they conducted the major aspects of this raid. they wanted to see if they find any evidence that will allow them to close in on these fugitives who are still at large, because people here still don't feel safe. all across paris people are wondering if these suspects are going to be apprehended before there's more violence. >> it is now just before 7:00 pm paris time, dana lewis is there. and we understand you have learned new information about the raid and how police were

tipped off. >> reporter: del, we have a lot of information. we are getting the dent case of the suicide bomber who was the first, we're told to open fire on the police with a rifle. she is a 26-year-old from paris. she was born here. so she is a french national, and she had been under triple surveillance we're told at different times for drug running and offering her services to terrorists, quote unquote, from a police official, and that she had always tried to make her way to syria and iraq to join isis. we are also told that there are two bodies originally reported, one was the female suicide bomber, another was a man killed by police. they are now saying there may be a third body in the rubble inside the apartment. there was obviously a lot of

damage and they may have had even a wall collapse in there. they are saying that this was just not an add on to friday's attack, they are saying this was a fourth cell, a fourth cell that had an imminent attack that it was about to launch on charles de gaulle airport, and also a -- also a shopping mall in the central financial district of paris. they got them in the nick of time. we are also told that in addition to these very khoury -- cursory details, on friday after the attack on the music hall, they are saying that one of the attackers before that attack was launched through a cell phone in the garbage. the police recovered it. in it was a text message which said we're off. we started. they traced that cell phone text

message to this cell phone presumably belonging to the cousin of abaaoud in northern paris that's where the surveillance started. that's where the eavesdropping and the police started to close in, and that's how they got to this apartment. >> dana that means now that we know the alleged mastermind may have been in that apartment complex. what is the mood, then in that area, among parisians about the thought that the mastermind and this woman may have been there this entire time? >> reporter: well, i think we have to be careful with that, because so far authorities have not said that abaaoud was there. they said this was part of their operation that they believed he was there, but we have not confirmed that he was there.

but just the fact that there has been a fourth cell discovered and automatic gunfire again, and revelation that maybe there was about to be another attack in paris has people nervous. one woman said that's it. i'm leaving. she was here on a study -- a thesis, and she is getting out of town. she is going back to italy. some people will feel a little bit more relieved that they have gotten -- what appears to be the master mind of this plot if they have, and we talked to one security official about if a abaaoud was back here, if indeed he was in syria. let's listen to what he said. >> if it's true this guy was here, that's a failure. you know that this guy gave an interview to the isis web journal a few months ago and

explained he was part of the terrorist plot in belgian where two other terrors were killed and he managed to escape and go back to syria. if this were true that would mean he managed to go back to syria and then come back to europe. that would be a big failure. >> reporter: and del, obviously we're still waiting for confirmation and we'll bring it to you if abaaoud was indeed captured or killed this morning. they are watching france from washington. jamie mcintyre is at the pentagon, and jamie has there been a response from innocent gone to today's events in saint-denis? >> reporter: no, not specifically. the pentagon is focused on what is happening in iraq and syria. and the obama administration, i think feels under some pressure with russia and france for that matter, conducting high-profile air strikes that look like they are stepping up their campaign

against isil, to show that the administration's strategy, is actually bearing fruit, and that's a lot of what a pentagon briefer told us in this past hour, briefing reporters from the operation resolute support headquarters in baghdad. he also disparaged somewhat the russian air campaign, saying this long-range bombers were the kind of antiquated tactics that a military uses when they don't have the same precision strike capability that the u.s. has. that said he wasn't able to give us any damage assessment of what targets were hit in raqqa. he tried to make the case that the u.s. strategy is bearing fruit. he mentioned another town in syria that had been taken by what he called friendly forces and freed of isil control. he said that the taking of sinjar had been completed and

that was putting pressure on isil, and they outlined the campaign to diminish isil's ability to sell oil on the black market, showing dramatic videos of air strikes on isil fuel trucks, exploding along the border near iraq as a result of a u.s. raid. so the u.s., again, is under some pressure to say why they are not changing the strategy when isil continues to be able to reach out and do things like it did in paris or with the russian jet liner, so we're seeing a sort of stepped up defense of that strategy from the pentagon here today. >> before you go, is there any sense that anybody is heeding the lessons of history in this case, because we were both in washington following the dwas of the 9/11 attacks, and there was the retaliation in afghanistan, but then many people believed that goodwill was squandered in iraq. is that the reason that some

urging caution? >> well, the argument you hear from the pentagon, is that one of the lessons that they have learned is that while the u.s. clearly has the military power that it could go in and route isil forces in any specific location, that won't necessarily solve the problem, and it will result in the u.s. having to stay for quite sometime. so they are trying to work the strategy of using the indigenous forces to assist them, give them the air power and intelligence they need and slowly strangle isil in iraq and syria. it's just not a very satisfying strategy because it is taking quite sometime. >> jamie mcintyre for us at the pentagon. thank you very much. we are getting new information about the bomb that was allegedly used to bring down the russian airliner last month. isil releasing this photo of what they claim was that bomb. this was the picture that was

published in the latest issue of their magazine, it is an aluminum can and objects made of plastic. the russian military put out these images just a short while ago. and russia flexing new naval might as well. these two new ships joining into the battle. both vessels carrying cruise missiles. those are the same type of vessels that were used to hit syrian targets last month. the cia director say the attacks in paris show the difficulty in stopping isil. >> the digital domain does not respect those sovereign borders. you can move things around the world at the speed of light and

hop around so many countries, and unless there is going to be some type of international understanding about what is appropriate and acceptable within that digital domain, we're going to face a world of hurt in the future. >> saying the key is to strike the right balance between privacy rights and making sure americans are kept safe. jake ward reports, france already has some of the broadest surveillance laws in the world. >> despite the claims of government, the public made the final decision and that is a radical change. >> reporter: edward snowden embarrassed the united states into backing away from mass surveillance, but france is going the other direction. in july a after the charlie hebdo attacks, lawmakers easily passed a regulation, the law of intelligence, essentially formalizing powers the state exercised for years. because it fails to restrict intelligence agencies, the law

earned objections from the u.n. and others. it's provisions are brood, and powerful, reaching into almost every part of modern life. it's helpful to con tremendouses the laws provisions with current u.s. law. the french law allows the state to eavesdrop on the digital and phone communications of anyone linked to a terrorist inquiry. no matter how tenuous the link or how disimportant the connection. it allows intelligence agencies to install recording devices and secret cameras in pry zat homes and they can do all of that without consulting a judge. in the u.s. even surveillance can now extend no more than two people away from the primary suspect, and only a warren gets authorities inside of a home. france allows the regular use of mc catchers known in the u.s. as stingrays which can spot and track a cell phone's location and activity in real time.

france requires internet and phone companies to install algorithms that can alert the government to suspicious behavior and allows for the bulk collection of metadata. in the u.s. private information remains with the companies that collected it, and new laws restrict bulk collection of communications. france has an advisory is panel of politicians, and makes the prime minister the final authority on all matters of surveillance. france makes few provisions for protecting whistleblowers, nor for letting surveillances know whether they are under surveillance. cent legislation in the u.s. allows companies to report when they have been asked for information by the government and declassified many court

opinions. france could soon be the most surveyed territory in europe. jake ward, al jazeera, san francisco. and when we come back, stopping sanctuary cities, a proposed bill that forces police to work with immigration officials or face heavy fines, as we are watching the apartment complex where authorities are pouring through the complex looking for evidence trying to find the master mind behind the attacks in paris.

continuing or coverage of the attacks in paris. the french president talking about his country's action to the attacks, using the term daesh to describe isil. >> translator: daesh wants to instill through its own massacres, poison, suspicion, stigmatization, and division. let us not give in to the temptation of giving up. we must not yield either to feelings of fear, of excessive action, our social cohesion is the best reply. >> he said he believes france needs to reestablish control of

what he called their frontiers. president obama is in the philippines and called for calmer heads to prevail. >> we are not well served when in response to a terrorist attack, we dissend into fear and panic. i cannot think of a more -- more poeten recruitment tool for isil than some of the rhetoric that has been coming out of here, during the course of this debate. >> as many as 26 states now saying they will not accept syrian refugees. there is another immigration controversy in this the u.s. involving sanctuary cities in florida. those are places that shelter undocumented iming grants. and ines ferre reports.

>> reporter: julio says he has a deportation order to go back to honduras, the 26 year old fears new bills to curb illegal immigration in florida could send him to jail. >> if i'm driving and i get stopped and they see i am undocumented, they have to call immigration custom enforce and take me to jail. >> reporter: the bill would end so-called sanctuary cities in the state. it would be illegal for local law enforcement to refuse to collaborate are immigration officials. cities could face fines of up to $5,000, and immigrants with deportation orders could face harsh penalties. he says if these bills become law, he could lose his freedom to move around miami, that would mean significant changes for his life. >> if i get deported tomorrow, i won't be able to finish even my

semester in this school. and i just don't want to be able to face a penalty. >> reporter: the bills come weeks after north carolina's governor signs legislation to do away with sanctuary cities in that state. and in philadelphia the mayor is considering rolling back the city's sanctuary policy. in the past proposals to restrict imma gags have generated strong opposition, activists say growing anti-immigrant sentiment will push these measures forward. >> police will have to look into immigration status, and that's dangerous, because local communities are not going to want to cooperate with the police. >> reporter: but one republican lawmaker says the bills are mising understood. >> we kind of need to wake up and face facts. it's only a matter of time until we're on the news with the next

person that is here does something very heinous, and we need to take proactive steps to that and say florida is not going to be friendly. and stay with us, we'll have the latest on the raids in paris coming up a little later in our broadcast. also the justice department cracking down on diet supplements.

doctors are l calling the

latest findings on prostate cancer troubling. they say fewer men are being screened, and fewer cases are being found because less of an effort is being made to find it. the risk associated with routine screenings for prostate cancer far outweighed the benefits. six executives from a diet tear supplement company are facing charges today. john henry smith has that story. >> reporter: the makers of once popular dietary supplements, sold $400 million of their products between 2008 and 2013, but the justice department says usp labs gave the false impression that those supplements were plant baseded.

>> as one defendant put it, lol, the stuff is completely synthetic. they doctored packaging, labels, and other paperwork to defraud others about what the product was. >> reporter: the justice department says several people using the formula eventually needed liver transplants. >> without conducting a single test to determine whether the substance was safe they went ahead and sold it. >> reporter: it is part of a joint operation between at least six federal agencies, which investigated one product promoted on a popular daytime show. >> it was first touted on the dr. oz show >> reporter: dr. oz is not being accused of committing any crimes

and was not involved in the settlement, but the company had been accused of using fake news sites to make misleading and unsupported claims. and we want to get you caught up now on our top story. two people are dead at least seven others arrested following the raids that took place north of paris. the operation was designed to catch the suspected master mind behieng the paris attacks, abdelhamid abaaoud. one of the people who died is believed to be his cousin. abaaoud is still believed to be at large. we want to thank you for joining us. i'm del walters in new york. we leave you with these live images coming out of paris. france is trying to heal. the investigation continues. the threat, sadly is far from over, as once again morning

another raid, this one lasting eight hours before all was said and done. >> hello, i'm lauren taylor. this is the news hour live from london. coming up in the next 60 minutes a woman blows herself up and a man is shot dead as the police raid an apartment in the hunt of the paris attackers. is this the device that brought an airliner down over egypt? isil says it is. we'll speak with a bomb specialist.