>> today's top of stories. united nations calls a meeting to address the escalating violence in south sudan. and an extension of sorts for those signing up for obamacare. >> is the united nations security council has called a closed door session to step up

its involvement in south sudan. has decided to send 150 more air are forces. >> i'm determined to ensure that we have the means to carry out its essential task of protecting civilians. i'm be spending most of today, i'll be spending most much today calling regional leaders and others to bolster are support for unmiss. >> are why henry matassa, is in are the area. >> peter said he was attacked by men carrying machetes, young people with no apparent

loyalties, started attacking with blades that looked like machetes. >> of the two to three hours just godless. >> and more people are expected to get hurt. president salva kiir, says: >> the army's duties are to protect the areas of south sudan, bring them under the control of the government of south sudan. the army concentrations are on their way. >> reporter: there are fears things could get worse. that's why this woman won't leave this u.n. compound even if things here are bad. >> there's no water. there's no food. when we are hungry here we want to find some food or water.

>> officials say tens of thousands of people are crammed into u.n. bases across the country. >> that doesn't include the people who are looking for shelter in the churches, in the can cathedral, in the bush hidi. i've had countless pr word from our staff, that leaving, going back to their villages, hiding out in the savannah is where they feel the safest. >> the camp in juba is stretched to capacity. u.n. soldiers university to live on this side of the base but had to move out and make way to thousands of people who said they are too scared to go home. the violence is taking its toll on people. escalation will only worsen the humanitarian cries i. are al jazeera juba. here to explain the extremely complicated tension.

john terrett. john. >> once the largest state in all of africa has suffered for decades tortured for decades on off on off civil war, religion, race and so on. however it was the largest country, and in 2007, sudan split into two countries. south sudan is the world's largest nairgs still holds today. the north is still known as simply sudan. but they are arabic speaking muslims. the south sudan has 200 ethnic groups. about 60% are christians. the largest tribes and it's all tribal there are the dinka and the nuer. they have fought each other for

decades. we hear a lot about the border conflict between the sudan and south sudan. both depend on oil for their income. carrying oil into the north are the oil appliance, the government of south sudan has admit losing control of untd eut state. fears are growing around the world, president salva kiir, the president of the south has accused south sudan's former vice president, the man he sacked actually back in the summer of launching a coup or trying to. he's called riek machar, he is the guy who controls most of unity province. the united nations say 45,000

people are at this moment trying to seek protection in its main base in sudan. all americans in their camp in bor were evacuated, after four navy seals were shot in an evacuation attempt on saturday which we reported here. in spite of all that oil south sudan is still today one of the poorest countries in the world. and even though it -- well, it succeed two years ago, had only 68 miles of paved roads, which a country the same size pretty much as new mexico and arizona put together. that gives you some idea richelle of the size of countries we are dealing with here. >> 68 miles. and the number of south sudanese

is gaining every day. let's pick up a little bit about what john said about the ethnic component of this. south sudan's president, kiir, is an ethnic dinka, the vice president is a ethnic nuer. there is a struggle of power for two men who have been rivals for many, many years now. it is not exactly clear how this all started but it does seem as though ethnic tensions within the military, within the probably guard has helped fuel the violence that is spiraling almost out of control. so it's really a mix of ethnic and political concerns. >> but is the solution a political solution? >> the immediate solution has to draw both men back from thing

are crisis. all the elements that could allow it to map is 200,000 armed men in the spla, southern sudan army. you have decades and generations of tensions between ethnic groups, particularly the nuer and the dinka. the most political thing to be done is to ensure that both men stand back and take time to resolve their problems politically and not through the kind of conflict and attacks on civilians we've been seeing over the last week. >> let's talk more about this. tell us more about this human rights report that's talked about what has been happening to civilians particularly along ethnic lines. >> right. we've been trying to follow the situation. it's extremely difficult because some of the worst killings are taking place in bor and unity states where opposition forts have taken control.

so there's a lot that we haven't been able to document. >> very difficult to confirm. >> very difficult to confirm. people have been flung into the bush and there they don't have access to leskt, their-- 11, their cell phones are running out of battery. they have no access to the outside world. what we have been able to document in juba, there we witnessed and documented killings of civilians, definitely with an ethnic commendations, that ethnic nuer were being targeted. women and children, religious leaders, people who should not have been seen as enemy or letting targets in any way were being if targeted and killed. >> what way does the u.n. play? >> the u.n. has a very important role to flay. there is a u.n..political

reconstruction and economic stability role to play. so clearly it has an important role to play in helping to create a political climate in which these problems can be worked out peacefully rather than through violence. the u.s. has played a very critical political and economic role in the formation of south sudan, and so the influence of key figures like secretary of state kerry and national security advisory susan rice will be important and they will be listened to i think by president salva kiir and riek machar. the avoiding of civilian carts casualties and avoiding conflict. >> thank you for coming in, we appreciate it.

thank you very much. >> video released by the military today shows an air strike against what appears to be a camp. people are seen running away from that site. the authenticity of the video has not been independently verified. the iraqi government says security forces have been combing the are desert for al qaeda members. at least five people were killed on a suicide attack on a television station i in tikrit. >> rebel held territory in the northern city of aleppo. 15 people were reportedly killed in attacks. children were among the 40 people killed yesterday. al jazeera reports. >> this is what many parts of the city look like. not a single building still

intact. a city in ruins. people devastated. and this is what's left of what appears to be the syrian army weapon of choice when it comes to bombing civilians. it was the base of a barrel filled with explosives, dropped from the sky by bashar al-assad's forces. and as ambulances arrive to rescue those target ed a second barrel bomb was dropped killing even more people among them the paramedics. within minutes the locals frantically help try to rescue the injured but assad's air force was not finished. -- dropping a third barrel on the civilians. those who might have survived the onslaught might have thought they were safe until what was left of the building collapsed. they believe their situation is being ignored by the world.

where. >> translator: aren't these muslims? aren't they your brothers? where are the muslim countries and governments? >> reporter: a short distance from the destruction a small clinic is transformed into a morgue and operating theater. it seems for now, the only piece available to many syrians are in death. georgia malalsharad, al jazeera. peace keepers from france killed three former rebels yesterday. french and african troops had been trying to spread -- stop the spread of violence in bangui. >> civilian with a handgun opened fire at christian demonstrators, outside the international airport. he was chadian.

the central african peace keepers intervened opening fire into the air. add to that in bosongoa, a congolese who was hacked to death and the french who killed three people and it's a dangerous mix. it is unclear whether this antifrench sentiment will increase. it is mainly, chadian contingent of the central african force. only five days into their mission is getting more and more hazardous. >> a judge's ruling did allows utah to continue same sex marriages at least for now. the state is appealing the judge's opinion friday that made gay marriage legal in utah. the judge denied the request to

block same sex marriage while the opinion is pending. getting your tonsils out is supposed to be a routine procedure. but a milks has left a 13-year-old california girl brain dead. her family appeared, a judge has ordered a second opinion on the girl's condition. he has tapped the chief child neurologist at the children's hospital. the hospital says her condition is irreversible. the girl's family is asking for support. >> her favorite color is purple. if you can come out wearing a purple shirt, doesn't matter what the ashade is, but if you have one please wear it and march. >> people are are turning out in

support of the mcmast family. a plane slid off the metro airport because of ice and freezing rain. tornado injured several people and in oklahoma city look at that, massive sheets of ice fell off a shopping center there. dave warren joins us with the latest on the wild weather that is just traipsing across the country dave. >> yes, moving across the country but now about to move out. the last of this rain and ice is pushing off the coast. still seeing that mix there up across new england. that's where you're getting the rain falling into the very cold air. the temperature in portland 32. but it's warmed up above freezing at 36° and just above the freezing mark in fact just about 40 in albany. rain now. last of the ice storm warning, that's in effect in maine. 39° overnight tonight, may not even get to that tomorrow afternoon. a look at the cold temperatures

and what it means for the national forecast coming up a little bit later. richelle. >> thank you dave. still coming up, the obama administration courts young people, but many don't seem interested. we'll explain why. and the american dream, why many are choosing to rent not buy. and target customers, fighting back after security breach exposed their information. a former meat packing plant is the latest trim in farming. they call it "vertical farming." these fields grow on floors on at industrial park and farmer john adel and his staff agrees

user. >> my shipping proceed did you say 1500, 2,000 miles to get are. >> the plant of the indoor -- as the indoor formers call it doesn't grow corn or soybeans but mustard, high end micro greens on the plates of white-napkin restaurants. these fish supply the vert liser that number issues the every sunday night join us for exclusive, revealing and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time. this sunday. >> we try to be funny in serious stories which is very, very rare. >> he made radio cool with his sense of humor, insight and curiosity. he opened a new window into

american life. >> before they know it we're actually able to present something new that they haven't heard about. >> talk to al jazeera with ira glass. >> the affordable care act, also known as obamacare will probably define barack obama's presidency but a new gallup poll finds 22% say it's his biggest achievement while 33% say it's his biggest failure. people who want coverage january 1st, must sign up by today, but there's a one day grace

period, for problems with the website. melissa chan tells us why this group is so critical. >> it's right before christmas and tory and sarah might have last minute shopping to do but one thing they don't plan to guy is health insurance. the obama administration wants badly for young americans like them to enroll. they're not convinced. >> the only thing i know about obamacare is on saturday night live. >> i did not because i think health care should be free. >> the administration wants about a third of these people to be young and health americans. it's not about the number of people who sign up for bowk. it's about the distribution. -- obamacare. it's about the distribution. young healthy americans must enroll to pay for the health care costs accrued by older maishes. -- americans. if too fru healthy americans

enroll, the cost will go up, it will discourage other people from buying. making the system unsustainable. but some state based exchanges have performed well. california's exchange enrolled almost 1700 americans 18 to 24, 22% of those enrolled. that on target as a proportion of california's population. >> california has done a great job of running their state based health insurance exchange. they don't rely on the healthcare.gov, they just rely on their own system. >> holding town halls and workshops to reach out and educate the public, some argue for patients. saying what's happening in california and other states shows that if done right, obamacare works. >> i think it's worth being cautiously.optimistic given what's coming out of california, given the numbers we're seeing in new york, i don't think it's

the case that plans are unraffling right now. >> -- unraveling right now. >> i've been living this long without health insurance, i'm going to keep on doing the same thing. >> carrying on without insurance even if it means paying a federal penalty. melissa chan, al jazeera new york. earlier i spoke with the group's co-founder aaron smith, about how things are going getting young people to enroll a health plan. >> over the months we've seen a large amount of pickup. march 31st is the deadline to avoid the penalty as far as psych up. but we're really in that education mode and so much work to do. >> are there questions? how much is this going to cost me? are you hearing that some of them may think it costs too much for them? >> absolutely.

cost is central here. to put it in perspective there are about 19 million uninsured young people. they are only looking to get about 2.7 million signed up in the exchange. it's very doable. if you make about $17,000 a year which is about the median for an uninsured young person you're looking at premiums that might be $40 a month. that's pretty affordable. if you are at the higher end of the spectrum you might have higher premiums of about $200 a month. that's key right now. >> is there a beg your pardon plan in case they don't get as many young people as they need? >> to make sure this things works, we still saw in massachusetts that young people's insurance plans went from 27% to 5%. we know i.t. works, kentucky, other places, we have to see it

work in all the states. >> now let's go to jonathan betz for today's business story. starting with the dow. >> stocks permd well today richelle. the dow up more than 70 points today, it's the fourth straight date the blue chips closed at an all time high. not to be outdone, the s&p 500 also set an all time high. the consumer sentiment is on the rise. the controversy over the target data theft, could end up in the courts. more than $5 million in damages is being sought. apple is getting access to more than 7 million customers, the iphone dealer has reached a deal with china mobile the world's largest cell phone carrier, starting january 17th, the zeal gives apple

access to a subscriber base that is seven times larger than verizon and that is the biggest u.s. carrier. workers at boeing had another chance to vote on the country's largest contract. stepped in after local leaders urged, new 777 x jet. the new offer from boeing still replaces traditional pension west a 401(k) but the contract also guarantees the plane is built in the seattle area. and holiday travelers will get some relief at the pump. gas prices fell for the first time in a month. the lundberg survey says the price per gallon slipping two cents in the past two weeks. nationwide average is now $3.26. a little bit of good news before you fill up the mini van and head to grandma's this week. >> jon thank you.

a growing number of people are giving up on the american dream of home ownership and choosing to rent. housing prices for the low and middle class is vanishing. tanya moaz mr moseley has more. he spends his time at the public library, searching for places to live. rome is homeless, trying to get into a subsidized housing program for three years. >> it's amazing how soon it can happen. not only here but cities across the country. the joint center for housing studies at harvard reports, the number of low income units have gone down. renters making $19,000 a year or less searched from 3 million to

nearly 12 million and the number of affordable rental units has held steady at 7 million, almost a third of them are occupied by higher income households. >> when they're out competing for a rental unit with someone who works at amazon who can pay a higher first and last month rent, people in lower soci socioeconomic levels are not the winners of that. >> few months ago her office opened up a waiting list. there were 2,000 slots available. 20,000 people applied. >> when you are looking at the projections for the rental markets, the supply and the demand is pretty flat. so i don't see that we're going to be coming out of this any time soon. >> reporter: and as the demand for rental housing soars middle class americans are also feeling the squeeze. >> i feel like the amount we pay just to represent this house is

absurd and i feel like we got a good deal. >> reporter: he and his family competed with others for their $1500 a month rental. dozens of less expensive were l snapped up within hours of their listing. >> i don't know how anyone can break out of this tort of cycle. >> william rome is hopeful. >> i'll break out of this some day. >> and out of the shelter he calls home. tanya moseley, al jazeera. slashing prices to attract last minute shoppers but is this working? i'll speak with an analyst next. plus a keystone pipeline debate. starting up in their backyards next month.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. here's a look at your top stories. the united nations has scheduled a closed door meeting on south sudan. it's supposed to happen in less than an hour. fighting there has killed more than a thousand people in less than a week. the president there says he will meet with political arrivals too quell the violence.

peace keepers fired on a group of demonstrators on monday. the clash has left at least one person dead. and you have just a few hours to enroll a health plan if you want your coverage to start january 1st. however the obama administration is offering a one day grace period for people who cannot sign up because of heavy traffic or other issues. the man who designed the world's most popular weapon has died. a russian official say ak-47 inventer mikhail kalashnikov has died, he was 94 years old. the assault rifle has been used to kill more people than than any other weapon. on his life and legacy. it is 1947. the very beginning of the cold war. and rolling off the production line at the soviet armments factory, a new weapon, a weapon that will change the face of war. the ak-47 taking its name from

that of its inventer, 28-year-old mikhail kalashnikov. he was wounded in war and while recovering in hospital, he heard infantry officers complaining, lethal at rages of less than a kilometer it is estimated there are over 100 million of the weapons worldwide, produced in 87 countries. russia supplied millions of the weapons to its surrogate forces during the cold war and they're still in use. it is a remarkably simple weapon to use. it only has eight moving parts. you could easily teach a child how to strip and shoot an ak-47 in under an hour. for the child armies of africa, in sierra leone, liberia and

africa, the ak-47 was the weapon of choice turning ten-year-olds into killers. the ak-47 was also preferred by drug cartels. four years ago, the russian leadership celebrated mikhail kalashnikov's 90th anniversary, awarding him the highest honor, hero of the federation. but he had some regrets. i'm proud of my invention but i'm sad is used by terrorists. i'd prefer to invent something people or farmers could use like a lawn mower. two members of the group pussy riot were released, charges against jailed

greenpeace demonstrators will also be dropped in russia. a major water main break in philadelphia, dozens of schools closed early as water filled philadelphia streets this morning. dozens of memos and businesses are without water. crews from the city's water department are looking to fix the problem. look at that. oil will start flowing through section of the keystone xl pipeline to carry oil from the canadian refineries to the gulf of mexico. reporters say it will help reduce america's dependence on foreign oil but it's an environmental disaster waiting to happen according to protestors. >> his land was left to him by his grandfather but his relationship to the woods and fields have changed. this section of the keystone

pipeline runs through his property. his main concern isn't that he loss in court but what's going to happen again? >> it's going oleak and the stuff in the pipe is not like your common crude oil or oil or gas or stuff like that, this stuff is dangerous. >> proponents of the pipeline point to a number of spills across the u.s. in 2011 keystone 1 spilled a dozen time, and so close to the angelina river it could threaten water supply. transcanada says they have gone above and beyond to create what they claim will be the safest oil pipeline in u.s. history. when we contacted the company at their hazardous in alberta, they say construction and inspection is critical to the pipeline.

the company says it won't compromise whether it comes to safety. >> you can hear the pipeline through this station which totally creeps me out. >> but mya lemon has spent her life in what she calls extreme extraction. 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 community. >> the final approval for the northern portion of the keystone xl pipeline rests with president obama and so far it's a decision he has delayed time and time again. but east texas residents say it won't make any difference. this section of the pipeline will become operational in

january. andy gallagher, al jazeera, texas. especially true gifts bought online. some consider it the dirty secret of e-commerce. jornt i've never returned -- jonathan i've never returned a gift but apparently people do. >> really richelle. with so many places offering free shipping and free returns it might be catching up with some stores. report suggests too many people are actually returning too much. take a look at this. one out of every 30 things bought online is sent back. three times as often, items are bought in stores, rurntion cost stores $46 billion a year. online retailer's zappos marks high on delivery, but the

returns eat away at the company's revenue. crunching numbers, personal questions to make sure they're buying the right thing like are you sure you want a small? maybe you should get a medium. others steer to things less likely to be returned, such as jewelry for example. simply paying off disappointed customers, they offer discounts or gift cards if they keep what they bought. one bright spot, if people return the items they bought online to the actual store, they generally end up shopping and sometimes richelle spending even more. >> so just go into the store and then the store ends up in the black. thanks jonathan. >> right. >> okay, retailers whether online or brick and mortar stores are trying to get people to buy. at big box stores with the drop this weekend, discounts, some retail stores are doing this

more effectively than others. joining me is brett beamer. we appreciate you joining us. >> absolutely. thank you for having me. >> absolutely. we have decent economic news, unemployment is going in the right direction, considering that, did people go shopping? >> they did and they didn't. what's happened in the last five years have been driven by retailers. retailers have great deals for thursday neither and friday morning of thanksgiving weekend, then 30% off, the five days before christmas. and you end up with the same result. 2.5, 2.9% comp sales, and that's what's going on, kind of sad because 22% of consumers said this year they were going to wait for 60 and 70% off sales. they never saw them and right

now we only have about 78% of consumers finish with their christmas shopping as of knit. >> it sounds like you're saying these stores are stuck in a rut no matter what they do. >> they're stuck in the rut for this reason: they're more stuck on wall street and not main street. ceos know one thing, but that is this. if they see sales, and earnings go up a lot wall street rewards them. wall street rewards people to be underperformers as long as they keep their earnings high. here is what happened, the byproduct. 48% of consumers have bought snmg a store where the lines were so long they got so mad they left the store and didn't even pay for it. that number was 42% which is an

all time high. it's up 6 points to 48%. so retailers who staff their stores lower this year thinking they're going to save money aggravated a lot more customers. >> okay so let's talk about bottom line. who do you think were really the winners this year? >> well, if you look at the overall winners i think you have to say that walmart, dollar tree and target did the best job because they kept over 70% of their customers to shop this year. also it's interesting to see that macy's jumped up to be right near the top this year. the losers this year have really got to be two people. barnes and noble kept less than half their customers coming back this year and costco which was the shock, they only got about half their customers to come back this year. and then the other thing is, none of the off-price stores marshal's t.j. max and home

goods have to rethink how to get their customers back this year. >> mr. beamer thank you so much. >> thank you. >> from the death of nelson mandela to the nuclear deal with iran, al jazeera america is looking back at the top stories. in october more than 350 african entrants drowned. claudio lavonga talked to how this crisis arose. >> he's been a fisherman for 40 years, the sea was his second home but two months ago he witnessed a tragedy that made him scared of the open waters. >> translator: we were sailing back to the port when we spotted a stranded boat. i saw lots of heads in the water. we rushed to their hope.

>> reporter: at the beginning of october he and his brother were the first rescuers to arrive at the wreck of of boat, more than 350 migrants dierd when their ship capsized. they pulled 18 migrants from the sea. he is happy he saved so many lives but still haunted by those he left behind. >> translator: they were screaming, raising their arms, everyone we saved one would drown. i've had palpitations ever since. haven't gone out to the open sea anymore. >> since that tragic night, the idea of being in port sends him into a panic attack. but rather than his own feelings he goes to those who he saved. >> i hope they'll be happy wherever they go, god help them. they have nothing.

it is hard for us here, but we have a home. they don't. >> for a seaman look tomenico, his home is the sea. he will stay on dry land and watch his brother sail away without him. claudio lavonga, al jazeera. >> rethink the country's immigration spots, italian president said today it will be one of his top priorities in 2014. >> still to come on al jazeera america. we're telling you how some soldiers are getting help from four legged friends. and christmas wishes come true for some children. plus, hundreds of students from around the world compete in a robot olympiad.

>> some unlikely therapists are helping veterans overcome the psychological scars of war. diane eastabrook reports. >> go, there you go. tunnel. >> chloe the shitsu helps him. >> if she feels i'm getting stressed, she comes with her -- she's got toys she'll bring with her, wanting me to play. oh, you knew it. >> once a week kimbrough and

chloe come to this facility, working with dogs provided by professional trainers. >> just push their lip up. see if you can see a tooth and then they get a treat. >> the trainers show how humans handle, most are referred by the local va hospital. they come here when more traditional therapies have failed. >> it's therapy by proxy. the veterans are able to see issues they themselves have, by talkintalking about it in group therapy, they the see the recovery of dogs and have fun doing it. >> many of these veterans say before this program they never had any contact with other veterans or ever talked about their worries to anyone. >> talking about the dogs help the veterans talk to each other.

66-year-old steve wingate says, the camaraderie he has with other vets helped him open up about his year in vietnam. >> you know it was a very unpopular war and a lot of us felt we were doing the service for our country, and it was -- at the time it wasn't appreciated. >> more than 100 veterans have taken part in circle of change since it started five years ago. it's helped many make peace with their past. >> diane eastabrook, al jazeera caledonia, illinois. it takes about $115,000 to educate every student in the united states. math and science, it gets worse every year. many worry it could affect america's economic edge. al jazeera's jim hooley reports.

>> turning this football field size facility into a competition. >> putting their machines through the maneuvers in 16 different categories. >> two, one. >> lobster like robots can grab and go. there's an agriculture competition for designs to save money and water on the farm. >> there's six trees on the robot, when it gets out it will dump onto the tray to feed the cows. >> sometimes it works out some

doesn't. this won't stop these budding geniuses. some are in high school, some are only in elementary. >> randy is executive director of amar robotics. >> what happens here is it's the physical world, the physics of it, all the moving pieces and the parts and the math is a really powerful platform. >> this is called the biathalon competition. you'll see more proof that the american kids are falling hibd in the field -- behind in the field of technology. most have been doirmted by the asian -- dominated by the asian countries. >> where are they? i think they're back home watching tv. >> we take a look at from a u.s. perspective how we get them to go beyond where they are right now and not just be consumers of technology but be creators of technology. >> last year, south korea walked

away with the top honors. america won just one silver medal, according to the organization of economic development u.s. students are now ranked 21st of 23 countries in math and science. 17th of 19 in problem solving. >> that doesn't mean everybody has to be a creator of technology but if we can move them up that continuum it's going to be a powerful experience. >> not an item lost on akshant. >> if you don't know science and math you can't do this at all. >> the students and the robots will be headed to beijing, china. jim hooley, al jazeera. >> letters to santa, children write letters telling them what they want. there is a whole team of u.s. postal workers, who enlist members of the community to make these wishes come true.

brian rooney, joins me from the central most office of new york, christmas are a few days away, they are right up against the deadline aren't they? >> it's the postal service they say they're going to make it. people for the last month have been able to come to the post office, read through these letters that children send to santa claus, say i'm going odo this letter i'm going to buy this gift that this child wants and bring it back to the post office and mail it. they are no longer delivering letters, they are delivering the gifts. it is all specially coded so you can't have people chasing down children. we spoke to a woman naked mi na

micaela bakey. >> this specific one i have in my hands, kind of knew that we would take this one. because of just the need, and i'm a single mother of four amazing kids. recently my kids and i ran into some difficult times, we lost our home. things just became tight so we are temporarily displaced. i'm asking for any help i can -- i can't afford obuy my children anything at this time. all is appreciated. we really felt like this mother's in need, and we felt like we could take care of her this holiday season. >> this has been going on at 17 major post offices around the country. in new york they are still letting people read letters, and send a gift until 4:00 christmas

eve. richelle. >> this is such a remarkable thing brian, a remarkable thing. all you have to do is write north pole and it makes its way. brian, thank you so much. in person christmas greetings from one pope to another. pope francis visited his predecessor, pope benedict, you can see them dressed in identical robes. the two have only met publicly one time for an official ceremony in july. up next a look at the weather forecast and what you can expect for your holiday travel plans. >> start with one issue ad guests on all sides of the debate. and a host willing to ask the tough questions and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5pm et / 2pm pt only on al jazeera america

the stream is uniquely interactive television.

>> i'm meteorologist dave warren. we've got a range of weather the last few days but we'll all be together soon. bitter arctic air developing a greater portion of the country.

scraping off the ice from the windshield as the temperatures stay below freezing. here is new york, low clouds and some rain coming down but the temperature close to 70, in fact 70 in many locations, setting a number of records yesterday. all about to change. the last of this difference in weather with the warm air to the east and the cold air to the west. it's pushing off the coast. bitter cold arctic air coming down from canada moving into the northern plane plains now, to te east, creating lake effect snow. just below the freezing mark, getting that coating of ice, by 11:00 midnight tonight, it is off the coast. here is what happens tomorrow, the temperatures will still be very warm. we might set our high temperatures tomorrow, right after midnight because this cold air will keep the temperatures from climbing too much tomorrow. here is that lake effect snow, with that wind strong enough we could see thighs temperatures,

bitter cold arctic air, it could be close to 40 below in north and south dakota and right around minneapolis. cold air tuesday, 10:00 tomorrow, most of the country, east coast of the country seeing that cold air in place. 39 could be set just about midnight tonight, that could be our high temperature in new york. gradually getting warmer right to about 40°. here is the cold air, fargo, bismarck, minneapolis, zero, close to 40 below in north dakota, minneapolis 18 below zero as far south as chicago. you'll feel that in the air tomorrow. temperatures are barely climbing up to 20, below 20 on thursday a little warmer on friday and back above the freezing mark on saturday. a look at the headlines is coming up.

>> this is al jazeera america. live from new york city. i'm richelle carey with a look at today's top stories. we have just a few hours left to enroll in a health plan if you want your coverage to start january 1st. but if you run into a technical snag enrollies will have an one-day grace period. a meeting at the united nations security council is underway right now to look at the situation in south sudan. more than a thousand people have died i in a little more of a wek of violence. and central african republic, grn. peace keepers fired on a