we're talking about there will be no government shut down, congressional leaders have struck a compromise agreement allocating more than $1 trillion to fund the government. security is tight around polling places in egypt as voters decide whether to adopt a new constitution. supporters of ousted president mohamed morsi are calling for egyptians to boycott the referendum. a human blockade in bangkok brings thailand's capitol the to a stand still and unhappy with the country's president have shut down the government. >> why? >> not yet, wh. >> reporter: and 30 million words, an unique program aimed at helping low-income toddlers

gain a stronger grasp of the english language. ♪ welcome to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie si and begin this morning with breaking news out of south sudan, 200-300 people drowned in a ferry accident on the white nile river and the boat was overloaded with refugees at the time. the victims of the ferry accident were civilians trying to flee from fighting in the town of molacal, the gate way to the oil fields of the upper nile region and heavy fighting is there as they attempt to seize the town. control of the town has already changed hands twice since the conflict in south sudan began last month. the bitter budget battle on capitol hill is finally over. house and senate negotiators

have brokered a $1 trillion spending deal and finance the government and prevent a shut do you know and it's a pact agreed upon by republicans and democrats last month and the plan contains dozens of tradeoffs and thomas drayton has more. >> reporter: with the threat of another government shut down only days away, the house and senate announced a $1.1 trillion spending bill that will keep the country running through october. the bill crafted in december by democratic senator patty murray and republican congressman paul ryan is the latest display of by partisan agreement after it put the country to a halt in october. the top two negotiators in the house and senate responsible for spelling out details read as with a compromise not everyone will like everything in this bill but in this divided

government a critical bill such as this simply cannot reflect the ones of only one party. with the clock ticking passing the measure this week is critical. because the current short-term spending bill expires on wednesday. the same day the house is expected to vote. but the so called omni bus bill needs to pass the senate as well. in order to avoid a shut down lawmakers have drafted one more short-term spending bill. ensuring the government will be funded long enough for senators to vote. as for what's in the budget no clear victories for either side as both republicans and democrats had to compromise. democrats have rebelled in the repeal of $20 billion automatic, across the board spending cuts known as the sequester which would have effected domestic programs like health research and education. republicans praised a spending reduction of $23 billion derailing vice president's biden

high speed train project and cutting funding to tsa. most domestic programs will see slight increases the president's affordable care act is not one of them, obama prevention and public health fund will be reduced by $1 billion. democrats asked for and won increases for the military which at almost $600 billion accounts for more than half of the spending bill. in a controversial provision that without have cut pension benefits to disabled vets and it's now reversed. the almost 1600 page spending bill leaves out one core group however, 1.3 million unemployment who stopped receiving benefits in december. their cause will be delayed a bit longer as senate majority leader harry reid hammers a deal that needs 6 republicans for the unemployment bill to reach the senate floor. thomas dray down with al jazeera. >> last week six republicans gave support to the original

unemployment plan proposed by harry reid and cast $6 billion and extended the program three months but his current bill costs $18 billion. new government numbers show older americans are signing up for health insurance under the affordable care act. by december 31st more than two million people enrolled in insurance plans through the newly established state and federal market. young adults from 18-34 was 24% of enrollment and needs to be close to 40% to subsidize cost for older americans and adults 55-64 had the most sign ups, 36 percent and it's slightly more popular than women and men and made up the new enrollees. the presidential review panel calling for big changes to the national security agency's domestic surveillance program will testify before the senate judiciary panel and it had a

report issued last month and keeping phone records in the hands of service providers and not the nsa. on friday president obama is set to announce proposed changes to the way the nsa conducts its business. arizona's governor shut down the state's child welfare agency and jan brewer made the announcement in the state of union address on monday and comes after reports that the state's protective services failed to investigate more than 6500 reports of child abuse and neglect. the state's juvenile constructions director will spear head a new child safety division. it's been rough for chris christie as he prepares for his own state of the state address later today. first he was hit with a politically motivated traffic scandal involving top aids and we learned about a federal probe into potentially improper use of sandy relief funds and as john reports the avalanche of allegations keep rolling in. >> reporter: last summer this ad was one of many pushing tour

-- tourism after sandy but this post sandy marketing campaign is under scrutiny from federal authorities amid allegations that christie put himself and family front and center of the ads right in the middle of his reelection bid and in order to do in the christie team spent $2 million more on production costs than the next lowest bid, giving it to a firm with which they had ties. new jersey democratic congressman frank palone alerted housing and urban developments said the cash could have been spent on victims and the inspector general is investigating and this is to christie's reputation is days after being forced to apologize for a traffic scandal at the george washington bridge, a close aid ordered lane closures and snarling traffic for days and democrats said it followed local refusal to support christie's bid for a second term and christie said he knew nothing about it and embarrassed

and apologized to the people of his state. >> i had no knowledge or involvement in this issue, in its planning or its execution. and i am stunned by the abject stupidity. >> reporter: aid responsible for the bridge closure was fired and others pushed down the pecking order of politics and he went to apologize to the mayor in person and the mayor said he would take christie at his word but wanted to wait and see what the investigations turn up. and now new allegations of petty behavior are coming from jersey city's democratic mayor steven who released e-mail showing meetings with the governor and senior appointees were cancelled in july, hours after he refused to back the governor's bid for reelection and an e-mail reads within the past hour i received phone calls from analysts four names all of which cancelled the meetings on the 23rd.

until all this came to light christie had been the big guy in new jersey politics who appeared the top contender in 2016 for the white house and could additional allegations make a run for presidency more difficult for christie? he must today get through the state of the state and i'm with al jazeera. >> reporter: governor christie denied wrongdoing in all of the allegations against him. in regard to the sandy funds his office released a statement saying stronger than the storm campaign was approved by the obama administration and developed with the goal of showing the jersey shore was open for business just several months after the storm. and christie is a popular republican in a heavily democratic state and 51% of new jersey residents think he has not been completely honest about the george washington controversy and half say he knew his staff was involved in the political scandal and the fall out caused his job approval to

slump a bit to 59 percent and down from the post election high of 65%. 49% now say they don't think christie has the making of the next commander-in-chief. that is up from 34% just last september. and chris christie is not the only politician with problems and french president is entangled in a sex scandal and he is scheduled to hold a press conference today to discuss the country's economy and unemployment but he will likely answer questions surrounding revelations that he has been having an affair with a french actress and magazine published a 7-page spread with the president on the back of a scooter to meet with the famous actress. and tight security at polling places across egypt there are reports of ex mroi -- explosion

cairo and this is over mohamed morsi and they will vote on a new constitution and the first time egyptians are casting ballots since last summer when a coup over through morsi and the constitution he drafted was suspended and today's vehicle says if it passes they will have a vote in the summer and the charter will be challenging and joins us is a freelance journalist in cairo today and thank you for being with us this morning. you have been talking to people outside these polling booths. what are they saying? >> despite the troubles that remain and the conversation and atmosphere is jovial. and they see a yes vote with

politics and many people go to the 2011 revolution and this is under the brotherhood. and this is an overwhelming sense to the public but brother members say they will not vote and see the ballot papers have the blood with their brothers. >> reporter: all right, love lock a freelance journalist in cairo and thanks for the update. dozens of top news organizations are now calling for release of five al jazeera journalists being detained in egypt, in a statement issued today representatives from the bbc, npr, krchl bs, abc, nbc, the "new york times" and many other media out let's wrote the arrest has a cloud over press and media freedom in egypt and producers fahmy and mohamed and correspondent peter greste have

been in custody since december 29 and accused of telling lies and helping the brotherhood and al jazeera denies the allegations an and demanding release and the sister channel also an egyptian custody and have been detained for five months and senator john mccain expressing support by responding to a tweet calling for the release of al jazeera's staff. he tweeted totally agree. well, this is supposed to be california's rainy season but it has been so dry this month there is actually a fire danger there. metrologist nicole mitchell is here to tell us what is adding to the risk and good morning. >> good morning and january typically the second wettest month in cities like los angeles with february being the wettest month but usually 3" of rain last year and adds to the problem and saw a record dry year and going to the 1800s and la and all of last year got 3

1/2" of rain. more typical for what we get in the month of january. you can see no rain in sight and adding on to the fact that most of the state is already in severe to extreme drought and current persistent dry conditions so usually this is the rainy season and instead we are seeing the fire danger so the areas that you see, the oranges are the high winds and the reds are the bigger risks for the red flag conditions which means you still have the win on top of it but the wind could funnel the fire. so we have the santa-anna winds and they warm as they descend and temperatures in los angeles for today or san francisco at 66, those are going to be on the cusp of record-high temperatures. add to the fact we will have low humidity and overnight the humiditys tend to go up because the air cools but during the day 30% in los angeles and could go down to 5-10% humidity and the

vegetation is already dried out so all of those things, the high winds, the high temperatures, the vegetation that has already dried out and why we have the risk and a wet east coast and that and the temperatures coming up, in a little bit. stephanie. >> reporter: thank you. hundreds of thousands of people urged not to drink the water in west virginia can do it again, they lifted the water use on monday and it went into effect last week where a chemical leak made much of the drinking water in the state untouchable or undrinkable. >> the numbers we have look good and finally at a point where the do not use order has been lifted in certain areas. >> reporter: to keep the water system from being overwhelmed restrictions are lifted in phases across the state. residents are first being asked to flush out their plumbing system by running their faucets for 20 minutes. toddler madeline mccann vanished

six years ago and they are reportedly ready to make the first arrest in the case and she disappeared in 2007 with her parents and scott land yard is working with the police to detain three men they believe were running a burglary ring at the time madeline was reported missing and scott land yard says it sent a request to the authorities but won't say what it is. in florida a man was shot and killed and his wife wounded in what appears to be an argument over texting in a movie theatre. two couples were waiting for the movie lone survivor start when an argument broke out and the suspect, 71-year-old retired police captain, curtis reeves allegedly pulled out a gun and started firing. an off duty officer who was in the theatre grabbed reeves and held him until help arrived. giving kids a chance to build their confidence and their

vocabulary, one word at a time. >> we the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant manual anthony ramos not guilty till of the crime of felony. >> reporter: two california cops not guilty of beating a mentally ill home last man to death and we will hear from family members who say the cops got away with murder. the battle to take a small town back from drug dealers. >> on saturday and sunday alex rodriguez took punches and monday through them, we will tell you about his busy day in the legal system. >> reporter: taking a live look now at the massive antigovernment protests continuing into the night in bangkok. ♪

activists show the

♪ good morning and welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy, just ahead a pediatrician simple idea to close the gap between the have and have knots and bringing parents and toddlers closer together. first let's look what temperatures we will see across the nation today and metrologist

nicole mitchell is back. >> a lot of mild temperatures especially this time last week in comparison setting the records, much more comfortable and minneapolis is 27 this morning and down to 73 in miami and up and down the east coast, this is a mild place where a lot of the temperatures and new york this morning 51. not going to warm up too much from this. in fact, we might drop a degree or two in the afternoon. this is really mild to start the day. so it's very comfortable as you get out the door. remember how i mentioned minneapolis was 27 this morning, 21 this afternoon and we have a front going through and temperatures will nudge down slightly into the midwest. still not that uncommon to be highs in the 20s as we head toward this time of year. and i was mentioning out toward the west and the dry conditions, temperatures nudge even a little warmer in places like los angeles for tomorrow at 85. so that will continue that drying trend and the fire risk we have been talking about with those hot temperatures adding into all of that. back to you. >>.

thank you. we know that words can be powerful but they may also be able to help reduce poverty. that's the idea behind the 30 million word initiative and aims to close the vocabulary gap between low-income toddlers and more affluent children and the program started in chicago and encourages parents to simply talk more to their kids. >> why? >> not ya, wa. >> reporter: she is always putting four-year-old daughter alana to the test even at snack time. >> you tell mommy how many gram crackers there are. >> four. >> reporter: the 25-year-old single mom learned how to improve her vocabulary through a pilot program called 30 million words. >> if you remember that. >> reporter: the name comes from the word gap that researchers say sometimes exists between higher income kids who interact more with their parents and lower income kids who sometimes don't. the program helps those kids improve their vocabulary by teaching their parents different

ways to talk to them. a device like a pedometer and she was as astonished by the progress. >> he called something ridiculous and it's like who are you talking to. >> reporter: the doctor a pediatric surgeon specializing in implants for hearing impaired developing 30 million words after noticing some low-income patients did not progress as well as others following surgery. >> and i realized the difference i was seeing in my patients really had nothing to do with their hearing loss but rather the language environment that they were being exposed to early on. and that difference almost always fell along socio economic lines. >> reporter: this is research in the 09s by two psychologists and found three-year-olds who interacted with parents and

exposed to more words were better prepared for kindergarten and better readers later. and tracked results from the project and found a direct correlation between parent/child interaction and the number of words the toddler used. >> went up and down a little bit but really pretty much doubled where she started. >> reporter: and she admits a strong vocabulary is no guaranty kids will succeed in school. but newell things it will give alana an advantage as well as her little brother. >> a star, can you touch it? >> reporter: al jazeera, chicago. >> reporter: a little bit more on that 1995 study this initiative is based on and found children who heard more words were better prepared when they entered school and by third grade they had bigger vob -- cob particulcob -- vocabularies and better test

scores. the boeing 737 took off monday with little runway to spare and the short runway not built to handle jumbo jets and officials say they still don't know why the jet landel at the smaller airport just 7-miles from the intended destination and southwest grounded those pilots, both of whom worked for the airline for a decade and the second in resent months involving a large jet missing the intended airport. alex rodriguez is fighting major league baseball and his union now and john has more on that. >> he is taking a scorched earth policy in the fight and maybe you thought his fight to clear his name ended with this weekend's unfavorable arbitration ruling but he proved monday he has just begun to fight. he filed an appeal in federal court to seeks to overturn the 162 game suspension he faces in the wake of saturday's ruling by arbitrator horowitz but didn't

stop there and the next steps were to sue major league baseball and sue the major league baseball's players association and rodriguez said mlbpa engaged in acts that were arbitrary and capricious and taken in bad faith and tony clark, once a teammate of rodriguez responded to the filing saying in part quote it is unfortunate that alex rodriguez has chosen to sue the play's association and it's without merit and we will defend the members on the charges and they vigorously defended his rights through the bio genesis investigation and through his career. when all is said and done i'm confident the player's association will prevail and all of this is happening because major league baseball wants to get rid of performance-enhancing drugs from the game and ted

burke said it will take stiffer penalties to make it happen. >> it will be hard to get rid of performance-enhancing drugs because they are ahead of the test and always guys looking for a competitive edge. but i think that to a big step forward would be starting to punish the teams for this a little bit. looking at the yankees they benefit from alex rodriguez taking them while he is on the team and now they benefit from him being suspended and clearing all that payroll they had. so there is no incentive for a team to police it self and i think until it is it's hard to keep him out of the game. >> reporter: hardwood and six weeks before the madness begin and arizona and michigan state are good bets to claim number one seed in the big dance and the second right syracuse squad and lost in the second half of boston college and shot 50% to get in the spot and they had jeremy to cleanup the misses and

hughs coming back and grant 11 of the 16 and it went to syracuse and wins 69-59. all eyes on metro detroit monday on a parked plane owned by willis m a clay ford with a flight plan log for san diego and the plane was set to pick up charges player ken wisenhunt to take over but the plane never left detroit because he said he wasn't coming to detroit and he reached agreement to be the head coach of the tennessee titans and replaces munjack who is a candidate in detroit and the ex coach jim caldwall is in the lead or the job. and he will move on to the second round and that is a look at the sports. >> thank you. returning home people impacted by the violence in the central african republic are going back

to their village to pick up the pieces of their lives. fighting for control of a mexican town and why authorities are powerless to stop the violence. the changing face of the auto worker and why they need high-tech skills to build the high-tech cars of tomorrow. ♪

al jazeera america. we open up your world. >> here on america tonight, an opportunity for all of america to be heard. >> our shows explore the issues

that shape our lives. >> new questions are raised about the american intervention. >> from unexpected viewpoints to live changing innovations, dollars and cents to powerful storytelling. >> we are at a tipping point in america's history! >> al jazeera america. there's more to it. ♪ welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy and these are our top stories at this hour, a by partisan team of house and senate negotiators reached a $1 trillion budget deal, the spending plan would finance the government through september and prevent another government shut down. new jersey chris christie will give his state of the state address today as scandals keep mounting against him, on tuesday the staff defending the funding

of a post sandy tourism campaign featuring christie's family and one person is killed in egypt as voters head to the polls for a constitutional referendum and a man was killed in a clash between security forces and supporters of ousted president mohamed morsi. sectarian violence in the central african republic claimed more than 1200 lives. the fighting has displaced thousands of people, entire villages have fled, hiding in the bush from christian and muslim malitia and as al jazeera's barnabie phillips says and people who left their home are now starting to return. >> reporter: people fled and houses burned down, these villages have suffered attack after attack and this settlement near the town hundreds of people emerge from the bush with a visit of a u.n. official. >> comeing back now to rebuild your life. >> reporter: they were hanging

on his every word. >> we want to hear about your needs. >> reporter: he was shown all that is left of the health center. everything taken by the celica malitia. these people don't have a government that can help them. any assistance has to come from outside. >> the institutions of the state here don't exist. there is no health infrastructure and no school infrastructure and they really have to step up in an unprecedented way to prespond to what is an unprecedented situation and it's so long the people of the country have been languishing without support. >> reporter: it seems the villa villages have lost everything and we have seen some signs of hope and after months living in the bush in fear, there are some people here who decided to come home.

nina is busy. she has come out of hiding and now she has to tidy up around her looted house. but inside there is almost nothing left. and nina is alone with her two children. muslim herdsmen murdered her husband last month. >> translator: i've been left alone to raise these children, i hope there is peace and that the village market reopens so i can try and make money to feed them. >> reporter: this is the village malitia and might be brave and they don't have much to fight with but know if they don't protect themselves no one else will. barnabie phillips al jazeera in the central african republic. >> the u.n. is trying to raise $100 million to supply food for more than a million people in the central african republic from now through august. for a second strait day

thailand's capitol has been shut down. [chanting] protesters trying to topple the government are tightening a blockade around government buildings in bankok and want the current prime minister's government to be replaced by an unelected people's council and will stay on the streets until demands are met and we are in bangkok whereas many as 60,000 people are still protesting. >> reporter: this is what day to of bangkok's shut down looks like from about 150 meters up. what we are seeing is probably going to evolve in a numbers game and that means that antigovernment protest leaders each day or every couple of days they say are out on the streets of bangkok and government officials will say another number and that is lower and there will be this back and forth. but what the leader of these antigovernment protesters has said is they are going to stay down there as long as it takes. shut down bangkok is a bit of an

antigovernment protest leader because a lot of what they are doing is very similar to what we saw them do in december. now, they have these 7 stages, 7 major intersections they have taken over downtown bangkok and they are going out from there and going to government institutions and the government buildings, a lot of what we saw over the last couple of weeks of december. now what they will try to do differently is stay in the middle of bangkok and calling it shut down bangkok and trying to choke the center commercial areas and one way they will try to rachet this up in a difference from what we saw in december and that is what they will try to shut down the stock exchange on wednesday. a lot of the protesters down there are still very enthusiastic and in the city for weeks and the government has said they are willing to discuss possibly moving election date and something they said they would not do in the past, now they are going to hold a

discussion about that on wednesday. and the antigovernment protest leaders said, no. so how long with the zero compromise stand? how long are these protesters going to be willing to stay down there, sleeping on the streets in tents to support the movement? >> reporter: al jazeera's scott reporting from the skies above bangkok. in columbia, the mayor of bogata is calling for a national protest after he was ousted from his post and one time gorilla and presidential candidate is ban from politics for 15 years and ratified monday and not clear when it will take effect or who will run the colombian capitol of 7 million people and they say he violated the constitution and environmental regulations when he ordered the city to take over trash collection back in 2012. at least 200 people have died in a ferry accident in south sudan. a speaks person says they were

traveling to escape rising violence and happened on the white nile river near the city of malacal and we have more on the accidents from the capitol of duba. >> government officials say the ferry capsized on monday and fighting on the outskirts of the town and rumors spread around the town, the rebels are coming back to town to take it from troops and people tried to get out where they can and they got on ferries. one particular boat was overloaded and women and children and capsized. more bad new force civilians caught up in the fighting over there, the rebels have not entered the town and fierce fighting between rebels and government troops and the humanitarian crisis in other parts of the state and the rebattling was after thousands of people were hiding in make-shift camps getting away from fighting and talks

happening in ethiopia and came out with something concrete and perhaps a cease fire and could see peace in south sudan. >> reporter: al jazeera's is reporting from the south sudan capitol of duba. u.s. is saying the iran chief negotiator and key agreements is part of a 30-page agreement not acknowledged by the west and covers important details on how it will be implemented and iran's ability to continue nuclear research and development and made the claims in an interview with the iranian student news agency and refers to the site agreement using the diplomatic term non-paper, an informal agreement that doesn't have to be disclosed. to police officers caught on camera beating a homeless man to death but the video was apparently not enough to convince a jury to conflict a california cop and we have more on the acquitting that stunned

the victim's family. >> what do we want? >> justice. >> reporter: outrage over the non-guilty verdict that sent two california police officers free in the beating death of a homeless man that was caught on tape. the surveillance video shows officers in a violent confrontation with 37-year-old kellie thomas. but it wasn't enough to convict them. >> not guilty for the crime. >> reporter: with jail time on the line one officer pounded his hand on defense table when he heard the verdict, not guilty on all four counts including murder and involuntary man's slaughter, the stunned family said the justice system failed them. >> this means all of us need to be very afraid now. it's for police officers everywhere can beat us, kill us, whatever they want because it has been proven right here today they will get away with it. >> he got away with murdering my son.

it's just not fair. so i guess it's legal to go out and kill now. >> reporter: the defense painted a picture of a drug addict who police knew well and the officers used proper force to subdue an uncontrollable menace and prosecution said thomas was homeless with mental health problems and call the force used against him excessive to die five days later and the father called it unfathomable that the cops were cleared on all counts. >> what happened that night? >> it's clear on the video what happened and kellie was in contempt of cop. he got under his skin and with the bantering back and forth and ramos didn't like it and decided to teach him a lesson. i honestly don't think they meant to kill him. but certainly to beat him severely and that's just what

they did. but he did die from it of course. >> reporter: with the case closed the parents say all they can do now is protest in hopes the department of justice steps in to help. erica pitsy, al jazeera new york. >> reporter: a third officer is also facing charges for his role in the beating death of kellie thomas but considering the victim for the first two officers the prosecutor said he is dropping those charges. investigators now say the fatal shootings of 12 young men in brazil this within may is been carried out by police and the motive is revenge for a follow officer gunned down fighting robbers and it began sunday night and continued to early monday in a city northwest of south palo and most of the men were killed in drive-by shootings. federal authorities in mexico are working to stop a growing battle between drug cartel and vigilantes and fighting for a

small state and a stronghold of a drug cartel and calling itself knights and we have more from mexico city. >> reporter: men in mexico are now a common sight, over the past year so called self-defense groups liberated towns from a drug cartel known as the knights templar and took it in their hands because the government wouldn't or couldn't protect them. but on monday the interior minister announced that mexico's federal government intends to restore order in the troubled state here. >> translator: we call self-defense groups to go back to their towns and daily activities and the government will take care of safety of the communities and cooperate and share information and have to stop the criminals. >> reporter: the government has cents thousands of troops to the troubled region over the past year but the security situation has continued to deteriorate.

[gunfire] on sunday gunfire broke out and the shoot outlasted for hours and one man was reported injured. just two days earlier residents in another town set cars and trucks on fire protesting the arrival of more than 100 vigilantes and towns people oppose them because they are forcibly recruiting young men. the vigilantes claim the protesters are backed by the cartel. the federal government announcement suggests that it's ready to take action but disarming the vigilantes will not be easy and some leaders say they refuse to enter into negotiations unless the leaders of the cartel are rested. and i'm with al jazeera mexico city. >> reporter: last week the u.s. state department issued a new warning for americans traveling to mexico, the warning noted criminal activity in 19 of the country's 31 states, much at the hands of cartel and over 100,000

kidnappings in the country in 2012 but only 1% were reported to police. last year saw 32% increase in kidnappings over 2012. india is marking a milestone this week, it has been three years since the country's last reported case of polio and india is considered one of the toughst places in the world to eradicate the disease and families in high-risk areas migrate to other states and making it hard to track and others live in row motor communities and inaccessible and 170 children immunized every year and afghanistan and pakistan and nigeria are the only countries in the world where the disease remains endemic. 9 women successfully received transplanted wombs donated from relatives and the women in the 30s took part in the procedure two years ago and doctors say they want to test if it's

possible to transplant wombs in women so they can give birth and they were born without a uterus and had it removed because of cervical cancer and they will try to become president. detroit auto show is the first chance for them to look at concepts and an opportunity for the city of detroit to strut its stuff and the event brings in $360 million in tourism money and significant for a city that is struggling through bankruptcy and a chance for the detroit big three to build on a promising 2013. ford, chrysler and gm had their best sales since 2007, in 2013 selling 15.6 million new cars and trucks. the auto industry's resent struggles have taken a heavy toll on american auto workers after years of declan and mass -- massive lay off outside of detroit and compared to the past

the jobs are more hours, less pay and new skills. >> this was once the picture of american auto workers. assembly lines turned out cars at a frenzy pace to make united states the leading producer of automobiles. in 1950, 17% of american workers produced autos and auto parts and today that number is less than 1% following years of automation and imports and sl p slumpislum slumping sales and after a $80 billion bail out and lay offs they say auto worker jobs are again poised for growth. >> new assembly plants and going on in the country from domestic and imports. so i think there is a lot of viability as an auto worker in u.s. >> reporter: more than 35,000 new auto jobs projected, an increase in part attributed to foreign-based manufacturers

likes nissan as they get plans online and that is true in tennessee and mississippi where unions and reduced labor cost made manufacturing more attractive. >> it shifted to some extent away from the detroit three and to the trans plant auto makers and more auto economy in the south than there used to be. >> reporter: the jobs are not quite what they once were, an average u.s. auto employer spends more hours at work than they used to and earning far less than european counterparts and the worker cost $48 an hour in pay and benefits in the u.s. compared to about $60 in germany. >> the new hires and the wage is still higher than a starting wage you would get into retail. it's still attractive, it's just not as attractive as it used to be. >> reporter: and yet the jobs are changing rapidly, demand for high-performance cars and trucks require educated workers with high-item skills.

>> many cases the plant workers have at least a couple years of college on the line. and again they are being trained in some pretty sophisticated math. >> reporter: today's average vehicle for instance contains 60 micro processes and 10 millions lines of code. >> we need people who can do coding for computers and design user interface inside and more important in the last ten years. >> reporter: tomorrow's auto worker may be one part engineer and one part computer programmer, and david with al jazeera new york. >> reporter: and coming up, in our next hour we will take a look at the so called future 15, those remerging markets around the world where the number of new car buyers is growing by the millions. taking a look at business news now on wall street, dow futures higher and stock market new year slump has the worst day of the year on monday and dow starting the day at 16257. s&p is 1819.

nasdaq is 4113. in asia markets ended the day mixed and japan down more than 3%, european stocks lower following the negative lead on the u.s. market. on the economic calendar we will learn about the holiday shopping season and the government will release sales figures for december and analysts not expecting cheery numbers. >> the low-end consumer is being pinched because of unemployment and higher payroll taxes and because of the consolation of several government programs like food stamps. >> reporter: several major retailers issued profit warnings for the holiday quarter. google is making one of its biggest acquisitions to date and pay $3 billion to buy nest labs and they develop high-tech versions of thermostats and smoke detectors, time warner says show me the money and

rejecting this from charter and calls the $62 billion offer grossly inadequate and charter has been after time warner for six moves and big business is scooping up artwork and corporations are getting in the art business and what they are doing with their collections. and from areas of snow in the midwest to rain on the east coast i'll tell you where you have a wet commute. and taking a live look at a polling station. do we have a live look at that? here it is, taking a live look at a polling station in egypt, this is giza egypt where voters are voting on a referendum for a new constitution today and tomorrow. ♪

>> no doubt about it, innovation changes our liv

♪ novation changes our liv welcome back to al jazeera america, just ahead why big companies like banks are buying up art and it's not just for the investment. but first let's get a look at where the snow and rain may fall across the country and metrologist nicole mitchell is back. >> a couple areas causing us concern. first you can pick out the front going through the midwest now

with the moisture along with it and the flow combined with high pressure is bringing winds down from the north and south of the high bringing the wind flow causing some fire risk as we get to the west coast in places like california. the front coming through and 20-30 miles per hour winds combined with the snow we are having you will see places having problems with blowing snow this morning and you can see a lot of the snow is moving through pretty quickly. on the east coast north all the way southward and areas of rain, a lot of this is lighter rain and still enough to slow down the commute this morning and back to you. >> thank you. and art has traditionally been the investment of choice, for many of the world's most powerful companies and they own works by the world's greatest artists and we go to an exhibition and putting the works on public display. >> this is a snapshot of

company-owned art and worth millions and it's worth billions. these three scottish paintings were owned by a family bank and today they and the bank belong to j.p. morgan and the neon sign is by tracey emmon and bought by a legal firm specializing in modern art and this painting by magreet belongs to a spanish telecom company and they started buying art back in the 15th century by why? apparently it's not investment, it's all about image. >> if you go into an office just before it's occupied, a brand-new office, what do you see? you see rows of desks and computers and it's gray and it's beige and you say to yourself what is this organization? the answer is it's on the wall. >> reporter: there is a view that once a company buys a work of art it is then forever hidden from the public view and that is somehow a bad thing.

well, this new book and this exhibition seeks to challenge that view. they think that companies are increasingly good at displaying and sharing their works, that they are good at art education and of course their deep pockets are very good for the artists themselves. it has its on gallery and awards apprise to new artists every year and they run an art club for its employees and this photo belongs to a french bank and part of what it calls the cultural policy. the basic message they have us believe is we should not be too suspicious of the corporates scooping up great art and doesn't mean paintings disappearing in corporate board rooms and it may be better than paintings like this picasso ending up in some anonymous billionaire's basement and some argue that art as great as this

needs public display and seen by all the people all the time, and simon with al jazeera london. >> reporter: the first corporate and is the one of the largest in the world. >> egyptians are voting on a new constitution and polls open today with tight security. the military-like government calls the referendum a first step in the path to democracy and chris christie is giving his state of the state address this afternoon after a cloud and scandal, and the latest involves federal money and use for tour rhythm campaign and new york mayor who said he was snubbed for not supporting reshell aunt and by partisan team of investigators has come up with a $1 trillion deal that could

finance the government through september and the next hour we are joined by the senior political reporter at j.n..com to dive deeper in the scandal and governor chris christie is facing as he prepares to give state of the state address and he is giving a speech on everything from economy and military action in africa and his sex scandal could take focus away from those very important issues. >> reporter: and i'm metrologist nicole mitchell and the fire danger is increasing on the west coast and how weather plays a role and the rest of your national forecast. >> and we are back with you in 2 1/2 minutes. thanks for watching. ♪

real reporting that brings you the world. >> this is a pretty dangerous trip. >> security in beirut is tight. >> more reporters. >> they don't have the resources to take the fight to al shabaab. >> more bureaus, more stories. >> this is where the typhoon came ashore. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. >> al jazeera, nairobi. >> on the turkey-syria border. >> venezuela. >> beijing. >> kabul. >> hong kong. >> ukraine. >> the artic. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america.

>> security is tight around polling places in egypt as voters decide whether to adopt the a new constitution. supporters of mohamed morsi are calling for a boycott. >> governor chris christie under fire, facing a federal probe into improper use of hurricane sandy relief funds as another mayor claims he was the recipient of a political payback. >> preparing to face the media for his annual news conference amid claims of an alleged affair with a famous actress. >> i'm not going to choose between work and my religion or work and jail.

>> quebec government is looking to put a stop to employees wearing religious symbols, but that is not sitting well with workers. that >> good morning. welcome to to aljazeera america. >> security is tight across egypt today on a day when voters head to the polls to decide on a new constitutional referendum. >> that operation includes 200,000 police officers and hundreds of security units and combat groups, being deployed around these polling stations. supporters of the muslim brotherhood are boycotting this referendum. >> today has been marred by violence. a former member of parliament narrowly escaping an assassination attempt. >> just before the voting got underway, there was an explosion

near a courthouse in cairo. no injured were reported there. we are live with doha from more. the threat of violence is a very real one, very real. are people actually afraid to go vote? >> well, as you just pointed out, there are hundreds of thousands of military personnel and police on the streets of egypt sent by the government because they are afraid. these polling centers will become targets, one half wants this referendum to get the yes vote, the military pushing for the yes vote. they want it to give them a legitimacy sips the coup of the former president morsi last summer, so are hoping for a high voter turnout in support of this referendum, but the muslim brotherhood see this as a chance to disrupt and to protest. that we are seeing protests in various parts of the country in the north and various parts in the south and in cairo and we have seep violence

demonstrations up in alexandria and elsewhere clashes with the security forces and tear gas has been used to quiet the situation. that there has been violence already. it's not just a question of whether it's too dangerous to vote, it's a question of whether you will able to vote. we know people who wanted to put no vote posters on the streets have been arrested, the government really wanting to start that no vote getting through. i think the anti coup alliance was against the constitution, those for the muslim brotherhood be saying don't even bother to vote or turn up, protest, but boycott the vote altogether. >> what you are seeing and hearing on social media from egyptian voters? >> it's a real mix. many are saying it's a party atmosphere on the streets of egypt, people celebrating the fact that they go go out, support the constitution. people are looking to it to try and get egypt back on its feet

economically with the tourism industry which has suffered so much the last couple of years and are hoping this is the first step towards that. others are saying we think this is another way of pushing down free speech, pushing down people, giving the chance to support who they want to support. i should point out a little bit about aljazeera's blog site here, we've got one poster put up showing the head of the military in egypts picture being waved at one of the polling stations. the 1 below, this is a young man with a poster that says boycott the referendum. >> thank you very much. aljazeera in doha. >> what exactly is in this constitution that egyptians are vote i go on? under the plan, the president may serve two four year terms and can be impeached by parliament. islam will remain the state religion, but freedom of belief is absolute, giving some

protection to minorities. the measure calls for the state to guarantee equality between men and women. >> a team of aljazeera journalists continue to be detained in egypt. on monday, dozens of top news organizations called for their release. in the statement issued, representatives from the bbc, npr, cbs, nbc, "the new york times" and many other media outlets wrote: the brewerser and the correspondent have been in custody since december 29. they're accused of reporting false news harm to feel state security and helping the muslim brotherhood. aljazeera denies the allegations and is demanding their immediate release. two our journalists are also in egyptian custody from aljazeera's sister channel. they have been detained for five months. >> senator john mccain expressed

his report, tweeting "totally agree." >> it's been a rough week for new jersey's governor chris christie as he prepares for his annual stay of the state address later today. first, he was hit with a politically motivated traffic scandal involving his top aides. then we learned about a federal probe into improper use of sandy relief funds. now jerseys democratic mayor said christie's top aids canceled meetings with him after he refused to back the governor's bid for reelection. christie has denied wrongdoing in all of the allegations against him. in regards to sandy funds, his office said the stronger ad campaign was approved by the obama administration. a new survey shows 51% of new jersey residents think he hasn't been completely honest about the george washington bridge controversy.

half the state believes he knew his staff was involved in a political scandal. the fallout has caused his job approval to slump from his post election high. 49% now say they don't think christie has the makessings of the next commander-in-chief. that's up from 34% just last september. in washington, go ahead, stephanie. >> in washington, house and senate negotiators have brokered a $1 trillion spending deal. it will finance the government through the end of the september and prevent another shutdown. the pact was agreed upon by democrats and republicans last month. the bipartisan plan contains dozens of strayedoffs, including slight increases to the military and education budgets and a billion dollar cut to a public health fund related to the affordable care act. the full house and senate are he can specked to vote on the deal next week. >> older americans are signing up for health insurance under the affordable care act.

by december 31, more than 2 million people enrolled in insurance plans through the newly established state and federal markets. young adults from 18-34, made in 24% of total enrollment. experts say that needs to be closer to 40% to subsidize costs for older americans. the program is slightly more popular with women than men. >> members of a presidential review channel will testify today before the senate judiciary committee. the panel made 46 recommendations in its report, among them keeping phone records in the hands of service providers and not the nsa. friday, president obama is set to announce proposed changes to the way the nsa cubs business. >> a jury has found two former

california police officers not guilty in the death of a mentally ill homeless man. that this happened in 2001, captured on surveillance camera, which played a central role in the trial. the video showed kelly thomas struggling with six police officers while being placed under arrest. thomas's mother is outraged by the verdict. >> he got away with murdering my son. it's just not fair, so i guess -- i guess it's legal to go out and kill now. >> a third officer had been waiting to be tried in the case, but the orange county district attorney said the charges will be dropped. >> hundreds of thousands of people urged not to drink the war in west virginia can turn their taps on again. officials say the water is safe after chemicals rendered the water unturnable. they are slowly bringing the system back on line. >> russ fuller is relieved, can

finally use the tap water again just before noon, west virginia officials lifted the do not use order that went into effect thursday. >> i can do laundry now, i can wash dishes. >> a chemical spill prompted a state of emergency. west virginia's governor said extensive testing showed the chemical are now below one part per million and meets federal standards. >> the numbers we have today look good, and we're finally at a point where the do not use order has been lifted in certain areas. >> to keep the water system from being overwhelmed, the restrictions are being lifted in phases and to roof chemical residue, residents are told to flush their system by running their facets for 20 minutes. >> you walk around here three or four days without a shower one smart smelling yourself you. >> jack harrison said even

though the water is safe now, we'll wait a few days before drinking it. >> you never know, but i want to stay here as long as i can, and i don't want to take that chance right now. >> this is going to be pretty hard to recover from. >> the water crisis forced healy williams to shut her restaurant for three days. she is back in business. >> people are very happy to be able to come and sit down and have somebody else make them food and drink a cold coca-cola. >> that was jonathan martin reporting from charleston, west virginia. federal authorities including the u.s. chemical safety board say they're opening an investigation into the spill. >> the santa ana winds are creating problems in the west, including red flag warnings over fire danger. for more on the national forecast, let's bring in meteorologist nicole mitchell. >> good morning, some of the things with he look at, weather plays such a role in fire danger. low humidity means not a lot of

moisture in the air, so things are able to spark off faster. dry skies, that certainly doesn't help us. warm air, hot temperatures, that will also help dry things out, and winds to fuel allege those flames if they get going. we have all those conditions going on now in places like california, where typically, our fire season is more into the fall and january is more typically our wet season. we haven't had any moisture this month. in fact, we haven't had any moisture in places like california or in los angeles all the way back to december 19. it's been over a month, even though january should be our second wettest month, it just hasn't been. we have all those things in play. strong santa ana winds gusting already. we've had reports in ventura county gusting over 50 miles an hour, especially near mountain passes channeling all of that, very dry conditions. temperatures, los angeles 82 degrees, san francisco 66. both are getting in record

territory. we have the heat, something to monitor today. you never want to put anything out like a lit cigarette that could help ignite all of that. the rest of the country, we're looking at snow in the midwest and moist this morning around parts of the east coast. it's going to be a slow go there, as well. i'll have more on your temperatures coming up in a few minutes. >> thank you so much. clashes on the streets of tie land's capital as day two of a shutdown is underway. protestors try to topple the government are tightening a blockade around government buildings in bangkok. demonstrators want the current government replaced by a people's council. they vow to stay on streets until those demands are met. >> a south sudan army spokesman said 200-300 people have drowned in a ferry accident on the white nile river. the boat was overloaded with

refugees. civilians were trying to flee fighting. that area is the gateway to the oil fields of the upper nile region. heavy fighting has been reported. rebel forces make a new attempt to seize the town. control of that town has changed hands twice since last month. >> sectarian violence has claimed more than 1200 lives and displaced thousands of people. entire villages have fled hiding from christian and muslim militias. some villagers who left their homes are now returning. >> people have fled, houses burnt down. these villages have suffered attack after attack. in this settlement near the town, hundreds of people emerged from the bush for the visit of a u.n. official.

>> we are back now to rebuild your lives. >> they were hanging on his every word. >> we want to hear about your needs. >> he was shown all that's left of the health center. everything taken by the selica militia. these people don't have a government that can help them, any assistance has to come from outside. >> the institutions of the state here don't exist. there's no health infrastubbsure, new schooling infrastructure. we have to step up in an unprecedented way to an unprecedented situation. the people of this country have been languishing without basic infrastructure and support. >> there's so much destruction, it seems the villages have lost absolutely everything and yet we have seen some signs of hope. after months of living in the bush in fear, there are some people here who have decided to

come home. nina is busy. she's come out of hiding, and now she has to tidy up around her looted house. but inside, there's almost nothing left. nina is alone with her two children. muslim herdsman murdered her husband last month. >> i've been left alone to raise these children. i hope there is peace, and that the village market reopens, so that i can try and make money to feed them. >> this is it is village militia. they might be brave, although they don't have much to fight with. they know if they don't protect themselves, no one else will. barnaby phillips in the central african republic. >> the u.n. is trying to raise $100 million to try feed people in the central african republic

from now to august. >> a toddler vanished sparking headlines around the world and police in london are recordly ready to make arrests. the 3-year-old disappeared in 2007 while staying with her parents at a portugal resort. media reports indicate scotland yard is working with portuguese police with three member they believe were running a burglary ring at the time she went missing. it has sent a request to portuguese authorities but won't say what it is. >> arizona governor has shut down the tate's child welfare agency, announced in the state of the union address after the state's protective services failed to investigate more than 6500 reports of child abuse and neglect. the state's juvenile corrections director will spearhead a new child safety division. >> automakers ares stalling out

over seas. >> despite a record 2013 for business in the u.s., they had trouble gaining traction in key global markets. >> the bumpy car ride doing business overseas. >> the u.s. doing a 180 on reduce in carbon emissions. what's behind the up tick after years of decline. >> that's the number of the day, it's the very big offer one cable company is making to a rival shareholders. why it's breaking out the checkbook.

assault. afghan president karzai is long

>> it's still going, still going, $62,350,000,000, the big number of the day, so what is it? that is the hefty price tag charter communications is willing to shell out to acquire cable giant time warner. charter's offer price is technically $37.3 billion, but

when you factor in time warner's debt, the sum balloons to $62 billion. >> it could trigger a buying frenzy for the number two cable operator. otherwise contend the sale would possibly push toward consolidation. time warner has rejected the offer. apparently they're holding out for more. >> of course approximately welcome back back to aljazeera. >> automakers are riding high after strong sales in the u.s. last year, but business actually dropped in some highly south after markets abroad. in a moment, we're going to see why the auto companies are having trouble gaining traction overseas. >> a lot of news out of detroit, but first let's look at temperatures crass the nation today. meteorologist nicole mitchell is back. >> good morning. i'm going to start off with the northeast. a lot of these temperatures across the region, 30's's taughted lake to 50's toward the coastline, well, they're warm arer in some cases than our high temperatures typically are this time of year.

new york, 50 right now, the average high 38. we are starting off very mild. atlanta at 51 and then you know you're warm. other temperatures, minneapolis at 23. the temperatures are starting to dip with the cold front going through. we might see slightly cooler temperatures into the afternoon. i want to mention the west where weapon talking about that fire danger. temperatures already in record territory in los angeles today. look at that, more 80's that will add to that concern as we get into the day tomorrow. >> nicole, thank you. for years, the world's top automakers chased brazil, russia, india and china. a recent report highlights a new group of emerging markets, but as david shuster reports, it may be a bumpy ride for car companies, especially the american big three. >> as auto sales in brick nations stalled, the next

emerging market appears to be those boasting a combined population of 1.2 billion people and sales today of 10 million cars a year. expectations of economic growth mean sales could reach $14.5 million by 2020. winning the race to these new consumers will not come without steep that challenges for sum automakers. many of these new markets already have established players. >> the governments in smaller companies tend to favor local car makers, or big carmakers to got in there fast and have relationships with the government. >> in north africa, french carmakers dominate and in southeast asia, japanese car companies control 60% of the market share. regional leader toyota has built production facilities in male alicia and thailand, helping to keep supply costs down. >> toyota has five or six

different brands and taken that multi-brand approach to the rest of asia, so the big players in asia are used to it. >> it could raise potential speed bumps for automakers particularly american companies. the largest new consumers base has projected sales of 5.8 billion by 2020, but bring economic sanctions against iran to evolving relationships after the arab spring. the frackmentation of the markets may prove toughest for the u.s. automakers. >> outside the united states, there's far more numbers of vehicle types, far more numbers of vehicle brands. >> indonesia favors cars that can handle regular flooding. saudi buyers prefer s.u.v. understand and pups for harsh

desert weather. ultimately u.s. auto makes will need to weigh whether catering to local tastes will pay off in the long run. >> in these smaller markets, you're talking about 1 million vehicles or less. you might even be talking about under 100,000 vehicles. that it means that you might have trouble recovering the engineering costs for designing that vehicle specifically for that market. >> without the same car culture that exists in western countries, these new markets could prove a tough sell for all automakers no matter the company. >> it's really the 1900 all over again in terms of creating demand for out mobiles. for many car makers who want to compete in these small countries, it's getting up to speed literally from scratch. >> david shuster, aljazeera. >> here's one other term to keep in mind when you hear about where automakers are going to find growth. peak car. the overall demand for cars is

declining as people drive less partly in response to economic and environmental concerns. the number of miles driven by car has in fact peaked and that's why potential for automakers to find new markets. let's continue looking at business news right now. >> u.s. auto purchases cooled last month after surging in october and november. sales are flat compared with a year ago because of cold weather, but ford's c.e.o. is optimistic about 2014. ali velshi will be live at the detroit auto show tonight an real money at 7:00 eastern right here on aljazeera america. >> we have breaking news from j.p. morgan chase. the country says biggest bank reporting profit and revenue down from last year. still the company earned $5.3 billion. in reporting the results. the bank is pleased about

putting some of its big legal issues behind it. this quarter, j.p. morgan agreed to pay billions of penalties for the sub prime mortgage crisis and bernie madoff affair. the tock market turned in its worst day of the year monday. the dow starting the day at 16,257. the s&p stands at 1819, nasdaq at four thus 113. >> in asia, markets ending the day mixed, nikkei down more than 3%. european stocks lower following the negative lead of the sufficient markets. >> on the economic calendar today, we'll learn more about the holiday shopping season. the government is scheduled to release retail sales. figures for december in about an hour. analysts are not expecting cheery numbers. >> companies already warning investors not to expect too much from them this holiday season.

consumers did not open their wallets. as a result, even analysts have become bearish and lowering both earnings and sales expectation for the holiday season. >> several companies i should warnings about those holiday figures. >> new questions over governor chris christie's conduct. >> he faces allegation of misusing funds for hurricane sandy relief. >> a senior political reporter weighs in on the latest scandal. >> the alleged affair by france's president is grabbing the attention of citizens in paris and around the world. >> egyptians are casting their ballots on the constitutional referendum. that what the outcome will mean for the turbulent country. >> the nba's next great center, we get up and personal with the pistons big man.

>> good morning, welcome to aljazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> i'm richelle carey. >> we're keeping a close eye on egypt as voters head to the polls for voting on a new constitution. the day has been marked by a little violence and that country is working to stabilize itself with that vote. we'll discuss whether that goal is within the reach of those voters. >> plus the problem surrounding new jersey governor chris christie are getting alarmer. first there was the politically motivated traffic scandal, now we're learning about a possible federal probe into potentially improper use of sandy relief funds. the scandals could distract from his message when he makes the state of the state address later today. we have that story. >> the jersey shore is open. >> you belt it is. we're stronger than the storm. >> this ad after super storm

sandy cost more than $2 million in ads without governor chris christie. federal investigators are looking to design whether it was designed to boost tourism or christie's election campaign. >> it was at the expense of taxpayers that could have been used for other purposes. >> state lawmakers are creating a super committee to investigate whether the governor's office created this four day traffic jam as political payback for a democratic who did not support christie. >> it was apparently a very massive abuse of power and an attempt to conceal the abuse of power. >> subpoenas are expected thursday for former campaign manager bill stephian and chief of staff linked to the bridge backup. there's been no direct link to governor christie. reporters suggest it's a witch hunt. >> of course, backlash is going to be substantial.

>> a new poll taken after christie's news conference show 59% of new jersey residents still think he's doing a good job. >> with us this morning to break down the latest, senior political reporter with n.g..com, of course the n.g. being new jersey. let's get started. there's a lot of moving parts in the political world of chris christie now, the state of the state address today. you have covered him for years, how do you think he's going to attack it today? >> you know, the governor's style is state of the state's at 3:00 today. the governor's style is he will come out with a headline to try to divert from some of the attention from this other stuff. >> that's smart politics. >> that's the kind of thing he does. there's likely to be, we've seen he's got an education agenda. he wants to length then the school-year and school day, which is going to immediately

put him at adds with for instance the teachers union in the state of new jersey. some of that will distract from this, as well. the problem he's going to face is its so chose to when all of this is breaking and he has to walk into the state of the state. the big question is does he address it, does he not address it? >> doesn't he have to. >> his style is to address it. this is a different scandal if you want to tall it that. he has not faced anything like this yet in his term, so it's a little bit different than anything he's done before. his style has always been to attack and distract, let's say. >> let's talk about the federal investigation over the use of funds, the super storm sandy relief funds. what does this do to him that things seem to keep popping up and popping up. what does this seem to do to him on the national stage as a possible nominee for the republican party to be president? >> you know, it's -- there's a lot left to be determined on what happens here.

you've got to this bridge scandal, which is playing out, a lot of moving parts to that, a lot of alleys to go down, questions to be asked. now you've got this thing on top of it. he he suggested yesterday in a statement or spokesman did that the timing was a little suspicious given where he is with this bridge scandal. >> and actually how he handled super storm sandy did a lot for him. >> absolutely, that's a big part of his message, a big part of his, you know, sort of what made him a national star was how he hammed sandy and now this is kind of coming in and digging at his, you know, at his base, what he built himself on. i learned something new today or yesterday in reading the statement from the company that did this ad. they say that the decision to use the governor in the commercial, which is at the heart of all this wasn't made until after they were given the contract, which i didn't know before this. if that's true, that sort of mitigates a lot of this, because the claim is they chose this one because it would feature him in

the campaign in the ad, during his campaign and he could use that as a stepping stone in his campaign. the company is saying no, that's not the case, we got the contract, then decided to use him. >> there may be no no there. supposing there's no there there, let's get back to the bridge controversy. we still don't know what it's about. some people say it could not possibly been political motivation for a democratic mayor of fort he not giving you an endorsement. i know you have written about other possible theories. tell bus that. >> there are a few theories out there. the governor has not answered as to why. >> who can answer it? >> the people at the port authority. david wildstein, the guy at the port authority who ordered this thing has the answers, as does i assume bridget kelly. >> those are the people that the people of new jersey are going to want to hear from. >> exactly.

subpoenas are being i understand today, sometime this week to bridget kelly and bill stephian. nobody has yet provided, christie has said the whole endorsement thing doesn't make sense. i don't remember asking him for his endorsement. >> people agree with him. >> people are kind of searching for other possibilities. there are two that have emerged, one put forth a couple of days ago that this had something to do with this battle over judges in the state of new jersey that democrats and christie have been battling for years over the seating of judges, and i guess it was a day before all of this happened, he had announced he was pulling helen hon ex-s and not going to renominate her. at the time, he blamed democrats and said he was no the going to let the animals loose on her in terms of her renomination here. that so there was a theory put forth maybe it had something to

do with that, because loretta wine berg who represents fort lee is on the committee who would have heard her renomination. it's a little bit of a con value looted theory. >> does it sound realistic for new jersey politics? >> possibly, yeah, but if it is the case, senator wineberg didn't get the message, because she had no idea it was intended for her. it's sort of like if they were doing it, she didn't get that message. there was another theory put forth having to do with the billion dollar development in the heart of fort lee that relies on those diverted lanes, it's a mixed use development including residential, so the people who lived in those towers would need those lanes to get on the george washington bridge and is a big part of the draw for that property. the theory was there was some movement to use that to punish the mayor, but it still doesn't say why. that number can understand why. >> political revenge to be effective, doesn't the target of the revenge have to know they're the target?

>> exactly. the mayor of port lee understand when this happened that it was possibly pun that active. he raised that, but he didn't know even when he was being punished for. if you read that correspondence, he says i'd like to sit down and find out what i did wrong. you're right. in all of these theories, it does not explain why they're punishing him and he doesn't know. the governor if you take him at his word doesn't know. >> do you believe at some point we will all know? >> i doubt it. >> you weren't supposed to say that. [ laughter ] >> exactly. i doubt we'll get to the heart of this thing, but i think over the next couple of months, we'll find out more. >> senior political reporter with nj.com, thank you so much. >> chris christie isn't the only politician with big problems. the french president is entangled in a sex scandal, scheduled to hold an annual press conference today to discuss the country's economy

and unemployment, but will likely answer questions surrounding revelations that he's been having an affair with a much young every french actress. >> 29 people are dead in iraq after a series of bombs exploded in northern baghdad. the areas targeted were that theftly shia neighborhoods. the deadliest bombings struck a market killing 11. no group has claimed responsibility for any of the attacks. the violence coincides with u.n. secretary general visit to baghdad. >> despite tight security at polling places cross egypt there are explosions in cairo. at least one person was killed in clashes between security forces and supporters of former president mohamed morsi. over the next two days, egyptians will vote on a new constitution, the first time they are casting ballots since last summer when a mill father coup over threw morsi, the countries first democratically

elected president. today's vote seeks approval for a revised constitution. if approved, there will be new petal and parliamentary elections in the summer. we have more on what's at stake. >> decision day dawns for egyptians. they're asked to approve a new constitution, one that would undo many of the rules brought in under the deposed president mohamed morsi and which some believe would give the military and political elite more power over every day life. >> this constitution is a reflection of egypt's current situation, along with the challenges egypt face. there is a focus on the rights of people without neglecting any segment of society. >> one change proposed to the morsi era concerns the armed forces. if approved, the constitution would allow the military to appoint the defense minister, to be an office for two

presidential terms. controversy, the draft text retains the military's right to prosecute civilians who attack it. opposition groups like the april 6 movement are boycotting the referendum. one of their spokesmen explains why. >> we can never participate and give legitimacy to a regime that fools the people and tries to act like it is a civil democratic regime, what is needewhile it isneither democra. >> any demonstration is banned, further eroding the muslim brotherhood. another party with a strong religious core has indicated it favors a yes vote. >> moving away from the constitutional amendments would

lead to chaos. these are factors that affected the lower party's position. not only are we saying yes, but hope that a you will egyptians would also vote yes. >> this is the first big test of public opinion since the removal of mohamed morsi as president. those who deposed him called for a large turnout and positive results. if they do vote yes, egyptians will then have seen three different constitutions in less than three years. aljazeera. >> vote could mean is marina ottoway. the constitution is expected toe

conclusion that a yes vote will be returned. i cannot think of any referendum in egypt history where people voled no to what the government proposed. the military will put a great deal of significance on whether the margin of victory is higher now than the constitution approved a year ago, but in terms of the actual can tent of the cone way or another. >> part of the reason this is a foregone conclusion is because the government has incredibly tight control over the press in that country, and anyone that is promoting a no vote has apparently been blocked. isn't the bedrock of democracy a free and independent press, and how can the egyptian government claim to be foruse if you thinke

constitution literally, it's a very democratic constitution. the truth of the matter is that even before the constitution is approved, most of its tenants have already been violated, it calls for freedom of expression, the government is arresting people who are putting up posters calling for a no vote on the referendum. they have been cracking down on journalistic data expressing differing opinions and so on. the constitution is really an as point. >> some an lives saying that it is a referendum on the most powerful man in that country right now, the military chief. do in part on how

they feel concerning the military and the military takeover. at the same time, i don't think we can be sure of the results that will be announced will in fact be accurate, because the government has total con>> as iy that studies the arab spring, that studies political transformation. i want to get your opinion on where the arab spring is today in eit. it wasn't that long ago that we saw that revolution that overthrew hosni mubarak, now some of those revolutionaries are in you so much for

those valuable insights this morning. >> you are very welcome. >> john henry is here to talk to us about a young man who hopes to make the team and be head and shoulders above the rest. i can't believe it's already that time. >> absolutely, this guy at 6'10" has got the head and shoulders part already intact. the prevailing winds about nba

in the eyes of many there's dwight howard and then who? as aljazeera reports, the who might just play for the detroit pistons. >> andre drummond is 20 that years old, but his potential in the nba is as big as his wing span, which is why the detroit pistons made the then 19-year-old the ninth overall draft pick in 2012. >> he gets better every game. he gets better. he's like a sponge. when you get a guy like that, for his size, and his ability and agility, the way he's capable of playing, he's a joy to coach. >> drummond born in new york growing up in connecticut was one of the top mayors in the country, but didn't quite produce the numbers one would expect of a kid who had taken

the gold in under 17 championships. still, he bolted for the nba, and now in just his second year in the league, the 20-year-old is one of the best centers in the eastern conference. >> why do you think you've been so dominant more so in the pros than you were in college? >> you know, it's my job now. you know, i have to work on my craft every single day. i don't have to worry about going to class, worrying about exams and things like that. >> right now, he is playing his best basketball as a pro averaging career highs in points, minutes and rebounds, giving the pistons and inside presence they haven't seen in the paint since the days of ben wallace. >> i pride myself on getting better each and every night and working on one thing to get better as a player, and, you know, each and every night, i just try to get better and i take it a step each and every day. >> pistons big man andre drummond is one of the nba's rising stars, but he knows to be the best, you've got to boat the best and he learned thatted

heart way one night in december against quite howard. >> the rockets big man put his superman cape on and took the piston's young pupil to school, pulling out a repertoire of moves produce in 35 points, 19 rebounds and five assists. instead of making excuses and putting his head down, drummond took note. >> after i thanked him, he smiled and said you're welcome. that he knew he got the best of me that day and he definitely taught me a valuable lesson that i still have more work to do, no matter how good i've been playing those street games i've had, he's still one of the best bigs in the league and i have to lot more work to do. >> the sponge was taking notes for his next date when he will try to make superman look like clark kept. aljazeera. >> thank you, jessica. as of january 9, drummond was running eight among front core players in the all star voting. >> drummond, while going to remember that name. >> remember that name. >> thanks.

>> controversy in canada. >> some government employees are angry over new rules about religious garments. >> what leaders say are a no-no when it comes to work attire. >> coffee getting a beneficial boost, the health jolt a little java can give you.

>> good morning, welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> i am richelle carey. justified ahead, the quebec governor is looking to stop employees from wearing certain

religious symbols. that is not sitting well with some. >> first, lets look at precipitation today. meteorologist nicole mitchell is back. >> we are dealing with areas of rain and snow across the country, one front through the midwest is dropping temperatures through the day today and up and down the coastline, we are dealing with areas of rain, as well. snow has been through places like minneapolis, t. paul moving into wisconsin and through the east coast, not seeing airport delays, but laguardia is getting light rain. atlanta, the airport is starting to clear out. back to you guys. >> the carbon footprint in the u.s. is trending negative again. after several years of decline, the report found carbon dioxide pollution grew. the reemergence of coal as the dominant power supply is the reason for the increase. >> this to do about the effects of caffeine could bust myths.

researchers study our coffee drinking habits and found having three to six cups each day, you drink that? >> i do. >> all right. could have the same hydrating benefits as water. the study found that caffeine could help boost short term memory. >> all right! >> in canada, the quebec government wants to stop civil servants from wearing what it calls ostentatious religious as i am bottoms. some are angry at the restrictions possibly becoming law. >> montreal, these two women want to work in the public sector helping others, but there's a problem. the government wants to stop religious symbols from being worn, like their hajabs. >> they're creating targets. >> i'm not going choose between work and my religion or work and

jail, absolutely. that's not how the law should be. >> this is what they're talking about. it's from an official government document, and basically says if you work for the civil service, you can't wear this head wear or a crucifix. smaller symbols are permitted. >> at public consultations around quebec, the minister responsible says government can't favor one religion over others and working civil servants must demonstrate that in what they wear. >> if you are religiously neutral on the. >> be, you should not be allowed to display your religious convictions to others out of respect for everyone, for every faith, every religion belief and non-belief. >> there's been a backlash. that last november, this photograph of two vealed day care workers appeared on

facebook to hateful comments. the couple who owned the day care asked us to keep their identities secret. >> for me, the big issue is someone to force me to take it off or force me to basically tell me i can't wear it, because this is a choice i made. >> universities, hospitals and municipalities, including montreal objected to the proposals. some won't enforce them. the city counselor said it's not clear whether the new law would allow him to continue in office. >> i've been an elected official for over four years, recently reelected. i've been able to perform my duties, defend the interest of my citizens, and i've asked a question, how is my wearing it coping me from accomplishing those tasks? >> it has strong support from french speaking, and much less popular with english speakers and in cities. >> it is set to continue as the government holds more public

hearings and possibly makes it part of an election campaign in 2014. aljazeera, montreal. >> hearings on the matter are set to begin tomorrow. >> at the end of our second hour, del walters joins us to tell us what's coming up this morning. >> good morning, del. >> good morning. egyptians voting on that new constitution today, the military led government calling that referendum a first step toward the path toward democracy. >> new jersey that governor chris christie giving a state of the state address this afternoon under a cloud of scandal. the latest controversy involves federal money used for a tourism campaign and a new jersey mayor who says he was snubbed because he didn't support christie's reelection. >> a one trillion-dollar deal to keep the government running. i'll be back in two minutes.

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>> new jersey governor chris christie under fire, he's facing a federal probe for improper use of hurricane sandy relief funds. as another mayor claims, he was the victim of political payback. security is tight around polling places in egypt as voters decide whether to adopt a new constitution. supporters of president morsi are asked to boycott the referendum. >> the city o in virginia, and e tainted water supply.

>> detroit and future of the auto industry. >> good morning, welcome to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. it has been a rough week for new jersey governor chris christie as he prepares now for his state of the state address later today. first he was hit with that politically motivated traffic scandal involving his top aids, then we learned about a federal probe with the improper use of shandy relief funds. not only those scandals, but today the state of the state address. >> timing i guess everything and this is material timing. he's got to deliver the state of the state, so we are going to be looking closingly today when he stands up at 3:00 eastern to find out whether he's going to be contrite or mention the issues at all. he doesn't have to, but it is

one of his biggest problems right now. last summer, that ad was one of many pushing tourism on that the jersey shore. >> we're stronger than the tomorrow. >> this campaign is now under scrutiny from federal authorities amid allegations that christie put himself and his family front and center of the ads right in the middle of his reelection bid. in order to do this, the christie team spent $2 million more on production costs than the next lowest bid, giving it to a firm which they had ties. the department of housing and urban definitely man was alerted, telling the attorney general the cash could have been spent on victims. this latest dent to christies reputation comes details after his apology for a traffic scandal at the george washington bridge where traffic was snagged in fort lee for days. state democrats claim this followed the mayor's refusal to support christies bid for a

second term. christie said he knew nothing about it, was embarrassed and apologized to the people of his state. >> i had no knowledge or involvement in this issue, in its planning or its execution, and i am stunned by the abject stupidity. >> the aid responsibility for ordering the bridge closure were fired. christie went to fort lee to apologize to the mayor in person. the mayor said he would take christie at his word but cautioned he wanted to wait and see when the investigations turn up. now new allegation of petty behavior are coming from jersey city's mayor, who released emails showing that meetings with the governor and senior appointees were canceled in july, hours after he refused to back the governor's bid for reelection. an email to the mayor reads within the past hour, i've received phone calls from and

lists four names, all of which canceled the meetings on the 23rd. >> until all this came to light, christie had been the big guy in new jersey politics who appeared poised as a key contender to top the gop ticket for the white house. could these additional allegations make the run for difficult? first today, he must get through his state of the state. >> wow. what a state he finds himself in. well, del, that is at 3:00 this afternoon. we're looking for the tone. i think he's going to mention the bridge issue and also this latest scandal which has come up involving the jersey shore. beyond that, i think he's going to talk about education. he's proud of his education policy particularly in jersey schools in places like camden. i think he has to move on. >> or at least try. >> he has to try to give the impression of moving on. what's been very good interesting, usually at this time, democrats and republicans really come together. this time around, we're not

quite sure. it will be interesting to see whether democrats are onboard with him as he comes down the aisle. >> you think people will watch his speech today? >> i think they will. don't write him off. he is still the most powerful republican governor in the country. >> stronger than the storm. >> stronger than the storm, very good. >> thank you very much. christie is a popular republican in a heavily democratic state, but a new survey are shows that is shrinking. 51% think he hasn't been completely honest about the george washington bridge controversy. half of safety's adults believe his staff was involved. his job approval rating slumping down from its post election high of 65%. 49% of those polled say they don't think christie that the making of the next commander in chief. that is up from 34% just last september. >> a new research poll shows the republican governor is still widely popular. 60% say their opinion of chris

christie has not changed at all. 6% say they now have a more favorable opinion. 6% say they think less of him. 18% don't have an been. >> in egypt, there have been reports of explosions in cairo, at least one killed in clashes between security forces and supporters of ousted president morsi. egyptians will be voting on a new constitution. it's the first time casting ballots since last summer when morsi, the country's first democratically elected president was overthrown in a military coup. today's vote seeks approval for a revised constitution. if approved, there will be no presidential and parliamentary elections in the summer. we explain what's at stake. >> there are hundreds of thousands of military personnel of police on the streets of

egypt sent by the government because they are afraid these polling centers will become targets. in egypt, one half wants a yes vote, the mail tear pushing for the yes vote. they want it to give them a legitimacy since the suh of former president morsi last summer, so they hope for a high voter turnout in support of this referendum. the muslim brotherhood sees this as a chance to disrupt, if you like, and to protest. we're seeing protests in various parts of the country, both up in the north and various parts in the south and in cairo. we have seen violence. demonstrations in the north and tear gas has been used to quiet down that situation. yes, there has been violence already, but it's not just a question of whether it's too dangerous to vote. it's a question of whether you will be able to put in a no vote. we know people who wanted to put

up no vote posters on the streets of egypt have been arrested, the government really wanting to stop that no vote getting through. i think the anti coupe alliance is against the constitution, those for the brotherhood be saying don't bother to vote, protest, but oh void the vote altogether. it's a real mix, many saying there's a party atmosphere on the streets, people celebrating the fact that they can go out and support the constitution. people are looking to try to get egypt back on its feet economically with tourism which has suffered and hope this is a first step towards that. other people are saying look, really, we think this is just another way of pushing down free speech, pushing down people giving the chance to support who they want to support. i should point out a little bit of aljazeera's live blog site here, we've got one poster here that's been put up showing the

head of the military in egypts picture waved at one of the polling stations. if i just go to the 1 below, this is a young man with a poster that says boycott the referendum. >> let's break down key figures in that two days of voting there. there are more than that 52 million who can vote. 340,000 live outside egypt. as we mentioned, security is tight. 160,000 military officers and recruits deployed across the country. >> more than 50 journalists from around the world are calling for the release of those five aljazeera journalists detained in egypt. in a statement issued today, representatives from the bbc, npr, cbs, abc, nbc have released a statement: they have been

detained now since september 29, accused of reporting false news harmful to state security and helping the muslim brotherhood. two other journalists from aljazeera's sister channel also in egyptian custody. they have been detained now for more than five months. aljazeera continues to demand their immediate release. senator john mccain expressing is support, saying "totally agree." >> in washington, house and senate negotiators have brokered a $1 billion spending deal to finance the government through the ends of september and preventing another government shutdown. the bipartisan plan contains dozens of pay yours. there will be slight increases in military and education spending and a billion dollar cut related to the affordable care act. the full house is he can specked

to vote on the deal this week. >> this is supposed to be the rainy season in california, but so dry there is a fire danger now. nicole mitchell will tell us what adds to the risk. >> february is the wettest month in places like los angeles, but january should come in number two. last year, we ended well blow average in rain, a record dry year with what should be 15 inches in los angeles was only three and a half. it's really been dry to begin with. we haven't had any rain in most cities, and you can see none in the forecast. that's one element. that makes for low humidity that dries out the vegetation, so that catches fire more quickly. then we have the santa ana winds. as those come over, those mountain passes sometimes, as air descends, it warms up. you can have not only wind that can fuel the fire, but is adding to warm temperatures which dries us out more. you can see the fire dangers, a

combination of wind washings and fire dangers in a few places and we have had wind gusts gusting over 50 miles an hour especially around passes. the temperatures, these are in record territories for texas, running close to a record, los angeles if we do hit the 82 just under a record. it will be very warm, adding to all of that. we are not looking for major incidences, but are watching very closely. >> the rest of the country, the same pattern bringing some of that wind to the west coast is bringing wind from north to so you in the midwest, very windy here, with snow that's blowing the snow around, so that's been one of our concerns across this region of the country today. coming up, i will have more on your temperatures. del. >> nicole, thank you very much. >> little madeleine mccann vanished six years ago. now for the first time, police in london could be ready to make the first arrest in the case. madeline disappeared in 2007,

staying with her parents at a portugal resort. scotland yard now working with portuguese police to arrest three men running a burglary ring. scotland yard con confirming it has sent a request, but won't say what was in it. >> in florida, a man was shot and his wife wounded in what appears to be an argument over texting at a move see theater. that two couples were waiting in line to see loan survivor and when the argument broke out, that's when the suspect curtis reefs a retired police captain pulled out a gun and started shooting. an off duty officer grabbed him until police arrived and arrested him. >> after going days without water to drink or shower, finally some relief in west virginia. hundreds of thousands of people told not to drink the water can now turn on the tap once again. local officials lifting that ban in nine counties, a chemical

leak left much of the water undrinkable, even untouchable. we are live in west virginia. i know they are happy right now to things are slowly getting back to normal. >> russ fuller is relieved. he finally has the ok to use his tab water again. >> we bagged our faucets. that was the easy way to keep us from messing with them. >> officials in west virginia lifted the do not use order that went into effect thursday. >> i can do laundry now, i can

wash dishes. >> a chemical spill into the elk river prompted a state of emergency p.m. west virginia's governor said extensive testing show levels of the chemical are now blow one part per million and meet federal standards. >> the numbers we have today look good. we're finally at a point where the do not use order has been lifted in certain areas. >> to keep the water system from being overwhelmed, the restrictions are being lifted in phases and to remove any chemical residue, residents are told to flush out their system by running their facets for 20 minutes. >> it affects you you walk around three or four days without a shower one start smelling yourself. >> even though officials say the war is safe now, he'll wait a few days before drinking it. >> you never know, but i want to stay here as long as i can and i don't want to take that chance right now. >> this is going to be pretty hard to recover from.

>> the water crisis forced this woman to shut her restaurant for three days. she's now back in business. >> people seem, you know, very happy to be able to come and sit down and have somebody else make them help with the investigation. that del. >> jonathan, on a lighter note, have you had a shower showered and i'm feeling ok. >> jonathan martin joining us live from charleston, west virginia. thank you very much. >> the hottest cars at the international auto show. what gives the car and truck the

edge over the rest of the industry. >> the battle to take back a small town from drug dealers. how vigilantes are inciting government action. >> 30 million words, a unique program aimed at helping low income children get a stronger grasp of the english language.

activists show the

>> good morning, welcome back to oh i go america. i'm del walters. still ahead, the big trends and big innovations coming out of detroit, the big international auto show underway today but first let's find out with the temperatures across the nation. >> we're getting a little credit back in the meteorologist world after the bitter stuff last week. we're not on the list, so to speak, anymore with temperatures being milder, especially in the northeast. new york 49, for example and the average high temperature this time of career is 38. we're doing good this morning. minneapolis right now is at 22.

the high is going to be right about the same, maybe a dough or two cooler as a front comes through the region. the other place we're watching is the southwest, los angeles 83 today, maybe up to 85 tomorrow. that's near record territory, but the concern there is the heat accelerating that fire danger we have. dell. >> nicole, thank you very much. >> 2014 is a chance for u.s. automakers to continue a resurgence they began to enjoy just last year. it's a path that seemed far fetched last year when all three big three automakers needed a government bailout just to survive. they're reemergence is one of the many heights in this year's auto show in detroit. >> the world's largest automakers completes its journey from bust to boom. >> the winner is the stingray. [ cheers and applause ] >> at detroit's north american international auto show, general motors took home the north american car of the year award

for the edesign of a classic muscle car, the corvette string ray. the chevy silverado won the truck of the year and g.m. watched the auto show with a c.e.o., the incoming mary barra, the industry's first female top executive, all five years after filing for bankruptcy. >> it's a pivotal time. there's no more governmental involvement, all the debt's paid, cleared, we can now step forward, become a new car company that just continues to make great cars. there's no problem in the car business that a great car won't fix. >> sales in north america surged 13% last year. >> a good time for the whole industry? >> a great time, yes, from subaru through big general motors and toyota. everybody is experiencing, if there is good products there. >> with dramatic renovations planned for upculling models,

sales are expected to accelerate more. >> under the hood of this tesla is nothing, that's because the battery is under the passenger compartment. the real innovation is inside the passengerrer compartment where high speed internet is offered. >> heavy trucks becoming lightweights with the top selling ford f150 pick up being aluminum. >> those looking for speed have mercedes new entry c class and bmw's two series. >> it's not just a luxury car, it's a drivers car. >> we brought this to a new level. >> the show's host hope it helps the host city's turnaround. >> last year, the automakers had

its best year since 2007. with more, we're joined by the car coach. she is in detroit this morning. good morning. >> good morning. the auto industry announcing yesterday the winners for both car and truck of the year. let's take a look first. >> and the winner is the stingray. [ cheers and applause ] >> so the winner of the truck of the year, and i can say truck now, is the chevy silverado. [ cheers and applause ] >> what is it about these two that has all of detroit smiling right now? >> the sometime ray is obvious, it's a beautiful sports car. it really has become the super car over the years, and they announced the version of it which is a super high performance version of it. for those of us that like to go on the track, and they've really done a total redesign of

thevoke. it's aggressive, exciting, it's high tech, and i think it's a great success. it was desperately noded for corvette and i this i that was one of the good things. >> i want to show our audiences the particulars right now, $50,000 range in price, 6.2-liter engine, 460-horsepower engine. is that enough to make it the car of the year? the question has to be asked, did it need anything else? >> it wasn't just about performance, it was about the total redesign. it has to be a vehicle from the north american car and truck of the year to be a complete redine or at least something that was quite dramatic, changes and improvements and has to beat the other vehicles not just on speed and performance and handling, which is always fun but has to be on the style, design, technology, innovation, all that i also what the new corvette is about, as well as a chevy silverado. they completely redesigned the truck. you can't compare it to the ford released yesterday, because that

would be considered a 2015. it has to be a 2014 or 2013 model. we are looking at technology, high speed wi-fi into the vehicles, connectivity and mobility amounted that's what consumers want. they're building cars customers want. they've done a good job getting consumer feedback and building the products that really are what we he want to buy. otherwise, they he buy other brands and it's really get a to bring them back to the g.m. brand. >> here are the stats on the silverado. cost the cost and 420-horsepower engine available, with all of that said, what happened to the days and i go back to a time that i borrowed a friend's truck to move a sofa. i had to put more padding into that truck to make sure his cargo bed didn't get ruined. what happened when a truck was just a truck to move and haul stuff. >> people are using them for regular use, it can come in

differently beds and engines. do you want more facial if i see, will it use it for hauling. consumers want a vehicle that has capability of towing, has a bed that you can tie things down, you know, easy ways to step into the vehicle, all of these things are what consumers want. sun roofs, they want what's in a car that technology, that is all what you're seeing now. with g.m., they want on store, so including all of that into the new chevy silverado. you're seeing a successful vehicle. you're seeing a fun truck to drive every day. you certainly wouldn't leave it in the quarry, you're going to drive it on a regular basis. >> let's go to the business side of detroit. five years ago, the big three coming to washington hat in hand, flying in thor corporate jets the first time, then coming back via car the second time. now 8% sales increase for

chrysler and g.m., 15.5 million cars sold in 2013. those sales expected to increase, 2013 the best performance for the big three since 2007. are they feeling optimistic again in motown? >> absolutely. this is probably the first year i've seen in years where every single manufacturer no matter what country they're from is bringing in top quality announcements. yesterday, kia brought in a two set or sports car. these are things that consumers want. they want a car that's going to meet their needs both for fun and for work, and i think you're seeing all that when it comes to what detroit is bringing out. i mean, look at the ford focus, fiesta, top vehicle for 32 years, chrysler with a brand new 200. that's impressive. they went with a fiat sub frame and alpha row mayo

underpinnings. redesigned, top quality and build here in the sufficient. that's really important. everyone will want to buy those again. from g.m., nothing but top quality that people want. >> we want to remind our audience that ali velshi also in detroit at the auto show will be hosting real money live there tonight, beginning at 7:00 p.m. eastern time right here. >> vigilantes and drug dealers fighting for control of a mexican town. authorities helpless to stop the violence. >> we the jury find the defendant manuel anthony ramos not guilty of the crime. >> two california police officers found not guilty of beating a mentally ill homeless man to death. family members say these officers got away with murder.

>> top seeds were feeling the heat at the australian open. high temps and high drama from day two.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. a ferry accident in south sudan claiming the lives of more than 200 people. they drowned trying to escape the regions violence. the victims were fleeing the town. the boat was overloaded are refugees, many women and children. heavy fighting has been reported today in the city as rebel forces attempt to seize the town. control of the town has changed hands twice since that conflict began last month. >> sectarian violence in the central african republic has claimed 1200 lives, displacing thousands of relatives and people there. entire villages have fled,

hiding in the bush from christian and muslim militias. some villagers who left are now starting to return. >> people have fled, houses burnt down. these village have suffered attack after attack. in this settlement, near the town, hundreds of people emerge from the bush for the visit of a u.n. official. >> we are back now to rebuild your lives. >> they were hanging on his every word. >> we want to hear about your needs. >> he was shown all that's left of the health center, everything taken by the selica militia. these people don't have a government that can help them, any assistance has to come from outside. >> the institutions of the state here don't exist. there's no health infrastructure, new schooling infrastructure.

we really have to step up in an unprecedented way to respond to what is an unprecedented situation. >> it's so long now that this country, the people of this countedry have been languishing and without very basic infrastructure and support. >> there's so much destruction, it seems the villagers have lost absolutely everything, and yet, we have seen some signs of hope. after months of living in the bush in fear, there are some people here who have decided to come home. nina is busy. she's come out of hiding and now she has to tidy up around her looted house. inside, there's almost nothing left. and nina is alone with her two children. muslim herdsman murdered her husband last month. >> i've been left alone to raise these children. i hope there is peace and that

the village market reopens so that i can try and make money to feed them. >> this is the village militia. they might be brave, although they don't have much to fight with. they know that if they don't protect themselves, no one else will. barnaby phillips, aljazeera in the central african republic. >> the u.n. is trying to raise $105 million to supply food for more than a million people in the central african rehe. they want to do so by august. >> $400 million in aid promised to syria, the announcement coming on the eve of the donor conference beginning tomorrow. the u.n. hopes the conference will help them raise money for syria and its neighboring countries in 2014. >> u.s. state department denying any side deals with iran concerning ongoing nuclear negotiations. ires chief negotiator said some key elements have not been acknowledged by the west,

covering some important details such as how the deal will be rolled out and iran continuing nuclear research and development. he used the diplomatic term non-paper in a formal agreement that doesn't have to be disclosed. >> federal authorities in mexico he be working to stop a battle between two groups fighting for control of a small city which has become a strong hold of a drug cartel calling itself the knight's templar. we have more from mexico city. >> heavily article men are now a common site. over the past year, so called self defense groups liberated des of towns from a drug cartel. they say they needed to take the law into their own hands because the government couldn't or wouldn't protect them. the interior minister announce that had mexico's federal government intends to restore order in the troubled state.

>> we call self defense groups to go back to their towns and daily activities. the government will take care of the communities. we have it them to cooperate by sharing all the information. they have to stop the criminals. >> the president's government has sent thousands of troops to the troubled region over the past year, but the security situation has continued to deteriorate. sunday, a fierce gun battle broke out between the vigilant tees and the drug gang in the town. the shootout lasted for hours, but only one man was reported injured. just two days earlier, residents in another town set cars and trucks on fire protesting the arrival of more than 100 vigilantes. the towns people oh oppose them because they are forcibly recruiting young men. they claim the protestors are backed by the cartel. >> the federal government's announcement suggests that it's ready to take action, but

disarming the vigilantes won't be easy. some leaderrers are saying that they refuse to enter into negotiations unless the cartel leaders are arrested. aljazeera, mexico city. >> in response last week, the sufficient state department issuing a new warning for americans traveling to mexico, noting the criminal activity in 19 of the countries 31 states, much of it at the hands of those cartels. there were more than 100,000 kidnappings in mexico in 2012, but only 1% reported to police. last year, those kidnappings increased by 32%. investigators now say the fatal shootings of 12 young men in brazil this weekend may have been carried out by police, the motive revenge for a federal officer gunned down. the wave of murders began sunday night and continued into early monday just west of sao paulo. >> two men were caught on camera

beating a holeless man who died. the video was not enough to convict the cops. the verdict has stunned the family. >> what do we want? >> justice! >> outrage over the verdict that set two california police officers free in the beating death of a homeless man caught on tape. [ creaming ] >> the officers showed officers in a violent confrontation with kelly thomas. it wasn't enough to convict them. >> not guilty of the crime. >> with jail time on the line, one officer pounded his hand on the defense table when he heard the vert, not guilty on all four counts, including murder and involuntary manslaughter. the stunned mother and father of the victim say the justice system failed them. >> what this means is all of us need to be very afraid now. it's cart blanche for police officers everywhere, can beat us, kill us, whatever they want, because it has been proven right

here today. >> that they'll get away with it. >> they'll get away with it. >> they got away with murdering my son. it's just not fair, so i guess ice legal to go out and kill now. >> the defense painted a picture of a drug addict who police knew we will. they say the officers used proper force to subdue an uncontrollable menace. the prosecution says thomas was homeless with mental health problems. they call the force used against him excessive, causing him to die five days later. >> i'm john siegenthaler in new york. >> the victim's father ron thomas called in unfathomable that the cops were cleared on all counts. >> what do you think happened that night? >> well, it's clear to me on the video what happened. kelly was in what's called contempt of cop, he got under ramos' skin, and you know with the bantering back and forth and ramos didn't like it, and they decided to teach him a lesson.

i honestly don't think they meant to kill him, but certainly to beat him severely, and that's just what they did, but he did die from it, of course. >> with the case closed, the parents say all they can do now is protest in hopes the department of justice steps in to help. aljazeera, new york. >> a third officer is also facing charges for his role in the beating death, but considering the verdict for the first two officers, the prosecutor now said they'll be dropping those charges. >> arizona's governor shutting down that state's child welfare agency, making the announcement in the state of the union address monday. the move comes after reports the state's protective services failed to investigate more than 6500 reports of child abuse and neglect. the state's juvenile director says that they will spearhead a new child safety division. >> in business news, we begin with breaking news. the government saying retail sales were up 2% last month,

better than the forecast and sales of auto up. >> the legal settlements taking a built out of the profit of j.p. morgan chase, but still made more than $5 billion over the year. it spent $1.1 billion for legal expenses, including last months agreement for its role in the bernie madoff off a. they agreed to pay $13 billion for selling bad securities mortgages. c.e.o. said the bank is glad to put those legal issues behind it. >> google coming to your home, shares jumping in premarket trading as it is now buying net slabs. it develops them stats and smoke detectors. it is one of the big have acquisitions for google yet. the dow is higher, turning in its worst day of the year so far

monday. in share, the markets ended the day mix, nikkei down. european stocks are lower following the negative lead of the markets in the u.s. >> the first grand slam of the year underway right now. down under john henry smith right now said oy. >> i say that all the time, of course. the australian open this year, does 32-year-old roger felderer have another major title in him? he has won a record 17 of them but his last two years ago. taking on switzerland's james duckworth picking up the action, federer up four games to one, serves and then finds the opening to get past duckworth. taking the game now, federer serving for the match, duckworth cannot return the serve and federer moves on in straight

sets, now owns the record for playing the most consecutive grand slam events with 57. >> local favorite hewitt beat federer last week but today lost in a four hour 18 minute match. he had match point in the fifth set but was broken in that 11th game. he helped to close out the set, the closest hewitt has come to capturing the title at his home grand slam event even was losing in 2005. >> some other notable info from day two of the aussie open, temperatures reaching 100 degrees for most of the matches, as del says, oy. two players had to retire because of the heat, but not rafael advancing to the second round. john isner is out early due to

an ankle injury. >> baseball, maybe you thought alex rodriguez fight to clear his name ended with this weekend's unfavorable arbitration ruling, but a-rod proved he's just begun to fight. he filed an appeal in federal court seeking to overturn the 160 from game suspension he faces in the wake of saturday's ruling by arbitrator frederik porowitz. he also filed to sue the players association and mlb. he said: executive director tony clark once a teammate, ponded to the lawsuit filing by saying in part:

>> to the question, who is the biggest name in international soccer, you wouldn't be wrong if you answered christian-rinaldo, now recognized as the best player after being named the winner of the award. he scored 56 goals i understand 56 games last year. it's the first time he has taken home this hardware since 2008. that's a look at sports this hour. >> people from china are the biggest travel spenders anywhere in the world. where they choose to spend thor money and why. >> giving kids a chance to build their confidence and vocabulary one word at a time. >> from areas of snow to rain up

and down the coastline, where you're having a slow commute this morning opinion

>> when it comes to traveling, nobody does it more frequently and spends more money than the chinese. they spend $100 billion on tourism alone. let's find where it may rain and know across the country today. >> we have both as we head out the door, little bits of rain coming into the northwest, a clipper through the midwest with show in wisconsin and south of that. up and down the east coast, rain will be moving out as we get through the day tomorrow. with the clipper, strong winds that run north and so you, so driving east to west today, a major cross wind gusting 50 miles an hour, so be careful on those roads. >> almost 100 million chinese tourists visited foreign countries, spending a staggering amount on vacations alone.

good morning. >> good morning. >> how are these popular tourist destinations like china trying to lure all of these chinese tourists? >> those chinese tourists are traveling to many places worldwide, especially in the region, of course, to places like hong kong, singapore, taiwan, places like thailand, vietnam, but more and more they are travel to go further places afield like in europe or north america. >> a total of 97 million tourists traveling last year, they spent 83 -- that was an

increase of 83 million from the year before, so who is lining up to make all of this money? >> well, of course, there are many destinations in the world nowadays looking for chinese tourists and already mentioned that many of them travel to destination in the region, but more and more also to places further afield, and of course, many operators in the business are trying to do a trade with chinese tour operators for hotels for restaurants, and also many places that do showing that offer shopping are very actively pursuing chinese tourists. >> i was actually surprised to see the top five destinations. i want to show them to our audience. south korea number one, japan number two, russia comes in third. at number four, the united states, number four, and then

malaysia, so could chinese tourism be a reason for the european union, asia and the u.s. seizing those visa applications for chinese citizens no. >> of course countries that do have very easy visa application methods for chinese are better placed and certainly in the region, there's a lot going on in making it easier for chinese travelers to get to the country. for the ones that do have visa depends on how the visas are delivered. they need to offer an easy and saleless option there for chinese travelers to get their visa. >> when we talk about chinese tourism, we're talking about $102 billion that they spend. these countries have got to be lining up. what are some of the incentives that they're offering to get chinese tourists. what are some of the biggest perks you've heard of if you are

a chinese tourist travel to go another country? >> of course chinese travelers are travelers that many of them are first-time travelers. they do have a curiosity to see something of the world. they first of all do it at relatively close by home, but of course, they do have as are separation for seeing places in north america or europe, as well, and while doing that, they like to sample the lifestyle, they like any other tourist, like to sample the food and have a good experience. he also spent quite a bit of money on their shopping. >> thank you very much. he is with the the united nations world to yourism organizations and joins us this morning from madrid. >> india marking a milestone, three years since reporting its last case of polio. it had been considered one of the toughest places anywhere in the world trying to eradicate the disease. many families in high risk areas

my greating to other states making them harder to track. others live in communities that are remote and inaccessible. the government push has led to 170 million children immunized each queer and millions more targeted with house to house visits. afghanistan, pakistan and nigeria now the only countries in the world where that disease still remains endemic. >> a fertility study result in nine successful womb transplants. the women received the transplanted wombs that were donated by relatives. doctors want to know if they will now be able to give birth. the subjects all in their 30's were born without a uterus or had it removed back of cervical cancer. the women now will try to become pregnant. >> new numbers show older americans are signing up for health insurance under the affordable care act. by december 31, more than 2 million people enrolled in the n. young adults 18-34 making up

24%. experts say that number needs to be close to 40% to subsidize the cost of older americans. so far, the program's slightly more popular with women than men. women making up 54% of those who have enrolled. >> words can be a powerful tool, but can also help reduce positivity. that's the idea behind a 30 million word initiative aiming to close the vocabulary gap. the program started in chicago, and encourages pants to talk more to their kids. >> why? >> she is always putting her 4-year-old daughter to the test, even at snack time. >> you see how many graham crackers there are no. >> one, two, three, four. >> the 25-year-old single mom learned to improve her daughter's vocabulary through a

pilot program called 30 million words. >> see if you can remember that one. >> the name comes from a word gap that researchers say exist between higher income kids who interact more with their parents and lower income kids who sometimes don't. the program hems kids improve vocabulary by teaching parents different ways to talk to them. a device measures the words. >> i want to say maybe about the fifth or sixth week, my daughter called something ridiculous and it was like who are you talking to no. >> it takes a village. >> the doctor specializing in i am plants for the hearing impaired developed 30 million words after noticing some of her low income patients didn't progress as well as others following surgery. >> i realized that the difference that i was seeing in my patients really had nothing told with their hearing loss, but rather the language

environment that they were exposed to early on. that difference almost always fell along socioeconomic lines. >> the project is based on research conducted back in the mid-1990's by two university of kansas child psychologist. they fund that 3-year-olds who interacted more with their parents and were exposed to more words were better prepared for kindergarten and tended to be better readers later. >> she tracked results from her project and found core haitian between parent-child interaction and the number which words the toddlers used. >> she increased her numbers, went down, then up, but really, pretty much doubled where she started. >> a strong vocabulary is no guarantee kids will succeed in school, but she thinks it will give alana an advantage, as well as her little brother. >> can you touch it? >> aljazeera, chicago. >> the 30 million words niche

active based on a groundbreaking to do nine years ago, researchers finding that family income plays a huge role in a child's vocabulary. children from families on welfare hearing 616 words an hour, working class almost double that, 1251 words an hour. children from professional families exposed to more than 2100 words each and every hour. that's going to do it for this hour of aljazeera america. more words, more news at the top of the hour, and remember, you can always find us just going to aljazeera.com where the news continues non-stop 24 hours a day, seven days a week. i'll see you in two and a half minutes.

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>> welcome back to aljazeera america. these are the stories we're following this hour. at least one person killed in egypt as voters head to the polls for constitutional referendum. it is the first time casting ballots since last summer with mohamed morsi was overthrown in the military coup. the constitution drafted was suspended. a bipartisan team of negotiators reaching a $1 trillion budget deal, prevent thatting another government shutdown. >> new jersey governor chris christie he set to give his state of the state address today as scandals amount. tuesday, his staff defended the funding