welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we are following for you. winter weather hampering some travelers trying to make it home for the holidays. there are renewed call for a ceasefire ahead of the syrian peace talks. the u.s. flying into that dispute between japan and klchi plus a thanksgiving tradition at the white house. we'll introduce you to caramel and popcorn. ♪ by plane, train, and automobile, millions of americans traveling for thanksgiving and hanukkah, and

for some a major storm is making that trip just a little longer than was planned. randall pinkston is live outside new york's laguardia's airport. what is the situation there? dell, i have moved inside to take a look at the arrival and departure boards. we're in the american terminal, but they are showing most of them on time. the weather may be a problem later, but so far, so good. >> reporter: the winter storm barrelling its way east has already disrupted travelers from texas to pennsylvania. >> i just missed my connection to albany. and i'm hyperventilating, and i'm really crazy right now. >> reporter: despite it all, millions are determined to reach their destinations for thanksgiving dinner. >> i'm headed to wisconsin.

>> waterloo, iowa. >> reporter: 50% more people travel during the thanksgiving holiday than any other time of year. >> we travel from school every year like this, and it has never been this bad. >> reporter: many airports will have long lines at the ticket counter and depending on weather conditions, delays and cancellations. >> all it takes is a delay at a couple of major airports and the whole country can be effected. >> reporter: air travel only amounts to about 6% of holiday traffic. nine out of 10 travelers will drive. covering an average distance of 200 miles to visit family and friends. >> it's just going to be twice as congested i would assume, and then factor in the weather and the flooding. it's probably going to create a lot of traffic and very slow going. >> reporter: while wednesday is

the busiest travel day of the season that is only true if you are taking a bus train or plane. on the roads, thanksgiving day is the busiest. new york airport expects to move about 1.3 million passengers. >> randall how big are the backups at security >> well, there is something called expedited security, where some people don't have to take their belts off or remove their shoes and can even keep dhar their laptops in their bags. and about 25% of the passengers have that expedited security. and that means they move through faster, which also means everyone else can move through faster. >> randall thank you very much.

millions more of america is taking to the roads. right now that's where the fun starts. diane is in chicago, standing by along kennedy highway. diane i have driven that road. how bad are the roads there? >> reporter: well, actually not bad at all. it's a sunny day here in chicago. it's bitterly cold but that doesn't stop people in chicago from traveling. no problems on the highway. actually talked to some states that are experiencing the bad weather today out on the east coast, places like pennsylvania, the department of transportation there says surface highways are wet but they are not reporting any problems with road closures or accidents or anything of that nature. i talked to the department of transportation as well, and they are saying the same thing. the highways are wet but passable and they don't see any

problems at this point. this is the busiest travel day of the year. 39 million people will be traveling today. the good news is, it's going to be cheaper to get to your designation this year. gasoline prices are much less than last year. the one thing you probably need to keep in mind if you are traveling, many state police are going to be stepping up extra patrols because they know people will be on the highways. here in illinois they will be extra vigilant, over a 24-hour period beginning yesterday and going through today. be checking seat belts and making sure there is no distracted driving. >> diane thank you very much. as we have been saying, this is a massive storm system. dave warren has been tracking it throughout the week. dave have we seen the worst now?

>> yeah, we're pretty much seeing the worst now. a massive rain storm. a lot of warm air is being pulled in from the south. the cold air is yet to arrive, but a lot of rain coming down. flooding occurring around new york and northern new jersey and then snow and the cold air in western pennsylvania, but not a lot of it. this is all flood watches and warnings. and there is that severe thunderstorm warning. temperatures warm in boston, up to 63. it was pretty warm in new york. now to 49. there is the cold air, though, toronto and western pennsylvania, seeing those temperatures start to drop as we dry out. low clouds and poor visibility, planes traveling into those areas are being delayed at their source. it is clear in boston and d.c.

with just less than 15 minutes. temperature changing, big wind on the way. i'll have the detail coming up. dell? >> dave warren thank you very much. iran and turkey are calling for a ceasefire in syria. iranian media reporting the foreign minister is making the announce inspect tehran. iran has supported the assad regime while turkey is backing the rebels. iran's foreign minister defending the deal he made with world leaders. some conservative lawmakers there are opposed to the agreement concerning iran's nuclear program, but the deal does have widespread public support. calling for the easing of sanctions if iran rolls back advances in its nuclear program. security forces in egypt are cracking down on activists who took to the streets in defy of the new protest law.

security forces firing tear gas and detaining more than 79 people. some arrested include high profile activists. the united nations high commissioner for human rights warning that egypt's new protest law must be changed. china is saying today that the air space over the islands in dispute is part of their defense zone. but japan and the u.s. disagree. thomas pickering is a retired ambassador to russia. he say it is unlikely there will be fallout with china over this dispute. >> both the united states and china understand this. we went through a very difficult period, some 12, 15 years ago over the eye land, where a chinese intercepted collided with a naval american

reconnaissance plane. it was a difficulted and strained question. both chai and the united states, i think, have every interest in wanting to avoid a repetition. people will look at the fact that the united states is being firm about its interests in this the region. i think being careful about that. i think the vice president will have plenty of opportunity to explain it, and i think while with china it may cast a bit of a pal over the visit, i think it can be explained. defense secretary chuck hagel speaking to his japanese counterpart this morning. protesters in bangkok say they want thailand's prime minister to step down. she is facing a no confidence vote in parliament. protests in the capitol have now run for four straight days. >> reporter: i would say in general, it is not tense.

it is rather festive, and rather loud. there are whistles and land clappers aplenty. it has added a new measure of pain to covering these protests, i must say. there has been very clear instructions from the leaders that there are not to be any weapons for protesters. having said that, and given the history of the street demonstrations in thailand, anything could happen. violence could break out at anytime. they have security guards dressed in in black who are not slow to react if they see threats, and they are very careful to protect the leader who has been issued with an arrest warrant for rebelian because of his activities over the last few days. as many as 20,000 people in indonesia are fleeing the area

after more than 20 volcano eruptions in the last few days. >> reporter: harmless for four centuries, it is now showing its dangerous side. it has been erupting nearly non-stop for the past two months. government authorities have ordered villages to evacuate homes within 5 kilometers of the volcano. but this is what we found inside the evacuation zone. >> translator: we don't want to be in the evacuation centers. there's too many people there. if we're here we'll just follow our instincts. if the mountain gets dangerous, we'll leave. if not we'll stay. >> reporter: authorities say they have a hard time enforcing the evacuation order. >> translator: when we force them to leave they refuse, so we try to force them, but they don't want to leave. what can we do? >> reporter: after laying do

dormant for more than 40 years, it is now becoming active. people have found shelter in in churches, mosques and community centers, but they have one wish: to go home as soon as possible. >> translator: i want to go back home. if i say here i'll be sick. i want to go to my village. it is very cold here at night, and too crowded. >> reporter: with cropping being ruined by vulcanish ash, most villagers here hope the mountain will calm down soon. it is not exactly the rumble in this the jungle. coming up on al jazeera america the battle over the thanksgiving

party. >> start with one issue education... gun control... the gap between rich and poor... job creation... climate change... tax policy... the economy... iran... healthcare... ad guests on all sides of the debate. >> this is a right we should all have... >> it's just the way it is... >> there's something seriously wrong... >> there's been acrimony... >> the conservative ideal... >> it's an urgent need... and a host willing to ask the tough questions >> how do you explain it to yourself? and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story next only on al jazeera america

consider this: the news of the day plus so much more. >> we begin with the government shutdown. >> answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> it seems like they can't agree to anything in washington no matter what. >> antonio mora, award winning and hard hitting. >> we've heard you talk about the history of suicide in your family. >> there's no status quo, just the bottom line. >> but, what about buying shares in a professional athlete?

the prime minister of latvia has now resigned over last week's deadly roof collapse. he says he accepts full responsibility for the tragedy. that collapse was in the capitol city of reg. -- rega. people are fixing up their homes and some businesses arement booming, but there is one small hitch. banks, you see, aren't lending the money needed to do renovations, so some people have decided to get creative. >> reporter: this man has been a home remodeler in the atlanta areaer for 25 years. he say business is good, but it has changed dramatically. >> the joke has been oh, the

banks have really lending faucets up to a trickle. it has been very difficult even for my professional clients. doctors, lawyers, professional. they can't get a loan. >> reporter: as a result, she says most of her clients are currently financing some of all of their renovations themselves. >> sometimes they borrow it from an interest line another home they own. sometimes they just take the money out of the 401k and do it themselves, and refinance at the end. >> reporter: that includes her current client when the bank wouldn't give her and her husband the money they needed, they financed it themselves by telling stock, tapping into

savings, and using home depot credit cards. >> it was very creative, but in the end i think it will work out better financially. >> reporter: she says many of her clients are turning to big box retailers to help finance their renovations. >> you can go in and open a line of credit for 20 to $30,000 and have a 12 to 18 or 24 months to pay. >> reporter: and she says she has personally evolved her business in order to accommodate this new wave of self financiers. when people are not doing a bank loan they are at a loss as to how they are supposed to pay us, one of the ways we have evolved is we start using the bank form. so we have turned our paperwork in, a similar form. rather than saying your job is

$40,000, pay us 10%, we're saying pay us for the footings, for the roofing, clients can understand if that has been completed. >> reporter: she says it is better than not having the business. >> it has been great to work with someone that you trust. ♪ lots of investors taking off early for the holidays, but we could be looking at another record, the dow is up 33 points. it closed yesterday at another all-time high. that is the 43rd record this year. stocks getting a boost from a surprising drop this unemployment claims. that merger to -- between airlines and united is now

underway. shares of hp up 7% today. reporting better than expected profits in the fourth quarter. it credits strong corporate demand. cost cutting also helping the company to bounce back. it is time for the presidential turkey pardon. you will -- are looking at caramel and popcorn. the stats for each bird are listed on the white house website. just don't crash it. loui viewton handbags, and we'll tell you about a company in moscow that is taking it to a new level.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters.

these are today's top headlines. it is the most traveled day of the year, millions of americans en route to celebrate thanksgiving and hanukkah, but the storm could make their journey longer than expected. iranian media reporting that iran and turkey calling for ceasefire in syria before the up coming peace talk in geneva. iran has supported the assad regime while turkey backs the opposition. the obama administration says vice president joe biden is going to be talking about the dispute between japan and chai that when he visits beijing next week. millions of teens are living with the hiv virus and the centers for disease control says more than halving don't even know they have it. but there is one group that is growing faster than others.

>> reporter: gabriel ortiz was 22 years old when he found out he was hiv positive. he is a patient at a center in new york where they provide tests, outreach, and assistance. >> when i was young, we never got the education we needed in school for hiv or std's or anything of this sort. so when i came to doctors they never believed in testing for me. they never -- they would ask you if you were sexually active and stuff like that, but they never administered an test. >> reporter: this doctor who sees patients at the clinic says doctors don't provide routine testing, and that is the biggest problem tributing to a rise in hiv cases among adolescence. >> you can still come in and be

diagnosed with chlamydia, and not be tested for hiv because they are not prepared to go though extra mile. and even here in the bronx where we're in the center of this epidemic, it's not uniform to offer a hiv test. >> reporter: she says also a lack of confidential resources and lack of education contributes to. the world health organization estimates that more than 2 million young people between the age of 10 and 19 are living with hiv because many don't get the support and resources they need, aids related deaths in this group have increased by 50%. >> reporter: she says adults aren't getting the message to teenagers. >> i always say there is no person on the planet that doesn't know what coca-cola is, yet coke is also refreshing its

advertisingment campaign. we have a problem that's much more complicated yet we're doing virtually nothing. >> reporter: more than 1.1 million americans over the age of 13 have the virus that causes aids. experts say we need innovative ways to reach them. and this just in to al jazeera america, an accident at a world cup construction site leaving two people dead in brazil. it happened where the opening ceremonies will be held for the 2014 games. well this storm will continue to intensify throughout the day today and will finally bring the cold area. it has been bringing warm air in, but a lot of moisture. mostly rain with a little bit of snow, and over the next few

hours, these two areas will combine, come together, and intensify up over canada and that will really bring the cold area, but by that time all of the moisture is gone. it clears out of new england by about 11:00 tonight but then intensifies and brings in in lake -effect snow. wind gusts could be over 40, 50 miles an hour tomorrow morning. the temperatures will be dropping overnight tonight. by tomorrow down below the freezing mark there. washington at 27 degrees, but when you factor in the wind, it will feel like it's down into the teens, even below zero in many places up across new england. so the cold gusty wind will continue, and the temperatures will drop, just cold and windy thursday and friday. dell? thank you very much.

the chicago world's fair of 1893, some say changed the world. return they called it the white city the world's fair that transformed chicago. 20 years after a great fire raped the windy city, teleworld's fair put chicago on the international map. now exhibit in the city's field museum is celebrating its arrival. >> i think it was the moment that chicago became a world class city. the potential was there. the wealth was there. the industry was there, but until the 1893 world's fair there wasn't a coming together of all of those factors, and focus on the really -- assertion of chicago as a world city. >> reporter: the dream city built was an architectural

marvel. 200 buildings were erected. >> first year something like 17 were killed and later there were the fires. >> reporter: this was enormously successful, drawing 27 million visitors in a country that then had just 65 million. whole villages from across the globe and their inhabitants would shift to the city of big shoulders. the emblem was this massive wheel by george ferris. it was short lived a white city built on a swamp and torn down as soon as the fair ended. the world's fair remade chicago, but 120 years later it is hard

to find a lasting remnant. this is one of the few. then it was a palace of fine arts. they needed one permanent structure to safeguard the masterpieces of the day. what was left behind was this. now reliving the landmark fair. and then there is this, a giant loui vie ton suitcase has officials seeing red. the trunk is two stories tall and has been there for two weeks. it's a temporary exhibit, but russia politicians say it's too large and is ruining their sacred spot. wait until they see how much it cost. thanks for watching al jazeera america. i'm del walters. take a look at this, that is the

number of planes in the sky right now. so phone ahead. "inside story." >> america's longest war is almost over, but the transition to the next phase in the u.s.-afghanistan relationship involves a difficult diplomatic dance. the united states negotiated a deal called "the bilateral security accord" which would keep most troops in the country when nato's 75,000 leave next year. the deal hit a signnag. afghan president karzai presented a new last-minute set of demands. on this edition of "inside story" we will discuss america's