>> this is al jazeera america i'm tony harris. on this date 50 years ago lbj declared war on poverty. but some call it a failure. chris christie taking revenge on a local mayor and now christie responds to the mess.

is. >> white house course upo correr us. what did the white house had a have say about all this? >> reporter: there are very few who escape the scorn of robert gates. overseaing thover seeing the scq and afghanistan, but the

criticism of president obama, but it was vice president biden who was scorned. saying joe biden has been wrong for four decades and he goes on to accuse biden as poisoning the well both here at the white house and elsewhere and among the broader american public. today the white house is going out of its way a show of support for vice president biden allowing cameras into a photo op, no reporters, just cameras capturing the image. this happens once a week. the first time in five years they've allowed cameras in. also jay carney, the white house spokesman said the president values the experience of joe biden and a lot of other things to say in defense of the vice president. >> when asked, and the president and others simply reassert the fundamental fact here is that

vice president biden is a key adviser on national security matters and domestic policy matters and other matters for this president, and the president greatly values the counsel that he provides. that's just a fact. >> reporter: gates pore praise president obama hazard suspicious of military leadership, resentful of the fact that was backed into the afghan surge that president obama authorized three years ago, and the president, according to gates, thought that his policy was going to fail at the same time he lauds president obama saying the decision to go after osama bin laden in pakistan one of the most courageous things he had seen. >> these laws on biden had been used by republicans before, but is it surprising to hear it coming from robert gates? >> reporter: well, it sure is,

and for a lot of reasons, gates has never seen as a partisan. he was a republican serving initially under republican administration. he was known as more low key obviously a very competent manager, a very competent secretary, obviously discrete considering the resumé he had as defense secretary and director of the c.i.a. also comes as a particular surprise, i must say because there are still american troops in combat and here gates just taking after congress. but goes after the civilian leadership while the american military is still in the field and still in combat. really extraordinary on any number of fronts and it really has dropped like a bombshell inside the beltway. >> mikmike viqueira for us. thank you. new poll numbers of what voters think of the president. 41% of the people polled approved of the job he's doing

while 53% disapprove. when asked if the national minimum wage should be raised. 71% support it and 27% do not. this comes 50 years to the day president lyndon b johnson declared war on poverty. five decades later some say the war on poverty has been a failure. al jazeera is taking a look at the impact of johnson's efforts and what more needs to be done. we begin our reporting can mark snyder looking back at lbj's speech. >> this administration today here and now declares unconditional war on poverty in america. [applause] >> reporter: the speech came less than two months after the

assassination of president kennedy. >> our aim is not only to relief the symptom of poverty, but to cure it, and above all to prevent it. [applause] >> reporter: poverty had been a major concern of president kennedy, and with a country still grieving and one in five americans living in poverty, johnson declared war on poverty. university of texas professor wrote a book on how poverty undermines the viability of the united states. he said johnson's war on poverty speech was one of his best and hhis timing was perfect. >> johnson knew he was not going to be a loved president. therefore it was better become a president that was admired, take

the agenda of the loved president and make it yours and all the time giving credit of the person. >> let us carry forward the programs of john fitzgerald kennedy not because of our sorrow, our sympathy, but because they are right. [applause] >> reporter: to help convince congress to invest in the war on poverty, johnson took his plan to the people known as poverty tours, he went to see the poorest of the poor. >> they're going to have success. >> reporter: five years after the law passed poverty dropped from nearly 20% to around 11%. today it's back around 15%. that's more than 46 million americans according to the census bureau. >> the richest nation on earth

can afford to win it. we cannot afford to lose it. >> the war on poverty is yet another war that america is not winning. we cannot win the war on poverty for anyone else. those who are affected by poverty can be empowered in order to get out from this condition. >> reporter: the professor said he believes president johnson had the best intentions and the war on poverty had an impact, just not the impact that the country was hoping for. trillions of dollars and 50 years later, poverty still exists. >> despite the policy that stems from that landmark speech one in six americans still live in poverty. we look at the poverty in the united states. then and now. >> reporter: america is still among the richest in the world, who are the ones here in poverty. we're back in 1964 you had to

make less than $1,500 a year. today it's about 11,000 annually if you live alone. if you make minimum wage you're likely not in poverty unless you have kids. so the big question is the u.s. winning the war. some worry no. the official poverty rate has barely moved over the decades. 50 years ago close to 20% were in poverty. now all this time later 50% of americans still in poverty. 46 million people. studies show without those government benefits like stood stamps and social security the rate would have likely been higher at nearly 30% today. evidence shows that those programs are actually working. the united states really no longer has children starving and almost everybody does have indoor plumbing, that could not be said 50 years ago. and another bright spot, the elderly poverty has dropped from

30% in the early 60's to less than 10% today. medical care, social security, they're getting credit for that. this raises criticism, the u.s. may not be helping if it's just giving money to the poor. the united states spends, in fact, 1 trillion-dollar a year fighting poverty. that breaks down to about $20,000 a person. so some argue it might be better to simply cut them a check. also some worry the war on poverty does not do enough to create actual jobs. one thing, toney, nearly everyone who works full time is not in poverty. >> thank you. joining us from washington to expand on this is economist julian malvo, well, it is good to see you finally. thanks for being on the program. >> absolutely. it's been awhile. >> happy new year to you. 47 to 50 million people living in poverty. people of all races and ages living in poverty. how can we do better today in

the 21st century? >> well, it's a distribution issue. i heard the other reporter cutting people checks. that would be lovely, but it simply isn't enough. you have so many people who are unemployed. many of them do work full time full year. if you work full time full year and you have children, you will be at the poverty line. and there are some companies who prevent their employees from working full time full year. i won't mention names but they've had boycotts all the end of this year. i had a conversation, i had the opportunity to speak to a couple, and neither of them worked full time full year. both were willing and able to. they had three children. so they didn't have health insurance because they didn't work full time full year. they had food stamps because they didn't work full time full year. this notion that there are people working full time makes no sense. now, dr. king once said there are 40 million poor people in america. and you have to ask yourself,

what kind of nation creates 40 million poor people. then you have to ask yourself who owns the oil? who owns the iron and ore if the world is two-thirds water why are we paying water bills. he was very conscious in 1968. he was marching to washington basically with the poor people's campaign, and people have not paid attention to wages, they have not paid attention to housing costs. certainly some things have changed enormously, especially for our seniors. but for many others they have not changed. right now there is a antipathy towards the poor. in the bible says i if you can't work you don't eat, but the bible says a whole lot of other stuff, but there is this antipathy. >> what do you think of this

critique of the president, president obama has not been able to get the country to talk about poverty in a way that motivates the nation to take some kind of action to bring the kind of necessary empathy to the discussion of poverty in america? >> i think that the president, he gave a talk yesterday, i think he is really concerned about this, but he can't get anything through with this obstructive republican congress. they won't let him do anything. i think he could be more vocal, but can he get a piece of legislation out? come on, we know that he has not been able to. he passed--he proposed the american jobs act in 2011. they still haven't passed it. there has been a lot of legislation coming from the white house that has been decent legislation that simply has been passed. when i remember the war on poverty, remember, i was a teenager, but when i remembered, my mom worked in the head start

program. the whole notion was getting people's jobs. whether they were opening libraries, fixing streets, infrastructure, if you had ridden your car down i-95, make sure your tires have been reinforced because there are going to be how many potholes? this is the kind of works that dwight eisenhower did when he tried to build highways. why can't we do that? >> what are your thoughts on priority items this year? where do you start? clearly what is being discussed now is extending the emergency unemployment benefits for the long term unemployed raising the minimum wage nationally. what are your priorities? >> i would say the minimum wage is one. job creation is two. this notion of extending the unemployment insurance is a good notion but if congress passes it owe will only be for three months. this whole notion of going back and going back and going back is

troublesome. we need to make decisions that make us a long way. now the unemployment rate has been dropping. we have it over all at 7%. however, 12.5% for african americans. this is a sector that people have not paid attention to. when you look at unemployment rates in the african-american community 12.5, but if you extrapolate it in terms of underutilization you're looking at 25%. depression-level unemployment rates that we very rarely hear people talking about. i would like to see targeted programs for not just the african american community. lyndon johnson went u up to appalachians and saw the communities there. >> thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> chris christie who is considering a 2016 crazy for presidential nomination is trying to distance himself from

a growing controversy. political revenges in his own state. this is fascinating stuff. and david shuster is tracking this for us. >> reporter: chris christie is engaged in dam control. e-mails show today that a top aide for governor chris christie instigated lane closures at the approach of the george washington bridge to punish a mayor who he fused to endorse christie. the e-mail wrote, times for traffic problems at fort lee. it went to a friend of christies appointed to oversea bridges and tunnels. got it was the response. one month later the agency closed several lanes as part of what it called a traffic study. for several days the commuter time to cross the bridge stretched to four hours. in a text message about the traffic jams another aide expressed delight.

saying, quote, is it wrong that i'm smiling? chris christie claim the media for the closure and it had nothing to do with his office. but now chris christie is saying it was inappropriate, and that he did it without his knowledge. the question is whether the aides who he's blaming agree with his version or not, and if the answer is no, christie may be heading towards the exit ramp. >> we're talking about an investigation. we know the kind of pressure that prosecutors can place on information, the e-mail chain

and who was on those e-mails, right? >> and to order that lanes be closed for something that is politically related, that does start to get into criminal areas. so you have these people who are now bringing on criminal defense lawyers and the pressure that you mentioned. and the other thing that adds pressure to chris christie is pretty soon the media is going to find emergency vehicles. and everyone is looking for them now. and again, this is the time that chris christie is trying to build his possible presidential campaign with operatives and strategists, that he's the guy. this sort of thing does not help. >> this is fascinating. david shuster. thank you. the u.s. military is investigating it's second helicopter crash in two days. one crew member is missing after one helicopter went down into the ocean off the coast. one person died and the military

is looking into why it crashed. this comes when investigators try to figure out why an air force helicopter crashed in england. officials say the chopper was on a low-level training mission at the time. that helicopter, and the one that crashed off virginia's coast were both made by the sikorsky company based in connecticut. it said it would offer any assistance it can to investigators. finally it starts to warm up across the country, now begins the process of assessing the damage from this week's record cold spell. 20 people have died as a result of the extreme cold and the deep freeze could cost the u.s. committee $5 billion. economy $5 billion. that comes from low production and not going out shopping or going out for a meal.

we'll learn more about this anticipated warm up, rebecca. >> meteorologist: it will be 10 to 20 degrees warmer, we'll see them jump upwards as the arctic air moved out overnight in the early hours. now you can see how much warming is coming in. 30 degrees of warming in some places. that feels awfully good, and we're going to continue to see temperatures warm up. they're slowly warming up around bismarck. you're 3 degrees warmer. chicago, 11 degrees warmer. right now we've got temperatures mainly right at the freezing mark near denver. and in the northeast we're going to see the temperatures crawling up to the 20s and 30's. in fact, the average temperature as we get towards saturday and sunday. that's great weekend news.

now our low temperatures are going to be chilly. still dangerous to b outside. >> another day without unemployment benefits for americans as congress plans to reinstate them coming up next. three years after she was shot in the head, gabrielle giffords marks the day in a big way.

>> expecting to vote to extend the benefits for the unemployed. but there are a lot of hurdles ahead. >> reporter: the majority of senators support reinstating long-term unemployed benefits, the democrats, the republicans worry about how it will be paid for.

even the six senators who voted on a procedural measure to move it forward they want a chance to offer amendments. one of them is kelly ayote: she would like to make sure that anyone without a social security number, people who are working in the u.s. illegally cannot claim a child tax credit when they file taxes. she said the billions of dollars that would save could in part go towards paying for unemployment insurance. but so far she has not gotten a chance to get her amendment votedden. voted on. >> i can't understand why i can't get a vote on this amendment. like senator portman, senator collins i voted to proceed i wih this bill in good faith. it seems to me, why wouldn't you want to allow a vote on this. >> now majority leader harry reid said democrats have dismissed ayotte's proposal in the past and don't think it's a

serious one this time around. >> go after children with the child tax credit. those are the two pay-fors at this point. that's a little scary. we're waiting for the republicans' suggestion how to pay for the full-year extension of unemployment extension. they say they want to pay for it. let's hear what they want to do. >> other proposals include rolling back the bulk of the federal healthcare law by a year as a way to pay for unemployment insurance. democrats say that's a non-starter and not going to happen. that's why they're not allowing amendments to move forward. regardless unemployment insurance in the senate, the house is a much steeper climb. that's because house speaker john boehner not only wants to see how it will be paid for, he wants to see elements to jump start the economy and try to get more jobs out there for the american public. democrats for their part in the house say time is of the

essence, they want these benefits reinstated because they expired december 28th, so they want to act fast. >> how about this, positive news about jobs today. just two days before the big december payroll report, ali velshi is talking about in and much more on thinks program. cool program "real money" coming at the top of the hour. >> reporter: i'm not all bad news. >> no, you're not, you're absolutely not. these numbers were pretty good. what did you see in the numbers. >> reporter: this is the payroll company adp a wig survey of private sector hiring. they say the u.s. economy added 238,000 private sector jobs. small businesses led the charge with 138,000 of those positions, and that's the biggest increase since 2012. friday's number with the full

employment report for december. >> i have a question, but i've been droning on and on, so i don't have time for it, so give us an idea of the other things you'll work on in the program. >> reporter: we think we'll have 2,000 jobs in december, that's government sector and private jobs. we'll talk about that tonight. and we'll show you a pen that writes in 3d. you can make things with it. >> how do you find this stuff. ali velshi with "real money" coming up next. a group turns their guns on a group of people linked with al-qaeda. ♪ happy birthday >> dennis rodman serenade north korea's kim jong-un. that's coming up.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. here's a look at your top stories. new jersey governor chris christie responding to untilly released e-mails that he used

traffic to take revenge on a mayor who refused to endorse christie. christie said the intervention was unsanctioned, unacceptable, and people will be held responsible. the u.s. military is investigating a second deadly helicopter crash in two days. four were rescued, but one crew member died. another helicopter crashed off the coast of england. a new book by robert gates slams the president in how he handled the war in afghanistan, and criticizes vice president biden. mike viqueira is back. one of the big questions here should a former official

criticize a sitting president? >> well, that is certainly the question being asked by democrats on the hill. there has been a mixed reaction on the hill, for a lot of reasons. for some it confirms the suspicions they've had about the president's leadership in military conflicts, his resolve. they point to the recent syrian issue when the president backed off over the summer deciding to go to congress. and the president's decision-making process. according to gates account, he felt that he was backed in t sending troops in the surge in afghanistan. so the president by gates' account was resentful of that. here's what gates said as he witnessed the meeting between the president and others. his conclusion as i sat there i

felt the president does not trust his commander in afghanistan. can't stand karzai, and does not believe in his own strategy, and for him it's all about getting out. white house spokesman jay carney said the president was clear all along. withdraw was important. he ran on the promise to withdraw on the war in afghanistan, he is following through on that, but there is tense negotiation right now as you know the american government president obama is in touch with negotiation, tense talks with hamid karzai of what forces will look like once combat troops leave afghanistan, that is scheduled for the end of this year. the president canned stand hamid karzai. here's what jay carney had to say to that charge. >> i think the issue here is not about perso personalities, theye about policies. the decisions that the president

makes about sending and keeping military forces, american men and women in uniform has to do with u.s. national security interests, not those kinds of issues. >> reporter: tony, we're going to be chewing over this gates book for quite some time. the book is just coming out now. robert gates is going to be making the media round starting tomorrow for the next several days. >> does the former secretary of defense offer up any praise for the president? >> reporter: sure, we were talking about this at the top of the hour, especially when the president was deciding to launch the commando raid to go after osama bin laden. when the president announced that that mission had been successful, gates says it was one of the most courageous decisions he has ever seen made in the white house, and of course the president, the gates lauds the president's commitment

to american troops but certainly not the mission, again he describes the president's faith or belief in whether or not it was going to be successful as skeptical. >> well, you write books to sell books. thank you. rebels in aleppo seize the headquarters of a militant group. the fighting has killed more than 300 people since last friday. >> reporter: opposition continuing offensive against al-qaeda. they've pushed fighters from the islamic state from one another of their bases. this one in the northern city of aleppo. >> we liberated our country, and they came and destroyed it. >> reporter: before withdrawing from their bases this is what

the isil fighter are leaving behind. bodies of prisoners who according to activists were executed. many activists were held in the al-qaeda-linked groups jails. some were released. >> i was detailed for two months and 20 days. my hands were tied and my head covered. four men were killed in front of us. i could take you to their gave. >> we were played in a cave. just as we were waiting to be executed a free syrian army arrived and freed us. >> reporter: territorial gains made by the rebels does not signal imminent victory. even though the islamic state may be on the offensive on the ground it has been striking back. it's fighters have been targeting opposition forces using suicide-bombers and it's leaderships in an audio recording promising to fight back.

>> the syrian national coalition of the free syrian counsel, now all their members are legitimate targets. we have waged wars on their head. killed them wherever they are found. >> fighting in the rebel-held north undoubtedly weakens the opposition in its fight against the regime. but in the long term it may be able to benefit from this battle. al-qaeda's presence in syria has been one of the reasons for the international community's reluctance to provide support to ththe opposition. >> the opposition deny that it turned it's guns owns al-qaeda to appease the west. there is unity among the forces on the ground. but the opposition inside and outside of syria is still as factored as ever in who will

represent them in planned peace talks with the enemy that they rose up against the regime. >> the trial of deposed egyptian president mohamed morsi has been delayed because of fog canceling flights into cairo. he's accused of wide-ranging conspiracies to destabilize the country. police in venezuela arrested five people in the murder of the former miss venezuela and her ex-husband. monica spear and her ex-husband were killed. their daughter was uninjured. their car broke down and robbers approached them this is causing a huge uproar over social media. venezuela is expressing outrage over how bad violence has gotten in their country.

>> reporter: tony, the 29-year-old was a popular soap opera actress, and she was living in miami but visiting venezuela for the holidays with her five-year-old daughter when she was killed. some fans had been posting pictures of her on a facebook page as well as rest in peace messages. they're expressing outrage at the crime rate in venezuela calling for for a protest outside of the venezuelan national assemblies, and some opposition leaders have written and earlier some opposition leaders were missing with the president and some governors in venezuela and can caracas, and really the crime rate is rampant. qued means rest in peace.

this is the amount of homicides that have occurred in venezuela since 1999. take a look at this. in 2013, almost 25,000 venezuelans that were killed propertied erica from miami to write this: >> former nba basket star dennis rodman helped one of the most oppressive dictators celebrate his birthday. he sang happy birthday to kim jong-un who

>> so he goes to pyongyang, and he takes loads of stars with him, and he has a bing bang in pyongyang, that's his exhibition game of basketball they held. in front of 14,000 fans including kim jong-un, he sang "happhappy birthday," and he dot sing it very well either. ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ happy birthday ♪ happy birthday to you [applause] >> reporter: now, that might have been okay except that north korea and kim jong-un have terrible human rights records. they have bust through their own nuclear obligations.

they test fired last year, and kim jong-un killed his uncle just because he is a political threat. he has him killed. so when you sing happy birthday to a man like that, there are likely to be problems for dennis rodman when he comes back home. >> there is an american being held in prison there. >> yes, ken bae, he's a travel agent but also a deeply committed christian, and he's accused by the authorities there of promoting the gospel, which they don't like. they're accusing him of trying to overthrow the government and given him 15 years of hard labor. dennis rodman was asked about this on cnn only yesterday, and he was dismissive of the questioning as you'll see. >> let me do this. really, really, really! i want to tell you one thing, we have to go back to america and take the abuse. one day this is going to open.

>> reporter: of course, he could be right. we don't know. but ken bae's sister is very angry. they think they simply don't know what they're doing and she said as much. >> it's clear he doesn't know anything about kenneth, about his imprisonment in north korea, and you know, he is no diplomat, and he certainly doesn't have any authority to speak and pass judgment on kenneth. >> reporter: the white house isn't commenting. they never do on private trips but they do want ken bae to be released. nothing apart from that from the white house, however, a democrat from the state of new york was trying to say today that he thought doing this kim jong-un was equivalent to taking hitler to lunch. >> rodman is going to take a pounding on this. he's out of his depth on this.

>> reporter: what you have to remember he's the only american, of all the diplomats, leaders, he's the only american to meet this leader. he has opened the door. >> because they won't play that game. >> reporter: the one thing the white house has referred to, jay carney earlier in the show, he has acknowledged basketball diplomacy. there is a chance that this man might get in there and some our bring kim jong-un, unlikely, i grant you. >> the north korean leader will ring every ounce that he can out of this. >> reporter: that's another view. in the meantime, he's there. >> he's there. thanks, john. another set back for same-sex couples in utah. david shuster is here with that story and other stories. >> reporter: tony, the governor's office in utah said the state will not recognize same-sex marriages performed since december 20th.

that is the date when a federal judge declared that utah's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional and nearly 900 people flocked to get married there. earlier this week the supreme court halted same sex weddings until a lower federal court can consider whether gay couples do have the right to marry in the state. the centers for disease control recommending that doctors talk to their patients about alcohol abuse. about the latest studies an estimated 38 million americans drink alcohol excessively but only one in six disclosed drinking to the doctor. screening patients for excessive drinking could help cut down on alcohol consumption and improve health problems. the highest advocates of gun control. it was three years ago in a tucson parking lot when gun control advocates was presented with a new gays, congresswoman gabrielle giffords.

she had been shot in the head. one of 13 people wounded that day, six others killed. giffords underwent surgery and rehabilitation before appearing in front of the house eight months after the shooting. three months later she gave her first public interview. >> is it painful? hard? >> difficult, difficult, difficult. strong, strong. >> reporter: and january of 2012 giffords announced she was leaving congress to focus on her recovery. >> i'm getting gert. >> reporter: six months later there was another gun massacre this time in colorado. and a few months after that noir. and an elementary school in new town, connecticut. >> no single law, no set of laws can prevent every evil senseless act in our society. but that can't be an excuse for

inaction. surely we can do better than this. >> reporter: national polling showed a surge of 58% of americans who would support stricter gun control laws. support for banning assault weapons hit 60%. gabrielle giffords testifying to congress. >> you must act. be bold, be courageous. >> reporter: but the national rifle association also swung into action. >> she celebrated this anniversary by going skydiving. this was tweeted by her husband,

mark kelly, the astronaut. gabrielle giffords proving no matter what you go through in it matters what you do today. >> she said be bold. i don't know if we've seen bold. david shuster, thank you. the baseball hall of fame announced it's newest members of class of 2014 is impressive, but it is the names not included, well, those names are making news. and we're going back to the consumer electronic show for a look at a gadget that takes the guesswork out of sun exposure. we're back in a moment. >> an exclusive "america tonight" investigative series >> we traveled here to japan to find out what's really happening at fukushima daiich >> three years after the nucular disaster, the hidden truth about the ongoing cleanup efforts and how the fallout could effect the safety of americans >> are dangerous amounts of radioactive water, leaking into

the pacific eververyday? >> join america tonight's michael okwu for an exclusive four part series, as we return to fukushima only on al jazeera america sense for some people. >> you may want all these gadgets and want to take them home. it will be a while for a lot of them to be available to us. that great to have you on the show, good to see you, enjoy yourself out there in vegas. >> time now to see what's trending on aljazeera america's website. >> a new report out today by the american cancer society points to a 20% drop in can senior death rates, over a million lives saved in the last decades due in large part to a smoking decrease. not much attention is paid to lung cancer, but it accounts for more than one in every four cancer deaths. a big headline is progress among middle aged black men. from noon 91 to 2010 cancer death rates have declined 50% among black

men in that age range. death rates are still higher among black men than white men

>> las vegass now the destination of all things high tech. lots of gadgets unveiled on day two of the electronic show. jacob ward is in las vegas for us. >> earlier today i showed off this, the bracelet that is a $99 piece of jewelry that represents a new spirit here. i want to talk about what the technology in this makes possible. this $99 bracelet is really just for detecting sun exposure. it will tell you and it's companion app will tell you how much sun you've gotten over the day, the week, the year. it will tell you your patterns, your commute home. this specific app would never be possible before the era of kick starter and 3d printing.

it was able to create a $99 bracelet piece. jewelry that tells you about your sun exposure. we're about to see more gadgets with a specific purpose. that's one of the themes we're seeing here. >> thank you. we find out who will be inducted in the baseball hall of fame this year. michael yves with a look at who made it, and who didn't. >> reporter: who did and who didn't. being voted in the baseball hall of fame is no easy task. sometimes prayers have t playera year or two before they get their invite. only three people have been inducted over the last three years. a total that was announced with the 2013 class. headlining four time cy young winner greg maddux, the eighth highest total of all time. no one has been an unanimous

selection to the hall of fame, not even babe ruth. he won an record 18 gold gloves ove.tom glavine, ten-time all-sr with the first pitcher with the career earn run average above 3.50 to be selected by the writers since 172. his era is very respectful. >> i think it was the kind of thing that we didn't think too much about what everybody else was doing. we were thinking about how we were going to win games and continue doing our thing. that was the focus of what we did, and at the end of the day it makes us tha proud that we we able to accomplish all that given that. >> reporter: frank thomas with 19 seasons, thomas hit 301

average with 521 home runs and more than 1700 rbis. now this year's class may be remembered by those who didn't make it in the hall of fame as allegations of steroid use continues to block players from cooperstown. barry bonds with 34% of the vote in his second year of eligibility. his vote total went down from last year. he was all time home run leader seven-time mvp and 14-time all-star. roger clemens also saw a reduction in his vote total from last year. clemens 354 ridges over 24 major leagu354 victories.one player me has been whispers of piaza's

link to p.d.s. now here's a look at some names that did not make the hall of fame this year. 75% of the vote is required for induction. craig viggio came up two votes short. jack morris in his 15th and final year of eligibility, he gets noir chance through the expansion era committee. mark mcgwire and sammy sosa received 11% and 7% respectivelial rafael palmero, another suspected steroid user, he'll be removed from the ballot because he received less than 5% of the vote. in soccer news there has been no official decision on whether to move the 2022 world cup in qatar from its customary months of june-july to november. it cannot be held in the summer

due to the high temperatures in the middle east. now fifa vice president told "sky sports" that he was shocked by the comments today because soccer's governing body does not plan to make any decision on the matter until after this summer's world cup in brazil.

>> meteorologist: yesterday a storm occurred. not the polar vortex, we're talking about the national weather service space pre-direction center. known at the cme and the last part of this is all that energy coming towards the earth, interacting with the magnetic sphere around the earth, and many times you can see a beautiful aurora bore alice. this is where approximat approximatety areas are seeing it now. ships out at the bering sea are getting a spectacular view tonight. your best chance is near the canadian border if you have clear skies. granted we know how cold you're going to feel outside so bundle

up, but it does appear we're going to have too much cloud cover as the storm system moves onshore. however, even parts of the snort east if you can get away from the city lights and look to the north you may see the aurora borelais overnight. we're getting mountain snow. it will be icy in the mountain passes, and we know we'll have problems with winds, too. gusting up to 30 mph in portland and over towards montana. for texas, louisiana, arkansas, you're dealing with just enough rain and pulling up temperatures that will bring in freezing rain. we have that advisory for that system that is passing by. otherwise it will be a cool start for your day ahead. we'll start out for 24 for chicago. still on the warm up.

>> this is al jazeera america live in new york city. i'm tony harris with a look at the top stories. the white house is looking at the me memoir from former defense secretary robert gates. in the book he sharply criticizes vice president bide biden's foreign policy instincts. jay carney defends both biden and the president at today's white house briefing. new jersey's governor chris christie said he was not aware of the plans to block traffic to punish a mayor. top officials in christie's office. one person is dead after another ss