>> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. here's are the stories we're following for you. more than 90 world leaders are expected to attend nelson mandela's memorial. efforts to keep them all safe and secure in south africa. car pile ups massive air delays. and major technology companies joining forces to battle the nsa. president obama is on his way to south africa. he is heading the u.s.

delegation honoring nelson mandela. the president leaving on air force one just a few hours ago. former president george w. bush and his wife laura are also on board joining first lady michelle obama and the president. president's clinton and carter will attend the service scheduled for tuesday in south africa. george r. h.w bush is the only former president that will not be there. alan is near johannesburg. he has more on how the people of south africa are remembering nelson mandela. and he's a father figure being honored in cities large and small 1234 absolutely, del, and people here and in nelson mandela square in the rain at 7:00 in south africa, a soggy evening, but it doesn't seem to offend the crowds much. they have been coming here

constantly to the many tribute centers set up around the country for nelson mandela. now this is a very ritzy mall. this is really the heart of high-end retail in the city of johannesburg, and it is in one of the richest districts in this country. as we found out today many of the people who work in this neighborhood, as you might expect live in a very different world. mandela square mall, some of the richest retail in south africa. and a short few blocks away a different story. part of the crowd of sidewalk vendors on mod street. they sell what they make seven days a week. on a good day they might make $45. on a bad day less than $300. 3--less than $3, and some days nothing. they live and create their pieces recycling street trash

into instant art. they rent in single room at just $100 a month. they're keenly aware of how money flows here. >> when you don't have, you struggle to try to make layoffing. >> reporter: is it hard. >> very sad 1234 self employ and at this work for several years they feel they're doing pretty well compared to many in this city. not far away is alexander township where persistent poverty shapes daily lives. this is where nelson mandela first lived in johannesburg, and where he lived shows his president number. it working south africans earn $2 a day or less. the unemployment rate is at 25%, and most of those unemployed are

young. they're not angry at their life but are disappointed that the current government has not been of more help. >> the way i'm living now, it is very good, but i wish to have more. make the future bright. >> reporter: so as claudio summed it up, the people who have the money, have the money. they don't seem to think much of that money is rolling down hill. take a look now, take a step closer at some of the things that have been dropped off here. a lot of electric candles that have been set out. candles galore covering this space. unfortunately, it's been raining out here. >> alan, thank you very much.

as we mentioned 91 heads of state are now converging on south africa this week, all to pay their respects to nelson mandela. four u.s. presidents, four prime ministers and royal families. all expected to join the massive memorial on tuesday. it will take place tomorrow in soweto's stadium. the place where mandela made one of his last appearances. troops have been mobilized, and benjamin netanyahu said he would not attend, the inadequate time framed did not allow them to prepare for security. >> reporter: how do they make it work? >> they've just got to make it work with what they've got. this is an event they have planned for. this day was coming, so they

knew they were going to have to deal with something like this. i don't think we've seen the numbers increased from 45 to 91 dig tha9191dignitaries will att. it will be very difficult to coordinate all of that, but the teams charged with protecting the dignitaries will be working to make sure it goes off without a hitch. >> benjamin netanyahu saying it cannot be made safe enough for him. why would there be particular issues with regard to israel? >> each and every one of those teams that are charged to keep their dignitary safe will want to run things their own way. there have to be some compromises built in and a lot

of flexibility. they may just felt the risks were too high and they chose not to attend. the other dignitaries that are attending felt that it was an acceptable risk. >> this memorial taking place in soccer city the site of the 2010 world cup game. there were concerns for mandela then. are we seeing modern day parallels? >> reporter: we're going to see some parallels. that venue, i imagine they have planned this is going to be the site for the memorial service, and from the moment he died they probably would have been playing in layers of protection planning for this. i think there will be more concerns with the actual burial in his hometown where there are a few more logistical challenges they have to deal with. thank you very much.

>> nelson mandela's body will lie instate from wednesday through friday, but he will be buried in his hometown of kunu. they'll prepare for massive crowds and international media. services will be held on sunday. now to our other top story, the wind, snow, ice taking its toll on all of you, creating dangerous driving conditions for much of the country. so if you booked a flight you might want to call ahead before you go to the airport. usher, i was there just two days ago. it was cold then. what is it like now? >> well, this is chicago. it is still cold here. we reached the high in the mid 20s about 9:00 a.m. and it will get colder throughout the day. we'll expect more at 7:30 when the bears face off in soldier field temperatures will be about 16 degrees. it will feel about zero and the wind chills will be lower than

that. arctic temperatures, here, and we've had delays on roads as authorities clearing roads in the chicagoland area. but that snow fell steadily through the day on sunday. it has been cleared up in the sense there is no more snow in the air behind me, but there were delays at o'hare overnight, about 140 cancellations there. as you mentioned that's one of the things that travelers have to look into, whether or not they're going to get into their destinations and how long it will take. >> you're saying its springtime in chicago? >> reporter: that's exactly right. it's just really, really cold here, and this weather has stretched as far south as texas and moved up to the northeast. there was two feet of snow in minneapolis and minnesota area, some accidents and pile ups as we've been reporting a 50-car pile up in pennsylvania as well. tough conditions right now. >> usher, thank you very much.

let's turn today, warren, to find out where this storm is headed next and who gets to suffer through what we've all suffered through so far. >> meteorologist: we're dealing with the same here in the east coast. they dealt with it in chicago, and the radar shows that it pushed south. this will materialize into another storm along the east coast. the snow clearing out, and more is on the way. the pattern remains the same but we're getting these waves of moisture that move along the cold air. these are the actual temperatures dropping down, the temperatures are dropping, the cold arctic air is moving south and pushing that moisture to the east. this is the computer forecast that goes out hour by hour. and you can see this area of moisture developing. this will be by tomorrow morning. snow coming down across west virginia and pennsylvania. this mixed line will be moving to the south. it could start initially as a mix along i.

i-95. we have more on what to expect and how much more on what to expect in areas that already got it. >> feeling like christmas. >> meteorologist: it looks like it, too. >> some of the largest tech companies in the world are teeming up against the national security agency. they all want to limit the federal government from collecting their user information. the companies want more oversight and accountability from organizations like the nsa. we have more in washington and what steps are these companies taking against the nsa? >> reporter: well, for the moment we have this open letter that was published in several newspapers and the elusive agency of several principles that should governor future surveillance by the u.s. government. at the core of those principles is an end to the mass bulk data collection of national security agency. what we learned over the last few months from whistle blower edward snowdon is the nsa is

hoovering up vast quantities of information whether you're an american citizen or not and storing it. they say that has to stop. they also say that what is needed is more oversight legal framework. they're getting worried. they fear the more we learn about the u.s. government's surveillance for americans and non-americans, but the lesser we trust american internet companies who are seen having cooperated with the u.s. government in handing over all our information. >> we're talking about big business versus what some call big brother. can they prevail? >> reporter: clearly they have a lot of money and clout. one of those in the congress who is sponsoring legislation is dianne feinstein, senator from california, and her reform

codifies and enshrines mass data surveillance. but there is another bill in congress which they seem to echo a bipartisan bill. president obama is talking about self-restraint for the nsa. we'll have to say. >> thank you very much. coming up, money and guns. congress working against the clock on a budget and an extension of a firearms bill. plus an historic merger creating the world's largest airline taking off today. and selling gold. this olympic medal worn by jesse owen in the 1936 olympic games auctioned off to the highest bidder.

>> this isn't a new channel, this is a watershed moment in media for america.

>> this entire region is utterly devastated. >> people our here are struggling. >> the fire jumped the highway we took earlier. >> your average viewer want's to actually understand how the health care law is going to help them or hurt them. >> they know they can get extremist bickering somewhere else. >> people say that we're revolutionary. our revolution is just going back to doing the best in journalism. >> this is the place to go watch high quality journalism, period. al jazeera america is growing and now more americans are getting the high quality, original, in-depth reporting al jazeera america is known for. >> to find out more about al jazeera america go to aljazeera.com >> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. the battle over the budget part four congress on the verge of a new spending deal as lawmakers face that looming deadline. a deal that would avoid the government shutdown like the one

we lived through in october. libby casey is on capitol hill. libby, everybody wants to know could we be facing another government shutdown? >> reporter: it looks like negotiators may be able to come up with not a grand bargain, not even an immediate-sized bargain but a little bargain. december 13th, this fry is the deadline to come up to present to the house and senate. but that's just an arres an arby deadline. the guillotine does not fall on december 13th. we've got some time yet. what we're watching for is a deal between the big players patty murray a democrat were washington state, head of the budget committee and the senate, and paul ryan over in the house, they're working together to cook something up. we got insight from dick durbin and he referenced unemployment benefiting is the president

wants to see rolled in a big deal. senate wants that, republicans don't. >> what i hear from patty murray, i spoke to her the other night. negotiations are making progress, moving in the right direction. they have not closed a deal but i hope as part of it the negotiators will take to part ht what the president had to say. >> reporter: wrapping unemployment benefits extension that run out in late december into this deal. the republicans are balking at that. they're trying to replace the sequester cuts, where they get the money to pay for those is the big sticking point. they're looking at user fees, that will be unveiled as the week goes on. no big shutdown news just yet. >> and the issue of plastic guns. it sounds like it's something new with 3d printers but this is old. >> reporter: that's right. since 1988 there has been a ban on producing all plastic guns.

they had to contain a metal component. but now can people. print gunned with 3d printers. tonight is the deadline to get the basic bill extended. we'll watch for that this evening. >> libby casey, thank you very much. >> taking a look at our pop business headlines. stocks are posting modest gains taking a look at the big board, the dow is up 14 points. they're tracking budget cuts and speculating when the fed may pull back on its stimulus program. the world's largest airlines is now complete. the four carriers now carry 80%

of flights in the country. the price of gas rising $0.03. the average is $3.29 and expect your prices to go up again rising a few more pennies over the next several days. france said it will start disarming fight necessary the central african return. republic. they said if necessary they will do it by force. united nations voting to send new jersey and african troops to the country to restore stability and we're hearing about the arrest of a senior rebel commander. >> this is evidence of the french taking the disarming extremely seriously. we understand that this group of men had guns and grenades inside their vehicles. the french have confiscated them and tied them up and kept them here. now, french are telling us these men were the same people

responsible for an exchange of fire earlier in the day close to the airport. now this all comes as news is developing of the arrests of a top seleka commander. he was interior minister very close to their president, and we understand that he is now in french custody. the french are not only disarming, they're also here to protect civilians. there are all these people confident enough to come out and watch what is going on. but there are still tens of thousands of people in the city who are preferring to stay at home or in churches or under the protection of the french and african forces at the airport. >> in brazil violent soccer fans stop a game for over an hour on sunday. take a look. crowds are punching and kicking

each other until police arrived. police firing republic bullets and tear gas into the crowd. one man had to be airlifted out for his safety. two people are in critical condition. the fighting raising fierce of violence during the 2014 world cup games. the denver broncos beat the tennessee titans in what turned out to be a nail biter. the highlight came on this play. three seconds before halftime. broncos down, 27-15. coming out with the nfl record, the 64-yard field goal. denver went on to beat tennessee, souther 51-28. and the olympic medal won by jesse owen, the highest price ever paid for a piece of olympic memorabilia. won at the 1936 games in berlin.

coming up next, the treatment of leukemia. scientists are calling it a breakthrough using one deadly disease to fight a common form of cancer. to aljazeera.com

power of the people until we restore our freedoms and

>> welcome back to if al jazeera america. i'm del walters. here are today's headlines. lawmakers are back in washington facing pressing matters before they leave town for the holidays. on their agenda a massive farm bill and more significant the budget to avoid the government shutdown like the one we lived through in october. president obama and first lady michelle taking off on air force one earlier today. a ceremony already held for nelson mandela in south africa.

sectarian violence has engulfed the country in march in central african republic. a ref lunatio revolutionarya treatment. >> reporter: for bop, an avid cyclist getting back on his bike is no small feat. last year the engineering executive was facing the end of the road. >> at this point were you preparining to die? >> i think in 2012 that's one of the few things i did do, i actually worked on the will. pretty dismal year. >> reporter: a decade earlier while based in singapore, a routine physical revealed leukemia, cancer of the blood.

>> what was your reaction? >> shocked. leukemia? when am i going to die? >> reporter: at first chemotherapy helped, but then the cancer aim back with a vengeance. this time an even nastier strain. >> i am dying. i'm living on transfusions at that point, and you can't live on transfusions forever. >> reporter: his time running out bob decided on a hail mary a radical new approach at the university of pennsylvania. >> to even be eligible for the protocol you have to have no hope left. in bob's case he probably had five pounds of tumor at a time we treated him in his bone marrow and places like his spleen and other organs. >> reporter: they're treating leukemia in a revolutionary

away. taking white blood cells from the sickest patients and engineering them to attack cancer. they do this by infusing the t-cells with forms of the a.i.d.s. virus, they are mutated so they cannot continue the disease. just a few weeks later he had his bone marrow tested. >> there was no more leukemia. >> bob is not alone. in the penn trials 59 adults and children have been treated for end stage leukemia. 31 experienced complete remissions. of those only six have seen their leukemia return. the results publish ready preliminary but encouraging. the treatment pioneered here to battle leukemia might fight other forms of deadly canvas.

bob is pruning his plum trees and taking on consulting work. his cancer behind him. >> it's just amazing that something can happen that quickly. a miracle. just a miracle. >> you can see the full report on this beak through treatment on america tonight. it airs at 9:00 eastern time right here on al jazeera america. >> reporter: well, the storm may be clearing out but the weather pattern is the same. not much will be changing. i'm dave warren looking at this weather pattern here. the cold arctic air is lined up over the east coast. one storm moved along last night and early this morning. we'll have another one coming in overnight tonight and tomorrow

morning with more snow, sleet and rain. there is more snow across chicago. this front will move south and we'll see it develop and move over the same area. an additional three to five inches of snow is expected and winter weather advisories are already issued for the next storm. not the current storm. that is clearing out with light rain over baltimore, philadelphia, delaware, temperatures are above freezing, wet but not a comfortable day. a 36 degrees in philadelphia. winter weather advisories and storm watches is what is happening tonight. you'll see this develop not really this afternoon or this evening but overnight tonight. here comes this area of snow, sleet and rain, and it will slide to the south so it may initially start as rain along i-95 and then change over to snow. you'll wake up to a bit more snow tomorrow morning. >> thank you for watching al jazeera america.

i'm del walters in new york. "the stream" is next and check us out 24 hours a day at www.aljazeera.com. what about the rest of us? ♪ >> our digital producer wag is here to bring in your questions and comments live throughout the show. if you could hit digital delete on your digital path. >> my entire pubertiy from 1993 to now. but some how it got me this job, so no.