>> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters, these are the stories we are following for you. breaking news coming out of massachusetts. police investigating a security scare at a prestigious university. >> this explosive attack in aleppo, syria, leaving dozens dead, including many children. syrian army helicopters dropping so-called barrel bombs on the city. >> edward snowden - rattling washington - unclear on how many he knows. now there's talk of even giving him a deal.

>> we begin with breaking news in massachusetts. police there investigating a security scare at one of the nations prestigious universities. harvard university place are looking into reports of explosives inside four buildings on the campus. they have been evacuated. students are on campus, and are there because they are scheduled to take their final exams. we continue to follow the story and will bring you more developments as they warrant. >> the northern city of aleppo has seen some of the worst violence since the civil war broke out. women and children in syria among more than 100 dead after government troops dropped barrel bombs filled with explosives. those there now are searching for survivors in the rubble. nicole johnston has the story. >> no child should have to experience war like this boy. he's clearly in shock.

many people in aleppo will feel that way after a bombing raid on the city. in the al-haidaria neighbour hood bombs fell on a garage. >> translation: they call us terrorists. they are the terrorists themselves. may god take revenge on them, our cars were burnt with women and children inside. >> this is what is left after what activists say is one of the worst attacks on the city. 11 districts were hit, buildings destroyed before and people killed. on sunday 100 people died, and many more were injured. >> we have not rested since mourning. more than 10 different areas in aleppo came under bombardment. as you can see this is the only equipment the civil defense team has. we don't have other tools or equipment. >> al jazeera's correspondent inside aleppo reports that 50

people at least are trapped under the rubble and the syrian military dropped barrels filled with explosives on those below. they are made of large pipes or oil drums packed with tnt, oil, nail and bolts and pushed out the pack of helicopters. they are crude, but lethal. >> translation: here a barrel was dropped. 30 were killed, three others are missing. there are no heavy machines to get people out. >> as if syria was not miserable enough. people are barely surviving the winter. they want an end to the war. all they get is destruction. >> the u.n. is launching its biggest ever appeal for aid, asking for $6.5 billion to help the refugees, millions leaving home only to run into a winter

storm that could kill more. we have that story by anita mcnaught in eastern turkey. >> the figures that the war in syria is generating is becoming difficult to adequately comprehend. the world food program statements it will cost $2 billion every month to feed 7 million syrians. the last figures we have were more than 9 million syrians in need of humanitarian assistance. the united nations estimated that the refugee crisis for syrians who left the country will be twice the size of what it is now by 2014, if nothing is done to deal with the war raging in the country. however bad the situation is, it's infinitely worse inside. syrians are affected by three things, the war. political wrangling affecting who can access who and how, and grievously affected by the

weather. the cold weather is killing young syrians, old syrians and impeding the arrival of supplies. inside syria you have people without shelter, heating oils, hospitals are destroyed, inoperable, access to drugs in many areas, and aid agencies complained. the politics of working inside syria is a big problem. you have areas where fighting between rebel groups and the government is out of control. also the areas are out of bounds for aid agencies. u.n. staff are killed, red cross staff are killed and journalist can't tell the story either. >> that is anita mcnaught reporting from istanbul. >> senator john mccain is criticising the c.i.a. saying it didn't tell congress how much it knew about bob levinson. the former fbi agent had been working on a c.i.a. mission in iran when he went missing

seven years ago. iran maintains bob levinson is not their prisoner and they don't know where he is. the white house said bob levinson didn't work for the government when he went missing. >> leaks by snowedward snowden continuing to cause problems. less clear what he stole. patty culhane has the story of how a deal could be in the works. >> we know if you are anywhere in the world the n.s.a. can find out who you are calling. who you are emailing, where you go on the web or on the plan e in some cases they can listen to everything you say, whether you are a powerful politician or a regular person. when it comes to the person who made sure we know that, edward snowden, turns out the n.s.a. can't figure out what information he has. the office he worked at in hawaii didn't have the technology to keep track. >> will we know what he harks

the "new york times" says we may not. >> i don't think we l. >> what are the repercussions? >> he has a negotiating edge because he can hold the overhang on us. >> that's the question - should the u.s. government negotiate with edward snowden, offer amnesty for the 1.5 million documents he has. the man leading the investigation says yes. >> my personal view is yes, it's worth having a conversation about. i would need assurances that the remainder of the data could be assured, and the bar would be high, not just an assertion on his baht. >> the obama administration want him returned and prosecuted. the president will announce possible changes to some of the spying programs - the ones we know about. >> it's believed we have seen only 1% of what edward snowden has. the other 99%, not even the u.s. government knows what that will

reveal. >> the population of the guantanamo bay prison conditions to shrink. the pentagon says two detainees have been transferred to their homeland. neither detainee was charged with a crime. there's 150 prisoners at guantanamo bay. >> more than 1 million americans have been out of work for longer than 27 weeks. benefits expire at the end of the december and will have to wait to see if congress renews the benefits. we talk to a woman in queens who barely scripts by. >> in her mother's home teresa connolly's reality is far from the one she knew a year ago. she spends her days caring for her mother, who suffered several strokes, sending resumes and wondering how to pay her next bill. >> i love my mum very much.

a lot of times i can't give her what i don't have. that bothers me a great deal. >> it's a far cry from the 11 years she spent in manhattan working as an executive assistant. when laid off she got unemployment benefits and has been living on $328 a week, dipping into her 401 k to make ends meet. >> with my two children, grown adults, a lot of time they say, "mum, here's something." us know, "here's 20", put in the gas. me being a parent, you take care of your kids. at the same time sometimes your kids have to take care of their parents. >> the stress has tape a physical told. >> weigh gain, weight loss. so, you know, things can go up

and down. >> while the overall unemployment rate dropped the 7% the number of long-term unemployed, those without work for 27 weeks, hasn't budged. more than 4 million of them are struggling to find jobs. >> extended unemployment benefits were created during the recession in 2008 to give americans assistance. more than 1 million long-term unemployed receive them, but not after november 28th when they expire. that increases the numbers looking for jobs at this agency in new york. >> people are flexible. in the past people are holding out looking for full-time, as opposed to flexibility and considering temporary to start with. >> they are competing with

recent grads for entry-level positions in a competitive marketplace. >> without a job and benefits, they worry how they'll survive in the new year. >> meanwhile the house has already left washington for christmas, this is the last week for the senate to be in session. lawmakers have a lot to get through, including president nominees included in the deal unemployment benefits. >> mike viqueira plenty voted f which passed in a land slide - republicans and democrats joining - but harry reid says when they come back they have to

pass it. bipartisan majority, unbelievable. we have gone through the looking glass and there are problems in the senate. usually it's the other way around. the first vote will be tomorrow, and faces a 60 vote unemployment insurance benefit was not attached to the deal. while they areoption, 50 votes

to pass judicial and cabinet level secretaries for confirmation in the senate. the filibuster required 60: glide pass is on for nominees. several passed last week. republicans are upset. they are throwing up procedural roadblocks. two nominees are expected to pass. jeh johnston frrfe. >> mike viqueira joining us from washington. >> it is hard to forget elian gonzalez, the little cuban boy caught up in the tug of war between the u.s. and cuba. elian gonzalez had harsh comments regarding the period in his life. his great uncle talked to our correspondent. >> for the first time in 14 years, elian gonzalez heard his great-nef yu speaking

publicly about his return to cuba. the eld the elder cared for the boy in the united states. >> translation: we are happy he is alive but a little upset. we knew what was happen to him. >> elian gonzalez's is referring to comments his great-nephew, now 20, made last week. the younger gonzalez was in ek wad door to attend a conference, his first trip out of cuba. >> translation: they have to realise they behaved poorly and did not do the right thing. we are ready to not forgive them, but that is not forgivable, but we don't hold grudges. >> in 1999 the boy was caught in the mid of of an international custody battle when he was the

sole survivor of a raft crossing. his mother drowned. he was placed with his great uncle and other relatives who fought to keep him in miami. fidel castro sent the boys father to the u.s. to return him. armed federal agents seized the child for return to cuba. today, his great nephew is an instrument of the communist system. >> translation: he speaks, but he doesn't know. he says what they tell him to say. i would tell him to seek the truth. >> he fears or the young man's future. >> translation: when he has no longer useful they'll do what they do to others, push him aside. then they'll take his cake,

steak, everything. he'll live in misery or throw himself back into the ocean again. >> for 13 years he maintained the house as a museum, as it was when elian gonzalez was taken away. last year financial hardships forced him to close the public museum rent the house and put everything in storage. he rents a room in the back of the house. >> he is sure that life for elian gonzalez would have been better had he remained in the u.s. >> translation: had he stayed here he would have been able to choose his own way of live. >> he will await the day he embraces elian gonzalez once again. >> elian gonzalez is now studying engineering. >> still ahead a louisiana town dealing with a violent past. how cold cases have ties to the

ku klux klan, that are being solved. google requiring a military company. what is behind the fastest-running robot? those stories and more when al jazeera continues. >> shocking revelations about the fake interpreter at the ceremony honouring nelson mandela.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. there's a bizarre update to the bogus sign language interpret are story. the man seen standing next to president obama during the memorial service of nelson mandela helped to burn two men alive in 2003. he was put in a mental institution after a judge found him unfit to serve time in gaol. the ap quoted friends and relatives that the incident during nelson mandela's memorial was a security breach as well as an embarrassment to the south african government.

>> they were some of the most heinous crimes, dozens of murders motivated by race across the deep south. many remaining unsolved decades later, those involving the ku klux klan. andy gallacher reports. >> the archives of ferriday's local newspaper are a window into this small town's past. among the dusty yellow ages there are stories some would prefer to forget. >> this is september. three months before frank tide. this is his advertisement. he ran it almost every week. >> the man that died owned a shoe repair shop, and was well liked by the community. his white customers would let his children play in his shop. that, say investigators, was reason enough for the ku klux klan to target him. this is all that remains of frank's business. that night it was set op fire

frank was forced to stay inside at gunpoint. he was seen running from the corner of the building with his clothes on fire. as he ran, he left bloodied footprince on the road. four days later he died of his burns. >> stanley nelson pieced together what happened by talking to witnesses and going through old police orps. >> the more you dug the more you realised there were bad people here. if what happened then happened now, the murders and beatings and whippings going on, we'd be terrified. >> what happened is not unusual. cross the deep south there are 70 unsolved murder cases, most of them brutal and racially motivated. >> the lord had a way of bringing justice. it may be a long time coming. >> for people like robert lee

who remembers frank morris well there's some comfort that frank's murder may not have been in vein. >> at least somebody said, "let's find out what happened to this man and who was responsible." now the world knows what frank morris was, what kind of person he was and have an idea of who were responsible. >> despite fresh efforts to vet the cold cases, it's unlikely many people will be brought to justice. witnesses are dying, memories fading and perpetrators taking secrets to the grave. in ferriday the memory of frank morris lives on, and that may be the only justice that some get. >> taking a look at the top business headlines - a rally under way on wall street. the do you is soring. stocks rising on strong economic data that came out. >> look at the superfast

animal-like robot with names bike big dog and cheetah. google is buying the company that buys them for the military. boston din ammics designs them. google is yet to say how the robots will be used. >> plus, coming up next... >> we don't know the culture, but we know it by bread. >> a unique idea not only helping imgrants find jobs, but giving rise to a new way of life. lav ash ash tñ

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters, these are the headlines. we are following breaking news coming out of boston. the university of massachusetts is reporting a person with a firearm. a building has been evacuated. that is at the university of massachusetts. a building evacuated after

reports of a person with a firearm following reports of bombs at harvard university that we continue to follow. >> the interim leader of the central african republic is looking at granting amnesty at those involved in the christian-muslim violence. >> numbers show most immigrants coming to the u.s. are women, many trueing to find work paying a reasonable wage, some suffering abuse. >> kaelyn forde has the story. >> in a little kitchen in harlem something hot is happening. big changes in women's lives are taking shape. halla ciabatta tortillas lavash - breads from all over the world made here. >> hot bread kitchen trains

lower income women to become master bread makers. kaoutar shares the kitchen with women from mexico and bangladesh. >> i like to come here speaking english and another language, like spanish. >> jessamyn started the company m her kitchen. >> at the core is the idea that in most parts of the world women bake bread. >> in the u.s. and europe, men are getting jobs in baking. i wanted to marry a market demand for bread with the need for immigrant women do get better jobs. >> according to rodriguez immigrant women hold 8% of baking jobs. >> this was a social justice venture prize six years ago. the organizers hope to compete with the biggest bakeries and

fund programs with bread alone. >> it offers free english classes. it was a life line when she came. >> it was my first time and my dream. it was a little difficult because you in another world, no family. no language, it was brilliant for me, a lot of stuff to have spelty for yourself. >> so far 45 women graduate from the program, finding work. others stayed here to teach women to bake. >> we know it by bread. >> bread that provides a taste of home to women who come here to make new lives on their own. >>

>> i'm metrologist dave warren. big cloud and storm. it's in the north atlantic leaving behind a lot of snow and a mix of sleet and rain. a lot coming in with inches of snow, mainly across new york and new england. changing to snow and rain. ploughs and people were busy. 12-18 inches of snow just to the north and west of i-95. things are quiet. we are looking at a storm developing over canada, moving across the great lakes, as far as the snow-fall timing we'll see slight snow. early afternoon, wednesday, slick roads across the north-east. >> we want to end on a positive note. the breaking news out of the boston - massachusetts police

reporting that all things are clear. more news straight ahead. homeowners, one minute home he is. what is going on. talk rabbiting numbers we have more homeless school age kids in america than ever before. >> right. >> so we