good evening, everyone. welcome to al jazeera america. i am john siegenthaler in new york. >> i see this agreement as a step in the right direction. >> this bi-partisan deal will help millions of americans who are wondering if they were going to keep paying the price to d.c. dysfunction. >> budget deal. lawmakers coming to for the south africa icon. we will show you the powerful i

am from johanesburg. >> the milestone 15 years in the making. the space station and the hefty price tag to make it all happen. [ music ] we begin tonight with the news in a congress has reached a tentative budget deal that could avoid a government shutdown after months of disagreeing, republican and democratic leaders found common ground. the deal still has to be approved by the senate and the house and could still face some obstacles. libby casey joins us from capitol hill with more on that. libby? >> reporter: the leaders of this packet, senator patty murray and congressman paul ryan, the top republican on the house budget committee, they are the ones who hammered this out and they said it will rolling b

some of the some pluses, some minuses. see the fine details of this budget deal to be posted online later tonight. congressman ryan said this is really the first bi-partisan budget deal that's come out of a divided congress since 1986. >> this bill reduces the deficit by $23,000,000,000. it does not raise taxes.

it cuts spending in a smarter way. from the outset, we knew that if we forced each other to compromise the core principal, we would good nowhere. >> that's why we decided to focus on where the common ground is. >> now, senator patty murray said this is not a grand bargain. this is not a big deal, and she sort of fore shadowed that members of both parties, the republican side of the aisle and the democrat side of the aisle may not be happy with the details. >> this is the plan i would is -- wouldn't have written it on my own t there are obviously differences between our parties when it comes to our budget values and priorities. i was disappointed we weren't able to to close a corporate loophole. republicans had hoped this would be an opportunity to make some of the changes to medicare and social security they have a advocated for. congressman ryan has set aside differences. we have made some compromises and worked together to get something done.

>> it is an important point. this has to pass the house and senate to become law. it's not a done deal yet. house speaker john boehner wants his members out of here by friday which is why it was crucial to get this introduced tonight, get it out there and so that they have time to actually review it and pass it. we will get a sense tomorrow morning of how house republicans are receiving it. you've got to work on the other side of the aisle and make sure senate democrats can you don't know it as well. >> lickby, thank you very much. mike viqueira is at the whitehouse tonight. the president flying back from south africa. mike, what are you hearing there? >> reporter: it's a measure of how far apart the two sides are that this small-ball deal. this is not a grand bargain, not a baby grand barg inner. it's just a minimum they could do is gaining praise from many but opposition from key quarters. the president is winging his way back here to washington aboard air force 1 leaving south africa. here is a statement from the president that came out minutes ago. it reads in part: this agreement doesn't include everything i would like, and i

know many republicans feel the same way. it's the nature of compromise. but it's a good sign that democrats and republicans in congress were able to come together and break the cycle of short i've sighted, crisis-driven decision making to get this done. perhaps the best thing that could be said about this, john, is the last two years, it's very unusual in that respect for a budget deal. usually one deal. >> that's good news for the economy, good news for businesses both large and small because all of the dysfunction here in washington, the gridlock, government shutdown, debt crisis have made headwinds into the economy. now, assuming this goes through, they can plan. but already some aspirants marco rubio, rand paul coming out against this. mitch mcconnell, the republican leader of the senate hasn't said whether he is for this or against it. it's on the house floor on thursday as libby just reported. we will see how it goes over with tea party conservatives. we have seen things fall apart in the past. >> there are things the president wants to see done by congress before the session is over.

what is on his wish list? >> it's funny you should mention that because we mention problems with the budget on the conservative side, there are going to be democrats who have heartburn over this, too, for a couple of reasons but chiefly among them, unemployment insurance, extended unemployment benefits are due to expire to 1.3 million people. a lot of people, democrats had hoped it would be in this budget deal. it is not. they are going to expire. that has become clear now. another item here, a farm bill. you talk about food stamps, perhaps washington dysfunction does have one winner because the farm bills that were competing versions, house and senate, were going to cut food stamps. those are now on hold because they cannot agree on the farm bill. however, it is a big missed opportunity, wasted billions of dollars in farm subsidy in directed payments to farmers who don't even farm, in crop insurance payments, chances at reform are going by the wayside now and it could result, incidentally in a doubling in the price of milk just next month. nothing needs to be said about

some of these major items. they have been stuck for a month. notably, immigration and any sort of gun control, john. >> mike at the whitehouse, thank you very much. a lot needs to be done. congress may be bragging about a budget deal, but as mike mentioned, lawmakers are still sitting on a pile of other unfinished business. there are still 1777 pending bills in the senate. the house as 3659 pieces of legislation waiting to be addressed. those bills would not be included under the fred recall budget unless lawmakers approve them separately. some affects millions of americans as randall pinkston is about to explain. randall? >> reporter: john, as we just heard about some of the farm bill, let's start there. there are -- there is a possibility really of two angels. there is the deal about farming costs and food stamp, ag culture secretary, tom vilsack warning a delay in the farm bill wol delay support for dairy farmers,

possibly doubling the price of milwaukee by year's end. the bi-partisan congressional office estimates if the immigration bill passed it would increase the gnp about 10% over the next three years, much from taxes that workers would contribute to the economy. one study looks at the impact on individual states. each day a vote is delayed, florida reportedly loses 60 jobs and $4.9 million in economic activity. cou the american enterprise institute says they may produce short-term benefits but will cost the u.s. economy more than they contribute. there is the issue of millions of americans staring at a more immediate problem by the end of december, unless congress acts dis. more than a markos moulitsas unemployed workers face cuts. it is estimated extending unemployment benefits would cost the economy about

$20,000,000,000 through 2014 but that expenditure would generate 37.dom $8,000,000,000 to the economyr economy which would be 310,000 jobs. if you are doing the math, that net did out to more than $12,000,000,000 on the plus side. no matter what the numbers say, we know ultimately, the decisions in congress will be heavily flewed influenced by the same arguments that have so far prevented actions. >> thanks very much. as we have mentioned, congress has yet to act on a measure that would extend emergency unemployment benefits. more than a million americans about to lose their benefits on new year's day. kelly weidemeyer knows how she feels. she saw her income drop from $7,078 a year to nothing after she lost her job in 2008, and she joins us tonight from denver. kelly, welcome. >> hi. thank you. >> tell me what happened to you. i mean how did you go from -- that's all right.

>> i'm sorry. i couldn't hear you. >> get the ear phone in first and then we will ask you the question. >> okay. it's there. >> terrific. so tell me what happened to you when you lost your job. >> well, i got laid off in july of 2008, and it was after we had completed a successful software implementation. there was about 20 other people across the company that got laid off. as everyone knows now, that was at the top of the recession when we were losing about 800,000 jobs a month. i certainly didn't have any idea what i was in for. i don't think anybody did at that point. and the job search just kind of went on and on and on and on. i initially started wolooking f work, lateral. i was an operations analyst, and, you know, months turns into literally turned into a year and then into two. >> you have heard the stories, i

hope you were able to hear some of the stories before we came to you. congress faces some tough decisions about the budget. how would some of these decisions, especially jobless benefits affect people who had been through what you have been through? >> i will be honest with you. the federal unemployment program kept me out of poverty for the years 2009 and 2010. i am one of those people. i would have been in poverty sooner i was. unemployment ran out in 2010 with, you know, another 8 million. there was nothing, you know. i don't have any kids. and i think amount of people probably aren't someway but childless adults, however they want to, you know, describe it in policy, there is no welfare. there is nothing after that. so, income went from, you know, from 65 to 70 down to 20-something.

i -- i was fortunate in that i received the maximum unemployment benefit. and colorado is pretty liberal with that their -- you know, relative to other states. >> what do congressional leaders need to know from you? >> you know, that's what kept me independent. it's what kept me able to look for a job, you know, and it's also what, you know, allowed me to eat and, you know, pay my bills and stay connected so that i could look for a job it turns into the basicnessties. it was still only about 40% of my income, 60. >> you are back working again right is that temporary job? is that correct? >> that's correct. i have been working the last couple of years have been better. but it's been entirely temporary work. sometime it's part time. sometimes, short-term. i have been unfortunate in that i have landed a couple of long-term temporary positions. >> we appreciate your insight and we wish you the best of luck

going forward. kelly, thanks very much? >> thank you. >> to our other story tonight, world leaders join in south africa in celebrating the life of nelson mandela. >> this was the scene at the official memorial at f & b stadium until johanesburg. all there to honor man dela. one of the biggest cheers was for president barack obama. >> tom people of south africa, people of every race and every walk of life, the world thanks you for sharing nelson mandela with us. >> president obama called the civil rights icon a giant of history. during the service, there was a

handshake that is getting plenty of attention between president obama and cuban president raoul castro. the gesture has triggered strong words from mark rubio releasing a statement saying if the president was going to shake his hand, he should have asked him about those basic freedoms mandela was associated with that are denied in cuba. ten ofs of thousands of south africans washed the memorial as it rained. millions more watched on television. nick schifrin joins us live from johanesburg with that part of the story. nick? >> reporter: good even, john. i think all of those people nodes inside that stadium were lucky to be there. all of those people who are outside, many questioned whether man del's promises have been fulfilled. >> in the poorest corner of johanesburg, the t.v. barely receives the memorial. >> crime is high here, sanitation low and garbage

rarely collected. here, like everywhere else, they mourn a man they consider a saint. 73-year-old mira mo are. o struggled working for white families. she wouldn't miss a minute of today's service. >> freddy iumtayeka rungs a bar. it's noon here they toasted tata or father. >> what had we achieved because of him and what we learned, how to live with other people. >> mandela didn't only promise racial equality. he also promised economic equality. >> that still hasn't been realized across the country. whites make six times the amount blacks do. here, unemployment is about 50%. most of the homes are no bigger than shacks. >> this is where freddy lives, behind his own bar. >> this one is mine.

i cover with that. >> yes. been here 12 years. you sleep on the floor and you have no bathroom? why are you staying? >> i don't have electricity. >> scratched been eat the service. most say they are too worried about their lives to attend a memorial service. >> we don't have hope anymore. we don't have hope we have foo . freddy shows me pictures of his five kids. they live 200 miles away. he's come here to try to make a living, but his patience is wearing thing. >> we decide to be patient, but no more. we cannot take this anymore. do you know the road, miriam enjoys a more comfortable home.

she says black south africans aren't fully free. >> are there opportunities for black south africans living in deep slope? >> oh, no. today was about honoring a great man whose life-long struggle freed his people. but here, they didn't think they would be struggling this hard for this long. >> because of that, many are questioning something that would have been unheard of a few years ago, whether black voters in those townships may give up on the anc, the ruling party, the party that mandela helped start and because of that, many people are wondering whether the anc leaders today are truly fulfilling mandela's dreams, john. >> nick schifrin in johanesbur g. nick, thank you. it has been a rough couple of days for many people as two

phases of the storm have moved through the eastern part of the united states. now, we are finally, seeing the end of t you can sear here on the satellite image, most of the snow, most of the rain is usual ing out here towards the atla a atlant atlantic. it took about nine hours to go through. a quick-moving storm. if it would have gone slower, we would have had more snow accumulation across the area. we did see in some locations up to about four inches here in central park, in new york, it was about an inch and a half, there was a lot of delays at the airports earlier. the only problems we are having right now is teterboro airport in new york as well as logan airport. they are seeing about an hour delay. teterboro is seeing more than that. we think that will will improve. temperatures are still hovering around freeze can. the roads have been well taken care of. we don't expect to see any freezing going on there tomorrow's high like this, new york, it's going to be a little bit cooler at 30 and philadelphia at 30. >> breaking the gm glass ceiling, the auto maker names a

woman to its top post. plus the president's selphy and other memorable moments from nell son-in-law memori -- from mandela's memorial today.

>> the auto industry, general motor in and mary barra became the first woman ceo of a major auto maker, gm. until today, she was in charge of product document of all gm vehicles. she has been with the company for 33 years, and she started there as an engineering co-opinion student when she was just 18 years old. bis bisi onileri looks at women when it comes to leading corporations? >> it's extremely rare. of the fortune 500 companies, only 21 are headed by females. the highest ranking on the list is the head of hewlett-packard. she is meg whitman who took over during some tough times at the company. also in the top 500, materialed

houston is the ceo of lockheed martin, total revenues in 2012, $25 billion. the head of xerox corporation also a woman. her name is ursula m.buryrnes. >> denise morrison is the ceo of campbell's soup, $75,000,000,000 in revenue last year. we have always heard allotted about yahoo's chief operating officer marissa maher, cracking at 494. just to show you how rare this is, take a look at this, the top 1,000 companies in america, only 45 are headed by women. john? >> bisi, thanks very much. joining us now is the editor-in-chief of "more" magazine. >> good to be here. >> your magazine interviewed mary barra. >> yes. we did.

we knew she was one the top women in detroit and we said, let's go get her and talk to her. we were asking her for her tips for getting ahead. we had no idea it was going to be like this. this is in our october issue on our website now. >> what did you find out about here? what was the most interesting thing? >> she said, always be a standout. walk into a room and own it and be a stand utility in what you do. don't assume because you are a woman that's the standout part of it. you have to stand out in what you actually do. also, make sure you have time for home lishe has two millenni kids. she says in 10 years when you look back, that's important. >> this will rarely happens? right. in terms of running billion dollars companies? not any more you have these women running the top defense companies in america, too, which is really a big surprise at the same time. we did a little bit story about that a little while what i mean ago. >> it was a man's field, known as a man's field? >> cars are -- it's like putting

a woman into, you know, a western and making her the top person, you know, a gunslinger. it's a very manly business. >> what does this mean for breaking the glass ceiling? >> huge. when you get woman of what i -- in charge of what i call steel and wheels, the salaries here are in the billions of dollars. >> that's what is important. you are running billions of dollars. you have millions and millions that you are making. women have to be in the pipeline. they can pour in. here we are. >> you say they are pouring in. you are one of the women who has made it to the top. >> yes. >> forbes does say only 4%? >> yes. >> of women are ceos. that doesn't sound? >> it's called drip, drip, drip, john, until we get the whole rush coming. you know, there are still so many barriers.

you wouldn't necessarily know that. there are barriers for women across the board. it's still a boy's club in many, many ways. but what women do is put their heads down. they work really hard and they just, you know push their way into being so incredibly competent and when you look at the women who actually run these big businesses, they actually do better financially. >> you know, there was a story. r, i think this week in "the new york times" b men who had become the caregivers to families of women on wall street who have big jobs. >> you need that partner. >> this is the trend? >> yes. yes. well, more and more. there is much more equality coming. my son who is 22, when we talk about what does he want in the future? he wants a wife who is going to work. he actually wants to trade off time at work with his wife. i think it's going to be quite different. >> the dream, but -- >> that is the dream.

when your generation came up, that was what everything -- we are going to have a career? >> trying to do it all. >> it became very difficult. didn't it? >> yes. that's why we were surprised when mary barra said to us she was doing it all. she did make time for her family which is kind of a shocker. isn't it? >> it is but it's very impressive as well? >> this is huge. huge. i will hope eventually these will not be news stories because breaking these barriers have going to be so boring and so old. >> it won't be just 4%? >> that's right. >> leslie, great to see you. thanks very much. inspots, the two best teams of the nba, the indiana pacers have circled since losing to the miami heat. in indianapolis, the rivalry is

renewed, chris bosh, who is the t two-time defending changes lebron james showing us why he is the alpha male. as we speak, miami, up 4740 at the break. in dc, mike shanahan isstil the redskins head coach. the latest drama says daniel snyder will not intervene in any decisions he makes. he is considering benching robert griffin iii for the rest of the season and giving kirk cousins a chance to shine. some thought it was a powerplay to see who is in charge of the team shanahan says he will make that quarterback call tomorrow. let's make a deal. slugger mark trimble in a 3-team trade with the l.a. angels heading to arizona while the d backs are sending ethan to the white socks. the angels will get young pitchers. we will have more on a busy of

seasons in the big leagues along with ted burns will join us, baseball writer from u.s.a. today. >> ross, thanks very much. next, who issats fault $200 million construction project sitting right on a hollywood earthquake fault. tonight's budget deal, we will have the latest on the last-minute agreement. we will get the latest on the political protests in kiev ukraine.

power of the people until we restore our free

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i am john siegenthaler in new york, and here are the top stories: thousands of people brave the rainstorm today to pay tribute to new mexilson mandela president obama spoke at the memorial and called mandela a giant history. >> a snowstorm hit the east coast leaving several inches of white stuff. roads were treacherous and many travelers had to deal with cancelled flights and delays. in washington, d.c., schools were closed, government workers

were told to stay home. the storm did not stop progress in congreg a.m. budget talks. they say they reached a deal, a tentative agreement on spending that could prevent another government shutdown. the new deal sets government for the next to three years and both houses still need to vote on the deal. more on the budget deal in just a moment. there is a developing story tonight in the ukraine. police, again, have stormed areas where demonstrators have camped out for days in the center of the capitol, kiev. anti-government procetesters filled the streets night after night angled that their president has rejected a closer tie with europe. these are live pictures in kiev. tim friend is also live with us tonight from kiev with more on this story.

tim? well, unfortunately, what will happen from time to time, we have some technical problems with the live shot. we will try to get back to tim in a moment. as you can telegram tell, the protests continues. you can also see that protesters and police continue to clash in the ukraine. we will have more on that story a little later. in thailand, the standoff between anti-government protesters and a prime miles per hour sister who insists she will not step down: prime minister shi shinawatra called for new elections. demonstrators say they won't stop protesting until she resigns. she tearfully pleaded. they say she is not convinced and want her family out of politics all together. >> now to the budget agreement tonight in washington. it took weeks of negotiation and concongressional leaders were up against the deadline. unless there is an agreement, the government rungs out of money january 15th.

two budget negotiators, patty murray and republican representative paul ryan explained the details of the agreement. >> this bill reduces the deficit by $23,000,000,000 and it does not raise taxes and it cuts spending in a smarter way. from the outset, we knew that if we forced each other to compromise a core principle, we would get fowhere. >> that's why we folks us on the common ground. >> our deal puts jobs and economic growth first by rollin cuts and defense jobs for the next two years. now, i know there were some people who thought these cuts should continue, but i am glad that we increased these key domestic investments and that we averted the next round of scheduled cuts to military programs, bases and defense jobs in our country. >> we intend to bring to the house floor later on this week, i have every reason to expect great support from our caucus

because we are keeping our principles. the key here is: nobody had to sacrifice their core principles. our principles are: don't raise taxes. reduce the deficit. >> our libby casey is on capitol hill with more on this story. libby? >> reporter: hi, john. so we saw the two people at the table, patty murray and paul ryan. now, it goes to the rest of the house and senate. we are already hearing a mixed reaction from members. some dissension. patty murray said i didn't get everything i wanted want. congressman ryan didn't get everything he would want. what we are watching is, as caucus members go behind closed doors, democrats and republicans will be listening for the conversations that come out of those meetings. so, house republicans, including speaker john boehner talked behind -- talk behind closed doors tomorrow and nancy pelosi tweeted out tonight and also put out a statement that she will be talking with her caucus. a bit of political posturing right now because some leaders want to be seen as tough on

issues that weren't included in this budget deem. for example, democrats are very concerned it doesn't include an extension of long-term unemployment benefits. those are set to end, expire, on december 28th, just a couple of days before christmas. it wasn't rolled into this deal. democrats are saying this is a problem for us. at the end of the day, will they just go ahead and vote for this because they like having some sort of budget deal, some contours to keep the government running? they may indeed. so friday is the goal, the deadline for john boehner to allow his house members to go home. so watch for a vote in the next couple of days. >> all right, libby. thank you. we want to go back to the ukraine where police have again stormed areas where demonstrators have been camping out for days in the capital city of kiev. tim friend is live with the story there. tim? >> reporter: john, a couple of hours ago, dramatic event did here, hundreds of riot police lined up on the edge of the

squa square, independence square, where the pro-european demonstrators have been ensconced for about a week and a half. and then, on the order, the riot police moved in, removed all of the barricades on the periphery of the square and pushed their way in towards the center of independence square, which has become the last holdout really of the protests here in kiev. there is now effectively a stand-off between the riot police and the protesters' own defenders. you may be seeing those pictures they are the people in the orange hats, but there was always a fear that there may have been more violence or a repeat of earlier violence. none so far, but it's going to be a long, cold night for those protesters in minus 15 degrees. >> we will continue to check in with you, tim friend reporting from kiev tonight.

thank you. now, to the bloody conflict in sfriksz. the red cross says 500 people have been killed in the last week in sectarian violence between muslims and christian groups in the central african republ republic. two french soldiers ol al peacekeeping mission are among those killed. the violence has some comparing the situation there to atrocities in rwanda. al jazeera is one of the fiche news outlets reporting on the ground. nazi moshuri is the capital city of bange? >> this is a country being swept up in a frenzy of hate. these pictures filmed by amnesty international show the aftermath of an attack on a mosque. local christians burned it down. and now, they are stripping it apart. the graffiti on the world insults the rebel president.

se celica took control here in march. >> the big part now is every day people, it was a fighting between our people. now, we are fighting between communities. >> french soldiers are here to protect civilians. but they, too, have now become targets. the french president, fran squeeze /* squaw francois wants to boost the moral of the rest of his forces. for now, it is the africans union forces which are more visible on the streets. these men are from cong congo brazivil, froektiprotecti special union to the country. >> what we need is just the international community and the equipment, all much that.

and we are calling all of the people in central africa to take this into their hands. >> the role of african union soldiers will become increasingly important here. >> it's a very safe way to get around bangee in a moment, in a convoy with african union forces. there are no french soldiers on the streets at the moment. there is no rule of law here muslims are being targeted by christians and christians are being targeted by muslims. >> on monday, french soldiers were disarming rebel groups. now, they must work out their next strategy. that leaves armed fighters free to roam the streets. and angry mobs to take out their revenge. al jazeera, bongee. >> tens of thousands showed up today at the stadium in johanesxurg, south africa to be

honor nelson mandela. the images are lasting and included a few unexpected story lines. jonathan betz has that. >> grief has a way to bringing people together. that applied to world leaders. this is given a lot of attention when president obama shook hands with castro, only the second time in more than 50 years a sitting american president has shaken the cuban leader's hand. it's sparking anger and praise from some who say it's a sign possibly of thawing relations. it has happened before, back in 2010, bill clinton shook fidel castro's hand. today, president obama warmly greeted the brazilian president, delma russ you have has not been happy with the u.s.uf has not b with the u.s. kisses between the two. chilly relationship with the afghan president. the two leaders sat near each other and chatted briefly at one points. hamid karzi has been critical of

the u.s. and and has refused to sign a security deal america wants. in the past >> these kind of encounters haven't necessarily led anywhere. back in 2009, there was this awkward handshake with the venzuelan president, hugo chavez who gave mr. obama a book. the president got a lot of criticism for apparently bowing right there to the king of saudi arabia at a summit. it's a no-no but his staff said it was the president trying to shake hands. to show you how chummy world leaders can be, even the president is not above taking selfies. heposed with the british and danish prime ministers to snap a pick of themselves at mandela's memorial. these events are a rare opportunity for world leaders to reconnect and catch up. >> george h.w. bush, the 41st president could not make the ceremony but he did send out this tweet, says, barbara and i wish we could have joined the u.s. delegation honoring president mandela today.

he and his countrymen are in our prayers. >> let's head now to washington, d.c. joie chen is standing by to tell us what's coming up on "america tonight" at the top of the hour. joey? >> we are going to go whale watching on the northern california coast. the itinerary will take us to monterey bay. >> that's where marine life is converging on one lowly, salty element of the food chain. it turns out an an chaovie tourtist spectacle. it includes everything from climate change to a missing predator. we will go board with researchers as they try to understand the science behind the feeding frenzy. >> what's happening is the sea lions and the whales are diving down, working together to gather the anchovies out here currently and they all tend to pop up around the same time, kind of pushing the groups of anchovies up toward the surface, cornering

them up against the surface of the water. >> science and technology correspondent jacob ward will join us with a full report, a whale tail, more stories coming up at the top of the hour on "america tonight." >> thank you very much. southern california is no strangeser to earthquakes. many residents say they barely notice the small ones. the reason for this seismic activity is called the hollywood fault line, one. many fault lines crossing and crisscrossing the city. now, there is a battle to build two sky scrapers right in the danger joan. jennifer london is live in los angeles with that. jennifer? >> reporter: john, this story is playing out like a real-live hollywood drama with both sides saying two different things. at issue: plans to build two towers in the heart of the city on what opponents say is right on top of an active fault line. imagine hollywood before all of this, when it was citrus groves for as far as the eye could see.

then came the movie studios, the walk of first name, and the iconic capitol records building. now, imagine two sky scrapers eclipsing the view from above and over shade owing possible dangers lying beneath. these are artists renderings of the proposed millennium towers, more than one markos moulitsas square feet of apartments, hotel rooms and shops. l.a. city council approved the project this year. >> what they have planned is high-rise development sand destruction of neighborhoods. >> long-time hollywood resident is suing millennium hollywood, he is joined by homeowners who say they withheld critical information and evidence that suggests it might not be safe to build there. >> this is a site that cannot be built upon, much less with two sky scrapers. >> to fully understand and even appreciate the controversy surrounding the building of the

mil inium towers, you've got to get off of the ground. from up here, you get the best view of the proposed site of the two towers, right down there. at 35 and 39 stories tall, it will dwarf the capitol record's building but it's what's happening beneath the surface of the street that is causing the most concern. >> the hollywood fault and the millennium project site is about at this location here. >> john parish is the state's leading geologist. >> we are talking about surface rupture here with the hollywood fault and surface rupture tends to destroy the foundation of the building. >> the city insists the project is safe, and they say they stand on solid ground literally and figuratively. >> where do we stop if we base everything on fear of what might be and we stop all economic development in los angeles, then we are in real trouble as a

city. so, i think that everyone needs to take a deep breath, let the syncs come in, let the facts come in before we jump to conclusions. >> no development can happen on top of an earthquake fault. >> that's not us talking. >> that's state law and mother nature talking. >> groundbreaking for the towers has now been suspended while the fight moves off of the streets and into the courts leaving the future of hollywood's most ambitious project very much up in the air. the nearby w hotel is also suing claiming the proper environmental impact studies were never done. john, both the city and the developer continue to stand by the project. >> this is not over yet. jennifer, good to see you. thanks very much. coming up, a gravity free anniversary ve, the international space station marks 15 years in orbit. inspots, the voice of some are majoring huge deals this winter.

>> 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

>> a dramatic rescue in iowa. >> he is on it. >> take a look at this cell phone video. a construction worker was left dangling off of the side of a bridge in west des moines after a train hit the boon truck he and another worker were on, he managed to cling on the side of the bridge even though was injured until rescue crews arrived. took about an hour to finally, lower him to the ground. the other worker was thrown from the bridge and is being treated for life-threatening injuries. >> ross is back in sports. baseball making headlines.

>> winter baseball meetings are going on as we speak in orlando. how convenient. everybody is playing golf and let's make a deal. the diamond backs acquired trum bell. the laangels and white socks, trum bell who has hit at least 30 homers in each of things last two seasons is heading to the confines of chase field while the d backs, ethan to the white sox and angles get young pitchers in santiago and tyler skaggs. >> baseball writer today joins us from new york today. it seems like arizona got a heck of a power hitter in trum bell. >> that's true. ocean a great power hitter. there aren't a ton of homerun guys in the league. trum bell doesn't offer much more than power. he is limited defensively. he doesn't get on base at all. it does seem like the diamond backs gave up a lot to hit home runs. >> where do they put him in

arizona? >> left field. they are optimistic he can be a league average left fielder. he has a great reputation. he is a hard worker. some guys can't make up that range i wonder if the diamond backs look regret this one. >> we have had mega deals in free agency kobe ellsbury pocketing 153 million. who is the next in line to get paid in free agency? >> shinsu chase chu, a 423 on base bench, one of the best for the majors. he is a good hitter, a type of guy a lot of guys could be in on a lot of teams seem to back off due to his dmrandz. he is looking for a deal like the huge one jacoby ellsbury got from the yankees. die mondaybacks were said to be one of his biggest suitors. they seem to have backed off a little bit now that they have trumbo. it will be interesting to see where he goes. i wouldn't be surprised to hear the tigers getting in the mix.

>> phillies are willing to deal their assess. what's the thinking behind these moves? >> they are available, most seasonally, could stand to upgrade by adding them. i think the philly's thinking is somehow they could turn those guys into a package of major-league ready young players who can help them this year. phillies built to contend if they con tend any time soon. they have a bunch of aging players. they brought in some older players this of seasons. i would be very surprised if they moved those guys for just for prospects. >> all right. another ace in david price is also being shopped around by tampa bay. do you see him being traded? >> i would have to imagine if i had to guess right now, he ends up back with the rays. the rays got so much for james shields last year. the mets got so much for dickey that the market for ace pitchers is so high in terms of prospects

i wouldn't be surprised if most teams were too squishish to give up those packages to get a guy even as good as he is. >> during these rumblings and trades and so forth, in your opinion, what's been the best deal out there so far that's been made is it? >> i like the pings side, they get back a pair of young pitchers. both who will, given health spend time in the rotation this year. the team with good offense. albertpo pooujoltz. they were so shallow. this helps them a lot thank you very much. tedbird baseball writer from u.s.a. today. what everybody is doing at the winter meetings is that the general managers are doing their jobs. they have to find out the best deal see what's out there? >> great thing, play golf, make

deals. >> thank you very much. the international space station turns 15 years old today. it has been a pricey investment, cost the country billions of dollars and that has some asking: is it worth it? more from terence basely. >> two and a half years after it was completed, if it's on board are now focus on research. science comes at a price nus cases, a hefty $150,000,000,000 for construction and another $2 billion a year to keep it running we are developing drugs, for example, that chemical and by logical reactions in the absence of gravity or micro gravity and we can determine the way these reactions take place and emphasize new drugs and cures for cancer. who knows? unpredictable. >> the combined efforts of the russian, canadian, space

agencies has been visited by astronautz from 15 different countries. how does it's cost compare? the large clyder in southern france cost $10,000,000,000 to build. it will skoingd the higgs bosson particle. the costly mar is rover, "curiosity" still exploring the martian surface, cost 2 and a half billion dollars. >> research on the space station has included studying prolonged affects of face. >> you haven't seen the sort of nobel prize winning discovery off of the back of this, at least not yet. but what you have seen is the construction that's valuable to a range of signses from medicine, semi conductor physics

and building in space. >> vegetables are important for your health. today, i have chosen dried spinach. >> it's not all serious science on board. chris headfield introduced millions of people to life and research on the station earlier this year. if you could see ♪ >> his songs written and recorded in space and his prolific photography are hugely popular online. supposed to be working with the station for 15 years. let's hope the scientific findings and the new technologies will eventually justify the cost. >> tarot basely,ays. >> kevin has the weather right after this. every sunday night al jazeera america brings you conversations you won't find anywhere else. >> you're listening because you want to see whats going to happen. >> get your damn education. >> talk to al jazeera. only on al jazeera america.

>> oh my! the anger all one sided? i hear rumblings from the people who cover the heat that the heat are not in love with players in the payer side, there is real hate here. >> there better be. they can really mess it up for them. when they dislike there, yeah, i think there is dislike but they've got the bravado. they got their chests out. it's still their game. but that's where the home court advantage is important, this game is important because miami used game seven to advance to the championship. they don't get one tonight, i mean, they don't get one in the end, that game seven here in indianapolis could be a problem. the stream is uniquely interactive television.tñ

well well just because our snowstorm is in parts of the atlantic, we are looking at what's going to happen here across the great lakes. this is going to be the lake-effect snow machine, and that's going to kick into gear

very quickly. watch what happens has we go towards tomorrow. you can see all of these blues right here and the way this works is wind comes across the great lakes. the great lakes are relatively warmer than the air that's going over them. picks up the moisture. by the time it gets to the leeward side, then it drops all of the snow. it drops it quickly. in a couple of these areas we are going to be seeing substantial amounts of snow. actually, here in platsky, new york, 18 to 24 inches of snow is going to be falling just towards the east of lake ontario and then, eerie, you are going to be seeing about 15 to 18 inches of snow. >> that's going to last for the next couple of of days as you can see, the rest of the eastern seaboard will be clear except for all of the lake-effect snow. now, lake-effect snow will end once the lakes freeze over because the warm water is capped. let's look at what's happening here across the rest of the united states temperature wise, still cool up here towards

minneapolis looking at 9 degrees theres billings at 16. we have been fairly cool out here towards the southwest, and there have been freeze warnings, hard freeze warnings in effect in the overnight hours. unfortunately, we are still looking at that. you can see right here across the valley, san walk -- san why. oaquin valley, in nevada it was going to be cold in las vegas, about 24 degrees degrees for the forecast. >> that's ending. we will see temperatures tomorrow rise significantly compared to what we have seen over the past couple of days for los angeles. how about a hire high of sdrooeventz there. a little bit cooler inland, still quite cool in northern nevada where we are seeing temperatures still below freezing. las vegas, it's a big difference for you. a temperature there of 51. salt lake city, you are going to be seeing about 29. >> that's a look at your national weather. john has your headlines coming up right now.

>> that they say will avoid another goth shutdown. the tentative deal that needs to be voted on by both houses sets federal spending for the next two years. tensions are rising in the ukraine in the stand offbetween police and anti-government protests. thousands of demonstrators have rallied in the night in kiev's independence square. they're angry the country has turned back on a deal with the europe union. president obama is fg