extremely dry weather and stiff winds are fueling a wildfire in california mountains, firefighters may be getting the upper hand on the blaze that already burned hundreds of acres. stunning new revelations about nsa spying on text messages as president obama prepares to announce changes intended to reign in the surveillance agency. [sirens] an attack injuries dozens of protesters in bangkok and open a corruption probe against thailand's prime minister. >> when i left the country it was at gunpoint. >> reporter: one of the lost boys returns to south sudan to make a difference only to find himself swept up in yet another

violent conflict. ♪ good morning and welcome to al jazeera, i'm stephanie sy, california authorities say a botched camp fire erupted in a massive wildfire thursday and swept across 2000 acheers in the mountains and the first fire in the mountains since 2009 and flames damaged homes, garages, barns and other buildings, swift winds had it spread quickly and caused evacuations in again dora and the wildfire is no longer advancing and 30% contained but the national weather service says a red flag warning of danger will remain in effect for the area and we have brian rooney live with a report on the fire and first al jazeera gives

us the details surrounding the massive blaze. >> and it only happens, what, a few minutes and it was everywhere, all around us. >> that's how quickly a wildfire sparked at a campsite spread across 17 0 0 acres in the bone-dry foothills of glen dora outside of los angeles and dawn and night more than 700 firefighters across southern california rushed to contain the blaze and engulfing cars and homes in the path and dozens were forced to evacuate as they tackled the flames from the sky and using helicopters and tankers and super scoopers on loan from canada. santa anna winds post a challenge across the hills that have not seen fires there in 45 years. >> with the wind shift and the wind hits the numbers and we could get fire popping up throughout this whole operating

area. >> reporter: residents living feet from the flames fought the fires as well and banding together using buckets and garden hoses to save their block. >> they grabbed shovels and hoses and they have done a bucket brigade and it has been a great effort by the neighbors. >> reporter: the fires path unpredictable and skipping and hopping over some houses while cutting through others like the apartment complex of this man who came home to find it gone. >> what is next for me is i guess is to take it one day at a time and go stay with my daughter for now. >> reporter: as for the spark that torched the area, three men have been arrested and started the fire in a wreckless manner. the three in custody are all three males in early 20s reportedly they were up and set a camp fire, they were tossing papers into the camp fire and a breeze reportedly a breeze had kicked up and set this fire.

>> reporter: firefighters have been gaining the upper hand, slowing down the fires forward movement but their battle has been far from easy with a combination of the high santa anna winds and the driest winter on record, two thirds of the state is now under an extreme drought, the worst in 150 years. >> there is still a lot of unextinguishes embers that could pose danger to all these homes. >> and i'm with al jazeera. >> reporter: our brian rooney is in glen dora and what are the fate for the three men blamed for causing this fire? >> well, they are charged with recklessly causing the fire as opposed to intentionally causing it. oddly enough a lot of the wildfires out here most of them are set by people, more of them arson than accident and i think this falls more in the accidental category. we are in the midst of what ought to be the rainy season out

here with very little rain, with last year being the driest on record since somewhere of late in the 1800s, there is a high fire danger and it's be km the cl'ech'e out here now that fire season is going all year around. so this is going to be -- continue to be a danger until or unless we get some heavy rains out here, this month or in february or it's going to be a lot of trouble as the spring comes. >> reporter: yeah, my folks live out there and they have been talking about how dry it is and, in fact, have not had rain since the new year started and last year i understand they got 3 1/2 inches for all of 2013, is there anything that officials can do to offset the dangers from this drought? >> as far as fire goes, no. you get these areas of brush that have not burned in many, many years and you get an incident like this and goes up in a flash. firefighters yesterday do the

worst damage in the first few hours and firefighters come to the suburban loops and desperately trying to save houses. this fire is about 30% contained which doesn't sound like much but that is usually a good figure and means they have got it in hand and as this day goes on probably this is going to be okay. >> reporter: all right, brian rooney with the latest from glen dora, california and thank you so much brian. . in southeast australia firefighters are struggling to contain dozens of wildfires and 80 fires burning in south australia and one has been killed and residents living close to the flames are urged to evacuate. >> and the message is very clear, leave and leave. leave and leave. >> reporter: temperatures in the area are over 104 degrees and winds are expected to pick up today which could make conditions even worse. all right, let's bring in metrologist nicole mitchell to

look at how the weather is playing a role in the wildfires. >> weather plays a huge role in what we see, temperatures, winds all of those things factor in and looking at australia and the difference between australia and california is australia this is actually summertime and when we expect those exceptional temperatures and look at all the fires plotted here across the continent and it's pretty significant, temperatures again for friday were over 100 degrees and ahead of us time zone wise and saturday expecting those and winds and this is a persistent problem here. not as expected in california in the winter, as we heard earlier, january, february, march should be the rainy season here and we have an unusual pattern and clouds curve to the west and that is a ridge and not going anywhere any time soon and not just right now but looks like for the foreseeable future the next week and possibly long-term over the next couple months we could be drier than normal and

this is desperate news because we have been so dry in this portion of the country and temperatures when you get on the down soaked winds are on the rise and los angeles is near record territory for the week and 84 today and san francisco 68 is also on the warm side. so warm and then you get the wind coming over the mountains, that dries everything out, combining with those warm temperatures and this is why we have persistent red flag warnings across the region and if anything starts like i said yesterday the winds will whip it along. we are talking about the drought, how dry it was last year, the fact most places have not seen a drop of rain this year either. this is a weekly drought monitor and just from last week to this week this dried out significantly so we are definitely seeing some problems as we go in the months ahead and should be banking the moisture and back to you. >> dangerous conditions there and nicole back to you. new reforms for nsa there are more revelations about the

extent of the agency's spy revelations and they say they are getting 200 million text messages everyday. it's part of a secret global program called dish fire and includes people who are not suspected of any illegal activity. what can we expect from president obama speech this morning? patty has a preview. >> it is almost a weekly event revenue lakess from edward snowden creating embarrassing headlines for the obama administration detailing what he had his spies doing, reading and storing e-mails sent across the globe and tracking locations through cell phones and eavesdropping on private conversations of world leaders and recording and keeping cell phone data from everybody in the united states and the president at first tried to justify the spying on a massive scale. >> we know of at least 50 threats that have been averted because of this information. >> reporter: his own review panel disputes that.

>> it's absolutely true that 2-15 has not by itself disrupted, prevented terrorist attacks in the united states. >> reporter: still their recommendations keep most programs. but with changes. a few of their suggestions have telephone companies store domestic phone records instead of the national security agency and require a warrant to search the database and allow a public defender in a secret court tonight requests and reign in the use of national security letters to allow the fbi to send letters to companies requiring they turn over clients records and cannot tell anyone they have done it. the president is unlikely to endorse all 46 recommendations and the american civil liberties union says even if you did it still wouldn't be enough. >> we believe the fundamental under lying law that permits this data collection has to be changed. >> reporter: they plan to push for additional changes in congress and in the courts.

but there will be intense lobbying on the other side from the spy agencies and those that call the programs effective. >> i think they have a role in identifying and therefore disrupting plots and also forcing the terrorists to impeding their activities. so they cannot use the kinds of e-mail communication or phone calls they would like that to take a road. >> reporter: for some this is a matter of security, others a violation of civil liberty, the president is expected to try and find some middle ground, all but ensuring that no matter what he says the courts and the congress will likely have the final say. patty with al jazeera, washington. >> reporter: journalists glen green wald exposed practices based on information supplied by edward snowden. in an interview with al jazeera the stream green wald says he is not expecting much from

president obama's speech. >> it's really just basically a pr gesture, a way to calm the public and make them think there is reform when in reality there really won't be. and i think that the public at this point has heard enough about what the nsa does and how invasive it is and they need more than just a pretty speech from president obama to feel as though there are concerns of an address. >> reporter: so what do most americans think about the nsa surveillance edges programs? a washington post, abc news poll finds 68% of americans believe the nsa's monitoring of call records and internet traffic intrudes on their right to privacy. 53% say they disapprove of the way president obama has handled nsa surveillance activities but that doesn't mean most americans consider edward snowden a hero, 60% of americans say his revelations about the nsa programs have harmed national security. and you can watch the president's speech on nsa reforms live right here on al jazeera america, that will be at

11:00 a.m. eastern. and the supreme court may take up a case that could decide if police can scroll through an arrested person's cell phone under the fourth amendment police need a warrant based on probable cause before they can conduct a search but when someone is arrested there is an exception officers can search anything the person is carrying and that includes cell phones which can store a large amount of personal information. the justices could decide as early as today if they will hear the appeal. a grenade ex employeds in protests in thailand injuring at least 22 people. massive protests in bangkok have mostly been peaceful until now and demonstrators calling on prime minister to resign and refused to step down saying elections will take place next month despite a corruption probe launched against her. >> and i told you this is a job

i have to respect. >> reporter: opposition says they will boycott the polls. they want an unelected council to oversee the election. there was pushing and shoving in the ukrainian parliament as members approved a new budget. opposition parties tried to stop voting on the plan which includes measures to reduce social benefits but it passed. the parliament also passed measures apparently aimed at stifling the ongoing antigovernment protests there. those new laws include a ban on unauthorized tents, stages and audio equipment in public areas and prohibit more than 5 vehicles travelling in motorcades for protests and those accused of slandering public officials face criminal penalties including a year of hard labor. opposition leaders warn the new measures will only increase the antigovernment protests and

calling for a large demonstration this sunday. syria's big city could be close to a cease fire and the foreign minister says he is working with russia towards cease fire in aleppo and the syrian government has prepared a list of prisoners for a possible exchange with rebel forces and aleppo is the scene of heavy fighting in resent weeks and hundreds on the ground have been killed by devastating air attacks and it's a welcome sign ahead of peace talks set to take place next week in geneva and john carry is urging the main opposition group in syria to attend talks. one of the original lost boys returns home to south sudan. >> my home in the border town was attacked. >> reporter: why the young man who has already seen so much is facing a whole new set of horrors. plus arresting people because they are gay, where it's happening and why it could be putting lives at risk. and find out why drinking diet

soda may have a surprising impact on your waste line. another milestone for serena williams adding another grand slam title to her legacy. this is a look at the george washington bridge and this has been the scandal for chris christie and the latest on that

♪ the trillion dollar spending plan is passed and it's through the end of september and scales back last year's automatic spending cuts and some including nasa and the army corps of engineers will see increases and it was 72-26 for the measure and president obama is expected to sign it. republican tom coburn of oklahoma is retiring from the senate, the 65-year-old will leave at the end of the current session two years before the end

of his term and diagnosed with prostate cancer but the decision to step down was not because of that. a formal investigation has been launched into the new jersey bridge scandal, a legislative committee issued 20 subpoenas and will reportedly talk to governor chris christie's current and former staffers, the governor has hired a high-powered defense attorney to conduct an internal review. christie has not indicated if he will cooperate with the legislature's probe. 150 men have been arrested and tortured by nigeria for being gay and it is days after they passed a law criminalizing homosexuality and al jazeera has more from the capitol of abooja. >> reporter: dorothy runs a sexual rites organization in nigeria and has been in touch with some of the families of over 150 men who were arrested

and allegedly tortured by police for being gay. >> some gay man asked another person out and that person unfortunately was straight. he went to the police to report and the police arranged with him to set a trap for the gay man and when they went to a rendezvous the police swept this on them and got them arrested. and tortured them to give names of other gay people. >> reporter: we tried to talk to gay people about the new law but they were too afraid to speak out, under the new rules heterosexuals could end up in jail for ten years for associating with a gay person and not reporting him or her to the police. this year he is gay and fled from nigeria for the uk in 2007 after being attacked. he thinks the new antigay law is

politically motivated. >> in a democratic setting they document as sacrificed the right and dignity of the minority on the order of cheap majority just so that it can possibly get reelected or is pulling rate like the job. >> reporter: they will vote in elections next year. some people think the new law was put in place to boost support for the president jonathan. in a resent survey they were asked do you support the new antigay law and 92% of people responded said yes because of their religious and moral beliefs and they also said they didn't believe the new law is against human rights. noi polling is the company who did the survey. >> it's safe to say that they are in full support because they asserted it's not a part of the nigerian culture. >> reporter: the international community says not only is the new law against fundamental freedoms it will effect services to 3.4 million nigerians living

with hiv-aids and afraid to seek treatment because people will think they are gay. >> it effects heterosexual and effects everyone. >> reporter: campaigners are calling for the law to be repealed but that seems unlikely. and i'm with al jazeera. >> reporter: homosexuality is actually illegal in 38 african nations in, new ganda and others and we have the weather with nicole. >> looking at temperatures and we talked a bit about about the ridge in the west and the warm air that that helps support and have a trough in the midsection of the country and below average temperatures is what you see with that like minnesota at 6 degrees, the one good piece of news with in the high winds we had yesterday, the core of that has shifted a little bit to the south, so these wind chills could be worse if we see the winds but southern minnesota and south through the plains and some winds are gusting in the 20s and 30s and make it feel

colder. the other place we are watching this morning is portions of florida are around the freezing mark this morning. of course that causes some of the agriculture concerns and florida is not used to it so that is one of the things to deal with today, a little on the cool side. this is the high and 40s up and down the east coast and mentioned the warm temperatures in the west coast and it's great if you are doing something like heading to the beach this weekend to play volleyball saturday, sunday in los angeles around 80 degrees but the dry weather not good for ski resorts or the water pack and back to you guys. >> reporter: speaking of high temperatures another day of oppressive heat at the australian open and not slowing down a tennis player at all and we have the morning sports. >> it will take more than tough weather conditions to sideline this athlete and not only does the women feel they have to deal with the searing heat and face a serena williams, she won 78 of 82 matches last season and 11 titles including two grand slams and looks to carry that

dominance in 2014 and williams won the first set and second and serena is working quick and the quick serve had the back end winner of the line and 3-1 and serena with an ace and up the middle and ten aces for the match and 5-3, this is match point, williams hits the forehand winner and up the line and 6-3-6-3 in one hour and 20 minutes and the 61st win at the australian open and the most all time in women's singles. baseball owners have unanimously are using replay and previously it was used to determine home run calls and initiated by umpires and starting this season the play also be open to review and including but not limited to fan interference, force and tag plays and fair foul calls in the

out field and batters hit by a pitch and one challenge per game with a second potential challenge if their first one was upheld and only after a manager used up all challenges and only from the 7th inning on would umpires be initiated to have a review on their own. since 1990 the nba had 17 regular season games abroad and as the league continues efforts to promote the game on a global scale the knicks and hawks travel to london to swear off and 0-2 arena is the site and that is big ben, a point of geography, the third time in the last four years london hosted an nba game and brooklyn's joe johnson scored 26 of the game high 29 in the first half and nets placed five players in double figures and shot 58% from the field, brooklyn wins 127-110 and nets won six of the last 7. in houston last night a come back by thunder and kevin and before half time and goes to chandler for a three-ball and

rockets scored 73 in the first half and led 14 at the break, third quarter and thunder chipping away and down 9 and keeps the ball alive and fisher for three and thunder down 6 and third quarter thunder down three and durant guarded by parsons and weights and waits and burys the 3 ball and 36 on 8 field goals. in the fourth and under to minutes remaining and thunder up and jackson with the steal and stuff and had 26, the rockets scored 19 in the second half and thunder won 104, 92, there was a frightening crash we want to show you regarding shaun white that occurred yesterday in california during a slope-style qualifying run, white was trying a double flip on the second jump when he crashed. he stayed on the ground for a few minutes and after he was attended to by medical staff he left the course under his own power. white was okay despite the fall he clinched a spot on the u.s. team in slope style and will try

to qualify in the half pipe later this weekend and the sochi begin on february 6th with openers. >> thanks so much, two actors from sitcoms have passed away. >> final number was professor row hinkley. >> reporter: as the handsome professor on giligian's island and could build a radio but never could get them off the island, russell johnson passed away thursday and he was 89. his career in television and filming began in the 50s and credits include the movie it came from outer space. dave maddan played kincaid on the partridge family and he was a great guy and like family to me and taught me to drive a car when i was ten, many great

memories and died at the age of 82. it is the front line of the israeli, palestinian conflict and once peaceful field that turned into a battle ground over territory. >> bodies on the road and final the jobs along the main roads were broke into and looted. >> reporter: one of the lost boys talks about renewed violence in south sudan and fleeing his country for a second time. plus a mother reaches out to a stranger she met on a plane, what she says he did on their flight together that was so extraordinary. jazeera america.

♪ welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy and these are our top stories at this hour, a los angeles suburb had to be evacuated because of a

wildfire burned 2000 acres and the blaze is 30% contained and no longer spreading president obama is expected to announce changes to the nsa surveillance program in a speech later this morning and comes after new reports claim the agency is collecting 200 million text messages everyday. at least 22 people were hurt in thailand when an explosive device went off in protests in bangkok and it was aimed at antigovernment demonstrators who have been blocking roads in the capitol since monday. for the third time in resent days there has been a deadly accident involving a u.s. military helicopter and one soldier killed and two others injured after a chopper made a hard landing during a training mission in savannah, georgia and belonged to an elite aviation unit called the night stalkers and their chopper went down off the coast of virginia and after a helicopter crashed killing four members in eastern britain. jewish settlements in the east

bank are major sticking point between palestinians and the government, the obama administration criticized the addition of more settlement and u.n. considers them illegal and the army bulldozed some of the homes and that has reportedly led to back and forth violence between the two communities. nick has more on these so-called price tag attacks. >> in the village of coostra and the trees he calls holy are destroyed. >> you see. >> reporter: a few hundred feet away in the illegal post this field used to have hundreds of trees and aaron shows me the only one left. >> this tree here is probably one of the last ones that the tracker missed. >> reporter: this is the front line of the israeli, palestinian conflict and considers ultra national list built guard towers and prefabricated homes on the

high ground and plant huge fields and right next to villages and the army calls the oust post unauthorized and planting on palestinian land and up uprooted the settler's trees and instead of responding against their army the settlers attacked palestinians and ran through and brought pipes and bashed his head. the palestinians fought back and settlers ended up with bloody faces and one was knocked unconscious and eventually out numbered they surrendered in abandon house and he was shielded from a crowd calling for revenge. >> islam say when your enemy is holding his hand up so you are not allowed to kill him, but if comes back another time you can

kill him. >> reporter: this shows how tense this area is. and the villagers say settlers attacked 28 times in the last 2 1/2 years. >> this side is the palestine village and over the hill is the post and right in between. >> soldiers, they are saying they are there just to prevent attacks from the settlers and farmers. >> reporter: do they prevent the attacks? >> no, they didn't. >> reporter: he feels he is battling his own government and the palestinians and provided this video of palestinians attacking the fields and israeli troops defend settlers and they feel they can stay even if the out post is illegal and bottom line is neither side is going anywhere. >> got back after 2000 years and back home and here to stay. >> we are staying. it's our land and not leave. >> reporter: so the tension

continues, and he vows to replant and teaching his son. aaron planning to double the trees and taught his son to love this field. >> you like planting trees? >> yes. >> reporter: and until there is peace the children will fight over the same land and i'm from al jazeera. >> reporter: those price tag attacks don't have the support of all jewish settlers on the west bank, a group of rabbis started a petition declaring the attacks unethical can't forbidden by jewish law. state media is reporting that 90% of egyptians voted yes for a new military supported konsz tugs and official results are not expected until saturday and this is the second constitution put in place since the 2011 revolution since mubarak and morsi and the muslim brotherhood and if passes there will be an

election for a new election for a president. and journalists are detained in egypt and fahmy and mohamed and correspondent peter greste is held since december 29 and alleged for spreading lies and a terrorist group and al jazeera demands their immediate release and two others have been in prison for five months and it is a reporter and mohamed a camera man. al-qaeda and they are trying to get control of fallujah and looking for help and they were with seen handing out pamphleting urging iraqis to take up arms against the battle against the government or asked for money or open up their homes for shelters and they have been fighting with al-qaeda to reclaim areas of anbar province

and government and rebel forces battle for power, u.n. is preparing a report on the massive humanitarian crisis there, thousands of people have died, tens of thousands more have been displaced. it's a tragic case of de-ja-view and we have the story of a lost boy who found his way home. >> reporter: she can breathe an sigh of relief and flown from denver to africa to see that the man she considers a son is safe. >> he hears the gun and the bullet falling down there. [gunfire] so i told my wife let's run. >> reporter: daniel is an american who was trapped in the violence of south sudan. again running for his life. >> when i left the country it was at gunpoint. >> reporter: daniel was once a lost boy of sudan, that is the name aid workers gave the 20,000

boys who fled or were orphaned in sudan's civil war and daniel came to denver when he was about 19 years old, that is when carol took him under his wing and got his degree and citizenship and he returned to what is now south sudan to help build schools in the young nation and violence has returned. >> i never thought this would happen again because i knew that we have now got our independence from the oppressive. >> reporter: south sudan, the world's newest country is again threatening to unravel. >> my home in border town. >> reporter: from bshg -- bore led his wife and son north from swamp land to safety. >> saw dead bodies on the road and final the jobs on the roads

were broken into and looted. >> it's so unreal that i'm on a cell phone with him. he is in hiding for his life, talking to me. >> reporter: he is the cofounder of project education south sudan working with guy and other lost boys, helping them resettle in denver and reconnect with their families. before christmas guy needed their help again. >> i said so what do you need? he said i need your prayers because i don't know if we are going to make it. >> reporter: she did more than pray for him. she worked to get the family passports and eventually a flight out of the country. this week she headed to africa where daniel and his family had at least made it to safety in kenya. >> what breaks my heart is that i know a lot of these children and i don't know who is left. >> reporter: neither does guy. he is shaken by his ordeal and refuses to give up on peace. >> i hope that it comes soon so

i can come back to south sudan. to rebuild the hope and the lives of the innocent that have never thought they would go back to war again. >> reporter: guy told us he is counting on god to open the door for his return. tamra banks, al jazeera denver. >> reporter: and coming up, in our next hour we will take you to a south sudan refugee camp in kenya, relief, whoers there say as many as 80% of refugees crossing in the country are children and many of them are separated from their families or orphaned. an indian gun maker created a light-weight gun just for women and named after a student that was gang raped in new deli and later died and weighs as much as a water bottle and small enough to be concealed in a purse and the weapon will help women defend themselves and critics say it insults the memory of the young victim and it's called a near beak, the nickname given to the rape victim by the media, it means fearless in hindi.

looking at business news now this morning, some more news related to the data breach at neiman marcus and "new york times" say the computers were hacked as far back as july but that the attack was not fully contained until sunday. neiman marcus said it first learned of the breach in mid december. the wait is over and china mobile started selling apple piece i-phone today and could give apple a needed boost in china where it's losing to rivals who offer cheaper options. we will find out if the cold weather had an impact on home drugs and the december housing starts this morning and estimates are for a slight pull back after november surge and home construction will continue to rise in 2014. >> it would not surprise me at all if we saw single family construction growing 20, 25 if we are lucky all be it from a base and the percentages are high the total numbers are not big and maybe 120,000 units.

>> reporter: we will have more on that in a minute but first look at wall street with gains at the open and stock futures are high and starting the day at 16417. s and n is 1845. nasdaq is 4218. in asia markets ending the day mostly lower and shanghai fell to a five-month low and european are higher than better than expected sales data in the uk. in this programming note ali will be reporting from the world economic forum next week, you can check him out on real money every night at 7:00 eastern right here on al jazeera america. it's time again for companies to tell wall street how much money they made in the last three months and think of it as a report card that tells investors how well a business is doing and patricia said reading the economic tea leaves is not easy. the federal reserves bond buying

spree pushed interest rates down and stock prices to record highs last year as they chased higher returns. as the stimulus ties receipts investors may have to be more discerning. >> investors will need to see strong turn around on the fundamental side particularly earnings to validate the gains that we have seen in the market last year. >> reporter: they expect earnings for the s&p 500 to be up 9.9 percent this year compared to 4.6% last year. [bell ringing] how they are generated will be closely watched. since the recovery, many firms have kept profits up by keeping costs down, this year sales growth will be key with revenues for the s&p expected to climb 2 1/2% compared to barely 1% for 2013. >> the expectation now is that as the economy ramps up to improve growth base in 2014 and

beyond, that will give companies the top line of revenue gains which will translate into double digit earnings growth this year and next. >> reporter: if you are not invested in the stock market the corporate earnings are the barometer of the nation's economic health because when companies see more demand for their goods it gives them more incentive to create jobs. >> i think the two sectors you are going to see in 2014 coming down the pike that is going to use, have great economic growth and employment growth are tech sector and energy sector. >> reporter: some market watchers expect technology hardware firms like chip makers to do well this year. >> i like the hardware area, some hardware-type stuff from the 90s you saw great growth and seen a win in the industry. >> reporter: plays are marked out for a strong performance. >> the build out of energy in the united states means the beneficiaries of supply do

better, transcript -- transportation and truckers and air and industrial companies and pipelines you go to the beneficiaries of more supply. >> reporter: but while most are expecting earnings growth to be on the plus side, remember, last year's optimistic forecast fell wide of the mark. >> the expectations have steadily been coming down for 4-6 quarters and i think it will continue in 2014 as well. >> reporter: al jazeera, new york. question about corporate earnings is how rising interest rates will effect results in 2014 particularly financial firms like banks and strong profits from bank of american send the s&p to another record high on wednesday. that came a day after jp morgan and wells forgo had better than expected results. a stranger who sat next to her daughter on a flight and why she wanted to track him down and thank him. plus the winter festival that draws more than a million people

each year for ice fishing. and system after system moving across the eastern half of the country but the snow not piling up much and i will explain. a live look at what is known as the cross roads of the world, times square this friday

welcome back to al jazeera america, just ahead a mother's touching letter to the stranger who sat next to her autistic child on a flight and first we will look at where the snow and the rain may fall across the country and nicole mitchell is back. >> hoping everybody is having a wonderful friday and to the end of the week and the pattern and it was divided and western quiet and eastern half and it is much more active and you can clearly see that looking at the satellite and radar and this is the reason why, the same pattern in the west, the ridge of high pressure and then the jet stream to the north and it keeps everything warm and the weather quiet and the trough in clipper going through and that

trend will continue. but not a lot of moisture with the snow system because the winds are not tapping into the gulf moisture so you had some of the cold air and little bits of snow but not really enough moisture to really crank this up. so i'm not saying there is not snow up there, it's just not particularly heavy in most cases but it has made it as far south as kentucky this morning and more around the great lakes today and back to you. >> thank you. mean while the second cold snap in two weeks in florida is forcing citrus growers to spray a warm midst to raise the temperature around the tree by four degrees and it worked last week and hoping it will work again and if frost collects on it they will not grow and that could result in a spike in consumer costs. drinking diet soda may not help you lose weight. researchers at johns hopkins say people who drink diet soda eat

more than people who drink regular soda or other sugar drinks and it may disrupt appetite control and lead to increased calorie intake and scientists are not encouraging a switch but say dieters should be aware. people are actually making better choices when it comes to food, according to a study adults consumed 117 fewer calories a day compared to four years earlier. americans also reported eating more home-cooked meals and reading labels at grocery store and shopping for healthy options. in south korea ice fishing is a national pastime as harry faucet tells us an annual festival is in full swing in the town and a million people are expected to grab their fishing gear and take part. >> it's a winter tradition here and january is ice fishing season and not just for a few high

highly enthusiast and they come to the frozen stretch of river a couple hours's drive from seoul. >> it's fun. this is my third year here. sometimes we come here twice a year. the whole family. and there is the fun of eating as well. >> the common factor in the hunt for the prize of the trout is a need for patience. rewarded with the arrival of the fish truck. each day 3-8 tons of farmed fish added to the dammed off river where the fishermen arrive it's about being in the right place at the right time. >> this is my first time. i have three already you know. >> reporter: if that is not enough of a challenge you can always try this, i can tell you it's cold enough and let alone dressed like these guys. the object here is to catch the fish by hand and if the discomfort levels were not high enough success means a wet fish

down your t-shirt and after that you can eat and they can be consumed roasted, raw or for the brave still wiggling. it's a boom for this northern town and the fast -- festival in the 12th year. >> 1.4 million expected to come and tourists will spend $50 and talking about $60 million for the local economy. >> reporter: crowded far from natural and obviously fun for many this festival is the perfect way to bright end up a bone-chilling seize and harry faucet in south korea. >> reporter: as you saw in the pictures there the ice festival is not limited to fishing and opening in january there is 60 events including ice flooding and snow flooding and snow sculpture and ice soccer, that is the thing. a california woman believed to be the first person cited for wearing google glass while driving has been cleared, and

she was found not guilty because there was no proof the glasses were on while she was behind the wheel, legislators in at least three states, delaware, new jersey and west virginia introduced bills to ban driving with google glass which has a computer screen on the eye wear. and google unveiled a new technological breakthrough for people suffering diabetes and they are contact lenses to test blood sugar levels and the user's tears are less invasive than the finger prick that measures insulin in blood and google said it's five years before it will reach consumers and 382 million people around the world suffer from diabetes. well it's been said that parenting is one of the hardest jobs any of us can have but for parents of children with autism it can be a day-to-day struggle. john brings us the story of a compassionate stranger who touched a mother's heart. >> reporter: she is three years old but this little girl from canada is touching the lives of people around the world.

it's a story that kate's mom chanelle is sharing in a blog she wrote entitled dear daddy in a flight from philly and begins like this dear daddy, i don't know your name but kate called you daddy for the entire flight last week and you never corrected her. i sat kate my three-year-old who has autism in the middle seat knowing full well there would be a stranger sitting next to her, you walked up and sat down with your briefcase and your important documents and i had a vision of kate pouring our water all over your multi million contractors or house deeds or whatever it was you held. the moment you sat down, kate started to rub your arm. your jacket was soft. she liked the feel of it. you smiled at her and she said hi, daddy. that's my mom. then she had you. you could have shifted uncomfortably in your seat.

you could have ignored her. you could have given me that smile that i despise because it means manage your child, please. you did none of that. you engaged kate in conversation and you asked her questions about her turtles. she could never really answer your questions but she was so enamored with you she had eye contact and items you were asking her about. i watched and smiled. i made a few polite offers to distract her but you would have none of it and the interaction went on and on and you never once seemed annoyed so thank you, thank you for not making me repeat those awful apologetic sentences it so often say in public. thank you for entertaining kate so much that she had her most successful plane ride yet and thank you for putting your papers away and playing turtles

with our girl. the kindness of strangers, and she told us she wrote that blog post because she wanted to spread awareness about autism and would like more people to have the same kindness that stranger had. >> he spoke to her and found a way to communicate and that touched me and made me kind of emotional. when i think about it it makes me emotional because he treated her like a little person. >> reporter: the man has now reconnected with mulan after a family relative forwarded him the post. and we have joined with the stories we are following. >> president obama will address nsa reform in a speech later this morning and expected to endorse some limits on phone record collection but not make broad changes to the agency's surveillance program and three men arrested in connection with the wildfire that forced the evacuation of thousands of homes in california, hundreds of firefighters are working to keep the flames from spreading. several people were injured when an explosion rocked

antigovernment protesters in thailand and demonstrations going on and they have been blocking that as major roads in bangkok since monday. plus the latest fighting in south sudan has a new generation of lost boys and where the orphan children are trying to find a safe haven. a federal court has struck down the practice of net neutrality, what that will mean for your wallet and the way you watch videos online. and i'm metrologist nicole mitchell and weather is a critical role in the fire danger on the west coast and will have that and the forecast. >> reporter: and al jazeera continues and we are back with you in just 2 1/2 minutes. ♪

>> right to privacy and the government's balancing act, the president addresses surveillance today, a minor inconvenience for big brother or needed security caution. >> favorable winds help battle flames but they've torched dozens of homes and 1700 acres. >> crossing the border into someone certainty, the conflict in south sudan putting thousands of children at risk without their families in kenya. >> you can't get a strategy if you can't -- if all you're doing is balancing political interests in the short run. >> president obama tries to navigate the political and

economic barriers around climate change and science. >> good morning, welcome to aljazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> i'm richelle carey. today, president obama is going to deliver a major speech laying out his proposed changes to the nsa's domestic surveillance programs. the panel made 46 recommendations but nobody knows which if any the president will enact. he must straddle satisfying the public outcry, 70% of americans oppose the nsa tactics and the use of techniques he has defended in the past in the name of national security. >> the hardest thing for the president is he cannot satisfactory both, the intelligence community on the one hand, civil liberties

organizations on the other. the question is if you can't satisfactory them no matter what, why not just do what you feel is right. >> journalist glenn greenwald, man who helped edward snowden reveal details about the spy program said he is in the expecting much. >> i think the intercept has a role in identifying and therefore disrupting and also forcing the terrorists to -- impeding their activities. >> that's not glenn greenwald. we'll get to that. now. >> we've heard enough about what the nsa does and how invasive it is. they're going to need more than a prespeech from president obama to feel con sense are addressed. >> earlier this week, white house spokesman jay carney said the president's speech will:

>> the president's announcement is coming up at 11:00 this morning eastern time and we will carry it for you live on aljazeera america. >> hundreds of california firefighters are still battling a massive wild pure just 27 miles east of downtown los angeles. the blaze swept across nearly 2,000 acres in the san gabriel mountains causing evacuations. the flames damage would homes, garages, barns and other buildings and the swift santa ana winds caused it to spread quickly. police say they have the culprits who may have started the fire. favorable wind conditions are now allowing them to contain

this fire, right? >> it's about 30% contained right now, which is a pretty good figure. it was looking really dicey here about 24 hours ago. this started at dawn yesterday accidentally by three campers and it was in the foothills right on the edge of a dense hi populated suburban neighborhood. at is this times, palm freeze were spontaneously exploding into flames as the embers drifted over he's homes. we heard five houses were burned and quite a few out buildings destroyed. it could have been much, much worse, but the winds generally were favorable to the firefighters yesterday. the fire burned up hill, not into the suburban loops, so they are hopeful that most of the worst is over with today and if it does not advance much today, they'll pretty much get this under control, we would think. >> what are authorities saying about these thee men arrested for causing this fire?

you said it was an accident. >> they were camping and they were feeding a fire with papers, and the hills are so dry here now, as we've said, 2013 was the dryest year on record since 1898, so it really takes very little to start a fire in the underbrush in these hills. it should be the rainy season, but it hasn't rained, so you spark a fire, the hills are steep, it burns straight up the hill. there isn't much they can do about it once it gets going, so they are charged with accidentally starting the fire, rather intentionally. it's a lesser offense, but they're still in some trouble. >> brian rooney with the latest out of california. thanks, brian. >> now for the very latest on the conditions for those dealing with the furious, particularly the fire crews, let's bring in meteorologist nicole mitchell. >> one of the problems we've had is this part of the country has been in a persistent drought.

last year the dryest on record, and it's not just california. even the area of moderate drought, the oranges go northward into oregon all the way to parts of utah seeing that, so we already had exceptionally dry conditions that dried the vegetation that makes it catch fire more quick hi. this tile of year, it should be the rainy season. you can see the clouds this to the north, a ridge of high pressure, that means we are not seeing any weather patterns to block anything coming in and the flow around this on the south side has helped with those santa ana winds which fuel the fire and spread it along. a little shift in the winds and also, we see those day time winds that we have a problem with that, so fire crews are able to get more done during night. low humidity, dry and windy conditions, we still have the

fire hazards today. look at the snow pack. last year at this time versus this year at this time, it's been so exceptionally dry, the ski resorts are having problems, but this is also what's going to eventually melt and help the agriculture once we get into the spring and we just don't have the snow pack out there. this is going to be a problem as we continue in the season, possibly causing more fires later on during the year being so dry approximate back to you guys. >> vice president joe biden says the u.s. should pull out nearly all troops from afghanistan, going against the advice of military officials on the ground. the wall street journal said biden voiced his opinion at a white house meeting between top security officials thursday. his call for a smaller troop presence has fallen on deaf ears in the past, however it is now gaining traction, as the administration gross frustrated with afghan president hamad

karzai. he has yet to sign security agreement allowing troops to stay in the country. the u.s. plans to pull out most forces at the end of this year. >> a landmark trillion dollar spending bill cleared the senate. budget funds for the end of september scales back last queer's automatic spending cuts. it affects almost every government agency, including nasa, army corps of engineers and affordable care act. the bill now moves to the president's desk. >> republican tom co burn of oklahoma says he's retiring from the senate. the 65-year-old will leave at the end of the current session nearly two years before his term is set to end. co burn was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer but says the decision to step down was not based on health concerns. he served three terms in the house before elected to the senate in 2004. >> new developments in the scandal involving new jersey governor chris christie. the assembly voted to authorize an investigation into an alleged abuse of power and has issued 20

subpoenas. the governor appears to be going on the offensive, he has hired randy mass astro, a long time associate of former new york city mayor rudy giuliani. it's unfair if he will cooperate with the assembly inquiry. >> 90% of egyptians voted yes for a new military supported constitution. official results are not expected until saturday, but this is the second constitution put into mace since the revolution overthrowing hoss mubarak. if it passes as expected, there will be an election for a new president and parliament. >> that could be a critical step toward solving syrias civil war, the main opposition group will decide whether they will attended the peace talks and the u.s. is putting pressure on the

coalition to go. we report on the prospects of the upcoming conference known as geneva two. >> john kerry rejected the syrian's efforts to change the focus from ending the civil war and installing an interim government to focusing on terrorism. he called it an attempt to change history and said it wouldn't work. that. >> it defies logic to imagine that those whose brutality created this, how they could ever lead syria away from extremism and a better future is beyond any kind of logic or common sense. >> in a letter obtained by aljazeera, the syrian foreign minister tried to shift the focus of the conference when he accepted the invitation to attend. he wrote:

>> kerry are called the syrian opposition to unit. >> the united for these reasons urges a positive vote. >> a syrian opposition spokesman said it's important for all sides to rye to dole in good faith. >> also agree to the six principles in the geneva communique. we he need you to force him to come out and say i accept all the principles, otherwise, these peace conference are going to be a waste of time and no one is interested in that. >> the secretary of state's appeal came after his most recent drip abroad to confirm the agenda for geneva two and seek more humanitarian aid for the hundreds of thousands of displaced syrians inside and outside their country, but there is still questions about whether the conference can make a real difference in the nearly three year long civil war. >> no one knows what practical results could come out of geneva

two yet with, be it a ceasefire, a safe zone to move food and medicine or a time line for bashar al assad to step aside. the obama administration's view, let's get to the conference and see what happens. aljazeera, the state department. >> more than 130,000 people have died since the fighting began nearly three years ago. >> an anti-government protest turns violent in thailand after a grenade is tossed at demonstrators. it is not clear who is responsible. reports from bangkok where the report happened: >> just after 1:00 p.m. friday local time, an anti government protestor procession was attacked by a small explosives device. more than 30 people were injured, the leader for the protest movement was in this procession, in this neighborhood in a street perpendicular to me. he was whisked away quickly, local hospitals telling you guess that the injuries are

minor and nothing life threatening. the building behind me, this is an alley where vacant buildings are. protestors who were part of this group and have gathered since have focused on one of these buildings, because that's where they believe there is evidence that that's where this attack i guess staged from. police tried to gather evidence, but a lot of protestors went in there, so it's a contaminated scene. the concern is that these strings of attacks like this, there have been small explosive attacks over the last couple of weeks, this is concern they could ratchet up with the size of the explosives, the intensity of the attacks. this is something we haven't seen before. that's the main concern that this could heat up, then also, repercussions from reprisal attacks. if they were to catch the person who was involved with this, you can just imagine what a mob like this would have done, so that's the focus, hope thank violence like this doesn't continue and

escalate. >> reporting from bangkok. demonstrators have been calling on the prime minister to resign. she addressed reporters today. >> no one wants -- i told you this is a job -- >> prime might bester says elections will go on as hand next month despite a new corruption probe launched against her. the opposition said they will boycott the polls, they want an someone elected council to oversee the country. >> police are investigating a tragic accident after a 4-year-old was shot to death by his 4-year-old can you see be. the children were playing in the bedroom of a detroit home when they found a rifle in an unlocked case. the girl pointed the gun at her cousin and pulled the trig are. the grandfather wasn't home at the time of the accident. >> there's been a deadly accident involving a u.s. military hospital. one soldier was killed and two

injured after a chopper made a heartlanding during a training mission in savannah, george. >>. they belonged to the night stalkers. last week, three to do after their chopper went down. another crash killed four crew members in eastern britain. >> here are the headlines making news around the globe. a disturbing report in the sydney morning herald, a local dentist may have infected 1,000 patients with hi and infectious diseases over a 10 year period. his medical equipment was not properly sterilized. >> the telegraph in london said the countries top position is concerned about british women delaying motherhood. ok, u.k. doctors say it's producing a birth slump not seen since the 1960's. >> it's not always our choice, by the way. laugh half. >> exactly. >> and the boston herald focuses

on the much anticipated new documentary out today on the state's former governor mitt romney. the netflix feature follows romney during his 2008 and 2012 presidential campaign. >> crime and punishment or cruel and unusual? the execution of an ohio man and the problem sparks a debate about capital punishment. >> the man's family plans to sue the state. the legal ramifications. >> a bigger breach, how long the cyber assault against retailer niemann marcus may actually have been going on. >> 13,216,000 people, big number of the day. for some americans, it's a particularly financially fruitful group to be a part of.

>> now to today's big number, 13,216,000, that's it is number of millionaires living in the united states. a report says 1.8 million new

millionaires popped up in 2013, some created right here in the u.s. >> not us. we're in the wrong profession, clearly. the five states where the most seven figure earners are living, california is tops, texas comes in second, new york, florida and illinois round out list. >> good for them. >> good for them. that's the right attitude, right, and maybe we'll get there one day. welcome back to aljazeera america. >> the execution of a death row inmate in ohio raises questions over the experimental method in which he was put to death. you're going to be talking with a law professor who specializes in the death penalty. >> first let's look at temperatures across the country today. nicole mitchell has a look at that. >> one of the places we're really feeling it this morning, that cold air southward into

parts of florida. we're watching these temperatures closely, because they're close to freezing, orlando he not quite. jacksonville at 32, tallahassee at 30. we'll watch that for the growing issues we get when the temperatures get this cold. minneapolis, the drop with clipper after clipper reinforcing the cold air, the good news is the fact that the wind has subsided, so wind chills could be worse but a lot of them are below zero, but the core of the strong winds is now iowa southward, gust i can 20 and 30 miles per hour, so that makes it feel colder and where we're warm, we actually don't want to be into the west coast trying things out. >> the execution of a death row inmate took 15 minutes before he died, making it one of ohio's longest executions. witnesses say he was gasping for air until he finally passed. now the focus has turned to the untested dugs that were used in his lethal injection.

>> dennis mcguire was sentenced to die for the rape and murder of a western ohio newly we had in 1989. joy stuart was seven months pregnant when mcguire stabbed her to death. moments before the execution, the prison director said it would be carried out in a humane and dignified manner. in recent years a backlog of death row inmates has increased because of a shortage of lethal injection drugs. some pharmaceutical companies have stopped selling the drugs. ohio officials used an untried combination. a reporter who witnessed the execution said at 10:29 a.m., as the drugs were injectioned, his eyes rolled back as if he were going to sleep. six minutes later, he appeared to be unconscious, convulsing, gagging and struggling to breathe. 15 minutes went by before he was declared dead. it was one of the longest executions since ohio resumed

capital punishment. >> his attorneys argued against the execution saying he would experience panic and struggling to breathe. while the constitution bans punishments that are cruel and unusual that doesn't mean inmates are entitled to a pain-free death. >> in ohio, there are currently 138 men on death row and one woman. states with inmates on death row are researching new lethal injection methods because of the pharmaceutical shortages. >> to offer insight in executions, a professor of law at ford ham university, thanks for coming in. >> thank you. >> having been a reporter in texas, i have witnessed an execution. i know you know these things implicitly. how is this supposed to go, because that's not how it was supposed to go. >> that's right. lethal injection is supposed to take three or four minutes.

the inmate is not supposed to show the signs that this particular inmate did and it's supposed to be done quickly. >> what went so wrong no. >> it's hard to know exactly what went wrong. the inmate, the execution lasted for over 15 minutes. that's not supposed to be happening. that's twice at long as it should be happening. the inmate was reacting to drugs, choking,ette set are. that's not supposed to be happening. that said, these drugs had neve been used on a how many being before and expert predicted that these very reactions could occur. >> how would they have been tested? >> you really can't test. you can't test these drugs on human beings. >> not on humans at least. >> unless they're being executed and you can't test them on animals. there's really no way to go about doing any testing here. >> the other way, the traditional way with the drugs that have been used for years and years, have there been problems before with those drugs? >> shootly.

there have been problem with with lethal injection from the beginning. the first time it was used was in texas in 1982. that was botched. we've seen botches for a long time. they've been particularly bad within the last few years because of this drug shortages, these drug shortages of states not really having drugs to use. >> what now? >> so what now, it's hard to know what states will be losing. they've lost credibility. they've used so many different kinds of drugs and lethal injection procedures, i think they're really up against the wall. >> how did it arrive that this was the common accepted way to execute someone with lethal injection? most states, this is what they do. >> that's right. every state that has a death penalty today has lethal injection. this was adopted in 1977 in the state of oklahoma when we were bringing back the death penalty. there was a concern that executions might be televised,

and so there was a desire that inmates look like they're just sleeping. at that time, there was of the us of a paralittic agent to paralyze the inmate. >> it will be interesting to see what happens. are there other cases as well? >> january 9 in oklahoma, there was a case where the inmate said his entire body was burning. he had been injected with a drug has had been created a the a compounding pharmacy, this is a whole different kind of issue that has created problems, as well. >> this is the kind of topic that it's difficult to get the public to rally behind, because there is a significant segment of the public that supports the death penalty, so they find a hard time having sympathy for the people that are executed. >> that's right. there's not an argument that there be sympathy for these

inmates. that they oftentimes have been accused and quicked of terrible, terrible crimes. what i'm trying to emphasize is this was a result of incompetence. this was not supposed to happen. these prison officials were trying to do the best job they could knowing the entire world was watching them, and they still got it wrong. >> thank you so much. that law professor at ford ham university, an important discussion. >> thank you. >> tough topic. turning to business news now, another shoe dropping at yahoo, the company's editor in chief is leaving the company after c.e.o. marissa mayor fired the chief operating officer earlier this week. it's not clear what the management shake up means. >> the data breach that hit niemann marcus was worse than first thought, hacked as far back as july but the attack not fully contained this will sunday. gnome man marcus first learned about the breach in mid december. >> the firm that produced a

report on how hackers stole data said retailers can use the information to determine if their own systems are compromised. the head of the security company says the government released the technical bulletin so other retailers can take action to block theft. 100 million or more target customers were affect by the data breach over the holiday shopping season. >> we'll find out if the cold weather impacted new home construction. the commerce department releases december housing starts this morning with a light pull back after a november surge. rising mortgage rates should not hinder home buying according to one economist. >> people will be able to overcome rate increases because more people have jobs and fuel more secure and are more confident. as long as the interest rates follow g.d.p. growth, we'll be ok, and that's what i really think is going on here. >> in other economic reports out today, include consumer

sentiment and industrial production. >> wall street looks poised to open higher, dow futures up. in asia, markets ended the day mostly lower. european stocks are posting gains. >> a programming note, why is he smiling? ali velshi will be talking to people in business and finance at the economic forum next week. these things get him very excited. you can see his reports in the morning on his show, real money, all here on aljazeera america. >> maybe he's doing some skiing or something. >> nsa overhaul. >> president obama to call for an end to the government's control of phone data. >> what it means for you and your right to privacy. >> battle over control of the internet, how a recent ruling

over net neutrality will affect your ability to use the internet and an explanation of meaning of the term. you're going to tell us. >> let's start the there. >> and a new generation, the growing cries of children fleeing south sudan without their parents. >> manning against brady, a rivalry renewed and the stakes are high. that story ahead.

take a new look at news. >> look at that, a live shot of the capitol building in washing d.c. on this beautiful friday morning. does it look cold to you, though? it locks a little cold. >> it looks a little chilly. looks busy, going to abbusy day in washington. >> a very, very busy day. welcome back to aljazeera.

i'm richelle carey. >> i'm stephanie sy. president obama is set to address the nsa spying scandal, coming out with new proposals on changing the program. >> children leaving south sudan alone, we'll look at challenges in finding someone to care for them. >> it's a very sad story. that a federal court has struck down scc rules on net neutrality. i'm going to try to explain. it basically affects everything we download video wise prom the internet. we'll talk about you that. >> an extremely important topic. let's talk about d.c. and things that affect everyone out of d.c. we have just learned that president obama will call for an end to the government's control of the phone data of millions of americans. that that is according to white house officials. the president will not recommend who should control the data.

instead, he will call on congress and the intelligence community to make that determination. joining us, a fellow out of washington this morning. what do you make out of what you hear the president is going to announce today? >> the details seem to matter quite a bit here. it would be a significant improvement if the proposal were to let the carriers keep the records until the government needs them, so that specific records can be obtained, if it's, you know, booz allen or some other third party contractor just maintaining the same database moved down the hall, it's not clear whether that would be a significant change. really, who has the data is not in itself that important unless the standard for inquiring changes. if the data is kept by the carriers or third party, but analysts still are allowed to decide what numbers to query without getting a court order,

it's not clear how much of a difference that makes, it moves the stuff down the hall. >> we're talking about a lot of data, thanks to another bit of information that edward snowden has revealed. this is some of the numbers we're talking about. this is from a program, an nsa program called dishfire. more than 5 million missed call alerts, which are used to analyze a person's social network, that is some of the data the nsa is collecting. details of 1.6 million border crossings a day is pulled from the network roaming alerts and more than 800,000 financial transactions through text to text payments are linking credit cards to phone users. that's the type of data that the nsa has been collecting. that what does that tell you? >> the nsa have certainly adopted an attitude that they never saw a piece of data they didn't want to collect. i think it's true, the attitude

really does seem to be getting now it may come in handy for something down the road. >> what do you think the president -- i'm sorry, what do you think the president needs to do today, what does he need to do, what does congress need to do and do you feel he is on a course to kind of kick the can down the road to congress? >> no, i mean certainly it seems that that's the case, what we're hearing is that for a lot of recommendations for his own review panel came up with, he intends to announce the need for further study or congress and let them pick it up. it's clear he was surprised by the extent to which his own expert panel really recommended pretty substantial transformations in the way the nsa operates and the way our counter intelligence system operates and it seems he's basically not willing to actively push reforms that go much further than what he said already before the review group

findings came in. >> do you think the average american is really mugged to this issue. >> it's hard, suns the summer and torrent of snowden leaks, it's hard to keep track of all of the different revelations as they flow out, but i think polls show a growing concern, a sense that people are -- whether or not they understand every detail in every program and every alphabet soup of code words, there is a sense that an incredible amount of vacuum being vacuumed up and this is an agency that doesn't seem under control. they might not need to know exactly the problems the court found, but the courts that are supposed to oversee these programs seem not to have understood what is happening and that doesn't bode well whatever the violations were. >> there's till so much we don't know we're going to have to hear what the president actually does end up saying and go from there. mr. sanchez, thank you for your

time this morning. >> a detroit bankruptcy judge rejected another deal to end detroit's crippling agreement with major banks. the judge said the $169 million deal to end a revenue pact with banks is too costly. he rejected a similar $230 million deal on the same grounds in december. in 2009, detroit offered banks revenue from casino taxes as collateral to avoid defaulting on pension debt payments. the city locked itself into high interest rates, however, the deal became extremely costly when interest rates plunged during the recession. >> tens of thousands of people have been disapplied in south sudan. 80% of refugees are children. many make the journey alone after losing their parents. we report. >> when the fighting in south sudan got out of hand, he clutched his bible and ran.

his father, his only family could not keep up. he was shot dead in the cross foyer. he kept walking for three days before getting a ride to get the kenyan border. from there, the u.n. refugee agency brought him here. >> people were killing people. many people have died. it is only god kept me alive, because i was running. i don't know if i would survive. >> aid workers say 80% of those crossing the border every day of children. many have been making the dangerous journey uncompanied by adults or relatives. it's a repeat of what happened during the 20 year war with sudan when thousands of children were left roaming east africa alone. they were called the loft boys. u.n. teams are still assessing the in connection but hundreds are believed to be among the new

arrivals here. >> how do we settle these children in within the camp? you see children who are sick. you also have young pregnant teenagers. >> when the children arrive here, they are interviewed to see if they can be connected with relatives in the camp. aid workers reluctant to have children stay with unrelated tribes man, fearing abuse. they are kept where refugees are given temporary shelter. that guards keep a close eye on the gate. this is not an orderly place and oftentimes, this is chaos. >> in the confusion here, one of the unaccompanied boys followed the crowd and got on one of the trucks where they are being settled into camps. >> luckily he was found and brought back here. this is one of the tents where unaccompanied children today. they are fed three times a day, but not everyone has abappetite.

17-year-old rose and her two younger brothers were separated from their mother as they fled heavy fighting in the city. >> there are many things on my mind. what would happen to us if my mother has died? we are only children. we can't do anything. there's no one to take care of us. >> the conflict took away their childhood in sense as well as their families. >> south sudan was promised 5500 peace keeping truce by the u.n. three weeks ago and that fort has yet to arrive. 400 police officers authorized by the security council are expect would in the country today. >> al-qaeda and iraq has been battling for control of fallujah. al-qaeda fighters were seen hand ungot pamphlets urging people of iraq to talk up arms in their battle against the government. those who can't fight are asked to donate money or open their homes at shelters to al-qaeda

members. iraqi forces and sunni tribesman have been fight i can for key areas in anbar province. the fighters who gained independence are accusing a former mali penalty of high treason. aljazeera's andrew gallagher has more. >> in northern mali, this is a barren eveningen. they declared themselves independent after rebel fighters forced soldiers out of the region, but any independence was short-lived. >> al-qaeda linked fighters moved in, but now allegation are being made to get the countries former government worked with them to try and end the rebellion. a fighter claims al-qaeda was unchallenged. >> the evidence that i have that mali brought them is the way they parried fully armed in front of the soldiers, welcomed from the government.

any rational person can see how the government is implicated. >> the president seen here before the coup that removed him from office faces high treason. his government is accused of taking money from al-qaeda from cash gotten from kidnapping westerners. >> the money from drugs and hostages were being used to fund militias. it is those very same militias who today are raising the black flags with the words upon it no god but allah. >> the claims appear to be backed by cables released by wikileaks. that this accuses mali of channeling an al-qaeda linked

group into zones to feed rumors of ties to terrorism. another assert that is officials were working with them to secure a percentage of an eventual ransom payment for the release of two australian hostages. the fight for autonomy goes on, but northern mali remains one of the most unstable regions in a fragile nation. >> a brawl in ukraines parliament. the fight was technically over the 2014 budget, but opposition members in parliament were trying to block the vote, which would create closer ties with russia. for weeks, protestors took to the streets over a trade agreement with russia. >> in a landmark ruling earlier this week, a federal appeals court ruled that the fcc cannot force certain rules on internet

service providers. those rules referred to as net neutrality was created to insure equal access and the companies can't decide who can download faster. this rule could change the internet as we know it. with us to discuss how this might affect you, ryan, thanks for joining us. we've got a great graphic that we built to explain this. it's a complicated issue and i want to show viewers the current model for how we currently get our content, for example, if i download a video at home, i pay my internet service provider, right? explain the current model quickly. >> coming you pay your internet service provider to access the internet and you actions goggle. >> how does it newer model work?

without going into too much what net neutrality means, what could happen? >> the user would have to pay their provider, but also an extra service they are trying to add netflix or you tube, could pay for more content if they provide it that way. >> why is that? >> that's because the district court ruled that the fcc doesn't have the power to regulate this sort of content. >> essentially, these rules by the fcc made it if i was just using email and you were downloading videos, we would pay the same amount to our service provider. this changes that. this means because you download more content, you'll pay more? >> right. it could be worse. it could be i download more content from a specific place so my provider could choose to charge me more for netflix or

you tube. >> everyone has always felt the internet was sort of this open, free thank you. this could majorly change that. this is the not neutral environment that we're looking at now. explain how this will work. >> right, so basically if i wanted to download something from a provider that my internet provider wasn't friends with, didn't have a partnership with, i could pay more money or maybe not actions a the all. it could make the internet completely unlevel. >> beyond that, it could affect,s, so look a big corporation like amazon would have the same access as like a mom and pop shop somewhere. >> if i was amazon, i would have a better chance of reaching people than a small mom or pop shop. >> it's really this square that we're talking about, essentially what you're saying is if you pay more, you can get a faster speed to download? >> exactly. so basically, if i was a small business owner, i would have to actually figure out a way to

partner with these providers so i could get the best way to get to my users at home. >> it seems that's a pretty fair, free market theory, right? >> true, but it does make people with legacies like amazon, google more powerful than a mom and pop that shop. anyone can hang a sign on the internet to start a business, that becomes harder now. >> net neutrality is the buzz worth, we'll continue to follow it. >> two of the greatest quarterbacks in nfl history will faceoff again. they really are two of the greatest, trying to get to superbowl xlviii. art morgan is here on what is sure to be a day to remember in denver. >> wow, someone's just as excited as i am. i'm going to be right in front of my t.v. it's one of the greatest individual rivalries in nhl history and will once again play out in denver sunday.

for the past decade, it's been peyton manning in a colts uniform taking on the patriots tom brady, now in a broncos uniform, he faces him something inwith a trip to the superbowl on the line. >> tom brady and peyton manning have shared some of the greatest sports moments of the past decade, including changing the single season touchdown report twice. manage threw for 49 touchdowns and three years later, brady 50. this off-season, the broncos signed we say walker and manning through 10-55 touchdowns to take the record back. in that head-to-head playoff matches, the edge goes to brady 2-1 and brady owns two superbowl rings to manning's single victory. it should be a shootout with each quarterback trading touchdowns. after all these years, manning and brady are doing all they can to face each other but know it won't be easy.

>> i feel like he's been a better player each year than he was the year before, and that to me speaks to his work ethic in the off-season, his refusal to be complacent oh are satisfied. he always feels like one level higher than some of the seasons he's had, you kind of say how can he get better than that, but i think he has done that. >> he's a great player, they've got a great team and one of the best offenses in history. we better be ready to score points. >> brady missed practice on wednesday with an illness but resigned his team thursday in their preparation to face manning. >> we've got to prepare for the entire team, and payton certainly is, you know, a key guy unit, and offense runs through him, but we've got to do a good job on everybody joe if you rye to take away one thing and overload, payton just takes advantage of something else. >> with belichick and a patriots

defense that's picked off manning 19 times, he will need to get past the patriots to make his way to a third superbowl appearance in eight queers. aljazeera. >> which season on november 24 in foxborough, the broncos led at half time before brady brought them back. the patriots prevailed, setting the stage for sunday. that's a wrap for sports this hour. >> does that mean that payton has the most to prove? i think he does, three superbowl rings to one. >> combating climate change. >> the obama administration is taking steps to curb the u.s.'s carbon footprint. >> those measures may be doing more harm than good. >> diet drinks may do more harm than good when it comes to dropping those extra pounds.

>> good morning, welcome back to aljazeera america.

>> the united nations is offering a dyer warning over the ultimate cost of climate change. we'll look at new rules being put in mace in the united states. >> first let's get a look at the snow and rain across the country. meteorologist nicole mitchell is back. >> we're seeing impact of the climate change in the dry conditions persistently that we've seen in places like california. the other side of this pattern, system after system has been going through the northern tier of the country, the different clippers going through. this hasn't tapped into gulf moisture, so we are not seeing a lot of heavy snow, but it's reinforcing the cold air and keeping the snow pretty persistent. >> drinking diet soda may not help you lose weight. researchers found overweight adults who drank diet soda took in more calories in a day than those who drank regular soda. there may be a link between artificial sweeteners and

appetite control. >> creating standards to reduce carbon emissions from coal plants, both republican and democrats accuse the president of beginning a war on the coal industry. >> our communities are feeling -- he. >> it was an issue at a contentious hearing, new rules requiring coal powered stations to cut emissions. >> cutting carbon pollution in america, preparing the country for the impacts of climate change and leading international efforts to combat global climate change. >> in order to do so, all new coal fired power stations will be required to in tall technology that captures co2 before it enters the atmosphere. such away at your and storage infrastructure is hugely expensive. the goal shsay is shutting down the coal industry. it was a theme picked up on the senate floor.

>> the obama administration sends nationals that its ladies and gentlemennest regulation is just the beginning in a new expanded front in its war on coal. >> the obama administration has set aside billions of dollars to subsidize the installation of carbon capture technology. it is likely to be held up in litigation for years to come. >> the extra cola it takes to use it, there is also the problem of what to do with the capture. in order to make it more cost effective, the obama administration is allow the power plants to sell it to the oil industry. >> it is in corrected into old wells to force more crude to the surface than otherwise would have been possible. what is the ultimate goal of president obama's policy? research shows for every ton of captured carbon dioxide used to extract oil, four times the amount of c.o.2 is produced when

it burns. >> it is allowing us to pros more owl, than that is not a benefit. >> some say politics explain the conflicts within president obama's climate change action plan. >> they've got the environmentalists that want to move off fossil fuels, they have layer interests that want jobs, industry interests that want production and also stepped up export of fossil fuels. that you can't get a strategy if you can't -- if all you're doing is balancing political interests in the short run. >> there is almost completely scientific consensus that the earth is warming as a result of human activity, but the political and economic barriers to a true climate change action plan appear as strong as ever. aljazeera, washington. >> the report by the u.n. said countries around the world are still spending more money on

fossil fuel than clean energy. >> at the end of our second hour, del walters joins us with a look at what we're following. good morning. >> president obama set to talk about reforming the n.s.a. in a speech later this morning, the president not expected to make broad changes to the surveillance program. >> three men arrested in connection with that wildfire, hundreds of firefighters working to keep that blaze from spreading. >> several people were injured in an explosion when it rocked anti-government protestors in thailand. demonstrators have been blocking roads since monday. i'll be right back in two and a half minutes. you can check us out 24 hours a day by logging on to aljazeera.com. i'll see you in a second.

>> good morning, welcome back to aljazeera marrying. i'm del walters. straight ahead, we're going to take a closer look at that report that says the benghazi attack in libya could have been prevented. one man is saying it's not all black and white, further the temperatures across the country today with nicole mitchell. >> we talked about the widespread weather pattern, warmer air in the west and midsection and pushing a little eastward, cooler air because of the pattern. temperatures are going up in florida, some right around freezing overnight, causing concerns with different growing areas. we also have it feeling like even show some temperatures are slightly above zero, a little wind in the midwest, feeling like minus 14 in minneapolis. the core of the wind is iowa

into the southern plains, still gusts in the 20-30-mile an hour range. temperatures in the midwest blow average today, still up and down the east coast some 40s and of course the warm air in the west where that's drying things out, as well. del. >> syrian foreign minister is working on a ceasefire in aleppo, working on a prisoner exchange, as well. it has been the scene of heavy fighting, hundreds killed by devastating air attacks. the ceasefire would be a welcome sign ahead of peace talks next week in geneva. secretary of state john kerry has urged the main opposition group to attend those talks. >> lebanese officials say rocket fire has left seven debt on the border, 75 miles northwest of beirut. this is the second attack among the syrian border in as many days. a car bombing on thursday killed three people in the town. local reports suggest the attack was carried out by a suicide

bomber. these are the first attacks to hit the lebanese border town since syria's civil war began two years ago. those attacks come as the murder trial of the lebanese foreign minister got underway at the hague, four men accused of killing hum in 2005. >> that report by the senate intelligence committee concludes the attack in benghazi, libya could have been prevented. the september 11 attack left four americans dead including ambassador chris stevens, the report singling out the state democratic for failing to heed warnings, stevens refused requests for more security. joining us to discuss the attack is samuel katz, author of this book. good morning, excellent book, by the way. that a lot of fingers pointed at a lot of people, many critical of the state department, many of them political. where should the finger of blame go? >> the finger of blame is

singular and that's that the terrorists who planned the attack and perpetrated the attack. i think that because of the political cycle going on around the presidential election, the wrist between left and right, blue state and red state, muddied the waters that this was a terrorist attack the likes of which had happened before over history, in beirut and elsewhere around the world and this is par course for expedition of diplomacy in this post 9/11 age. >> this is the political part of it. susan rice, u.n. ambassador saying the attack was likely spontaneous. the report though says no evidence that al-qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault. it was fueled in large part by anger at an american-made video denigrating islam. your response. >> there were protests throughout the middle east on the morning of september 11, but there are also many factors around the events in benghazi

that hinted perhaps there was an al-qaeda link or perhaps a very loose link. there was no shortage of individuals who would have stopped at nothing to strike at a high value american target and high value american target that day in benghazi happened to be ambassador stevens. >> there were those going on the talk shows day after day saying she lied to us. was ambassador rice correct or was she wrong no. >> well, in the back, we avoid the political spectrum completely and we cover the events on the ground through the eyes of the security agents that were there that night and what their role was about. the fog of terror, the not knowing -- >> so you believe there was a fog which terror, in other words, in the days immediately after the attack, based on your research, did they really know what happened at that moment? >> it's safe to say that they really don't they what happened at this moment. it's until people have been prosecuted, brought to justice,

until all the evidence has been brought out, it's difficult to say exactly what transpired. there are believers, but it's impossible to say that during an attack, during an unfolding and fluid event that people have all the information that they need. it's just not possible. >> the report also said as we have been all righting tha repos avoidable, unclear role, your reaction to the three findings. >> every terrorist attack in history is preventable months after the event when people review the security procedures and what happened. it's, yes, it was preventable. benghazi was a con fluence of perfect storms, the storm of the video, the presence of the c.i.a. annex that was supposed to be covert. the presence of a u.n. ambassador -- >> that annex, did that cause a lot of what we call now the fog of the attack, because the

c.i.a. didn't want to say what it was doing there? >> the c.i.a. can't say what it's doing. it operates under a shroud of covert action and they're useless if their activities are announced and broadcast to the world. that was one of the reasons why there was so much confusion, because ambassador stevens, a diplomat was perhaps there to sport an intelligence operation that needed to remain covert. >> what did hillary clinton know, when did she know it, did she know anything that would cause her presidential aspirations to be put on hold or derailed? >> >> it's difficult for me to comment on that. we don't want secretaries of defense or state doing tactical decisions during an on going event. there are people inside organizations that are experienced and skilled at handling these events realtime as they happen and prevent them from happening again. >> chris stevens single would out saying he turned away that

security. is it fair in the aftermath of his death to point the finger at him? >> i don't think ambassador stevens did anything knowing that it would result in his death. as the ambassador of the personal representative of the president in that country and as the chief admission, he was responsible for all official american loves in country, including his own. i guess you could say the buck would stop with him and his decisions would be the final ones. one of the findings that didn't come out in the report is that the diplomatic security personnel that support him don't have a seat at the table to make those decisions. they can't override a decision that perhaps is dangerous and precarious. >> samuel katz, an expert off counter terrorism, author of this book. perhaps good reading, puts it all in perspective. >> thank you. >> taking a look at business news at this hour, hearings from big name companies rolling in this morning.

morgan stanley is the latest big bank to have an expense, the firm reporting it had $1.2 billion in legal costs in the fourth quarter. morgan stanley saying its profits slipped at bond revenue trading fell. >> oil pumps, fourth quarter earnings of almost five and a half billion dollars at general electric. the firm is well positioned for success in 2014. >> royal dutch shell saying fourth quarter earnings will be sharply blow estimates that this is the company's first profit warning in 10 years, shell blaming low production, high exploration costs and on going refinery problems. this is similar to a warning issued by chef ron last week, shell shifting strategy to focus on natural gas, one of is less profitable than oil and now produces more gas than oil. we're going to find out the

december house hadding starts. one economist saying home construction will continue to rise in 2014. it would not surprise me at all if we saw single family construction growing 20w. own the 12 if we're lucky. while the percentages are high, the total numbers aren't that bug, maybe it's 120,000 units. >> other economic reports include consumer sentiment and industrial production. >> wall street signaling a higher opening, do you futures up 15 points. the dow starting the day at: >> trying to shanghai index falling 1% to a five month low and stocks mostly higher.

>> computers were hacked as far back as july for niemann marcus. it first learned about the breach in mid december. >> another shoe dropping at yahoo. ali velshi is going to be talk to pool in business and finance in switzerland next week. you can see his reports in the morning and on his show, real money with ali velshi, right here on aljazeera america. it airs at 7:00 p.m. >> a new break through for people suffering from diabetes. goggle unveiled contacts lenes that can test the blood sugar levels in the tears of users. it's much less invasive than the finger prick. the innovation could mean relief

for diabetes sufferers around the world. >> up to eight times a day, people with diabetes need to check their blood sugar levels. the needle prick is uncomfortable, the test kit come about hersome. that technology and medical companies are looking for a new way. >> we're testing a smart contact lens that we built that measures the glucose level in tears, using a tiny wireless chip and miniaturized glucose device. we have a tiny chip and sensor that allows us to continually monitor tear glucose levels. >> the prototype monitors blood sugar levels once every second. the results can be sent wirelessly to a smart phone or computer where alerts tell a person if action is needed. they are also considering building tiny lights into the lenses, which would also alert the wearer. >> it's not the first such project. microsoft has been working on a

similar lens announced in 2011. >> we have developed a sensing contact lens. >> another smart contact lens is developed by a swiss company, this one records around the clock data about the eye to help customize the the treatment of people with glaucoma. gluingle said its diabetic smart lens is in early development and likely to be five years before available to the public. it does, however, reflect the growing interest in putting tiny micro chips into medical devices, innovations developers hope in time will improve our health. >> more than 382 million people around the world suffer from diabetes. >> a dangerous situation fueling those flames in california as firefighters battle the wild fairs across the state, mother nature doing little to give them anything in the way of relief. home sales on the rebound nationwide, but one person says that that recovery is perverted. we'll ask him what he means.

>> a closer look at detroit, a drum bling city trying to rebound and the vicious cycle that leaves it with an he deckic of homeless. >> sunday nfl conference championship will feature another in tallment in one of sports enduring rivalries and the first playoff meeting for a new one.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we are following. president obama expected to announce changes to the nsa surveillance program in a speech, address coming after new reports claim the agency collecting text messages each day. >> people were hurt in thailand when an explosive device went off. it was aimed at anti-government

demonstrators blocking roads in the capitol since monday. vice president biden pushing for troops to be pulled out of afghanistan, making the recommendation at a white house meeting with top that security officials. american troops are set to withdraw by the end of this year unless a new security agreement can be reached. >> hundreds of colorado firefighters still battling that massive blaze burning east of downtown los angeles, burning through the san gabriel mountains. it's the first fire there since 2009, damaging homes and other buildings. santa ana winds causing it to spread fast, forcing evacuations in a los angeles suburb. the blaze is that longer advancing, being 30% contained, but the national weather service saying a red flag warning remains in effect for the entire area. joining us now is brian rooney,

has been watching this fire. that police have three men under arrest. >> it only happened, what, a few minutes and it was everywhere, all around us. >> it started at dawn on the edge of a densely populated area in the foothills of glenn dora, 30 miles east of los angeles. as fire burned the hills, embers sparked palm trees to burned like torches on suburban streets. driven by the wind, the fire grew within hours to 1700 acres and burned five houses. smoke draped across the los angeles skyline, as more than 2,000 people are forced to evacuate their homes. >> more than 700 firefighters were call would to keep this fire from spreading into the

suburban developments. helicopters and air tankers worked all day to knock it down. for most of the day, the wind was in the firefighters' favor but they worry. >> all of a sudden the wind hits the embers, we could get fire popping up throughout this whole area. >> home own oars fought the fire with buckets and garden hoses, flying embers skimmed some houses and burned others. that this man came home to find his apartment complex was gone. >> what's next for me is i guess to take it one day a the a time, stay with my daughter for now. >> the fire was started by three men who built a campfire that got out of control i don't the three people that we have in custody, they're all three mails in their early 20's, reportedly, they were up, they had set a campfire, they were tossing papers into the camp pure, and a breeze reportedly a breeze kicked up, and set this fire. >> january is not the wildfire season in southern california,

but 2013 was the dryest queer on record, and two thirds of the state is in drought conditions, waiting for rain to foul during what should be the rainy season. the fire was no longer a direct threat but firefighters will have to fight to get it under control before wind pushes it. >> there are embers that could still pose taker to all these homes. >> firefighters are waiting to see what the wind and weather will do heart today. 30% is a very good figure on a fire like this, even though it doesn't sound like much, but we'll have to wait to see what the day brings. >> 3.6 inches of rain falling in all of 2013, none sov this year. what are they doing?

>> well, there's nothing you can do about it, basically pray for rain. last year was the dryest since 18198. this should be the middle of the rainy season. we've had odd years like this before. it could rain heavily in february and march, but it's worrisome. in some areas of the state, they are already putting out water restrictions. that's the only thing you can do, use less water. >> brian, thank you very much. sometimes we need mother nature in this case. nicole mitchell, this time we really do. >> we do. it doesn't look like a lot of relief in site. there are a number of elements that play into the fires, not only contributing to the conditions in the first place, but also the firefighting. we've looked at widespread and increasing drought square, not just in california, but well to the north, that's the fear drought area, going all the way to oregon, parts of utah seeing

that. it's been very dry. the rain was for los angeles but the whole state was 55% under last year for what we should see for rain. january, the clouds kind of shift to the north, that's a ridge of high pressure. usually this is the rainy season, but instead, a persistent ridge means we don't have any rain in sight for the next week. we could see this pattern extend through the rainy season. this is when we kind of want to build up water for the rest of the year. because of that, the low humidity, the winds we've seen and high temperatures, that's contributing to the fire concerns out here. it's hard to pick it out, but we could pick it out on satellite that plume next to los angeles. we're talking limited moisture for snow. this is last year at this time. you can see the blue areas, the know through the sierra. that's limited, impacting ski resorts in their busy season.

this is what melts or later in the season to help with the agriculture. we're going to have a big problem on our hands this year. >> the execution of a death row inmate in ohio now being called into question. witnesses say he was batching for air for 15 must notes before he finally died. some critics blame the new untested drugs used in his injection. he was convicted in 1994 of raping and killing a pregnant woman. 31 states in the sufficient condone the death penalty. >> a formal investigation being launched into in a new jersey bridge scandal, 20 subpoenas issued. they want to talk to governor chris christie's current and former staffers. the governor that hired an internal review, not saying whether he will cooperate with the legislature. >> tom co burn is retiring from the nat, leaving at the end of the current session nearly two years before his term is set to

end. co burn was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer but said his decision was not for his health. he served three terms in the house before elected to the senate in 2004. >> home prices are rising, but our next guest says the housing market is in a perverted recovery. tim rood managed $3 trillion in mortgages. can you explain what a perverted recovery actually means? >> it's still a recovery, right, so it doesn't matter how we get there these days. it means that it's untraditional, it's a lot of forces that we haven't seen before. it monies you've got artificially low interest rates that are driving affordability, you've got low inventory and largely driven by the fact that you've got 12-15 million homeowners that really are trapped. they have no equity or limited equity.

you've got a robust no class of buyers and investors that are driving demand. >> walk us through who is it buying a home? >> who isn't buy ago home? this is the challenging part for us. that let's start with the millennials. this is the baby boomer generation, their kids, the 18-30-year-oldies. these folks are suffering from 15% unemployment rates, 32% of them are living at home with their moms, certainly not thinking about buying a home and they've made up traditionally 30% of the market. their absence is noticeable. >> let's talk about who is buying a home and we'll talk about openers with equity and no trust. these are the people not buying, no trust, no equity why. the other graphic is the ones of the people buying. mom and pop investors, people who have a little extra money left over and cash transactions.

that. >> this is one of those things where this is the unprecedentedness of the economy. i used the analogy as indelicate or inappropriate on some level, think of these investors buying 60% of these properties, it's like a snake head fish, you drop these in the pond and they eat everything. the path their own is to buy up properties $200,000 and below, that's 80% of the purchases they're making. the problem is that's where the first time home buyers are typically looking to agreeing ground. that's what they're looking to buy in. with the fierce competition from the investors, it pushes out this class of otherwise first time homebuyers and relegates them to renting, and right now renting also i also about 35% more expensive on a monthly basis than owning, but the bigger thing that concerns me

about that, and again, the investors, it's a wonderful thing, they put a floor in housing, driving the values up, so i wouldn't dredge the pond and look to take them out, but the problem is that the wealth creation opportunity, the last legitimate wealth creation opportunity for these mill len yeps is homeownership and we've taken out and risk losing a generation of homeowners that would get a lot of stanley cup side. >> when we talk about housing he is chase and prices, is that artificial in the sense that i may think my home prices are going up, but in reality is investors are fighting over my property and not the real market. >> the result is real. the wealth affect associated with price appreciation, stock appreciation all largely driven by fed policy, it's real. and it's real to the economy. you think about housing has gone up $2.8 trillion over the last two years, that usually equates

to 10 cents of every dollar of that appreciation is spent. that looks like $280 billion of consumer spending that's made it to the market. you'll feel better, acting better and are investing that in the economy. it did not matter until you sell ultimately whether it's real or paper, but it certainly feels good. >> i want to show you one last graphic that shows how investors are buying up houses with cash at a much faster rate than past years. what is the impact on all of those first time homebuyers out there that you say are frozen out of the market? >> well, it's raising prices, so certainly, it's raising prices for those properties at $200,000 and below, where 80% have the purchases are taking plagues for these investors. when an investor shows up to buy on a property that you and i are going to bid on, they're going to bid with cash. i'm going to bid, you and i for

requiring a mortgage, some sort of a precalendar qualification. we wouldtl the investor says i'm good to go tomorrow. that's almost unfair competition for the regular joe, so ultimately you're pushing them out. that that gets back to the whole issue of you're losing this wealth creation opportunity, spending more of your money on rent. i wouldn't sasser bath the situation or suggest serfdom, but if that trend continues, we're going to have a big problem on our hands. >> thanks, tim. >> detroit bankruptcy judge rejecting another deal to end that city's crippling agreement with major banks, the judge saying the $169 million deal to end the revenue pact with the banks is too costly. he rejected a deal on the same grounds back in december. in 2009, detroit offered the banks revenue from casino taxes as collateral to avoid

defaulting. the city is locked on rates, but deal became costly when rates plunged during the recession. >> detroit has one of the highest homeless rates in america. of the city, 700,000 residents, nearly 20,000 of them living on the streets. we show you what one shoer is now doing to help. >> up until now, it has been a while since william davis had a place to cull hole. addicted to heroin and crack cocaine, he lost it all. >> it was rough. >> he turned to the streets of detroit. for years, he was among the city's nearly 20,000 men, women and children homeless. in a city with an estimated 80,000 abandoned structures, davis oftentimes found ref final. by 2012, he wanted out. >> i wasn't happy, you know. >> davis turned to the shelter. he beat his addition. he landed a job, and just two

months ago, moved into the shelter's brand new permanent housing complex located here across the street. he joins dozens of others who have recently regained independence without straying too far from the support system that helped them get bag on their feet. >> i like it because i have a connection to the resources they have. i don't think they would turn me down for asking for help. >> how is it going today down here? >> nobody wants to have to ask for help. it's hard to ask for help, and so if we can help people retain their dignity in the process, that's a gift. >> reverend faye fowler is executive director of cast community social services providing transitional and permanent housing to nearly 300 people. the organization began renovating this once vacant structure two years ago. this past november, they opened

doors to 41 tenants who used 30% of their income to pay rent. the latest count of homeless is 19,000 people, dropping less than 1% from 2010 to 2013. volunteers are aware there's still a whole lot more work to do. >> if we're successful here, the notion will be that it will be a diverse community of working and middle class and substance-free, and that they will then school each other, and inspire each other. >> it's a campus concept that could breathe new life to an old west side detroit neighborhood. the reverend said volunteers working with shelters as far away as hung car and haiti have traveled here hoping to duplicate a support system for the homeless that's working in detroit. aljazeera, detroit.

>> percent of the homeless population in michigan living on thatle streets of detroit, there are three and a half million homeless people in the u.s. >> it is a big weekend for football fans, a trip to the superbowl at stake. >> we're down to the final four in the nfl, patriots and broncos while the 49ers and seahawks square off. our analyst lends her insight. where do you think the peyton manning-tom brady quarterback rivalry ranks as far as nfl history is concerned? >> i think one of the best. let's go one step further. let's look at our landscape of professional sports and the iconic sports matchups, ally-frasier, magic-bird. i think that's where you can rank approximat this. thief met 14 that times, tom brady has 110 of those. in the postseason, tom brady is

two and one and all wins on home field advantage. we'll see if peyton manning can make it two and two. >> that's what everyone it seems like in sports many times, it's hey, what if you won, brady's three superbowl wins, manning only one. how much pressure is there on manning to not only win but advance? >> i think there's a ton of pressure. we can look back at his record and see how many yards he's passed for, touchdowns thrown but at the end of the day when we talk about the greatest of all time, what do you equate that to? how many superbowls have they won, how many superbowl m.v.p.'s have they won. the pressure's on peyton manning not only in this game but to win another superbowl and m.v.p. >> two great young mobile

quarterbacks, kaepernick and wilson of the seahawks, what do those two guys in your mind represent to the nfl right now? >> pretty interesting. you're seeing this new breed of quarterback develop, especially in the nfc and we're seeing the championship game. they are quarterbacks that have more athleticism that they bring to the table that they can create with their legs, not the just their arms. you're seeing this read offense option developing. stats pretty interesting, tom brady and peyton manning rushed for a negative 13 yards combined this season in the nfl. >> negative. >> collin kaepernick and russell wilson almost 1,000. just to show you, you're hooking at four of the top quarterbacks in the nfl completing one more became to make it to the superbowl. it's not to say that the pocket quarterback is the better or the read option, bun defining factor that we're seeing is leadership more so than anything. i think you're seeing that with

all four. >> already very early in their nfl careers being that compared to one another. is is that only just because of their tiles, do you think? >> there's a lot between them. first of all, neither of them came out in the nfl defendant as that number one pick. collin kaepernick went in the second round, wilson in the third. they came into their teams, they had to compete for that starting job. on top of that, they both got drafted by major league baseball, both coached by very strong-willed coaches and they are both playing in that read option offense. i think in the longevity of their career, we will compare the two for quite a while. that an exciting weekend. >> it's going to be terrific. del, you're excited, as well. >> got the chips, got the dips. >> discovering new big screen talent. sun dance in that trough duesing film makers to the world

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. just ahead, sun dance, the film festival celebrating 30 years of discovering new hollywood talent, but first the weather. >> we definitely have a pattern where it's dry in the west and the eastern half of the country more active. i'll get to that in a second, the more active part. staying dry west coast, it looks like we could be you understand that pattern for a while. where it's more active, clipper after clipper especially through the northern tier of the country. this pattern has cut moisture from the gulf coast so we're not seeing a lot of moisture associated with this. definitely snow and as far saw the as kentucky picking it up this morning, but we're not looking at the really heavy stuff. it is blowing around, because we have the winds associated with that. watch it if you're near the great lakes today. >> nicole, thank you very much. the sun dance film festival celebrating its 30t

30th anniversary growing to a place where box office hits are launched. venues like sun dance now ushering in the new hollywood blockbuster. >> thousands of directors, actors, film industry deal makers and journalists are in this tiny ski resort village for sun dance, the independent film showcase was founded 30 years ago by actor robert redford. >> our job and our role is to create a space and a platform to bring new voices and new ways of seeing the world using independent film to this place. >> sun dance isn't all about art. it's also about money. >> sun dance is big business for the film industry, because every year, there is some undiscovered jewel that ends up being bought and sold in the marketplace and becoming a huge box office hit. >> film making is expensive and no hollywood studio would bank

roll a film like alive inside, a documentary about the remarkable healing effects of music on alzheimer's disease patients. its director's first film. >> the struggle to make a movie like this is in sane. >> technology and social media are now helping turn dreams into realities. >> 20 of the films premiering this year at sun dance got funding through kick tarter, the on line crowd sourcing platform. >> with crowd sourcing, individuals can appeal on line for funding from a large community of internet users. these are scenes from drunk town's finest. >> where are you going to school no. >> calvin college in michigan. >> oh oh, wow, that sounds fancy, are you going to be a receptionist? >> no. >> a coming of age story as he on a reservation, the if i amment made possible by

kickstarter donations asanassive american first time filmmaker sydney. >> people from across the world, you know, like all these places i have never been to, but they believed in the project enough to donate money, you know, so yeah, it was really an awesome experience. >> rosato little kickstarter money for alive inside. >> without kickstarter, i wouldn't have been able to finish the film. it does give films that really could never find money in other ways a way to find money, and that is really powerful. >> a powerful tool helping tell powerful stories. rob reynolds, aljazeera, park city, utah. >> more than 180 feature length films and short films will be shown at the festival this week. the sun is getting ready to rice as the fires continue to burn in california. fire officials say 30% of those

fires have now been contained. that is actually good news in firefighting materials, but they are concerned about how hot and dry it has been and will continue to be according to nicole mitchell, as there is no rain in sight and the winds continue to whip anything that burrs in any direction. two houses have been claimed, two firefighters killed. we will continue to watch that situation in glenn dora california throughout the day. that is going to do it for this hour of aljazeera america. we want to thank each and every one of you for watching. as always, more news straight ahead. you can check us out 24 hours a day logging on to aljazeera.com where the news continues 24 hours a

welcome to al jazeera america, i'm del walters. these are the top stories we are following for you at this hour. president obama expected to announce changes to the nsa's sweeping surveillance program. the address after new reports claiming the agency now collecting 200 million text messages every day from around the world. you can watch live right here at 11:00 am eastern time. vice president biden push for most troops to be out offing afghanistan. american troops are set to withdraw from afghanistan by the end of this year,