forces. with stakes so high, many fear renewed episodes of violence could flair up once more. sunday's election could prove to be as much a test of venezuela's democracy as the future of the ruling party. virginia lopez, al jazeera, caracas. ♪ a potential new strategy to defeat isil, the u.s. spending more special operations troops to iraq. >> this one trend, climate change effects all trends. >> president obama pushing for an international agreement on climate change and for more cooperation over isil and the war in syria. russia signs off on new sanctions against turkey, retaliation for the shooting down of that russian war plane.

and puerto rico owes millions of dollars to its creditors today, but it may not be able to pay up. ♪ this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm del walters. we are find thatting new details out about that u.s. effort to defeat isil. ash carter saying more special operations troops will be headed to iraq. >> in full coordination with the government of iraq, we're deploying a specialized expedestrian a decisionary targeting force. so assist iraqi and peshmerga forces to put more pressure on isil. they will overtime be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence, and capture isil leaders. this force will also be in a position to conduct unilateral operations in syria. >> carter saying that is

separate from the special operations forces the u.s. already says it will deploy to syria. carter saying the u.s. is making gains against isil thank in part to an increase in coalition air strikes. jamie mcintyre joining us by phone from the pentagon. are these new numbers or just a clarification on what the pentagon has recently announced? >> reporter: well, the way he phrased it, using the phrase a specialized expeditionary targeting force made it sound like they were deploying new forces. but when pressed secretary carter said this is something the u.s. is already doing. he sited the raid that u.s. special forces assisted in when one of the u.s. commandos was killed in the fire fight as the kind of thing that they are doing. and he mentioned as they have more opportunities, they may

send more special operations forces, but it's worth noting those up to 50 forces that have been authorized to go to syria, as far as we know, they are not even there yet, so it's a little premature to talk about sending additional special operations forces, although that is something he has not ruled out. and the thing that is so valuable about his raids is it gives them intelligence that gives them better targeting information, and that was something that secretary carter referred to as a virtuous cycle. but when pressed he said this is the strategy the u.s. is employing now, and indicated it wasn't a change in the strategy. >> jamie, he says conduct raids, free hostages, isn't this the classic definition of mission creep. >> reporter: this is exactly the kind of thing that happened when

they freed those hostages -- prisoners being held by isil in a prison, and that resulted in more intelligence. the pentagon would argue this is not mission creep. mission creep would be putting large numbers of troops on the ground. this is a continuation of their strategy to use those u.s. special operations forces to enable and to make those local forces more effective. but one thing he said over and over again today is that they believe the only way to defeat isil is to have a force on the ground that can defeat them and also hold and govern the territory, and the u.s. beliefs that can only be done by local forces. interestingly, i think the other big criticism that came out of this testimony so far, is secretary carter saying the iraqi government has failed to integrate enough sunnis into their popular mobilization

force, and he blamed the slow pace of trying to take ramadi on the inability of the iraqi government to have a more inclusive fighting force that has to include sunnis if you are going to take and hold territory that is sunni territory. and he said the iraqi government has to do more to get the sunnis into the fight as well. the big difference between iraq and syria is the u.s. has more partners on the ground in iraq. it has the iraqi government, the security forces, and the kurdish peshmerga in the north. in syria it's much harder to find people on the ground that we can work with. and those social operations forces, there has been a lot of talk that 50 troops isn't going to make a lot of difference, but their main mission is meet those forces on the ground figure out who the u.s. can work with, see them eye to eye, get a feel for who is going to be a reliable

ally, and that's their main mission, but they will be also doing things like scouting inagainst, calling in air strikes, and those special forces might actually conduct a unilateral raid to take out an isil leadership or attack an isil target. >> jamie thank you very much. and president obama talking about the fight against isil before he left the climate change summit in paris. calling for unity in that fight, and also unity for stopping the war in area. mike viqueira has been watching the talks all day. mike, isil is just as much a part of that summit has the climate change wound up being. what did the president have to say about russia's role inside of syria. >> reporter: you are absolutely right. he had a press conference, and the press was free to ask anything they wished and isil as well as climate change dominating the line of questions

there. it comes after another bilateral meeting between president obama and president putin. that meeting not withstanding, and all of the arm twisting and cajoling that president obama has done to try to get russia to stop targeting the opposition, and focus their fire on defeating isil. the president conceding for the first time publicly that that is not going to happen any time soon. that russia is four square behind assad. he says do not expect a 180 degree turn on russian policy any time in the next several years. he says this is going to continue right now the way russia is going. here is a little bit more on what the president had to say on the situation in syria. >> where we continue to have an ongoing difference is not on the need for a political settlement. it's the issue of whether mr. assad can continue to serve

as president while still bringing the civil war to an end. >> nevertheless president obama says it is only a matter of time before putin sees the writing on the wall, del, that there is no future in the quagmire. >> mike the president leaving this morning, but he says he is confident there is going to be a deal on climate change, but some reporters asked whether that deal will be legally binding. >> that's absolutely right. and the white house has been very careful to say this is not going to be a treaty. what these are essentially is volunteer commitments from each of the countries that are accept sented there. some 200 countries were represented, among them 150 heads of state. each bringing their ideas to the table commitments targets, if

you will, to reduce their consider bonn footprint from each individual country. republicans have said that anything that's agreed to does need to be ratified, but the president very optimistic. he says i actually think we're going to solve this thing. he is not just talking about the targets, he is talking about climate change and global warming at large. he said it is natural to feel despair when problems seem daunting. but he is very optimistic now that even though these commitments themselves won't reduce global warming to the point where scientists say it is absolutely necessary, he says the framework is now in place, so when clean technologies come online to further cheapen solar, wind power, things of that nature, they can be immediately adopted. those targets can be lowered even further. del. >> mike viqueira, thank you very

much. the fight against isil and the tensions between russia and turkey is at brussels as well this morning. the secretary general of nato saying that turkey has nato support. also russia taking action against turkey. moscow approving sanctions in realation for last week's downing of the russian war plane. banning agricultural products. those sanctions going into effect on january 1st. and in turkey is loud explosion heard at a major train station in istanbul. early report blaming that blast on a transformer station, but it may have been the result of a bomb. there are also reports that at least one person has been injured and the station has suspended all train service for now. electricity has been cut to the station. puerto rico is on the brink of default. in just a few hours puerto rico has to make a $354 million debt

payment, but at this point its governor is saying the debt is unpayable. hearings are being held in washington to discussion the financial crisis in puerto rico. and unless congress writes a check right now, the hearings on capitol hill will be too little too late. >> reporter: it appears that way. we're outside the capitol in san juan right now. beautiful day, but clearly the governor, testifying in front of that senate judiciary committee just a short while ago, making about a five-minute statement. saying that any inaction by congress would be catastrophic. he also went on to say, and this is a headline, we'll find out more about this in the coming hours, that essential services are not sustainable, and they will be making cuts here in puerto rico as of later today. now what are essential service?

well, garbage, electricity, things like that. in a couple of hours there will be a press conference, and we'll find out more. but listen to a little bit of what the governor said to congress just a while ago. >> this is a distress call from a ship of 3.5 million american citizens that have been lost at sea since 1996. this is a distress call requesting tools to sail, not a bailout. we are asking for the tools to finish the job. it's your choice whether to answer or to disregard this call from the people of puerto rico. >> reporter: you know, the governor really stressing how

important it is that congress acts. like he said they are not asking for a bailout, they are asking for a restructure, which means chapter 9. only congress can make that happen. we know that states can't do that. but whether or not there will be any action, we're not quite sure. but the democratic side of the committee said that a humanitarian crisis is looming. the president of the united states has said that, that there is the possibility for that here in puerto rico. as we know 300,000 people have left this island in the past decade. the governor also saying that the people leaving and going to the mainland is not helping the situation. that they are losing out on tax money and like i said earlier, essential services are going to be cut today. and we'll find out exactly what that means in the coming hours. chicago's mayor says he will launch a task force to investigate police misconduct.

anger trying there over the shooting of the black teen by a white police officer. jason van dyke faces murder charges for fatally shooting laquan mcdonald. he shot him 16 times. classes once again underway at the university of chicago. a 21-year-old accused of making threats against the school. police say he threatened to kill white men on campus, and any officers he came across. it is day two of jury selection for one of the officers charged in the death of freddie gray. william porter, his defense team says he may not be a fair trial. convicted bosston marathon bomber back in court today. his lawyers arguing that he needs a new trial. they also want his death sentence to be overturned. he was convicted on more than 30

federal charges back in june, but his lawyer says a supreme court ruling invalidated half of those charges. the bombing killed three people, and wounded more than 260 others back in 2013. the next republican president debate is coming up. also investigators revealing what brought down the airasia jet a year ago. ♪

donald trump is campaigning today in new hampshire making new demands, he says before he takes part in the next presidential debate scheduled for december 15th. he says he wants $5 million just

to appear. trump says the money would be donated to veterans. this is the only time he has suggested charging an appearance fee. in september he said cnn should pay him $10 million just to show up, because he is such a boost to their ratings. there is a growing call to keep syrian refugees out of this country. al jazeera's ines ferre reports. >> we're trying to organize more buses so that you and your family can go to the registration. >> reporter: the international rescue committee is known for resettling refugees from all over the woerlt, and it is pushing back against texas officials who have told the group not to bring syrian refugees to the u.s. in they statement they say: the executive commissioner of the texas health and human services commission recently sent the group a letter, threatening legal action and to

cut funding. nearly 20 syrians have been placed in texas this year, but the governor has joined more than 30 governors saying no more should be let in until the government beefs up the screening process. >> i would say it is impossible for them to meet our standard, our criteria to accept any further refugees. >> reporter: a similar fight is playing out in missouri where state legislators held a hearing monday questioning how the state plans to use funds for refugee programs any governor is one of the democratic leaders who support refugee resettlement in his state. >> what threat, if any, exists, and what funds are being used to minimize the risk to missourians. >> reporter: the irc and other organization say syrians are the most vetted group of people to come to the u.s. about 2200 were allowed to enter the country over the next four

years. the obama administration has plans to bring another 10,000 during the current budget year. a marine has been found guilty of killing a filipino woman after discovering she was transgender. >> reporter: in its decision the trial court said it hoped its verdict would serve as a deterrent and warning to visiting service men that they would not be above being held accountable for crimes under philippine law. this case being very closely watched here, as many filipinos have been critical of their own government which they have accused of giving preferential treatment to u.s. servicemen. the number of servicemen could increase if the supreme court decides on the legality of an expanded agreement that the government wants to sign with the u.s. that would mean more servicemen coming in and out of

the country. many filipinos are not a happy about the u.s. armed presence in the country and want them out. they see this as an example that at least philippine sovereignty has not been completely undermined. the department of justice has gone against an order which has ordered the serviceman to brought to an institution here in manila. but he is to be held in a military camp still under u.s. custody pending an appeal. the philippine supreme court ruling back in 2009 that convicted u.s. personnel must serve their sentences in the philippines. indonesian officials say they now know the reason for the crash in the java sea. all 162 people on board died. a major prisoner exchange

today between the lebanese army and members of the al-nusra front, nusra releasing 16 soldiers held captive in exchange for prisoners held captive in lebanon. one of those is the wife of the isil leader. >> translator: ill was a long and difficult journey to reach this point. we are here in nusra-controlled territory we are witnessing the release of the captive lebanese soldiers. the release of these soldiers were mediated by qatar, and there were substantial efforts by al-nusra front and the lebanese government to make this deal happen. this is the convoy bringing the nusra prisoners to be exchanged. >> reporter: the lebanese army also recovering the body of one of its soldiered killed by the al-nusra front last year.

when we come back, we'll talk about the new effort to help you watch what you eat. new york rolling out a new law. plus hackers stealing information from millions of children. the details when we come back. ♪

all of this will be hard. getting 200 nations to agree on anything is hard. and i'm sure there will be moments where progress seems stymied. and everyone rushes to right that we are doomed. but i'm convinced we'll get big things done here. >> in china, beijing is blanketed in smog. this is what it looked like today. millions now being urged to stay in doors. even parents keeping their kids home. all of this to avoid the pollution. >> reporter: in paris they are talking about how to save the planet. in beijing, they are just trying to breathe. smog thick enough to see, acrid enough to taste. government leaders call these conditions unfavorable. many others call it crazy bad.

and it has been this bad since saturday. yet some appear oblivious to the toxic threat. >> translator: i think the pollution is so bad, so it doesn't make a big difference whether you wear the mosque or not. >> translator: you can't wear the mask all the time, even if you are in the room, the smog can still get in. it's impossible to wear a mask for 24 hours. >> reporter: schools are open, but many parents are keeping their children at home. >> translator: today the school is still open, but my son does not feel well, and has a sore throat. the pollution has been really bad for the past few days, so i don't want him getting worse by going outside. >> reporter: even here, though it's not entirely safe. the red light on her air purifier, indicates a high level of pollutants in the room. beside her home, a reminder of one of the reasons why her child

can't venture outside. the coal-fired power station that provides heat to her apartment block. the worsening air quality has spurred an increase in gadgets that measure air quality, often offering advise and dark humohu. there was a reading of over a thousand, anything over 100 is considered unhealthy to at-risk groups. china is the world's leading emitter of green house gases, but the government hopes those emissions will peak by 2030. but that still means we could have many more days like this or perhaps even worse. adrian brown al jazeera, beijing. ♪ this breaking news from chicago. there are reports the mayor has fired the police superintendent there. gary mccarthy criticized in recent weeks over the killing of

a black teen by a white officer. that officer now free on bail after posting $150,000 cash bond. v-tech shutting down one of its websites after a major data breech. they hacked the name of thousands of children, their names, and information. analysts estimate cyber monday was bigger than ever. we want to thank each -- we are going to go to rom emmanuel, this is the mayor of chicago, talking about his decision to fire that city's police chief.

>> -- to prevent such abuses in the future, secure the safety and rights of all chicagoans and build stronger bonds of trust between our police department, the men andnd women that make u that department, and the communities they are sworn to protect. while i don't believe the actions of officer van dyke reflect the vast majority of the men who risk their lives every day to protect our lives, i also know that the use of excessive force and misuse of authority is not new in chicago or isolated only to chicago. there is a history of it. we have worked hard to address these concerns over the last four and a half years through intensive training, new policies governing the use of force, but for whatever progress we have made, the killing of laquan mcdonald is a vivid reminder that we have much more work to do as a city. there are two key -- there are