jersey is the 14th state to legalize same-sex marriage and there are seven court cases involving gay marriage and civil unions across the country including arkansas, hawai'i, michigan, texas, north dakota, virginia, and until today new jersey. >>> secretary of state john kerry is in france for talks on advancing the middle east peace process but he is caught in a diplomatictive. france's team is upset over new revelations concerning the nsa and who that agency spies on, which is in this case france. here to tell us more about thesel gas stations, phil ittner. >> reporter: these allegations came out in the french newspaper "la monde." it was authored by the journalist who broke the story along with edward snowden on the nsa surveillance program. it just infuriated the friend. it included things like the information that the nsa collected 70 million phone records over one month, obviously something that the french are very concerned about. while secretary of state kerry is supposed to be in paris talking about the peace process, and the situation in syria this is stealing some of the limelight even so much as the french government have summoned the u.s. ambassador to come t

and turning back to the lawsuit against the state of texas of a voter id is now on hold because of justiceartment furloughs during the shutdown. >> and his campaign to become governor of the great state of texas, gubernatorial candidate greg abbott and mr. attorney general, it is good to have you with us. let's start with the justice department. because the success rate against the justice department is six to four, four losses, for victories for them. what a mess of your? >> that is a good question and actually we had 10 confirmed victories this and there was another voter integrity lawsuit that came out last week. this continues for us. what we are seeing is they are trying to impose by legal fiat on texas, what they're trying to impose on the rest of the country and that is more regulation and government and the kind of policies that threaten the job creation that we've had in the state of texas. >> i apologize for understating your success rate, but i did give you an opportunity to brag about this a little bit. the justice department filing a civil lawsuit against the state of north ca

the use of a two-pill system for medical or nonsurgical abortions. the state is certain to the appeal. brian? >> pete williams on the texas situation from washington tonight. pete, thanks. >>> penn state university has agreed to pay out nearly $60 million to 26 different victims in that child sexual abuse scandal involving the former assistant football coach jerry sandusky who is, by the way, spending the rest of his life in prison. the settlement is on top of tens of millions already spent by the university on fines, legal bills and other costs in the scandal that badly tarnished the reputation of penn state football and the late and legendary coach joe paterno. >>> the website for the president's new health care law is back up tonight after yet another technical problem over the weekend that prevented people from signing up for health insurance yet again. for many middle class americans who buy their own health insurance, there could be another frustration and that is sticker shock after some learned they must buy new policies that cover more, but cost more as well. nbc's peter alexander at the white house for us tonigh

state fair in dallas. we find out where the grease goes from there. >> welcome to the state fair of texas. >> reporter: the state fair of texas mascot big t ex is a big deal, but one of its biggest draws is fried food. if you can think it, somebody lear is frying it. >> fried food is the reason we come every year. >> fried food has exploded here at the state fair. >> reporter: and this is a big reason why. he's the creator of some of the most talked about foods at the fair. >> we have a fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich. fried cookie doe. and this year fried nutella. >> reporter: of this incredible fried food generates tens of thousands of grease at the state fair, and if any of that made it down the drain there would be big problems. >> they're required to recycle it. >> even if one vendor poured that grease down the drain that would cause tremendous problems for our sewer pipes and waste water treatment plant. if we had to clean out hundreds of oil every day from our water that would be a tremendous expense to our taxpayers. >> reporter: there are more than 100 food vendors. one of them estimates it

. >> state's attorneys are arguing that these rules improve women's health and protect unborn life. this has passions on both sides dating back to the summer with the protests at the texas state capitol. these issues won't be settled soon and may be appealed up to the supreme court. >> heidi thank you very much. >>> call it a major victory for same sex couples in new jersey. governor chris christie has told the state to drop its appeal to the ruling allowing gay marriage. same sex couples are now free po wed. newark mayor and senator-elect cory booker -- did the honors just after midnight. orville bell and joseph panessiei were the first same sex couple to ti >> just after midnight, new jerseying became the 14th state to allow same sex unions. >> if greatly state of new jersey becomes far far greater recognizing all of god's children. >> mayor and senator-elect corey booker had vowed to never marry anyone.. until he could marry everyone in his state -- so this was his first time to officiate a service. >> i'm so ready to jump to the part, i do. as the first of 9 ceremonies began..there were just a handful of protesters outside.. and one who briefly tried to disrupt the

who has been voting in the state for 49 years now has a huge hassle trying to vote in the state if she's allowed to vote at all. there are an estimated 1.4 million voters in texas who are eligible voters, who do not have the kind of documentation you're now required to show in order to cast a vote in that state. and that doesn't even count the people who do supposedly have the right documentation, they do have the right kind of i.d. like that judge, but the i.d. doesn't match in exactly the way it has to match now for you to be hay lowed to vote anymore. and this is all coming into focus in texas this week because early voting has just started in the texas november elections. i have to say, there are precisely zero high stakes big publicity super motivating statewide issues on the ballot in the election in texas this year. this is a whole bunch of constitutional amendments about things like the number of days that aircraft parts are exempt from taxes. something about reverse mortgages that i'm sure is very important. nobody is expecting massive turnout for elections in texas. for people to vote on if there's a hospital board district. a few sprinkling of munici

washington, the texas state fair in full swing but the government shutdown is the talk of the town with a clear message from lawmakers. >> they need to get the government back to work and work out their differences. it is a problem of plenty in maine where a bountiful catch of lobsters is putting many in a pinch. >> welcome to our viewers on public television in america and also around the low. around the globe. in italy it is feared up to 300 people drowned when a boat carrying african migrants sank yesterday. to make matters worse, diving efforts have been hampered by poor conditions at sea. they have only recovered 100 bodies so far. of both sank off the coast lampedusa after it caught fire. our editor gavin hewitt reports. >> this is the first glimpse of the migrants' boat which lies 100 feet low the service. divers believe many bodies are still inside. they are not looking for any moresurvivors area -- any survivors. this is the moment yesterday when rescue boat arrived at the site where the migrants capsized. at one point, coast guards were in the dust coast guard crews were in th

states all across this country. and what of the great ones is in the state of texas where senator cruz is from will stop his governor rick perry -- is from. his governor, rick perry, has created 12% of all jobs in the whole nation in the state of texas. [applause] has a front-azine page picture of texas saying how texas with its low taxes and low regulations is what america needs to be and how texas is gaining jobs, while california, new york, and illinois are losing jobs by droves. [applause] texas claims one third of the nation's high paying. think of that. look at what is happening in other states, like the state of wisconsin where governor scott walker had the courage to take on the unions and do what is right to restore his state economy and turn a $3.6 billion deficit into a surplus of half $1 billion in the badger state. unemployment has dropped from 9.2% down to 6.7%. kasichgovernor john inherited an economic mess. the previous state unemployment had reached 10%, the highest it had been in 10 years. 10.6%. today, governor kasich has brought it down to 7.3%. the result of conservative governance is making a d

they play it every year at the texas state fair. texas state fair, the cotton bowl, since 1929. 92,000 fans. and it's a rivalry, 364 days in the making. they started playing this rivalry 108 years ago. each team traveling three hours from their respective schools. oklahoma coming from norman. texas coming from austin. three-game winning streak from the sooner, blowing them out last year, 63-21. it's such a big game, they're playing for three trophies. the hat, the red river trophy and governor's trophy. and carlos beltran provided all of the offense for the cardinals against the dodgers. beltran doubled into right center into the bottom of the third. he scored both runners. and the game would remain tied at 2-2 until the 13th inning. and two on for beltran again. and he delivers again. this time with a walk-off single. the cardinals win last night, 3-2. game two of that game this afternoon on tbs at 4:00. and game one of the tigers taking on the red sox is around 8:00 eastern tonight. i'm telling you right now, this is the biggest r

washington, the texas state fair in full swing but the government shutdown is the talk of the town with a clear message from lawmakers. >> they need to get the government back to work and work out their differences. it is a problem of plenty in maine where a bountiful catch of lobsters is putting many in a pinch. >> welcome to our viewers on public television in america and also around the low. around the globe. in italy it is feared up to 300 people drowned when a boat carrying african migrants sank yesterday. to make matters worse, diving efforts have been hampered by poor conditions at sea. they have only recovered 100 bodies so far. of both sank off the coast lampedusa after it caught fire. our editor gavin hewitt reports. >> this is the first glimpse of the migrants' boat which lies 100 feet low the service. divers believe many bodies are still inside. they are not looking for any moresurvivors area -- any survivors. this is the moment yesterday when rescue boat arrived at the site where the migrants capsized. at one point, coast guards were in the dust coast guard crews were in th

of texas says the new restricts improve women's health and protect preborn life. republicans in the state pushed through the new law in july. that was after thousands of protesters on both sides rallied at the texas capital as the measure was debated. the tension culminated in state senator wendy davis' their own hour filibuster to block the restrips that his failed. >> it protects little unborn baby as five months after the baby has been developing for five months, that's a long time. >> reporter: the law's authors says they wish to end abortions in texas result. >> without the inning junction 36 of the licensed abortion clinch i objects will stop performing a borings next week. 22,000 texas whim will loose access to abortions each year as a result. >> that puts low income well, women in smaller communities, puts their health at risk because it means they may not be able too access the services that they need. >> reporter: at least three clinics have closed since the texas law's passage. without the court's invention many more are expected to follow. hidy joe castro, al jazerra, austin.

the case i restore maiden names. there are hyphenated names in the state of texas and we have a cultural -- a large part of our state ns and a lot of the mexican-americans assume the paternal and the maternal surnames as their official names. so i was surprised that what i had done for 49 years was not sufficient to vote at this time. >> cecile richards this is going to create incredible traffic jams at the polls in texas which is clearly the intent. >> it's amazing. and this story -- look, this is a judge. and she's in her own courthouse trying to vote. can you imagine the average woman in texas trying to explain they have a valid i.d.? i look at these situations as you said, more than a third of woman in texas don't have the right kind of identification. they are saying you need an original birth certificate and original marriage license. i have been married nearly 30 years and i couldn't find my marriage license if my life depended on it. this will have a disproportionate affect on women. >> judge watts with your experience and given your experience with the law, you saw -- you went through what you had to go thro

. >> the argument that senator wendy davis made in her filibuster in the texas state senate against a restrictive abortion bill carried the day in court when provisions of that law were found unconstitutional. one third of clinics were set to close their doors when the law would have gone into effect. one provision required doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges of a hospital within 30 miles of that abortion facility. federal district judge wrote the admitting privileges provision of house bill 2 does not bear a rational relationship to the legitimate right of the state in preserving and promoting fetal life or a woman's health and in any event places a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a non-viable fetus and is thus an undue burden to her. the judge struck down some of the law's restriks on the use of pills used to induce apportion. wendy davis issued this warning during her filibuster of the bill. >> i'd say if you vote for this bill you're simply happy to ignore medical science and watch women and children die for no reason. >> te

starting at $29,900. ♪ >>> tonight on the stage where sunny received her high school diploma, texas stateavis announce sthd she w run for governor of texas. >> 32 years ago i walked across this stage, the granddaughter of farmers from mule shoe, texas, who could only afford to rent the land that they farmed. i had no real idea what the future looked like. but today i see it pretty clearly. it's staring right at me. [ applause ] it's you, it's all of you. and all of you deserve to have your voices heard. because our future is brightest when it is lit by everyone's star. and that's why today i am proud to announce my candidacy to be the 48th governor of this great state. >> davis shot to democratic political rock star status after caring out a marathon fill buster against a bill restricting abortion rights in the state. a new poll find in a hypothetical match up between wendy davis and texas's attorney general, greg abbott, abbt leot leads davis. 50% of respondents are undecided. joining me is the president of planned parenthood and daughter of ann richard. cecelia, a thrill to see you. no

that law was designed to shut down abortion clinics across the state of texas. has already seen dozens of women's health providers close down, this new law was set to close down at least a third of all the clinics in the state in one fell swoop when it went into effect tomorrow, but then today, less than 25 hours before the law was supposed to take effect, a federal judge in texas blocked a key part of the new antiabortion law. and the ruling was kind of a doozy. look. today there is no issue that divides the people of this country more than abortion. it's the most divisive issue to face this country since slavery. wow! when compared with the intensity, emotion and depth of feeling expressed with regard to abortion, the recent arguments on affordable care act, increasing the debt ceiling and closing the government retreat to near oblivion. sincere and caring persons of both -- excuse me -- sincere and caring persons of goodwill are found on both sides of the issue, but neither side will ever change the position of the other. legislatures and courts will continue

the states opting out of the medicaid expansion. but if wendy davis can reverse opposition to medicaid expansion in the biggest state of the south, that might be the trigger to get texas'sf you look at the map of these states rejecting medicaid expansion, you'll see that many of them are clustered in one geographic region of the country. jamelle bowie offers a particularly provocative comparison noting that nearly half of the states seen here also made up the confederacy. only one of the former confederate states opted into the medicaid expansion. let's hear it for arkansas. joining me now is senior editor for "the atlantic" and josh barrel, politics editor at "business insider." and you have written so much about the way that race plays for our politics. when you see those two maps side by side, when you read "the new york times" article about who the uninsured working poor in those states are, what's your reaction to that? >> the idea that the expansion of the social safety net would leave out those people who historically have been most vulnerable. i think it was two-thirds for poor african-americans, i believe, is devastating. it's emotionally devastating. what is a

to one of their committees with the instructions to give it back to seven candidates in texas who are running for the texas state house they did those candidates were then able to spend that money and they won the texas state house they got a republican majority in the texas they'd house for the first time since reconstruction which then let the texas legislature gerrymander texas and it resulted in five additional republicans in the u.s. house all highly illegal. delay was found guilty on two different money laundering charges he was not required to go to jail while he waited on his appeal and then lo and behold here we are now three years after his conviction and two republican judges on an appeals court in texas have found a way to do away with those charges reverse those charges and acquitted tom delay at the same time don siegelman the former democratic governor of alabama still sits in a federal prison now after having been charged with something as you said that was never a crime before he they say that it was bribery but in fact he received absolutely no personal enrichment for this this money that was g

back to the big picture i'm tom foreman coming up in this half hour texas is one of five states in the country that have a majority minority population usually means good things for democrats but texas is rock solid red so what's it going to take turn the lone star blue in the state blue . and if you've ever been on a date to a fancy restaurant chances are you've sampled america's favorite aphrodesiac oysters between global warming make rob bars a thing of the past and two centuries ago our founding fathers kicked the british out and said goodbye to kings and royals and now a small group of billionaires are doing their best to destroy the legacy of the founding fathers and turn america into a modern day feudal empire tell you how we can stop the united states. in the best of the rest of the news texas state senator wendy davis first cause the attention of the rest is across the country back in june when she filibustered for nearly eleven hours against a restrictive new anti-abortion bill that governor rick perry and lieutenant governor david do verst were trying to force through the st

the forecast, i'll somehow where. coming up later. >>> court fight ore women's rights in the state of texas. a month later the special memorial for those killed in the kenyan mall attack. a first for the state of new jersey, recognize same sex marriage. on inside story, we bring together unexpected voices closest to the story, invite hard-hitting debate and desenting views and always explore issues relevant to you. >> welcome back to al jazeera america. same sex marriage is legal in new jersey. governor chris christie dropped his challenge, today, and the ceremonies will take place at midnight, there are now 13 states where gay marriage is legal, 29 that ban by constitutional amendment. jersey city one couple recently said i do. >> this was the perfect backdrop for one new jersey couple, meredith and leora, who are actually legally married in new york state but they wanted it in their own home state, made sweeter by the fact that governor chris christie is not going to file that appeal. same sex marriages are here to stay. meredith one of the women we spoke to said she didn't think governor c

he filibustered until finally he was worn out, and at the end texas came into the united states by one vote in the house and one vote in the senate. so i like to tell my friends in texas when i'm going back and we've had all the wars that we've been fighting in the senate for texas that it's not new that they don't love us in washington. they never have. but thomas rusk was the first senator along with sam houston. and because they were in the revolution, i thought he wrote something in the report to the president of the new republic about the battle that, again, told the tale of the greatness of texas women. the men -- he said: the men of texas deserve much credit. but more was due the women. armed men facing a foe could not but brave, but the women with their little children around them without means of defense or power to resist faced danger and death with unflinching courage. that's the name of the book, "unflinching courage." because it was true that they faced the perils of settling texas with so many obstacles. they were, they feared that the mexican army was coming into the eas

the services that these clinics would be governing. how our governor can state with the attorney general from the state of texas and call themselves representativesp, if you will, blocking a constitutional right, the right of privacy, under the ninth amendment and protected under the roe v. wade case in 1973. this court opened the doors of privilege to women and rights of women by allowing these clinics to remain open. and in addition, indicated that the procedure using nonsurgical methods could be utilized in the case of the health and life of the mother. >> let me ask you what impact this could possibly have on governor's race with wendy davis, in the state and if the attorney general is vowing to continue this fight as he runs for governor as well. what impact might this have? >> well, you know, i've met senator davis, we have a very good meeting with her and members of congress. and senator davis is not a one issue candidate as you well know. she is fighting for the rights of families, women and children and better education. but she's fighting for the rights of access to health care. that was what her stand was about. it was a mighty stand a

standard. >> and sorry to say it and not necessarily agree with the analysis there but that is what happened to be in the state of texashad clearly people far protecting the life and the people in the state of exas overwhelmingly. neil: you don't think this she has a shot at becoming governor? >> i think it is of very diffult task for someone that is as far out of the mainstream as wendy davis is to be successful being elected governor of texas. this election is going to be about who has a vision for continuing taxes on the path t be the most successful job creation state in america. and i cs test grad and it is the person who will continue with policies on taxes and regulation and stopping frivolous lawsuits and continuing to have accountable public-school is. as the reason the folks out in orange county, by the way, are laugher said to tell you love. he is helping us out. the people in orange county california get it when it comes to how you create a climate of competition. and that is what these governors races are really going to be about. neil: i think they are about all. i always thought you could come back and s

the state capital, a 30 day filibuster, which captured the nation's attention. john this will keep on going as you mentioned with the emergency appeal filed by the texas state attorney general. we can expect this to go all the way to the supreme court. >> this is not over. heidi, thank you very much. >>> a prohealthcare advocate claimed it hacked into the presidential feed, instead it laimpgd oyoutube video from the account syrian truth, another account, mr. obama doesn't have any ethical issues with spying on the world so we took it upon ourselves to return the favor. the group has been targeted for several high profile hacking attempts in the united states. >>> u.n. inspectors missed an important deadline in dismantling syria's quepts program, they were unable to reach two of the 23 locations because of security reasons. they are currently destroying equipment used to manufacture the weapons. the inspectors didn't say exactly the if syrian rebels or the government were responsible, just that they are still negotiating access. the syrian government has agreed to destroy or remove its entire stockpile by 2014. the first report contains new details about the extent o

even if i follow procedures on the ballot, section d, that section, bottom line is it may not count. >> joining me now, texas state and sarah slayman, a democratic activist in texas currently campaigning for wendy davis. senator, i have to ask you, do you know if you have the right i.d.s for voting in your state? >> well i am not sure. if it has to be exact, ascoreding to interpretation of election judges i think i will be one of the willwill -- woment will be forced to sign an affidavit. we tried several different amendments. we were able to convince our republican colleagues to do one. that is to allow women to -- to sign an affidavit if it is substantially similar. but what we have found, since we are in early voting for the november cycle, is that just today in san antonio, a retired principal who had been voting for 42 years, was required to sign an affidavit. this is really an undue burden on women. why on earth would my republican leadership. either they're afraid of women voters or afraid of women voting. >> sarah slayman. welcome back to the show. but we just heard here is a senator who is not sure. we ha