>> this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm tony harris with a look at today's top stories. a gunman takes aim at a high school in colorado. two students were injured, and one is in serious condition. a task force has delivered its report on it the security agency to president obama and it is recommending dozens of changes. a man in kansas is under arrest. the fbi said he was plan to go bomb a wichita, airport. and. officials staying tight-lipped about a missing c.i.a. was a

rogue agent on a mission for the c.i.a. >> the school week ended in a horrific way. a gunman walked into arapaho high school in centennial, colorado, a suburb of denver. one student describes her thoughts when the shooting happened. >> what was going through my mind if i could hear--if it was a drill or if it was real, or who did it, and why they wanted to do it, and if anyone got hurt. >> paul beaman joins us from centennial high school. what have you learned request. >> reporter: what you mentioned earlier is correct. a student entered the high school carrying a shotgun just after lunchtime. the first call came in around

12:33. that's what we heard from the sheriff. as you mentioned earlier the student brandishing the shotgun making no effort to hide the fact that he was coming in armed asking right away for a teacher by name. we don't know the name of the teacher at this point, but he characterized the teacher's response as a wise, smart tactical decision. the teacher may have even tried to lure the shooter out of the school with him. we're just learning these details. it's just been a few hours since this all played out. the entire incident only lasting about 20 minutes from when the student entered the school firing an unknown number of shots unknown to us at this time wounding two students, one of them severely, one of them not as severely. and then before dying of a self-inflicted wound. there were reports that there

was confront station between the shooter and possibly a teacher, another teacher a janitor or librarian and the shooter, those are not confirmed yet. those are a developing situation. i'm standing on the east side of the school. the student entered on the far side, the west side, and apparently made it far into the school before this incident was over. tony, just behind the camera i saw three students just run and give each other a hug. i mean, this is really still just developing really as we stand here, tony. >> paul, at this hour i know there has been talk of reunions, bringing the students and the parents together again. there was one church in particular that was going to be a staging area for that--are those reunions taking place to your knowledge? >> that's correct. a number of students fled the school and congregated on some

of the athletic fields to the north of here. a number of the students were swept by s.w.a.t. teams and the students were taken on to buses in an ordinarily fashion and taken to a nearby lutheran church. we heard earlier that the church quickly became overwhelmed. this is a very large high school, and they started using another school farther away. there are two reunification areas, they're calling them, where parents can arrive, pick up their students and sign them out. they're trying to be very careful tallying every student making sure that they're signed out by their parents, that they know the whereabouts of every student. the sweeping of the school by the swat teams went on. the students were sheltered in place. they heard the shots fired and took cover in closets and locked classrooms. it's not clear how long it took to get all of the students out but at this point they are all

out. >> based on what i heard from the sheriff it sounds like after the shooting there was close to a text-book response by the law enforcement officers of that community. >> reporter: that's right, that's right, tony. what we heard from the sheriff and from the governor, who was here a little bit earlier, that tragically, unfortunately, police departments in both this area and around the country are now quite well prepared for exactly this kind of scenario. this is only as you mentioned a little earlier eight miles away from columbine, the scene of one of the worst mass shootings in the country. >> paul, appreciate it, and here to talk more about the law enforcement responding to this shooting is jj green reporting

from washington, d.c. thank you for joining us. i'll ask the same question that i asked paul beman a moment ago and i'll ask it of you. it was reported the response was essentially textbook. did it look that way to you? >> yes, columbine has been a while ago. authorities have had time to learn and they've taken what they learned and put it into practical use. basically in active shooter scenarios teams have their own responsibilities. the principle team will get between the shooter and victims of the shooter, and they also have to get there, collect intelligence, find the shooter, neutralize the situation and make sure that essentially all the people who are involved or some how in the line of fire or people who may be in potential

risk or potential harm are taken care of. they've got this down to a tactical step by step procedure that many of these folks practice every day if not every day, weekly, molly monthly, thee got it down pat. >> initially we thought it was a confrontation between a student and the shooter. it looks that with a little more information that that was not the case. is there a protocol, advice, you can give to people who may find themselves in this horrid unfortunate situation as to whether they should approach, attempt to talk down or get the heck out of the way as quickly as possible. >> law enforcement are always going to tell new a situation like that, take cover. take cover first. make sure that you protect yourself first. call 911. then when 911 responds, the authorities response make sure

you identify yourself to them so they don't mistake you for a threat. it's very rare that anyone is going to be advised to essentially approach a shooter, but some people have their own ideas about how to handle situations, and i'll sure that person most likely would be hailed as a hero. >> lastly going over some territory that you already have begun to cover, when we look at this response and compare it to other incidents, it's unfortunate that it happens. >> they're training in the throws of an active shooter situation. they have to have their i's

dotted and their t's crossed, and that's the situation. when you go from the east coast to the west coast, from the north to the south, they are always thinking about this, from their weapons to protective gear to the steps they have to take from the moment they get that call until everything is over and the shooter has been neutral eyed. neutralized. >> jj green, thank you. >> this comes almost to the day of the anniversary of the sandy hook elementary shooting. since then schools across the country have taken more steps to keep students safe, as you heard from jj green. we go to schools where steps have been taken to protect students there. >> reporter: the events that unfolded in colorado today and the events in sandy look last year serve as a constant reminder for students, teachers and administrators that safety and school has got to be

something at the front of the mind at all times and they've got to stay vigilant. at viola elementary school in illinois, security is taken extremely seriously. before gaining industr entry, vs must present identification at this county. using the raptor security system the i.d. is scanned into the computer where an instant background check is bedroomed. and in case of a problem a bullet resistant shield can be pulled down and a panic button directly informed police. >> they've added on this whole section of the building which is a secure entrance. formerly the entrance of the school was upstairs and in the of the hallway so people would get buzzed in, but there was no insuring that our visitors would go where they were supposed to go. >> reporter: it's all part of a $5 million investment the

district made four years ago to upgrade its safety and security programs. in 2005 illinois passed the school safety drill act that requires public and private schools to review their safety plans with first responders and conduct annual lock down drills. and they put their safety plan in action when there was report of a student bringing a weapon to school. >> attention students and staff... >> staff have been trained using videos to guide students through emergency drills. they immediately launched their lock down procedure. students were locked down for hours and eventually evacuated fought incident. skylar was in the school at the time. >> i was feeling relief that there were no shootings, no guns involved. i was just very thankful that the school handled us so well and i was able to get out safely. >> reporter: security president

paul tim has implemented security in hundreds of schools and districts including lake zurich. >> there are only two times if we know the procedures works. one is during an emergency, which is an unfortunate time to find out that they don't, and the other time is during practice. and this district practices those drills and they're ready. >> reporter: it's a tough balance keeping students safe while maintaining some semblance of a welcoming learning environment. >> we're always looking at ways to keep our students safe. we know when they're safe they'll learn. >> reporter: it's a lesson in safety that no one hopes to test. tony, two key aspects that security experts say have to be practiced, one, understanding controlled access to those schools, and two, once the protocols are in place, making sure that everyone knows what to do in case of an emergency, and that take practice.

>> ash-har. thank you. a new report from the american psychological association said that it should be treated as a public health issue. joining us now is dr. cornell professor at the university of virginia, and he led the panel that compiled the report. good to talk to you. you know the question that is often asked in the aftermath of events like sandy hook, why couldn't we pro addict that that person was going to do that. is that possible? precise prediction of who is going to carry out a shooting is not possible. but it does not mean that we can't prevent violence. people assume we can't predict it so we can't prevent it. but we prevent a lot of serious problems that we can't predict. we can't predict who is going to have a heart attack but we know risk factors and we know how to reduce the over all rate of

heart attacks. we need a similar public health approach. >> preventing gun violence? it's possible? how do you think-- >> absolutely. >> how is that done? >> well, we talk about primary prevention and secondary prevention. primary prevention focuses on the general population raising healthier children who are better able to resolve conflicts, tolerate differences and seek non-violent alternatives to problem situations. secondary prevention involves behavioral threat assessment, behavioral threat assessment identifies people who are distressed, troubled, engage in threatening behavior and intervenes to resolve the difficulty before it escalates into violence.

it's being widely used in our schools, and i know in my service at the university of virginia there are situation where is we're able to intervene effectively and resolve conflicts and problems before they escalate. >> background checks and other methods achieved, but they have not been able to pull together on a national level. >> this needs to be approached from a scientific standpoint rather than a political standpoint. we need to look at the evidence. we do have good solid research that shows some forms of background checks do reduce the incident of violent crime in targeted groups of individuals, individuals who have been hospitallalized as a danger to self or others. individuals who committed serious violent crimes or threatened violence in the case of domestic violence. we know that background checks when they're actually

implemented and carried outdo have an impact. so from that perspective yes we can prevent violence. >> professor, it's fascinating to talk to you. dr. cornell, professor at the university of virginia. joining us from charlottesville, thank you for your time. now in other news advisory panels set up to review the national security agency submitted it's report to president obama two days early. it's recommending dozens of changes. at the same time the white house said it will keep a single military officer in charge of both the national security agency and the military's cybercommand unit. mike viqueira joins us now from the white house with more details, mike? >> reporter: tony, the report is here that review the president ordered back in august after months and months of bad publicity scandal worldwide and outrage after the edward snowden leaks. the meta-da at a, telephonic

communication, internet communication being gathered by the millions, if not billions. heads of state angela merkel, and the president of brazil, it's important to note that sunday was the deadline you are correct, but the white house will look at this, run it by the various agencies including the national security agency which is front and center in this controversy, but the c.i.a. dni and whole alphabet soup of agencies across the area. jay carney, the white house spokesman, he reacted to this earlier today. >> part of the process that the president has asked for is one that will allow us to be as transparent as possible, and to, as he said, propose self-restraint on the nsa and

give people more confidence, and in giving people more confidence involves giving people more information. >> reporter: the white house is being very closed lip about exactly what is in this report. there is evidence that the advisory panel wants different rules to account for the changes, tony, in intelligence gathering technology, especially with regard to foreigners, that is a big problem that the united states has faced. it is illegal to gather a lot of this information about american individuals. not so about foreigners, that has caused outrage around the world. heads of state, the fisa court where the intelligence community goes to get the tools that it needs warrants, surveillance permissions to do certain surveillance things during it's investigations. a call for a public advocate to be there and listen to the arguments being made by the intelligence community and say,

wait a minute, we may need to put a break here. all of this being considered. the white house will look at this next year and we'll find out what has been agreed to and what has not been agreed to. >> mike viqueira, thank you. tonight federal authorities say they have arrested a man who was planning an attack on kansas' airport. randall pinkston is here with more on the story. >> reporter: turns out it was an undercover sting operation. a man who thought he was talking with a fell conspirator was actually talking with an unde undercover fbi agent. he was driving what he thought was a car full of bombs, but actually the fbi agent has used fake bombs.

he wrote a statement saying he wanted to die in the bombing as a marter. >> homegrown terrorism is a continuous threat within the united states. while we feel protected here in the heartland in the middle of america we have a certain sense of security, but again it reminds us that terrorism remains to be a very real athlete. >> loloewen is charged with possession of weapons of mass destruction. >> rebecca stevenson joins us now with what we can expect. >> meteorologist: we have a big storm developing. it's starting with a front to the north and a front from the

south and they will come together to hit the east. right now the storm is impacting the great lakes. you can see plenty of snow coming down around the great lakes right now. we have the national science foundation has the doppler radar on wheels. this is the ontario lake-effect snow research project, and they're going is to see how the direction of the wind impacts where the band sets up the snow and they'll look at temperature, the amount of moisture. a lot of things they're steadying here with lake affectt snow. now we have depths up to two feet of snow already on the ground as it is, and now we're forecasting by early tomorrow morning another six to eight inches south of lake ontario, and south of lake erie. that is where we have a winter

advisory in affect. really impacting south of lake erie. yes it will disrupt a large portion of the nottingham foster here in the northeast, but you also see some freezing rain that will be coming in as well. big storm. we'll tell you more about it coming up. >> rebecca, take a look at this, a snowstorm has swept across much of the middle east. the first blizzard in decades. the storm blanketed snow from turkey, cairo, jerusalem, this has not happened in decades. the last time snow fell in jerusalem was 50 years ago. and for the syrian refugees many people living in tents the cold weather is just another hardship. to the moon. coming up, the latest on china' lunar landing and why it may interview with a nasa mission.

of representatives on thursday and go to the senate the next week and end up on the president's desk, joie. >> mike, thanks for being with us. we'll follow up. ahead. the international space station marks 15 years. are we getting enough bang for our buck, or is it just taking up space? get it?

>> i think this is a matter of nationalistic pride. it seems as if china, which is very, very interested in its image abroad, very interested in asserting itself really just wants to get to the moon. >> nasa a newest landing craft

has completed it's first untethered flight the space agency said it lifted off, rose 15 feet, and then landed again. the craft has been through several rounds of tethered flights. nasa is developing a way to cell phone cargdeliver cargo. >> ali velshi, coverin in team e of the nelson mandela ceremoni ceremonies. very good. >> thank you. >> more evidence that businesses most businesses most sophisticated or large businesses are tracking the

activities of their employees. i have this thing around my neck it looks like a badge. it's not. it has cameras, listening devices, things that can track your movement, a bluetooth. i'll tell what you these devices do, but the idea is an estimated 60 million workers who work outside of their offices in trucking, oil and gas, even construction, they're being tracked. this is not just about your e-mail. if you don't think that your e-mail is being tracked then you're just a knuckle head. they're tracking all sorts of things. companies say they need this to happen, but a lot of people are saying, this is kind of crazy. the amount of movement and activity that employers are tracking. >> there is another question i want to ask but i don't have time for it. but i want to get to what i really want to know before you go you were in south africa for nelson mandela's memorial. we a saul th saw all the picturt was it like?

>> i didn't see any tears. i didn't see any crying. i just saw celebration, joy, singing. you know, those protest songs that they used to have, they connect with the fact that he gave up 27 years of his life for them while in jail. >> coming up, our series on guns in america. california has some of the stricter gun laws in the country. some say it should be a model for the rest of the country. plus he guarded nelson mandela behind bars. the unlikely bond between warden and prisoner.

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. sense of security but today again it reminds us that

>> one of the victims is in serious condition. and the other suffered a minor gunshot wound. paul beman is in centennial, colorado, near where the shooting took place. paul, what is the latest? >> reporter: that's right. i'm very near where the shooting took place. i'm on the east side of the school. the shooter entered the west side, the far side, and made it

quite a distance in the school before there was confrontation where one student was shot. at that point another student shot. not clear how much later that happen. the shooter made his way far into the school before this incident went on for about 20 minutes, we're told, before the she have inflicted gunshot wound brought it to an end. as you mentioned, tony, the student who was more seriously injured is in the hospital, is in surgery now, as you can see there is still an enormous police presence. just to the south of us there is the lutheran church where there was a reunification point for teachers and students after they were brought out of the school. we heard from one of the students what she heard when the shooting began. >> i was sitting in the cafeteria with three of my friends. i heard some shots. i didn't know that they were shots at the time. i heard--it sounded like wooden

planks dropping. i was like, guys, what was that? they were like, i don't know, probably nothing. i saw two of the school security guards run to go where the sound happened. we heard more shots and everyone in the cafeteria, we went across the street and got through the traffic and went into tar bucks. we didn't know what to do. we just waited. >> as you heard she mentioned how she ran across the street to starbucks. students fled into the athletic field across the streets into the shopping areas and they were eventually gathered up and taken to reunification centers not far from here, tony. >> paul beman in centennial, colorado. thank you. tomorrow will be one year since the new town, connecticut, shooting.

>> the question how many people have been killed since newtown is surprisingly difficult to answer. slate magazine collected data by crowd sourcing gun deaths. they compiled one of the most comprehensive lists of people killed by guns in the past year. combining that data with estimates from the cdc roughly 11,610 people have been killed by gun homicide. new town shootings prompted groups from around the country to push for new gun control measures raising money and lobbying. in the end gun control groups raised five times more lobbying money than they did last year before sandy hook. but th it was jump checked by wt the go gun lobbying rates.

large amounts of that money went to push for passing laws around the country. in a bust of action, every state passed at least one new gun law since the new town massacre. of the 1500 state gun bills introduced 109 were signed into law. 70 of those enacted laws loosened gun restrictions. just 39 tightened restrictions. most of the bills were approved in states that were controlled by republican legislatures. after the sandy hook shootings last year there was a flurry of talk about restricting gun use in an effort to reduce the number of guns across the country. but the data shows differently. the number of gun homicide has gone up and laws have been passed since the shooting but they expand rather than restrict the rights of gun owners.

>> now let's go to melissa chan in san francisco. california passed the most comprehensive gun reforms in the wake of newtown, the shootings there. >> reporter: the bills put into law in california just to give you an idea, it is now illegal to purchase parts that allow you to upgrade an handgun to make it more of an assault-style weapon and shotgun and rifle owners will now have to pass a firearm safety test just like

>> one bill that they like to propose is that they require a background check for guns and purchase of ammunition. >> melissa chan for us in san francisco. thank you. the white house said the agent that disappeared in iran did not work for the government. robert levinson was working for the central intelligence agency. we have that report. >> it was seven years since bob levinson disappeared while in iran. he's the longest held american

hostage in history. his family last received a video of him back in 2011. >> i'm not in very good health. i'm running very quickly out of diabetes medicine. i have been treated well. i need the help of the united states government. >> reporter: but in the past almost three years there has been nothing to confirm that he's still alive. he was on a business trip when he disappeared. now the associated press news agency is reporting that levinson was in iran on an unapproved intelligence mission for the c.i.a. when asked about him on a trial to israel, john kerry refused to say that he was spying. >> i don't have any comments whatsoever on the condition with respect to employment or any other issue except to say to you that we've raised the issue of

his whereabouts on a continuous basis. i've continuous leo raised it with the iranians in our discussions, and we'll continue to seek his release and return to the united states. >> the news agency said the c.i.a. paid the levinson family $2.5 million to avoid a public lawsuits. the levinson family say. >> bob is a courageous man who has dedicated himself in risking his own life for the u.s. government, but the u.s. government has failed to make him the priority that they should. it is time for the u.s. government to step up and take care of one of its own. after nearly seven years our family should not be struggling to get through each day without this wonderful, caring man that we love so much. >> the iranians insist they do not know where bob levinson is, and there is no evidence that he is in the country. the video was sent from a cafe

but then the trail grows cold. and the investigators are no close for finding him. >> history was made in ireland today. the european union bailout there is over. they succeeded in putting the economy back on track. ireland's economy is expected to grow 2% next year. little blog has been made in a round table meeting between ukraines president and activis activists. demonstrators are demanding that the president sign a trade deal with the european union. the government has made one concession. it released nine protesters were prison. amnesty international say european leaders should hang their head in shame because the countries are taking in so few syrian refugees. a new report says that 10 of the 28 european countries have

offered to take in syrians fleeing from the civil war in their home country. barnaby philips looks at the extreme risks that people take to enter illegally. >> escape from syria. as dawn breaks mohammed runs from his country and makes it across the border to turkey. now he'll meet the smuggling gangs who say they can take him to europe for a price. >> i've got a two-year-old daughter. she hid in the corner and covered her easier and screams, daddy, they're bombing us. if fear is a person, then you can kill him. but fear is in the sky and who can fight with that. >> in istanbul mohammed meets

with others. they plan to go to greece by boat. it's a dangerous and illegal journey, but there is no easy way for a syrian refugee to get into europe. >> offering to take 10,000 syrians, the other 27 countries have offered to take 2,000 between them. france has 500 places. spain 30. 18 e.u. countries have not offered any places at all. >> what we need is to help people who are on the ground, people who are suffering with illnesses and can't get the care that they need. they're at risk because of who they are and they need a safe place to go to that will provide for them what they need.

>> amnesty's figures don't tell the whole story. in sweden syrian refugees have found refugee but many have had to make the journey themselves without help. other countries like britain has helped fund camps on syria's borders arguing this is an efficient way to help many people rather than offering resettlement to a few. mohammed does arrive in greece. he ends up on a crowded camp on an island. he, too, wants to go to sweden. but for now that is just a dream. barnaby phillips, al jazeera. >> in south africa 100,000 people came to view nelson mandela's body today. it was the third and final day. and it was nat entirely peaceful. hundreds of mourners tried to see mandela before the viewing was closed to the public. the scope of the ceremonies shows how far mandela's work

reached. we have the story of two men who were effected by mandela's philosophy. >> on the notorious robben island, two men who served time on both sides of the prison ba bars. chrito brand was mandela's guard. at first the prisoners scared him. >> they were here for life. >> this was where people were held. >> reporter: for years he was an inmate. like mandela every day he worked the limestone quarry, and like mandela, chrito was his guard. >> they werthe guard-prisoner relationship might sound adversarial, but mandela initiated friendship. into his cell crhristo would

smuggle him bread and his favorite hair oil, and then later he would even smuggle in his granddaughter. >> he was talking nicely, never cross, treating us like a human being. >> mandela used that friendship to learn the language of his enemy. >> they might have helped, but the white man was still guards, and the black man still prisoners. when guards heard inmates talk politics, they mocked them. >> in your dreams that you will take over this country. >> but that's exactly what these prisoners did, and it was from this cave that mandela taught and plotted.

>> was there any doubt that you would one day rule south africa? >> there was no doubt. >> reporter: they felt they knew whites better than whites knew them, and they used that to their advantage. >> we studied the language, and it was mandela taught. that's what mandela always taught. to know your enemies better you must know the language. >> reporter: by creating a friendship that stopped short of trust. >> by the end you trusted christo? >> no. >> do you think mandela trusted him? >> keep the man open. keep the man open.

>> he really saw you as his friend, didn't he? >> he saw hey as a friend. >> you saw him as a friend. >> as a father. >> to this day christo does not believe that he used him. he saw mandela offering him the same olive branch that he exte extended to all whites. >> he gave something for the people to believe in. >> did you believe in him? >> yes. >> the man who made believers of his friends and foes to free his people. al jazeera, robben island, south africa. >> and you can watch full coverage of nelson mandela's funeral right here on al jazeera america starting at 2:3 2:30 ean time on sunday. coming up how music is bringing people suffering were dementia

and their families closer together. plu[♪ music ] >> plus. [♪ music ] climate change can affect your grocery bill? can rare minerals in china affect your cell phone bill? or how a hospital in texas could drive up your healthcare premium? i'll make the connections from the news to your money real. have been telling you in the san joaquim river, freeze warnings in effect. never seen too much in terms of rain. los angeles, you are going to be seeing some beautiful weather all the way to sunday even into the low 70 did or high 60s, partly cloudy conditions,

overnight, about 44 degrees. texas also dry for you as well. we saw rain showers and a mix of precip just a little bit up here towards the north. temperatures for dallas at about 42. san antonio at 55. for houston, well, you are going to be seeing rain by the time we end the week. 59 degrees there. that will will last one day. your weekend should look better with a high of 63. over here towards the southeast, some rain showers pushing through orlando right now. atlanta is going to be about 56. an american auto maker making history. the newer ground general motor is making as it names its latest ceo.

>> they say that 70 americans are suffering from dementia, and that number is on the rise. it can be difficult to connect with them and randall pinkston met with a choir group known as the unforgettables who are trying to help ♪ unforgettable

♪ that's what we are >> reporter: three times a year for three years running they perform to th the delight of the who come to watch. these are no ordinary choir. they have brought their voices together because of a tragic illness, dementia. joe took early retirement to take on a new responsibility, caring for his wife as she gradually loses her mental function. >> she used to be independent but now she has to be dependent. it's a big change and acceptance. >> reporter: the idea of the choir came from dr. mary middleman. she has studied for years of how to improve the well-being of family caregivers of those with dementia. >> we started to think about how it would be better if the person with dementia was some how included in the intervention. i thought about singing as perhaps being an even more

powerful intervention. >> middle man says the choir eases the burden and brings the two together. >> i think what the chorus does is bring out the best in everyone. >> reporter: dr. middleman is not a drop off event. it has a positive impact not only on people suffering with dementia and alzheimer's but also the caregivers. >> we sing, we have fun, we tell jokes. >> we look after each other. it's a good thing to happen to us. >> have a seat. >> everything is acceptable. there is nothing that you have to worry about, inappropriate behavior because everybody understands where you are. there are no apologies.

>> middleman said that families struggling with dementia should ask for help. >> if it's a secret, no one talks about it, then search isolated, and you don't get social support from your family, and you don't get social support from your friends. >> and support is exactly what the members of the unforgettables receive every time they raise their voices. randall pinkston, al jazeera. >> a relatively young tradition called santa con. the police are trying to tone down the party and the drinking. ines is live with us. i don't know anything about this, what is this? >> this is a bunch of 20 and 30 somethings.

they dress up like santa claus and they go bar hopping. they tweet and texas so a lot of people descend on one place at one time. you can imagine this is people in grand central station. they go all over town doing this. it is in cities around the world now. but you can imagine if people are drinking all day long they might end up like this. >> well, is it drunken hooliganism is what i want to know. >> yes, sort of, or they may end up like this. this year in new york city there is a police precinct that asked the local bars not to serve these people. saying look, this is just chaos on the streets. and in fact, you've got some bars, some places that have this on their lease signs, santa con free zone. >> we're talking about groups of young people. >> yes. >> who get together, and go on a bit of a bar crawl.

>> yeah, this go on a bar crawl and they go all at once. so it's like suddenly in an area this place is packed. and you know, they're drinking throughout the day, and so now they're trying to tone it down. over the years it has gotten with social media this is going on everywhere. there is some transportation, lines that saying they're going to have a 24 hour booze man. you can't have open containers, also, so santa con the website for these people, the organizers are saying look, we know we've gotten son slack, but this year we're going to have volunteers who are going to be cleaning up, and they have this santa code that says this, santa spreads joy, not terror, not vomit, no trash, would you want those under your tree. >> yeah, yeah, yeah, these are organized among friends and online and you can see where the police who have an overall

responsibility for public safety would like to but the kibosh on this. >> bah humbug as well. ines, appreciate it. a way to make your family and the environment happy this holiday season. a seated wrapping paper, but the designs on the sheets are not just for show. each one has 700 vegetable seeds that can be planted. and left to grow. everything in the sheet is 100% environmentally friendly right down to the vegetable based ink. in keeping with the season, the enormous fur came to life in the sister o center of st. petes square. it will remain at its new home at the vatican until next year.

pope francis said the tree symbolizes the joy of the brilliant divine light. pretty cool. kevin is up next. with the weather forecast. this is al jazeera america. >> coming up on real money, spying at work with your every move under surveillance. you need to know what the boss knows to protect yourself. i'll show you, plus try to tame the multi headed tax animal that feeds at every american's home whether they're rich or poor. and jimmy carter sets the record straight on nelson mandela

here's a quick look at what is

happening. snow coming down from three to five inches. you see the dark blue. it is the lake-effect snow. it is impressive when it's coming down in these particular areas. according to the wind direction it comes a little more out of the north-northwest you'll tend to get the snow just south of the lake. and we're rather chilly in the northeast. all we need is a little moisture to ride over. as we talk about the great lake snow it is interesting to say that the lakes have not frozen over yet, so the winds come across and picks up the moisture and that's what adds to our snow total. but some of the cities here are a little below normal when it comes to snow this time of year. it looks like we'll be adding to that as we have a front that is moving through. it will bring rain to the south and snow to the north.

>> this is al jazeera america, i'm tony harris live in new york city. tha student in arapaho high school came with a rifle asking for a particular teacher. a man working for the c.i.a. robert levinson was not an u.s. government employee when he vanished but the administration would not comment on whether he had ties to the c.i.a. an advisory panel set up to