cl >> running out of help. starting saturday more than a million americans will stop receiving unemployment benefits. >> the battle over privacy. two judges rule differently over the n.s.a. data collection program. now will the supreme court get involved? >> and a former lebanese government official with ties to the united states is killed in a mass explosion in beirut. >> hello, welcome to al jazeera

america. i'm morgan radford, live from new york city. >> emergency jobless benefits, a life line for the unemployed, is set to expire on saturday. 1.3 million people who have been out of work for a month will be cut off. the average recipient will lose out on $1,000 each and every month. the benefit program was introduced in 2008 at the height of the recession. since then the payouts cost the government $20 billion. extending it for a year will cost another $19 billion. congress has not done that yet. >> more than a million unemployed will lose benefits because the unemployment program was allowed to expire before congress took its break. since 2008 the federal government has supplied benefits to unemployed workers when state benefits run out.

usually after 26 weeks, as long as 73 weeks in some states. >> michigan's unemployed people will be hit. 45,000 people will lose access right away. 145,000 some time next year. >> i get $161 a week after taxes. >> 56-year-old frons is one of them. >> bring norbert franzak is one of them. >> i'm not going be able to play for utilities. after this check, i have to pay the mortgage. i'll have less than $200 in the bank. >> michigan's unemployment rate is 8.8%, the third highest in the country. the national is 7%. leading many republicans in congress to say there's no longer a need for emergency unemployment benefits. most believe the benefits should continue. before heading to hawaii for the

holidays, president obama scolded congress for failing to extend the program. >> because congress didn't act a million constituents will lose a life line. when congress comes back to work, the first order of business will be to make this right. >> until then people will have to wait and see, look for work and hope the new years brings tidings and cheer, not to mention more jobs. >> those jobless benefits will be at the top of president obama's domestic legislative agenda in the new year. the white house says president obama will push congress to act promptly and in a bipartisan face to address this economic priority. >> a federal judge ruled the n.s.a. phone tapping service is legal.

he said what the agency did was unconstitutional. another judge a few days ago placed an injunction against the program calling it almost orwellian. john terrett has the story. >> in hays ruling federal judge william pauley says the n.s.a.'s mass collection of phone records represents the counter-punch to eliminate al qaeda's terror network. the 9/11 attacks might have been prevented if the phone data collection system had existed then, to help investigators connect the dots before the attacks occurred. the government learnt from its mistakes and has adapted. he said the data collection program was part of the adjustment, and he dismissed the lawsuit brought by the american civil liberties union after

former n.s.a. contractor edward snowden released information. the government's interpretation of its authority under the patriot act was so proceed that it could justify the mass clebz of health and library records of innocent americans without their knowledge. the acl will appeal the ruling saying it misinterprets the statutes, understates and missupplies to weed away constitutional corrections. the department of justice was pleased with judge william pauley's decision. earlier judge leon ruled the opposite way in a suit brought against verizon, writing: >> last week the white house issued a report commissioned in the wake of the edward snowden

leaks in which it was suggested changes may be in the offing in the way data is collected and stored. two federal judges coming up with conditions, many think the issue of n.s.a. spying is headed towards the supreme court in washington. >> at least three other lawsuits against the n.s.a. are pending in other federal courts. >> four u.s. military personnel held in libya has been released. the state department ..forensic

ramifications that are very big. people are picking up the pieces. this was a big explosion in size and in the message it sent. >> a daring attack in the heart of beirut's downtown area. it killed former minister mohamad chatah. his body guard and four others

were killed. mohamad chatah was a close aide and advisor to former prime minister saad al-hariri. and a leading figure of saad al-hariri's future movement, and the coalition. the explosion took place a short distance from the residence of saad al-hariri, where mohamad chatah had his office. security has been tight. it was not enough to prevent the attack. >> we were inside and felt glass breaking. an explosion happened, an explosion continued to break. it was all broken and then went out and saw this. >> as you can see all the shops are damaged. i consider all this terrorism. damaging the country and the people. what more can i say. god help this country. >> as investigators look for clues, politicians know who was

behind the attack, and pointed the finger to iran and hezbollah. >> saad al-hariri, who has not set foot in lebanon for more than a year says the killers are the same as those of his father. following the explosion, and in a defiant move, the march 14th leaders met at the residence near the explosion site. >> the killer is the same, from deraa, aleppo, damascus - the same killer is targetting the killers of lebanon. two weeks before the start of the international court, investigating the killing of saad al-hariri, they killed mohamad chatah. >> it's not the first car bomb to hit lebanon this year. in november the iranian embassy was targeted. dozens were killed. in tripoli twin car bombs went off outside two mosques.

lebanese politicians may disagree on various issues. when it comes to the deteriorating views, it is the same view that lebanon is involved. saudi arabia's allies are accusing iran of the bombing. for the people that live in lebanon, their country is turping into a battle ground for regional players. >> this war is transforming the whole political landscape. it's transforming the borders that were prevailing before the revolution. it could be as a part of a big attempt to redraw the whole map. >> mohamad chatah was a key figure in lobbying the international community to pursue the killers of saad

al-hariri, and bring them to justice. he stressed it was important to find the perpetrators to stop further killings. that trial of the saad al-hariri suspect is going to start. that does not stop the assassination of mohamad chatah himself. >> you mentioned the trial. do we know the two incidents are, in fact, related? >> well, investigators, as you can see, they are looking for clues, trying to determine who was behind the attack. the politicians have the mind-set. they think they are related. they believe it was iran, syria and hezbollah behind the attack. they think it's related to the international tribunal. >> you're saying the politicians have their mind-set. is there evidence to say that this is, in fact, hezbollah?

>> no, it's very early to have evidence. less than 24 hours after this car has exploded. in terms of evidence, no, it's very early. this is not the first assassination in lebanon, it's not the first car bomb, and people have been used to a pattern of car bombings. the country is polarized, people's minds are set. they are convinced and nothing will make them change their minds. >> will we see retaliation as to whether or not hezbollah is to blame? >> well, you know what is playing here. lebanese feel it is a proxy war, that the hezbollah had been accusing saudi arabia of standing behind the car bombs sent to the shia areas. and now the coalition is accusing iran of being behind the attacks. if this is a regional proxy war, that will continue until the

crisis in syria resolves. >> thank you so much for joining us. >> meanwhile, a russian diplomat says removal experts will not leave the deadline to remove syria's chemical weapons. the weapons, put on ships and taken out to be destroyed by december 31st have not been delivered to port. on the way to shipping docks, toxins pose a threat. the diplomats spoke after an international meeting between the u.s., russia and chemical weapons experts and they are not sure when the process will begin, and when they do know, they probably will not announce it to keep rebels from interfering. >> in egypt five died in deadly government protests. police are using tear gas against anti-government protesters near azhar university. 300 have been arrested. peter greste has our report. >> friday was going be a day of

confrontation, a test of will against egypt's anti-government protesters and police. it came two days after the government declared the muslim brotherhood to be a terrorist group. the interior ministry warned anyone that joins protests will be imprisoned for five years on charges of promoting terrorist ideology. in cairo's nasr city, thousands turned out after prayers. >> now they want to rule us with guns and because of that, we are going to protest peacefully to save our lives. >> our village will never be there. the killer will not be in egypt >> women joined the march that seemed headed for a confrontation. above them supporters waved from

the balconies. the 4-fingered salute is a symbol of the alliance. protesters are making it clear how determined they are to defy the government. we need to see what the government is prepared to carry out. >> minutes later the police moved in, firing tear gas and bird shot into the crowd. the protesters scattered before a determined core regrouped to fight back. >> the police tried to arrest anyone involved in the protest. >> we have a person injured. others are in prison. >> a photographer perched on a balcony caught this image of a woman in police custody. the government's crackdown on the brotherhood is aimed at dealing with what officials believe to be a threat to state

stability. as the confrontations continue, it may have had the opposite effect. >> still, the government provided no strong evidence that links the muslim brotherhood to mill tant groups. >> a train travelling through southern india caught fire, killing 123 people. many suf kated from thick, black smoke that filled the passenger coaches. nine others were injured. investigations into the crisis is under way. >> rain showers, but we'll continue with the rainfall in the south-east, leading to flood warnings and watches as we look across the south-east for the remainder of tonight into the morning hours. rain is light and showery at this time, but will increase as we have a storm system travelling up the east coast.

in fact, we have something coming, the moisture and the works, but it is cold arctic air coming out of canada, bringing wind chill advisories. now, that will pick up snow as that gets going, pushing down into the u.s. the heavier snow amounts expect to be south of lake superior. higher amounts from 4-8 inches. otherwise it will be lighter amounts from canada to the u.s., even around the north-east again. here is the rain sunday - continuing to travel up the east coast. maine, vermont, new hampshire. tonight we'll continue with some more comfortable seasonable temperatures for many of us, and that will last through the first part of saturday. >> a big change for china. will more than 30 years some parents in china can plan to have more than one child.

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>> south sudan says it will stop fighting the rebels who have been accused of trying to overthrow the government. the announcement came at a meeting of east african leaders in kenya. it's not clear if the ceasefire will hold because the head of the rebellion was not in the talks. more than 1,000 people have been killed. the u.n. is beefing up its presence, joining 5,000 u.n. workers helping to protect 63,000 people seeking refuge. >> workers were attacked with tear gas. [ inaudible ]

>> a corruption scandal that has shaken his government and led to a reshuffle of his cabinet after three of his key ministers were forced to resign. they still enjoyed support and anti-government protests. on friday he addressed thousands of followers at the airport. >> translation: sovereignty does not bethrong the judiciary or the government. it belongs to the people. >> elsewhere in istanbul although small in numbers of, bribery and corruption is everywhere. they want the prime minister to resign. >> police tried to break up the crowds in and around the city's

iconic thaksin square with water cannons. >> we do not want the man who is a traitor and thief. >> we want to say to him goodbye. >> this latest scandal has brought to the surface a power struggle in turkey the government of hezbollah, and the leader of the hizmet movement. it's a movement of fethullah gelun, which has support in the police and judiciary. it's believed that fethullah gelun was responsible for bringing the corruption scandal into the public domain. the two men were allies in the past. the rift is threatening the country's political stability. >> for decades families in china have been bound by the country's controversial one-child policy.

that is changing. calls can have two children if either parent is an only child. the one-child policy was imposed in 1980 to control china's growing population. these reforms were first announced by chinese leaders last month. >> spending money to save money. how finding a place to live for the homeless is improving the bottom line.

>> there are hundreds of thousands of homeless people in the united states, which means that getting the medical care is difficult and expensive. as randall pinkston report, new york state is trying to change that, reducing homelessness and health care costs at the same time. >> this is my studio. >> aurelio ramirez is living in his own home for the first time in a decade. >> i'm hope to have a secure

place. >> it's been a long time since he's been able to say that. born in manhattan and raised in puerto rico he was studying to be a teacher. >> my mother got sick. i stopped that to take care of her. >> aurelio ramirez worked a series of jobs. when a company he worked for moved away, he lost the job and his home. for eight years he lived in a tent under the coney island boardwalk. his health suffered. >> i was drinking too much. >> you are diabetic. >> yes >> you have hypertension, high blood pressure. >> yes. >> and asthma. >> yes. >> among people that are free consequent users, those people are disproportionately homeless. these are people with medical problems. >> dr kelly doran works in medicine, specialising in homelessness.

a stint in san francisco showed her a different approach to health care. >> when you break it down, there are so many things that are necessary for health that you can't do when you don't have the stability and the roof over your head. >> so do you your own shopping? >> yes. >> having a refrigerator and a stove to make healthy food and not rely on hand-outs or fast food. >> aurelio ramirez has a fresh start because of a plan using government funds, medicaid to help the homeless. the plan provide an apartment, medical care. 16 studies nationwide backed up the benefits of supportive housing, showing that states can save money by implementing the plan. >> new york state began a first in the nation experiment, using $150 million in medicade money for supportive housing for the homeless. >> we served 5,000 individuals.

what we are seeing is decreased utilizition and hospitals in e.r. us, and an increase spend on the primary preventive side. that's the direction we wanted to take. >> before coming here aurelio ramirez went to the emergency room three or four times a month. now? >> i haven't gone to the hospital. >> at all? >> no. >> aurelio ramirez takes his medication and makes regular visits to the nurse's office and its case manager. both in the building where he lives. >> i'm proud of aurelio ramirez, and how well he's done. >> he helped me out. >> and a key to good health for aurelio ramirez and other homeless people - having a home. where do you think you would have been if you had not found this place? >> probably dead. it's like a new life. a whole different world. >> aurelio ramirez is an example of how states may be able to reduce rising health care costs

for the homeless, by showing them how to live healthy in their own place. >> hot for purchase. the city of denver issued marijuana retail licences. a city spokeswoman said 10 stores are set to open january 1st. making denver one of 26 colorado towns and cities to make the transition from medical dispense ris. 346 licences have been approved. and colorado voters approved the sale of marijuana for recreational use in november last year. >> getting ready for new year's. workers have put the touches on a crystal ball that put the final touches in times square. they gave the ball trademark shimmers. one panel is special, a single rose dreamt up by 12-year-old former cancer patient.

i'm morgan radford, thank you for joining us. as always you can see us on aljazeera.com. see you again at 4am. >> you're in the stream. what does it mean, modern day masculinity. lisa fletcher is out today, but we have our man, oma omar, as cohost. look, you and i wear makeup for a living, and it's not the traditional masculinity, and community is