mass grave. and america votes, 2014, fed up in kentucky, how coal and cash impact politics in the state that could see the most expensive senate race in u.s. history. ♪ and we begin tonight with that unexpected decision from the u.s. supreme court. the justices refused to hear arguments on same-sex marriage in cases from five states. it means the lower court rulings which struck down bans on gay marriage will stand. >> you are joined in marriage as wife as wife. >> reporter: within hours of the court's announcement these two were able to get married today in virginia. the supreme court refused to hear appeals from virginia, indiana, wisconsin, oklahoma, and utah. as a result same-sex marriage may now also become legal in six other states located within the same appellate court jurisdictions. those 11 states would join 19 where gay marriage is already legal, and bring the total number to 30, plus the district of columbia. randall pinkston has more. >> reporter: john there were seven petitions on same-sex marriage which would have allowed the supreme court to decide whether all americans have a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, but for now, the supreme court's ruling only covers americans living in certain federal court jurisdictions. in indiana -- >> we never ever expected this day to come. >> reporter: and in utah and beyond, same-sex partners who expected another legal battle were shocked when the justices refused to review seven cases. this effectively uch holds lower court rulings. >> what this means is families in utah and the tenth circuit finally have the dignity, fairness and equality that the constitution guarantees to them. >> the thought that we were going to have to wait until maybe next june to find out was stressful. >> reporter: while the supreme court chose to remain silent this term, it's landmark ruling last year opened the door. it struck down portions of the federal defense of marriage act, and lower courts have used that ruling to strike down state bans on same-sex marriage. >> right now there is no disagreement among the lower courts. they are in favor of the correct idea that our constitution requires marriage equality. >> pam lee, says the rules will make an important difference for her and her family. >> if one of us are killed in the line of duty, now our spouses will get the same benefits that the other officers have been getting all along. >> reporter: the attorney who fought the indiana case hailed today's decision. >> indiana's prohibition on same-sex marriage and the recognition of out of state same-sex marriages is final. same-sex marriage is now legal in indiana and is required to be legal by the united states constitution. there is nothing that can be done by way of an indiana constitutional amendment or indiana law to alter that fact. >> but this lawyer which supports same-sex marriage says the supreme court's move does not resolve the issue for the nation. >> that joy is tempered by remembering that there are still 20 states in this country where marriage equality is still being denied to gay men and lesbians, and those people in those states must be wondering today how long are we going to have to wa wait -- for our rights to be recognized. >> reporter: texas's senator's ted cruz said the failure to make a decision amounted to judicial activism at its worst. >> we're joined now to break down today's events. richard is this an issue they punted back to the states and didn't deal with on a national basis? >> that's exactly what they did. we don't know the reason. it may be that there are only four liberals, or it may be they thought the states should determine their -- they should make their own decision on that issue. >> we heard people talk about their constitutional rights in that piece. isn't that what the supreme court is supposed to do? >> this is not about constitutional rights. this is about state rights. every state has the ability to monitor its own -- it's own religions, it's own marriage, death penalty -- >> didn't they say that about the civil rights movement? >> they did. >> and it was about the rights of human beings who were being denied it in particular states, especially in southern states. >> absolutely, but the supreme court here, we don't know why -- >> i'm just -- >> they punted. you are absolutely right. it is a hot issue. you have five very conservative supreme court judges. i don't know if they wanted to be involved in this issue. >> by punting though, essentially they got right in the middle of it, because now there are several states that weren't included in these decisions that will have same-sex marriage, right? >> exactly. they essentially said states do what you want. and we're going to have state by state conversion to allow same-sex marriages. we now have 30, in light of the 11 that are allowing it literally today. and there are another four that will probably be allowed. so we will eventually get up to 50. >> but what if the appellate courts disagree. let's say the 6th circuit disagrees with the 9th out in california. which there's a lot of question about, right? >> absolutely. then you will have an inconsistency among the lower courts -- >> so the supreme court has to decide. >> they have got to, but they don't want to. it's a bad issue for them. there are five judges that are in my opinion against same-sex marriages, maybe four. so what is most likely going to happen is there will be state by state legislation, forget about the courts, the legislature will promulgate laws -- >> so you are saying the decision not to hear these cases essentially means the supreme court has washed its hands for a long time of this. >> completely. >> so we can't get back into it? >> it's not going to get back into it. so the good is that any states will now be able to same-sex mayor ages, but the news is is it's not happening overnight. >> the supreme court can't decide to take this up again in another session? >> you know, if there is a change in the supreme court, they can, but right now they are not going to do that. >> what do you think it means for gay marriage in the long run? >> i think gay marriage in the long run will be allowed in all 50 states. and they are not going to have restrictions on them. they can't have restrictions for health care or other areas. it's going to be allowed, and it's a huge movement for those in favor of same-sex going the other way. they would like the supreme court to say done, allow for same-sex marriage. so it is a slow process, but it will be expedited now. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. president obama met with his national security team today to get an update on the ebola crisis. the fifth american to attract the virus was an cameraman working in liberia. heidi zhou castro is live in dallas with more. heidi what is the latest on this patient's condition? >> i just spoke with duncan's nephew who is here visiting his uncle. he said he just saw him and he does not look good. he said his uncle is sedated and not talking. we learned some interesting details about duncan's life in liberia. he says his uncle was driving a truck, and he contradicted previous reports that duncan carried an ebola stricken woman to the hospital. he said duncan moved away from that area long ago. and meanwhile public health officials are also examining their response to this case. thomas duncan has been quarantined in here for now more than a week. symptoms of ebola usually appear eight to ten days after exposure. the cdc says some were definitely exposed and others have been identified. >> all of those individuals have been seen once a day, and having their fever checked twice a day. 100%, we're seeing yesterday. 100% of them had no signs of -- of fever. had no signs of illness. 100% were doing well. >> reporter: local officials say the apartment where duncan stayed has been thoroughly cleaned. his personal belongings have been destroyed. >> a drum is being taken away with all of the other cleanup of the apartment itself. we have saved personal items like the grand mother's bible, photos, hard drives, passports, those things have been taken away. >> reporter: the family duncan was staying with is now under quarantine in another home. the hospital says duncan is now receiving an experimental drug. what administrators have not been clear about is why doctors sent duncan home from the er when he first sought help on september 26th. the fact that any story from the hospital has changed three times. first we were told he didn't tell doctors he was from west africa, then we were told it was a failing of the electronic medical records. now they are saying these records are fine all along. so what is your response? >> i think we will need to look at that. it's important when you talk to the media to try to make sure you have the right answer. obviously that answer got changed several times. in the midst of that, i guess the message i have been trying to tell hospitals is that travel information is very important. >> meanwhile in austin, state officials were critical of the response. >> unfortunately recent events illustrate that we as a nation, as a state, and as individual countries, can clearly do a better job. >> reporter: now the texas governor has said he is forming a task force here in texas to examine how this played out, and prepare better for the future. also we heard from president obama today who said he would review any federal procedures, but one other interesting thing we learned from duncan's nephew just now, he told me that no one leaving liberia in their right mind checks the box that asks them whether they have been in contact with a ebola patient. we have noted before that duncan said he was not in contact with any patients and thus was allowed to leave the country. his nephew said no one checks that because it is an automatic 21 day quarantine. you would obviously miss your plane if you told the truth, so that's his explanation for why many liberians may be leaving the country despite having been in contact with an ebola patient. >> heidi thank you. the first case of ebola transmitted outside of africa has been reported in spain. a nurse who treated a priest now has been tested positive. the priest was thrown to spain for treatment, and died three days later. the drug considered the most effective in fighting ebola is no longer available, and that has doctors turning to experimental medical. morgan radford is here with that story. >> reporter: that's right, john. as heidi mentioned duncan is in critical but stable conditions, but his options just like the drugs available to treat him are running out. doctors in dallas are fighting a disease with no known cure. it has been more than a week since thomas eric duncan was admitted to the hospital with ebola. >> the drug pipeline is going to be slow, i'm afraid. the most promising drug zmapp is no more and it is hard to make. >> reporter: of the seven patients treated with zmapp five recovered. but supplies were exhausted by august. now the fda is allowing duncan, the dallas ebola patient to get a different experimental medicine. the maker of that drug says it has been safely tested with hundreds of patients sick with other viruses, and that research suggests it could work against ebola. the gravity of the ebola threat outweighs concerns about unproven drugs, the world health organization says. the w.h.o. advised that: >> today is a miraculous day. >> reporter: even the patients who recovered using zmapp can't be sure if the drug was directly responsible. but since it is seen as the best option, the drug droppers are under pressure to make more of it and fast. >> how many doses will we have and when? the simple answer is i don't know. >> reporter: the federal government is spending millions to fast track the development of zmapp, also giving money to other pharmaceutical companies. >> morgan thank you. caroline miles is the president, and chief executive officer of save the children. she just returned from liberia on saturday, and is in our studio. welcome. >> thank you. >> what strikes you about what is going on in this country since you have gotten back? >> well, i think obviously there is a lot of fear about this disease. >> more than you thought? >> more than i thought. a lot of things happened actually when i was in liberia. but the real crisis is obviously in west africa. >> not here. >> and we really do have to get that under control. >> that's hard for people to understand here because of what they have been watching. i was in this dallas last week, and i woke up one morning listening to one report talk about dallas is a city in fear. >> yeah. >> you have been to liberia. what -- what do people ask you since you have been back? >> well, i think they asked the right questions, which is have you been in contact with second quarter who actively has the virus, and the answer is no, but again, we have to focus on -- to keep more americans safe we really have to get this virus under control in places like liberia. >> what needs to be done? >> you need lots more treatment centers. so one of the things that save the children is doing is building more community centers that are smaller, closer to where community centers are, and some more of these ebola-treatment units. because people are staying at home and then more and more people are then getting the virus. >> how severe is the need? >> the need is great. you know, there are obviously now 7,000 cases, i think is the -- is the number i heard this morning, and about 3500 deaths. so the death rate is about 50% of everyone who gets it. >> you met some children -- four orphan children in particular i have got a picture of. >> yes. >> tell me about them. >> one thing that really struck me is the impact on kids. and these four children that i met, marthalean, famous, promise, and prayer were the names of the children, and they had lost their mom. their father had actually died a couple of years ago, but their mother died, and these four kids were basically on the street. they were living -- they burned everyone in their home, which is the common practice. >> and they had no place to stay. >> they had no place to stay, so they were on the street and incredibly scared. and save the children is working with orphans like this to try to get them support, supplying food and household items and other things. >> one of the problems getting things there is getting commitment there, and construction supplies there. as i understand it, the airport is not in great shape. it's -- it's suffered from years of damage from the civil war, so -- so how -- what is the fix? and how long is it going to take? >> the fix is to get everybody who can possibly do something about this there, and doing something. in liberia, sierra leone, and guinea particularly. and when i was there, i did visit one of the sites where we are building a treatment unit. and we were able to get the large equipment needed. so it can be done. it is not fast. it needs to go faster. the u.s. government is giving a lot of support. they are sending troops to help make this go faster, because you have got to stop people getting the disease. >> look, you know, this is not an easy question, but how do you keep yourself safe? how do you know that you are safe? >> we had a lot of precautions. every time you go into any kind of facility, you are washing your hand with chlorinated water. you are stepping into a chlorinated bath every time you go into a building. we're spraying our shoes with that same water. and nobody shakes hands, hugs, or touches another person. it's all very strange, because you stand here like this. >> you have a job that keeps you on the road a lot, but were your family and friends concerned? >> they were. my husband was definitely concerned. i didn't tell my mother until i got back. because they think there is a lot of concern about it. and rightfully so. but you can take precautions and stay safe. and we do need more people that are willing to go and get involved in the response. >> thank you for talking to us tonight. >> thank you. in chicago a teenager is under arrest accused of trying to join isil. lisa stark has more. what do we know about him? >> reporter: he is identified as an 19-year-old from suburban chicago. we know from court documents in may he got a passport, in september he booked a round trip ticket to turkey. we also know he was talking online with someone in turkey to someone who promised he could hook him up. he was charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to isil. "the chicago tribune," saying the mother is very distraught and the father is trying to comfort her. he was arrested as he was getting ready to get on his flight. he was questioned by the fbi. while they were doing that, they served a search warrant on the home he shares with his parents. they found a three-page letter that had written to his family. the letter said first and foremost please make sure not to tell the authorities, and went on to say that western societies are getting more immoral day by day, and it extended an invitation to his family, to quote, join me in the islamic state. when questioned he admitted he planned to go to iraq to try to hook up with isil fighters. >> lisa what do we know about other americans trying to help isil? this >> the fbi and authorities very concerned about these so-called foreign fighter, europeans, or americans going to the middle east to join the fight. there was a man arrested accused of trying to recruit people to join. and a woman in denver pleaded guilty to attempting to help isil. she was going to fly off to syria to join someone she had met online, an isil fighter. so they are trying to stop the fight and keep track of the americans they know are already fighting among isil and other groups. >> lisa thank you very much. coalition forces said syrian kurds made progress on isil fighters today. they pushed back isil fighters on the kobani border. kurdish fighters stopped isil fighters from trying to storm the area. there was heavy shelling and gunfire all of this morning. isil fighters have been trying to take the city for nearly three weeks. coming up murderer and drugs. >> translator: they used to kill people by shooting them. even now you'll still find some blood from on the spot where they did it. and a big victory for the african union force battling the al-qaeda-linked fighters. mexico's president today promised to track down those responsible for the disappearance of dozens of students. people are protesting the government. they want authorities to bring in help from the outside to determine if bodies discovered in mass grave are still the missing students. adam rainy is in mexico with the latest. >> reporter: despite the promises by the president to hold those responsible for this crime accountable, parents here told us they want their loved ones, their children brought back to them, and brought back to them alive. this comes as there's new developments in which a confessed killer who is being detained by authorities, said he gave the order to kill these students and he saw 17 students killed and put in a mass grave. it comes where we see a banner where the grave is, that is a threat from the cartel that operates in the area, and the threat is if politicians don't release the 22 police held in this case, they will start releasing the names of the politicians who protect and support them. the state prosecutor says that police and gunmen fired on the students on the night of september 26th, and they haven't been seen since then. the state prosecutor says he cannot confirm the identity of the bodies being unearthed, what we know is the confessed killer says that they took students and killed them in at that site, and we know these students haven't been seen since the knight of september 26th, and there are dozens of bodies being unearthed in the grave. up next the steep decline in kentucky's coal industry, and what that means in the battle of control over congress. plus the natural gps in your own brain. why it's discovery is worthy of a nobel prize. this is al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. is coming up crackdown on a major central american drug cartel, what it means for crime on the region. plus how devices in hundreds of phone booths may have been tracking the movements of cell phone users in new york. and the eiffel tower gets a makeover, and some stunning new views. ♪ midterm elections in this country are just a month away, a small number of states could play a very big role in deciding who runs congress. we're taking an in-depth look at the issues voters care about in those hotly contested states. and libby casey joining us now with part one of our series fed up in kentucky. libby. >> reporter: good evening, senator mitch mcconnell is being challenged by a woman half of his age. allison lundren grimes. so we went to the heart of coal country where they are thinking about jobs and an uncertain future. in eastern kentucky generation after generation of coal miners have done the hard, dirty, dangerous work of extracting what they call black gold. >> ever young boy wants to be like his dad. i see my dad come home from the mines every day and just ran into it myself. >> reporter: this man owns four coal mines in the country. >> we have the best miners in the world. we don't look at mountains as obstacles. >> reporter: his family has been in coal for more than a century. when you look around here, will this be here in five years? or will this business be here in ten years? >> we'll be lucky if it's still here in five years. >> reporter: most local mines have shut down, been idled or gone bankrupt. cv like most around here, blames president obama and the administration's environmental regulation. they call it a war on coal. >> it seems like everybody wants to get on the bandwagon on the environmental issues. people have been lead to believe that coal is bad. we're down about 70% from what we were before obama came in. it means we had basically a 70% reduction in the work force. >> reporter: how hard is it to get jobs in this industry? >> it's very hard. especially in this country. >> reporter: why? >> just the impact, i guess the war on coal has had on this part of the country. >> reporter: a freefall cost 7,000 coal jobs in this area. >> i worked at five different mines that shut down and laid off and stuff like that. >> reporter: coal generates 93% of kentucky's electricity, and more than a third across the country, but the obama administration says those coal-fired plants are the nation's worst carbon polluters. utilities are responding. this is coal country. >> yes, ma'am. >> you are providing electricity to coal country. >> yes. >> and you are moving away from coal. >> yes, yes, we are. >> reporter: they are shutting down one of their biggest coal plants and converting another to natural gas to save money. he says bottom line, he has to keep rates reasonable for customers. >> and for me to continue to do that with coal would be greatly more expensive than with gas. >> eastern kentucky's coal is the most expensive in the country to mine. $70 a ton compared to $10 a ton in wyoming. the fact is, coal here was in trouble long before president obama took office, declining 63% since the year 2000. these are hard realities to accept. >> it's very painful. it hurts. >> reporter: there is so much pain in coal country, yet eastern kentucky, ever proud, and increasingly defiant still celebrates coal as a way of life. mining makes up only 1% of the work force in kentucky, john, but it's essential to the state's identity, and a politician can't win unless they are a friend of coal. >> so how is this struggle over coal likely to affect voting next month? >> both candidates defend coal and say they can bring back the jobs. mitch mcconnell is trying to tie grimes to the unpopular president, but she is pushing back, and attacking mcconnell's track record on health care and safety. it is time for a change, the question is whether that means voting out their senior senator or voting against the president's party. >> and i understand there has been a change in the polls? >> a new poll is just out, a bluegrass poll that shows grimes with a lead. now this is within the margin of error, but polls prior to this showed mcconnell ahead. so bottom line, it's still a race, john. >> all right. libby casey in washington. thank you very much. james carroll is the washington bureau chief of the journal. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> what do you make of these new poll numbers? >> well, you know, this race has been close for well over a year. and it is going to be close right up until election night. >> how do you see coal playing in this race. >> that seems to be -- well, it's a major issue. mcconnell uses coal as sort of a shorthand for president obama in general. obama's extremely unpopular in kentucky. he did not carry the state in either presidential election, and of course mcconnell being astute political strategist knows it's a good idea to use him in the race. so he uses coal as sort of shorthand for president obama in general. and he is trying to tie allison grimes as closely as he can to the president. but she is pushing back saying she disagrees with him on coal issues and on gun issues and a few other things. she is talking about mcconnell's service in the senate for 30 years, and arguing it is time for new leadership. >> why is it in a state of kentucky and mitch mcconnell has had tremendous power in the senate and helped his state, why is he in such a tough race this time? >> well, you know, there's a phenomenon we have seen in many states where there's fatigue for the incumbent. and mcconnell has had close races in the past. people think of it now because of presidential elections as a red state, but it may surprise a lot of viewers to know that kentucky also elects democrats stayed wide. allison grimes was elected as the secretary of state. all of the constitutional officers save one are democrats. so it has a little bit of a political schizophrenia if you will. mcdonell has never built up the kind of reservoir of goodwill say we could point to in west virginia when robert bird was there for so long, or ted kennedy in massachusetts. our poll shows a continuing upside down phenomenon on the job approval ratings for mcdonal. he still has nearly 50% of likely voters saying they disapprove of the job he has done. the bluegrass poll we have been talking about also found that 58% of likely voters thought it was time to replace mcconnell. grime's challenge is to make up the difference between those who think it's time to replace mcconnell, and convincing people she is the one to replace him. >> yeah, it's a fascinating race. james carroll, it's good to talk to you. we'll talk to you again. thanks very much. >> absolutely. >> tomorrow special report america votes 2014, a closer look at some of the big issues being debated in these midterm elections. now a major drug bust in honduras to report tonight. two men have been arrested. officials say they are key members of a cartel that ships a tremendous amount of cocaine to the united states. paul has the details. >> drug related violence is the scourge in this part of south america. it is one of the countries that fuelled that wave of children we saw coming to the u.s. earlier this year. these are brothers, leaders of a major crime organization. they call them one of the top drug gangs in all of latin america. a helicopter arrives carrying two members of a notorious crime family. the brothers of the clan. the u.s. government says that until this weekend, the brothers ran one of the top drug cartels in all of central america, and controlled most of the cocaine flowing through honduras. >> translator: this was a special forces collaboration that captured the brothers in the mountains. >> reporter: honduras is a crucial transit hub for cocaine smuggling. it has a long lawless coast and lacks law enforcement that human rights groups consider among the world's most corrupt. it is estimated that some 80% of all of the cocaine traveling from south america to the u.s. passes through honduras. the u.n. says honduras has the highest murder rate in the world. there were more than 7,000 in 2013. more than 20 a day. most linked to cocaine smuggling. when i reported from honduras in june, my crew and i travelled with a heavily armed military escort. we were warned if we traveled into drug territory, we would be killed on-site. the sister was captured this weekend in the u.s. her brothers are also wanted by the u.s. and likely to be extradited. in august the u.s. treasury department placed the men on it's so-called kingpin list >> translator: these arrests comply with the warrants from the united states. they -- >> reporter: they describe the arrests as a big blow to the drug cartels in honduras. now u.s. officials say the organization shipped tens of thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the u.s. every month and then laundered that money through a network of businesses in honduras. and the reason they were able to build that empire is to payoffs to elected officials. >> is it going to stop the flow of cocaine? >> at best this is going to be a short-term victory. demand will remain strong. we heard about new u.s. aid to honduras to help stop crime, but as long as there's huge amounts of drug money traveling to this part of the world is going to undermine the country. >> thanks very much. now to a troubled armed group in africa called al-shabab. recently they troops have forced al-shabab troops to retreat. katherine soy reports from southern somalia. >> reporter: making their way carefully. ground troops of the african union, and the somali army secure the roads. firing warning shots as they take control of the city. most of al-shabab's fighters and senior command left long ago, but we are told there's a possibility of snipers and hidden explosives. >> the resistance hasn't been as heavy, but they kept probing us, but we continued moving, so they kept reducing, reducing, and now they are retreating back to the coastlines to jump in the boats. >> reporter: this is the town square in the town. the same one that sal shabab used for executions as recently as a few weeks ago. now members of a new town administration need a few people to lead here. there's still a lot of anxiety. these people haven't seen any government presence since the collapse of somalia in 1991. and this is their governor, who they have not seen since 2008. yet he keeps his promise to publicly cut off his hair if this day ever came. >> clearly it is a good day. >> reporter: this man gives us a glimpse of what life was like under al-shabab. >> translator: they used to kill people by shooting them. even now you will still find blood on the spot where they did it. >> reporter: the offensive is part of an operation aimed at cutting off al-shabab's supply routes from the sea. the soldiers have been getting tactical support from the u.s., the e.u., and private contractors. the special forces are now securing the city, moving from building to building trying to look for al-shabab elements. this is a place where al-shabab leaders held many of their meetings. at the town choir, the mally soldiers celebrate their vict y victory, but they also know that al-shabab could come back. >> the defeat has some hoping that the armed group may be on the decline. >> yeah, in recent months al-shabab has been on the defensive, losing territory and its leaders, still many worry it does remain a major threat. >> reporter: in village after village, soldiers have been marching in, and pushing al-shabab out. >> al-shabab is gone, it is no more. and the government of somalia is taking charge. >> reporter: the so-called capitol comes weeks after a u.s.-air strike killed the leader. >> translator: this was a slaughter house, the center for al-qaeda and other fighters. >> reporter: for years al-shabab controlled much of somalia. and launching attacks. including last year's shooting at a mall that killed 67. in march, african troops along with the somali army launched a joint offensive, focusing mostly on coastal towns which they rely on to receive goods and for its export of charcoal. >> translator: this used to be a supply hub, and they used it to harass the locals. >> reporter: this is the latest in a steady push going back to 2011 when al-shabab lost control of mogadishu. yet analysts warn al-shabab remains powerful, especially in the countryside, and they have a reach that now covers the horn of africa. in the past al-shabab said it was focus more on launching attacks than holding land. some worry its influence may grow in africa even if it does appear to be losing ground in somalia, john. >> thank you. coming up your inner gps, the science behind the nobel prize discovery. good evening, i'm meteorologist kevin corriveau. well today. we saw some very stormy weather. this is what we would normally see in the fall, very similar to what you would see in the spring when you have two different air masses clashing in the spring. i want to take you to louisville, kentucky. this is what we saw earlier this morning. nickel-sized hail coming down in the area. it lasted about 20, to 30 minutes. fortunately it didn't last too much longer. once the thunderstorms pushed through, the temperatures came back up, and we saw most of that hail go away. we did see power lines go down as well across that region. i did mention the clash of air masses we're talking about here across the north you can see, right now chicago is at 53 degrees. down here towards memphis at 72. so you have a big temperature contrast. tomorrow will be a very similar day, and we are going to be seeing storms across much of the region, and that is going to continue as we go from wednesday as well as into thursday. that's a look at your national weather. your news is next. new york city says it will remove hundreds of phone-tracking devices hidden in old phone booths. the technology can be used to send ads to smartphones just as you walk by. but the idea has spawned too many questions about privacy. >> gymable empowers people with a sixth sense. >> reporter: it says it helps people get information about their surroundings from train schedules to sport scores. >> so a fan can be treated like the team's most valuable player. >> reporter: they can also push ads to your phone. so when the report came out that new york city allowed the begones to be installed last year, people were upset. >> it could have involved user input and didn't. >> reporter: the signals are picked up by smart phone apps. but for it to work you have to turn on your phone's bluetooth and allow specific apps to collect and send information. >> whether you attend religious services or specific kinds of doctors or maybe even where you work, so many things can be revealed about you, depending on the places that you go. >> reporter: without the app enabled, the company says it can only log the time of day and your location. if you have the app it can pick up much more, including gender and age range, but also interests. it could also show your browsing history. >> for any entity, let alone a city to have access to that kind of information is -- it's a real window into the types of things that are going on that are very personal to use. >> reporter: such criticism has prompted the mayor's office to announce that the beacons will be coming down: >> we're going to have to work out over time how to give people control over both pushing information to them, but also the underlying data collection. >> reporter: several companies have started to use beacon enabled apps. apple stores use the information to help give customers product information. thank you. three scientists who made a remarkable discovery about how the brain works have been awarded a nobel prize. jakeward is in san francisco to tell us more. >> reporter: john this prize was divided between two camps. professor john o'keefe established something called place cells, which are parts of the brain that light up when you are walking, let's say down a halway, and you get sensory feedback, smell, or a memory. this particular part of your brain lights up, and that orients you. the other half of nobel goes to a husband and wife team, and they established a really fascinating thing called grid cells. these are cells in the brain that basically establish a map of where you are. they let a rat go free in a sort of square space, and they would measure where the rat went. you can see the squiggly lines that trace the path of the rat. then they figured out at certain points, the brain would light up, and as they began to map those points together, they began to realize the points are a grid when you draw lines between those clusters of red dots where the brain was lighting up. and it is literally a triangle of patterns, and this is how you know where you are when you walk into a room and orient yourself. >> so, jake, what are the future implications of this research? and how could it affect our understanding of the brain? >> well, it's obviously an amazing thing to have established something so abstract. but it could have implications for alzheimer's research. the same parts of the hippocampus that are damaged when people begin to lose their way. but the formation of the memories that these guys have identified have to do with looking around in your surroundings. we don't do that anymore when we follow the gps phone. >> all right. jakeward thank you very much. coming up tonight at 11:00 eastern time the latest on the ebola patient fighting for his life in dallas, thomas eric duncan. we'll have that story and an interview with his nephew. maybe not. >> he's sedated. and he looks stressed. and he's just -- it's not really much. you know, he has just got a lot of equipment. >> we'll have more on that tonight at 11:00 eastern time. also at 11:00, understanding the islamic fate. we separate fact from myth. and first a book, then an academy award winning film, now a one-man theater show. my conversation with billy on "midnight express." visitors of the eiffel tower got a new look today. they are look all the way down the tower. and here is our picture of the day today. tonight's freeze comes from japan. that's our news, thank you for watching. "america tonight" with joie chen is next. and we'll see you back here at 11:00. ard edvard moser on"america tonight", a critical moment. the president turns to his top medical transportation and national security advisors to stop ebola from spreading in our country. >> it is very important for us to make sure that we are treating this the same way that we would treat any other significant national security plague. >> also tonight - planting seeds of international espionage, what authorities tell michael