>> a stinging new report about the deadly attacks in benghazi libya. a senate committee says it's possible they could have been avoided. >> tough questions for the catholic church. the united nations set to take the vatican to task for allowing priests to abuse children and looking the other way >> explosive accusations against air force officers in charge of nuclear missiles - why dozens have been pulled off the job for cheating on safety tests and worse. >> and a unique training facility that churns out future olympic champions.

>> a blistering report on the attacks on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. the 2012 attack probably could have been avoided says the senate committee. i'm stephanie sy. >> according to the senate report they failed to increase security. the attack was not a plot but an op opportunistic attack by several groups. for the first time we hear that ambassador chris stevens refused two offers to beef up security. tracy potts has more from washington. >> the senate intelligence report says the state department failed to act on mounting evidence that militants targeted

the consulate in benghazi. >> the state department knew this was a violently part of the world, but failed to take the property security measures to protect the people in benghazi. >> the report calls the september 11, 2012, attack that killed four americans preventible, noting there were smaller attacks. the c.i.a. beefed up its security, but the senate report says ambassador chris stevens declined two or from the military to bring in a special operations team. >> even the ambassador did not want more security. a real problem. >> the military responded too slowly, the report says, placing the blame on the former secretary of state hillary clinton, the state department fired back. >> there was no specific threat indicating an attack was coming. >> afterwards the report argues intelligence officials were slow to correct a wrong assertion

blaming protesters. critics insist the story was deliberate. >> this will go down as the greatest cover up in history, politically inspired. >> tracy potts reporting. >> no suspects have been arrested in connection with the attack. the senate report says it's because the libyan government has not been helpful in tracking the suspects down. the air force is investigating allegations of cheating and drug use among officers who control some of the country's nuclear weapons. 34 officers from an air force base have been taken off detail, security details suspended. 16 officers shared answers to a proefficiency exam by texting them to each other. this is absolutely unacceptable behaviour, contrary to our core values in the air force. as everyone knows, the number

one core value is integrity. >> two fers -- officers at the air force bases were stripped of their positions. four others are facing drug investigations. >> a soldier that disappeared in twin may still be alive. there's a proof of life video, of bo bergdahl. his parents are urging his captors to set him free. in a statement the pentagon said: >> a coalition air strike killed

several civilians in a northern province of afghanistan. there are two confirmed deaths in the parwon region, as many as eight were killed, almost all children. it prompted afghan president hamid karzai to order an official inquiry into things. civilian deaths say it's a reason he refused to sign a deal keeping american forces in the country. >> the vatican is reeling after revelations of police sexually abusing children. a scathing 48 page report has been published. the scandal is the subject of a united nations meeting in geneva. as simon mcgregor-woods reports, it's forcing the church to defend publicly its policy. >> peter saunders was a victim

of sexual abuse at the hands of his catholic priest at school, as his brother mike. who had an early death. most survivors are not interested in compensation. they are interested in seeing change, friday 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 whose child hoods have been stolen. the vatican has a new pope. he is popular and made promises, pope francis wants openness and a new transparency on this toxic issue. he set up a new committee of his own to look into it. thursday's appearance is overdue. the extent to which they engage with the u.n. will be a test of france sis's papacy and whether

he can deliver on the issue of sexual abuse and cover up. >> a new report details how widespread it has been. the authors have little optimism that the church will change its approach. >> we traced back over the last two decades all the promises that have been made and what happened. there have been many promises in the past. everything that has happened happened in se cesse. >> in do 12 the u.n. asked the vatican to respond to questions about child abuse and what assist doing about it. many questions are unanswered. >> if the institution acknowledges failings, i, like many others and suffered at its hand will have some form of closure and some means of moving on. >> the u.n. committee meeting with the holie seer is under

way. simon mcgregor-wood has been covering the story. >> it's the first time since 1994 that the diplomatic part of the vatican turned up to be questioned on the committee on the rights of the child, the vatican signing the convention to protect the rights of children. there has been huge scandal of sexual abuse within the vatican and the catholic church erupted. we had a statement read out in the building by the ambassador to the u.n., monsignor tomasi. what people hoped for was a change in the vatican's tone, a signal that they were going to do more to combat sexual abuse, more to deal with the injustices of the past. to start providing the u.n. and others with details of the cases

it prosecuted internally. measures and procedures that it's settling up to ensure that things don't happen. there's a hope in charge. pope francis is widely popular on a number of issues threatening transparency. the question here from the interested parties was was the vatican going to show the open innocence on the toxic issue of child abuse. the initial response to the submission has not been very positive, there's a lot of general rhetoric. there's no detail. once he delivered it he was questioned closely by two from the committee. they were tough in their questions and want a lot more answered. there are a lot of people hoping for a new atmosphere. we spoke to some of them, represented by various groups, and what they hoped, more than anything else is for the vatican to turn a page to deal with this

in a different way. >> simon mcgregor-wood reporting from geneva. >> egypt is edging closer to having its third constitution approved in two years. egyptians voted overwhelmingly to a new charter, voting yes. it could set the stage for the army chief to declare his candidacy for president. international elements are raising alarms about the fairness of the vote. what is new about the egypt constitution. the preamble says that it is seeking to build a civilian government, they could by tried before courts, but only on direct attacks on military location and personnel. islam is the official religion, but there is freedom to practice

other religions. >> al jazeera calls for the release of our colleagues detained in egypt. mohamed fadel fahmy, baher mohamed, and correspondent peter greste have been held for 19 days. they are accused of spreading lies harmful to state security. the allegations are baseless. the three are held in towera prison. two other journalists from al jazeera's sister channel is held. senator john mccain tweeted his support. senator mccain spoke to john seigenthaler about the impact of the new constitution. ipted the constitution, which will be approved overwhelmicly places the military in a position where they decide their own budget. they are on an autonomous organization in egypt. that's

not a democracy. second of all, there is significant support in egypt for the muslim brotherhood. whether it's right or wrong. i'll leave others to decide. you'll have an insurgency here unless there's a reconciliation there between the government and those in disagreement. many of the leaders of toronto mayor are now in gaol. many of the liberals who wanted a liberal - more liberal society have been in prison. thousands have been in prison. that's not the way to the path for democracy. you can't do that in this day and age. they are facing another aljeer ja. >> 11 have been killed. 444 people were arrested during the 44 days of voting. >> a car bombing killed three and injured 26 in lebanon, and

happened during the morning rush out. her mel is a stronghold of the hezbollah group, near the border with syria. it's the first attack to hit the border down since 2011. nine years after the assassination of prime minister harirari, a tribunal opened at the hague. the trial of five men accused of killing him could divide the coup country. >> the former prime minister harirari's assassination was a political earthquake that tore lebanon's society apart. nine years later there is fear that the trial of those suspected of his murder will do the same. five have been indicted. members of hezbollah. it's power base lies in

lebanon's shia muslim community, and is akilled of killing a sunni muslim leader. >> translation: the assassination had a severe impact on lebanon. muslims were divided. sunnis and shi'as, everyone hates each other. >> harirari was filmed leaving parliament on the morning of february 14, 2005. he headed home. his armoured motorcade was hit about a truck bombing detonated by an unidentified suicide bomber. prosecutors from the special international tribunal for lebanon say they have enough evidence to start the trial, basing the indictment on witness testimony and a mobile telephone network used exclusively by the five. it is circumstantial evidence. the trial is held in absentia. the prosecution urged the

lebanese government to step up efforts to arrest the men. >> hezbollah, a powerful group promised not to cooperate with a court that is part of an international conspiracy against it. it said the tribunal is discredit discredited. this is the first time, a list of political crimes. some lebanese ask why. for others, the trial is a victory for justice. we have a lot of people in lebanon, that this is a political tribunal. for us, we think it's a serious tribunal. it was very serious inquiry. >> the assassination sparked mass protests. anger and accusations were directed against the syrian state, forcing it to end three decade long presence in lebanon. years later syria's ally hezbollah is accused of

compoliceansy. the verdict is unlikely to heel the society. >> james bay is at the hague in the netherlands for the trial. given that as reported the accused are not there. what does this court really mean. >> well, it depends who you speak to. the defense have serious misgivings about this case. there are defense lawyers here. they have not been appointed by the accused because, as you say, there's no one in the dog. the accused are not present and have never been questioned and brought into custody. some say it's a semp, others say it's a case acting nine metres

receiver the crime, where cost huge amounts of money, others who say it's a search for justice. a crime that shocked lebanon and the middle east. an assassination and a bomb that was so large that it not just killed harirari, but members of the entourage and security details, a total of 22 people died. a lot of people say that harirari's death signalled an era of sectarian violence. what have we seen come out of the trial so far? >> well, we have seen the laying out of the case of the prosecution case which mainly relies on mobile phone records from the scene of those and

around the scene and who the prosecution say the accused were carrying out surveillance on mr harirari. in the court room, on the floor of the courtroom, they built a scale model of the whole part of beirut on the seafront where harirari's armoured convoy was cloen up. james bays with the laters from the hague. thank you so much. >> the first subpoenas for new jersey's bridge-gate scandal could come today. a governor's aide at the top of the list. the governor fired bridget anne kelly when emails revealed she hatched a plan to tie up track as an act of political revenge. former attorney general rhyce shaw has been brought op as counsel. the taps are flowing in some

west virginia homes where the company at the center of a contamination case may be in hot water. >> i'm being quiet. >> desperate calls for hep during the new mexico attack. sunday the big security plans in place for the big game. >> the heat is on. we show you how tennis players cope for temperatures. taking a live look now. the u.n. committee on the rights of the child is continuing in geneva. this is a live look at the meeting where

>> live around west virginia's elk river is returning to normal. a chemical spill tainted the water supply for hundreds of thousands of people. >> welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy. >> the water has been declared safe to drink in several areas. some residents are not sure they

believe if. ashar quraishi explains that the company responsible for the spill has been cited for safety violations at another chemical plant. >> some taps are running. many places are closed. thousands can use the water again, many more cannot. consider these photographs popping up on social media showing the water cloudy and discoloured. a week after the chemical leak it is far from normal. residents are going to emergency rooms, schools are shut down and families asking is the water safe. >> we don't know how long it will be, and we'll be without everything. the investigation into what went wrong, how and why is just ber going. it started with the smell of liquorice. authorities found a hole in a containment hall, large enough for the chemical to trickle into the river.

inspectors had not checked the section of the plant since 2001. freedom industries moved the 70,000 gallons of the chemical to a site run by poker blending incorporated. is it safe. consider this report by the department of the environmental protection, finding several violation, including no record of employee training since 2004. no effective secondary containment and nowhere from the chemical to collect if there's another leak. the report and the leak is shocking. in west virginia activists that inspections a lacking and they protect the companies not the people. >> many hope it will lead to chemical companies, more oversight. mchn is used to clean coal, one

of west virginia's top export. they put an more torium on mchn injection sites, and expert do not know where ert sites may be. >> metrologist nicole mitchell is here with the temperatures. >> not too bad this morning, but tomorrow it will be cold. right now temperatures in minnesota, 34 doctorings. you have the system coming through, it will drop the temperatures down. it's warmer than atlanta that we are seeing as we continue out the door. >> later temperatures are dropping. it will spread southward. it's warm in the west where we use the rain. watch the temperatures, especially through the south. overnight temperatures below freezing. with the exception of the

panhandle a lot of places under freeze warning. >> another day of scorching temperatures at the australian open. how a name avoided a meltdown. i heard it was like 104 degrees. >> it was warmer. obviously with this event every year we have high temperatures, and a lot of health concerns. the world's elite tennis players face brutal conditions with temperatures soaring into triple digits. it's a battle for survival. australian open officials enacted an extreme heat policy suspending play on the outer courts. not affected was maria sharapova's match. they said ladies play on. third set. down 6-5, the match to 6-6. the temperature 102.

nap took the game. sharapova serving to hold on. no tie break are er -- breaker, you have to win by two. nap took an 8-7 in the third. sharapova rallied, taking four match points before getting nap to hit the ball long and sharapova survives, advancing in 3 hours 38 minutes. the temperature 109 at the end of the match. >> there's no way of the getting around the fact that the conditions were extremely difficult and have been for the last few days. >> it was really hot. i know it was hot for me. i know it was hot for maria, and we were fighting, both fighting with the heat. >> i lay down in the locker room for the past hour, because i just couldn't, you know, physically get up. >> turning to the n.b.a., the l.a. clippers task in the next

month or so, find a way to stay near the top of the conference while awaiting chris paul to return. they are down. watch jamal. the clippers hit 17 three pointers. clips down, to rhettic for his seventh three. scoring with 33. clips cut the leave to one. de-andre steals the pass. rhettics put them ahead. they won four in a row. >> miami heat in a funk in the nation's capital, falling behind by 34 to the wizards. washington poured in 43. the heat napped. the 2-time defending champs cut the deficit. the wizard regrouped.

washington chipping in. the heat dropping three strait. >> and in the n.f.l. teams raid the bengels coaching staff. cincinnati coordinating staffer took over in washington and the minnesota vikings used former beping else defensive koord -- being else defensive coordinator mike zimer. they ranged in the top 10 for points. he takes over for leslie frais e. this is zimmer's first head coaching opportunity. that wraps it up for sports. snow the humanitarian crisis in syria is to dire. it's half the country's population urgently needing help. the highest ranking officer joins us next. to detail what is done to get

aid to the right people. >> chilling 911 calls from students inside a school where a 12-year-old opened fire, plus startling information about what - from police about the young suspect. >> mexico's government is not just battling drug cartels, but fighting against

>> welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy. >> the senate committee released its report on the 2012 benghazi consulate attack. saying that not enough was down to secure the consulate

notwithstanding the threat level was high. the judgment and actions of of the late ambassador chris stevens. he died in the attack with three colleagues. on the anniversary of the in any event attacks. >> first of all, listening to pastoral victims with reports... >> at this hour a contingent of vatican priests are in geneva. it is the first time the catholic church acknowledges the child abuse scandal. the u.n. wants to know how the church has made changes, and that children are being victimized. a tribunal is underway at the hague against four members of hezbollah. none are there for the proceedings. they have been charged with a 2005 assassination of harirari.

the men are at large and tried in absentia. battles and bloodshed in mexico. it's a bitter standoff between vigilantes and a drug ar tell. a group of -- cartel. a group of citizens rose up. vig lanties control a third of michoacan. adam raney reports that many are refusing to lay down their guns. >> a shattered symbol of a carr pel losing the support of the people it says it phytes for. once viewed by many with awe and respect. the cartel became feared for praying on those it claimed to protect. extortion, kidnapping and killing are now the hallmarks. >> jorge carrasco reported on

knights templar for years. >> it's remembered as a group giving money, helping sick family members. we have the social aspect, but we see the phenomenon of extortion and kidnapping. it is not helping the people, buts extorting them. >> the knights templar made millions trafficking drugs, running illegal mines and protection rack et cetera. the network stretches from mexico to asia. they were born after a split between another cartel la famila, following the killing of the cult-like leader nazario moreno. his body was never found. many believe he is still alive. others vennerate him as a saint. the knights templar leaders shrouded themselves in the mythology of ancient christian warriors. while paying homage they have taken on modern tactics. it's reputed leader says servando gomez is an ex-school

teacher who says he's waging a war for the citizens. >> i represent the knights templar, and our intention is to ensure our fellow inhabitants can live in peace. it's a harder sell. many across the states have been touched by the cartel's violence. for the past year they have been in a fight against vigilante group. >> the government sent thousands of soldiers to take back territory controlled by the cartel. >> after years in which violence ranged. authorities here in koex coe city show that they have being helping in a state where impunity and violence reined for so long. >> more than 70,000 have been

killed in mexico's drug-related violence for the past six years. >> police in india are looking for suspects in the canning rape of a tourist, holding two men in connection with an attack. the 51-year-old was grabbed in the capital. sexual violence in india gained international tapes after a medical stupid was gang raped on a because. she died of the injuries she is sustain muched >> authorities busted a paedophile raining streaming live abuse. an operation from the u.s., u.k. and australia - 700 suspects have been identified in a dozen countries. 15 children aged 6 to 16 were rescued. >> aggravated battery, that's a charge against a 12-year-old boy who opens fire on a classmate.

as erica pitzi reports, the charge came on a day police released 911 tapes, capturing moments in a gym. >> a series of 911 calls shows a school under siege. >> shocked students and panicked parents. >> i have a call from my daughter: >> that someone was a 12-year-old seventh grader with a 20-gauge pump shotgun. it belonged to his parents, but the boy modified it himself. the handler or handle was shot off. it had three rounds of ammunition in that weapon. what i would categorise at bird shot. >> wielding the weapon the boy opened fire on classmates inside a packed gymnasium at the start of the day. >> two students were hit.

an 11-year-old boy was in critical continues. 13-year-old kendall sanders is recovering from a shot to the right shoulder. a school teacher that went to help spoke softly: >> berendo middle school reopens where teachers will serve as counsellor. three shots were fired at random into the crowd. the first hit the scheming, the second the floor and the third hit the bleachers. police say the shooter had a plan. they do not believe he specifically targeted anyone. >> so traumatic. erica pitzi, thank you. >> a shooting at an indiana grocery store left two dead. police were called to the

martins grocery store. they heard a gunshot and found the gunman holding his weapon at someone's head. officers opened fire, killing him. >> we know that he did have a gun pointed at an individual, which we believe was an employee at the time when the police showed up. we are confident that the quick response to the scene most definitely probably saved lives. >> the two victims were found in separate parts of the store, a woman in her 40s. it's unclear if a gunman knew either of the victims. >> video of an ace yarno plane crash shows rescuers were aware that someone was injured on the plane. you could see the rescuers warning that someone was on the ground. they did not mark or move the

person. the same fire truck returns to the area and spray foam. according to the family of the 16 yoorld girl, the video shows her in the grass before being run over by a fire truck. a coroner ruled that she was alive. her family is suing the city of san francisco. >> the united nations secretary-general says half of syria's population is in immediate need of aid. that is nearly 9.5 million people. the u.n. is appealing for 6.5 billion. they have been able to secure a third of that goal. they were making head way. the highest donor is a host country. the u.s. is promising 380 million. saudi arabia pledged 250 million at the conference.

>> to discuss syria's need for help. we are joined by peter kessler, a spokesman from syria. he joins us this morning. thanks for being with us. the situation out of syria is dire. 6.5 million fled their home, displaced inside syria. 2.4 is a refugee outside the country. my question - if the u.n. gets all the funds it need, what is the greatest challenge to managing this enormous crisis. >> well, over the past nearly three years, we have succeeded in assisting more than 2.3 million people who fled the country and gotten great deals of aid into the hands that are needing. it is a day to day operation as

we assist those in camps and work to give aid. these are families. while we are talking about millions of people, you break the numbers down into 1.1 million. just in children refugees, more than 75% of these people were women and children. the needs are enormous, they are getting to school or winter. it is a race against time. we see the work that you are doing. the important question is how can the u.n. make sure it gets to people that need it within syria. how do you get aid to the people that need it there, in the middle of the war zone. >> unhcr has a large number of

u.n. staff. we goddate to more than 3 million people. 8 million separate relief items were distributed in all 14 areas. sometimes we send convoys, they have to be recalled. we negotiate and send them back. ex-ly they get through. we have partners. they are dependable partners working with all parties on the ground. our agency partners. unicef, the iic, who are getting aid through. polio vaccinations. there is a good deal getting into syria. with a war going on we are seeing the country hem ridge people with 4,000 people crossing the border daily. >> there has been multiple reports that the assad regime is

getting aid in rebel communities were there may be civilians starve. how do they make sure the aid was not used to prop of bashar al-assad during the war. >> well, we are monitoring where the aid is going, we are working with local partners monitoring how it's being used. there are, of course, a multitude of challenges on the ground. you have opposition fighters who, themselves may turn aid astray. you mentioned the government. clearly there are concerns and it's right to have concerns. our message to all the parties involved in the combat in syria is that it's their responsibility under international humanitarian law to make sure the aid reaches those in need. we monitor how it's going in, we are continuing to remind the

authorities and groups in power in various areas that they have to cooperate with us as an international humanitarian obligation. >> they are saying this is the largest humanitarian disaster in the world. peter kessler, spokesman coming to us from ayman. >> thank you. >> it's wondered whether hundreds of millions should be spent in south sudan. the u.s. has spend an estimated $600 million annually to build the fledgeling nation, including weapons sales to the government and providing security for armed forces. some in congress wants to cut the country off because it is on the brink of becoming the world's next failed state. >> wicked winds are winning the midwest. in morn -- northern sections

there are warnings. >> we look at the bigger picture. the snow coming through. there has been a round of clippers. it's not where we have the broader area of snow that we are worried about, it's north of this with the light snow, but the winds are causing problems. as we get to places like the dakotas. the winds can be troublesome. look at the temperatures. look at minneapolis, this is the temperature going up. fargo at 16. a lot of temperatures will fall as the front comes through and the winds shift and they are more out of the north. with the winds they are howling. the whole region is under high winds. for winds with gusts of over 40

miles per hour. white snow can create white out conditions. here is gusts, rapid city 50 miles per hour, driving is very challenging. we have low pressure going through. high off to the west. it's that pressure gradient. when it changes dramatically it funnels the wind and that's why we are seeing what we are seeing. some of that pattern leading to the dry conditions in the west. more on where we see stuff on the radar in a mn. >> in business, homes foreclornal hit a 6-year low. filition fell 26% to 1.4 million. it's the lowest level before the housing bubble. sheila bair told ali velshi's "real money" that lenders should not be lax when it comes to home

lending. >> we had too much mortgage lending. it was an unsustainable engine of consumption. people had mortings they couldn't afford. it was a bad model. we don't want to go back to that. we'll have more data later. freddy mack and the association of home builders releases its housing market for january. >> city bank replaces all debit cards hit by the breach. the bank did not replace the cards because it wanted to minimise disruptions through the holiday period. jpmorgan chase said it will reissue cards. >> fourth quarter earnings to be released. >> investors brace for another wave of quarterly earnings.

>> in asia: >> european stocks lower an a 4-day winning streak. >> we'll look at how the labor market is holding up after a disappointing jobs data. the government releases its weekly jobless data. an economist says the job market looks tepid. >> we have had a lot of part-time work created, people are taking lower paying jobs than they were before. they are getting back into the workforce. we still have the long-term unemployed people. >> today's jobless claims data will be watched to decide if the surprisingly weak december jobs report was a sign of things to come or a one off. >> an american town has become a breeding ground for olympians. why steamboat springs is

creating so many champions

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. ahead - a u.s. town that sent more olympians to the last three olympic games than small countries. first, a look at where the smo and rain will fall. >> as we look at the big picture. you can tell we have high pressure. no rain in sight for the renalingon that needs it, and places that would rather share what they are getting. as we head to the north-east. the frontal boundary coming through. this line extending to north carolina. it's moving through quickly. by noon, 1 o'clock, if you see any of it, isolated stuff. our bigger snow area, and it's more that the winds are driving it into the midwest. >> thank you. the winter olympics begin next

month in sochi, russia. hundreds will compete. there's a town in particular that will have a through the be proud of. we report from steamboat springs. a breeding ground for olympians. >> forget football. this is how they do friday night lights in steamboat springs. the kids line up and launch themselves into the darkness. >> saturday morning it's time for spaed camp. >> and saturday afternoon a cross-country race. for all these kids, this is base camp. the steamboat springs winter sports club at howelsen hill. it's a place to play, meet, and compete. >> i'm on top of howelsen hill. it may be humble compared to big sister steam boat. but here it is mt olimb pus.

it is built from dirt and dreams. >> on the slopes they've been cranking out olympians. a celebrated son, retirement skier johnny spillane says winning is not what this place is all about. >> first and foremost it's a great place for kids to ski. >> johnny spillane grow up a few blocks from the club. at the vancouver olympics he was the first medallist in the nordic combined brining together ski jumping and cross-country. >> all the kids are having fun, and you can't be successful without enjoying what you do. >> this is the history. >> this is the man who started it. carl howelston. >> he founded the club in 1914, he fuelled a winning formula. 96 olympians and counting. >> a large majority come back

and settle. they ball coaches. >> brian and david fletcher, grown up, are on their way to sochi. >> it's a community gathering spot to come here and train and to learn sportsmanship, their morals, ethics, goals in life. >> make no mistake these boys and girls are vision of olympic glory. >> the women ski jumpers say it's the first year they are getting to jump in the olympics. >> do you guys dream of having your own flag. >> it will be cool to see your name on the flag. >> in this room each flag represents an olympic appearance, proof that sometimes here, more than any place else olympic dreams take flight.

>> steamboat springs residents will gather on january 25th to send off the latest group headed to the sochi winter olympics. the olympic tradition started in 1932 when john steele at the lake plas ied winter games attended. olympians with ties to steamboat springs represented 11 countries, including u.s., australia, canada and the netherlands. todd loderick was steamboat springs's 5-time olympian, and is the most successful nordic combined skiing. >> richelle carey joins us with a look at the stories for the next hour. >> good morning. representatives have gone before a united nations panel in geneva to answer questions about text abuse by priests. a decade after little has changed. >> a senate report lays partial claim for the attack on the men

consule even on ambassador stevens himself. >> 34 ranking officers dealing with nuclear weapons are accused of cheating on proficiency exactlies. >> dozens of earth quakes rattli rattling texas. they blame drilling for oil for shaking the ground below their feet. >> and what president obama is doing to make sure every child, regardless of background has a shot at going to college. >> and i'm beback with the

>> no excuse for child abuse. the vatican speaks out against sex abuse cases in the catholic church and propose healing and respect. >> a new senate report says the attack on the consulate in benghazi could have been prevented. >> making a comeback, how entrepreneurs are breathing life back into detroit's economy after the motor city went bank repute. >> i was born during hurricane katrina. i came out of my mama's stomach while it happened. >> how hurricane katrina is shaping in kid's lives some eight years later.

>> bonk, welcome to aljazeera america. >> the sat ken once again finds itself at the center of a sexual abuse scandal, being forced to defend publicly its policy of protecting pedophile priests. >> right now the u.n. is talking to the holy see. the vatican said there can be no excuse for child abuse. >> the allegations present the first big challenge for pope francis. the latest scandal documents decades long history of abuse in the church and it spanned continents and implicates officials high up in the church. >> peter saunders was a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of his click priest at school. so was his brother, mike. for him, abuse triggered a life

cursed by drink, drugs and an early death. peter runs an organization helping other survivors. >> most survivors are not particularly interested in compensation. they're interested in seeing change. they're 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 whose childhood's have been stolen. >> the vatican has a new pope. he's popular, and he's 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 by his emissaries before the u.n. is overdue, the extend to which they enthat gauged seriously with the u.n. you will be a test of francis papacy and whether he can deliver on the issue of sexual abuse and allegatios of

cover up. a new report details how widespread the abuse has been. the authors have this to say. >> there have been many promises in the past, but very little has happened concretely and everything that has allegedly happened has happened in complete secrecy. >> in 2012, the u.n. asked the vatican to respond to questions about child abuse and what it's doing about it. many questions remain unanswered. >> if the institution acknowledges its many failings, then i, like many other oh people who suffered at its hands i think will have some form of closure and some means of perhaps moving on. >> the vatican is coming to geneva because it signed the u.n.'s convention on the rights of the child. it says it takes its treaty

obligations very seriously although its action or inaction might suggest otherwise. this is a signal they are going to do something about it. >> archbishop thomas i said: >> what exactly is that convention of the rights of the child u.n. officials and vatican delegates are focusing on? it is to take measures to protect children from harm and put the interests of children above all else. the holy see, which is the jurisdiction of the church ratified that convention in 1990 and submitted a first implementation. it did not provide progress

reports for almost 10 years and only submitted one in 2012 after receiving a storm of criticism following the revelations in 2010 of child sexual abuse cases in your and elsewhere. >> a new senate intelligence committee supports the attack in ben gassy could have been prevented, critical of the state department and american intelligence agencies who did not do enough to boost security despite increased threats. it is the first report to criticize am bass door chris stevens directly who along with three he other americans died in the attack. it raises questions about his judgment and actions in the weeks before his death. >> three are dead and 20 others injured after a car bomb rocked lebanon in the most town of hermel during the morning commute. the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber. it is a strong hold of lebanon's hezbollah group near syria.

>> the trial of five men accused of killing former lebanese prime minister opened in the hague thursday. he and 21 others were killed in a bomb attack in 2005. james baze is there for a trial of accused that are not even there. >> nine years after the massive bombing, yes, the trial has opened and yes, we heard the opening statements. we are now hearing the prosecutor laying out his case. he'll be doing that for about another day, laying out the whole of his opening case. we'll hear from lawyers representing the victims and we're going to hear from the defense counsel, but the defense are defending defendants who aren't here, as you say. they are being tried in absenta. the hague is used to trying

cases where they relate to the former countries. the way it's been formed to actually try people who are not here, who are not present, a trial we think is going to take some considerable time. this is only supposed to last until 2015, it's likely to have to get that mandate extended. i don't think anyone here thinks that trial will be completed in 13 months. >> thank you. >> there's new evidence that a u.s. soldier who disappeared from an afghanistan base in 2009 is still alive. the military confirms it has new proof of life and a video of early sergeant beau berdall, the only american prisoner of war. he is being held by a group with links to the taliban. his parents are urging his

captors to set him free. they said: >> a coalition air strike has killed several civilians in a northern province of afghanistan. there are at least two confirmed deaths in the par one region, but reports as many as eight people were killed, almost all children. the incident prompted afghan president has mid karzai to order an official inquiry. >> more than 75 were killed and dozens injured in car bombs around baghdad wednesday. the blasts occurred in mostly shia neighborhoods. senator john mccain has been an outspoken critic of president obama's handling of the foreign policy throughout the region. >> i think it's very obvious

that throughout the middle east, america is declining in influence and on the wane and people are making their own accommodation for the departure of the united states, whether it be hamid karzai or the saudis who have lost trust in us. yesterday, a very unusual thing happened, the defense minister of israel basically insulted our secretary of state and the prime minister of israel did not repudiate him. >> 2013 was the deadliest year in iraq since 2008, almost 8,000 people were killed last year. later in the hour, we'll talk with the former u.n. al-qaeda team chief about the growing violence in that country. >> a major scandal has rocked the air force. hundreds of crew members including 190 officers are expected to retake proficiency exams thursday.

they're facing accusations ranging from drug use to cheating on tests. that some of the officers have been taken off the job and security clearance suspended. >> they are at the heart of america's strategy of dietarians, international continental ballistic missiles armed with weapons. the service chief of staff revealed that 34 air force officers at the air force base in montana are now under investigation for drug use and cheating on proficiency exams. they are the officers in charge of the land based nuclear icbm's. >> this is absolutely unacceptable behavior and it is completely contrary to our core values in the air force. the number one core value for us is integrity. >> 16 officers shared the answers to a monthly test by texting them to each other and

another 18 knew but failed to report it. >> we decertified all involved. they are restricted from missile crew duty, security suspended and the investigation will continue. >> the command and control system for u.s. nuclear missiles dates back to the 1950's, but to this day, 600 air force officers usually in pairs oversee the readiness of nuclear missiles, working from the missile silos. 5% of the nuclear force has been caught in the cheating scandal. air force officials insisted the u.s. nuclear mission has not been compromised. >> i want all of you to know that based on everything i know today, i have great confidence in the security and the effectiveness of our icbm force. >> still, secretary announced that all remaining icbm officers will be retested by the end of the week. the air force has long been concerned about the tedious and potentially boring nature of

nuclear officer responsibilities. the scandal emerged from a drug session. two officers in montana were recently accused of drug use and stripped of their duties. ten other officers at four other bases now face drug investigations, as well. >> but drug and cheating in fracks are can arid especially sensitive in any of the launch facilities for america's more than 400 land based nuclear missiles. as underscored from the pentagon, the officers responsible for those missiles have no margin for error. david shuster, aljazeera. >> this is one of a growing number of scandals surrounding the u.s. nuclear missile prom. in may, the air force announced it relieved 17 officers of their duties. last month, major michael kerry was removed, major general, was removed as commander of the 20th air force after accused of drinking heavily during a visit to moscow.

>> parts of the u.s. will face blizzard like conditions. >> for more, let's bring in meteorologist nicole mitchell. good morning. >> good morning. we're already starting to feel some of the effects of this system, not maybe what you would expect. we had a rise in minneapolis, omaha temperature rises, the catch is those will fall throughout the day as this next system pushes through. you can see all of this winding up with a couple different bands of snow. we had a few clippers go through the area. a lot of this snow isn't particularly heavy, it's the fact that this low pressure has a dramatic pressure change and that really cranks up the high winds. wind gusts, bismarck within this hour, over 50 miles an hour. as the system moves on, those wind cores move sawedward. it's the wind blowing everything and that could create whiteout conditions through the day. that's why we have the blizzard warning up. it might not technically be a

blizzard, because you need those conditions for a three hour stretch, but at times we'll have those conditions out there. the winds will make things difficult for driving. the pressure change helps crank up the winds. on the backside, we still have the high pressure. on the west coast and the pattern and that, also contributing to the drought conditions, as we get those dry winds in again today, so a lot of fire hazards up through the state of california and that's been a persistent problem with dry temperatures drying everything out. >> president obama and first lady mitch sh mitchell obama win greater access to college for low income students. some differences will first have to be put aside. >> i've got a phone that allows me to convene americans from every walk of life, non-profits,

businesses, the private sector, universities. >> it is heads of universities that the president along with the first lady will host at the white house thursday for a day-long summit helping to make higher education more affordable. the meeting will carry a hint of tension since the president is asking college leaders for ideas on how to help low income students, while submitting to a proposed college rating system that affects how schools receive federal funds. that move is opposed by many college presidents, and some republicans on capitol hill. for now, that battle will wait as today's meeting is aimed at helping one core group. meanwhile, a new federal report today said most low income students with high test scores often don't apply to colleges, because they believe it's

unaffordable. that leaves some students to write off college as a possibility long before their senior year in high school. the efforts to increase access to those students will be outlined in another report, which points to specific plans by more than 100 colleges, universities, non-profits, and businesses. with millions being pledged and allocated by those in the report. the push for the president's call for action is fueled by a first o. term goal, to have the world's highest proportion of college graduates by 2020. >> i've got a pen and i've got a phone and i can use that pen to sign an executive order and take executive actions and administrative actions that move the ball forward in helping to make chu our kids are getting the best education possible. >> the u.s. has slipped to 12, not only trailing east asian countries, but russia and belgium, as well. aljazeera. >> the obamas will focus on connecting high performing students with the school rights

for them and calling for breakthroughs in remedial education to make sure low in come students are successful when they get into college. >> the the justice department is expected to expand the definition of racial profiling. "the new york times" said the new definition will prohibit federal age subsequent from considering gender, sexual other subsequentation or religion or national orientation. the department has been criticized for singling out muslims and la teen knows. there is no word on when or how this will happen. >> a 1.8 drillun dollars government spending plan is moving forward. the house approved the bill wednesday. it funds almost every agency from airports to defense costs. the senate is expected to vote on the bill by the end of the week. >> first subpoenas for i new jersey's bridge gate scandal.

the governor fired bridget kelly when emails revealed she helped hatch a plan to tie up traffic for days at one of the world's busiest bridges as an act of political revenge. the former u.s. attorney has been brought on as special counsel. he helped investigate corruption charges against former illinois governor rod blagojevich. >> now for some headlines making news and the globe this morning. the times of india reports that u.s. diplomats still face blowback over the diplomatic fiasco there. indian officials demand information about the spouses of u.s. officials teaching in american schools in new delhi, mumbai. >> these tit for tat moves are going to go on for a while. the current in connecticut reports state coffers are sitting pretty as bonuses could push budget surplus toward $500 million. a lot of taxes to collect. >> the chicago "sun times" said

the city will clamp down on drivers illegally using handicap parking decals. the decals, which used to be red or blue have been changed to yellow and gray to enforce the new law. fines are $65 for downtown and $50 for elsewhere. >> i don't get people that do that. it's just wrong. >> park and walk. >> exactly. >> tremors in texas. >> one small town is hit by earth quakes. >> the role some say oil and gas drilling may be playing. >> home investments, the gains the housing market has made to push it back to preeconomic levels. >> our big number of the day, and it's a very big reason for one industry to celebrate.

>> keep going, this is the fun part. i love this. >> three he billion

$830 million, the huge number of the day. that's what the top 50 worldwide tourists rated combined numbers last year, from the trade publication. analysts say the boom is partly inflated ticket prices, they are very expensive and artists playing more shows to make up for lackluster record sales. >> the top grossing artists for 2013, justin bieber pulled in a cool $169 million, third is pink with $170 million. beyonce grabs the second spot with $188.6 million. i actually went to that concert and jersey's own bonn overve grabbed the top spot, $259.5 million. clearly he is not just living on a prior. >> i wonder how expensive their tickets are. that's impressive. >> welcome back to aljazeera america. residents in north texas have been hit recently, but the

string of earth quakes from texas, we don't have earth quakes, something is -- exactly, something is going on. they're very concerned. that state officials have hired seismologists to figure out what's going on. some think the reason may be man made. >> i think i know what you're talking about, but first, let's look and it is temperatures across the nation today. meteorologist nicole mitchell is back. nicole. >> good morning. we are tarting to see more of that cold air come back in. some of these temperatures will not be this mild as we get into tomorrow. minneapolis has gone up. that will drop throughout the day and not get close by tomorrow. as we look at the day time highs, you can already see that temperature has dropped, still very warm in the west, very dry, still the fire dangers because of the combination of conditions and wind. the cool air is sinking southward. miami, 70's yesterday, 60's today and look at what happens to these temperatures overnight. a lot of them below freezing. even much which florida is under freeze watches or warnings, own

the panhandle, miami goes down to 42 overnight. doesn't sound cold to a lot of us, but for them, the jackets are coming out. >> the jackets, those poor things. thanks, nicole. >> a a chemical company accused of contaminating the water supply of west virginians is in more hot water. the company is cited for five safety violations at their nitro facility, finding it lacked a second containment. freedom industries is blamed for spilling chemicals into the elk river. >> a small texas town is literally on shaky ground. it has been hit by more than 30,000 earthquakes in the last month alone. mark schneider reports some say the reason is obvious. >> hazel is a quiet texas town of 11,000 people. at least it used to be quiet. >> you hear a big boom, and windows shake, the dogs go to

barking. >> sean is describing an earthquake, between two and 3.5 magnitude, not enough to cause damage, but regardless, people here have had enough. >> all of a sudden, 30 in one area? who's going to cover all of the damages that may can you are in the future if we fail to act right now? >> 800 residents packed the first of two town hall meetings calling on at texas railroad commission which regulates drilling to look into the cause of these quakes. >> i can see their point, they worry it could get worse. >> billy caldwell is an independent consultant and professor who specialized in the oil and gas field for 60 years. >> there's a fault trend. here's a major, this dark line is a fault trend coming this way. >> he points out there are three fault lines nearby. he believes the continuous pumping of waste water into disposal wells has impacted the plane into the point of causing

the quakes. he said in recent decades, there's been little to no earthquake activity here. >> i think if my theory is correct, we ought to consider pumping less and pumping shower and see if that happens. >> how will that be received by the oil and gas companies? >> not well. it would slow down everything. >> dozens of residents decided to oh jump on a bus next week, go to the state capital in austin and pressure state leaders to get something done about this sooner. the mayor thinks it's too early for that. >> they know there's a problem. they, you know, are hiring a seismologist now. the railroad commission is fully aware of the problem. it's like i told somebody else, i don't think it's time to bring out the pitch forks and torches yet. >> until there is conclusive evidence from the study the railroad commission is starting, opinions will fly. >> i just think people is overreacting. i don't think it's got anything to do with the oil field. >> if it does, geologiesists say

people don't need to fair a massive quake. this kind of work can't cause one. the adjustment geeological survey is working to determine exactly where it is originating. >> the state of tax has 35 active injection wells. about 7,000 are used for deep waste water disposal from hydraulic fracting, which could be causing these quakes according to many. >> city bank will replace all debit cards hit by that data breach. they were not replaced sooner because it wanted to minimize holiday shopping. one market watcher said banks now have to deal with new regulations. >> dodd frank is a huge change

for the banks. i think the good old days when normal earnings were poor and you could make it up through trading and investment banking and investing in hedge funds and private equity, those days are gone. >> wall street is in wait and see mode ahead of reports. that the dow starts the day at 16,481, the s&p at a new record. asia markets ended higher, japan closed in the minus column. european tox are mostly lower after a four day winning streak. >> analysts expect jcpenney's decision, the reaction to close 33 stores and cut 2,000 jobs. the target price for the stock is low erred. stocks have lost two thirds of their value. the struggling retailer said the move will save about $65 billion a year.

>> it turned out to be a brutal holiday season for best buy. the retailer reporting sales dropped .9 during the period. its profits will be hurt, because it was forced to offer deep discounts to hold on to customers. >> fewer homeowners lost homes last year to foreclosure. foreclosure filing fell 26% in 2013 to 1.4 million, the lowest level since before the housing bubble burst. >> addressing past sins. >> the vatican is confronted about sexual abuse cases in the catholic church. >> the steps to make amends for these crimes. >> violence in iraq, what can be done about the escalating sectarian fighting and how much leverage does the u.s. have to stop it. >> people planting their flag in detroit, looking to bring the motor city back from the brink. >> soccer fans are often

portrayed at hooligans, but those who support by

fbi was spying on those protesting against government policy and joined others to find proof. bonny raines was given the job of casing an fbi office to break >> good morning, welcome back to aljazeera america. >> delegates from the vatican are meeting in geneva with the united nations to answer some pretty tough questions on the sexual abuse of thousands of children by clergy. in a moment, we're going to show how officials in one major u.s. city looking there to calm the anger, really true anger over these abuse allegations. >> a lot of highlights coming out of that. >> iraq faces a surge of violence, it's left thousands dead just in the last year. the countries prime minister warns the battle against fighters linked to al-qaeda is

going to the be a long one. your going to interview an expert on al-qaeda coming up and whether the strategy to get rid of these rebels is the right one. >> there have been plenty of stories that have come out of the aftermath of hurricane katrina, of course about surviving the storm. but now we hear from those too young to remember the disaster. we're going to hear how hurricane katrina shaped the world they know. that's going to be interesting. >> catholic church leaders in chicago handed over documents detailing sexual abuse by priests. it comes as the vatican is being grilled over the global sexual abuse scandal. the chicago allegations contain complaints, and other files for 30 priests. it contains substantiated abuse allegations against all of them. >> for the catholic church, the scandal and protests won't go away. in that other places around the

u.s., the church shielded priests and abuse from police. thousands of documents have been handed over, showing how deeply the scandal ran. most of the abuse occurred before 1988 and the church insisted none after 1996. it has apologized and put measures in place to stop it from happening again. >> if we receive allegations against a religious order police, we refer it to authorities like every other allegation and we forward it to the religious superior and expect the religious superior to take the same type of action that we do. >> the documents are being released through a mediation process. they run through more than 6,000 pages. many priests are dead, but 30 were still alive and no longer practicing priests. chicago and many other diocese

in the u.s. have paid out millions of dollars to settle victims' claims. some say church leaders are still hiding names. >> the community needs to know where these predators are. many of them have never been sued and thereof will not be on the list. that leaves children in chicago at risk. >> the church believes the release of the documents as he said a new standard of transparency but acknowledged the pain it will cause the victims of abuse. allen fisher, aljazeera. >> chicago is the catholic church's third biggest administrative area in the u.s. >> police in india are looking for more suspects in the case of a danish woman's gang rape. they are holding two men in connection with the incident. the 51-year-old tourist was attacked, robbed and raped at knife point. the woman flew out of india wednesday morning. >> a series of attacks in iraq has killed more than 70 and

injured hundreds of others. the car bombs exploded across shia neighborhoods in baghdad wednesday. in a northern town, a suicide bomber targeted a funeral, killing 18. as aljazeera reports, the spike in violence comes as police and al-qaeda battle for control of the region. >> once again, the twisted metal from a bomb blast is spread across a baghdad neighborhood. it's something we see time and time again. busy markets and residential neighborhoods, parked car bombs go off and blood spills. there's no claim of responsibility but the attacks follow a familiar pattern. al-qaeda linked groups want to keep sectarian tensions boiling and chaos on the streets as they feel they've been marginalized in society. the prime minister calls this a war on terror and says those responsible will be punished. >> we will extinguish between houses that were forcibly taken over by al-qaeda and used as

bases and houses whose residents cooperated with them. the houses that killed will be targeted by our forces. >> in the northern city, car bombs brought more misery. in the past two white sox, 500 people have died across iraq. >> joining us this morning to discuss the latest violence in iraq, the former u.n. al-qaeda team chief, mr. bayer, thank you for coming in. the prime minister warned the fight against al-qaeda will be a long one. some question his approach, saying this solution has to be a political strategy. why has he not ton that?

>> i think it's absolutely right, there has to be a political strategy, because the number of extremists is relatively small. what he needs to do is propose mod receipts to express their political views. why hasn't he done that in the position is very complicated both in trying to argue the balance of power between shiite and sunni. i think the tendency of the iraqi government has been to keep all the power and resources at the center for their disposition, for their patronage. i think that's one of the big problems he has to sort out. >> let's talk more about the shia and sunni. the department prime minister wrote an op ed that read this

way. of the >> talk about how this complicates the situation to have this at the root of the problem, as well. >> i think it is at the root of the problem. the sunni under hussein were in the leading power. again, it's a question of trying to sort out whether iraq is a country or whether it is a lot of different sects and ethnicities. i think this is a problem we have both in iraq and syria now and even in lebanon. >> talk about syria, how syria is tarting to seep into the situation here. >> it's very interesting, because sunni extremists don't

reward that border as a meaningful one. the tribes straddle the border and clearly as we've seen in syria, many people in iraq have gone there to fight. as in the past, many people from syria came to iraq to fight. on the extremist side, especially, that divide has been eroded and it's a question of whether malaki thinks this is a sectarian thing and he'll allow the sunnis to flail about for a bit before everything settles in the region. >> what influence does the u.s. have in this situation. >> of course, it's limited. the u.s. was very deeply involved in 2003, obviously the invasion there, which in many ways started all these problems, and then the withdrawal before they could be sorted out, because these are very long term

issues. i think the u.s. has a responsibility as being a player in the region and certainly as being the world power, but what it do to moderate the voice of politics rather than the extremist voice of violence is limited. >> we certainly appreciate your in sight, eggs per tees and for coming in so early this morning, as well. former u.n. al-qaeda team chief, thank you very much. >> aggravated battery is the official charge against a 12-year-old who shot at his classmates inside a new mexico middle school. police released frantic 911 tapes that captured the terrifying moments. >> 911, do you have an emergency? >> oh, my god! >> students returned to the middle school today. two were hit during the shooting. an heavy-year-old boy remains in critical condition while a 13-year-old girl is stable. police say the 20 gauge pump shotgun belongs to the boy's parents, but he modified it

before are the shooting. >> the handle or stock was sawed off, making more of a pistol grip type weapon. it had three rounds of ammunition in that weapon, what i would categorize as bird shot. >> police say the young suspect fired three shots at random. the first shell hit the ceiling. the second hit the game floor. the third hit the victim in the victims 13 feet away. the shooter had a plan, police do not believe he specifically targeted anyone. >> civil liberties groups are calling its the biggest settlement rewarding the rights of protest. protestors and others during the 2004 republican national convention, police arrested nearly 2,000 during the event at the madison square garden. those arrested say their first amend rights to free speech and peaceful assembly were veiled.

the settlement gives each $1,600. >> detroit is now a city in decline, in december declared bankrupt and now governed directly by the tate of michigan. there are signs that the motor city may be tupping a corner. turning a corner. >> me and business parter david landrom have a fondness for thety. that there's a fear and love for the city. >> as detroit became bankrupt last summer, peter committed an act of sheer optimism, opened the first distillery. now, so many customers come in for bottles of sixty-dollar bourbon, and $32 vodka that the two james distillery has a limit

of two apiece and a growing task of prospering neighbors. >> people are moving down to the neighborhood and we've seen results with the business. >> with the north american international auto show pumping $400 million into detroit's economy, car makers and buyers are equally optimistic. >> t.i. automotives supplies parts to automakers here and around the globe. >> 2013 was an excellent year for the industry. we expect 2014 to be also an excellent year. i was born and raised in the city of detroit and still live here today. i see a lot of positive change in detroit. i think detroit's heading in a very favorable direction. >> the money coursing through the boulevards of the motor city by passes vast neighborhoods where half the city's population has vanished in the past half

century, leaving massive pockets of blythe and misery. >> there still is a lot of post. there still is tons of transportation issues for people, and we have a gentleman highball is mentally distressed, totally harmless who lives in a tarp behind our building here. >> a declined decades in the making could take decades to fix. as some miss out on the fragile recovery, many say they see cracks in the city's frozen fortunes. aljazeera, detroit. >> the judge reviewing a new deal to pay off debt is expected to make a decision soon. >> sometimes soccer gets a bad rap because of bad sportsmanship but two towns are trying to change that image. we have that story. >> good morning, ladies, a very cool story. a lot of times we see violence between fans, but this is not the case. english sacker fans have been captivated by the magic of the

f.a. cup, taking in all the soccer teams from the premier league to teams four levels below and they compete in a single name knockout tournament. a gesture from one club's fans to the other are being hailed. >> such is the enduring popularity of the world's oldest football cup competition, there's nothing unusual about fans traveling to watch their team play. what is remarkable is these fans arriving on the south coast from the english mid lands had their entire trip paid for by supporters of the home club. >> i think that is fantastic. real fans is what it is all about. >> kindness goes a long way. >> it was postponed due to a water logged pitch, but out of soggy misery came an idea from a fan david white head to pay for burton fans to come back. did he really think their fans

would pay for this to happen? >> not to this extent? i know there are good feelings. i knew that people would chip in, but not to the level it took off. it was a fantastic surprise. >> fellow supporter adrien lee created the website for donations to be made. >> i got in contact with david, said i could get his idea rolling. it started with an aim to provide pies, 200-pounds, we were hoping to maybe fund you some pies. after discussions with david, we decided to go for one coach. >> around $5,000 was raised. a sea side town where much of the u.k. has suffered stormy weather over the past weeks, but the actions of the people in town have provided a ray have sunshine for a sport which is so

often affected by bad publicity. why did they do it? >> i'm not massively surprised. it always has a family feel and they have got a close relationship anyway. burton basically gave them the run of the pitch in 2010 and let them celebrate they're achievement. >> the players have climbed even higher since then, to the english championship under their popular local manager. now they've received a letter from the english football association commending their fans. >> a wonderful gesture, when fans word wide are criticized, this is between two football clubs in the united kingdom. >> they didn't show generosity on the pitch and won the match 4-1 to set up a lucrative four round match against liverpool, a fitting reward that this unprecedented act of kindness will be remembered long beyond this year's f.a. cup and never

forgotten by the traveling fans of burton. aljazeera. >> the f.a. cup final is scheduled for may 17 in london. that wraps up sports for this hour. >> thank you. >> born before the storm. >> even though they weren't, some of them weren't born when katrina hit or some a couple months old, they still have a story. >> we meet some of the youngest survivors of hurricane katrina and hear their stairs about post katrina new orleans that they've come to know. >> the potential new health risks that may come with knocking back a

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. >> it's been nearly nine years since hurricane katrina devastated new orleans and other parts of the southern u.s. for some, they were present for the disaster without really knowing it. in a moment, we'll meet children that who were no borns when the

tomorrow hit and in one case made their debut during katrina. >> first, let's look at what potential for precipitation the country could see today. >> most of what we're seeing is know, it's january, but across the country, still dry conditions westward under that ridge of high pressure. we could use the rain, not going to get it anytime in the near future. where it's more significant, we have one boundary through the east coast, another through the midwest. we've had clipper system after clipper system. this one in the midwest, the winds are really cranking up, gusting over 50 miles an hour in some cases, so that will lead to white out conditions. that's why we have blizzard warnings up. even with a little know, you can get that blowing across and reducing visibility. as we get to the east coast, snow, a pretty quick moving band of light stuff. you might see a couple flakes go by. >> a new study claims heavy

drinking in middle age could speed up memory loss. london researchers studied 700 men and women, drinking habits and memory skills were tested over a 10 year period. middle age men who average more than 2.5 drinks per day experience memory decline six years earlier than those who drink less. >> hurricane cat was one of the worst natural disasters in u.s. history, but some who were too young to remember it. as part of our special series, we look at the world through the eyes of 8-year-old's in new orleans. >> what city were you born? we are going to take 30 seconds to answer that question. >> troy lawson teaches the third grade in new orleans. >> spell it the best way you know how. >> many of his students are eight years old and born the year hurricane katrina changed the big easy forever. >> even though some of them weren't born when katrina hit,

they still have a story. >> they had strong winds and lots of water. >> i think it damaged everything. like water -- like the water was strong, too strong and they knocked places like homes over and stuff. >> every child has their own learned version of the storm. >> 10,000 -- have a evacuees. >> had taken shelter. >> being eight is about the journey of who you are and where you come from. a time in a person's life when learning about the world at large begins to take shape. >> they are a product of what happened after the storm. a lot of them were born that either right after katrina or they were in their mommy's tummies, so they don't really remember it. >> for many 8-year-olds, hurricane katrina has and will shape they're lives. their parents, relatives, siblings, many evacuated flooded out neighborhoods like this, only to return and some of their

stories are remarkable. >> they were like telling me that i was born in hurricane katrina. i came out of my mama's stomach when hurricane katrina was happening. >> you guys were born all over the united states. >> 8-year-old anthony tapp's family fled to a shelter in new orleans where his mother gave birth to him. >> we was in a shelter, and my cousin, my sister had jumped on my cousin, because she was scared. >> for the principal, she and her staff witness the scars katrina left behind. >> i believe a lot of children that were, that their mothers were pregnant with them during katrina are suffering effects of their mothers being under such high stress. you think about people literally trying to run for their lives. >> from the -- >> breached. >> levees to rooftops -- >> as they grow, they will take

with them the lessons learned, hardship and hope from an epic storm that changed the city amounted its people forever. robert ray, aljazeera, new orleans. >> you can learn more about the series on our website, aljazeera.com. >> those kids are so resilient. >> at the end of our second hour, del walters joins us. >> happy birthday, stephanie, good morning, richelle. >> asking tough questions of sex abuse by priests, a day after a report says little has changed. >> laying the blame or the benghazi attack on chris stevens himself. >> 34 officers dealing with nuclear weapons accused of cheating on proficiency exams. >> a legal battle in texas over the fates of a woman who is brain dead on life support, pitting her family against

hospital officials. we'll talk about the law that is keeping her alive and whether it could happen elsewhere. >> hollywood award season in full swing, oscar nominations set to be announced in 30 minutes. we will break down the nominees and who has the best shot of taking home the gold. >> high winds and snow could create whiteout conditions for the midwest today. i'll have your national forecast. >> no is aljazeera america. the morning news continues. del walters will be back in about two and a half minutes. >> thanks so much for watching.

>> tough questions for the catholic church. the united nations taking the vatican to task for allowing priests to abuse children and looking the other way. >> a stinging new report about those deadly tax in benghazi, libya, a senate committee saying they might have been avoided i don't she tried dialing 911 from the hotel room and could not get out, because she didn't know to dial a nine first. >> one families call for change after a personal tragedy. why they want to make sure people can dial 911 from their hotel room.

>> good morning, welcome to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. the vatican once again finding itself at the center of a sex abuse scandal, this time being forced to defend past history of defending pedophile priests, the u.n. grilling the holy see for not fully disclosing abuse. versus ken release in a statement saying there can be no excuse for child abuse. the church is taking a hard line over accusations against its approaches. >> every procedure has to follow the principles of natural justice. there is no presumption of guilt, this is a presumption of innocence, there is the right of defense and there is also an opportunity for the local church to listen to the people who are bricking the report before the case starts. >> that meeting coming on the

heels of a report out of the united kingdom that says little has been done to stem the sex abuse of children by priests, all of this, no doubt, creating a big challenge for pope francis. john terry in studio right now. is this meeting going to do any good? >> it remains to be seen. the vatican has been hauled before that committee on the rights of child. the vatican signed up for it in 19 that it be. they have no choice but to attend, they're part of the convention and have to attend, so that's what they're doing. whether the committee has any backbone or not is an entirely different matter. according to the conference of catholic bishops, something like 6,900 accused priests stretching back to 1950, and that's out of 110,000 catholic priests in this country who have been active in that past 60 years. there are approaching 17,000

victims. david lorenz represents snap, the survivors organization and speaks for them in the state of maryland. we spoke to him about his views on this meeting taking plagues at the moment. as you'll see, he thinks it's good that it's taking place, but that the meeting itself really lacked backbone. >> there's no force behind this committee. they'll ask them some questions and expose them and they can embarrass them, but they can't really force them to do anything, but they certainly can expose the truth, and i think when people tart to see that the vatican has hidden all of these charges, there's going to be some backlash. >> david not only speaks for snap but also was abused by a catholic priest who has now died. the priest was the careers counselor at his school and the priest defriended david and a number of friends and after a school event, they all stayed behind and in the morning, david says he was abused by the priest

who came into the room. >> john, snap actually pope francis receiving rave reviews around the world concern how outspoken he is on everything. what does snap have to say about pope francis? >> snap and david and a lot of survivors in this country feel that they welcome pope francis' new approach to preaching the new gospel and changing the tone of the church. that they like and respect, but they do have an issue with him when it comes to the issue of child abuse. while they say he has done some small changes in the vatican, introduced when changes which are technical changes, he actually has done very little to protect children or to fire bishops and abbreviates who have been accused and in some cases found guilty of child abuse, but who still preach. >> when you look at what he's done in the issue of child abuse, you come to the conclusion that he's just like the other ones.

he hasn't required any bishop resign for hiding pedestrian files. i don't think francis has really done much in changing the tone on or changing the dialogue on child sexual abuse. he hasn't made any children safer. he hasn't removed any bishop or priest. that's sad for me, i'm sorry to say. >> that is the feeling of a lot of people in the beyond who have been abused by priests in their lifetime. the catholic church has spent $2.5 billion trying to sort all this out and those fees having to settlement fees, lawyers and trying to rehabilitate priests who have been hauled out of the in 2004 and 2011. an organization yesterday said a lot of the priests accused of abuse have disappeared. they don't know where they are and they are launching a nationwide investigation to track them down. >> that meeting continues even

as we speak. >> it does, indeed. >> authorities busted a pedophile group working over the internet. it involved police from the u.k., u.s. and australia. 15 children age 6-15 were rescued in that sting operation. >> police in india looking for more suspects in connection with the gang rape of a danish tourists. they are holding two men in connection with the attack. the two were grabbed tuesday. she was robbed and raped at knife point, sexual silence in india gaining international attention after a student was gang raped in 2012. she died from her injuries. >> there is a new report out about the attack in ben gas why. the nat intelligence committee say the attack could have been avoided. according to the report, the state department failed to increase security at the

compound, despite warnings from u.s. intelligence, the attack, they say, was not a coordinated plot but an attack by members of several groups affiliated with al-qaeda. for the first time, we're hearing that ambassador chris stevens, killed in the attack, refused two offers to beef up security. we have more from washington. >> the senate intelligence report says the state department failed to act on mounting evidence that militants were targeting a consulate in benghazi. >> the state department knew that this was a very violent part of the world, and yet failed to take the proper security measures to protect their people in benghazi. >> the report called the september 11, 2012 attack that killed four americans preventable, noting there were self smaller attacks in the months before. the c.i.a., a mile away, beefed up its security, but the senate report says ambassador chris stevens, who was killed,

declimbed two offers from the military to bring in a special operations team. >> even the ambassador did not want more security, a real problem. >> the military responded too sole, placing ultimate blame on hillary clinton, the state department fired back. >> there was no specific threat indicating an attack was coming. >> afterwards, the report argued intelligence officials were slow to correct a wrong aversion blaming protestors. critics insist that story was deliberate. >> this, down as the greatest coverup in history, it's politically inspired. >> that was tracy pots reporting. >> the air force investigating allegation of cheating and drug use among officers who control some of the country's nuclear weapons.

34 officers have been taken off of missile detail in montana. their security clearances are now suspended. 16 officers shared answers on a monthly proficiency exam by texting those answer to say each other. 18 others knew about it and failed to report it. >> this is absolutely someone acceptable behavior, and it is completely contrary to our core values in the air force. as everybody here knows, the number one core value for us is integrity. >> two officers stripped of their duties because of suspected drug use. ten officers at four other bases now facing investigations, as well. >> 75 people were killed and dozens more injured in car bombs around baghdad. the blast wednesday occurred mostly in shia neighborhoods. hours senator john mccain, an outspoken critic of president obama's handling of the middle east spoke about america's foreign policy throughout that

region. >> i think it's very obvious that throughout the middle east, america is declining in influence and on the wane and people are making their own accommodations for the departure of the united states, whether it be hamid karzai or what malaki did, the saudis who have completely lost trust in us. yesterday, the defense minister of israel basically insulted our secretary of state and the prime minister of israel did not repudiate him. >> almost 8,000 people were killed in 2013. we'll talk about the growing violence in that country. >> three people dead, 26 injured following a car bombing in lebanon in a northeastern town during the morn rush. it was carried out by a suicide

bomber. it is a strong hold of hezbollah near the syrian border. this is the first attack to hit that border town since syrias border town began in 2011. >> nine years after the assassination of lebanon's prime minister, a special tribunal opening at the hague. some of the men on trial could divide the country if this trial continues to take place. >> he was a prominent politician, a billionaire businessman, whose influence extended far beyond lebanon. former prime minister's assassination tore lebanon's society apart. nine years later, there is fear the trial of those suspected of his murder will do the same. five men have been indicted, all members of the armed group hezbollah. it's power base lice in the shia community, accused of killing a sunni muslim leader.

>> the assassination had a severe impact on lebanon. muslims were divided, sunnis and shias abeveryone hates each other. >> he was last filmed leaving parliament february 14, 2005. that while he headed home, his armored motorcade was hit by a massive truck bombing dealt nateed by a still unidentified suicide bomber. prosecutors from the special international tribunal for lebanon say they have evidence to tart the trial. they base on witness testimony and a mobile telephone network used almost exclusively by the five suspects. >> it is circumstantial evidence, but prosecutors in the hague say they will prove otherwise. the trial is held in absentia. none of the men indicted have been arrested and the government is urged to step up efforts to arrest the men. >> hezbollah has promised not to cooperate with the court it says

is pat of an international conspiracy against it. it says the tribunal is discredited and accused israel of manipulating call records. some lebanese ask why. for others, the trial is a victory for justice. >> we have a lot of people here in lebanon that say this is political tribunal. for us, we think it's a very serious inquiry. >> the assassinations sparked protest, anger and accusations were directed against the syrian state, forcing it to end its three decade long presence in lebanon. years later, hezbollah is accused of complicity, even though the prosecution insist hezbollah as a party is not on trial approximately the verdict is unlikely to heal divisions in lebanon society. aljazeera, beirut.

>> he was really rewarded among international leaders and a close friend of the friendly president, who called for the tribunal. >> this man wants to make sure anyone with an emergency at a hotel can call 911 for help. >> some are focusing on one state keeping health costs low. >> at the australian open in melbourne, most play was suspended thursday because of the extreme h

>> it seems simple, calling for help from your hotel room. an official inquiry is launched. we explain how one family's

personal tragedy brought change. >> last month, carey hunt agreed to meet her estranged husband at this hotel so he could visit with their children. things went horribly wrong. once at the hotel, police say her husband, brad allen dunn stabbed the mother of three to death in the bathroom, while the children listened in. >> my oldest granddaughter and her two siblings were in that room. she tried dialing 911 and could not get out, because she didn't know to dial a nine first. >> after four unsuccessful attempts, the 9-year-old took her siblings to safety and ran for help. >> the neighbors next door to them opened the door and brianna told her what was going on and she called 911. the look in my granddaughter's eyes, i would never want another 9-year-old to go through that. i don't know what she heard or

saw, i haven't asked her. i'll let her tell me in her own time, but i can just imagine, and nobody should have to go through that, especially when it's happening in front of you. >> america tonight traveled to marshall, texas to the hotel where the incident happened. we spoke with hotel staff here to see what happens when you do dial 911. we were told the systems hadn't been updated. we wondered what would happen if you just dialed 911 from the room. [ busy signal ] >> you get a busy signal. it's because of that busy signal that henry hunt wanted to make a change. he started an on line petition to pass a law requiring direct access to emergency services. >> my 9-year-old granddaughter told me that i tried and it wouldn't work. i felt guilty, and i felt like

it was as adults our job to make sure it didn't happen again. >> his efforts caught the attention of the federal communications commission, whose commissioner vowed that week to look into the matter. in a at the same time, he said: >> the national emergency number association, dedicated to improving 911 services said the issue is more common than people may think. >> for every day that goes by without federal legislation to finally resolve this problem, millions of americans in hotels, college dormitories, and ordinary office buildings are put at risk, because they can't reach 911 effectively. that. >> updating systems to support direct access to 911 could potentially save lives, he says. after learning about the incident, hotel general manager

c.j. clayton took matters into her own hands at her newly opened sweets in texas. configuring the phone systems to directly access 911 took only a matter of hours, she says. >> the nature of my business is to make people feel safe, and i have children, also, so i would not want my child having to feel like she could have saved my life if she had dialed 911 and she was unable to do that because of our system. >> we didn't even have to approach her. she just did it. she knew what was right and she hated that something had happened and she did it. >> although they could never have carey back, they fight for a law across the nation. >> as far as justice is concerned, i'll let god sort that out. right now, i'm working on what i think we need to be working on, and that's where i want to take it. that that would be the justice,

for this to become law and standard across the nation. >> aljazeera, moble, texas. >> 400,000 people signing an on line petition asking the f.c.c. to require hotel phones directly dial 911. some hotel officials concerned about a system that would notify police but not the front desk about a potentially dangerous situation. >> a shooting at an indiana store leaving two women dead in elkhart, indiana last night. they heard a gunshot and rushed in to find a gunman. officers opened fire, killing him. >> we do know that he had a gun pointed at another individual which we believe was an employee at the time when police showed up. we're pretty confident that elkhart's quick responsibilitiee scene most definitely saved lives tonight. >> the two victims were found in

separate parts of the store, an employee and shopper. it's unclear whether it was the result of an attempted robbery or the shooter knew the victims. >> 911 tapes were released that capture the terrifying moments inside a school's gymnasium during a shooting. >> a series of frantic 911 calls show the siege. >> 911, do you have an emergency? >> oh, my god! >> shocked students and panicked parents. >> i got a call from my daughter and a text. she's crying, she said there's a shooter at the school. >> that someone was a 12-year-old seventh grader with a shotgun. the gun belonged to his parents. the boy modified it before the shooting. >> the handle or stock was sawed off, making more of a pistol grip type weapon. it had three rounds of ammunition in that weapon, what

i would categorize as bird shot. >> the boy opened fire on classmates inside a packed gymnasium at the start of the school day. two students got hit, an 11-year-old boy remains in critical condition. 13-year-old kendall sanders is recovering from a shot to her right shoulder. a school staffer who rushed to help her spoke softly to the 911 operator, fearing there might be additional shooters. >> i'm sorry, i'm in the classroom trying to be quiet, because i don't know if they're still in the hall. >> where is she shot at no. >> in the right arm and armpit. she is having problems breathing. >> police charged the shooter with aggravated battery. he fired three shots at random into the crowd. the first hit the ceiling, the second the game floor and the third hit the victims in the bleachers 15 feet away. the shooter had a plan. they do not believe he specifically targeted anyone. >> i understand the family of the young suspect now speaking

out. >> that's right. this 12-year-old boy, they released a at the same time saying their heartbroken and operating for the wounded children. >> life around west virginia's elk river slowly returning to normal, the chemical spill tainting that water ply. though the water is safer between to drink, the company has been sited for safety violations at yet another location where they moved the coal cleaning chemicals after thursday's spill. >> let's get a check of weather across the country. >> we've got changes in the temperatures coming up over the next couple days. in some cases, you already felt them. as we head toward the midwest, temperatures warmed overnight and now through the day today, they will fall and much chillier tomorrow. we've seen when dips in places like miami, more significant to notice that. miami in the 70's yesterday, in the 60's today, and till really that warm air out west, the fire

danger that's contributing to low humidities, those elements. in the south overnight, a lot of central florida is under freeze warnings because these temperatures in orlando at 33 were right around that freezing mark. getting into the day tomorrow, slowly starting to feel some recovery. back to you. >> checking business news at this hour, shares of best buy civicking in premarket trading after the electronics retailer reported a drop in its holiday sales, fouling .9. profits will be hurt because it was forced to offer deep discount to say hold on to customers. >> breaking news on bank earnings, a rare drop in profits at goldman sachs, earnings down 19% because of a decline in mortgage and bond trading revenue. city bank's profits rising $2.7 billion in the fourth quarter, although that is less than forecast, like goldman, it

says it was hurt by weaker mortgage and bond trading demand. city bank will replace debit cards affected by that target data breach, j.p. morgan saying it would reissue the cards, as well. >> do you futures down 25 points after yesterday's triple digit gain, starting at 16,481. the s&p starting the day at 1848 and the nasdaq ended 2,814. asia, markets ending higher, japan's nikkei closing down in the minus column. european stocks are mostly lower after their four day winning streak overseas. we'll look at how the labor market is holding up president obama decide if a weak december jobs report was a sign of things to come or just once in a

lifetime. >> if we see decreases in unemployment going forward, that's the expense of people who stated they're looking for work, but we have this large chunk of people who for whatever reason can't get jobs. >> the percentage of americans who are working or looking for work, the so-called labor force participation rate was 62.8% index, matching levels not seen since 1978. >> fewer homeowners losing homes to foreclosure last year. reality track reporting foreclosure filings fell 26% in 2013, falling to 1.4 million. that is the lowest level since before the housing bubble burst. >> a moral and medical clem that playing out inside a texas hospital pap hospital wants his brain dead wife taken off of life support, but the hospital refuses, saying she is pregnant. we'll take a closer look at this emotional debate. >> one state is taking drastic

steps to reign in holt care costs. many say it could set a precedent for the rest are of the country. >> i'll let you know if the elite beat the heat at the australian open. >> one of the biggest mornings in hollywood, the oscar nominations about to be announced. you are looking live where the announcement will be made inrica

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. these are our top stairs we're following for you. a contingent of vatican priests facing questions from the united nations. it's the first time the church has been forced to publicly acknowledge the sex abuse

scandal. the meetings follows a report out of the u.k. claiming the church has done little in dealing with pedophile priests and children are still victimized. >> the senate in tells committee releasing its report on the 2012 consulate attack in libya, saying the intelligence agencies did not do enough to secure the consulate, despite knowing the threat level was high. the report questions the judgment and judgment of the late ambassador chris stevens. he died in that attack along with three colleagues. >> 34 air force officers caught up in a cheating scandal are members of a missile crew based out of montana, all accused of sharing answers on that an efficiency test. >> a legal battle underway in texas where a husband wants to take his wife off life support. she was 20 weeks pregnant, been in the hospital since november when his husband eric says he found her on the floor of their

home. he said she is brain dead and never wanted to be kept alive. the hospital is citing state law which prohibits disconnecting life support for pregnant patients. >> we are not about making law or contesting law. if this goes to a court or judge who says you need to change what you're doing in any way, we will follow the direction of the legal system. >> the hospital refusing to comment on whether or not munoz is brain dead. no hearing is scheduled. this issue is baffling even the best of what is right or wrong. we're a bottom line society. people want to know who's right and who's wrong. on this case, who is right or wrong? >> bat law, misapplied. i think the hospital is wrong

the family right. when the tragedy befell this mom, she was 14 weeks pregnant, went without oxygen, severe brain damage, that's why she is dead now. we give discretion to family to say decide whether they want to proceed with a pregnancy when there's a likelihood that the fetus is severely damaged. texas legislature, do they know what's best for this family? i don't think so. i think it's basically the husband, both sides of the family are backing her up. i think the right thing to do would be to let her go. >> but there are two lives at stake here. some are going to say pulling it is plug on the mother kills the unborn child. is that a right choice? >> ethics isn't easy and we often get tough dilemma makes, what about that chance for lice for that feet us? to f. the woman could wake up, she could say i don't want that baby and have an abortion. it's uncertainty.

i think what the dad is saying there's a pretty good chance that fetus was damaged. i don't know we want to deal with that. i'm not going to second guess that. i know the texas legislature is, but i don't agree. >> there are 200,000 people creaming at the television set right now based on the language that you said fetus haven't viable yet. >> right. if we got to 28, 29 weeks, the equation changes, i think you got a situation that we have to proceed. before that with the possibility of ill health, the possibility that because they're trying to use this woman as an incubator, we don't know much about that in terms of outcomes, you got to go with discretion. >> the law says the texas health safety code: >> key phrase there, life sustaking. if the family is right, the hospital hasn't said, but if she's dead, there's no life

sustaining. that's what i meant when i said misapplied law. i have a feeling the courts going to see she's dead, we're looking here. that if she's not dead, we're going to have a tougher argument basically over whether the family should have a right to stop, but if she's dead, pretty clear. >> some say texas, not in this case, 27 other states have similar laws. >> it is important if you have a living will and are a woman who might have a child, write out your instructions and say even if pregnant, i would not want to continue. you have to make those issues known. >> politics or is this something that really is -- or should be debated? >> it deserves being debated, but we're rattling around in the periphery of the abortion debate saying anyone who's pregnant from one day pregnant to eight and a half months pregnant, that's establishing a precedent that an embryo and fetus are persons. >> thank you for being with us. >> my measure. >> a tough one when you are

called into the question. maryland about to put in place a system that caps medical costs, hoping the idea will save hundreds of millions of dollars in the state. some critics say it will affect the quality of health care. we have more on what is called the maryland experiment. >> the medical center in annapolis maryland is a busy regional hospital, caring for over 1 million patients a year. now along with every other acute care hospital in the state, it faces a big challenge, a whole new way of doing business. >> these are ideas that have never been tried nor tested before on this scale. >> the idea is to hold down hospital costs by forcing hospitals to live on a fixed budget. that encourages hospital to say spend dollars more wise hi, and keep patients out of a hospital bed. that john combers is one of the architects of the plan. >> under our current system, a fee for service system, the more you do, the more you get paid.

this model is trying to change that to the better you do, the better you get paid. >> massachusetts and vermont are also experimenting with reigning in hospital costs, but maryland is the only state which sets rates for hospital services, with the help of an independent commission. every patient gets charged the same, whether they have private insurance, no insurance or medicare. it's been that way for nearly four decades under a deal with medicare and the federal government. the new plan goes further. hospital spending will be tied to economic growth over the past decade, will not be allowed to increase more than 3.58% a year over the next five years. >> health care costs in maryland and in the country are an enormous problem. our ability to afford heal care is going to be the critical issue. >> this initiative isn't just about cost, it's also about improving care.

hospitals must reduce the rates of infections that people can acquire in the hospitals and reduce the readmission rate, when people get discharged but have to come back within a month for the same problem. >> can hospitals lower costs and improve care no at a hearing on the new plan, some state lawmakers were skeptical. >> when you go to a hospital, that is an emergency situation, where your grandpa, mom, dad or child is at risk, and to reduce the quality and the access, i think is the scariest thing. >> regulators say hospitals will have to meet standards and will set up systems to help patients get good care outside of the hospital walls. >> i think patients will begin to see and feel that their hospital is their quarterback of care. >> no one thinks that reaching the goal line of happy, healthy patients and reasonable health care costs will be easy.

aljazeera, annapolis, maryland. >> the u.s. spent $2.7 trillion, about $9,000 a person. those numbers could soar by 2021. >> a sign of improvement in the labor market after last month's disappointing jobs report, weekly jobless claims fell by 2,000 to 326,000. the prior week was also revised lower. >> wicked winds are whipping the midwest and in sections of the northeast, there are actually some blizzard warnings, the northern part of the midwest. for more, we turn to nicole mitchell. >> good morning, yes. it doesn't take a lot of snow. you don't have to have new snow, it can be snow on the ground. we do have some areas of new know, but it is very height into portions of the midwest for the most part. it's the fact that we have the winds just whipping everything out there. in cases today, we could see

whiteout conditions, maybe for not long enough to be categorized as a full blizzard, but blizzard conditions at times. here's what we have. already the new snow coming down. we've had winds gusting 40-50 miles per hour and this core of the strong winds will shift southward today as the weather pattern shifts a little bit, so the whole region, even if you're not going to deal with the blizzard like conditions, you're going to certainly see high wind gusts, high profile vehicles having problems. we've started to see temperatures dip. while minneapolis went up overnight and is now tart i go to drop, fargo is tarting to see cold air come in with all of this, as well. in the reds are the blizzard warnings. going through later today, 6:00 or midnight depending where you are, for the rest of the region, we have the wind concerns. we have the low pressure, and most of it is from the pressure change, but we also have high pressure to the west. it's when you get a dramatic

pressure chicago, it funnels the winds. i mentioned the high pressure out west, still bringing winds that could fuel fire danger, dry air, low humidity, high temperatures. again today and tomorrow, we are seeing red flag conditions out. there is just no rain in sight out here. del. >> as you break on you those blankets in forego go, consider this, it may be winter here, but in australia, they are dealing with a sweltering summer. it's so hot, play had to be suspended today at the australian open. >> after three hours of play with temperatures in excess of 41 degrees came the announcement many felt was long overdue, play suspended. the australian's open extreme heat appeals meant play was topped on outer courts and paused while the roof was closed on show courts. a player and a boy collapsed

before thursday's suspension. spectator numbers were well down on previous years. many who came thursday left early. >> you're leaving? how was it in there? >> damn hot, it's damn hot today. >> organizers said the decision to suspend play was because a threshold had been reached. exactly what that was wasn't revealed. >> a decision to suspend play isn't a simple matter of looking at a thermometer. they use the wet bulb globe temperature based on this equation, taking into account direct sunlight, humidity and breeze as well as ambient temperature. >> physiology experts think that makes sense. >> absolutely. it's used in tennis and a whole range of sporting to take into

account the ability of an athlete to lose heat in response to exertion or how much heat they're likely to gain from an extremely hot environment. >> some players, even top seeds who won early thursday were not so understanding. many spectators give up on the tennis altogether. on wednesday, a player visited the penguin center. on thursday in the air conditioning, it was one of the busiest places in town. >> the plan was to be at tennis, but because it's too hot, we are here. >> back at tennis, the night session promised some relief, but friday will be every bit as hot. aljazeera, melbourne. >> it is so hot, there are concerns about power outages, a number expected in more populace areas. players actually passing out courtside. >> these athletes are well conditioned, but this type of heat in the triple digit is a

problem. a lot of top-seeded players trying to overcome that. maria the is no stranger to the heat, by sharapova trying to beat the heat. down 6-5, cannot return the serve, the match goes six all. 102 degrees when this began. now once again serving to hold on. remember the aussie open, you have to win by two games. after a long rally, she sends the ball into the net, sharapova ties the match at seven. she took four match points before getting her to hit the ball long and sharapova advances to the third round. the temperature at the end of the match, almost 109. the heat taking its toll. >> there's no way of getting

around the fact that the conditions were extremely difficult and have been for the last few days. >> it was really hard, but i know that it was hot for me, but i know it was hot also for maria and everywhere, both fighting with the heat. >> i just laid down in the lock are room for the past hour, because i just couldn't, you know, basically get up. >> on the machine's side, former world's's number one and currently sixth seed roger federer advanced to the third round. trying to fight his way back to a grand slam final won the first of his four aussie opens back in 2004, playing in his 57t 57th straight grand slam event. >> recapping day four, we talked about the heat, the extreme heat policy was enacted add melbourne park, suspending all matches until the early evening.

rafael nadal advancing. donald young reached the third round with a win in five sets. >> the eyes of the world will focus on brazil for the world cup this summer and the men's soccer team has a new strategy. the u.s. opened a training camp in sao paulo. the players will get an early chance to know brazil ahead of the tournament. he wants staff to start learning portuguese in order to know some basic words by the time the team returns for the world cup. >> national team always has this traditional camp where they usually train mostly in ha l.a. in california. now this time, we train here, because it gives us the opportunity to be already at the

facility we're going to stay at in the world cup to get to know our hotel we're bog to stay at and get a feeling for the country, so we use that opportunity. what we want to get out of it, that the players experience all those things, at the same time, we can bring in more players. >> now the united states will need any edge it can get, the u.s. in the group of death, facing ghana in the world cup in brases dill. that wraps it up for sport. >> what is portuguese for goal no. >> i knew you'd hit me with something i don't know. >> it's goal. >> is it? >> i'll get back to you. >> hollywood academy awards nominations now out. a look at who's up for oscar gold.

>> if you are a film buff, buff this is your time of year the oscar nominations announced just minutes ago.

bill wyman is in phoenix this morning. good morning. any surprises? >> no big surprises. it confirms it's going to be a really good horse race thisee. there's a lot of movies getting a lot of nominations in different categories. the front runners of "12 years a slave," eye gravity" and" american hustle." there's a lot of nominations for "wolf of wall street" and" captain phillips" got a nomination. a relatively small art film got three or four nominations. when you go down to the technical awards, just about all those movies are down there. particularly i notice "12 years a slave" didn't get a

cinematography nomination. >> best actor, who's up? >> that is the hardest to crunch. a titanic performance in 12 years a slave, that's the one to beat. matthew mcconaughey did a great job in dallas buyers club. so did bruce dern. he's been in hollywood a very long time. he can't be counted out. leonardo decaprio is not a big favorite, and christian bale, as well. >> best actress? >> what people tend to see the favorite is indicate cate blanchette. most people seem to say that's the one that stands out. i think of all the major nominations with the possible exception director, that's probably a lock.

amy adams had a great performance in "american hustle." "sandra bullock was unexpected. >> mel streep in that was i didn't know credible. i have seen all of these movies. right now, people are saying i haven't seen most of these movies. the big ones at the box office didn't show up in any nominations. is there now a disconnect between what people watch and what hollywood likes? >> that's a terrific observation, and i think it's true. gravity the is an outsized hit, $250 million right now, the others just hitting $100 million. that is not good for the economy. they like to see really big budget movies get nominated, because that brings more to watch the awards show. people don't watch the oscars, they start losing influence.

in the 1990's, an average of $200 million, now it's down to $70 million, ate million dollars, seems to be ate million dollars or $90 million a year, so you are seeing that. on the other hand, the movies that get the biggest box office are sequels, and aren't nominated usually. hollywood's very are self conscious and when you see "gone with the wind" when vivian leigh is flirting, this is what is going on. it could be hollywood wants to clean the slate on all of that. it's an extraordinary night at the movies, but it's tough. "gravity" is one of the moving movies of our time and" american hustle" is an enjoyable one, as

well. it's hard not to see "gravity" takes for best director, but 12 years a slave could take a lot of awards. >> that is bill, our culture critic or aljazeera. thanks a lot. >> this year, hollywood bringing the holy book to a theater near you. film industry hoping to cash in on 90 million evangelicals in the u.s. we saw you some big screen this year. >> seems i've forgiven myself. >> i thought god did that. >> jesus heals the sick and walks on water in an upcoming hollywood epic "son of god." >> are you the son of god? joe i am. >> it's one of many major movies in the works with big tars based on the bible. >> there are quite a few bible epics coming out. we've got noah, a big budget retelling of the famous noah

atory. then we have exodus, which is ridley scott's take on moses starring christian bale. the religious audience hasn't been served by hollywood in the past decade. this year, studios are reaching out to that audience. >> also in the pipe line, "mary, mother of christ" starring a 16-year-old israeli actress. gods and kings is another moses flick. >> not biblical, but strongly religious, heaven is for real is based on the best selling book about a pastor's 4-year-old son who became critically ill, went to heaven, sat on jesus' lap and came back to tell about it. all of this is more in line with hollywood's more traditional worship. >> it's really about money. i think hollywood has realized

that the christian audience is a really big audience. they're about 91 million evangelical christians in the u.s., and for hollywood, that represents a sizeable market. >> that audience doesn't go for the usual formula of sex and violence. >> of course, hollywood is known for using dramatic libs and sometimes taking liberties with the stories it brings to the screen. when you're dealing with what many believe is the holy scripture, that could be a bad idea. >> it's a fine who in. you have to be loyal to the text. people get upset anytime a true story is kind of changed or twisted for the movies, but i think that would be magnified with the bible, because so many people are so passionate about these stories and it is tied to faith and religion, which is a whole 'nother ballgame. >> still to be revealed, whether studio executives faith in evangelical audiences will result in heavenly ticket sales

or unleash the fifth horse man of the apocalypse, the box office flop. >> we've had clippers causing problems, one band moving quickly across the east coast south of the great lakes in the snow and we're going to feel it in the midwest, light snow, but blowing winds circulating this and. that's going to make whiteout conditions in some cases. the east coast area, that will move out quickly. blizzard warnings up in some cases. stay in if you can today. >> that will do it for this hour of aljazeera america. i'm del walters. more headlines straight ahead. we'll see you then.