welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we are following for you. a new report on the holy efforts to conceal child sex abuse in the church. spending bill heading to a vote no the house. and the monster sinkhole and levy that is holding it back. ♪ dotting the i's,s crossing the t's and counting the dollars

and cents. today was the deadline to approve the budget bill, now it has been pushed back to saturday. libby americans get a little worried when congress decides to push things back, why? >> and congress loves a deadline. dell it does look like the spending bill will be able to go through both the house and senate. leaders announced on monday, they finally hammered out a deal. they spent weeks on this. over the holiday, we saw the appropriators and staffers hard at work finalizing this spending deal. and they just couldn't get it quite in by the deadline, so the house gave themselves three more days. and we expect to see the house pass the omnibus, the all inclusive spending bill. we're talking about discretionary spending. it doesn't include things like social security and medicare, but it's pretty much everything else, about half going to defense programs the rest goes

to a boost in head start funding and other federal programs, and like every bill there are winners and losers. we'll see disabled military veterans see a restoration in a cost of living adjustment cut that was going to happen. in that won't happen anymore. we also see losers like the irs. and then there are some draws. republicans wanted to use the spending bill to hurt the obamacare. they weren't able to do any major damage but there is a reduction in spending for one of the prevention in public health funds. and the e pa, republicans wanted to gouge the epa, and they weren't able to, but things like high-speed rail do take a hit. >> lib by is there anything that could stand in the way of this bill actually being passed and i understand there's a new buzz phrase in washington, regular order. >> regular order is doing the

regular business. but it has been hard to come by. we saw so many deadlines breached and the government shut downthis fall. it does look likely to pass, because we saw the appropriate fors on both the house and senate side. there is some push back from both sides of the isle. on the liberal side, and the conservative side, but for the most part enough members are willing to vote for this. that is likely to go through. >> libby thank you very much. and now to the white house, the president says he is not going to wait around for congress to get things done. he is calling this his year of action. and now may be mike viqueira what is the president set to tell us when he

benefits. he called for an extension of those benefits now mired in procedural gridlock. he called for an extension of immigration reform. but he says he is going to take matters into his own hand and use executive orders as much as manufacturing technology zones. this is part of a piece he did last week, the promise zones, announcing the first five of 20, now it's on the manufacturing

non-profits to try to spur it. >> later the president is set to talk about reports out talking about the recommendations that the president is going to adopt. a few weeks ago the president's committee that he appointed came forward with its recommendations, perhaps the most high profile is taking that collection of ma>> mike viqueir

house. mike, thank you very much. as mike mentioned the president on his way to north carolina. this is air force andrews right now, outside of washington, d.c. where the president is departing for north carolina -- instead this is where he is landing at raleigh, north carolina. it has been one of the biggest scandals to rock the vatican, child sex abuses to rock the kat rick church. the first report from an

international children's right origanizatio organization. simon mcgregor-wood reports. peter saunders was a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of his catholic priest at school. so was his brother mike. for him abuse triggered a life cursed bidrin k and drugs and an early death. peter runs an organization helping other survivors. >> most survivors are not particularly interested in compensation. they are interested in seeing change. they are interested in knowing that what happened to them is not going to happen to future generations. having said that, compensation, i think is entirely appropriate when it comes to people who's childhoods have been stolen. >> reporter: the vatican has a new pope. he's popular and made some big promises. pope francis wants openness, and a new transparency even on this

toxic issue. he set up a new committee of his own to look into it. thursday's appearance been the un is overdue, the extent to which they engage seriously with the un will be a test of francis's papacy and whether he can deliver on theish of sexual ause. a new report details how widespread the abuse has been. the authors have little optimism the church will change its approach. >> we have traced back all of the promises they made versus what actually happened, and there have been many promiseings in the past, but very little has happened quickly. and everything that has happened has happened in complete secrecy. >> reporter: in 2012 the un asked the vatican to respond to child abuse allegations. many questions remain unanswered. >> if the institution

acknowledges its many failings, then i like many who suffered at its hands, i think will, as you say have some form of closure and some means of perhaps moving on. >> the vatican is coming to geneva because it signed the un's convention on the rights of the child. it's action or inaction over the issue of child abuse might suggest they don't take it seriously. this is a good opportunity for the church and pope francis to finally signal they are going to do something about it. simon mcgregor-wood, al jazeera geneva. earlier today i talked to patrick hornback, he tells me the vatican will be addressing at the issue. >> reporter: tomorrow members will appear on the rights of the child. and that's the first time that

has happened in ten years and possibly even longer than that. >> a string of attacks in iraq leaving 67 people dead, 98 injured. half a dozen car bombs exploding across bagdad. in a northern town, a suicide bomber targeting a funeral there, killing 18. imran khan is in doha, imran, where such a drastic increase in violence? >> really, what we're seeing is a sectarian war breaking out in iraq. now it doesn't fit the legal definition of a civil war yet, but that is the fear of many in iraq. for a very long time, the sunni community has felt disenfranchised. it targets them and locks up the

leaders in secret prisons. that has lead to a rise of al-kei da, and al-qaeda-linked groups in a resurgence. so there's a sectarian element to all of this, and because there are sunny politician who have openly criticized the prime minister, and it has allowed those people that are even more angry and don't want to be part of the political process to take up violent acts, and we have seen this for at least a year now. last year was the bloodiest year iraq has seen since 2008 and already this month alone, we have seen nearly 500 people die. let's take a look right now at the result of that violence. >> reporter: once again the twisted metal from a bomb blast is spread across a bagdad neighborhood. it's a pattern we see time and

time again. there's been no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attacks follow a familiar pattern. al-qaeda-linked troops want to keep sectarian tensions boiling. prime minister is calling this a war on terror. >> translator: we will establish between houses that were forcibly taken over by al-qaeda and used as basis, and houses who's residents were incorporated with them. the houses that were the source of fire that killed our sons will be targeted by security forces. >> reporter: elsewhere in iraq it's not just sheer muslims who have been punner initialled. carment bombs brought more misery in this area. in this the past two weeks alone more than 500 people have died as a result of the violence.

the prime minister is under a tremendous amount of pressure and elections are due to be held here in the spring. there are a number of operations going on in the ambar province. so there's a real issue here, what the prime minister needs to do is to be able to say that he is tough on the causes of terrorism. he's framing this as a war on terror, but the more he does that, the more he disenfranchises the sunni community and angers those. >> thank you very much. it is the second day of voting in egypt on a new constitution. there was extra security at polling station. it is the second constutiol writinust two years. egypt's former leaders, the muslim brotherhood recently

labeled terrorists by that country's current leaders. and al jazeera continues to cover that egyptian vote from outside of the country because authorities continue to detain several of our colleagues. they have been in custody now since december 29th. they are accused of reporting false news that is harmful to state security and help the muslim brotherhood. al jazeera continues to deny all of those allegation and is demanding their immediate release. these are two other journalists from our sister channels also being held. they have been detained now for five whole months. it is something that you need to see to believe. next on al jazeera america, this giant sinkhole in louisiana, it is growing and spreading toxins into nearby swamplands.

in louisiana attention turning to a monster sinkhole, and the surrending levy has already started to crack, and it continues to grow what is

happening with the actual sinkhole at this point. we're looking at 26 acres is the size. that's about 20 footballs, it's 650 feet deep. it has in the past year and a half put out 7,000 barrels of oil has been dislodged from it, 45 million cubic feet of natural gas underneath the town of bio corn and that is why there is a mandatory evacuation. many residents some of these

home. earlier today we talked to one of the emergency managers, he said they are concerned about the levy that -- that partially collapsed in the last few weeks, texas brine the company said to be responsible for this is currently repairing it, and twrieing to make sure it does not collapse, because if that happens what happens is the sinkhole widens even further into places where people live. there are not many people who live watching it very carefully del. >> robert thank you very much.

the auto industry's comeback means more money for america and elsewhere. canadians have also been a major factor in the economic boom and bust. >> reporter: americans and canadians regularlies cross the international border to visit and shop. in recent years canadian visitors to detroit have been bolstered by a strong canadian dollar making shopping in the u.s. more attractive to them. >> we do get a lot of canadian traffic that comes here and spend day here. which is great. >> reporter: but that could change. the canadian dollar has weakened some 10% against the u.s. dollar with many predicting it will weaken further in 2014. and in border cities across the border, american retailers could lose their competitive edge. >> the increases that have

happened are somewhat endangered by a weaker canadian dollar. so it may cause a drop-off in canadian visitors. >> reporter: but more is at stake. a huge proportion of trade between the u.s. and canada is routed through detroit from freight on trains to goods loaded on to truckses. you can see those trucks going from the united states into canada over the ambassador bridge. this is the busiest border crossing between the two countries. 25% of all trade it's estimated goes over this bridge. the detroit three auto makers have plants on either side of this river in both countries. they buy supplies on both sides of the river. but which country gains the most often has to do with which country has the lower currency. >> so if the canadian dollar continues to decline, it will

reinvigorate sourcing from canada, because it will be a better buy with the u.s. dollar. >> reporter: much has been made of detroit's hardships over the years. it suffered from a declining manufacturing base and more recently the city's financial woes. but there is a real sense that detroit is turning the corner. >> this is our chance to rise from the ashes and be stronger than ever. >> reporter: except the weaker canadian dollar on the horizon means they may lose out on trade across the river. that was ali velshi reporting. and you can catch ali on "real money" at 7:00 pm eastern time on al jazeera america. and coming up, on illinois town fighting a company that they say is polluting their environment.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters in new york.

here are today's headlines. the vatican being forced to deal with child sex abuse in the catholic church this week. report out today shows just how widespread the problem is worldwide. tomorrow the vatican sits down with the united nations to discuss the situation. today the house sits down to discuss the budget bill. it's all about the numbers, president obama in north carolina to promote his plan for economic recovery. it is called pet-coke. it is dirty, smells bad, and people say they want something to be done. now the state of illinois stays it is going to change the way it is handled and stored. and that storing is in debate with business groups and residents. >> reporter: these piles of crumbly black powder are a biproduct of crude oil refinement called petroleum

coke, or pet-coke. >> go home! go home! >> reporter: this week a small but fired up group from chicago's southeast side came out to voice their concerns about storage of pet-coke near their homes. >> this is not your dumping ground. it is a vibrant community with families and children. >> reporter: residents have complained that soot terminates their homes making it difficult to breathe. >> this is a filter from the home, and this is not your standard household dust. this is not what you should see on a filter that is filtering the air in a house. [ applause ] >> reporter: but now state if i recalls are proposing regulations aimed at preventing the fugitive dust. some of the proposed guidelines

include requiring large companies to build enclosures for the piles, restricting processing outside, requiring tarps on trucks, and making companies maintain devices to continuously monitor air quality. last week a company removed its pet-coke files because of a lawsuit filed. according to a company executive they are no longer in the pet-coke business. another company controlled by industrialist charles and david coach said it recently invested more than $30 million in improves to their facility. >> we drew 59 samples from various areas. these samples showed no unusual levels of dust particles that could be associated with pet-coke and coal. again, it seems like our system is working. >> if they spent $30 million, i

showed you a filter from within a resident's home and that filter was filled with oilily dust. >> reporter: it appears with these new regulations companies will be allowed to continue storing it. the major difference now is that someone is watching. ♪ i'm meteorologist dave warren, a few different colors here with the warning map. we have high-wind watches and warnings. the pink color is a blizzard warning and a blizzard watch is that green color. all of this in the northern plains another impulse moving south. there goes a light area of snow over the great lakes as the wind picks up, you get blowing snow and reduced visibility.

you see these temperatures only into the single digits. been colder but will is another shot of bitter cold arctic air. it is climbing up to 29 bismarck. it really drops to the teens and below zero in far go, as the wind picks up. this storm will push east. there is some more snow moving into north dakota. it is still dry out-west, and the temperatures are dropping a bit along the mid-atlantic coast. 40 in washington, 44 in new york. but here is this cold air that will continue to push east. dense fog in philadelphia, washington, and detroit, climbing, and that fog is beginning to burn off so the visibility will continue to improve there. temperatures just below 40. and now some light snow in

central pa. rim of high-pressure out west, trough of low-pressure in the east, storms tracking along this boundary here. and it looks like it has shifted far enough where storms will be off of the coast. a lot of rain just off of the coast, we'll watch this area closely. the tracks shift a little bit, we could be talking about a little rain and snow this weekend, washington, north carolina and up to new england. dell. >> dave, thank you very much. the public getting a close look at thousands of condolence letters from the assassination of jfk sent to jackie kennedy. the collection now on display at the jfk presidential library in boston. 22,000 letters in all from people around the world. we want to thank each and every one of you for watching al jazeera america. "inside story" is next.

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