tech know. >> this is al jazeera america, live from new york city. i am jonathan betz. an al jazeera exclusive. south sud an's vice president is clear: he wants to be in charge. >>. >> after weeks of delays, now the deadline, time is running out for some to sign up for obamacare. winter storms spreading throughout north namerica and nw threatening europe. veteran's beer, 100% patriotic. >> tonight, the south sudan easy government has lost control of one of its states rich in oil.

the united nations has now pulled out nearly 700 workers. gunshots forced earlier rescues to abort. tribal differences between the president and his former vice president are driving the violence there. it escalated when the president dissolved his entire cabinet in july. he also reshuffled the government creating a one-party state making it nearly impossible for anyone else to be elected president in south sudan. more from harrah mutasa. >> as the violence in central south sudan esc lanes, thousands of people are trying to escape the fighting. government soldiers have lost control of the capitol to rebels. they have battle to go recapture bor. >> there are a lot of people in the u.n. compound. the whole town is barricaded completely. it is only these rebel soldiers who move about in the town.

all of the bodies have not been collected. we don't know how far, what is the number of the death up to now because the town is under the control of the rebels. >> the rebels are loyal to former vice president mashad, accused of plotting a coup. speaking to david foster over the phone, he said he is ready to run the country. >> the answer is yes, you would like to be the next president? >> yes. no one of knows where mashas. government officials seem to be

losing patience. >> since he is continuing with his atrocities against the people, definitely, the government of south sudan will not tolerate that because we will not allow him to continue to kill the people. meanwhile, we fold our hands and keep waiting for him to accept peace. i strongly believe after this, there will be no way but we will have to move to protect the lives of the city. >> there are diplomatic efforts to get the opposing sides to talk. government officials say it is a temporary setback and that order will be restored soon. they also said they wanted the forces to take the capital. >> they are in the capital to try and broker peace talks. but mashar has made it clear he wants the president removed. that could make any chance of a dialogue difficult. harrah mutasa, juba.

>> briefed on vacation in hawaii, president obama. >> the united states in coordination with the united nations has air lifted a number of citizenship who presented themselves to the u.n. camp in bor. they a they were air lifted today juba. the specifics have not been made available by the state department for deliberate reasons. this being a fact that, of course, on saturday, there was an effort to air lift that was abandoned when four u.s. service members were fired upon. they are recovering from their injuries but at the same time, the safety and security of the effort is still of utmost concern to the united states and so it is releasing few details. we can tell you, though, that the state department says that more than 380 government officials as well as private citizens have been taken from the region to nairobi. we know another 300 from partner nations have also been evacuated

we know president obama is continuing to be updated by government officials. he is vas indicationing with his family right now in hawaii but is continuing to stay abreast of the situation. the white house is issuing a statement on saturday, in fact, saying that there is great concern about the volatility in the region but saying that any effort to seize power through force will, quote, result in an end to the longstanding support from the u.s. and the international community. of course, we know, too, that the secretary of state, john kerry has appointed a special envoy to the region, donald booth. he has said it's the u.s. position that, in fact, sudan and south sudan not slide back into violence. it is the u.s. belief this is something that would be very detrimental to both sides and the u.s. continues to encourage both sides to resolve their differences through political means. >> earlier tonight, we spoke to the former special envoy to sudan, ambassador princeton lyman whether he is hopeful

negotiations could solve this crisis. >> i don't think there is an easy solution to the competing ambitions of mushara and president salva kiir. the opportunity to mediate and resolve this was last year in the early part of this year when the problem was arising and to have it done through the media, through the processes of the political party. that the didn't happen. now, it's now, reviving memories of the 1991 split when he split and made war on the movement. i think it's going to take some international effort and to work out the conditions for ending this conflict. >> you are expecting a lot more violence t sounds like? >> i think there is going to be

until there is a process that both have agreed to and that they see that there is going to be a way to address their respective needs. i think, also, the there are -- there should be some consideration of beefing up the u.n. peacekeeping mission in south sudan to provide more protection for civilians and be available to monitor and enforce an end to the conflict. >> what do you think can be done to try to end this will diplomatically at this point? >> the africans, the u.s., the norwegians, the british and others need to work together on the two to set up an understanding between them that the conflict has to stop. there has to be talks and they have to be without pre-conditions. >> that's not going to work. and there has to be an understanding between them that carrying on the conflict is going to hurt both sides very badly. i think right now, the

initiative has to come from murak bashar, maybe to release some containees that he has arrested and open the door to a political process. >> who is really in charge at this moment? the president or the former vice president? >> well, the president, of course, is still the president and commands the government and the bulk of the army. but the forces -- and this is an army that is still largely made up of ethnic militias. so, it had split. those forces loyal to mushar contain tear toe in at least two provinces. president kiir's writ did noes now extent over the entire country. >> it sounds like you are saying the former vice president is the one people need to negotiate with and he holds a lot of power and future of this country.

>> does but president kiir also has to because the dissension within his parts and over the way he was governing preceded this split. and some of the people who he has detained and pushed out of government could be very hopeful in meadating and helping overcome this crisis by being allows to do their work and reinvolve the role of the party to manage this a little better. >> ambassador princeton lyman, thank you for your insight today. obamacare's first major deadline is tomorrow. december 23rd is a key date for people to sign up for health insurance through the federal government. al jazeera antisal is here with more. >> we are talking about a pre-christmas deadline for some healthcare options through the affordable care act. if you haven't signed up, you want to listen to this. >> if you haven't already, you might want to pencil in a couple of hours to sign up for

healthcare. millions of americans remain uninsured in most states. monday, december 23rd is the deadline for selecting a plan if you are looking for coverage that starts january 1st. it's important for people in high-risk pools to get insurance now. that includes those with pre-existing conditions, people who lost coverage when insurers counseled 2013 plans and people in states where medicaid is scaling back. but the january 1st deadline varies in states that operate their own health exchanges. open enrollment for 2013 runs through march 31st. this man says he signs up without a problem. >> i got a called he call yesterday that says i was approved. i came in today and finished the application. i am coming noun. >> website difficulties and other changes are leading to some confusion for others. >> these constantly changing of the rules at the last minute causes a tremendous amount of confusion for consumers and it creates uncertainty for a health

plan. >> people without coverage could face a federal tax penalty if they don't have insurance in place by march 31st. that penalty starts small: $95 for most people in 2014. but it rises rapidly. by 2016, people without insurance will face penalties of close to $700. to avoid the penalty, you need to have an insurance plan in place by february 15th, through your employer, one purchased on a state or federal exchange, or providing eligibility for a government plan like medicare or medicaid. >> the white house says its increased staff at call-in center across the country to help people navigate the system. with 12,000 trained representatives at 17 sites. jonathan? >> thanks, antisseb for that report. also tonight the first official weekend of winter brought with it a frightening scene in oklahoma city. take a look at this cell phone

video of sheets of ice falling on holiday shoppers, some scrat crashing to ground were up to 5 feet long. you can see shoppers taking cover under awnings. in arkansas, two rare late-season tornados touched down. four people were injured. dozens of hands were damaged with winds up to 130 miles per hour, three adults and a child were hurt by that high intensity tornado. let's go now to canada where winter storm pelted the eastern half of the country. rough weather knocked out power for more than a half medical people, it could be up to 72 hours before all of the electricity is restored. there is the blanket of snow, sleet and freezing rain to deal with in montreal. airports have reported long delays and cancellations all weekend long, somebody nobody wants to here, rebecca on this travel week.

>> that's a good way to put it. the whole week. >> still iceny places around maine. ice coming down and accumulating. we have had anywhere from half an inch to an inch and a quarter in parts of the main and that's what is out, ice on the sidewalks, ice on the roads. it's so slippery out there. you can see a little bit of snow around the great lakes where we have ice on the roads here as well. what we expect is an ice storm warning and a freezing rain advisory to continue through maine at least through the early morning hours. it's diminished somewhat in size but we will have the slippery conditions out for you and with cold dry air blasting out, canada, continue with the icy conditions across the great lakes. overnight tonight in the morning hours, but that cold air is going to take the windchill factors low. it feels like 20 degrees below zero for the dakotas and down into nebraska. it's four degrees below zero. it feels like it with the

windchill advisory and warning staying in place near the canadian border. overnight through the first part of your monday before slight warming comes in. flood something another factor. this is a big storm. it has such jet stream support that we went from snow to ice to freezing rain into flooding into those tornados. now, the rain continues to push eastward and we still have flash flood watches outed from the southeast up into virginia and maryland where, in fact, we are getting showers reaching into maryland and delaware. otherwise, still fairly soggy for parts of west virginia. this storm will gradually move its way out and we are going to keep temperatures here chilling to the north and still pretty mild. we had some record warmth along the east coast and we are going to continue with this warmer temperatures at least, jonathan, to start out the day on your monday. >> honestly, rebecca, that says a lot, 64 degrees in new york. we are in december and well into

winter. >> it's true. it was such a unique set-up where we had all of the warm, moist air from the south get pumped up the east coast and all of that warm moist air just helped funnel those toranados in arkansas up near mississippi last night. >> crazy weather. thanks so much, rebecca. problems out in the space. tomorrow's space walk to repair the space station have been postponed. yesterday's walk to remove a bad pump was successful but an astro not reported a problem with his helmet. nasa admits it's been working with space suits that are 35 years old. the next space walk will be on christmas eve. more on the target security breach fallout. we will talk to an expert about the security risk many shoppers are faced with and why the u.s. doesn't have the latest technology.

anti-government protesters making bold demands now in thailand. >> are you one of the 70 million people in america suffering from sleep problems? the cbc now reports that insufficient sleep is a public health epidemic, computes, smartphones and tablets are stressing our eyes, minds and bodies. i am forbes rally. this is the simple nighttime mask that come binges the ancient principles of askew puncture and massage to help you unwind and destress. fall asleep fast and wake up feeling refreshed. place it on for fivemins a night and relax. it's that simple. 18 accupulse massages stimulate our acupressure points to date back over 1,000 years. and i think a lot of these doctors aren't having these conversations with their

patients because i have countless patients who come to me and said they have never heard of iud's. so i think there is some impact of that. we know there's an impact of that. and it makes it challenging, you know, to -- to have a completely unbiased view even though we as doctors like to think we have an unbiased view, there has been evidence that shows that they do impact us in some ways. so i think it's important for us to go out and educate our providers too. there is no one size fits all birth control, and there are a lot of options that work for women. >> we want to take a closer look, are there unique challenges facing women in minority communities when

>> days before christmas and millions of shoppers are being hit with limits on how much they can spend. chase bank has imposed restrictions on its debit cards after target's massive security breach. kill meny duke hart has more. >> in this chase branch, this customer discovered she was a casualty of the target credit card breach. she could only withdraw $100 from an atm, far short of what she needed for her extended family's christmas list. >> i have 12 girls to shop for, 13 brothers to shop for. i have to get their sweat shirts. i am pretty sure that's over $300. >> that's more than chase will now allow her to charge on her debit card. she is far from a loan. she is one of 2 million chase

customers who used their cards at a target store from november 27th to december 15th. her blanche was closed but one-third of chase branches were open sunday to help customers print new cards. >> chase says about half of its branches can issue new debit cards on the spot. for customers who can't make it into the bank, getting a new card could take up to two weeks. >> i learned my chase card needed to be changed while christmas shopping which came as a shock and an inconvenience. a fact not loss on chase who released this statement to all of its customers. >> we realize this could not have happened at a more inconvenients time with the holiday season upon us. we are taking these precautions to combat fraud and prevent criminals from using chase cards. on sunday, i was able to get a new card in my bank for less than five minutes but for shoppers who couldn't switch cards. >> i feel that i can't use my credit anymore. we are going to have to use

cash. >> that's just not very convenient for the time of the year. >> and convenient not just for shoppers but stores including target, which is still trying to figure out how some 40 million of its credit and debit cards were hacked. kill meny duchardt. >> there is new technology that can better product customers. earlier, i spoke with martin forensi. he talked about the future of banking in the u.s. >> the u.s. is slowly move to go chip card technology and this is what we are doing at overt technologies in the united states. in reality, what we have noticed around the world is that fraud drops dramatically if your payment cards incorporate a chip as opposed to just having the data in a magnetic strip. >> explain kind of the difference to us because a lot of people don't really understand what's at work here. how is that chip so much more

security than having a magnetic stripe. >> i would try to summarize it by saying the data on the a max describe is data that is not dynamic. it's static data for every transaction, it's the same data that is being used when you swipe your card. when you use a chip card, the data is dynamic. and, therefore, stealing the data on one transaction does not allow you to move on other transactions with the same data. >> if it's more security, why have we not seen more credit card companies embrace it faster? >> it has to do with the level of overall fraud and the cost of implementing this new technology. i believe the united states is moving to chip card technology. i believe within the next three to four years, all cards will have a chip incorporated in the card. >> in their card.

okay. martin with overthrow technologies, a security firm specializing it necknology. >> thailand's protesters are making good on a threat to boycott elections next year. demonstrators are in bangkok are trying to block registration. sunday thousands of protesters took over the capital demanding yingluk resign. it's the first day for candidates to register. are they disrupting the registration processes? is it working? they are certainly trying. there are about four to 500 protesters outside the thai japan stadium where the registration is meant to be taking place. there is not just a mass outside of that stadium but outside the

police station. the election commission has prepared for this scenarios. car candidates can go into the police station to not only lodge a report but, also, to register. we have spoken to the election commission. they said more than 30 parties have managed to register to. give you an indication of what that means, in the last election, 44 parties took part in the election. now, the protesters have said that they will not u use violence but they want the -- want people to know that they are against the election and whoever wants to take part will have to go past. >> interesting. floors, we know they are upset we prime minister. but why the protesters against e elections taking place?

this protest is not just against the government but against the shinowat family. the prime minister belongs to that family and her brother belongs to the family. he was deposed in 2006 and has been living in self hymn imposed ex eye since. he was charged with an abuse of power conviction charge which he says is politically motivated but the anti-government protesters say they no longer trust the system because it returns corrupt politicians. what they want, instead is for an unelected body, what they are calling "the people's council" to run this instead of elected members of the parliament, the system that thailand uses. they say that reforms have to take place before any election

can take place. >> okay. florence lui live for us in bank cock tonight. thank you for that report. protest leaders in ukraine are trying to keep their movement alive. 100,000 gathered in index square, a focal part for protest for the past five weeks. looking at live pictures there. any moment. there we go. leaders are urging demonstrations to continue. the movement was dealt a blow when the president backed out of a trade deal with europe in favor of russia. once vladimir's putin's most powerful rifle says he is -- r i have a l says he is steering clear of politics. he spoke publicly for the first time in germany and that's where our emma hayward is >> reporter: if the kremlin had hoped that the world forget about makaradakofsky, they were wrong. he arrived under the glare of

flash bulbs. at times, it was chaotic. but he was quick to thank those who had helped secure his release, which he admitted came as a surprise. >> i did not have a choice at the time i was released. a chief at the prison camp woke me at 2:00 o'clock in the morning. i was told that i would be going home. then, during my trip, i found out that it would end in berlin. >> he said he would fight to help those left behind. >> there are other political prisoners who are still left in russia. not only those related to the criminal case. you should not see me as a symbol that there are no more political prisonersers in russia. i am asking you to see me as a simple of the efforts of civil society that could lead to the release of those people who nobody ever expects to see released. >> mick cal had spent a decade in detention. he always denied the charges against him from behind bars, he

wants russia's richest man -- once richest man was a thorn in the side of the establishment, a fierce critic of vladimir putin. he outlined plans for the future. >> i am not going to engage in any political activity. and i said that in my letters to president putin reiterated it several times since. i am going to engage in public work. the struggle for power is not for me now. >> mikel al /* may have ruled out front line politics but it is unlikely he would sit on the sidelines and stay silent on what's happening in russia. it will be closely followed by the kremlin. >> mac kyle has a visa to stay in germany for a year. he says a return to russia is not imminent because he may end up facing more charges. emma hayward, al jazeera, in berlin. >> still ahead on al jazeera

america, the weak ahead. we look into the national problem of homelessness plus somewhere a new oil pipeline that stretches through several u.s. states is a disaster waiting to happen. al inspots, a record setting date for peyton manning and some exciting pictures impacting the play-off picture. stay with us. clear st. only on al jazeera america was -- prince william was dating kate middleton. >> ross shimabuku is here with sport. >> dennis rodman is in north korea to train basketball players for an upcoming player. he wants everyone to know he's not a joke. this is the same guy who dressed 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

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. here are the top stories this ha half hour. the united nations evacuated workers, most of them are americans. rebels are trying to overthrow the government. tomorrow is the deadline for healthcare options for the affordable care act. december 23rd is a key date if you are looking for coverage that starts january 1st millions of americans were made uninsured in most states. take a look at this. it's just a sample of what the first official weekend of winter brought in. this is cell phone video of huge sheets of ice falling on holiday

shoppers in oklahoma city. no one was hurt. >> it is time for our regular segment,tion the week ahead. tonight, we look into homelessness. charities get a lot of attention around the holidays. but the problem exists all year long. on any given night, more than half a million people are homeless in the united states. about a third have no shelter at all, and one in 4 are children. this month, the "new york times" featured a 12-year-old homeless girl named assani. michael bloomberg blamed her circumstances on chase but bill diblasio said it came down to policy which should be changed. charitable giving is at its highest this time of year but giving almost always dips right after the holidays. for more on this, i spoke with lin lewis with picture the homeless and jerry jones for the national collision for the homeless. i asked him why the problem has been growing throughout the country. >> the rise in homelessness is

due to the real estate market heating up for those families who are finding themselves out of doors because they can't afford rent. so, it's very much tied to what's going wrong in the economy for low income households. >> let's talk about new york city. obviously the biggest city in the united states, a massive homeless population, close to 46,000 homeless people in new york alone. the worst since the great depression, it's seems. >> 20,000 of those are children. lynn, the city spends into to i think a billion dollars a year on shelter. >> yeah. >> is it working? >> well, no, it's not working, and now, the numbers are up to about 53,000 individuals and that would be 22,000. >> a billion dollars a year on shelters? >> yeah. it's more than what is something invested in-housing for the very poor. and so what we are really concerned about at picture the homeless is a kind of misinvestment. right?

it's not only in the interest of homeless folks but it's in the interest of community as a whole that everyone has a place to live. the bloomberg administration yesterday announced that he is bringing on more -- online more affordable housing than ever before. but if you look at who is eligible for that affordable housing, people even making $20 an -- 2058 year aren't even eligible for that alone alone seniors who are bringing home like 7,000 a year or folks who are long-term unemployed. >> what should the bill yon dollars be spent on instead? >> what we would like to see at picture the homeless is diverting some funds from the shelter system no to test some innovative ideas that actually have a proven track record of providing housing for folks who are very poor. it has to be phased in slowly because it's not only that there

are folks stuck in shelter. neighborhoods are hemorrhaging because people are losing apartments. >> jerry, i want to talk about the national issue here. we know it's bad in new york city, really high numbers there but nationally, do you feel like it is a problem that is getting worse for a lot of cities, or do you feel like some are getting a better control of the homeless population? >> the problem is certainly not getting better. there are millions of people with no where to go it's going to take some national level resources to stabilize the housing market, to deal with why folks aren't earning enough to afford a place to live. so there is the need for a federal response. >> a federal response meaning what? >> the federal government took a walk on spending adequate resources to make housing affordable for that reason, there is a huge gap in the number of affordable units of housing, and the number of

people in search of that housing. so for the first time in many years, we are no longer providing at least as many housing vouchers for families this year as the prior year. >> we mentioned earlier the "new york times" article which was a fantastic piece of journalist. they profiled a homeless girl f for close to two years. mayor bloomberg had a response, too. i wanted to read his quotes. he said it's fair to say that new york city has done more than any city to help the homeless. this kid was dealt a bad hand. i don't know quite why. >> that's just the way god works. sometimes, some of us are lucky and some of us are not. now, when he speaks, i speaks for a lot of people. there is a feeling among a lot of people that you can only do so much. you can i only spend so much the on the homeless population, but you can't help people, lynn, who can not help themselves. >> i think there is two arguments, two answers to that question. one is, we, as long as we have a minimum wage that's less than $8

an hour, then people can make all of the right choices and still be a home health aidee making $15,000 a year. and that's a really important job. the people that clean this building may make less than $10 an hour. they probably do. in terms of addiction and all of that, that's clearly less than 50% of the population of people who are homeless. what about the other 50%? >> okay. >> where are they supposed to go? and addiction disorders, that's a health issue. we need a healthcare system that can provide healthcare for folks who have addiction disorders, who have community -- who have mental health issues that they need help with but that's not the whole problem. there are plenty of people who are at higher income brackets that have addiction disorders. but nobody asks them, do they have the right to have a home? and if we just want to look at it in terms of taxpayer dollars, it's miss allocating money to put it into a shelter system

which warehouses people as opposed to housing which is cheaper than shelter. >> trying to get their lives started? >> stabilizes families. >> right? >> but also whole communities. >> there is no question it's a big issue that, frankly looks like it's getting worse for a lot of people. lynn louis, jerry jones in washington, d.c. thank you for your time today. we appreciate it. in the central african republicingblic, troops are there to help end the vie less. more from the capital now of bunge. >> this is the scene after a french army patrol confronted former selica rebels. the french had come under fire after starting disarmament in an area where there had been sectarian killing. here, they are trying to secure the area backed up by a helicopter. they decided to withdraw for a short while and then return. minutes later, former sell can a

fighters started spreading hate messages. peacekeepers backed up the french. there is an air of hat red and tension, a con gol ease contingent deploying. we have seen the situation where unofficial road blocks have been set up. and we stopped at one of them. we had to. we were threatened with a hand aga grenade. the thread came from these men's who blocked the main airport road and were anningrili trying to stop anyone they thought was french. they summoned the media to show the bodies. most are fighters from the predominantly muslim selica after it overthrew the government here in march. the intragovernment announced the three dead were from the presidential guard and all of the men here accused the french army of being soft on the christian militia, the

anti-balica but hard on selica. up to now, we haven't heard of the french killing one or trying to disarm them. all of the selica are back in their barracks. they only travel with the right papers. >> as the bodies were about to be drain away, a relative of one of the dead gave this message. >> i am asking all of you french to go home. since index you have done nothing for us. you are manipulating us. sometimes you are with us. sometimes against us. which the side are you on? >> this has caused more fear for the improve required people of this country. >> the intrichl government appears to be doing nothing to go cool down the anti-french sentiment. andrew simmons, al jazeera, bongee around advisor to thet is calling for the country treat to be split into separate areas from miss limbs and christians.

a government spokesman says it's an idea that has some support, his views do not represent the administration. >> what we have doing at the moment has no end. there is no way out. it is a useless war. but, we know what fodo. we will not be manipulated. in order to save something here, we have decided it would be better to split the country in half. in order to achieve peace, we are going north. those who want to stay in the south can stay in the south. >> moving to syria where it was another bloody day. 56 people including children are reportedly dead following an army airstrike. the military dropped homemade barrel bombs in aleppo according to a pro-opposition human rights group based out of britain. you are looking at amateur online video which shows the aftermath of the bombing but the footage cannot be independently verified. in israel, a quick-thinking

bus driver likely saved lives. he quickly evacuated his bus after a passenger spotted a suspicious bag that turned out to be a pipe bomb. police are calling it a terrorist attack. texas is no stranger to oil. rigs and pipelines dot the map, but a new pipeline stretches from calendar to the gulf coast makes a lot of people nervous. opponents worry it's an environmental disaster waiting to happen. al jazeera's andy gallagher has that story >> reporter: mike hath horn, driving the roads of texas is a birth right. his relationship with these woods and fields has changed. a pipeline runs through the family property. an effort he fought for three years. his main concern isn't that he lost in court but what might happen next? >> it's going to leak. the stuff that's in this pipe is not like your common crude oil

or gas or anything like that. this stuff is dangerous. it's hazardous. >> opponents of the keystone xl pipeline points to spits throughout the u.s. keystone 1 stilled a dozen times. residents in east texas say the pipeline is so close stot angelina river, it could threaten fresh water supplies. >> texas is no strange to oil pipelines. trans canada say they have gone above and beyond what they say will be the safest oil pipeline in u.s. history. >> when we contacted the company at their headquarters in alberta, they addressed concerns of residents saying inspecting and testing are critical to the pipeline's construction. trans canada said each section is built to high standards. the company says it won't compromise when it comes to safety. >> you can hear t it's crazy.

>> mia has spent her life living in extreme extraction. the property has several gas lines running through it. the keystone pipeline is close enough to give her concern. >> this pipeline is something that puts a lot of fear into the daily lives of people all along its route and people, that alone, should be enough to stop this project. people should not have to be afraid for their health and safety and for their communities. >> the final approval for the northern portion of the keystone pipeline rents with president obama. so far, it's a decision he delayed time and again. east texas opponents say it won't make difference. this section of the pipeline will become operational in january. andy gal kerr, al jazeera, east texas. >> we have seen severe weather across north america, tornados, snow, ice, flooding and this is a storm, rebecca that shocks me because it stretches to europe. >> true. we have a big temperature

difference from north to south. that gave us a layer of the storm that went from snow to ice and the farther south you went, it started to shift to record heat along with a lot of flooding if wigo to our satellite picture from google earth, i can show you how the storm system going from florida here to the south, the jet streams which divides the cold air to the north to the very warm air to the sulked, the jet stream that energized this storm stretches all the way up across nova scotia, across the atlanta and eventually, it's moving across the atlantic where you can see ireland and the united kingdom, two places that are going to be dealing with a powerful storm and, of course, the next 24 to 36 hours. this storm as the energy the jet stream is tracking underneath it will get extra spin. this low pressure will move to the north of the island, getting winds anywhere from 30 to 50 miles an hour potential gusts currently looking at these

anywhere from 50 to 80 miles an hour. so the amount of rainfall -- they have been quite a bit across ire land and the u.k. we are expecting more flooding for you and we are already seeing that ran move just onto the coastline. the strongest winds on the coast, but that rain hitting parts and will track across other parts of europe in the next few days. our big concern looking at europe while they are getting the bulk of the energy that we just dealt with in the southeast. jonathan? >> thanks, rebecca. time for sports mark morgan is here with more on that. this is the time to get it receipt. >> it's interesting to see which players em blaies the moment and who kind of shrinks in the spotlight. >> that's where we begin. there are a few positions in sports more celebrated than and more scrutinized nan quarterback of the dallas cowboys. it's not what have you done for me lately. it's more like what have you done for me in crunch time and

at the end of games when the pressure is the greatest. tony romo fights that every week and today, he was in the glare of the spotlight. the cowboys in desperation mode. red skins playing for pride. >> romo avoids the sack and hits did he see bryant 14 yards on the plate, third forward, dallas up 1. a 4 yard run. washington up 220-14. did i mention pressure? yeah, fourth and 10 for dallas. this is essentially the season on the line, romo, he is agile. mur aiot pay-off. dallas escapes 24-23. >> wei didn't needed to win thi game. good to see. >> remarkable throughout his career, being ain't create a little time for himself, buy

time for the receivers. he did it in the biggest play of the ball game. >> i am proud for our fans. you deserve it. that was a killer last week. we stewed in it. i want you to know nobody stewed in it more than i did. let's all enjoy this as we enjoy christmas. >> eagles crush the bears tonight. eagles enjoying this. early first quarter. five yards in a 7-nothing philly lead. on the ensuing lead, watch devon hester. a pretty nice return but he stripped. the eagles recover and it's down hill for the bears from there. that turnover led to this, la russian mccoy touched down. it is a rout. final is 54 to 11 ebb. chicago could have clenched the nfc with a win but the bears will face packers next week for the division crown. the cowboys will face the eagles next weekend in dallas in a.

that game is out. we check out the nfc north. chicago could have clenched the division now. bears have to return home to face packers next week for the division crown and the lions are out after their loss to the giants today. elsewhere, the broncos tooled the field looking to prove their home loss to san diegos 10 days ago was an aberration. peyton manning got back his mojo. he tied tom brady with number 50 right there to eric decker 30-13 broncos of the the recordbreaker 51 td tosses. julius thunderstorms grabs it. peyton manning, four tds on the day. he is in the record books. >> i think it's a unique thing to be a part of n.f.l. history. it may be temporary. i personally think all season records are going down,

especially if they go to 18 names and there won't be an asterisk next to it. brady will probably break it again next year if not the year after. we will enjoy it for as long as it lasts and hopefully the hall of fame will send the ball back when somebody throws for more. >> an amazing year for peyton manning, 37 years old, your likely mvp of the nfl. broncos win. all 4 of the division leaders locked up play-off spots. homefield still up for grabs. even while lose to go buffalo, dolf inc.'s sit in the wild card slot. as you see, ravens, chargers and steelers are all still alive. >> hmm. >> that's going to lead to a crazy final season. >> thanks, mark. still to come on al jazeera america, chicago man has found a way to make life a little better for fellow veterans trying to find work. it all starts with beer.

>> we begin with the government shutdown. >> answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> it seems like they can't agree to anything in washington no matter what. >> antonio mora, award winning and hard hitting. >> we've heard you talk about the history of suicide in your family. >> there's no status quo, just the bottom line. >> but, what about buying shares in a professional athlete?

>> from our headquarters in new york, here are the headlines this hour. >> al jazeera america is the only news channel that brings you live news at the top of every hour. >> a deal in the senate may be at hand and just in the nick of time. >> thousands of new yorkers are marching in solidarity. >> we're following multiple developments on syria at this hour. >> every hour from reporters stationed around the world and across the country. >> only on al jazeera america.

there it goes, the tallest building in flint, michigan is now nothing more than a pile of rubble. the 19 story tower was brought down by 1,000 pounds of explosives. always cool to look at. a reinvestment firm bought the building for a dollar. they plan on turning it into a family friendly science park. >> veterans translee times more likely to be unemployed in the u.s. one man is on a mission to change that with beer. andy rogen explains. >> the makers say it's america's most important beer. why? because the new brew that

customers are starting to knock back is what they call 100% patriotic. >> for the holidays, for the veterans. >> in the summer of 2012, veteran's advocate paul 12 wondered why veterans were facing such high unemployment rates when americans hold them in such high regard. >> why beer? >> i couldn't think of anything else. it was july. a lot of the ads i had seen were related to beverage alcohol. if i can't come up with something else, i would have. he focused on the mish. launch the veteran beer company on veterans day, 2013 using only veterans as employees from the actual brewer to the logo designer right down to the promoters mark blue says being a jack of all trades served him well in the military but not in today's job markets a lot of companies are afraid to hiring veterans

like myself if they don't fit the job discrimination that the roams and responsibilities that the company is looking for. >> mark is one of the company's 44 employees. they figured they would sell 1,000 cases of beer in the first year. they sold 10,000 cases in the first month. paul jenkins says he is more excited about hiring more veterans than he is about selling more beer. >> i think the people who today are despairing because they can't find work to know we are coming. and that to my is what drives it. if they can hold on and know we are coming, it's again sort of that military philosophy, you know, where back-up is coming. back-up is on its way. they have to know we are growing as quickly as we can. >> here is another similarity to the military. you started this company the you have 10 years to move up in the company or you are out. period. and that includes the founder. >> i recognize that probably one of the most important parts of my job will be finding the person that takes my place. >> first things first, the veteran beer company plans to

expand to seven more states by the spring and more than a dozen by the end of the year. >> these are the two products we have on the market. paul jenkins says what is appealing to his customers is the taste, of course, but, also what i calls flactovism. >> when someone says they want to watch the team, what should they reach for? i am going to drink something that matters. >> for mark blue selling the belonged bomber matters more. andy rojen, chicago. >> something a lot of people there can drink, too. christmas came early in spain. coming up, tens of thousands of people are getting a cut of a multi-billion dollars jackpot. details on this lotto fever ahead.

last week, two winning tickets were drawn in the mega millions jackpot worth $636 million. you know what? that is chump change in spain where the christmas lottery drawing split

$3,000,000,000 inprise money. paul brennan has more >> reporter: it's known as el gordo, the fat one, spain's seasonal lottery almost as traditional as the nativity scene. the top jackpot prize is nearly 5 and a half million dollar but with tickets costing $270 each, most people buy a share of a ticket. it results of in tens of thousands people enjoying some sort of windfall t the 19iastic choose to attend the draw in person. >> here we are waiting to see if we win the lottery. being cressed up like this, we hope to be luckier. >> sitting in the front row won a 170,000 dollar prize. his reaction struck a chord when he said it would help pay off

some debts. >> the spanish government certainly has the same plan. the state already takes 30% of the revenue from ticket sales: this year for the first time, the government is targeting the prize winners, too. a new austerity tax means prizes larger will be subject to a 20% tax rate. >> i don't know what's going on with the treasury. they take everything. but if we win, they would have to pay. >> taxing the winners is unpopular but it adds to an estimated $12,000,000,000 for the government coffers that really is a jackpot win. paul brennan, al jazeera. >> our show. have a great night. thanks so much for spending your weekend with us the. we will see you again a little bit later.

this is al jazeera live from new york. i am jonathan betz with the headlines. united nations evacuated about 700 staffers out of south sudan. most are americans. tom is a key ldeadline for the affordable care act. people must select a health plan if they want coverage beginning january 1st. million of americans remain uninsured in most states. chase bank is trying to protect customers' debit cards after the massive data breach at target stores. the bank is limiting to $100 a day. customers are only able to spend $300 a day. it is the first official weekend of weather in several states