welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. here are the stories we are following for you. a water emergency in west virginia, a chemical spill prompting a federal investigation. a new jobs report is out. we'll have reaction from white house. and millions more target customers are effected from the breach. there is now a federal investigation into that chemical leak along the elk river in west virginia, the kwhous declaring a state of emergency after a

chemical spill? charleston. health officials warning people not to drink, bathe, or even cook with the water. jonathan thousands of people affected by the spill. what are they doing for water? >> reporter: well at this point, fema and the emergency management groups brought in 12 big tankers of water. but if you go into some of these grocery stores bottled water is hard to come by. we are told that some 300,000 people have been told not to use their tap water, only to flush or in an emergency situation like fire. but authorities are trying to figure out how big of an issue this is. this all came to light yesterday early in the day when this company, freedom industries, reported a leak into the elk river from their facility. no one really knew how serious

it was, how bad it was, but people around here started reporting a strange smell. people said it smelled like licorice or candy or cough syrup, and officials got to the water and tested it and found it had leaked at the river, and had gotten into the water treatment facility and made it into the finished line. and that was the concern. so the question and big certain now from officials is how much of this chemical got into the water, and also what the risk is involved. >> we need to know exactly the quantities that we're dealing with. we're still trying to work with -- through the msds sheet and the company that manufacturers the product with their tex kolgs, physicians, industrial hygienists to try to understand the risk assessment of this product. what kind of quantities can be present in drinking water and not pose harm to our customers.

we don't know that the water is not safe, but i can't say it is safe. >> reporter: again, the technical term, by the way for this chemical, it is a chemical that is used in coal preparation. so there is really no word for a time line as to when this will all be rectified. we do know officials are using various methods at this point, they are flushing the water, testing the water, smelling it, but they say they don't know at this point just how soon everything will be fixed. >> jonathan martin joining us live from charl son, west virginia. thank you very much. there was stunning news today from the labor department. adding a disappointing 74,000 jobs last month, well below the forecast. the unemployment rate did fall to 6.5%, but the people looking

for work is down to 62%. mike viqueira live at the white house right now, and mike, the white house keeps saying jobs, jobs, jobs, but the word from the white house is spend, spend, spend. >> well, the white house you can expect them to point out the positives. the unemployment rate was down to 6.7%, but as you pointed out, down for all of the wrong reasons. 2.2 million jobs created in the last year, the unemployment rate sinking by 1.2% during that time. but as you point out only 74,000 jobs created. economistss expected about thre times more than that.

and 347,000 people dropping out of the work force last month, and one other figure to throw at you, the u-6 as it is termed here in washington, or the real unemployment rate, those who are unemployed and maybe looking for a job, that rate holding steady at 13.1%. but they use this opportunity to push the congress to pass that unemployment extension for the long term unemployed. here is jay carney just a little bit ago. >> the short-term employ rate is now roughly at where it was during the last expansion, and maybe a little bit below it. which means the unemployment problem is truly concentrated in the long-term unemployment part of it. and that's something the president has talked about a lot.

we're talking about here people who have been unemployed and are looking for a job and have been doing so for a long time. >> reporter: and del earlier in the week we were talking about good news for the white house, and the senate cleared a procedural hurdle to extend that unemployment insurance, it is bogged down again. >> mike viqueira in washington. mike, thank you very much. and college grads having annest officially tough time finding a job. the composition for them is tense. and they are k looking at positions they once thought they might be able to avoid. patricia sabga has the story. >> reporter: when poly-cy major graduated from college with honors, she was optimistics. >> i was feeling good. my education was strong, i had graduated top of my class, and i -- i was feeling great when i

graduated. >> reporter: three years on the 26 year old has yet to land a position in her chosen field. instead she is juggling two part-time jobs that don't require a college degree. >> i have been working in a restaurant for five nights a week, and nannying three days a week. >> reporter: she is hardly unique. in 2001, 34% of recent college graduated were underemployed. in 2012 that number vaulted. >> there is just more demand for skill and education than there has ever been before, and that actually makes it harder on young people even though with a college degree, because they just have less experience and skill than workers who have been in the labor force for a long time. >> reporter: transitioning has always been a challenge for recent college graduates, but finding a good job has never

been harder for them. the share of recent college graduates working part-time swelled from 15% in 2000 to 23% by 2011. but she still feels her education was a good investment. >> i know something will work out. on wall street the numbers are down at this hour. the dow down right now by about 46 points. some day the dismal jobs numbers don't necessarily mean the economy is losing steam. we'll dig deeper into those numbers right on "real money with ali velshi." attorneys in new york and massachusetts say they are joining into that nationwide probe of target's data breach. the company now saying at least 70 million customers had their

personal information stolen. target says it will offer one year of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection. police using tear gas to disburse hundreds of protesters who took to the streets in egypt. they are supporters of deposed president mohammed morsi. and egypts have until sunday to vote on the referendum. it comes at a crucial time and pits friend against friend. >> reporter: these two have been friends for more than two decades. they meet here to catch up and talk politics. both egyptians living in new york. they have very different feelings about the future of their country. >> it is gone and gone forever and never again, and just to

have egypt the way it used to be was much better. >> no, i disagree about that. morsi is not going to go. morsi has to come back again. because we did not give the guy the chance. >> reporter: khaleed supports morsi who was ousted by the army after just a year in office. >> we're not going to sit until we get back our president. even if he came back for one day and allowed a new l lek -- election, he has to come back. >> reporter: mohammed supports the army chief who ousted morsi. this new draft of the constitution is backed by the military. many egyptian-americans drove hours to comcast their vote

here, and the council expects many more. >> i expect many more coming, yes. and the number of people increased by 30% in the last [ inaudible ]. >> i take a day off from work, and came from new jersey to new york by a boat to vote for the new referendum for the egyptian constitution. >> reporter: the interim government declares the muslim brotherhood a terrorist group in december. but here many voters said they support the military. >> we come today to vote for the constitution, the new one, which is going to be my president. >> i have been here 33 years, first time i feel i'm egyptian because of sisi. >> reporter: this is the country's second constitutional referendum in two years.

whether it will lead the country out of turmoil is still up for debate, even among friends. also in egypt prosecutors say three al jazeera journalist will be held for another three days. they have now been detained for 13 days outside of a prison in cairo. they are accused of spreading lies and being involved with the muslim brotherhood. al jazeera continues to maintain the allegations are false. the president of the central african republic has stretched down. he has lead the country since last march. barnaby phillips is in bangui with more. >> reporter: the crowds celebrating in the middle of bangui at the news that the president has stepped down. they are delighted. they say that he was a thief.

but the mood in bangui is extremely tense at the moment. we have been hearing a lot of gunfire within the last hour. it's not certain whether that is celebratory gunfire or whether there is something more serious going on. these people are confident that there will be a better future now for their country, but it's far from obvious that there is any individual who can unite the central african republic at this point in time. the indian diplomat at the center of that international back and forth between india and the u.s. is back home at this hour. now the state department is saying a diplomat at the u.s. embassy has been expelled at india's request. when parts of louisiana were detroited by hurricane katrina, the federal money came pouring

in, nine years later some of that money is still sitting unspend.

same-sex couples who were married in utah are now getting support from the obama administration. earlier today, eric holder announced the justice department now will recognize more than a thousand gay marriages. it means that couples married before the court ruling are now eligible for federal benefits. >> these marriages will be recognized as lawful and considered eligible for all relevant federal benefits. these families should not be asked to endure uncertainty regarding their status as the litigation unfolds. >> so far there has been no comment from utah's government or attorney generals there. hurricane katrina devastated

parts of louisiana. but nearly nine years later much of the money that congress sent to help has yet to be spent. robert ray is live in new orleans. robert what is the state of the government and what are they saying about the money that hasn't been used? >> reporter: yep, del, good afternoon to you. first of all we're driving this live shot because we wanted to make you through the lower ninth ward an area that has had very little development since katrina hit. nature has taken it over, abandoned cars still sit here and houses, still the shells of them where families used to live. but like i said a couple of hours ago, we thought we were going to be getting a statement from the governor's office on where the $1.5 billion is going to go, and why it is still sitting there. with multiple calls in the last couple of hours and no emails

turned. hopefully they get back to us soon with answers. this money was giving as part of a flexible block grant, a rebuilding and strengthening of the community here in new orleans, a infrastructure to help schools and neighborhoods get rebuilt. the money is sitting there. we talked to one local community developer earlier today who works with a non-profit organization, arthur johnson and here is what he had to say. >> we're still recovering and people are still trying to get into their homes. there are small businesses who still are not operating where they were once prior to hurricane katrina and the other disasters, so this would make a big difference in our community for economic development, for residential and neighborhood growth, and our infrastructure,

schools, fire stations, libraries. >> reporter: so del, you could see back here this live shot of the lower ninth ward, it's depressing to drive through this area, because, you know, you think with some of that money that has been earmarked to help businesses and schools and neighborhoods that is still sitting there that they promised would be used it's neighborhoods like this that could perhaps be making a rebound. so much of the city has made a rebound, yet the population is down, many people have not moved back, because there is not an opportunity in places like this. so there are some local politicians that are wondering maybe we should ask congress to take back the money, the problem is that may be somewhat impossible because that money is supposed to be dividend -- dived

up and given to the local officials. so we're hoping that within the next couple of hours the government will tell us what is going on. >> can you stop and your photographer get out and give us a panorama of how large of an area you have been driving through. >> reporter: yeah. you got it. can you step out of the car -- so we can just show them the area? is that possible to do that? i'll put it in park here. i'm going to step out -- the phone in case it does beep with the governor's people, perhaps they can get us some answers. you can see -- look at this -- just piles of rubble still everywhere on the streets. i mean look down at the roads. you can't even drive through these areas because they were so loaded with water. frankly if you drive through

much of new orleans these days the roads need incredible help. there are potholes everywhere del. we were just talking about that yesterday, and i was asking lionel who is a local here. i said have they always been like this? can they not fix these roads? and he said, yeah, i know people are mad about this. >> pictures are worth a thousand words, and you just gave us about 10 million. robert ray thank you very much. still ahead her name is kate katherine, you might find her terrifying but she is teaching us a great lesson.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. here are today's headlines. we will learn more of the white house review of the nsa a week from today. the white house says the president will make the announcement then. national security agency has been under fire for the way it

collects data on millions of americans. a dangerous chemical spill in west virginia. health officials advising people there not to drink, bathe, or even cook with that water. a toxic chemical used to process coal leaked from a factory along the elk river. the new jobs numbers are out today. they show the employment picture not as rosy as once thought. the number well below what experts expected. the diplomat from the u.s. embassy in new delhi has now be asked to leave. that comes after the indian diplomat was returned to india. researchers in florida are tracking a 2,300 pound great white as she travels up and down the east coast.

julia explains. >> reporter: meet katherine, a great white shark who is helping researchers uncover the secrets of one of the oceans most feared and misunderstood features. recorded scientific data on great whites is limited but that is changing because of katherine and other sharks like her. >> i believe there is a lot of general fascination, and the general looks at this as a beautiful majestic species, and in many cases i think that the tide has shifted, that people are very interested in it. it's just such a large species that it really plays into our primal fears. >> reporter: primal fears spoked by entertainment for years. the organization gathers data about great white sharks. last august a team caught katherine and tagged her with a satellite tracking device.

every time she surfaces the tag seconds a signal to the satellite. what is known as shark tracker allows anyone to go online and follow up dates. >> the internet has really caused this explosion of admiration and intrigue for the white shark. >> reporter: since august she has traversed the eastern sea board several times. this past week she roamed near cape canaveral. the use of new real time data is giving researchers information on her travel patterns. they are hoping to find out how many great whites are in the area, how long they stay in this region, and if their presence is in any way related to their breeding patterns. >> reporter: brenda andersson is studying great white reproduction and breeding. researchers say their population is believed to be small and they

reproduce slowly. she performed an ultrasound on the shark. >> she was a loud one. >> reporter: she says her findings could be crucial to understanding great white sharks and ensuring their survival. >> i want to see that we can know where they are pupping, if we see their numbers, we find out later on that their population is, you know, declining, we can know these areas and protect them. >> reporter: researchers hope that as technology improves, they will learn even more about the great white and show that a feared predator is really much more intelligent than previously thought. ♪ i'm dave warren still some concern on the roadways. we are seeing some freezing rain in pennsylvania with this area here moving up towards new york

temperatures below freezing. rain coming down, and the roads are pretty slippery, the freezing rain advisory kins. there was some snow but now it's just icy. this is one area of rain that is moving out. part of a large storm that is really winding up over the midwest. watching the temperatures now they have climbed well above freezing, 33 in albany, 35 in new york, roadways just wet there. there is a cold front moving through the midwest, some rain there, and this storm is all connected here, this area of moisture moving up. the warmer air to the south continuing to climb north but this is rain falling into the cold air. the temperatures will continue to climb as the storm pushes east. by saturday this front is approaching the mid-atlantic states ahead of it is warm enough for all rain, but it will be a lot at least one to two inches coming down combined with

the felting and maybe ice in the rivers could lead to more flooding. flood watch in effect. rain continues saturday afternoon, but by sunday it's gone. end of the weekend is dry but colder, temperatures dropping a bit on sunday from the mid-atlantic states up through new england. here is all of this rain coming down on saturday, here is dry weather, but still dealing with this big storm over the pacific northwe northwest. heavy rain and snow saturday and sunday. del? >> dave warren thank you very much. and a programming note before we go, the detroit auto show revving up next week. ali velshi is going to be reporting from there live. he'll be there monday and tuesday. you can check him out on "real money" at 7:00 pm eastern time and see him in detroit on those two days. thank you for watching al jazeera america.

i'm del walters. "truth is," is next. ♪