a special rt investigation. >> it's thursday, october 3, 5 p.m. in washington dc. you are watching rt. let's get straight to our breaking news this afternoon. just around 3 p.m., shots were fired outside of the capitol building. police that woman in a black sedan got in a confrontation with police officers. after trying to ram her car through the barricade at the white house. when that was unsuccessful, she fled the scene in her car and got into a police chase. this is the video you are seeing of that police chase. what you cannot see inside that car is that there is a child in their, and that the driver is a female. she is now reported dead. just unbelievable footage coming out of this really chaotic scene playing out here in washington. capitol hill was temporarily put on lockdown, but has since returned to business. our correspondent now with the latest. what is the scene like outside of capitol hill right now? >> the scene was quite chaotic, but we are told that it has been secured. we know that the d.c., capitol hill police and secret service are all investigating what happened here. we are about as close as we could get to where shots were fired. we are told several shots were fired. i spoke to a couple of witnesses who said they heard one shot after another. we don't really know who fired those shots. we are hearing now that most if not all of those shots were actually fired by authorities trying to stop the suspect. you play that video earlier before. that is where it all began at the white house, about a mile away from here. apparently the suspect tried to ram through a barricade, and that is when a high-speed chase started, came all the way here around near the capital, and that is where it ended. that is where we are told more shots rang out. he saw that video, it was a black car that was the target of this chase. we do not know much about that suspect, but we do know that she is a female. we are not sure -- there is a press conference that will be underway pretty soon. we will be sure to learn more details. we are told that there was a child inside of that vehicle, but that child is ok. we are not sure how many people have been hurt, injured, we know that at least one person has been injured, and that person is a police officer. we are told that this is an isolated incident. it is not terrorism related. at the moment, the scene has been secured. >> something important to mention is that those barricades have been up since the oklahoma city bombing. obviously there was no danger of the woman actually getting into the white house, but from what you are hearing, was there any kind of situation with senators, members of congress, anybody being in danger? >> all we know is that there were several shots that were fired. that is what witnesses are telling me. i spoke to one witness that said he heard seven shots rang out. we are not sure where those shots came from. it is presumed that a lot of them actually came from authorities. we can presume because the capital was under lockdown, they have the capital secure now. we can presume now that the scene is safe. we are told that it is not active anymore. you can see that still there are a lot of authorities here investigating at the scene. at this point, we are told it is an isolated incident, that it is not terrorism related. as you know, d.c. is very much on edge, especially after just a couple of weeks ago there was the deadly mass shooting over in the navy yard not too far away from here. that resulted in the death of 12 people. that is still fresh in the minds of many people here. with the government shutdown underway, the house and senate unable to agree on a deal on the budget deal. so a very tense time with the government shutdown underway. it is unclear what the motive is. we don't know much about the suspect except that she is female, that there was a child inside the car. hopefully we will be learning more details as they are released to us. >> obviously this is a very popular place to be in the district of columbia. lots of people come here to visit for tourism reasons, so obviously there were a lot of witnesses. we do have the testimony of one witness to listen to right now. >> just warms up police converging on the capital erie >> what was going through your mind when this was happening? >> i was thinking about the navy yard, because i work near there. it reminded me of that. >> obviously, liz, this is very scary. as you mentioned, it comes just a couple of weeks after that shooting. what else can we expect to hear from this press conference at his coming up in just about a half hour? >> i think at the press conference we are expected to hear more details, there are a lot of things up in the air. we know that shots were fired. hopefully will learn more on who fired the shots, how many people read injured, and the status of the police officer that is reported to have been wounded during this ordeal. we should learn even more as more details come out. it is still unfolding. >> it is a very lucky situation and a lucky day when you can report that there were no victims injured at this point, or i should say dead. there's that one police officer who is at the hospital right now. >> in the middle of all of that, both the house and the senate are still in session. it is day three of a partial government shutdown. if you are just turning your television on for the first day since tuesday, you haven't missed anything. we are still in the same exact place as we were before the shutdown. republicans are still trying to defund obamacare with a one-year delay on the individual mandate. democrats are not letting that happen. while they are bickering back- and-forth, their constituents, not them, are paying the price. if you think this all boils down to some national parks and monuments being close, think again. right now in the gulf of mexico, tropical storm karen is brewing off the coast of cuba and should make land this weekend. mitterrand to say the storm has a near 100% chance of becoming a hurricane. the agency that usually predicts and responds to emergencies like this, fema, is close now due to the shutdown. the agency started recalling some employees, but good luck to everyone living along the gulf coast. the white house has yet to decide how much help you are going to get. also, i'm sure you have been hearing about the horrific tennessee bus crash that left eight people dead and injured 14 others. it is an accident that the national transportation safety board normally would have gone to investigate, but this time, they are not. the government shutdown has furloughed all highway investigators, so there is no one to do the job. >> in idaho, search-and-rescue officers have been forced to scale back their efforts to find a missing woman. the 69-year-old woman was last seen on september 21. many park employees were forced to take a furlough as a result of the shutdown. at least 10 rangers are working despite the furlough to try to help find this woman. they don't know if they are going to be paid. the toll the shutdown is taking on the public is growing each passing day, but we are no closer to a spending deal. the latest from the district of dysfunction. >> the government shutdown is now in day three, and congress is not any closer to striking a deal to end it eerie at a meeting at the white house last night between president obama and congressional leaders failed to yield any sort of eel. this morning harry reid took to the floor and said this about republicans on the other side of the capital. >> republicans should come to their senses. the longer this republican government shutdown persist, the harder it will be on our economy. i hope they can figure out what it is that they want. before the damage to the economic recovery is even more irreversible than they have already created. >> republicans are digging in and continuing the strategy of funding just pieces of the government, like the veterans administration, the park service , and the national institutes of health. strategy that democrats, the senate, and president obama have already said they will not go along with. we are creeping closer to another crisis, the debt limit in two weeks. republicans are asking for major concessions. dollar for dollar spending cuts, repealed environmental regulations, and cuts to entitlements. the republican position is in cap celestine this quote it is about dignity. we have been ignored on this issue altogether. we are not going to be disrespected, so that is where we are at today. we have to get something out of this, and i don't know what that even is. today, president obama reiterated he will not negotiate over the debt limit. >> it would be the height of irresponsibility. that is why have said this before. i'm going to repeat it. there will be no negotiations over this. >> the treasury department announced this week that it is exhausting the last of its extreme measures to avoid a default. if congress doesn't raise the limit in the next two weeks, the u.s. could be facing a catastrophic, self-inflicted wound that could put the country back into a recession. each morning in the senate, prayers begin. this pointed message to members of congress this morning. >> have mercy upon us, o god, and save us from the madness. deliver us from the hypocrisy of attempting to sound reasonable while being unreasonable and i -- while being unreasonable. remove the burdens of those who are the collateral damage of this government shutdown. >> unfortunately, at this point, it may take a prayer to get the government reopened and the debt limit raised in time. >> this week a brazilian federal judge dismissed a multibillion- dollar lawsuit against oil giant chevron, ending a two-year legal battle over spill that happened back in 2011. the spill occurred at the offshore oil field off the coast of rio de janeiro. at least 3600 barrels of crude leaked into the ocean. this case is the largest ever environmental lawsuit in brazilian history. prosecutors are asking for $18 billion u.s. in damages from chevron. they also filed charges against the company posteriorly contractor, transocean limited, and 17 of its employees. the judge dismissed those charges after accepting a deal was chevron that requires the company to pay 100 $35 million in compensatory activity. brazil has become the sort of epicenter for offshore drilling in south america. in 2007 there was a major discovery of large oil reserves off the country's coast. analysts say that is the biggest discovery in the last 20 years. you can understand why the case is important and why it could set a precedent for future disputes between the country and oil companies. i'm joined by law professor and director of the brazil machen institute for law and environment. i asked him if he could give us more details on this settlement and how it came about. >> sure, there was a chevron and several of its partners had an oil spill off the coast of rio de janeiro. by u.s. standards it was comparatively small, about 3000 barrels. it was a real wake-up call for the brazilian government in terms of the potential danger from a spill, and a lawsuit was filed by an arm of the brazilian government call the public prosecutor. it was seeking $40 billion in damages from the spill. the idea is, resilient law is not that much different from u.s. lawns terms of what it is seeking, cleanup costs and property damage and possible costs going into the future. that is what brought about this lawsuit. the lawsuit was filed essentially to recoup both present and possible future damages. >> i want to be clear about that, that is about $18 billion u.s.. why did they agreed to settle for $135 million in the end? >> it is an interesting question. the short answer would be that it was in everybody's interest. first of all, these oil deposits off the coast of rio are in very, very deep water. 2000 meters of ocean floor, and 2000 meters of salt. getting to that oil is extremely difficult. nonetheless, we are talking about oil research that are absolutely immense and incredibly important to brazil. while they want to be very careful with any potential drilling in the area, they also don't want to completely discourage it. the settlement i think reflects a certain pragmatism on the part of everybody involved. one needs to pay the costs of the exploration and potential damages. on the other hand, the brazilian government will have future expiration and development in those fields. >> this is more than u.s. gone after the deepwater horizon oil spill which cost significantly more damage come and in this oil spill, nothing washed up on shore. no one was injured or killed, nothing exploded, etc. >> you are right. the brazilian up -- brazilian government came up with that number i would just like in any potential lawsuit, you look at the potential damages and you get the largest number possible because that is the number you start with, and you start a negotiation. realistically, any lawsuit is also a negotiation. you want to start with the most advantageous negotiating position. if you look at the damages that were actually realized from the spill versus the deepwater horizon spill, that is a commentary on the brazilian government's negotiating position, as well as the fact that the deepwater horizon damages probably were not calculated in a way that realistically reflected the damage. quick chevron was forced to close down for about six months, which is hugely costly to that company. was that taken into account at all, do you know? >> i don't know for certain, but i would certainly assume that it was. chevron went out of its way to look like -- and that is a cynical way to say it, but to be what it viewed itself as a good corporate citizen. as soon as there was another small leak, chevron shut down immediately, because the optics of it were horrible. i don't think the second leak was in danger of causing any significant damages as well, but chevron was looking to contain any possible pr damage as well as any possible oil spill. so it shut down, and yes, that is a very expensive proposition. >> 90% of brazil's oil production actually comes from offshore. has anything changed since this oil spill? >> well, i don't know for certain, again. the technology for exploring in the area is all new. i guess the short answer is yes, things are constantly changing. the technology is in development. this is a kind of expiration that has never been done anywhere else. every week or every month of delay brings about more knowledge about how to do this say for. -- safer. petrobras has been very slow developing this area, because they have chosen to be very careful. >> thank you so much for enlightening us in bringing us the latest on this case and helping us understand it. >> my pleasure. thank you. >> for the past two weeks, we have been featuring a three-part investigative series that looks into the dangers of synthetic marijuana. it is a designer drug created in laboratories. the chemical is meant to mimic the thc effects in marijuana. but that is far from reality. in part one of our investigation, we met three families who have been directly affected by this drug. and part two, we took a closer look at why it is so hard to regulate, and some of the actions local governments are taking to get synthetic rugs off of store shelves. this week, maryland joins the states that have a law banning this product from those store shelves. however, despite extensive efforts by the government and police to get rid of these drugs , the problems persist. today we bring you part three, which tries to answer the questions of where these drugs are coming from thomas who is behind them, and where the profits are going. take a look. >> the stuff is labeled potpourri. >> it is the moment law enforcement officials in maryland have been waiting for. >> i invite anyone to show me how this resembles potpourri. >> as of october 1, the sale and possession of synthetic marijuana is illegal in this state. it is a designer drug wear nail polish were remover mixed with chemicals is sprayed on dried herbs, sold and then smoked to get a high similar to that of marijuana. only this drug is nothing like real marijuana and can lead to serious health effects. laster, the federal government took steps of its own to ban these drugs with the synthetic drug abuse prevention act. despite state and federal efforts to try to regulate these drugs, a simple google search pulls up dozens of websites of companies saying they are willing to ship these drugs in mass quantities right to your door. so who exactly is behind this so-called potpourri? i decided to find the owners of one of the more popular brands, mr. nice guy. >> the way they have it packaged, it's almost like pop rocks, and they have scooby doo on the front of them. >> when you look up that address , it turns out it is a ups store. lots of internet companies run their businesses using post office boxes in the so let's keep digging. mr. nice guy allegedly buys its products from a lab with another official looking website, only it is fake. the phone number at the top leads to a philadelphia office for personal injury attorneys, who claim they have never heard of the labs. in reality, mr. nice guy is two guys, dylan harrison and john gb. their secret operation came rushing down on may 21 of last year, when the warehouse they produce these drugs in exploded. they were charged with unlawful distribution of controlled substance. each will serve a reduced prison sentence of just over a year. with mr. nice guy out of business, why are its product still on the market e >> because there is no regulation of that brand, not being made by the same person across the united states. >> type synthetic marijuana bags into the internet, and a whole slew of manufacturers pop up, saying they will sell the act with popular brands like scooby snacks on the front. i came in contact with a man who lives in china. not only did his company offered to ship me the bag, but they also promised to get them past u.s. customs. he even sent me a picture of some options. now that you know how to get the bags, how do you feel them? >> what we found is that many of these chemicals are coming from overseas. reticular lead china, which makes our job even more challenging. >> challenging because china doesn't have the same standards for drug production as the u.s. challenge because u.s. relations with the country are already shaky, and because these chemicals are so difficult to test for. one wrong accusation could fray those international ties. many are falsely labeled for medical research or cleaning products. once they make it to our shores, it is up to dealers to mix them with the leaves. >> what ends up happening is, from package to package, you may get one concentration that is much higher of drug then in another package. >> karen's son max died in a car crash after smoking synthetic cannabinoids. karen tried down the dealer, who explained how he made them. >> he determined how much to spray on the planet material, and he rated randomly on the plant material and tupperware containers. >> it should come as no surprise there is variability within each package. these packets sell anywhere from $30 to about $100 a pop. in what is being described as a $7 billion worldwide industry. so where are the profits going? >> what we found, which is very scary, is that drugs coming from china are coming to the united states, ending up in shops owned by middle eastern or spirit the middle eastern shop owners in the united states are shipping the money back into middle eastern countries coming into places that should give americans pause. when you are using drugs in this country, you are financing terror operations across the globe, potentially. groups that want to kill us. that is a really scary thought, and it is real. >> adding yet another wrinkle in the fight against the synthetic substances. >> there you have it. with a few simple internet searches, i just showed you how easy it is to still get your hands on these drugs ready made. and how easy it is to get the different components needed to create these drugs on your own. just another front here in the never-ending war on drugs. this one has no simple solution. >> in washington, megan lopez, rt. >> the fbi says it has arrested a san francisco man who allegedly ran an underground website for selling drugs, documents, and services. he reportedly used the name dread pirate roberts to run the website. he was charged in district court this week. he was accused in his involvement in two assassination plots. in one case, he tried to get an undercover agent to kill a former silk road employee who he feared might be, government witness. as for the silk road website itself, the fbi has shut it down for good. just to give you an idea of how big of a deal this is, fbi special agent christopher tarbell described the silk road website as the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the internet today. since 2011, the website generated about $1.2 billion, or $9.5 million in bit coins. big coin is the most popular form of virtual currency. they were the only way to finance merchandise on the silk road website. the closure of silk road will not affect the long-term value of the currency. it does affect silk road users who had already transferred bit coins into their accounts. the feds seized about $3.6 million worth of the currency during their raid. the closure of the website will likely only slow the illegal drug trade that happens online. that is because authorities say it is only a matter of time before a similar website pops up. and some already exist. >> there is an old wives tale that says when bird poop lands on you, it is good luck. but what happens when a drone falls on you e is that good luck too? one businessman in new york is probably feeling very lucky in that a small, unmanned helicopter narrowly missed hitting him when it fell a couple hundred feet from the sky. the almost victim recovered the memory card, which he promptly sent to a local news station. it shows the path of the helicopter before it's crash landing. the video also shows who operated the helicopter, and that it was flying about 30 stories above businesses and rush-hour streets, reporting high quality images as it went. but just because this one drone is now defunct, that does not mean the people of new york city are safe from these unmanned copters. injured david park, founder of the website tumblr, which he just sold to yahoo! for a cool billion dollars. what is he doing with his riches e is he perhaps nursing a cocaine addiction are frequenting escort services or something like that? no. he told time magazine that he does have an addiction, to the helicopter drones. he flies them all over brooklyn, but he has already crashed five of them. so he is essentially buying them in bulk from china. my device to you if you are walking through the streets of new york city, it might be best to accessorize with a hardhat and possibly a mask so you are not recognize. that will do it for now. i'm megan lopez. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- hello and welcome to nhk newsline. i'm catherine kobayashi in to goy. uss lawmakers are remembering the background of a woman who led them on a wild chase in washington which ended in her debt. tints dent prompted authorities to fire their weapons and lock down the u.s. capitol for about 0 minutes. it started when the woman apparently tryed too get her coed

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