>> good evening everyone welcome to al jazeera america i'm john seeing enthat willer in tho. >> a city declared bankruptcy what is means for employees counting o pensions. >> zoned out. what it means for. >> we have no problem nothing to hide. the iranian foreign minister when it comes to nuclear cape capability his cup wil country e transparent. what would you pay? imagine owning a picasso for a

bargain basement price. >> it's official detroit the nation's once fourth largest city is bankrupt. the judge said they could move forward with bankruptcy proceeding and try to get out from under dollars in debt. the city's city manager says he will present his plan next year. dianes a he is atdiane is in det ruling. john he wants that plan to be as human as possible. but all creed tors creditors coa financial haircut. the judge gives detroit state emergencieemergency manager to t

pensions and sell city assets outside the city workers protested. they called the ruling a death sentence for detroit. >> services for city residents will be slashed and our pensions will be on the chopping block. our art institute and water department may be sold off. the judge said bankruptc bankrue the only way to breathe new life into detroit given their debt and crumbling infrastructure and high crime rate. the judge said "this once proud city capacit can't pay their de. debilities dent their debts. the retire pension may be on the chopping block saying they treat them like any other contract.

the union says they will press their case with the emergency manager kevin orr. >> if you work for the city of detroit for your entire life and then you retire and somebody just says, sorry didn't really mean it. that's a very different situation. orr told reporters he is willing to work with the unions but wouldn't make any promises to them can tel them. >> what i can tell them is that the reality is that there is not enough money to address the situation no matter what we do. the judge said the appeals process should go along at the

same time. roger penske has been trying to bring racing back to detroit and

blue cross has moved 3000 employees to downtown offices >> john was a police officer for 32 years and i asked him about the possibility of losing his pensions. we followed the guidelines from day one. we paid into a pension fund from the day we joined. that is what the department demanded and we did it we didn't pay into social security. the only social security i paid into was prior to the police department when i was in the military. it was employee contribution and collective bargaining and when i got ready to retire under the contractual terms that is what they gavguarantee me and i am go retire. i followed the guidelines all of those years and so did my friends. >> and now. >> we feel it's unfair to ask us to give up anything. we are not making a lot of money what i'm saying to you, i is we

feel they should stand by the contractual agreement they gave us. where the court said we can overturn contracts. that sunse unsettling. don't you think. you are 3 years ol 73 years olde still working. absolutely. >> and you will have to keep working if you lose that pension. >> can i outline my economic status. >> at my age i retired in 2001 and i live in a house in detroit that will not sell. one of my friends is a top realtor and they won't even ligs it. ligs -- list it. my house is located in the warrendale area of detroit. it's a high crime area. we have had two murder closs clo me and gunshots twice a week and i have hits in my house and armored doors an and i wear a gn

when i cut the grass. as far as an economic status my house is paid off. and it wouldn't sell for any any appreciable amount. i have two vehicles. i don't own any property and i don't have any recreation vehicles and i a play a little golf. and i'm not living high on the hog and the only money i get is my pension income. >> in illinois lawmakers have approved a major overhaul to that state's pension system. the state has the worst debt at $100 billion today the illinois senate and the state assembly voted to remove the debt a it requires workers to retire later. the union groups are threatening

legal action if he does. >> there is a crucial clue tonight in sunday's deadly train derailment. according to a union official the engineer at the controls of the passenger train was nodding off shortly before the train veered off the tracks at breakneck suppos speeds. the ntsb wait won't say what condition the engineer may have been in prior to the fragg trag. but no far no indication of any mechanical problems. >> the brakes on this train that was barreling along at 8 82 miles-per-hour the brakes were teddetested and work worked at e stops. >> there is no indication that the brake systems were not functioning properly. >> rockefeller was on the second day of a five-day shift, each

day was a routine nine hours. the ntsb said he lou should havd plenty of time to get sleep. they are looking to see if he did get that sleep. another issue raised positive train control. ptc that is a sophistocated system that the rail road railre installing to take over the train or stop or slow it if the engineer fails to acted in a dangerous situation. the ntsb has been calling for it for decades and it may have made a difference here the ntsb has budgeted $6 million for positive train control and says it and many other railroads won't meet the mandated deadline of 2015 to have it installed. the ntsb investigation meantime

continues. >> coming up tonight at 11:00 a clocloser look at the legal liability that could be involved in the metro crash. >> today as message from the white house is that obamacare is here to stay president obama urged americans to ignore republicans who the president says are routing for the affordable care abilit act to f. >> i have always said i will work with anybody to employment anemployment -- implement and improve this law effectively. >> deffectively. do you have good ideas in. bring them to me and let's go. it's part of a white house strategy to promote healthcare until december 23rd. mike viqueira was there at the president's speech and he joins us to the white house. >> we are not going back, john, that is what president obama said he was talking about the days before the affordable care

ability when 41 million americans were uninsured. what the president was trying to do se essentially is saying we e not going back to the last two months. the president's healthcare.gov website where folks go on the individual market place to get insurance has been a disaster. and the president now believes that they have turned -- that is what he was trying to do is get back on offense here. he has nervous democrats and look being ingandlooking at whae gubernatorial race a few weeks ago. and there is the three week window. if you are going to sign up and have it effective by january 1st you have to sign up in three weeks. >> john? this pr campaign is it about

obamacare or is it about the president trying to defend himself from his critics? >> it's a interesting question, john you saw the president in the briefing room behind me abjectologieabject apologies. today it was more of a redemption. the president trying to goat bacget backon offense but tryinn the page let's listen to what the president had to say. we just need people now that we are getting the technology fixed we need to go back and take a look at what is actually going on. because it can make a difference in your lives. and the lives of your families. >> so the president once again outlined tributes we have heard many times before. you can stay on your parents policy until you are 26. you may not be barred from insurance if you have pre-existing conditions.

closing the gap for seniors. the president trying to get back on message and sk divert the pus public's attention. >> what are the critics saying. the critics are not nullified. john bayeonmany times the insure companies are not gettinget correctcorrect levels in about m if they are getting any information at all. you cathe 41 million americans o have got without insurance and some 7 million that the administration wants to sign up on healthcare.gov by next march that final deadline, those folks are very concerned watching closely as well. >> mike at the white house,

thanks very much. >> okay. >> right now we have a major snow event that is going on across the northern tier states. montana, wyoming and minnesota and wisconsin. this is going to go on for the next 24 hours. in someplaces a foot of snow is going to be falling the areas we are concerned about are across parts of north and south dakota especially on the highways. with the snow we have wind and that is going to cause the visibility it go gown and quite quickly and you need to be careful on the northern highways. and the temperatures are going to remain cool. bismark at 11° and rapid city 11 as well. you can see where the cold front is right here where the temperatures drop down quickly away to the north. when you factor in the wind this is what it really feels like below freezing.

>> and below zero for rapid city -1*6°. if you are driving you want to bring warm clothes because you if breakdown in temperatures like this it could be extremely dangerous. i will bring you more later on. >> we'll see you then. thanks devin. >> a civil rightscontroversy in dallas. after a government's investigation the city is accused of discriminating against racial minorities and the disabled. >> technologfollowing a lengthy investigation. the letter charges that the city's affordable housing practices have divided dallas by race and income in to two distinct sectorses. northern who can pay higher rents and south dallas. a dallas non-profit who pro meetpromotesfair housing practi.

>> she is not surprised by the find. findings. dallas has a history of racial segregation in the city and this is the latest chapter. >> the had you had letter has changes what the city can make. and funding a downtown residential project where half of the units are for folks with lower incomes. >> i'm sure the city has reasons for the housing policy. what had you ha hued hud says ie federal funds you have to follow the rules. >> the city says they follow the regulations the city released a statement saying "city staff believe the letters leaves out key facts presented by the city. and departmen didn't fully evale

arguements made by staff "dallas mayor sent us this statement. "the allegations contained in the letter from hud are serr ses and deserve the city's immediate attention. i ask the city's manager office to have a meeting with the officials. ". they have 30 days to respond to hud's letter. >> there is a warning that american students are not making the grade in test scoresunited states teens were compared to their peers in developing countries around the world johnathan betz has the results. these tests are showing that american students are lagging. the program tested 15-year-old's around the world top scorers were asian countries, including china, japan and singapore. the united states is in the middle of the pack and didn't crack the top to.

20. 9% scored in the top two levels of math compare that to shinnini where half aced the exam. in math 29 countries ranked better than america. including europe and united kingdom and france and estonia averaged slow vi slowand latvia. overall after 12 years of these tests the united states has not improved their scors scores muc. the education second called it the picture stagnation. >> and how the u.n. is using drones to keep the peace. >> and you wouldn't believe how much the partridge in a pear tree costs now.

>> a dramatic rescue caught on tape. this is the moment a nigerian ship was pulled from under water after spending three days trapped in a tug boat. he shows his hand as he reaches out to alert the rescue diver that he is okay. he managed to survive by breathing in air in an air bubble and the boat overturned while pulling an oil tanker ovef off the coast of nigeria. he is the only survivor of a 12 member crew. >> the united nations has now started using drones. the u.n. says peacekeepers are flying unmanned craft to monitor the activity between rawanda and u began a began beganuganda. james bay has more. >> it's a first taking to the skies the u.n. has fleets of

white painted suv's and trucks and helicopters and planes and now the first united nations unmanned aerial ai aircraft more commonly known as a drone. unlike those of the use it's equipped with only a camera not armed with missiles. the idea is to monitor a peace deal in this part of eastern congo. a large area much of is remote junjungle terrain. this is something we never had. we had to get it to allow our people to do a better current president says drone technology is

believes the union will use many more of

the biggest price-tag is nine ladies dancing. the price of maids a milking

remains the same along with the federal minimum wage. eight of those will cost you $58. the seven swans which are usually the most volatile on the annual index held steady this year you can get them for 7 grand and if your true love is a big spender they will shell out $114,000. that is a lot of gold rings. >> michael eaves is here with sports and world cup related issues in brazil. >> a lot of concern in blah bra. three state stadiums being consd will not be ready by fe fifa's deadline. they will not be completed due to construction delays. raising more concern that the month long i is soccer event wie played with logistical problems.

>> in college football usc introduced their new football coach today. he takes over the reigns after kipen theyeer is serr they servh carroll. >> and in the nba the struc strg brooklyn nets have mate made m. frank will not attend any practices or games they are off at a 5 and 12 start and there has been afric friction but nowy have been accep separated. >> insight into iran more of al jazeera's interview with iran's foreign minister about that country's plans. >> was yasser arafat poisoned or

not? what another investigation has revealed.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america i'm john siegenthaler in new york and here are the top stories. >> detroit is almost bankrupt. the city is almost $20 million in debts. today the judge said the city's emergency manager can move ahead with a plan to get the city out of financial ruin that could mean cuts to thousands of city workers. >> president obama says he will work with anyone to improve the affordable care act. he won't let critics kill the program. >> his speech was part of a new white house campain to promote the program daily throughout the end of the year. >> the engineer of the deadly train crash caught himself nodding off before the wreck. that is according to union officials. the passenger train was travel 50 miles-per-hour above the

speed limit before it derailed. >> the u.s. and iran made headlines with their recent agreement which freezes the nuclear program for six months the foreign minister sat down with al jazeera for an exclusive interview. >> iran does not seek nuclear weapons we do not believe that nuclear weapons will increase our security. we believe the perpetrator perct iran is seeking nuclear weapons is desdeathr detrimental to our. we are against them based on religious doctrine and ethical and political and legal reasons and for us nuclear weapons had no place what sofer i so whatsor nuclear plan it's been a flett

to this region. >> we have all shared this view since 1974 that we need to establish a region free from all weapons of mass zes destructionn the least. middle east. the only regime in the middle east has both nuclear and chemical weapons and continues to divert international attention not only from the fact that it's a blatant violator and all other instruments of the weapons of mass destruction and it's a violator of human rights of the palestinians. it tries to divert attention from it's humane policies. >> many wonder what spurred iran to go for this deal it was a doatotally different rhetoric. we are not going to go for a deal with the west.

suddenly there was a break through. is it because the sanctions were biting deeply into the economy or from a political perspective the ar art you are genuine in sg a new chapter. >> in iran we have political elections an an popular and popr elections. >> they chose a different path this time around. and that election provided a historic opportunity to us and to the west in order to atry tro address us. you. we are not talking about sanctions. when sanctions started iran had less than 200 centrifuges and the note product has been 1880

centrifuges that has been added to iran's stock of centrifuges so sanctions have utterly failed in that regard. it seems to me that the west is trying to take advantage of the historic opportunity. we have a new government and a different approach to foreign policy. our tenants of foreign policy have not changed we insist on our rice rite an rights and we t negotiate. this can be achieved best through construction gea negotiation. >> first of all, what has happened, nick, since this deal was made and are there signs of how this is going to work? >> yeah, john, i think their initial reaction is tentatively positive. iran has allowed inspects yors intinspectors intoa plutonium pl

meet in sr sri sr sri vienna ane we going to implement this how are we going to ensure that the plutonium plant document get dot turned on and how can we ensure that the enrichment will be diluted enough but the initial signs are positive. >> why is arri nf going on this tour. >> we have talked a lot about israeli opposition to t to to t. israel is not the only country opposed to this deal sawe saudi arabia has quitely led opposition to the bomb. and there has been opposition between iran and saudi arabia.

iran wants to say we are a regional super power and the u.s. has given us the capacity to enrich uranium and we are going to be here and we're going to do that. we should work together to make the middle east a little more peaceful. and by the way don't work with israel against us we should work together against israel. >> one of the most interesting things about this interview without mentioning their name. israel is opposed to the deal, obviously, what is israel saying now? >> yeah, i think israel lost this battle. and they will admit that. the israelis tried to use congress and tried to control president obama and they tried to do it publicly and privately and they you are watchin urge tt to make this deal the u.s. said we are not going to listen to you. israel is focused on the longterm deal they are focused on getting as good a long term deal as they can get i was

speaking with the foreign minister this morning. he talked about what israel wants out of that longterm deal. >> the essentials will be to dismantle all enrichment capacity in iran can get. before it's peaceful nuclear program from abroad like other countries do. it means dismantling plutonium capacity because it only serves for military purpose. it will have to address the ballistic war heads and missile program because those are not needed for any other purpose. >> that is a challenging task the short term deal allowed iran to enrich uranium the reason they will give up that capacity in the longterm deal and the missiles the spokes mane was sps talking about. iran has little incentive to

deal with those in the longterm deal. >> nick thank you very much. >> a report from french forensic scientists is raising more questions about the death of yasser arafat. >> the study says he was not a victim of pois poisoning. we have more on today's findings. in death as in life, yasser arafat remains a lightning rod forcontroversy. nine years after his burial, forensic ex-pers experts in frae conclude the leader of the peelinpalestinian authority wast the victim of poisoning. the swiss findings moderately supported the proposition that arafat's death was caused by the

polonium. they found traces of polonium and the poison did not cause arafat's death. today arafat's widow reacted to the reports. you can imagine how upset i am to these contr contradictions. what should one think. >> an al jazeera documentary reported that swiss scientist found po polonium in the float - clothing that he had when he was died. the widow asked for an ex-hue he exhumed. swiss skyp scientisted reported likelihood that arafat was poisoned. >> they are characteristic of

himminhim having a dose of poa m before he died. they are 26 times more than found in a normal person. the new report out of france suggests that the polonium found in arafat's tissue may have come from naturally occurring gases in the soil surrounding his tomb. >> well the controversy is not over. french prosecutors are continuing a murder inquiry into arafat's death. and today palestinian officials said they will soon name who is on their list of suspects. >> well china and japan are ina diplomatic battle after china declared airspace over a group of disputed islands joe biden declared support for japan. >> we the us ar united states ae

concerned about the attempt to change the status quo in the east china sea. he will bring up the island controversy in the leaders in babeijing the u.s. is obligatedy treaty to defend japan and it's at thterritories. >> in thailand another day of the protest in the streets of bangkok. but instead they work together. the police allowing the anti-government protestors inside government headquarters and the prime minister calling on police to refrain from violence demonstrators have been protesting corruption in the government and have called on the prime minister to step down. and in ukraine 300,00 300,000 rd in kiev. they are angry at the president for rejecting closer ties with the european union in favor of russia. secretary osecretary of state ks

decided to skip a visit there this week and urged the government to listen to it's people. >> it's 20 minutes to the top of the hour america tonight is coming up joie chen is standing by to tell us what is on her program. >> good evening, john. , nice to see you. >> we are going to talk about the detroit bankruptcy filing and the judge cleared the way for that to move forward and the reorganization plan to get under underway and the city leaders to work on that. 00 is going to b -- who is goine affected. the city workers and the police on active duty in fire and police protection we are going to meet members of the one engine company. this is a city where the fire commissioner where the guy charged with trying to turn things around for emergency services just resigned today it's all ignited a great deal of concern for these folks. >> a lot of it has to do with the situation that the city is in today with as you know we are

in bankruptcy. people work for to live comfortable the lef restive resr living. you put in 25 or 35 years you put that time in you expect to be taken care of when you retire. >> there are a lot of concerns for folks in engine company no. 4. we are going to meet them and spend a day and a night at the top of the hour. >> well coming up in sports. an interesting shake up in coaching ranks for one nba team. >> and plus we'll explain how this original picasso can be ushesz. yours

>> 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 weekdays at 5 eastern only on al jazeera america

>> michael eaves is here with sports. kind of a shake up in coaching ranks in one nba team. >> not one you would expect at this point in the season. >> the expectations were high because as a player kid was considered to have the highest basketballisbasketball iq in the nets made a change to the coaching staff today. >> it's lawrence frank who has been reassigned to a role where he will no longer attend practices or games there was reports that there was growing tension between frank and kidd. they called the move a result of different philosophies. it's different philosophies and that is if it. he was your coach and you had

different relationship before this. it's about basketball and tonight and denver. >> you move forward and you learn. but the big thing is i'm focused and have to have these guys retteddy to go tonight. >> and now to college football usc is hoping that bringing back pete carroll's assistant will bring the thro trojan back. he posted a 34 and 29 record. they served as co-offensive coordinators under carroll.

to be home and is awesome. to see familiar faces and to have my parents sit right here at a press conference when you are accepting a job. you don't get to do this. this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that i felt i had to take advantage of and jump on the first chance i got. i spent sen seven years as a assistant coach and five of those years we went to rose bowls i know how special this place. >> in baseball the seattle mariners are ready to offer roadside bomb inwhen you go all

the way to seattle you are in no man's land and he is a half a day flight from his home. >> it's one thing to go to the west coast if you are going to la but to go to seattle is not a huge media market. but speaking of seattle again bob. we thought carlos bel beltran wa lot but the mariners may be offering him 48 million-dollar for three years. >> it makes a lot of sense for kansas city to get him back the same thing to get people in the seats they are close to contending. they gave the detroit tigers fifth last year in the american league central and seattle is trying to get people as well. they need some offense seattle has been a thorn for the yankees. the ca yankees are going to sign beltran as well. they are looking for a two-year

deal. >> you want to pick a reason why the tigers have not won a series. it's probably the bullpen how much went into get rid of fister and while bringing i bringing he comments like ottawa it wasmen o bother them and they need a closer. they have joe tha nathan who has been terrific and eight seasons of over 36 savings an 36 saves e should be the answer. the concerns for the 2014 world cup in brazil continues to grow with news today that three stadiums will not shall finished by fifa's deadline the venues are behind schedule due to

construction delays inincluding the stadium in sao paulo. where a crane collapse last week killed two workers and damaged part of the stadium. the venue is scheduled to host the tournament's opening match. already one million tickets have been sold for the 2014. >> the kentucky police are looking for a bourbon ban death. bandit. the hall is worth 2 26,000 an could fetch a half million dollars on the black market.

>> kevin is back with weather after this.tñ

>> imagine being able to call a pispicasso painting your infor r

a million bucks. it's a is th 1914 original entia man with an opera hat" the proceed will go towards supporting a cultural initiative. and the money will repair for repair work in a lebanese city. here with us tonight is the grandson of pablo pi cas picass. how did this happen? >> the raffle was an idea from the city of tyre.

>> tell me about this painting. >> it's a drawing of my grandfather. it's the cubic period of picasso. so it's a museum type of paint being. >> you never met your grand father? >> you never met your grandfather. he died when you were 12 years old. >> even younger i was too young. >> you spent your life becoming an expert of his. what does this painting mean to you. a lot of work my grandfather was a genius by the time he was 12 or 13. he had to write his own language. and he came up with the blue period and the pink period and the cubist perio cubist period. it's a nice moment to look at the man and his work. >> we read about these uses and only the super rich can afford

it. now you have presented a painting that most people in the world could have a chance to win. why did you do that? >> first because it was the first time that such an operation was organized with a raffle with a painting my grand grandfather was a pioneer in his own life. in misin his love life too witho many women. and being today in the art of the news, like tonight, it's for me something quite interesting. >> do you have some connection to the lebanese city of tyre. i have learned about it. it's beyond any politic issues and it's where the western civilization started. the vi anyone they created the d "europe" and so i was born in marciniin

france and so it wil the proceel go to a city that has been hit by the conflict of the war. it's a social program that will create jobs for women and people with handicaps. >> how much is this painting worth? >> according to the market it's one million dollars. >> how much do you think you will raise. >> the purpose is to sell 50,000 tickets for 100 euros. and so it's about 5 million euros or $6.5 million all of the money will go to the charity. >> has this ever been done before? >> no. i can't remember. and how did you what does it thihow did you choose this one.n had a long moment of work to

find a interesting piece. and not only historically but artistically. it's a beautiful piece you can put in your livingroom. >> where did it come from? >> it came from my grandfather's collection. >> who owned it? it was my cousin that owned it and he sold it to a gallery a few years ago and the association got a loan to by it to put it in the operation. olivia picasso it's great to meet you thank you for sharing this painting with us and we wish a lot of luck for anyone who gets it if you would like to buy a raffle ticket, you can visit onepicassoeuros.com. >> hello again, behind me is not picasso. it's a beautiful image. this comes from the grand

canyon. all of the grand canyon was full of fog you can only look down upon it from the north and south ridge one of the images that you don't get to see too often is the colorado river was not seen at this time we are dealing quite a bit of snow across the northern plains. this is causing a lot of problems on the highways also over here towards part of illinois where the rain is going to be to you turning to snow a e later on. winter storm warnings and watches for many states. if you are driving on these highways big problems how is this going to play up? over the next day or so the storm system is going to make it's way down towards the southeast. the big temperature difference between the northeast and southwest. we are going to have active weather and the cold air behind it is going to be a big problem. you factor that in with the wind. the temperatures will feel like -10 or 15 below zero. you want to be bundled up if you

are traveling. >> as we progress in the week it's going to make it's way down to the great lakes. in the southeast bot above avere temperatures in this region. in the northwest bitterly cold for many people. a big problem we expect to see over the next day is not just the snow to the north but we are going to see freezing rain for parts of oklahoma and texas. we have had the scenario last week causing lots of problems on the highways and this is going to be another instance that we see another problem here and freezing rain for parts of canada as well temperatures look like this. 50s and six's o 60's on the east and we move west they drop down considerly. chicago they come down significantly as well not until friday cold temperatures and sun. that is a look at your national weather.

welcome to al jazeera america i'm john siegenthaler and here are tonight's top stories. >> a federal judge made it official and allows detroit to declare bankruptcy. they are dealing with $20 billion in debt. pensions of city workers could be on the chopping block. >> a new clue in the deadly train crash. a union official says the evening near was nodding off before the train veered off the tracks the metro was traveling 50 miles-per-hour over the speed limit. >> president obama will not let critics kill the affordable care actment