and good evening. we begin tonight with the deadly bombing of a hospital in afghanistan. 19 died and 37 were hurt when u.s. air strikes hit the medical facility in the city of kunduz. doctors without borders runs the hospital and says it had clearly informed the military of its location. the afghan president and the u.s. defense secretary have promised full investigation into this attack. >> kunduz has been a flashpoint all week. taliban forces captured the city a few days ago and since then afghan forces have tried to regain control with the help of u.s. air strikes. in the middle of the night, u.s. air strikes lasting more than an hour hit the main operating theater, the emergency room, and other parts of the doctors without borders complex. staff members and patients were killed. u.s. forces called it collateral damage. doctors without borders rejects that >> this is a big and large hospitals. one of the largest hospitals. it's been there five years. we've communicated several times to different warring parties and the coalition forces the precise coordinates, gps coordinates of this hospital exactly to avoid being hit in such a manner. >>reporter: afghan officials say the hospital was targeted because there were taliban fighters inside. a claim doctors without borders denies. >> there were no terrorists hiding in the hospital when we came under attack. all the terrorists were killed but we also lost others. we will do everything to make sure doctors are safe and they can do their jobs. >>reporter: it's not clear what afghan forces can do. they say taliban fighters are hiding in homes and using people as human shields. afghan u.s. forces tried to drive them out of kunduz. the u.s. defense secretary ash carter issued a statement that said in part u.s. forces in support of afghan forces were operating nearby as were taliban fighters. while we're still trying to determine exactly what happened, i want to extend my thoughts and prayers to everyone affected. a full investigation into the tragic incident is underway in coordination with the afghan government. the head of doctors without borders says the attack is a grave violation of international law. the afghan president says he and the americans have agreed to launch a joint and thorough investigation. this highlights the perilous security situation around the country. the u.s. east coast has dodged hurricane joaquin, a powerful storm packing winds of up to 155 miles per hour. joaquin has veered over the ocean towards bermuda but the carolinas are still getting slammed with record rains from another system. >>reporter: jonathan, i think the picture here in charleston paints it all. it's slightly pouring right now. we have lightening and thunder, bandses of wind that keep coming in. this is a neighborhood street in charleston on the peninsula here that is flooded. a lot of the streets here look like this. of course not all of them do but unfortunately we're expecting heavy rain bands to come through the night. there is no one allowed into the city of charleston. police are not allowing any vehicles in. there's a flash flood warning until 9:30 a.m. tomorrow morning. and this whole system is not going to stop until monday. despite hurricane joaquin being well off shore, the southeast is still being pounded by historic rainfall amounts this weekend. totals are starting to add up and rivers are overflowing. >> the good news is with the hurricane we're underwhen he willal well -- underwhen he willaled. the tough news is this rain. >>reporter: in charleston, south carolina, the city is prepared but has not seen a storm like this since hurricane hugo in 1989 >> this is urn fe unusual. we've seen a lot worse but we want to prepare for everything reshows over a foot of rain has already fallen in parts of the carolinas and much more is on the way through monday. worryi worryi worrying residents of both states. national weather service is calling this a once in 500 year weather event. many streets in charleston look like this, under a foot or two of water and it's just saturday. the issue is the high tide mixed with this incredibly high precipitation falling here in charleston. but they are ready and they're buckling down. flash flooding is expecteded to continue and possibly get worse across the region. officials in north carolina are urging residents to be overprepared. >> we're still not letting our guards down because this weather pattern can change. there are still portions of the state scheduled to see up to 7 inches of rain on top of what we've already received. >>reporter: right now, downtown charleston is closed as residents hope things don't get any worse. >> the governor has declared an emergency for the state as a result of this event. so that's already in place. obviously if we get to the point where we have significant devastation or damage in the city, we'll be reaching out to our county counterparts and then go up to the state and we would be requesting federal assistance through them. >> you know, jonathan, a lot of the residents that we talked to out here today say they're hoping for the best but they're really not that concerned because they're used to having flooding because of the old sewer systems here actually on the peninsula of charleston. now, out in the surrounding areas like the beaches, coast lines and inland, they're certainly not used do this kind of downpour and that's where the heavy concern is for tomorrow. but as you see tonight, it's absolutely pouring here as these really intense bands pop in over here and you get lightening and thunder and we just hope more of these streets can hold up and water doesn't just take over the whole city. >> looks like a mess there. rain swamps charleston, south carolina. joaquin a monster storm sitting atop the bahamas. >> it's left the bahamas now but the big problem now is it's headed towards bermuda. over 48 hours this storm was sitting over the central part of the bahamas as a category 3 storm. it's now category 4 as it makes its way to the northeast. we think by tomorrow afternoon or evening it's going to be very, very close to bermuda possibly as a category 3 hurricane and quickly move off. bermuda already have watches and warnings in effect right now. in the carolinas, you can see that moisture streaming up from joaquin streaming up to the carolin carolinas. we've seen over nine inches of rain over the last 24 hours. anywhere from charleston all the way up to myrtle beach. the areas of red is why flash floods are happening right now. where there's green is where flooding is happening right now. and over the next 72 hours, we're expecting to see 12 to 18 inches of rain, especially up here towards the north closer to the mown tape and thes -- mountains. in the northeast we're talking about coastal flooding because an area of high pressure is pushing all that rain towards the coast an up into the areas, inlets, the chesapeake bay, for example. i want to show you one particular house on the new jersey coast. we talk about damage here and then we saw a lot of -- then we actually saw the house off its foundation. big problem there. we're not going to be seeing this ending probably for the next 48 hours. >> and that damage we're seeing here is not directly related to this hurricane. it's a separate storm system. >> the u.s. coast guard is confirming it's found a life ring from a cargo ship that disappeared. 33 people are still missing along with the ship that was on its way from florida to puerto rico on thursday when it lost power and began taking on water. 28 crew members are americans, several from the state of maine. the other five are from poland details emerging about thursday's shooting on a college campus in oregon. the gunman who killed his english professor and eight others committed suicide immediately after police officers exchanged gun fire with him. the total number of firearms seized has been 14. sabrina register joins us live from outside the hospital where victims are recovering. >>reporter: we're learning more details about thursday's mass shooting at umpqua community college. the sheriff says there was only a couple of minutes, two minutes to be precise between when officers were exchanging gun fire with the suspect and when the suspect was deemed down. the suspect being 26-year-old chris mercer. mercer's family released a statement today saying they're shocked and saddened by the horrific events of thursday and that their thoughts, hearts, and prayers go out to the families of those who died and those who were injured. two victims still remain here at mercy medical center. one is the hero in thursday's shooting. the other one 16 year old cheyanne fitzgerald. cheyanne still is in intensive care. her family spoke about her today. >> she's mentioned to me about all if blood. >>reporter: recovering in the same hospital, the army veteran who is being hailed a hero. students who witnessed the shooting say chris minz quickly took action and ran towards the shooter even after he had been shot multiple times. >> he was telling people to run, grabbing people telling them you just have to go. he actually ran back towards the building where the shooting was and he ran back into the building and i don't know what happened to him. a county commissioner and mother of an umpqua student not injured in the shooting credits him with quick thinking saying without him the shooting would have been much more catastrophic. the sheriff says response to the shooting was swift, within a few minute >> i want to express my most sincere appreciation to those most directly touched by this incident. the two roseburg police officers who responded and stopped the shooter from killing dozens of other people who were in that classroom and in the immediate vicinity. >>reporter: as more details about the investigation are released including the seizure on the floor a 14th gun the shooter's possession, documents, and digital files, the fire chief chokes back tears to remember lives lost. our firefighter chuckman lost his son, trevor on that day. and our ems paramedic brian mcfadden lost his niece on that day. >>reporter: and cheyanne's aunt said after she was shot in the back thaw she played dead and that probably saved her life. the family has set up a go fund me page to help with expenses. we're learning more each day about the nine victims of this shooting. >> there's nine victims that were killed in a ten-minute rampage raging in age from 18 to 67. the worst mass shooting in the history of the state of oregon also left several injured. >> i will not name the shooter. >>reporter: the sheriff pointedly refused to name the shooter but as he read the names of the victims, a fortrait emerged of each. jason johnson struggled with drug abuse and completed rehab. >> his mother says he was proud of himself for enrolling in school and so was his mother. they felt that jason had finally found his path. >> kim deitz of roseburg, 59 years old. >>reporter: she was taking classes at the same college as her 18-year-old daughter. her ex-husband confirmed her death and described her as a very kind, kind soul. >> lawrence levine, 67 years old. >>reporter: he was a teacher and a member of steam boaters, a fly fishing and conservation group. >> lucas diebel of roseburg. >>reporter: he was a quadruplet who loved chemistry >> we've been trying to figure out how to tell everyone how amazing lucas was but that would take 18 years. lucas loved future farmers of america, volunteering at wild life safari and saving grace animal shelter. >> quinn glenn cooper. >> quinn was funny, sweet, compassionate, and such a wonderful loving person. he always stood up for people. quinn and his brother cody were inseparable. >> rebecca anne karns. >>reporter: her cousin set up a go fund me site to help her parents with her final expenses. >> serina dawn moore, 44 years old. >>reporter: she was a member of grants path seventh day church. >> treven was larger than life and brought out the best in those around him according to hisly. >> he was a perfect son. >> lucero alcarez. >>reporter: her sister wrote that she was her best friend and was going to do great things. sunday is a day of worship and a lot of people will be looking for solace and hearing. churches are expecting very large crowds this years's general assembly saw a record number of world leaders show up i really want to have some global discussion of how to bring a sense of hope to those helpless people, millions of helpless people. >> a big turnout, but what did they really accomplish? up next, a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the united nations. plus, russia promises to increase air strikes in syria and claims to hit more isil targets in its fourth day of air strikes. just hours ago the united nations general assembly wrapped up a week of speeches and deal making. high on the agenda were humanitarian crises from syria to europe to ukraine and conflict all over the world. here's a look at some of the ambitious goals some leaders agreed to and the u.n.'s ability to respond to global needs. >> i really wanted to have some global discussions, how we can bring a sense of hope to those helpless people, millions of helpless people. i think if we are united, we can do it. >>reporter: the secretary general set the stage for the 70th general debate of the united nations general assembly backing a new sustainability plan and a goal to end extreme poverty by 2030. a grand vision for an organization struggling to solve current crises including a war in syria that's led to the largest refugee crisis in europe since world war ii. >> we see the collapse of strong men, conflicting driving innocent men, women, and children across borders on an epic scale. >>reporter: president obama acknowledged that there is criticism of the u.n. but that the u.n. is still essential to solving the world's problems. >> the legacy of a post war era not suited to our own. they argued for a return to the rules that applied for most of human history and that predate this institution. the belief that power is a zero sum game, that might makes right. >>reporter: the u.n. was founded in the aftermath of world war ii with a mission to prevent another global conflict and to help displaced people. aiding palestinian refugees displaced from the 1948 arab israeli war was one of their first challenges. they were meant to be sort of a global cop saving those from the scourge of war. the organization's membership grew from a few dozen countries to 193 member states today. new missions emerged and the u.n. grew to be a massive, multipronged entity driving both humanitarian relief and economic development in many parts of the world. the organization provides food to 90 million people in 80 countries. vaccinate a third of the world's children. assists those fleeing war, famine or persecution. it emerged as a successful peace keeper in conflicts from sigh puss to the border between south and north korea. but there have also been glaring failures. peace keepers in rwanda when 800,000 members of the country's toutsi minority were murdered. the sanctions the organization oversaw after the gulf war were mired in corruption. and it's often been criticized as mired in bureaucracy. but it still remains an essential organization. >> joining me tonight from massachusetts is jim walsh to talk about this. he's a research associate at mit security studies program. as well as from new york john hudson. john, let me start with you. we've heard this critique time and time again that the u.n. is a toothless organization that is all talk and no action. is that a fair criticism? >> yeah. absolutely. there's a lot of bureaucracy at the u.n. there's a lot of things that don't get done. an i'm not going to surprise any of your viewers by saying war has happened under its watch and war is going to don't but in its 07-year history, there are certainly examples of the u.n. having successes. to try and resolve them. absolutely syria, libya, a number of disasters including yemen which we still haven't seen an end in sight to. >> i think syria is a glaring example of a big failure of the u.n. do you feel that in the 70 years of the united nations the good outweighs the bad? >> i do, jonathan. have bad things happened during the time of the u.n. over the 07 years? yes. of course. would they have happened without a u.n.? yes, i'm pretty sure we would have had rwanda's genocide and the u.s. invasion of iraq and other terrible things that have happened without a u.n. the surprise to me is that it's done so well. this is a member organization. it's not in charge. the secretary general doesn't order people around. it doesn't have armies. it has member states and it's at the beck and call of the member states. international atomic agency could roam all over countries looking for nuclear violations, the world food programs, other things mentioned tonight. i always thought it's the little engine that could. it's designed to be weak but it's overachieved and grown stronger over time. >> but mentioning the failures, rwanda is a pretty big failure. the goal of the u.n. is to bring peace to the world and you can't overlook that. >> i wouldn't overlook that. my daughter works on genocide and going forward there are real dangers of genocide. but again, i would say in the united states or france or pick a country in china, there's courts and police and they can enforce the law. the international system is made up of states. the u.n. is a voluntary organization. it has no military force. so if the members are determined to kill each other, it's very hard for the u.n. to stop them. and in the cold war the competition between the u.s.a. and russia, it inhibited the u.n. from functioning. we should evaluate it on what are its capabilities, has it met the job relative to its capabiliti capabilities? i think it has. but god knows there are a lot of horrible things it has not been able to stop. >> john brought up the fact that the u.n. doesn't have a military. it has quite a large peace keeping force. how can it be the world's global cop if it doesn't have an arsenal it can rely on. >> that's a fair point leading to a larger criticism of u.n. peace keeping missions that in some cases, they can just grow a problem and not lead to a solution. maybe they're not making the situation worse but it is sort of locking some of the problems in place that create these kinds of frozen conflicts action that never seem to go away. i largely agree with your guess that essentially the u.n. can only do as much as the u.n. security council members are committed to doing. sew just to point out -- so just to point out global problems and the fact that the u.n. still exists isn't necessarily a terrific case for its inability to achieve problems. >> do you feel the big problem here is frankly just the structure of the u.n. and the 15-member security council? >> there certainly is a lot of room for improvement, special clay in the fact that the u.n. risks becoming sort of a relic. it's not really reflective of the humanity that exists today. there's no one from latin america on the security council. there seems to be an overrepresentation in europe i would argue. and certainly nations like japan. i think it would make a good case for being on the security council. there's also the fact that we've never had a woman as a secretary general. we're talking about more than half the human population never being at least represented as a secretary general. so there's certainly a lot of structural things that could change to make it a u.n. organization more reflective of the world we live in today. >> if they did change the structure of the u.n., change up the security council, add latin america, do you think it would make a big difference or is the bottom line here that the united states perhaps has too much influence over the security council. >> an agree with a lot of those critiques. >> jim, the biggest thing that needs to change with the u.n. you would say is what? >> well, i think the powerful countries of the world have to get on board and have a real commitment to the u.n. power still matters in the international system. again, this is a membership organization. it's sort of like a board of directors and the board of directors matters. the company can only do so much so the big powers, the u.s., russia, china, if they can get on board of a common agenda, the likelihood of success is stronger. >> that's a big goally when you look at the tension between the united states and russia right now. all right, thank you both for joining me tonight. >> thank you. >> thanks. good to be here on this week's episode of third rail, the question is debated, what if russian president putin is right to prop up syrian president al assad. >> he let them call crawl over him in crimea. he said if you cross these red lines i'll bomb to assad. nothing happened. as a republican, barack obama is a pacifist, a peace loving guy. >> a guy who took out bin laden and uses drones. fundamentally he's done way more than the previous administration. >> i think he's a guy who absolutely hates war and will do anything he can to keep are from doing it. >> the fact don't bare that out. >> the bin laden operation was ongoing. >> at the end of the day the united states needs to make their position clear wherever we're landing. >> but putin may be pushing the united states in that way. >> it's a game of chicken. >> putin is a lot more soviet union than he is new russia. he's not gorbechev. tensions high in jerusalem tonight after a teenager goes on a killing spree. the extra steps israel is taking to protect its citizens from violence up next. >> the money fell victim to the politics. >> they're more focused on getting jobs than our education. a 19 year old palestinian killed two people in jerusalem's old city before being shot and killed by security forces. two men were killed. a woman is in critical condition. and a 2 year old suffered minor injuries. this is the latest in a series of attacks by palestinians on israelli israelis in the past couple of weeks. >> david camron is railing against russia saying its offensive in syria are making things worse, echoing what president obama said yesterday. camron has labeled assad a butcher. kenya is now confronting its problem with alcohol. the government has cracked down on illegal alcohol after several people have died and now it's trying to treat those who are addicted. >>reporter: this is not an ordinary group therapy session. the men and women here are getting free treatment and counseling to help with a drinking problem. a number of people suffered violent withdrawal systems when illegal alcohol stills were shut down nationwide. daniel was a policeman for 14 years. he lost his job last year and his wife and children left two years ago. >> it's so hard for me to stop drinking simply because i have to drink. i have to drink for me to survive or to do anything. i have to first have a drink in the morning. >>reporter: here they reflect, eat well, support each other, and build their confidence. volunteer counsellors, medics, and teachers are running the camp that was set up by the federal government. we will celebrate everyone. if we manage to save 100, that's a gad number. after rehab they go back to places like this village center where cheap, illegal alcohol is easy to get. ben became blind after drinking bad alcohol in 2001. his son is an alcoholic. on this day, his nephews came to visit. they were drunk. he says he tries to tell them to stop but they will not listen. oregon becomes the fourth state in the country to legalize the sale of recreational marijuana. >> are we going to empty the shelves on opening day? i hope so. >> still ahead, what happens to anyone convicted of selling or using that drug before the law was passed? >> we're here to fully get oregon is the latest state to allow the sale of marijuana. it's raising the question of what happens to those arrested for pot before the law changed? >>reporter: so far everybodying is stocked up. with recommereational marijuana legally on sale in the oregon, they're hoping for a boom. norris has operated outside the law for 20 years in oregon but now he plans to double everything and open two stores in a new legal landscape. some counties have banned recreational sales. but oregon, which 42 years ago decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana continues to break new ground on the legal front >> we have achieved in oregon the greatest criminal law marijuana law reform of anybody so far. >> but it's hardly perfect. two years ago, aaron pickle was busted fer carrying food made of marijuana with a valid medical marijuana card from a different state. >> delivery of marijuana. class c felony. >> actions deemed illegal then but might not matter now have shattered his life. >> find work, find a place to live. just move on with my life. you know. i'm not a criminal. that's the stigma that you're stuck with. >> new laws put in place in oregon this year make it easier for him to apply to have his record wiped clean. for those who did run afoul of the law before all this was legal, leland burger sees increasing hope >> i think it's a fundamental fairness inquiry that this legislation directly addresses. doesn't free all the prisoners, but it takes a step towards that. >>reporter: aaron pickle has to wait one more year before he can apply to have his record cleaned. without the new law though, it would have been a decade. >> i feel good that there's something in place to get it expunged. it gives me hope for the future not having this hang over my head anymore. >> tonight, new focus on the safety of high school football players after another young athlete dies. >> this is a flag check. that story and much more ahead right here on al jazeera america. funeral services held this week for a new jersey high school quarterback who died after a game. hundreds turned out to mourn evan murray at his funeral. an autopsy found he had suffered a ruptured spleen. his death is once again raising the question of the dangers of high school football. last year fiver players died on the field. schools are now looking at ways to keep athletes safe. >>reporter: at receipts here are allowed to practice full contact for no more than 90 minutes a week. a safeguard this season to prevent injuries in a sport often criticized for being too violent. >> prevent the injuries that are preventible. >>reporter: according to the center for catastrophic sports injuries, five high school athletes playing football last season. these players are more likely to suffer catastrophic injuries and concussionins and that college players. >> they want to be as quick and light as possible. >>reporter: flack jackets used by nfl quarterbackings are not mandatory for high school players. it's not clear if evan murray was wearing this. >> do you think this could have protected him from a lacerated spleen? >> yes. yes. >>reporter: medical experts say one way to make high school football safer is to increase the presence of trainers so there not just at the games but also at all the practices. that does it for us with this hour. i'll be back with another hour of news at 11:00 p.m. eastern, 8:00 pacific. stay right here because america tonight starts right now. hour on "america tonight". playing for keeps. >> you have to try saving the village were a blizzard. >> jacob ward on the game that could save a community also tonight - the pain hidden behind the screen. >> can you tell me what happens to your right arm and the fingers on your left hand christof putzel investigates the risks workers take to build popular