... >> welcome to al jazeera america. i am john siegenthaler in new york. here are tonight's top stories. it's being called the most dangerous cold weather in decades closing schools, grounding thousands of flights. experts are warning that frostbite could set in almost instantly on unprotected skin. the midwest wind chills are as low as 50 below zero. the white house lashed out at critics who say forces pulled out too soon. jay carney said this latest new wave of violence would have happened whether u.s. forces were in iraq or not. the senate is back to work after a holiday break. tomorrow, senators focus on

whether to restore benefits for long-term unemployed. there may not be enough republican support to bring that measure up for a vote. same-sex marriage on hold in utah for a process of court appeals. the federal judge ruled the state's ban was unconstitutional but utah has asked the supreme court to overturn that ruling in favor of the state's rights. those are the headlines. i am john seigenthaler. ameri "america tonight" with joie chen is next. you can get the latest on aljazeera.com. on "america tonight," we begin a special series 3sez years after fukushima. can the people forced out of this coachedal japanese community ever go home again? tonight, a return to chaos.

ever go home again? tonight, a return to chaos. as al-qaeda retakes control in a key iraqi city. will the u.s. step in again? >> we are not contemplating putting boots on the ground. this is their fight but we are going to help them in their fight. >> yes, it's cold, really, really cold. but is the polar vor texvortex real system or a sharknado. >> our long-range am models were i wanting at this even two weeks ago. ♪ good evening. thanks for being with us. i am joey chen. it has been almost three years

sin fukushima spread a banket over wide areas of the japanese countryside. in our first of a series, michael oku investigates whether the massive government effort to the decontaminate fukushima and convince people to return home has any hope of succeeding. a life-long ranch with his cattle his life. he was buying-by-when the magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit. >> there was a huge shaking. i rushed out into the parking lot of the store and there heard reports of a three-meter tsunami. i was worried about my cattle. so, i rushed back here. >> that's where he first heard about the trouble at the nuclear power plant just miles from his home. he lived close enough to see it through binoclars.

>> translator: i saw five or six helicopters in the air taking turns circling over fukushima. then i heard an explosion, a noise that sounded like it came from a battlefield. >> that sound was a hydrogen explosion caused by a meltdown of uranium at fukushima's reactor 1. everyone within 20 kilometers, some 12 miles of the plant, was ordered to evacuate. >> i couldn't see the. he evacuation which began on the 12th. i had 330 cows to care for. i couldn't flee, county evacuate >> reporter: as deeply tied as he was to these cattle, to this soil, it was a decision he came to fear would cost him his life. >> translator: on the 15th of march, they were explosions at reactor 2 and 4. >> that's when i thought, this is it. i am done for.

>> the multiple explosions blanketed his farm and wide areas of fukushima prefector with sezium and other radioactive particles. but he couldn't bring himself to leave. >> i heard animals crying out. this is what it looked like wherever i looked were scenes from a living hell. i couldn't do the same thing to my own cattle: >> yoshizaw a. has tested positive to the radioactive elements 134 and 137. he is undergoing careful monitoring at a radiation research hospital and those levels have since dropped. >> of course, i was worried, being expose today radiation isn't a good thing. but i am not going to get hist he can cal or have a mental breakdown from it. >> but fear of radiation remains

strong. he is the exception. most people heeded the government's evacuation order and fled in waves, leaving ghost towns in their wake. we ventured into towns inside and around the exclusion zone, which remained empty today, eerily silent and frozen in time at the moment residents fled the quaking earth and incoming sea. many expected to return once the dust settles and the waters receded. instead, even long-time residents have stayed away, afraid of what many call the invisible enemy that haunts the hundreds of square miles around fukushima dieche. >> this meter is showing more than 3.2 micro sieberts per hour. >> that's the highest reading we have seen the whole time we have been here in japan >> reporter: the tens of thousands who fled the towns

near the stricken plant have yet to return home. these nuclear refugees are scattered throughout japan, living in temporary facilities like these. i talked with one resident who barely escaped the tsunami. >> what was it that told you it was time to get out of your house? >> about 30 minutes after the earthquake, i went down to take a look at the river. i saw the tide rushing out to sea in advance of the tsunami. so we got out of the house. reporter: the tsunami destroyed that house so he has been living here and caring for his mother ever since. >> i live in that room over there. it's pretty cramped. i want to go home but can't because of fears of radiation from the nuclear accident.

>> the mayor of minamisuma is trying to convince refugees to come home. >> what was the worst point of the post fukushima disaster for you? >> before the disaster, 71,000 people lived here. 1,000 died in the tsunami. when the population dropped to 10,000, there wasn't a soul on the streets. >> that's when i wondered what would become of us >> reporter: yet sakari never once f considered leaving. >> no goods comes from agonizing over the past. so, i just focused on how to move the city forward into the future. >> the mayor devoted himself to making sure the city had a future, but it was a hard sell. radiation remained nigh many parts of minamisuma.

>> we have letty evacuees know we are doing decontamination and are working to reduce their worries and anxieties. >> his quest to rebuild his town has been helped by a massive government led effort to nost decd decontaminate. >> what are these men doing? >> major radiation is snow that you cannot see. we have removed the dirt and grime that sticks to it. >> to reduce the radiation, all the top soil must be scraped away and replaced. contaminated shrubs must be pruned, trees cut down and removed. >> the contaminated soil is dumped at hundreds of sites like th that. to give you a sense of the scale

of the operation, the bags here were taken from only 400 homes in munisoma. the city has plans to decontaminate 20,000 in all. this city occupies just one small corner in a prefector that's roughly the sides of connecticut. gentleman in spite of the multi-billion dollar decontamination effort, a third of the population has yet to return to minamisuma. many remain skeptical the government's plan will actually work even yoshiwazawa, one of the few who made the decision to stay. >> what do you make of the government's decontamination efforts? >> how do you change this most contaminated area into toupees where people can live? our towns have turned into chernobyl. if people return, what will they do? they won't return.

>> kari sito was living in fukushima with her husband and two young children when the government ordered everyone inside after theplosions at fukushima. >> how worried were you? >>? >> fluff to make me crazy. i used my cell phone to search the internet for news. i kept searching, fukushima, radiation. i kept searching. it nearly drove me crazy. >> after they were allowed outside, she continued worrying about the radiation continued worrying about her children. >> did your husband tell you that it was safe to be in the city? >> he didn't tell me it was safe, but i think he believed i was overreacting. >> you didn't you hear the government reports that said that, you know, the city was

essentially safe to live in? >> i heard. i heard but i didn't believe it. my young event son had blood in his urine and tool and he kept catching cold and had a cough. but when i took him to a doctor, he told me there was no link to radiation. all of the doctors there said that. >> she constantly bathed her children and washed their clothes and took trips outside of fukushima whenever possible. >> the problem with radiation is that it's too out of the ordinary. it accident occurred doesn't seem real, but it would have been horrible if anything happened to my children. >> when her husband ignored her fears and refused to leave fukushima, the strain was unbearable. she filed for divorce.

it's a kind of marital discord so common these days, the japanese have a name for it "nuclear divorce." > i felt like that if i stayed with him, i wouldn't be able to keep my children from harm, and that's how i got here. >> here is motsimoto city, far from the worries of radiation. >> was it worth splitting the family? >> i don't know if it was the rice choice. i don't know but best thing about being here is seeing my children outside, playing and laughing, to not worry and to be able to see them like this makes me very happy. >> do you believe had a fukushima will ever be a safe place to live again? >> the? >> not in my lifetime, not the same fukushima that existed before, where you could eat the food without worry, where you

could drink the water from the river. that would be wonderful. some day. that our correspondent on the fears in fukushima, those real and those that are not fully understood yet. we are going to consider now further the reefings of radiation and what scientists do know the. doctor jeffrey patterson former president of physicians for personally responsibility at the wisconsin puschool of public health. we know this was a difficult conversation to have when it comes to separating fact from physici ficati fiction. i want to be clear. you have a pretty firm line that no level of exposure to radiation is acceptable in your mind. >> yes. that's correct. we know from the hiroshima and nagasaki data, there is no safe level of tonight radiation.

it produces cancers and we know from aler stewart's work in britain, one x-ray of a fetus increases that fetus's chance of developing leukemia by one and a half to two times and this is just humans and cancer. there is much more that goes on terms of immune systems and in terms of the ecosystem with birds and animals that we are now seeing around chernobyl and in the fukushima area. >> i will point out that there are some studies that would dispute some of that, some studies that suggest that there is no multi-generalation effect, the immediate damage in utero might be severe. multi-generationally, you may not see that affect. there is this question and for a woman as we sidewalk in the report of a mother of two young children. there are specific fears. how far does that spread in your mind in the how far is the limit? we know there was a certain amount of radiation exposure in all of our lives today.

>> there is. we all are expose today background radiation, but i think to add to it with the indiscriminant distribution of radiation for things like fukushima, from chernobyl, from nuclear weapons testing is not the proper thing to do. we decided over 50 years ago, president kennedy decided when we discovered on. in children's teeth, it was wrong to do this. it's with the nuclear industry as it was with weapons years ago. we do not know the ends results of this e permanent where this radiation is going to be in the environment for hundreds of years to come. we won't know the results on multi-generations until we watch it for hundreds of years. >> certainly, there are efforts to do that in the aftermath of hi hiroshima and nag a sanagasaki.

the there are a number of studies that follow people over a long period of time. bearing all of that in mind, is there some clear risk, so scientifically proven risk that tells us what the immediate impact would be? say, for example, not only in japan but spreading across the pacific into the western shores of the united states? >> i think we know very little about that science simply because bedon't know how much radiation is going to spread across the fasific. but we need to remember fukushima is an ongoing release of radiation that's going to continue to do this for who knows how long? and that it's very important to keep in mind that the radiation moves up the food chain. it concentrates up the food change and, of course, we are up at the top of the food chain. so we are not going to see the end of this experiment. i think it's a very dangerous and rather immoral experiment that we are engaged in here.

and to say that there are no immediate effects or even know perceivable effects that are significant in the long-term is simply unconscionable. >> okay. i appreciate your coming on and discussing this with us. i don't think anybody was suggesting there aren't some immediate concerns and certainly a lot of focus there being put on it as well. transfer jeffrey patterson is professor at the university of wisconsin school of public health. we appreciate you being with us. >> tuesday, on america tonight, more on our return to fukushima. meet the brave nuclear gypsies charged with a dangerous task of cleaning up, but with little hope of fighting off the gravest threats. >> translator: we used to wear charcoal filters. because of the cost cuts, we have dust filters of some wore charcoal filters in all

locations. >> it sounds like you were saying there were different classes. >> capco is god. the main contractors are kicks. we are the slaves. >> michael oku will continue his special look, "return to fukushima" tuesday on this program. coming up next on "america tonight," al-qaeda is back. a key iraqi city faces conflict anew as the u.s. considers its role and its responsibility.

>> a jazeera america is the only news channel that brings you live news at the top of every hour >> here are the headlines at this hour breaking news... sports... business... weather... live news...every hour, on the hour only on al jazeera america 9 years after the united states reclaimed fallujah, the situate is again in the hands of al-qaeda-linked sunni mil ants. anbar province is largely sunni. sheila mcviccer reports that the militant presence has shifted some sunni support back to baghd baghdad. >> this is the city proud l.l.c. held by u.s. military forces

nine years ago today. the the islamic state of iraq and lavont, an al-qaeda affiliate waged battle over the weekend. only 60 miles from baghdad, they took control of police stations and set up checkpoints around fallujah and the nearby city of ramadi, ultimately taking over today. >> translator: the revolutionaries of our tribes in fallujah have resolved to punish the tribesmen. we are also determined to shoulder the responsibility of knowing the government's filthy scheme. >> sunni tribesmen have taken up arms against al-qaeda-linked forces as they did when the u.s. was still in iraq in exchange for payment. but after u.s. forces left, sunni shiia conflict intensified. the sunni tribesmen have been in conflict with the shiia led government of nuri al-maliki.

the cracky capitol was hit by violence as well. there, a series of deadly bombings took the lives of 20 people on sunday. today, a senior iranian commander pledged military aid to help the iraqi government. the gesture followed a statement by u.s. secretary of state, john kerry, which pledged american support for the iraqi government as well. >> we are going to do everything that is possible to help them, and i will not go into the details except to say that we are in contact with tribunal leaders from the anbar province and we know who are showing great courage and standing up against this as they reject terrorist groups from their cities. >> but there will be no military intervention by the united states. >> so, we are not obviously contemplating returning. we are not contemplating putting

boots on the ground. this is their fight but we are going to hem them in their fight. >> what that helps looks like remains to be seen. sheila mcviccer, al jazeera. >> shed more light now on the escalation of sectarian violence or the reescalation of it. we turn to douglas the, the former director for iraq at the national security counsel and now, senior fellow at the new america foundation. also with us is al jazeera's jane rath who covered the fighting in fallujah. we appreciate you being back with us. jane, i want to start with you. this has been sort of off of the u.s. consciousness for a while. we have been out of iraq. our forces are now taking responsibility here has this been a sudden escalation of violence? >> i think it's only been sudden if like most people in the west, you haven't been paying attention and you want to think, as we do, that iraq is just ticking along fine. it hasn't been. the country is essentially partitioned over the last year. you can't really get from baghdad to fallujah. it's less than 40 miles. there have been protests every friday. there are real griefances there.

and there is a growing gap between the iraqi government and the other parts of the country. so, this has been simmering. >> so talk a little about who is responsibility for this latest flare-up and what does it mean? is it a true re-emergence of al-qaeda forces there? >> it's hard. we have a chicken/egg problem here. is it sunni recal sit trans or the she agovernment and the fact is there is a little bit of truth on both sides. it's difficult to know who is ultimately responsible. what we do know is that this latest event is triggered by the government's repress of a protest site in ramadi that led to a series of events that's way down in the weeds that ended up with kuwait having a significant presence, whether in control or have control of some neighborhoods in the an bar cities of fallujah and ramadi. >> we have seen secretary kerry move around on this a little bit, try to dance through the

weeds. we don't want to put. boots on the ground but we are going to help. what does that mean? >> it's not entirely clear. the administration, i think, would like to give extra weapons, extra toys to the iraqis to help them deal with this crisis. >> can that happen in the current circumstance? >> it can. the senate is not going to let those go through. the current leadership in the foreign relations community is not amenable to the current iraq government. >> that's not going to happfor a intervention. >> what would happen? >> they have promised them hell-fire missiles, drones. the iraqis want armed drones. they are probably not going to get that. really what this points to is the same thing that's been going on since 2003 and 2004. you cannot beat that city into submission, and the reason that al-qaeda has been allowed to flourish and come back from syria and enter fallujah and ramadi, there is a passive acceptance. they are not strong enough to fight them. at the same time, there is no

sympathy for the iraqi government that they feel don't represent them. >> there could be some self interests in not moving too strongly right now. we are looking forward to e elections in iraq in the spring. >> we have elections scheduled for april. we are at an inflection point. it's unclear which way this goes. it is possible that this could be a good thing for iraq and for malaki. problem has been they haven't been able to find al-qaeda. al-qaeda has been blowing up iraq for the last year and been hiding in the shadows. they have come out of the shadows, holding ground in fallujah and ramadi that. makes them easy to kill. it's clear the iraqis may not be able to throw them out. you can see this going very well for iraq or very badly. it's an inflection point. >> that's a good point of view. i am not sure how it would go well for iraq, unless the prime minister of iraq gives significant consensus to the sunni population. >> that's what they have been demanding for a year.

we are talking about things like not arresting entire communities, not jailing women to put pressure on their husbands to confess, repealing anti-terrorism laws that have executed dozens if not hundreds of people. i am not sure that that's coming, but that's what has to happen. >> all right. we are out of time here, but we will continue the discussion. we appreciate both of you being with us. and the new america foundation as well. >> thank you. >> after the break, we get inside the vortex, a deep freeze all the way to the deep south. how its even making the earth move in canada.

sxwrrnling a snap shot of stories making headlines on "america tonight." jihad jane has been sentenced, 15-year-old clean rose is facing a light turn. her sentence was reduced because she has been cooperating with investigators.

the u.s. supreme court has a stay on same-sex marriages, couples who challenge the ban on civil unions. >> kim jun un is getting a birthday celebration preparing for a game against a team of north korea ian players. rodman said proceeds from this birthday gift will go to the debt in north korea. it's fairly obvious at this point that a lot of the news is about the cold. it's cold. not just uncomfortabley cold but dangerously cold in some places, plunging to levels we haven't seen in decades as one meteorologist pointed out, if you are under 40, you have never felt it this bad. "america tonight" explains how something called the polar vortex is getting many states polar experience. >> extremely fridgid temperatures will continue to blast dozens of states at least

through tuesday. the snow is pouring down on michigan and minnesota is so-called, it feels like 55 below, which windchill. fortunately, whether this wacky and this uncomfortable is part of a pattern that so far only occurs every 10 years or so according to national weather service meteorologist mike soko. >> the science of that is in its infancy. we still have a lot of research to do on it. otherwise, we would be able to predict these things two months in advance. >> the way below zero cold snap, sako says can be attributed to a part of mother nature called the polar vortex, air that's turning at the north pole but sometimes, rarely, he says, that cold air travels south. >> the polar vortex is the cold air that sits at the north pole. it will usually spends around and stays close to home. on occasions like this, every ten or twenty years, a large chunk breaks off and heads down

towards north america. >> that's why we are seeing these extreme temperatures and wind chills. >> describe when you see this in your model. what's going through your mind when you realize the temperatures are going to get so low? >> forecasters generally can see this a week or two in advance and we had been looking at the model data coming in for several days and even up to a week leading up to this. even our longer-range climate models were hinting at this even two weeks ago, and when it started to get a little bit closer and closer, we were really honing in on these temperatures and starting to get the warnings and advisories out several days ahead of it. >> scientists are still researching what exactly causes the phenomenon and weather climate change is a factor. >> we hear a lot of people talking about global warming and warming, warming, warming and warmer temperatures. how can we have something where we have this huge blast of cold air? and can those two things both exist at the same time? >> you can't really link the two. i mean these -- it's just mother nature being mother nature. it's a sick click cyclical

pattern, these extrements come and go. you can't really tie one or the other to climate change. it's just the state of the science isn't there to tie them together >> reporter: how are you able to say that this is not going to happen again next week? what's the future of this polar vortex? >> the computer models for one. we also look at observed temperatures, so we can see what the temperatures are coming out of upstream. if it's not a long channel of cold temperatures, we can confidently say it's going to be a short event. but if there is a deep, long stream of cold temperatures coming at us, those are the events that last several days but we are fortunate, in this case, it will only last a day or two. >> for now, the national weather service is advising people to stay indoors and layer up. this extreme cold front should be gone by wednesday. lower jane gliha, al jazeera, washington. historic, life-threatening, that's how it is being described. access rebecca stevensons joins us. she has been monitoring

conditions. who will have the worst of it tonight? >> tonight looks like indianapolis over to ohio, joy. it's got very, very cold air that's blasting in, and it's been coming right out of canada into the midwest. as we look at temperatures for alaska alaska, those are right around fereezing. they know the records that have been hit for parts of the northwest earlier in the morning and chicago with 16 degrees below zero. >> that's a new record low. but we are going to see more record lows coming in overnight tonight from billings montana heading farther east, that cold air is oozing that way. i say, "ooze because cold air is thing. it's dense. it does move slowly, and so the biggest problem with these temperatures being cold is the wind that's bringing it? in. the wind will remove heat directly from the body. so, it feels like temperatures right now are 22 degrees below zero for fargo and six degrees below

zero for omaha. note, it feels even colder for places like chicago at minus 38 and detroit, minus 48 degrees. this will take the heat right from the tissue of the nose and the lips and can cause frostbite very quickly. temperature changes, even as far south as florida, now we are going to start talking about the orange crop in the south as temperatures are going to be dropping so quickly, down 30, 40 degrees in the last 24 hours. low temperatures tonight will be as cold as 10 degrees for birmingham. so that very cold air, yes, coming from the polar vortex but as that cold air that originated over places like siberia came farther south, it got wrapped up in an area of low pressure that is exiting. however, it did bring some twitter hash tags calling places like chicago hash tag chiberia in the last few days that. low-pressure system moving out, drying out but thank goodness,

joy, we don't see temperatures getting anywhere near the coldest temperature recorded on earth which was in antartica, minus 129.yeah. >> that's something to feel better about. thanks so much, al jazeera meetrologist rebecca stevenson. if you want to know how bad the cold can get, who better to turn to than canadians, professionals dealing with cold. this has struck even the great cold north hard and under food, several times over the past couple of weeks delivering a stunning sound and a shock. check this the out. >> you are lucky i was videoing. holy (bleep). whoa. man. sorry for the camera there, folks. >> look, the ice. the. >> holy molly on that. katherine woodgold, a

seismologist who studies earthquakes in canada. that's what this felt like to that gentleman. in truth, we have to say that video was recorded at a different event. this has been happening over the last few days, these frostquakes is what people are calling them. what does that mean? >> a frostquake is when there is a lot of water or ice on the ground and when temperatures drop rapidly, then am the water freezes into ice and the ice expands as its freezing. >> it makes a big booming sound? right? i mean it is -- >> it suddenly cracks. >> right? >> and this is something seismologists, you are able to see this? right? you can see this on your equipment, these cracks under ground? >> no. these are -- these are much smaller than earthquakes. >> right. >> they are on the surface, and they are much, much smaller. so we can occasionally record on our instruments a pufoul small

frostquake but only if it's close to one of our instruments. most frostquakes we would not record. >> all right. ? >> what we are seeing is people obvious sebbing these cracking sounds. we are looking at ininstruments and saying we don't see any earthquake. so is it a likely explanation is that they are frostquakes. >> this is not dangerous to people although i have some canadian friends in toronto who have all said, yes, i heard this. it sounded like an earthquake. it felt like an earthquake to them. >> yeah, they can sound and feel like an earthquake even though they are much, much smaller than earthquakes because they are on the surface, it's possible to be quite close to them, within a few hundred meters. if you are close, it will feel like a small earthquake even though really it's much smaller. >> and should we look at this as being dangerous, that it would move the earth or that, you

know, there might be any sort of impact as earthquakes might have? >> it's a localized surface effect. just in the ice on the surface of the earth. >> so just that fisherman probably didn't do anything but drop his fishing pole as a result of that? right? >> the i'm sorry. yes quite hear you. >> okay. >> a similar thing happens on the surface of lakes as ice builds up on the surface of lakes, it will crack because it's expanding and has to crunch to make room for itself. get these sunday cracks. >> those of you in canada have hearty and strong spirits. you can probably put up with earth movement. we appreciate your insight and assurance we are all going to be okay. this is katherine woodgold, seismologist of earthquake canada. thanks so much. dealing with a bitter cold snap weren't enough, doctors are bracing for what could be one of the worst flew seasons?

>> nearly half of the united states is experiencing wide-spread blue activity. mary are the h1n1 flu. in texas, one of the areas hardest hit, 25 people have died already this season. the state's hell department has issued an influenza health alert. in michigan, it people suffering from severe cases of the flu. >> we are seeing people generally healthy and young, 30s, 40s, 50s, come down with very serious flu-related illness and in some cases need life support. >> what's concerning across the state of michigan is that we are seeing high volumes of influenza this early in the season. >> doctor joe rizi chief of the prevention branch in the cd c's influenza division. appreciate you being with us. i mention people have been calling this the swine flu but

that's not correct? is it? >> it's not. it's really a human flew. when the flu, this virus first emerged back in 2009, it clearly a swine origin some time back but right now, it's really a human flew viruvirus. >> when we say this flew -- flu of 2009, this in terms of its viral nature, it is causing the same sort of symptoms and it is of the same severity? >> there is a bunch of types of flu virus you see but they give you flu. they cause fever, muscle aches, could have and sore throat so you can't tell the difference between one flu vie runs and under another. >> in 2009, thepal paneldemic, there were thousands, hundreds of thousands of people who were affected by this really a killer flu. is that what we are talking about here? >> it's too early to hetell how severe this flu season will be am compared to other flu seasons. we don't know that until the end

of the season. what we know is that every year we see flu and every year people get sick and some die. so now is the time to get vaccinated if you haven't already. >> let's talk a little bit about that. after 2009, there was a point where people said, it's dormant and has not come back in a while. it's been under the radar as it were. what's happened? is there some reason why it's recurred? is it because people aren't getting vaccinated? >> it's not that. flu viruses come and go really for unpredictable reasons. this has been different places in the world and even in the u.s., each of the last few flu seasons. we haven't had a dominant h1 year the last couple of years. >> that's what's new. again, we don't know how bad this will be, but we know if you haven't been vaccinated, get vaccinated now. if you are sick with flu, talk to your doctor about being treated. >> can you assure me, though, if i get vaccinated, it will help? it will keep me from getting the flu? >> i can't assure you of that but we know vaccine is the single best way to protect

yourself against flu and against flu complications. it's not a perfect vaccine. it should reduce your chance of getting sick or dying from the flu significantly. >> both texas and michigan, we reported have seen some pretty widespread outbreaks at this point. is it localized to these areas? how much of the country is really already seeing severe cases? >> good point. we are seeing lots of flu almost everywhere in the united states right now. all 10 regions of the country that we divide the country up in to are seeing increased levels of flu in 25 states are seeing widespread flu in their state. so flu is really everywhere right now. >> you have to answer for me the mom question, and that is, really, the cold weather that we see, we associate it, as moms, with getting sick, with getting flu. does it have any impact? is there some reason why these things are happening at the same time? >> well, it probably doesn't have any impact if you get sick. we know that flu viruss tend to circulate and tend to transmit better during the wintertime probably for a couple of

reasons. probably the cold weather has something to do with it, the low humidity seems to favor flu transmission. the other thing is that everybody is crowded in the schools and work places during the wintertime closer together. that probably helps as well. >> dr. joe brazi, chief of the em deemologist and prevention branch at cd c's prevention division. we thank you for being with us. after the break, capitol hill takes on a new year and an old problem: will the government extend its hand to bring more help to america's jobless?

coming up on "consider this combat, extremist feel the power vacuum in iraq.

what differences will america's promises of aid make in the region. the war on poverty turns 50 as americans wonder if there's a way to win it. a new look at anxiety, surprising information about who is suffering from it and whether it can help some subject seed. downtown abbey, how accurate is it? we will see you at the top of the hour. a new look at anxiety holiday recess is over. congress back to work. on capitol hill tonight, the senate is battling now over extending unemployment benefits. over a million americans could get hit hard financially if the unemployment benefits are not extended. democrats pushing for a three-month extension, which amounts to an average of about

$300 a week. but conservatives say the economy has improved and there is no need for more benefits. >> it's the right thing to do for these workers, and it's the smart thing to do for our economy. >> the other reason is that we just don't think that the program is effective. there is plenty of evidence that suggests that it actually contributes to people staying out of work longer. democrats are expected to make income disparity in america their biggish this election year. the president will host unemployed workers at the whitehouse on tuesday. a leading democrat involved with economic issues behind the scenes is maryland senator been are cardon. he sat down with adam may to look ahead to the big issues on capitol hill in 2014 beginning with the battle over unemployment insurance. >> there are more than a million people waiting right now for some action here in washington. how long are they going to have to wait? >> i hope we get to it right away. it's an importantly program for individuals who are really in a tough spot today.

these are long-term unemployed who can not find employment, who desperately need some help in order to keep their families afloat. >> republicans, specifically house speaker boehner have said that the cost of extending this should be offset. you have been very firm in disagreeing with that. why? >> well, historically, we have not offset the cost because, first, we've collected the money during the good economic times. secondly, it's not only to help the families. it's to help our economy by putting more money into the economy. it helps produce additional jobs and economic growth. so, if you offset it, that offset will take away some of the positive impact that the unemployment benefits have when rebuilding our economy. >> what do we do about the problem with the long-term unemployed with this country right now? we can keep extending these benefits of unemployment but eventually these people want jobs. don't they? >> we don't have enough jobs. the key point, i hope the key focus of 2014 will be in the united states what we can do to create jobs here in the united

states. >> will we raise the minimum wage in 2014? >> i certainly hope some. the minimum wage has been stuck now for many years. so, it needs to keep up with the economic times. so, by just adjusting it now, we are just going back to its purchasing power a few years ago. so we are -- it's really to catch up. and when you look at the of course differences in america, those who are working at minimum wage can't support a family. heats make it a liveable wage. >> senator harkin would like to see that minimum wage raised above $10 an hour. >> he is suggesting a reasonable amount, and i think it will help our economy because it raises all levels of income for those who are at the margins when trying to support their families. >> talking about the issues in 2013, a lot of people thought something would finally, get done on comprehensive immigration reform. is that possible in 2013? >> i hope to so. the senate passed it by a broad bi-partisan vote. it is a bi-partisan bill.

america needs to reform it's immigration system. it makes no sense. it's hurting our economy. it's also speaks to the values of our country. so we certainly hope we can get it through the house of representatives. the senate has done it's work. we hope the house will do its work. you have to have democrats and republicans work. it's not going to be what the republicans or democrats want. quite frankly, i think americans want it that way. >> that relationship, again, don't you think and this talk of bi-partisansh bi-partisanship, it will be put to test talking about raising the debt ceiling. will it get ugly again? >> i hope not. we had a big fight as to what the budget limits would be. we have reached an agreement. everybody shook hands. we are now passing anomnibus bill reflecting the budget agreement to expect to get another round of negotassumptions, i think, is not in the spirit of compromise that we saw in getting a budget some people are calling on

another round of negotiations. >> some of the same people who dent support the budget agreement, also. i think at the end of the day, an agreement is an agreement. let's move forward. >> tax reform has been an issue that's polling pour lar. people have wanted it for years now. is that dead in the water for 2014? >> you are right. no one is happy with the current tax code. the probably is how do you replace it? >> never easy. >> you are on the finance committee. >> i think america should join most of the other countries in the world and rely more on consumption taxes and less on income taxes. i think we would be more competitive. we could make it fair by exempting a tape level of con sumtion sew that it is more progressive than our current tax code. i think we should adopt a new tax code. the problem is it's not easy. there are winners and losers. and people who are doing well under this tax code are going to fight to maintain the tax breaks they currently have. >> my last question for you is pretty simple here in 2013, the american public was really

turned off by what they saw happening here in washington. can they expect anything different here in this new year? >> in 2013, the partisan differences prevented us from resolving too many issues. and we saw one manufactured crisis after another jeopardize america's strength. so, i think the american people -- i can tell you this senator wants us to work together. it's not how the stem is supposed to work. compromise is not a bad word. >> when was the last time you had dinner with a republican senator? >> i had one not too long ago. >> good to hear. >> on a personal basis, the friendships are real and i meet and talk with republican senators on a daily basis. and what we need -- and we all agree on that. so now, we've got to take charge and put this partisan division aside and put the american interests first. >> ney tonight. looking ahead on ameri"america tonight," the u.s. government losing out on big money. whistle blowers tried for years

to bring allegations involving sub-prime loan guarantee did. firms have agreed to pay $320 million in a setsment with the justice department. "america tonight" investigates tuesday in this hour. ahead in our final segment tonight: white as snow, a real hoot spotted in chicago. witness the splendor of these visitors circling the windy city.

it and finally, tonigmanualesti visit orders, the snowy owl isnomy found in brakes like the north poll. bird watching for the owl headed south this season. >> i tried to get here at sunrise every morning and come here at sunset. >> it's a bone chillingly

morning. jerry goldner is hoping to snap a photograph of a snowy owl. >> they are probably the largest owls in north america. so, they are just, you know, amazing. just beautiful to watch, beautiful to spend time with. >> with its bright yellow eyes, black beak and puffy white plumage, the snowy owl has a distinction appearance. am the gained note right tee as hedwig seep here in the sourcerer's stone. >> owls throughout history have been seen as a spiritual creature, a wise owl, and i think everybody wants to experience that. >> this arctic know man has began appearing in har bores. bird watching enthusiasts have braved elements to catch a glimpse. >> wide their sense of hearing is so acute they can hone in on

prey under heavy vemtation or snow. experts at the lincoln park zoo say food may explain why they have migrated this far south? >> sometimes there are boom amend bust sieshlingz. there are food sources available at tape times of the year. after that, the adults may be pushing the juveniles out of the breeding territory in their range. so they move further and further south, looking for food and moving outside of their territory. >> one resource that has helped track snowy owl sitings is ebird, the online data bates of bird sightings provides retime information on when er the owls are and where they are going. >> the first ones arrived in about mid november. and because of the internet and how birds get reported online now, we sort of knew to expect them, so people were out looking for snowy owls before they showed up because they were being seen in other areas nearby. >> experts say the snowy owl

numbers will likely increase giving birders an opportunity to see them until late february or early march. but if electronic bird tracking with hours in the bitter cold doesn't sound appealing, there is always the zoo. usher karishi, chicago. >> awful cold, unlike most owls that hunt at night, the snowy owl can be easier to spot because they are more active during the day. keep an eye out. that's it for us here on "america tonight." if you would like to comment on any stories you have seen, log on tower our website, aljazeera.com/americatonight and join the conversation with us the. we will be on twitter and on our facebook page. good night. we wi we will have more "america tonight" tomorrow. brookings ie

>> welcome to al jazeera america, i'm john seigenthaler in new york. here are the top stories. tonight most of the u.s. is experiencing record low temperatures. the bitter cold weather called the most dangerous in decades frostbite could set in on unprotected skin. windchills are 50 below zero >> jetblue halted all flights out of boston and new york. flights are expected to return tomorrow. cold and snowy weather blamed for 4,000 flight cancellations today. >> senators are back at work expected to