>> new jersey governor chris christie trying to distance himself it from a growing political scandal. emails suggest top staffers orchestrated traffic jams on a busy bridge as part of a political endeavour. >> new talks getting underway curved at political capabilities, if world powers can undertake crippling injunctions. >> how locals are trying to reclaim one of the most poluated rivers in the world. >> we fought we'd be a model of race relations. we weren't. >> how one of the face's vibrant cities fell so far, so fast.

>> good morning and welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. new jersey governor chris christie is seen as the republican front runner for the white house in 2016. now he's involved in a local political fire storm tarnishing his national image. emails suggest top staffers were involved in closing lanes to the george washington bridge. it was payback against a democratic mayor who refused to support christy's re-election. the stunt caused massive traffic delays on one of the world's busiest bridges. chris christie is viewed as a top challenger to clinton. fall out from the scandal could impact presidential aspirations.

we have a story of a traffic jam on a busy commuter brim. >> who in their right mind would close down access to the busiest bridge in the world to send me a message? >> the mayor of fort new jersey says governor chris christie has explaining to do after documents revealed the shutdown of leaps was an act of retribution because the democratic mayor refused to endorse of the republican governor during his election campaign. other new jersey democrats are demanding answers. >> what we have seen today is a sat day for new jersey. the documents that have been published are both shocking and outrageous. they show government at its worse. >> among the revelations an august email, by a stop aid instigating road clarnals.

>> the email went to a friend of chris christie, overseeing bridges and tunnels. >> i got somebody mad at me. the emails are pretty damning. >> the lower level, look at that. >> one month later the agency closed two of the three lanes from fort lee to the bridge, as part of a traffic study. the consequence came quickly and severely. for four days the amount of time it took to drive across the bridge stretched to four hours. tieing um traffic for tens of thousands. >> it's piled up all the way back on the street. i was 20 minutes late for school. >> emergency vehicles responded. they were caught up in the drid lock, including police officers searching for a missing 4-year-old girl. >> as for governor chris

christie who won re-election in a landslide he denied involvement. >> i was actually the guy out there. i actually was the guy working the cones. >> his statement now: >> now that we know it's manmade, we need apologies, explanations, people to be accountable. >> chris christie has already accepted two resignations. when you think it a small political battle, it's not. koording to a poll -- according to a poll last month, chris christie is leading a group of presidential hopeful. 18% said they'd like chris christie to be the g.o.p. , which is ahead of potential candidates of rand paul, ted crews and marco rubio. it gave fuel to democrats who did not waste time pouncing on

the political opportunity. >> the head of the democratic national committee pointed out the governor's vind icty rep u saying saying: >> to be clear chris christie has not announced his candicy for president. we'll see if this agents things down the road. >> iran, u.s. and other world powers are back in geneva, trying to iron out the nuclear broim in iran. it will include wendy sherwin, and the iran deputy foreign minister. they need to reach agreement. until that is in place, iranians will live with cip lings sanctions. >> that created a shortage of medical supplies.

>> neda has not walked for three years. muscular difficulty trophy has taken aways her strength and relied on imported medication. it slows down the progress of the disease. as tougher international sanctions hit iran, her medication tripled, forcing her to stop taking it. the founder of the tehran's mousse coolar distrophy center told me what it means for patients. >> translation: medication does not cure the patients, it's interesting assistants to slow down disease growth and heart and lung failure. if the patients don't use the medication, something could happen in six months that could happen normally in two years. >> drug imports have been cut which 30%.

that, coupled with the failure of the government to allo gait money to buy foreign medication punished the health sector. >> countries like the united states agreed to help iran get the drugs it needs. >> tehran's institute is a leading scientific research center. among its project is a search for a cure for muscular difficulty rofy. the research trial is supposed to be underway. the institute had to delay the start of the trial because of sanctions. >> and that trial can't come soon enough. >> translation: if sanctions are lifted, naturally i think it will have a positive impact on my life, and all dyst rrk oph yrk patients are hope research can be done, or if not, it can be produced over the world and if a drug or treatment is

produced, it can supply easier. >> iran's government is working hard to build a new relationship with the west. for patients, it could be a matter of life and death. >> international negotiators hammered out an interim agreement calling for iran to kerb part of its program for six months, in exchange it will get some relief. >> there are growing fears of gepp side in the central african republic. the united nations said the war torn country is heading towards the humanitarian disaster. hundreds of thousands are crowding into camps. for now it is the only way to escape the intense fighting between muslim and christian militias. the country's president is unable to retain the violence. >> the u.s. military is investigating its second deadly

helicopter crash this week. rescuers searched into the night more the fifth crew member of a navy chopper. four other crew members were pulled from the water. two died. >> the navy said the helicopter was doing a route each training mission. another investigation is under way to figure out why another military copter wept wept down. the aircraft went down in a nature reserve. >> the white house is firing back. after an unexpected attack from former defense secretary robert gates. gates lashes out at president obama over his leadership during the war in afghanistan. he has a harsher acceptens from joe biden. the administration did not waste time responding. >> read any good books lately. >> sarcasm from the president's

spokesman. the allegation in duty. the upcoming memoires from no laughing matter. joe biden was the subject of the outright scorn: >> wednesday, for the first time in five years, the white house allowed a photo op of the weekly lunch the president has with biden. it looked like a show of solidari solidarity. jay carney insisted it was not in retaliation of the book. >> vice president joe biden is a key advisor on national security matters, domestic and other matters for the president. the president values the council he provide, that's a fact. >> the decision to go after osama bin laden gates called a courageous decision. but recounting a reading of top

officials he describes the president as a reluctant warror. >> as i sat there i thought the president does not trust the commander, doesn't believe in strategy and doesn't consider the war to be his. receptful for having been backed in a corner, ordering the surge, mr obama was keptful, not down-right convinced it would fail. the president made his goals in afghanistan clear from the start. >> he thought it was important to ensure that we had a withdrawal date. even after we surged our forces as part of the refocussing the mission that we would also begin the drawdown after that. that is the commitment he made and is keeping, and what the american people expected him to do. >> carney played down concerns

the president's dislike of hamid karzai will complicate negotiations over the future of american forces after the combat role end this year. >> the issues here are not about personalities, but policies. >> mike viqueira reporting from washington. robert gates is taking heat from some former white house cole seeings. william daly, white house chief of staff said gates shouldn't have published while president obama is in office. former senior advisor axel rod was surprised by the book. >> it's been three years since the shooting involving former congress woman gabby giffords. the mayor of tuesday job rang a bell 19 times in honour of the

people killed or injured. >> 100 people gathered for a reading of names and silence. gabby giffords survived being shot in the head. her injuries forced her to resign from congress. it was not marked with grief, she skydived with a friend. her husband left her on the ground and he treated: >> new york congress woman caroline mccarthy is calling it quits after 18 years in office. s sydney in north carolina representative mike mcintyre will not seek re-election. mccarthy was a nurse running for office in 1996, after her husband was killed and husband shot. >> a u.s. coast guardship had to help a new york fairy stuck in

rice. to passengers were on board the vesselment the coast guard tug boat cut a path through the ice. the frigid polar air mass which shattered records froze parts of the river. the same bop-chilling temperatures caused head aches on the niagra river. it was a gate way to the eary canal causing water levels to rise. icebreak are crews broke apart ice jams. >> areas seeing this freezing will face problems when the weather warms up. let's bring in meteorologist nicole mitchell. >> everyone is excite by the warm air, but we were looking at the ice on the rivers and the ice jams. what happens is the iceblocks in place and the water coming down

the river is backed up, causing flooding. so will this. the textures in the 40s, to the 50s and '60s will melt snow that is out there. places like buffalo new york, where the snow is piling up. it takes a couple of days to get this warm. snow is melting. buffalo, those areas have seen feet of snow because of the lake effect. and then with a flow from the south, surging in moisture. rain on top. you have places where the ice will be breaking, causing ice jams. snow melt and rain. this is going to cause flooding con certain around the great licks, where we'll watch that. really for seat into sunday. that arctic blast. we saw side effects with it. as the high pressure moves off.

flow on the backside is out. that is warming up temperatures today, into tomorrow. we'll see it more so. the highs are back to normal, and above average as we get into the weekend. it's not the only thing we are watching, we have freezing precipitation to the south and more on that and the temperatures. >> thank you. a freight train carrying crude oil and propane derailed in canada after the brakes engaged unspectedly. 17 of 122 cars came off the track. the accident is raiding concerns about transporting oil by mail. 47 were killed in quebec when another train carrying crude oil derailed. >> a setback for gay marriages in utah. the state will not recognise

same-sex marriages performed in the state. it affects newlyweds and pie tied the not after a judge said the state ban was unconsit usual. >> same-sex weddings were halted. the obama administration is asking public schools to drop the zero tolerance approach. it released recommendations on disciplinary policies and creating safer schooling environments the the department of education found the zero toll wraps policy disproportionately affected poorer students. >> a polluted river in argentina, how one community is trying to bring it back to life after decades of neglect. >> a diplomatic dispute intensifying. why india and the u.s. are not

seeing eye to eye. we talk to an official who says the blame lies squarely in the u.s. a chicken threat. >> i'm mark morgan, the baseball hall of fame has three worthy inductees, there's controversy. we'll tell you about a near miss. >> a live look at the george washington bridge, the center of controversy for new jersey governor chris christie this morning.

>> good morning and welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. ahead, it's been called one of the most polluted sites in the world. how argentinians say they are working hard to clean up a durty river. first -- dirty river. first let's look at what temperatures are across the nation. >> a lot of people are enjoying the forecast. after the arctic blast temperatures have been on the rise slowly. as you head out you are feeling warmer. already into the 20, into the

north-east. 30s for the south, a lot of these places two days ago and into the midwest. fargo is 30 degrees warmer than yesterday morning. the current texture is 11. when you think it was 20 below, well that's warmer. as we get across the rest of the country. temperatures going up closer. 10 below for minneapolis. we have the fellow out of the south and into the day friday. some days will go back above average. warmer by the weekend. >> five people are dead following a hydrogen explosion at a chemical factory in central japan. it happened at a camp today. a plant spokesman said

maintenance engineers were working on a piece of equipment used to produced silicon projects. 12 others were ipp jud. >> it's been called one of the most polluted sites on the planet. years of dumping in riacheulo have taken a serious toll on the waterway. as danier schweimler reports there's a new effort to clean it up. >> there's no doubt that the riacheulo is polluted. tonnes of this debris is pulled from the water. decades of dumping chemical waste left it dead. there's no oxygen in the water. few remember the last fish caught here. >> translation: there was an accumulation of waste in the rich receiver, because people living along the river threw their rubbish in - old cars, fridges. there were more than 60 boats that have been removed. >> the new york institute said

it's one of 10 most polluted sites. others include chern job ill in ukraine and the niger delta. that is unfair say some. >> in some ways riacheulo was a metaphor, chosen by the groups with nowhere to go. arge teens and immigrants. that's a story to be repeated here. >> it runs through the heart of an iconic tourist attraction and home to the bokka juniors football club. decades of dumping waste cannot be resolved overnight. cleaning up the waters is a slow methodical and often smelly process. argentine politicians had a long history of making and breaking promises to clean up the

riacheulo. a 2008 supreme court ruling ordered previously fractured authorities to work together. >> there's a national political policy and a plan to work towards, and we are working towards it. slowly with problems, but we are getting there. in the past three years we have seen huge advantages. >> residents in reach of its stench are involved like never before of the social groups involved in consultation, cleaning and planning for the future. >> translation: our dream is to have a healthy river that is clean, productive, one that generates income like in the last century. it's some way from welcoming back its first fish or entertaining bathers. the dream of restoring it is very much alive. >> around 80% of argentina's population live in urban areas

close to contaminated rivers. baseball's most select club will have new members, mark morgan is here with that story in sport. >> three deserving candidates are inductees into the hall of fame. not a single player garnered votes to enter last year. this time around the baseball writers association of america association will send three former all stars to cooperstown in scrooul. topping the list a picture, greg maddux, winning four cy young awards. eighth all-time with 355 wins and a record 18 gold gloves. greg maddux joined by team-mate tom glavine, who won 305 games and a pair of sye youngs, and the final member, 2-time american league player frank thomas, hitting 301 with 521 home runs and more than 1700 r bi. he played 19 years in the begs. >> this year's class is notable

for players that didn't bake it. craig biggio, despite careers hits and doubles. he was two votes short of the necessarily 75%. spcksd store aid users, clemens, bonds, sosa saw votes decrease from last year. kevin baxter from the l.a. times believes the voting needs to be tweaked. >> they are dividing into two camps. the people that look at the steroid era saying, "we can't put the genie back in the bottle" it affected a generation. we need to deal with that and love on. look at babe ruth, terry williams, they didn't face or pitch to job gibson.

i think the numbers are skewed >> one last note. jack morse, the winningest pitcher in the 1980s, and the number one start are on three world champ yops. failed to make it in a 16th and final attempt. he is expected to be given consideration from the hall of fame veterans commission. >> turning to college basketball a betting scandal shook up the university of texas, elpatso. after receiving a tip that some players bet on the games. the athletic department was informed and then the fbi was informed. an investigation ensued. the results announced on tuesday. >> it's been determined that three men's basketball players, crosgyle, mckenzie moore and jay line rag land painted on wetting on one or more sporting event.

to date there is no indication of any point shaving involved. let me repeat that. to date we have no evidence of point shaving involved. however, gam bling is a serious n.c.a.a. rule infraction. >> all three players have been booted off the team. sports betting carries a loss of one year elegibility from the n.c.a.a. these players are upper classmen so they can no longer play college basketball. >> the case against an indian diplomat is moving forward in new york city. how it's straining relations between the u.s. and india and why both sides are feud as the bully. 50 years ago it was considered a

model city for the war on poverty. what got in the way of detroit progress. >> alaska could be on its way to legalizing marijuana. steps top-plan backers have taken to make it a reality.

>> these are the top stories at this hour. new jersey lawmakers will hold a hearing to investigate governor's chris christie administration. chris christie's staffers are accused of issuing straiting massive staff, to punish a democratic mayor that didn't support the republican governor's re-election. he's been seen as the g.o.p. front runner. curbing the nuclear program, iran, the u.s. and five other

world powers are back in gepp , ironing out details so a final long-term agreement on tehran can be in place. an agreement in november called for the country to curb parts of its program in exchange for some relief from economic sanctions. >> happy ever after on hold in utah. 1300 same-sex couples are in limbo after the government announced it would not recognise their marriage licences. same-sex weddings were halted until a court can decide whether to uphold the ruling. >> a new constitution deposed by mohamed morsi is going the vote. egyptians living abroad can vote early. as reported from london, not everyone is enthusiastic. >> like compatriots around the

world, they are preparing to vote on a constitution. the man that runs the community center hopes the result of the referendum is a recounting yes. >> the constitution gives everyone in egypt the right. look at the articles, look at women's and children's rights. look at the religious people. so that you have covered everything. >> in egypt's 2012, egyptians voted in large numbers. the bishop of the coptic church hopes that will be repeated. >> my concern is if people sit home. i'm speaking to everybody. if people sit home, they cap only blame thoems. whether people cree or disagree, they should make the choice known. >> voting abelowed is a chance for many to have their say.

around the world several hundred thousands said they would vote yes. >> for the future for egypt. that is a roadmap working out properly and everything is okay. >> pleasantly will have their say on the constitution. >> opinion is just as divided. >> the solve-sti aipt coup says the constitution was drafted. >> i don't recognise what is going on there from the government which is backed by that. for many egyptians, it's the start of hope and stbility to a

troubled nation. >> last week egypt's president announced the domestic portion of the referendum will take place over two days. north america's first otish death by the h1 n 1 flu has been confirmed in canada. the person returned from a chip from china and showed symptoms on the flight. the patient was admitted to hospital and passed away. health officials informs it was a single case. >> a plant was shut down claiming it was infecting with cockroaches. inspectors observed unsanitary conditions inside a foster farms chicken plant. >> they admit cockroaches were found on five locations.

none of its other products or facilities are inspected. the government ramped up investigations after sal nonela was traced to other chicken place i. >> 50 years ago lo lyndon johns declared war on poverty. the white house says it was a success. in 1962 the rate was 26%, by 2012 down to 16%. not everyone in washington is declaring victory. a lot more has to be done. >> an expensive tax code, burden some regulations and debt are suffering the economy's ability to create steady and good paying jobs. that's why poverty and inequality has gotten worse. >> president obama is expected

to launch his own offensive on poverty, calling for the creation of promise zones if some of the poorest parts of the countries. them be eligible for help, improving public safety and housing. detroit is a city that would ben fiptism. >> detroit stands at the threshold of a bright future. >> the year as 1956. motor city was the automotive and music capital of the world. >> detroit was considered a model city. president lyndon johnson's war on poverty. in 1957 the government sent $490 million to fight the 36% poverty ray, found low income housing and social programs. >> in the summer of that year, this. a domestic rebellion. writers destroyed the blocks.

dozens killed, thousands injured. 1967 was first and fore most about police brutality and violence against people in the neighbourhoods in the upper city of detroit and the lack of economic opportunity. those were two things that the poverty programs were not set up to address. >> sheila was a civil rights act visit and a member of the detroit city council. >> the fiction is it was a model city. >> an example of black-white conflict that exploded, accelerating the white flight and economic exodoes. out j plants moved to the suburbs. >> we thought it would be a model of good race relations. we weren't. once the riots destroyed the notion, the population left. >> many who stayed did not trust the top-down approach. still, some programs worked.

the mum and tots clinic was one of them. moth erts got prenatal and post natal care. children got early childhood care, and then the nursery school. i don't think there was anything like that. >> it was funded by the war on poverty, beloved and untoucheded by rioters. >> it worked because it was local, neighbourhood centered. >> mum and tots operated from that store front. it survived the riots, but not the economic decline. >> john gallagher author of "revolution detroit" ble believes the rebound the city would not come from a war an poverty. >> it's not a top-down solution, it's the other things. >> detroit deals with a 60% child poverty rate.

50 years after the war on poverty, the hope is that the city's resurrection will come from small businesses, private donors, and people who care. >> while the national poverty stands at 16%, in detroit it's double that, 38%. nationwide the medium household income stands at $48,500. in detroit - $27,000. >> looking at business headlines. macy's is laying off 29-00 workers and closing stores. it's hoping to save $100 million. new jobs in the online business will help to offset the cuts. one retail watchers said discounting could be a problem for retailers going forward. >> it makes it impossible to

rise prices later. we'll find out how much it hurt in february. >> the big box retailer reporting same store sales in the five weeks ending january the 5th rose 3%, better than gnat estimates. it was driven by online sales in the u.s. and canada. >> apple and samsung will try to sort out differences over patents outside court. the chief executives will discuss settling a 2-year battle over designs of smartphones and tablets. >> wall street is signalling a positive start to the day. stock futures pointing to gapes. the dough starts at day at 16,462. the nasdaq is 4,165.

>> in asia markets ended in the minus column. jap japan's nikon leading the spy. european markets are higher ahead of the european central bank decision on interest rates. >> new york is the latest state to loosen its grip on marijuana use. limited use of medical marijuana. >> 20 states allowed use. new yorkers would be allowed to manage the pain and treatment of cancer and other serious illnesses. >> 20 states have started to use it. we'll establish a program allowing up to 20 hospitals to prescribe medical marijuana, and monitor the program to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of a medical marijuana system.

>> recreational ma'ammirijuana was illegal. but possession of a small amount was reduced to a low-level violation, subject to a fine not gaol time. alaska could be the third state to legalize marijuana for recreational use. 4600 signatures were sent in to the board. the alaskan measure is modelled on the 2012 colorado initiative. >> 20 states in the district of columbia legalized marijuana for medical use. the department of justice released a statement saying: >> it's a religious tradition drying pilgrims. the meaning behind the big procession.

find out why some want to take the out of the world journey to mars. >> and warming up, active weapon, freezing areas. that forecast coming up.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. just ahead the annual holiday tradition that has millions of catholics flooding the capital of the philippines. >> first a look at the snow and rain across the country, meteorologist nicole mitchell is back. >> we have been watching a lot of lake effects. they have been winding down after the wind behind the arctic blast and is diminishing. we have two areas through the south and north-west that require monitoring this morning. this area through the south, as it moved through parts of missouri and ar can saw, isolated reports of freezing precipitation, and wet as you get to the overpasses and the bridges. post of what i have seen is a

dividing line between the rain and snow. not as much freezing precipitation. still something to watch for. to the north-west - it's an active pattern. it's good new, but after days of rain you may get sick of that. the rain is beneficial. more snow for the higher elevations making the mountain passes tricky. >> the diplomatic crisis between the u.s. and india hit another road block. a federal judge denied a why to delay proceedings in the case of devyani khobragade. he is a former deputy council general of india, accused of submitting false visa documents and lying about her maid's salary. her arrest and strip search caused outrage in new delhi. the u.s. energy secretary

cancelled a key trip to india this month. he was expected to promote trade and investment in the energy sector during his trip. >> the feweror over the arrest of devyani khobragade illustrates the cultural divide. india's minister of state for human resource develops and an author and former united nations specialist is with us. you wrote an editorial entitled "the return of the ugly american", saying that india was naive in its relationship with the u.s. who is the ugly american. >> let me stress that columnists don't write headlines, we leave it to the editors. that's not my headline. but the thrust of the article is that when you send, as a friendly country, a diplomat to represent you in another

country, a country you regard well and whose own documents you look after well. you do not expect to have that diplomat diplomat arrested, strip search, cavity searched, thrown into gaol with drug addict and humiliated in public in a manner that is beyond the pail. it is so shocking that anyone in a friendly relationship would do this. we are taken aback. >> even if it's a criminal complaint. >> even in the case of a criminal compliant. >> beggour pardon? >> there's a clinical complaint. >> there are a thousand diplomats in new york today - probably thousands in new york and there have been tens of thousands in the last 50-60 years who have done what devyani khobragade has done, which is to take a domestic helper to assist them, something

every diplomat does. certainly it's a very common practice across the developing world. and that person is rewarded by the standards of the home country, plus the cost of living differential and looked after comfortably in the u.s. this was not someone found in the u.s. labour mark. someone from india, on an official passport and given a visa. to make a criminal case out of a practice going on for 50 years. >> this maid clearly was - sir, the maid doesn't seem like she was hep with the situation, else she wouldn't have left and sought out the community center, leading to the criminal complaint. >> there was a dispute between the maid and the employer, and the courts can sort it out. the employer filed a case against the maid in india, leading the maid to take action in the u.s.

this is a domestic dispute. a wage dispute does not in any relationship lead to one country arresting the diplomat of another country. at worst the country would say, "look, your diplomat is creating an awkward situation, remove her", it's almost unprecedented in the annuals of diplomacy for this type of behaviour to take place. america believes it can write its own rules, and that is not accept ible to any self-respecting nation that values its relation with the u.s. given its treatment of american diplomats in india. >> besides the mass protests we see, burning of u.s. flags and pictures of barack obama, what we are seeing is consular officials, u.s. consular officials. what do you think about the tit for tat. do you think from a diplomatic

perspective this will help the situation or just make each side dig in its deals. >> look, first of all, no privileges are taken away. the privileges are given at the level that the u.s. is given to the u.s. diplomats. res profity is a principle of diplomatic situations. we have not gone so far as to arrest and strip search on american diplomat, so let's see things in perspective. this is not petty contact, it's following the letter of book. let me stress, too, that we value the relationship with the u.s. we've been spoken of as a strategic partner. we valued the relationship.

the prime minister and the president had a good working relationship. we have no desire to see it jeopardised. but we didn't start it, the u.s. did. they have to dial back from the mistake it made in treating the diplomat of a friendly country like a common cm. the rest, the merits is beside the point. agitating the governor of india and public opinion is when you send the diplomat to another country you do not expect the person to be treated that way. >> is dropping the charms in your view the only way out of this impasse? >> absolutely the minimum. at the statement i can't negotiate and it's not my job. there's a process going on, and we respect the process. the indian government is willing to talk to the u.s. government the the lawyers of the deputy consule general talking to the prosecutors office.

that process can continue. we believe it was an unacceptable way to treat a friendly country. >> india's minister of state, we thank you for your time this morning. >> millions of catholics in the philippines are flooding the streets of manila. pilgrims wait for hours to touch the black nazarene. the faithful believe touching it can lead to miracles. >> every year millions of roman catholics flock to manila to throw themselves at the dark-coloured christ on an earning. the black nazarene has been going on for senturies. far from the sombre affair typical of procession, the mood is festive. the procession can cause injury or death in previous years,

millions much filipinos continue to put their faith in the black nazarene. that's how it is for this couple. coming in search of answers. pinning their hopes on god, not the government. >> translation: yes, he has given us already everything that we ask for. it may not come right away, but he will give it. >> around 85% of the country's pop u lyings are roman catholic. many believe such feverish devotion is more to do with the problems than the religion. >> and the black nazarene is doing something a lot of filipinos relate to, suffering. these people are looking for a miracle in their lives and make things better. >> that search for a better life is something that millions of filipinos are praying for now. from natural disasters to armed

conflict. it was faced with unprecedented losses in 2013. the uncertainty of what the future holds left many clinging to religion for answers. the black nazarene has long been associated with redemption and miracle, and may be blind faith for those refusing to believe. not for the millions of devotees here. praying for miracles is better than to have nothing left to hope for. >> the relic is believed to have been brought to the philippines by spanish missionaries in the early 1500s, the ship they were in was destroyed by fire. richelle carey joins us with the stories for the next hour. >> new jersey governor chris christie is embroiled in a controversy about lane closures causing traffic chaos in a bridge. one of his aides engineered the

jam for political reveption. >> the white house is standing by vice president joe biden after being slammed in a book by gates your. >> nuclear talks are resumes between iran and world leaders in geneva. the 2-day event to curb iran's nuclear program. >> we are talking about the five promise zones. they are to create jobs, economic security, and improve public safety in depressed areas. >> pushing back against legalized pot in colorado. why it could be pad for kids. i'm meteorologist nich -- nicole mitchell, the arctic blast. i'll have more when we continue. only on al jazeera america

>> counter punch, the white house hits back, closing ranks around vice president joe biden after skatinging critique by robert gates. >> dirty tricks, the bridge controversy threatening to burn bridges for governor chris christie in 2016. >> thousands of african migrants take to the streets in israeli, demanding to be heard. >> here i go to school where teachers train me. >> finding comfort in community. a young african kid discovers a family in an orphanage run by an

american. >> good morning. welcome to aljazeera america. that i'm stephanie sy. >> i'mry chef care re. robert gates will discuss his no memoir. >> the book has parked a fire storm where he he lashes out at president obama over his leadership during the war in afghanistan. >> he also had pretty harsh words for vice president joe biden. the president and vice president invited t.v. cameras in on this weekly meeting that they have every wednesday. >> gates also says that he often thought about quitting on the spot during his time at defense secretary. aljazeera's mike viqueira questions about the new book.

>> read any good books lately? >> sarcasm but it was no laughing matter. joe biden is the subject of outright scorn. i think he's been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades, gates writhe of biden, accusing him of poisoning the well against america's military leadership. the white house allowed a photo op of the weekly lunch the president has with biden. white house secretary said it was not in response to the book. carney did defend the vice president. >> vice president biden is a key adviser for this president. the president greatly values the counsel he provides. that's just a fact. >> the decision to go after osama bin laden gates calls one of the most courageous decisions

i have ever witnessed in the white house, but recalling one meeting of top officials describes the president as a reluctant warrior in afghanistan, suspicious of military leaders: >> resentful for having been backed into a corner in ordering the so-called afghan surge, mr. bam that ma was skeptical if not down right convinced it would fail. >> he thought it was very important to ensure that we had a withdrawal date, that we even after we suggested our forces as part of refocusing the mission and bringing pressure on al-qaeda central, that we would also begin the draw down or after that, begin the draw down and that is the commitment he has made and he is keeping. it's what the american people

expected him to do. >> carney down played concerns the president's dislike of hamid karzai will complicate future negotiations after americans combat role ends this year. >> the issue is not about personalities, they're about policies. >> reporting from washington, gates is taking heat from former white house colleagues over the book. william daley said gates shouldn't have published it while president obama is still in office. former senior adviser david axel rolled was spiced by the book, because he thought gates had a good working relationship with the president. >> a suicide bomber has killed 14 army recruits and left dozens more injured in iraq at a recruiting center in baghdad. victims showed up following the government's call for volunteers willing to kill al-qaeda. although no one claimed responsibility, the attack follows days of military offensive to regain control of

cities recently taken over by al-qaeda. >> a group of u.s. lawmakers is holding up the sale of a patchy helicopters to iraq. the sale was approved but some worry the prime minister will use them against other opponents besides al-qaeda. new jersey senator bob menendez is reviewing a letter frommal malkey assuring they will be used properly. >> the state department is taking steps to designate two grooms and a man in libya as terrorist organizations. according to the new york sometimes, senior u.s. officials say the groups as well as a militant were believed to have played a role in the attack on an american diplomatic mission in benghazi. that attack took place in september, 2012. ambassador christine and three other americans were killed. >> sealing the deal on a nuclear program, iran, the u.s. and five other world powers are back in

the negotiating table meeting today trying to hammer out the final details of an agreement that will limit iran's nuclear capabilities. the two day meeting in geneva will include a sufficient negotiator and iran foreign minister. >> the u.n. backed a statement by the security council aimed at denouncing barrel bombs and you asked missile attacks in aleppo. an amendment removed statements of what happened in aleppo. >> rebels in aleppo have now captured the headquarters of the islamic state of iraq and syria, a group affiliated with al-qaeda. last week, growing tensions between that group and rebel forces led to intense clashes across northern syria.

the latest in fighting is blurring the lines of who is fighting whom in the war torn country. >> syria's armed opposition is continuing its offensive, pushing fighters from the islamic state in iraq out of yet another one of their bases, this in the northern city of aleppo. >> we liberated our country and they came and destroyed it. >> before withdrawing from their bases, this is what the isil fighters are leaving behind, bodies of prisoners who according to activists were executed. many civilian relief workers were held in the al-qaeda link jails. some were released. >> i was detaped for two months and 20 days. my happeneds were tied and my head covered. four men were killed in front of us. i can take you to their graves. five minutes before we were to be executed, we were placed in a cave and waiting to be executed,

the syrian free army arrived and freed us. >> territory gained by the rebels does not signal imminent victory. fighters have been targeting opposition forces using suicide bombers, and its leadership in an audio recording promised to fight back. >> the syrian national coalition, the army and military council and isil, so now all their members are legitimate targets. we have laid rewards on their hits. hit them wherever they are found. >> fighting in the rebel-held north undoubtedly weakens the opposition in its you fight, but in the long term, it may be able to benefit. al-qaeda's president in syria has been one of the reasons for the international communities reluctance to provide military

support to the rebels and the regime has been able to portray the fight as one against terrorism. >> the opposition denied that it turned its guns against al-qaeda to appease the west. it said it did so because the people of syria could no longer tolerate. the opposition inside and outside syria is still as fractured as ever on who will represent them in planned peace talks with the enemy they rose up against, the syrian regime. aljazeera, beirut. >> human rights groups say 385 people have been killed in less than a week of rebel in fighting. new jersey governor chris christie is involved in a political scandal ruffling his national image. it is suggested that his top staffers were involved in closing access lanes to the george washington bridge, one of the world's busiest bridges, as

you can tell by looking at it this early in the morning. the move was apparently political payback against a democratic mayor who refused to support christies reelection. the four day stunt back in september caused massive traffic delays, but the fallout from the scandal could have serious implications for christie's potential white house bid. we have more on the fallout and the implications for chris christie. erika, this has been percolating for quite a while. the people didn't really know how to connect the cats. tell us what you know. >> well, we do know that the george washington bridge really is one of the busiest, massive commuter traffic. we're talking about 300,000 drivers between new york and new jersey every single day. you can imagine a small snag can create commuter chaos and now we're learning that officials close to chris christie may have actually engineered a traffic

jam that started on the first day of school, and the reason, political payback. >> who would close down access to the busiest bridge in the world to send me a message? >> he he says governor chris christie has a lot of explaining to do after documents prove shutting down the lanes was an act of retribution because the democratic mayor refused to endorse the republican governor during his reelection campaign. other new jersey democrats are also demanding answers. >> what we've seen today is a sad day for new jersey. the documents that have been published are both shocking and outrageous. they show government at its worst. >> among those revelations, an august email by christie's top

aid that apparently instigated the lane closures. the email went to a friend of christie's. his response: >> i apparently got somebody mad at me. those emails are pretty damning. >> that lower level, look at that, starting to get concerned about that. >> the agency closed one of the lanes as part of what it called a traffic study. the consequence came quickly and severely. for four days the time to drive across the bridge stretched for four hours, tying up traffic for tens of thousands of commuters and school buses. >> it was backed on this street. i was like 20 minutes lately for school every day for that week. >> emergency vehicles responding to at least four medical calls were caught in the gridlock, including police officers search forego a missing girl.

>> america's governor, chris christie. >> as for governor christie, he initially denied any involvement. >> i was actually the guy out there. i actually was the guy working the cone. >> his statement now: >> now that we know it's man-made, we need apologies, we need explanations, we need people to be accountable. >> democrats did not waste any time to pounce on this political opportunity. debby wasserman-schultz who is the head of the democratic national committee says that this points to the governor's vindictive reputation, august: >> with christie seen at the gop front runner for a possible

presidential bid in 2016, it will be interesting to see how this all plays out down the road. >> seems that it will play out for quite a while. erika, thank you so much. >> another setback for gay marriages in utah. the governor's office said the state will not recognize same-sex marriages that were performed in the tate. the announcement affects 1300 newly we hads who tied the knot after a federal judge said the state's ban was unconstitutional. earlier this week, the supreme court halted same sex weddings until a lower federal court considers whether gay couples have the right to marry in that state. >> house speaker john boehner is signaling a move toward ending the log jam over immigration reform. a list of the principles has been drafted on the issue which he plans to present. immigration reform paled the senate last summer but has been held up in the house. many are opposed to president obama's plan, equating it to

amnesty for millions of immigrants and say it would impact the american workforce. >> a battle at income in quality will have a measure designed to help five american cities, san antonio, philadelphia, los angeles, southeastern kentucky and the choctaw nation of oklahoma. >> wednesday, new recommendations were released on disciplinary policies in creating safer school environments. the department of education found the zero tolerance policy affected minority students more and called for expulsion of students with weapons, drugs or violence at schools. public schools should only use law enforcement as a last resort. >> a u.s. coast guard ship had to help a ferry stuck in the river ice wednesday. no passengers were aboard the

vessel on a radio mean maintenance trip. it cut a path through the ice and ferry continued on its way. the polar air mass which has swept north america shattered decades cold records and froze in the water way making navigation difficult. >> the frigid temperatures finally are set to give way. >> it's so warm and apparently it's supposed to get a little warmer, we hope. the thing, that thaw could actually create some problems. >> nicole mitchell for more on that. >> good morning. there's always an up side and down side to the weather. even the extremely cold weather, my dad's an ice fisherman and they like the cold air, because it helps freeze the lake. as we head toward the northeast, you can see we've had the lake effect snow. that's starting to wind down as the winds have diminished. we were talking about the ice and ice jam problems we were having. look at temperatures around the

lake. this is saturday's temperature, but this is when we get in the core of the warm up. already by that time, the east coast, some 50's and 60's out there, but what happens is we had phenomenal snow with the lake effect. buffalo setting an example at 7.6-inches some places over the last two days over two feet of snow. what will happen with the warm temperature is that will start to melt. the upside of that is lake effect snow doesn't have as much moisture content, but still a lot of moisture. on top of it, also for saturday, then we'll have new rain adding to the moisture, so between the excessive melting snow, the ice jam areas we already have, and new rain, that means especially some of those rivers, you can get the jams backing the water up, you can get new rain and mainly flowing into the water tail and some flooding is our concern over the weekend. otherwise, an impressive warmup, temperatures going from well below to well above average by the weekend, and you'll be more

comfortable out there today. >> i'm sure your dad can still go ice fishing too. >> more of your paycheck could be going to taking care of yourself. >> condiment come back. makers of the popular hot sauce are giving fans reason to celebrate. >> 6,400,000,000,000 is a our big number of the day, and it's about the change that's been made to the food that you and i eat. keep it here.

>> today's big number is welcoming news for waist lines around the country, 6,400,000,000,000, that's the number of calories food companies say they have cut from their products. the results are from a study by the robert wood johnson foundation. it started back in 2010 when some of the nation's largest food companies promised to cut a trillion caloriion out of the products by 2012, and

1.5 trillion by 15, but they cut more than four times what they originally promised a year early. >> it's 78-calories per person. >> it's not as much when you put it that way. >> but it's a start. >> millions of americans get health insurance through their employer, but by new year, they may have a tax hike for that plan. in a momentum, we'll show you how much more it could cost and how some companies plan to keep those figures down. >> first, lets look at temperatures we can expect to see across the nation today. nicole mitchell is back. >> as many calls as i was getting for the forecast a couple of days ago, i was getting a few cheers for the next couple of days. we are still seeing chilly air, but minus one minute a that applies, monday morning that it was minus 50 wind chills, so

it's all relative. thirty's and 20's into the east coast. they got the core of the cold air. fargo, 30 degrees warmer. when you were almost 20 below zero, that feels pretty good relative. we are going to see temperatures continue to nudge warmer, getting closer to average. by the time we hit the weekend, a lot of these temperatures will go above average, because what we had was the high pressure that had kind of been bringing on one side of it the cold air down, has moved off on the backside of that, we have the warm air from the south, so friday, saturday and sunday, much more comfortable. back to you guys. >> that's a relief. nicole, thank you. the department of agriculture shut down a poultry processing plant claiming it's infested with cockroaches. in specters observed unsanitary

conditions inside a foster farms chicken ma'am. cock approaches were found on at least five different occasions. the country said none of its other facilities or products are affected. the government amped up inspections after two salmonella outbreaks were traced to two our chicken plants. >> popular hot sauce lovers have reason to celebrate. the spicy donnedment will be back on store shelves. production was halted after residents sued the company saying the hot sauce caused harsh odors and health problems. >> with the rollout of the health care act, some companies are seeing health costs rise. a new survey suggest americans who get insurance through their jobs may be feeling more of a pinch in 2014. we have this report. >> if you're like one of 150 million americans who get

their health plan through work, this year may be a pricey one for you. nearly half of those surveyed say more money is coming out of their paychecks to pay for health insurance compared to years ago. >> costs are going up, albeit the rate has slowed in the past few years. this is a cost being shared by both employers and employees. employers still bear the largest portion. >> health care spending has out paced inflation and accounted for 6% of the g.d.p. some of seeing higher copays and deductibles. last year, those soared 12.8% compared to 6.2% the year before. that figure is projected to go up again this year, increasing by nearly 9%. >> now when americans go to the pharmacy or go to oh the doctor, even if they have insurance, they're paying a little bit more than they used to. >> while some blame obamacare

with 48% of americans surveyed wanting to repeal the health law, analysts say the law has actually just accelerated an old trend of companies looking for ways to address their rising health care costs. faced with growing expenses, large employers like u.p.s. are devising strategy to say lower health care spending, like trimming family coverage while other penalize employees for not joining wellness programs. >> you'll get a discount on your premium if you participate in a smoking cessation program or pay a higher premium if you don't participate. >> those strategies could begin to address health costs in the long term. a key part of the reforms just as the economy recovers and more people get covered. new custom for millions of americans and a resurgent economy are factors that analysts expect will drive up health care spending this year. >> people during the recession

put off some health care expenses, some of which they should have had, but couldn't, and others, which they may be have been eelective. >> that may suggest bright spots on the health care landscape. last summer, a fifth of those surveyed about their overall health situation said it was getting worse. 8% said it was getting better, while the vast majority said it was the same. this year, only 12% said it's getting worse while another 12% say it's actually improving. that could bode well for obamacare if the swing continues. aljazeera, new york. >> some companies are dealing with higher health care costs by cutting contributions to employee's 401k plans. >> rising home prices helping more homeowners keep their head above water. reality track reports that 9.3 million properties or in that% of all homes with mortgages were deeply under water in december.

that is down significantly from the peak of 12.8 million in may of 2012. these are homes which are at least 25% or more of their mortgage than the home is worth. >> indications of a positive start on wall street, do you futures up 48 points. the dow now standing at 16,462, the s&p at 1837, the nasdaq at 4,165. in asia, markets ending the day in the minus column, nikkei leading the decline down 1%. european markets are higher ahead of the european central bank's decision on interest rates. >> costco is out with its holiday sales physician, the retailer reporting that same store sales in the five weeks ending january 5 rose 3%. that was better than analyst estimates. the rise was driven in part by on line sales in the u.s. and canada. apple and samsung will try to

sort out their differences for patents outside of court. the two executives of the companies will meet to discuss settling a two year battle over designs for tablets. a court ordered the companies to meet before a new trial begins in march. >> this programming reminder, we are going to bring you the key december jobs report tomorrow morning right here on aljazeera america. >> demanding recognition. >> african migrants in israel are pushing to talk face-to-face with the government about their treatment in the country. we're talking about the changes they want to see made. >> a diplomatic dispute intense filing, why india and america are not seeing eye to eye. >> a big pot pushed back in colorado. why some fear easier access to marijuana could have a huge impact on young people. >> the winter olympic games are right around the corner, coming

up, meet an athlete who has beaten the odds now trying to do something that hasn't been done since 1932. we'll fill you in, ahead.

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>> good morning to you, welcome back to aljazeera america. thousands of these african migrants in israel continue their protest and have demands for israeli leaders. we'll have an update. >> colorado has seen demand for recreational marijuana explode. shops are estimated to have sold more than $5 million in legal possibility, legal. >> but critics are raising concerns about the relaxed rules there. >> a story out of kenya left alone in kenya, more than

1 million children in that country have been orphaned as a result of losing their parents to the aids virus. we'll talk about one facility giving these kids a chance at a bright future. thousands of africans are continuing their protest in israel, demanding recognition as refugees as opposed to long term detention. the demonstrations are one of the largest seen outside the israeli parliament. >> he has lived here six years, but it no longer feels like home. he arrived in israeli illegal, fleeing horrible violence in the central african republic. >> there's no hospital, no government, nothing at all, no activities. you are at risk to be killed at any moment. >> at first, this community was welcoming. that he got a job, applied for asylum, but heard nothing back from the government. now he feels the state is trying to push him out.

>> they made already now our life really, really miserable so now it explodes. >> that explosion is unprecedented protests, 10,000 people boarded buses for the trip to jerusalem, this is their version off the march on washington. >> i hope that our voiles will be heard by the government and that they are going to change their mind. >> when they got there, they filled the park that overlooks the israeli parliament. never before has this many non-israelis filled this space. the parliament showed up, but one of them blocked their entry. >> we come from our country because we don't have anybody to hear our voice and you are trying to do the same thing. >> eventually, liberal members of the opposition heard their grievances. >> their asylum requests, but no one takes any single request and this is really inhuman. >> for years, they tried to keep

a low profile and did not raise their voices, but now they say they have no choice, because they feel the israeli government is trying to throw them all in prison. >> new laws allow them to be kept here indefinitely. they say they aren't here for asylum. >> we are talking about illegal work migrants who infiltrate illegally and we are determined to punish them to the full extent of the law. >> he is determined to change the government's mind, he'll continue protesting. >> i have one with my father and mother. >> he has nowhere else to go. he wishes he could return to the place that he still calls home. >> when you look at these photos, does it make you miss your family? >> my dream is when i can see them again, when i can be reunited with them and see them happy surrounded with my loved ones. >> you can't go back?

>> i can't. i can't go back. >> that's why he continues to fight to stay here. aljazeera, jerusalem. >> in recent years, tens of thousands of migrants mostly from sudan have come to israel either looking to flee conflict or looking for work. >> joining us on the phone to discuss it is on going protest is an african asylum seeker living in israeli. thank you so much for joining us. as a refugee yourself, what do you think israeli and really a nation of jewish people should do? >> well, we are demanding, asking for the israeli government to check the status of every individual. they do not recognizing us as

asylum seekers. they are telling it is public that we are coming for work, for better life, so we are asking them to check everybody with transparent way according to the international standards, then after that, they can call us either we are coming for money or for refugee status, you know. >> how do you feel that asylum seekers are being treated? >> there is not any process for asylum seekers in israeli. they say we are come forego work, for money and we were being subjected to -- our visa and we don't know what will be happen after that no process from the government that they

can executive our status. they never did it. from the prison, they never check it in a fair way. they reject for everybody, so there is no process for asylum seeking recourse here. >> thank you for sharing your story with us. it sounds like basically you're saying there are thousands of people in limbo right now that want answers. thank you so much. >> five people are dead following a suspected hydrogen explosion at a chemical factory in central japan at a plant run by mitts sue beach she materials.

>> the diplomatic crisis between it is u.s. and india has hit another road block, a federal judge denying a request to delay proceedings for the former deputy counsel of india accused of submitting false visa information for a made. it sparked protest in india and demands that all charges against her be dropped. >> in another sign of escalating tensions between the two countries, u.s. energy secretary has canceled a key trip to india this month. trade was expected to be promoted in the energy sector during the trip. >> the u.s. military is vetting its second deadly helicopter crash this week. rescuers continued their search overnight for a missing crew member of a navy chopper that plunged into the ocean off the coast of virginia. four other crew members were pulled from the water, two died.

the helicopter was doing a radiotain training mission when it went down. >> in england, searching for clues to why another military helicopter went down, killing four u.s. air force members. the helicopter was performing a low level training mission. >> the man accused of driving into a crowd at a los angeles beach last summer has been ordered to stand trial. one person was killed and more than a dozen injured when nathan lewis campbell sped his car down the venice boardwalk last august. he is being charged with murder, assault with a deadly weapon and leaving the scene of an accident. new york is set to become the latest state to loosen its grip on marijuana us. governor cuomo discussed it during the state of the state address. twenty states allow limited use of the drug. new yorkers would be allowed to manage the pain and treatment of cancer and other serious

illnesses. >> 20 states have already started to use it. we'll establish a program allowing up to 20 hospitals to prescribe medical marijuana and we will monitor the program to evaluate the effectiveness and the feasibility of a medical marv system. >> recreational marijuana use remains legal in new york but in recent years, possession of small amounts have been reduced to a low level violation, subject to a fine instead of jail time. >> alaska may be the third state to legalize marijuana for recreational use. 4600 signatures were turned into the state election board to put it on the ballot. the alaska measure is modeled on the 2012 colorado initiative. >> we keep that talking about pot, stephanie. for those colorado residents who legally purchased marijuana, all they had to do was present i.d. some worry teenagers will be

able easily to get their hands on the drug. >> around age 12, 13, i wanted to feel a difference. >> just like that, recovering addict said his 30 year struggle with marijuana was underway, smoking once a week soon became once a day. he was hooked. >> i did the bare minimum of what i had to do to get by and continue to be able to use pot. >> studies show that teens who start smoking pot early tend to smoke more and more often. also, one in eight teens who try pot will become addicted and that the brains of heavy users can develop abnormally. >> what can i show you today no. >> the big question now is colorado's new retail weed regime sending teens a dangerous message. >> there's a concern that if young people get the sense that it's not really a big deal, they don't see any reason to not use. >> dr. christian hopker says

yes. >> more and more kids are viewing it as harmless, essentially. >> one of the leaders of colorado's legalization campaign said the problem isn't new laws like colorado's, it's the old laws everywhere else. >> if the goal is to keep marijuana away from teens and more than 80% say they can get it easily, it's a sign of a failed policy. >> in the 1930's, americans freaked out about reefer madness, but with poll after poll now showing a majority favoring legalization, today, they're more in tune with dazed and confused. >> say man, you got a joint? >> that concerns the doctor who sees parallelling of marijuana and tobacco. >> the truth came out about the connection with toe he bakos cancer. i think something similar will happen with marijuana.

>> today, paul is a rehab support specialist, but he lost his old job, his home and his marriage before he finally kicked his habit. >> i was talking myself into believing that it was ok, it's just marijuana. >> experts say we still don't know enough about the effects of marijuana on the human body, but that could be about to change here in colorado. tate lawmakers back in session today and they'll consider up to $7 million for marijuana research. paul beban, aljazeera, denver. >> the national institute for drug abuse estimates that one in nine users become addicted to marijuana. for teenagers, that's one in six. >> marlin mccarthy is calling it quits, both she and carolina congressman will not seek reelection this year. mccarthy became a congresswoman

in 1996 after her husband and son were shot in the 1993 long island railroad massacre. >> wednesday marked the third anniversary of the deadly attack on former congressman gabby giffords and others. about 100 people gathered outside the university of arizona medical center for a reading of the victims' names and moment of silence. gifford survived being shot in the head. her injuries forced her to resign from congress in 2012. the former congresswoman sky dived with a fend. her husband met her on the ground after she landed and tweeted this, gabby landed beautifully, happy she's safe. so proud of her bravery. i think we all are proud of her.

>> absolutely. >> dennis rodman is now apologizing for comments he made about an american missionary held captive in north korea. he was celebrating leader kim jong-un's birthday. ♪ happy birthday to you >> rodman led a squad of former basketball stars. he described his visit as basketball diplomacy but drew criticism when he implied kenneth bay may deserve to be imprisoned in north korea. rodman said he had been drinking when he made that comment and those comments outraged bay's family here in the u.s. >> we were shocked and just appalled. we could not believe it. it's one thing for him to say he refuses to help and that's his choice, he's a private citizen, i understand that, but it's another thing altogether to then

hurl these outrageous accusations against my brother. he clearly doesn't know what he's talking about, he he's uninformed about the case, so we were shocked by that. this isn't some game. this is a serious issue with a person's life on the line. >> bay was arrested in november of 2012, accused of trying to bring down the government through row lidgeous activities. rodman said he was overwhelmed and stressed and that he should "know about her than to make political statements." >> yes, he should know better than to make political statements. the clock is ticking down to the start of the winter olympics. we have a closer look at a u.s. athlete search forego gold. >> a lot of american athletes with very, very high hopes and sochi games about a month away now. for american bobsled driver, the focus is on capturing the first complete bobsled medal but

focusing hasn't always been easy. >> steven holcomb has been competing since 1988. he struck gold as the driver of the four man team in vancouver in 2010. it was the first such whip for the americans since 1948. the win was particularly sweet for holcomb who had to overcome a repair eye disease before his gold medal dreams could come into focus. >> i had a degenerative eye disease. it's a slow thinning of the cornea causing them to bulge out. you slowly go blind. it caused a lot of isolation. i with drew from everything and fell in a pretty deep depression and then finally hit rock bottom. >> to say holcomb hit rock bottom is an understatement, as he struggled with his vision and keeping his disability a secret, the bobsledder withdrew from

friends and family even tried to take his own life. >> you go through such crazy stuff and i actually attempted suicide at one point and i was pretty devastating, it was a moment i realized that i'm here for a bigger purpose, that there's something more for me to do. >> with a new lease on life, holcomb addressed his secret disability. he did so with a risky experimental procedure. >> we were lucky to find an experimental procedure, it's revolutionary that is just now being introduced and that saved my vision. just over a year after having that procedure done, we won the 50 world championship in 50 years and then two years almost to the daewon our first gold medal. >> as the bobsled team prepares to defend their gold medal in so muchy, holcomb is grateful for another opportunity, but he can also see that he has a greater purpose. >> if i can help one person, motivate one person, then that's a great feeling that i'm here for something bigger and better, and hopeful i can send a message and help other people.

>> john henry smith, aljazeera. >> john henry, thanks so much. holcomb was dominant on the north american portion of the world cup circuit last month going 7-7. his four man crew crashed and finished 20th in germany last week. the opening as her moneys begin february 6. >> we wish him luck. thank you. >> new jersey governor chris christie will answer accusation that he knew his top aides closed down access lanes to the george washington bridge. this is a live look at the bridge. you can see it's crowded even on a good day without access lanes closed. the governor is expected to meet with reporters later this morning. we are joined with the latest from edge water, new jersey. good morning, erika. >> good morning to you, stephanie. yes, that press conference is scheduled for 11:00 this morning when chris christie will be addressing questions from reporters. this will be the first time hearing from him, except from a statement that he had issued

yesterday, saying that he felt deeply saddened about what documents had recently revealed, that one of his top aides misled him. he has said and been steadfast about this, that he has had no knowledge of his office playing any role in possibly engineering this traffic jam as partly of what is being said could have been political retribution against a fort lee new jersey mayor who is a democratic, who refused to back governor christie in his reelection campaign. we're going to learn much more about that and we'll bring that to you as soon as we have it. >> we all want to hear what governor christie has to say in response. >> finding hope, a large number of children in kenya orphaned by the aids virus live in poverty. >> giving those left behind a second chance. >> north america facing its first official death of the flu. the disease could spread.

>> al jazeera america is a

>> growing up without a parent is a way of life for more than 1 million children in kenya who lost their parents as a result of aids. a project in that country offers hope. >> we're looking forward to that, but first let's get a look at the snow and rain across the nation today. >> we had that arctic blast, we had some clear skies, now we're getting into a more active pattern into the northeast where we had the lake effect with the wind coming in with that system, that's shut off. the wind has diminished and shut off. florida is starting to see moisture, very hit and miss. a larger system from tennessee into mississippi starting to see rain. it is still cold enough to make

bridges and overpasses treacherous. higher elevations will see snow. >> the first official deaths from the flu is confirmed in canada. an alberta resident died after traveling to china. the victim started showing signs on the return flight from beijing on december 27. health officials believe it is an isolated case. sick% of those infected with the virus die. >> kenya is home to one of the world's harshest h.i.v. and aids epidemic. 1.6 million people are living with the disease and more than 1 million children orphaned. we look at one community helping those communities learn and prosper. >> his parents died of aids five years ago. together with a younger sister, they were left with no one to care for them. they would have been among the

growing number of did he sty attitude aids other fans. >> i would have dropped out of school. here, i live in a home with a god mother to watch me. >> this is the brain child of an american catholic priest who pioneered specialized facilities for abandoned children affected by aids in kenya. in 2006, the home was established away from an orphanage to a family setting. beneficiaries are sent based on financial needs. there are now 100 homes. she came with three grandchildren after her h.i.v. infected daughter died in 2009. she had no means to support them. >> i now have 11 children under my care. i take care of them like

siblings. >> the 1,000 children living here, some of h.i.v. positive. there's a clinic provided to ensure there's no stigma among the children. funding comes mostly from international donors, but the village is able to finance roughly a quarter of its needs. >> this village was built as a self-sustaining community, the orphans and elders are given a home and basic necessities, but trained to have skills to make use of the resources around them. >> livestock is here to provide milk. beneficiaries have various sources of income from welding to carpentry, the final products are used in homes and sold in nearby markets. forty of the children who lived and went to cool have been sent to college. two have come back to teach here. >> when they come back, they can

rely. ive no parents, but i can still be successful. >> it's a success stories others are trying to replicate, giving hope to two generations left behind by the aids pandemic. southeast kenya. >> the aids rate has declined since the 1990's, partly thanks to the use of drugs. >> good morning. >> good morning, new jersey governor chris christie embroiled in that controversy about lane closures on one of the busiest bridges in the world, engineering that traffic jam for political revenge. the white house is standing by vice president biasedden after he was slammed in that new book. i'll be back in two and a half minutes with more.

>> new york congresswoman caroline mccarthy is calling it quits after 18 years in office. both she and north carolina representative mike mchad entire won't seek reelection. democrats consider it a blow to their efforts to win back control of the house. she ran for office in 1996 after her husband was killed and her son was shot in that 1993 long island railroad massacre. >> a u.s. coast guard ship helped a new york ferry stuck in the ice on the hudson river. that no passengers were onboard. that vessel was on a routine maintenance trip, the coast guard cutting a path through the ice allowing the ferry to

continue. the warmer weather bringing with it new concerns this weekend. nicole mitchell is here with the details of that. >> in that very same area not only was it freezing water ways, but we had a lot of lake effect snow on the eastern portions of the great lakes. here's what we're looking at now. not only has the wind diminished but also shifted a little bit, so that's reduced that after places like buffalo setting a record at 7.6 inches some places over the last two days isolated, but up to two feet of snow. we are talking about the ice jams that we had in some cases, so that will continue to be a problem as that warms and ice redistributes and jams a little more. the snow we are seeing with temperatures around the 40's around the lake will melt the know that we have aband then on top of that we will get rain. we are looking at a flood concern between these different elements, creating that especially on some of our water way areas. that's what we're watching, but

we get a warm up with all of this, so a lot of people are happy just to see that. here's the outlook through the next couple of days. you can see the high pressure that originally its position was bricking in air from the north has shifted on the backside of the high one get the air in from the south. we already started yesterday to see those temperatures nudging up and today we're going to be just a little bit closer to average in a lot of cases. this is just the start. by the weekend, many places that were below having a will be above a having. temperatureles today, 45 in atlanta, new york at 32, that's still a little on the cold side, but when you look at temperatures that were record-setting just two days ago, that's definitely going to feel a little better out there. and then, with that pattern shift out of the south, we're looking at a little more moisture, places like mississippi for today, watching for some of that. we're following another new system out into the west. this is going to be very active for us. i'll cover that coming up in

just a little bit. back to you. >> that diplomatic crisis between the u.s. and india hitting another road block, a federal judge denying a request to delay proceedings in the case against the former deputy capsule general of india arrested in new york, accused of submitting false visa documents for her domestic help and lying about the salary of her made. in an interview with aljazeera america earlier this morning, a member of india's parliament said america's handling of the situation is uncalled for. >> even a wage dispute does not normally in any relationship between two serious countries lead to one country arresting the diplomat of another country. at worst, the country would say look, your diplomat is creating an awkward situation for us, please remove her or something like that. it is almost unprecedented in the annals of diplomacy for this behavior to take place. unfortunately, america really does believe it can write its own rules it seems sometimes and

that is not acceptable to any self respect aring nation that values its relations with the u.s. >> the diplomat was arrested and strip searched by the u.s. marshalls, beginning protests in india demanding the allegations be dropped. >> the u.s. energy secretary canceling a key trip to india this month. >> next week, egypt set to hold a referendum on a new constitution. it will eventually replace the one created by the deposed president mothers as i. egyptians living abroad can vote early. they have until the end of this week. we report from london. >> they are preparing to vote on a new constitution. the man who runs this west london community center hopes the result of the referendum is

yes. >> this constitution gives everyone in egypt the right and look at the articles, look at women's right, look at children's right, look at religious people right, so this has covered everything i don't in egypts 2012 constitutional referendum, christians abroad voled in large numbers. he hopes that will be repeated this time around. >> my concern is that people sit home and again, i'm speaking to everybody, if people just sit home, they can only blame themselves for what might happen if their voice is lost. whether people agree or disagree, they should go out and make that choice known. >> voting abroad last five days, a chance for millions of expatriots to have their say, but around the world, fewer than 700,000 have registered, many voting at the embass in london said they'd vote yes. >> we would say yes for the

country, to establish the count arery for the future. >> for future for egypt, you know, and the way we hope, you know, the roadmap work on you and everything will be ok. >> plenty of egyptians have turned up here to have their say on the constitution, but opinion is just as divided among egyptians outside the country as it is in egypt itself. >> some expatriots are and that ising a call to boycott the referendum, the self styled anti coup alliance said it was drafted by those involved in the overthrow of morsi last year. >> this vote is the start of bringing hope and stability to a troubled nation. aljazeera, london. >> last week, egypt's interim president announcing those living in egypt will vote on the

referendum on january 14 and 15. a freight train loaded with crude oil and propane derailing in canada again of a the brakes engage said unexpectedly. 17 of 122 cars coming off the traction near the border with maine. no one was injured by the incident is raising new concerns about transporting oil by rail are. 14 died when another train with a crude oil cargo derailed. >> a setback for same-sex marriage in utah, the governor not raising marriages that were performed. newlyweds tied the knot after a federal judge said the ban an same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. the supreme court halted same sex weddings there until a federal lower court considers that case. >> the obama administration is asking public schools now to drop that zero tolerance approach to student punishment. on wednesday, the administration releasing new recommendations

toward creating safer school environments, finding the zero tolerance policy more often targeted minty students. that called for suspensions or expulsions. administration said public school should only use law enforcement as a last resort. >> talks over iran's nuclear program resuming in geneva, the main sticking point keeping iran and the world leaders from coming to an agreement. >> return to fukushima, we look at how much of that radiation leaking into the pacific ocean poses a threat to the u.s. >> a place where they are using ordinary shipping containers to create business that is anything but ordinary.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. how canadians are finding surprising new uses for shipping containers, but first let's find out what temperatures we'll see across the nation today. >> a lot of people are enjoying

this forecast. it was so cold the last few days, we had someone write in and say we should quit reporting in celsius. these are all fahrenheit, it's just that the temperatures were that cold. already a warm up, more of these temperatures in the south in the thirds, 30's and 20's returning to the northeast, even the midwest with the single digits. this has been a huge warmup. fargo this morning, with winds funneling to the north plains out of the south versus yesterday at this time, fargo's current temperature is 13. yesterday morning, we were 20 below zero. more of this on the way heading toward the weekend. >> in business news, more evidence that the job market is improving, corporate layoffs falling to their lowest levels. planned job cuts fell 32% in december. we'll look at our weekly unemployment benefit outlook and

bring you the full coverage of the key december jobs report tomorrow, as well, so be sure to stay tuned to aljazeera america. >> more american homeowners no longer under water. realty track finding a big drop in the number of those who owe a lot more on their marriage than their home is worth. 19% are in that category, down from 26% in january of last year. rising home prices are credited with that decline. >> wall street looks poised to open the day higher, do you futures up 39 points. the dow starting the day at 16,462, the s&p at 1837 and the nasdaq at 4,185. in asia, the markets ending the day in the minus column, japan's nikkei leading those declines down 1.5%. china clothessing at its lowest level in five months. european markets are higher after the bank decided to keep interest rates unchanged. >> shares of macy's rallies

ahead of the stock market open on word the retailer is laying off workers and closing stores. macy's is shifting more jobs to on line operations. the department store chain saying it will save millions of dollars each year. >> he beat humans to become a jeopardy champ and now the super computer watson is being called upon to help i.b.m. hit the jackpot. the company is investing more than a billion dollars in bringing in 2,000 employees to create a new business unit for watson alone. the group will offer a cognitive computer technology to business and consumers. >> those shipping containers now used for a lot more than transporting cargo. they're being converted into everything from homes to nurseries for plants. as daniel reports in toronto, their the basis now for a new concept, business in a box. >> almost indestructible, easy

to move by truck, train or ship, the standard steel container is getting a new lease on life. add stylish wooden walls, walls, electricity, tails, and an espresso maker and this one's a cafe bar on display for urban planners, invited to see the city's first container street market. >> we started off with one container, now we've got 19 stalls. we've got a waiting list of about 30 to 40 people. >> on a business trip to ghana, kevin lee saw battered rusty containers used at basher shops and other businesses. in toronto, he called his imported business idea business in a box. >> it's spacious sidewalks, shipping containers and a whole world of delicious street food. i'll take one, please. >> business rents are high in this city, so this program

connects entrepreneurs like mark with a subsidized space, advice on loans and other services, and a prime time street location to sell his creates. >> what it really allows us to do is start a business very quickly, and at very low cost and be able to provide a lot of different options within a very small area. >> from crepes to currie, bike repairs to handy crafts, there's a lot you can buy here and there's a proposal to build a mall two stories high. it adds street life and jobs to a downtown area that needs both. >> it brings life to the street, brings economic opportunity to a neighborhood that struggles at times and it creates a social environment, which is safer and more beautiful, so what part of that equation doesn't make a success? >> finding new uses for shipping containers isn't unique but turning a battered steel box

into a, and helping people do it with cheap rent in needy communities makes this program something that planners and activists want to replicate in the city and around the world. >> you can get a lot of things done at market 707. the shipping container street market has 10 restaurants and even a computer rare shop. negotiations areunder way concerning iran's nuclear program, what a deal would mean for politics inside the u.s. and iran. >> returning to fukushima, and addressing concerns about radiation contamination in the pacific ocean. why some fear it could be headed to the u.s. >> a chicken plant in california shut down, public health threat investigators say they found. >> the nba hasn't always been the hip pro sports juggernaut it is today. two brothers who once worked for a rival league but saw the future and now the nba is paying them. >> 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

real reporting that brings you the world. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. iran, the u.s. and five other world powers are back at the negotiating table. they're ironing out the details of a deal limiting iran's nuclear exhibits. wendy sure man and iran's deputy minister need to sort out a number of issues before that agreement takes effect january 20. until then, iranians continue to live with crippling economic sanctions. because of them, med sip is in short industry. >> she hasn't been able to walk for three years. muscular dispro fee has taken her strength. she's relied on imported medication all her life. it slows the progress of the disease, but as tougher

international sanctions hit iran this year, her medication tripled in price and that forced her to stop taking it. the founder of tehran's muscular dystrophy center told me what that means for patients. >> medication does not cure these patients completely. it's really drug assistance to slow the speed of the disease growth and slow the speed of heart and lung failure. if the patients don't use the medication, something happens to them within six months. that would usually happen in two years. >> iran's medical sector is not under sanctions, but restrictions on trade have cut european drug imports by 30%. that that's coupled with the failure of the previous government to allocate enough money to buy foreign medication, punished the health sector. under the geneva deal in november, countries like the united states have agreed to

help iran get the drugs it needs. >> the institute is one of the countries leading scientific research centers and among projects is a search for a cure for muscular disrefer to. the research trial is already supposed to be underway but because of sanctions, the institute has had to delay the start of that trial. >> for her, that trial can't come soon enough. >> if sanctions are lifted, i think it will have a positive impact on my life. actually, all district patients hope research can be done a understand that there are no sanctions for a total cure continuing all over the world. if a drug treatment can be produced, it would be supplied easier. >> iran's government is working hard to build a new relationship with the west. for patients, the relaxation of sanctions could be a matter of life and death. aljazeera, tehran.

>> negotiators hammered out an interim agreement in november calling for iran to curb parts of its nuclear program. in exchange, iran would get relief from those sanctions. after those failed negotiations in november, enrichment levels remained that sticking point in talks you with iran. what do both sides hope to achieve? >> in geneva, what they're trying to do most immediately is finalize the date when the six month agreement would begin. we think it will be around john 20, but that hadn't been finalized. there were a couple other sticking points about whether iran could continue to do research and development on centurcentury

century finals. >> we didn't have releases with iran for 34 years, now we have regular meetings, the secretary of state, the foreign minister meet, but we still disagree very, very sharply over what the ultimate limitations on iran's nuclear program should be, and we disagree on syria and hezbollah and a number of other issues, but we're at least having constructive interactions to try to solve the problems.

now what's holding it -- what's holding it -- what's holding it back are these disagreements over how limited iran's nuclear program would have to be and there's a lot of pressure from israeli and some in congress that are much more dubious about the possibility of ever really normalizing with iran. >> i was going to point out that just last month there was continued talk of stepped up sanctions against iran. how do you convince congress those people who are skeptical that there can be no diplomatic solution without concessions on enrichment? >> iran's going to have to macon sessions on enrichment. the issue is whether we accept the reality that iran's going to do some enrichment. it's going to have to be limited, but they can do some. the position of prime minister netanyahu and some in congress is absolutely no enrichment, they have to dismantle everything. that would be ideal, except iran's never going to agree to

it, they'd rather be attacked than agree with that. you have to accept the reality that there will be some enrichment. they already admit, the people in congress that sanctions won't make iran stop enrichment entirely and you can demonstrate that a military attack won't force iran to top enrichment entirely, so this debate just needs to be had more fully. right now, there isn't much of a debate, people in the senate don't really understand the details of this, they're just doing what other people are urging them to do without much debate. >> thank you very much for being with us this morning. >> thank you. >> that is george perkvich, he is with the endowment for international peace from carney university. >> growing fear of genocide, the united nation said the war torn country heading toward a humanitarian disaster, hundreds of thousands in camps with poor sanitation and risks of high

disease. the country's president admitting he is powerless to top that violence. he is expected to resign today. >> things aren't looking any better in south sudan. the rebel forces are rejecting a government plan to resume peace talks. three weeks of fierce fighting for those in favor of the countries president and those loyal to the former vice president have left at least a thousand people dead, the warring sides meeting face-to-face but hitting a snag after the president reversed to release a group of detainees. >> governor christie may be forced to do a little damage control in a hastily called news conference just two hours from now, he'll address accusations that his top aides closed access to the george washington bridge as political payback against a mayor in his own tate, that move causing massive traffic tie ups for four days. charles styles is a political reporter, joining us by phone

from princeton, new jersey. david wallstein was the one who ordered those lane closures, his attorney attempting to stop his testimony at a hearing this morning. does he have the authority to dodge a subpoena? >> i think that's unclear, but i think most people believe that's unlikely that the court would intervene on some -- on a legislative inquiry. they tend to defer to the legislature and are unlikely to interfere on their own internal business, frankly. there is some questions about the legality of the subpoenas. it is kind of an uncharted territory in general. there's a lot of questions about the breadth and reach of the

subpoenas, but i don't think he has much of a chance in court, but we'll see. >> is there a sense that he is trying to dodge the subpoena for his own legal reasons for that he is trying to protect his former boss? >> that's the big question right now. i think it's probably, you know, i think it's probably both. he's fiercely loyal to the governor. they went to high school together, and, you know, chris christie has always had close fiercely loyal supporters that he's taken with him from as early as his college days, right through the u.s. attorney's office and now into trenton, so i think, you know, he's probably motivated by both reasons. >> when this can't recover first

rereputed, he was pushing back. is there a sense that you are vindicated by these developments? there was growing, mounting evidence that this was a problem and that the dismissive tone that he took was out of synch with the reality on the ground, you know, you're talking about massive tie ups for thousands of your commuters, and at that point, we had no idea what the impact was on public safety and now we're starting to find out some of the details, and it just seemed to be his tone seemed to be you know indifferent, and not seeming to take into consideration the impact on the average voter, who was caught in this mess, so vindication, i

don't know, but i do think the reality on the ground is now staring christie right in the face and is shaping his political reality. >> exactly. thank you very much. governor kristie expected to hold that news conference today at 11:00 a.m. aljazeera will bring that you news conference live. >> now to a question many in america have been asking for quite some time, does the ongoing disaster at japan's nuclear power plant pose a risk to the u.s.? we return to fukushima. we cut through the conflicting reports to get to the truth. >> this is as far as you can go before entering the exclusion zone surrounding the fukushima daiichi power plant. inside the tokyo electric power company is struggling to contain

the on going nuclear disaster. the japanese government says the situation is under control, so we traveled here to find whether that is in fact true, if the world still needs to be worried. >> david mcneil has been covering the fukushima disaster since it began nearly three years ago. >> how severe are a crisis do we still have here in japan? >> well, i think this is an on going crisis. what you've had is a series of ad hoc strategies designed to deal with the crisis that's right in front of you. >> the real headache comes from the hundreds of tons of melted radioactive fuel in reactors one, two, and three. >> they only have the vaguest idea of where it sits and what they have to do is keep it cool with water, because if they don't keep it cool, it heats up, radiation escapes and we're back to square one. >> a constant flow of water is necessary to keep the melted down uranium cool.

thousands of tanks have been built to store the daily flood of contaminated water and their running out of space. >> tanks all over, it's a forest of tanks, over 1,000 of them. >> then there's the ground water. after years of denial, the power company admitted this fall a contaminated water is flowing into the pacific in the volume of an olympic sized swim pool every week. it worries many americans. this map making the rounds on social media shows radiation spreading throughout the pacific. a scientist at the meteorological institute of japan spent his career studying the spread of radiation from nuclear tests now is studying fukushima. >> what people in the united states will want to know is when that water is going to reach u.s. soil, and what would you say, based on your calculations?

>> april and may and about one year after the accident, that means >> he calculates that the radiation will slow, sink and then harmlessly decay over decades as currents turn it to the indian ocean. because most of the contaminated is captured in a port outside the plant, he says few areas outside of fukushima are affected.

>> that scary graphic is actually an altered noa map showing the path in 2011. there is no evidence of unsafe fish in the american food supply. it's reassuring, but all bets are off if there isn't a long term strategy to plug the leaking plant. >> that is michael reporting. james acton joins us this morning from washington. good morning. >> good morning, del. >> has enough progress been made to clean up fukushima? >> the challenge facing the japanese authorities is tremendous. the reality is nobody has ever tried to clean up a mess on this kale before. at chernobyl, the ukrainian

government has simply declared an exclusion zone around the plant and hasn't tried to clean it up. this i also to use a baseball analogy, where we're president bottom of the first in a nine inning game. >> we live in a global community. waste from fukushima already washing ashore in the united states, so why shouldn't citizens be concerned that radiation might be doing exactly the same thing? >> well, debris from the tsunami has washed ashore. that's different from radiation from fukushima washing ashore. the pacific ocean is absolutely enormous and the amount of radiation flowing from the plant is relatively small right now. it gets diluted very, very quickly by the pacific ocean. as the professor says, there is no evidence whatsoever that this radiation poses any kind of threat to people on the west coast jot there is also the issue of trust.

i go all the way back to three-mile island, decades ago, then it was found out that the industry was not being honest to the people. that now the japanese government being credit sides for its handling of fukushima. is there the belief that the leadership is telling its people what they need to know and telling them the truth? >> well, i think trust is a very important issue here, and it's pretty clear that the japanese authorities have lost the trust of people both in japan and the united states. but if the issue is about contamination of the food supply, u.s. authorities check that measuring the radiation levels in food and to my knowledge, there has not been any measurable increase in the radiation levels in seafood available in the u.s. as a result of the fukushima accident. >> now as i mentioned a second ago, three-mile island, chernobyl, now fukushima, has this particular disaster tipped the scale and is there still, i guess belief in the need for the future of nuclear energy? >> depends where you are in the

world. a number of european countries have given up plans not to phase out nuclear power or reintroduce nuclear power. within asia, ambitious plans have been slowed in various cases, but you know, china, amongst other states is still planning to do a significant increase in nuclear reactors. my personal belief is that there is no risk-freeway of producing large that amounts of electricity. burning fossil fuels creates the risk of catastrophic climate change. over reliance on renewables, i certainly support renewables, leads to the risk of not keeping the lights on. the reality is we're energy beggars and can't afford to be choosers. we need all forms of low carbon energy, including nuclear. >> thank you very much for being with us this morning.

>> thank you. >> coming up tonight, part four of return to fukushima. officials in japan now have to decide exactly what we were talking about, go green or return to nuclear power. we'll hear from the japanese prime minister once an opponent of nuclear power and now it's loudest critic. >> baseball's elite about to welcome some new members, mark mar gone now here with that story. >> a lot of players with iting by the phone and just a few of them, very small number got the call they were hoping for. the baseball writers of america will send three players are to the baseball hall of fame in july, this after not a single player garnered enough votes last year to make it. greg maddux won four consecutive cy young awards, ranks eighth all time with 355 wins and won a record 18 gold gloves. he will be joined by tom glavin

who won 305 games and a pair of sigh youngs. two time american league most valuable player, frank thomas hit .301, 521 home runs and more than 1700 r.b.i.'s. there's a little bit of controversy acknowledge year's class notable for players who didn't make it. craig biggio, over 600 doubles and 291 home runs fell two votes short. two of the necessary 75% threshold. suspected steroid users all saw their vote totals decrease from last year. >> turning to college football, there are numerous reports that franklin has been offered the job after meeting with the school's search that committee. franklin turned the program

around in just three years, winning 24 games, his team's also playing in three straight bowl games. >> after one season at western kentucky, bobby petrino is returning to louisville, he coached the cardinals from 2003 to 2006, going 41-9 during that time. he left for a brief stint with the atlanta falcons before being fired in 2012 for a pattern of misleading behavior. that petrino takes over for charlie strong. >> trying to become the first team in league history to sweep a seven game road continue, the warriors in brooklyn facinged the nets. that's a three-ball and that is in, warriors up by four. thomas had 14. blatche the fade away jumper huge off the bench with 10. the nets tied at 93 and go on to whip 102-98. brooklyn has suddenly won four

in a row. how often have we heard it pays to think ahead? because two brothers had an eye on the future, they will be $500 million richer. in 1976 as part of the nba merger, they accepted a share of the visual rights in exchange for folding their a.b.a. franchise, the spirit of absolute. with the massive growth of the nba, the brothers were receiving almost $18 million a year. the league has finally convinced them to sell that buyout for $500 million. here's quick background. in 1976, the spirits' owners turned down a $3 million buyout but agreed to one seventh of the broadcast rights as long as the league exists. the nba had their playoff games on tape delay back then. since then, over the 38 years of the deal, they have received $300 million and as i said, the buyout, $500 million extra, so basically go away and i'm going away now and that's a look at

this morning's sports. >> the st. louis who? the future of toys, how manufacturers are using new technology to reach a new generation. >> needed moisture is creating rain in the south and a mess in the west. i'll have your details. moisturg

through the south, anything from a couple showers in florida to rain in mississippi and snow north of that line. these areas need the moisture heading to the northwest, rain and snow that will be heavy at times, the snow for the olympics in the cascades regions, but definitely needed moisture. >> if you love toys, hong kong is the place to be this week. a record 2700 exhibitors taking part in the hong kong toy and

games fair. aljazeera's craig was there with a glimpse at the toys of tomorrow and today. >> if you are a big kid like me, even an assignment like this i also heaven on earth. research and development and manufacturing just across the border in china are what make this place the strongest in the world, 75% of the global market. while that's not likely to change, what is is the nature of the toy industry itself, for the first time we're seeing software application developers making their mark here in hong kong. they're developing applications such as this that work with hardware. you place the smart phone into the toy and you take any one of the applications, and you interact with the toy itself. this is the future, we're told, because smart phones and tablets are the latest toy for children. that's what parents are buying

them but what they want is education and. >>er action. these sorts of toys with the future for 2014. >> officials say while smart phone and i products attracted a lot of attention, toys were still among the most popular, good old fashioned toys. >> there's always news right at the top of the hour here on aljazeera america.