consider this. we'll see you next time. >> good evening everyone. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. >> since i'm in charge, obviously, we screwed it up. >> the report card. the president's hits and misses, in 2013. plus his promises in the future. all part of the last news conference of the year. utah's ban on same sex marriage, ruled unconstitutional. we talk with the first gay couple married in that state. the woman she prayed $3 an

hour plus row bow could be. remarkable prototypes that one day may save our lives. tonight our science and technology correspondent jake ward gets up close and personal with these heavy metal machines. be president obama is heading home for the holidays. he and his family are headed right now on air force one to hawaii. before leaving he had a news conference talking questions about what went right and what went wrong in 2013. mike viqueria reports. >> well, the president had the tone and demeanor of a man ready to put 2013 in the rearview mirror. he also insists that next year 2014, things are looking up. >> good afternoon everybody.

>> with calls for reform coming from the courts and some of his own advisors, president obama defended the nsa's collection of millmillions of phone calls. >> whatever benefits this particular program may have may be outweighed by the concerns that people have on its potential abuse, and if that's the case there may be another way of skinning the cat. >> asked directly if a plea deal could be negotiated with edward snowden in a t stop to the leak, president obama chose his words care offully. >> this has done untold damage to u.s. intelligence capabilities and u.s. diplomacy. >> on iran the president came out against a push for new sanctions. joining some congressional republicans on a call to tighten the screws, president obama

called to give his plan a chance. >> what i've said to democrats and republicans is, there's no need for new sanctions legislation. not yet. >> the session with reporters was an effort to end 2013 on a positive note. in some areas it has been a rough year for the president. to blame the nsa controversy and the botched health care rollout for which president obama again admitted blame. >> since i'm in charge obviously we screwed it up. >> chided reporters for writing him off. >> i think this room has probably recorded at least 15 near-death experiences. >> at the top of the 2014 agenda immigration reform, on the newly passed budget the president sees more hope for new deals in the coming years. >> in the terms of brinksmanship

coming out of the government shutdown. >> this was probably the president's last potential appearance no. the new year. there are no fights in congress to keep him in washington. at the end of the day, he boarded marine 1, for 17 days in hawaii. >> the president tried to accentuate the positive, the sinking of the unemployment rate, and he had an now's announcement for healthcare.gov, he said 1 million have signed up, half a million in the first three weeks in december alone. that is obviously a good news for the white house, however, the goal was 3 million enrolled by the first of the year, 7 million enrolled by april 1st. they've obviously got a long way to go. >> mike viqueria, thanks. the health care, nsa leaks, can he turn it around in time for

the mid year elections? with me is heather hurlburt, welcome heather. >> thanks for having me john. >> what did you think of the president's performance today? >> i was impressed by his attempt to try, to shape the agenda for next year, wait until congress leaves up to, there's nobody left here to give a rebuttal, his clip is what you and everybody else are showing and you lay out these are the achievements, this is the way we want to frame it going forward. >> let me frame it to the 15 near death experiences sound bite. >> i think this room has recorded at least 15 near death experiences, we've had ups and we've had downs and what i've been focused on each and every day, is are we moving the ball in helping the american people,

families, have ask more opportunity if they work hard, they can get ahead. >> as a speech writer i would expect you would focus on the words. let me focus on the tone for a moment. my sense is this was a very down press conference as much as he would want to move it forward. >> you would have near death experiences, you know nothing about near death experiences. >> you do. >> i was struck actually there was a real pr 101 let's take responsibility and move on. >> he did that before didn't he? >> yes but what i did -- >> this is the second time. >> what i thought of was interesting was that this wasn't a sort of yeah we screwed up. it was a hey the numbers are way up the costs are way down and yes we screwed up. we got the report on the nsa we're going to look at it and yes maybe we didn't understand some things quite right.

there was an effort to do two things at once, first to say consumer play book 101, you immediately take responsibility for things and at the same time, you're trying frame discussion, you're trying to put the positive out there trying to force, because think about it. what's the story you would write about the end of the year? it would be a pretty negative story, you had cover stores, on the d.c. media, worst year ever, worst year in economy, balance that by saying more people are at work. >> i was going to say that, on a day that probably could have been one of his best days as president, because the numbers were tremendous regarding the economy. it looks like the economy is back on track, he's struggled through all these years and yet, i mean, i kept hear the tone. and the tone to me just sounded a little bit off. it just -- sounded like he was worn out, done with it.

is that -- is that taking it too far you think? or not? >> well, you know it's worth mentioning the last question in the press conference which has gotten less attention where he was asked about the folks on his staff leaving. he talked directly about what it's like and how exhausted people are. and he says we have this opportunity for a relatively short time to make a difference but there's an all o awful lot u sacrifice in the meantime. you're looking at a group of people, look how gray his hair is, how much he's aged. beginning of next year there's some new folks coming in on the team and so you know this is a bit of a turning point and a farewell to a bunch of people and a sort of you come back next year and you mentioned in your setup the mid terms. as a president who as he says is never going to run for anything again, you have some the luxury and some the wait about how your party does in the mid terms.

so that gives you a more sort of reflective i think focus. >> and more than that a lot of time left as president of the united states. heather it's great to see you, thanks for talking to you again, happy holidays. >> thanks same to you. new revelations about nsa surveillance activities. u.s. and british surveillance since 2008 and 2011. they include an israeli prime minister, and others. leaked by edward snowden. the situation is increasingly dire and dangerous in south sudan. ethnic fighting has left hundreds dead this week and now president obama is sending troops to safeguard americans.

>> this woman is angry because the food she's been given. >> they told us there would be food but that's not true. they said we would get help. i'm angry hungry and frustrated. >> there are 5,000 living here, families too scared and traumatized to go back home. james ega is the current's president. he says juba is safe. he replaced, in august, the man the president accused of planning a coup. >> only places are under his control. we will flush him out. >> the united nations paints a

slightly different picture. mashar denies taking over the country. fighting are still recovering in hospital. officials say they battle to cope at first but now things seem under control. >> almost all of them, short wounds, different from shots at night and shot in the day. shot at night are people running. in the morning, they were all in the front, legs, thighs, chest, and in the head, which means they are anonymity in combat, most of the fatal injuries were those of the chest and the head. >> locals in the capital juba say if the crisis escalates, they have nowhere to run to. >> north korea making threats to south korea with a fax machine.

low tech merciless strikes without warning was protests on the anniversary of kim jong-il's death, burned effigies of kim jong-un. now to our latest report on veterans voices. it's our focus on the men and women who serving america and what they face on the front lines and at home. tonight we want to take a look at something very special that's being offered to veterans. it's for trip back to the states and as you will see it provides them for both care and comfort. it's l called the freedom center lounge and it's in detroit. david hawkins has the story. >> it may not be as fancy as a first class lounge but it's a place of welcome and comfort for a special kind of traveler. the freedom center at detroit's metropolitan airport is a place where military personnel

veterans and their families can rest before and between flights. wifi, comfortable chairs, even bunk beds for the weary. >> it's a nice relaxing break. >> she has a six-hour layover. >> actually toying with trying to get a hotel room for several hours. that doesn't make any sense. >> my plane got pushed back for a couple of hours, so i it's nice to relax and get something to eat. >> the u.s. didn't get a christmas holiday until the civil war. it's a holiday homecoming for american soldiers and sailors to get some time with their families. >> i was home since boot camp. it's just for the weekend, some really want to see me.

>> some are headed in the other direction. this sergeant is heading back to kuwait, after attending his father's funeral. , aifort piloair force captain a pilot. >> we have evolved into this great crossroads of air travel so there are literally hundreds if not thousands of military personnel transiting this airport. >> more than 80,000 people have visited this transit center. >> i haven't slept for several days actually, it is nice to kickback and relax. >> that is what this place is for, to provide rest and relaxation for people who have served or are serving their country. >> coming up.

credit card abuse, plus the robot olympics. and the first couple to say i do, joins us live. you you you.

>> a live look at the empire state building in new york. which is lit up ahead of christmas. a clear night in the city but that's not the case in other part of the country. kevin corriveau joins us. >> that's not the case, john. you can see through texas, oklahoma, not just the rain and the thunderstorms, we're talking about icing. most of oklahoma is dealing with icing right now. earlier i said we had a tornado. now we're picking up wind damage in most of oklahoma on ice storm warnings, you don't want to be

on the roads for this. especially tomorrow look all the way up towards chicago we're talking about winter storm warnings as well as flooding possibly across indiana, ohio, three to four inches of rain is expected across that region. tomorrow a lot of people are on the roads or trying to be on the roads or in the air. we have a lot of severe weather, talk about the mississippi river valley, the damaging winds, we've already seen those. the tornadoes we expect to see several tomorrow. now december's not that time of the month where we normally have tornadoes but we do think the risk is going to be there because the air temperature is so warm. we are looking at atlanta tomorrow at 74° as well as memphis well above average. john. >> kevin thank you. target is trying to make amends over the security breach that could have affected tens of thousands of customers. between november 27th and

december 15th. it will also give all customers a 10% discount on purchases this weekend. about 40 million credit and debit accounts were compromised. the u.s. leads all other countries in being number 1 in credit fraud. reliance on technology that deals back to the days of cassettes and eight-track tapes. >> the news that target commerce are vulnerable to -- customers are vulnerable to cdc theft, target still doesn't know how that breach happened but these large scale security breaches are becoming more and more common. t.j. maxx, barns and noble. adding that credit card theft is more pre prevalent than anywhere

else in the world. >> the magnetic stripe in the existing credit card based here in the u.s. is old school. it's antiquated, the data is in plain text, and it can be easily compromised. >> this makes american shoppers extremely vulnerable. according to neilson, the u.s. primarily uses magnetic swipe technology on credit cards, where other countries adopted a more sophisticated technology. >> in mexico and other places, they are calling chip in pen, requiring a chip meaning it is a small little chip, and it requires a pin. it's not easily read and it has a lot more security and

encryption. >> here is how it works. when you use a chip card the transaction is scrambled cryptographically. dozens of pieces of information are shared between the card and the company. >> use it to create court fit cards and then they go on to purchase gift cards and convert gift cards back to cash. neilsen says the chip technology is the strongest defense against counterfeit cards. why is the technology used in less than 1% of cards? one, it costs more to create the system. others prefer to use the technology that includes fingerprints. >> anywaysys kmart and kohl's

will expand hours to counts until christmastime. state ban on same sex marriage is unconstitutional. u.s. district court judge robert j. shelby wrote the funnel right to marry in doing so demean the dignity of these same sex couples for no rational reasons. accordingly the court finds these laws unconstitutional. accordingly, salt lake city has begun issuing licenses to same sex marriages. seth anderson and michael ferguson, congratulations. >> thank you very much. >> this decision came as kind of a surprise and a surprise to the state. how did you move so quickly and get in to get your license and get married? >> sure.

so seth and i were working at the tea shop that we own here in 38tsalt lake and we got a text message and it said judge shelby just struck down the law, you better get down to the courthouse right away. we didn't understand the details but just went, and realized holy moaly, you're going to get married in our state. >> you got married quite soon after getting the license? >> that's correct. >> the clerks hadn't heard, we showed them the e-mail, shortly after that the d.a. got there and was kind and supportive and took the clerks aside to brief them what was going on. about 20, 30 minutes later they came out and said we can proceed. >> i couldn't believe it. >> so now utah's attorney general says the state is requesting an emergency stay

pending the filing of an appeal. in fact the attorney general's office said this, we'll continue reviewing the ruling until an appeal is filed contending the passage of the law for citizens of utah. what's your reaction? >> we're not -- we're leap and protection of social contracts like any other couple. >> i'm going to ask you to hold on just one second. let's make sure we get the satellite thing fixed. i'm asking you to repeat. what was your reaction to the toarnl general? >> i set we're not attorneys we're not lawyers ourselves, we are really thrilled that equality is being recognized, that we are permitted to do so and it just seems really obvious that this is the way that it is fair for everybody to proceed and participate in a civil society. >> so you are both mormons, ex

mormons i understand and the mormon church is opposed to this ruling and is releasing a statement, i can read it, the church is consistent in its approach, we continue to think that voters in utah did the right thing by providing clear direction, that marriage should be between a man and a woman and we are hopeful that this would be validated in the higher court. >> we invite them to talk to us and not just talk in legal jargon, actually talk to the people who are affected by this. >> you are in a state where 28% of the people are in favor of gay marriage. can you explain what that's like, seth? >> it's -- we lef in downtown salt lake city which is a beautiful city, it is an island of blue in a very big sea of

red. it is a very conservative state. there are a lot of organizations that are networked and organized to pos to oppose rights for samx marriage. but the scene at the court was a cheering and sharing of joy. this is a pro-family movement. >> the support was just palpable in the room. >> and do you have any idea how many other couples were getting licenses after you or were there very few? >> the last count we heard was upwards of 200. they had to turn a bunch of people away because they had to close the office. at least 700 and they are probably opening the office tomorrow to continue issuing licenses. >> so gracious. >> can you give us the idea what the news is like in salt lake city about this court decision and how big it is in your state?

>> we're just still dealing with all the text messages of love and congratulations from friends so we haven't even gotten to that yet. >> well, we appreciate you taking the time. >> sure. >> on your wedding day to get to talk with us, seth and michael good luck, thanks so much. >> thank you very much. >> strip search, indian diplomat is getting the headline but we are looking closely at the nanny she allegedly mistreated. >> and a rock 'n' roll high school in music city, u.s.a.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york and here are the top of stories. president obama and his family flew to hawaii this weekend,

where they will enjoy two weeks of vacation. following the time the president held a year end press conversation. the more than 1,000 targets of surveillance include european union and other foreign officials. edward snowden'strophy of leaked documents. on their way home, killed after an attack on a u.n. base violent clashes between the government and the rebels, led to fleeing. anger in india over a gloament arrested an strip searched in new york city. protestors filled the streets, there's been much police attention for the domestic servant who was supposedly paid only $3 and hour.

rafsia sakaria, attorney, human rights activist, welcome, good to see you. >> thank you for having me on. >> can you talk -- i mean we don't know the details of this case, we don't know exactly what happened. we do know there have been some allegation he made by prosecutors. -- allegations made by prosecutors. how often did we see this situation, foreign people wanting to work as dmesk domestd paid $3 an hour. >> we don't often see cases where a diplomat is implicated in charges like this. in every single u.s. state has seen human trafficking cases. so these cases are far more prevalent than most people imagine. that's the reason why this march, the obama administration

reauthorized the protection against trafficking act. so that victims of trafficking can get help when they need it, as fast as they need it and based on their own story. so some of the -- >> let me interrupt you there. can you explain what you mean by human trafficking and why this in your opinion might fall into this case? >> the issue is basically this. we often have cases in which people are brought from abroad. it is not just india, i have seen cases from the philippines, from mexico, from many, many countries. these people are kept as domestic servants as prostitutes, as agricultural workers. there are a number of ways in which they can be exploited. and the provisions of the act are such that right now, if you have -- if you bring someone over to work for you, if you take away their identifying

documents and you keep them in a situation where they're isolated and they're working these long hours that can make you liable for prosecution under the statute. specifically, because it is designed to protect people who are being brought into the country for labor purposes, and who do not have the choice to leave the employers that bring them here. now, in the -- >> go ahead, go ahead. >> well, in the case of this india diplomat, i will say two things. number one, for prosecutors to have brought charges and to have arrested or detained her, they would have had to have a level of proof that is quite significant. i know this because i have worked with south asian victims of trafficking before with customs and enforcement and it's actually very difficult for the u.s. attorney to press charges. because the documentary evidence

required even the make an arrest, to have a probable cause to make an arrest is pretty significant so -- >> let me interrupt for one second and give you one more question because i've been looking at the response from india. and you have seen the protest and the anger in the streets at the arrest of this diplomat. can you explain that, given all that you've just explained to me? >> well, there's two aspects to this. one aspect is the very tragic reality that diplomats are some of the most -- the world's most visible migrants right? they have a whole country behind them. and domestic workers are some of the most invisible migrants. and you have this case in which the two are literally pitted against each other. within south asia politicians enjoy a great deal of pomp, a great deal of protocol.

it's spree difficult for the indianaian milk t -- indian pubc to understand, they do not get special treatment. they are treated just like everyone else, and that protocol includes them being searched, before they are put into lockup. in any jurisdiction in the united states. >> well, we will watch this case unfold, rafsia zacharia, thank you very much. in a statement the family members say they have met with the fbi director james comey, and have met with staff of secretary of state john kerry and why president obama. the last time family has received photos from levinson or videos is 2011.

no doubt, country is king. >> in high school, voice education is, in nashville, students are getting hands on with the music industry by running their own record label. >> 16, 17 years old, have a business like 25-year-old people at warner brothers. >> with big donations, procon high school is equipped with a $1.2 million state-of-the-art music studio, to give students practical world experience in this competitive ever change field. in nashville, 56,000 jobs are

tied to music. >> we sign artists to a contract, we create the image and the music. >> focusing on audio recording and the business of the industry. students in the record class are also responsible for finding and promoting artists and making sure they get vocal training. recordinrecording contracts are available for any student in school. >> this is not easy. from the singing to the promoting to the creative side, and your look has to match your -- what you're doing. >> so what's been the biggest thing you've learned about the music business? >> probably how a whole record is put together from the recording to the publishing to the sound. >> five time grammy winning and producing brothers cedric and

victor caldwell, oversee. 70% of the kids they see are financially disadvantaged. >> they are more creative because they don't have the luxuries other people have, so they're more creative. they write better songs, they experiment, they are not scared. >> just being different, taking those skill sets, this is right place for it to be. >> with their first full project, a christmas album complete, some say they look at the future in a brand-new way. jonathan martin, al jazeera, nashville. >> the most interesting information comes from children. that's a quote from mark twain. we can learn a tremendous amount about them, being 8. it's about incredible

experiences struggles and insight all through the most innocent of eyes. we begin with a young ballerina poised to take the stage. jewely muller has her story. >> kendall is just eight years oold and 4'5" so there's not a lot of ballet roles for her, unless it's christmastime. this nutcracker performed by the pasadena dance theater, is her first chance. >> i'm in the scene where mother ginger comes out, she lifts up the skirt and we dancing all around her. >> let's look back a bit, it's four hours before curtain time and kendall is getting ready for her debut. >> i feel nervous and excited at the same time. >> she started in the shadow of

her sister. even sow kendall had to audition and this dance company rarely acceptance eight-year-olds. but she was accepted and she found a whole new set of role models. >> what did you think of the people who had the leads? >> it was amazing because she kept lifting her and she was on pointe. >> on pointe and oh those leaps. >> it just feels like you're flying when you jump up in the air like that. i've always wanted to do that. and then, the awnings can see me do that like floating up in the air. >> it's now two hours to curtain time. her hair is in braids, her ballet bag is in hand and she's off to the theater. she and the other girlder herded backstage where they have to wait for their appearance in the second act. on stage the nutcracker is in full swing, backstage the girls finally head to makeup, where

they are transformed into little french clowns or polichanels, the wait has given kendall a good sense of stage fright. >> i feel like i'm going to mess up. >> then suddenly intermission is over and she's rushed into wardrobe. kendall is transformed. >> do you feel like you're no longer kendall? >> i feel like a professional ballet. >> mother ginger's giant skirt is lowered over the girls for their entrance. for kendall, this is the moment she was waiting for, the moment -- we'll let her tell you. >> when mother jir ginger liftsp her skirts, there's lights and,

wow. >> wow indeed. kendall has fallen under the spell of the music, the dance, the applause. even as she takes her bough, she's dreaming of the future. >> i want to be the role of clara. >> the lead role? >> yes. >> 4'5 "and ready to fly. judy muller, al jazeera. >> a look at what might be the future.

>> well, we've been telling you about all the severe weather we've had going on through texas and oklahoma with all the rain we're expecting there and then saturday, all the way through parts of ohio river valley, damaging hail, tornadoes and what are we going to have as we go towards the holidays? on sunday, all that rain goes to the coast and great lakes, a lot of snow. southeast, records will be broken, sunday new york, 66° is expected, washington, 73. it won't last that long. all this cold air will make its way a little more to the east.

on christmas eve this is what we expect to see in the northeast. temperatures come down, new york 36, overnight lows 22, up here towards washington, a little warmer 41° there. but there's also a little bit of a chance of precip in the forecast. down towards miami christmas eve you're going to have a high of about 59°. 59° -- 79. up in a wedding gown and will rite a book with his bff, kim jong un. the 52-year-old rodman, who never shies away from the spotlight arrived in north korea >> al jazeera america is the only news channel that brings you live news at the top of every hour. >> here are the headlines at this hour.

>> only on al jazeera america. >> they build cars, mass-produce and make good holiday gifts. but can robots save lives? well, consider, what's going on in miami now with man made machines and scenarios, cutting edge technology something to behold. science and technology correspondent jacob ward has more. >> this weekend, robots are coming to save you or at least they're going to try. they're driving vehicles, climbing ladders, and cutting through walls, as part of a sort of robot olympics held by a government agency called darpa, the defense advanced research agency. and so that a machine like these can somehow rescue you and me.

resulting in a situation where humans need to charge in and fix things but where doing so is suicide. the nuclear emergency at fukushima is an example. the idea of in competition is to develop robots to send in our place, that human rescuers might. the robots are trying to complete eight task force this weekend, they have been given a long time, a full half hour to achieve each task. think of these robots as toddlers slowly reaching for the steering wheel trying to keep their balance and generally falling over a lots. d aarpa is the many government's most insane agency, their idea was the network that could

somehow survive a nuclear attack, the result was the internet. the agency bets big on weird ideas and the idea here is robots is the next one. receiving millions in darpa funding, a year from now the teams will try it again at full speed. at that point, the technology may be available for robots to assist, save us when we need it most. >> just because these robots are intended for a human environment doesn't mean they have to look human. i'm here with breath kennedy, who is the are jpl's robo simian team. >> very specific form and a lot of specific functions, this robot can be adapted in whatever the situation calls for.

>> in the end here these devices look very complex but they are in fact in their infancy. we are seeing the primitive rescuers you and i could be depending on in the future. >> fantasy football has skyrocketed in popularity. with 60 million playing the game online. are these fantasy owners taking it too far? clearly they are. >> the average fantasy football owner spends 12 hours a week managing and doing research and it's costing companies $6.5 billion per year in lost productivity. now niece owners are taking to twitter sending out violent tweets. if you've never played fantasy football, these fantasy players

rack up performance based on how many yards they rack up. your players don't do well their owners get very angry. after detroit lost to baltimore monday night, called out matthew stafford and receiver calvin roberts, i lost by ' and that is ' to your '. shall they call the cops or just ignore it? >> it depends on the nfl player you are talking about. this mace be a surprise but the majorities of players have no idea how fantasy football works, how it operates, how players actually accumulate points or how they help win fantasy football matchups. those who do actually play in a league with greg jennings and

maurice jones drew, they get it. calvin johnson a number of these guys reggie bush who really have no clue how it operates. i'm sure they hear fans say, hey, win my fantasy league, how you win your fantasy football matches they really don't know. >> wasn't there a case with new york running back brandon jacobs that they goth nfl security to protect his family? >> there was. brandon jake pobs got the start. there was a lot of fantasy football folks who picked up brandon jacobs and started him that week hoping he would win they're matchup. he did not put up great points. the immediate reaction was dude, what did you do? you didn't help me. they threatened his family and

he got concerned. and the nfl security office investigated, the gentleman later apologized that he was only joking but you got to realize that certain tweets went too far and with brandon jacobs it good. >> so do the players have to get off social media during the season? >> listen, 60 million people played fantasy football this year, 3 million of those 60 were woman and it's only getting bigger and better. the game of the nfl, if you are talking about teams, they are no longer fans of players, only of teams. the situation is only going to get worse, only going to get larger. the immediate reaction, when a player doesn't put up fantasy

football points to you, you have a time to respond to a player on twitter, where maybe an hour goes by and i'm not going otake it out or the player, but that's not what happened. i don't think there's a solution to this problem. i think nfl nfl l players need to understand why they are so passionate. >> fantasy football has become a disruptive force at work and as well as on social yeet. they got to chill out, it's just a game. >> 60 million fans at the same time is out of control. >> especially when they are threatening their players and families and so forth. >> coming up, priceless pictures and the stories behind them. we'll talk to the pulitzer prize winning photographer who snapped them. after this.

>> start with one issue education... gun co

>> his photos have stood the test of time. before david hume kennerling was

in vietnam taking pictures of the war. i asked him about his most memorable pictures, including a big history in sports history. >> march 8th, 1971, the reason i remember that the next day was my 24th birthday and the day i left for vietnam. that picture was on the front of the new york times. ali getting knocked down by joe frazier. >> did you know you had it? >> no? i didn't know i had it. the first i saw it was on the paper the next day. it was a great birthday present for me. >> how long did you spend in vietnam and what did you othere? >> i was there about two and a half years for upi, bureau chief for upi.

i i was always out in the field doing combat pictures. this photograph, their text was it showed the loneliness and the quiet desolation of the war. when the action was happening it was pretty hard to shoot for one thing, but this emphasizes what it's like to be a soldier. >> from that -- i've just picked out some of these photos that i love that i think are terrific. >> fortunately you have a few. >> we could spend all night going through these photos. but the one of richard nixon at the grand old opry,. >> singing? >> definitely not singing, watching. but i have to say the smirk on his face. >> this was a great, probably the last fun loving moment he had as president. because this was in 1974.

and of course he was out later that year. he was playing happy birthday to mrs. nixon and i think the expression has to do with look, i can actually do this. i can do something that is musical. and it was a fun moment. >> you have been the witness to so many moments in history. do you sort of look back and pinch yourself, think gosh how did that happen? >> that's a good question. i give a lot of talks to young people. i look at the photos, i look at the pictures and can't believe i was the one that took them, in all these great places, and all these great people. being in the front row of history and being a witness and a chronicler. >> when you came in you were taking pictures with your

iphone, talk about the book you're getting ready to do. >> well, one of the things i'm doing, my day job cameras, i use canons because that's a professional camera. but the iphone camera has been another way of seeing things. every day, everybody out there, can be a photographer, can be a witness, and take photos. the quality of the iphone i found to be exceptional. and so what this does for me is every day, i have a fresh look at life. and i'm able to go down the street. when i'm looking for pictures, i'm in kind of a different frame of mind. and these are representative of that. >> well, thanks for sharing a lot of these wonderful photos with us. it's great to see you. >> thank you. >> and we're going oleave you with one more incredible image here from new york city. courtesy of the empire state

building, colors changing and flickering. thanks for watching. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler. the president and first family set off for hawaii where they will enjoy over two weeks of vacation. the president held a year end news conference. the bodies of two u.n. peace keepers killed in south sudan have been brought home. hundreds of people have been killed in the past few days. brinksmanship via fax machine. north korea threatened