in depth series. america tonight only on al jazeera america ♪ i have decided to issue an invitation to iran to participate. >> the up coming syrian peace talks are thrown into uncertainty after the united nations unexpectedly invites iran to participate despite u.s. objections, two men who are behind the deadly suicide bomb attacks in russia release a video threatening to carry out more attacks as the sochi games approach.

the president of ukraine calls with talks after violent clashes against kiev with protesters and police. >> we are willing and must be willing to go to the jail from the powers of alabama. >> reporter: how martin luther king junior's legacy is still being felt across the country today. ♪ good morning and welcome to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy and this week's peace talks are in danger of ending before they even get started, on sunday the united nations invited iran to a conference after wednesday in geneva switzerland and that up set syria opposition groups who are now threatening to pull out, the u.s. also wants iran's into vacation rescinded unless the syrian president steps down

and signs that may not happen any time soon and syrian president bashir al-asaid says he may seek reelections in june and says it's totally un-reese lisic for coalition members to be ministers of the syrian government and the primary objective of the the up coming talks is the fight against terrorism and we have more on the latest developments. >> in the last few days have seen intense shuttled diplomacy over syria. this was moscow last thursday, a meeting of friends and allies. russia hosting the iranian and syria foreign ministers. the man from tehran making clear that his country was ready and also willing to go to switzerland if invited. and on sunday evening after a round of last-minute telephone calls the u.n. secretary general made the announcement. >> they pledged that iran would

play a positive and constructive role. therefore as convener and host of the conference i have decided to issue an invitation to iran to participate. >> reporter: no sooner had that statement been made than it was greeted with this from the syrian national coalition, a sweet from spokesman confirming the decision to withdraw from the conference unless iran's invitation was rescinded. on saturday in istanbul the same spokesman said the opposition despite internal disagreement would talk to representatives of the syrian government under u.n. auspices. >> absolute majority for going to the negotiating table and of course we are all away that the regime is trying to find, you

know, loopholes to try to get out of its commitment. >> reporter: and in syria itself all the while the killing on the ground goes on. this activist video was filmed in aleppo on saturday and shows the aftermath of barrel bombs used by the government by rebel positions. just 24 hours ago moscow and washington believed the two warring sides would meet to talk peace. the invitation to iran has raised serious doubts with just days to go. i'm with al jazeera. >> reporter: u.n. secretary general moon says iran quote needs to be part of the solution in syria. iran is aware the goal of negotiations is to establish a transitional government, one that will likely not include syrian president bashir al-assad and today is day one of iran historic nuclear agreement and international inspectors are now

on the job and the u.n. nuclear agency confirms iran has halted its most sensitive uranium work is set to expire in six months and they will negotiate a permanent agreement and ease sanctions and release $4 billion in frozen assets and this iranian businessman says it's a start but won't be enough. >> translator: because they blocked iran's access to swift and international banking we have no ability to transfer money and transportation companies are banned from coming to iran's ports and no insurance for the goods, what is supposed to happen from january 20 has no impact on sanctions but it's psychological. >> reporter: and sanctions will be lifted on oil exports, gold and automotive parts and given greater access to airplane parts and medicine. 32 people killed over the weekend in iran on sunday two

blasted rock the northern regions leaving two dead and saturday they targeted busy areas across the country with a series of car bombs and exploded outside of a restaurant, a bus station, a hospital and two popular markets. al-qaeda fighters and iraq's security forces are battling for control of key cities in anbar region. a bomb exploded in the city of pindi killing five people including five soldiers and the incident appears to have been a suicide blast. on sunday 20 pakistan soldiers killed getting ready to head out in a military convoy and the taliban had responsibility for the attack. new security concerns as russia prepares to host the winter olympics and a video from two men claiming to be responsible for last month's deadly attacks in volgograd and said tourists

will be targeted and the men in the video are linked to an al-qaeda linked group in russia and they said it's a credible threat. >> if they are trying to have disruption and there is no safety at the olympics it would be worth their while to produce a video like this even if they cannot follow through with the threat and it's hard to know if this is all smoke or whether there is a fire behind it. >> reporter: russian president putin says they will be safe during the olympics and putin defended the law saying russia needs to cleanse itself of homosexuality and said athletes and fans are still welcome at the game and we have more from london from phil and vladimir

putin spent time this weekend promising tight security measures for the game and why is he so confident about that? >> well, stephanie, he appears confident because he has put a lot of effort into security in sochi and we are told they established around the city what they are calling the ring of steel and sending in over 30,000 police and security officials. this is a major event for russia and for vladimir putin and he backed the olympics and put effort behind putting the olympics in russia so a visible moment for the federation and maybe sochi can be secured but it's in the middle of a volatile region in russia and the caucus where there is a long-standing conflict in the region. so vladimir putin put a lot of

energy, money and effort behind making sochi secure but with a simple video or going to a place that isn't quite as secure as the location of the olympics itself, sochi, and these groups can steal the headlines and that is a major fear for the kremlin as well. >> that certainly is what we are seeing happening but there seems to be real concern because u.s. lawmakers said over the weekend that russia is not sharing intelligence information with the outside world, phil is this a real concerned for countries heading to sochi? >> we heard it from the u.s. and other western nations. there are travel advisories. there are warnings for people going to sochi about how to conduct themselves. nobody is saying directly that sochi itself will be insecure or unsecure but they certainly are making the point that there is a

risk in the region. the concern about the sharing of intelligence is a real one as well. in resent years russia has drawn itself back from intelligence gathering with western powers. they continue to say they continue to share intelligence with terrorism but because of this there are places that are reluctant to share and it has grave results heading up to the games. >> and phil in london and thanks. top lawmakers in washington say edward snowden may have had help from russia when he leaked the documents and chairman mike rogers said snowden may get credit for exposing privacy concerns but hazard revelation put the overseas operations at risk. >> this was a thief who we believe had some help who stole information and the vast

majority had nothing to do with it and the airforce and marines are incredibly harmed by the data he has taken with him. i believe there is a reason he ended up in the loving arms of an fsb agent in moscow. >> reporter: rogers is not the only one criticizing snowden and texas republic michael and chairman of the homeland security committee says he believes snowden was cultivated by a foreign power. and it's no polar vortex but much of the u.s. is about to see bitterly cold weather yet again for a second time this month, a blast of cold arctic air will send temperatures below freezing in the midwest and northeast and as far south as north enflorida and will last through the end of the month and new york could dip in the low 20s just before superbowl sunday and the country is bracing for the blast and let's bring in nicole mitchell. >> i will talk more about the

polar vortex because two weeks ago during the arctic blast is the first time we heard about it even though metrologists learned about it in school but it's a strong area of low pressure that tends to heavy over the cold and have hurricane force winds associated with it and brutally cold as it sits there and occasionally like we saw two weeks ago with the historic cold you can have pieces break off and shoot out. a little bit of the cold air is what is modifying in but i want to get out of the habit of us using as that as the buzz word and calling when it gets cold a polar vortex because we have cold energy that always comes from the north and we don't want to scare people. over the next couple days this will be cold air and a surge to the end of the week and by tomorrow we start to see this. it's not going to be the cold we had two weeks ago and it's january and does get cold but

not as significant as two weeks ago and minneapolis is minus two and new york from the 40s in the 20s and as i mentioned in minneapolis you can see the temperatures go down and then reenforcing shot we see as we get to the weekend and a couple blasts of cold air out here and we have the pattern with the ridge in the west and will keep things dry where we have drought conditions and allow along the jet stream that we have sinking under south of the great lakes the systems to come along like they have been. as they have done that they have dumped snow with them although most of this has been light and pretty quick moving but we will have enough wind with all of this to blow things around a little like places of minnesota seeing light snow today. >> i promise not to call it a polar vortex. the u.s. is threatening sanctions against ukraine if it doesn't stop the on going violence there and the white house is blaming the golf not

using tensions after it broke out and new riots erupted this weekend and dozens were hurt with clashes in the capitol kiev. >> reporter: it's the worst violence in kiev in nearly two months. and thousands of ukrainian clashed with police blocking the road to parliament. protesters set buses on fire and police fired pepper gas and they demonstrated a policeman. opposition leader and former professional boxer tried to calm the people with no success. tensions heightened this week when a court declared demonstrations in the center of kiev illegal. and the president signed into law sweeping measures to limit free speech and assembly. earlier sunday tens of thousands gathered on independent square to defy the new regulations.

>> translator: my appeal to law enforcement bodies, to servicemen, join the people, protect the people because you gave an oath to the ukrainian people first of all and you have to protect them. >> reporter: the government says their public order laws and the people here disagree. >> this is not just a new law it's a coup. and when the coup is in the country especially with a social explosion in this country, the situation is unpredictable. i think with my presence here i just trying to show to people to show the parliament and the government that i'm not agreeing with them and i'm against these choices and these rules. >> reporter: as night fell more than a dozen police have been injured. they continue to use flash grenades to disburse protesters and explosions is be heard across the city. demonstrators threw firebombs and destroyed vehicles but not

all used aggression as a way to get what they want from the government after two months of demonstrations, jennifer glasse, kiev. >> reporter: and the president agreed to negotiate with opposition leaders after the latest clashes and said a commission would be set up today in an effort to result the deepening crisis. an american missionary in korea is asking the u.s. government to help and bay has been detained for more than a year and in an unusual appearance he says he hopes the u.s. the will secure his release and believes his problems can be solved with close cooperation between the governments and sentenced for 15 years of hard labor which is a chance to try to topple the regime. it's safe to drink and why are people in west virginia still getting sick and we will look at the on going chemical spill crisis. >> it's vital because people

need fresh food, produce, meat and at a good price. >> reporter: for the first time since hurricane katrina hit new orleans a poor neighborhood gets something it has been missing, a super market. after more than two years asleep in space europe's probe is waking up for an out of this world mission. >> i'm mark morgan and two teams left standing and how they punched their ticket to superbowl 48. it's martin luther king junior and this is in new york city and later this hour a look at his legacy and the economic racial divide in america.

battered. she says she was beaten, burns

♪ officials in west virginia are trying to reassure people that tap water is safe. more than 200 people have been sickened after a chemical spill tainted much of the state's water supply as robert ray reports many residents fear the cleanup efforts are far from over. >> reporter: it's been a week

since 7500 gallons of toxic chemicals used to clean coal spilled in the elk river in west virginia and 300,000 people were under a strict do not use water ban and many of the bans have been lifted, residents are still concerned as to whether their water is safe. inside this cooler are testing materials for the water in this woman's house, how long is it going to take to get the results back? >> 5-7 business days. >> reporter: jennifer is nine months pregnant. >> we have not been consuming the water in the house just because it didn't taste right and didn't smell right. >> reporter: she and her family are not drinking the water but after the centers for disease control issues a caution on wednesday for pregnant women she was confused. >> we got the okay, the thumbs up that the water was safe on monday night in my community. right here in the city and so for 48 hours to go by and knowing that the public is consuming this water, that's

really concerning. >> reporter: with very little data or scientific study on the chemical, it's not clear how it could impact people's health. and because of the abundance of caution recommended by the c.d.c. al jazeera america has hired an environmental consulting company to take water samples from jennifer's home. so not only is mark from downstream strategies taking water samples from the home we were just in but on the river in charleston and taking water samples and will test these for the chemicals and mix of chemicals that went in the river system here and we will have results next week. according to federal environmental data for decades chemicals and waste from the coal industry have tainted water and groundwater supplies in west virginia and many doctors here were already concerned and want testing to continue. >> i think especially in the case of pregnant women, we don't know the effects on the unborn child, that is a developing

fetus and we certainly shouldn't take any chances. >> reporter: for in the theme of environmental disasters in west virginia has reached a boiling point. >> no one has jurisdiction and what needs to happen is for over arching legislation to make sure that these companies aren't responsible for policing themselves because they are not. if you don't have to you won't. if there are no speed limits i will drive as fast as i can in my vehicle. >> reporter: they discover that freedom industries, the company blamed for the disaster had not taken action to stop the leak or report it to authorities, that is according to the state department of environmental protection and as it turns out there are virtually no regulations governing inspection and maintenance of the storage tanks that held the dangerous chemicals known as mc hm and i'm robert ray in charleston,

nevada. >> reporter: coming up, at 8:00 robert ray talks to a community advocate saying that they have been concerned about chemical safety in the region for use. it's about to get really cold and quick for a big part of the country and nicole mitchell has a look at the temperatures nationwide. >> i hope from a couple weeks ago you did not put the parkas away and new york 37 and are temperatures above average for a january morning and not doing badly. but minneapolis at 29 and they will fall through the day and the afternoon temperatures in the teens so you already will start to feel the difference today for northern parts of the midwest and we are starting to see the winds pick up and fargo for example feels like temperature is sub zero and stay that way over the next couple of days and highs are dipping in some cases very mild through houston and southern temperatures will also get cooler in the days ahead because as the front comes through we are going to have a cold flow

out of canada and from even further to the north and that is going to drop temperatures in new york over the next couple days easily 20 degrees and back to you. >> firefighters have the upper hand on a wild fryer that destroyed five homes near la and burned hundreds of acres and the blaze is 80% contained and should be fully under control by wednesday and it started thursday with a camp fire in the national forest and since then it scorched over 1900 acres and then there were two, the super bowl match up is set and we have details on two exciting championship games. >> you sound excited yourself and then there were two and lived up to the hype, enjoyable stuff. the seattle seahawks fought for the playoffs and they saved their best for last in front of another deafening crowd at century link, taking on the 49ers in the nfc championship

game and kaepernick had 130 yards rushing for the game and third quarter to bolden and 26 yards on the money and broke 10-10 tie after a sea attel -- seattle and kaepernick fires in the end zone but serve man tips it to the teammate smith and that is it, kaepernick, 3 second half turn overs and they go to the superbowl and 23-17 and jessica has more from seattle. >> defense wins ball games and not how you start but how you finish and both held true for the seattle seahawks found a way to win at century link and they

took home nfc title in front of the crowd. >> he comes out with a big catch and lights out and making plays, one after another and richard sherman tipping the ball and us picking it off to seal the game and it doesn't get better. >> broncos versus seahawks and seattle in the first appearance in the showcase show down since 2005, reporting from seattle, jessica with al jazeera. >> thanks so much, afc game it was peyton manning and brady for the final time in the playoffs and careers and legacies forever entertaining and manning going to the third superbowl and brady for the 6th appearance and manning was perfect and completed 32 of 43 passes for 400 yards and two tds and zero picks. the broncos offense held the ball for 36 minutes in the game and denver d held up, keeping

the patriots offense out of the end zone until the fourth quarter and brady and company are short and broncos take it, 26-16 and ross with more from denver. >> denver head coach john fox has been preaching all week to finish the ball game and what the broncos did and manning delivered the danger on offense and terrence had a key sack in the third quarter as the broncos punched their ticket for superbowl 38. >> it's an exciting feeling and i remember both times that we won afc championship, i'm an afc guy and biased towards this conference and i think it's a hard conference to win and you feel like you have done something to win the championship. you realize that you still want to win one more game. >> the playoff game and that is what we did and showed the world we can play and keep going and we will go to the superbowl. >> how does that sound? >> sounds amazing.

a dream from true growing up and make the most of it. >> reporter: the 7th appearance in the superbowl and manning has a chance for the first quarterback ever to lead two teams to superbowl titles and i'm with al jazeera. >> reporter: all right, ross, thanks so much, that is a wrap for sports this hour and i'm mark morgan. >> reporter: a change at the top in the central african republic. [gunfire] why they are hoping a new leader can help restore order. plus the president talks about what he said that is raising some eyebrows and it's martin luther king junior day 50 years after "i have a dream" speech and this is the economic racial divide that persists. >> if you march along with your brothers in alabama you will look around and see the day where all of god's children will be able to be free at last, free at last, thank god almighty!

♪ >> the strength of our future relies on education. >> we are creating a class of adults exposed to mediocre education. >> stealing education, part of our week long, in depth series. america tonight only on al jazeera america

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♪ welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy and these are the top stories at this hour, syrian opposition groups are threatening to pull out of the geneva two talks after u.n. invited iran to the conference and syrian president bashir al-assad said it's the fight against terrorism and the nuclear agreement starts today and the tv reports they suspended higher gradient richment of uranium at facilities and six months to ease sanctions. ukraine will meet the protesters after violence clashes in kiev there are sanctions if the

ukrainian government doesn't ease tension and fighting is ranging in the central african republic as they prepare for an interim president and the parliament is expected to vote on the presidency this morning, days after the president stepped down for failing to end sectarian violence and they are meeting in brussels today hoping to find a way to help restore order and al jazeera's jackie roland is live from brussels and good morning and what do we expect to come out of today's meeting? >> good morning, stephanie. we are expecting by the end of monday to have a commitment from eu officials to send european troops to the central african pepic to support the french and the peace keeping forces on the ground and, specificing to see a force that could be a few hundred to at the top about 1,000 troops and they could be in place a month from now and they would expect their their

mission to last half a year and the government has to persuade their citizens that, in fact, they should be sending servicemen and women to the central african republic that not a lot of europeans have heard of and known in france but countrys in europe have not heard of the small african nation and tough to convince the electorates that this is a place that european soldiers, servicemen should be sent to. >> a volatile area with troops and aid in the country, could we expect to see a stall in violence? >> that really is the most important question of all, stephanie because clearly you cannot have a peace keeper on every corner. as it is the peace keeper forces and the french are focused on the capitol and securing the airport and making sure food and other aid supplies get in safely and there is of course violence

and religious violence raging through the country and muslims killing christians and christians killing muslims and they have on monday evoked the specificer of a possible repeat of the genicide in rwanda 20 years ago where half a million people were killed within a matter of weeks and many dying as a result of machete blows and that is something no one wirs to see repeated here and there are warning and telltale signs saying the situation could go that way and they are calling for efforts to try to stabilize the country. >> reporter: jackie roland with the latest from brussels and jackie thank you. a new jersey mayor is the latest to accuse governor chris christie's administration of wrongdoing and hoboken mayor said she got push back when she tried to get aid for hurricane sandy victims and tried to get her to be pressured for a real

estate project in exchange for funds and they say millions of dollars in aid was given to hoboken and call it partisan politics. president obama has admitted to smoking pot when he was younger but in a surprising new interview he made a statement about marijuana we never heard from a sitting president, according to the latest polls 58% of americans support the legalization of marijuana. and as erica says the president may be leaning in that direction, too. >> if you are an adult who enjoys a good beer there is a similar product you might want to know about. marijuana. less harmful than alcohol and treat it that way. >> reporter: when the marijuana policy project put out this add last year the national institute of drug abuse responded with a stern statement that claiming marijuana is less toxic than alcohol cannot be substantiated. but now the head of the feds, the president himself, is making the same claim. in a resent interview with the

new yorker says he thinks it's less dangerous than alcohol in terms of the impact on the consumer and not something i enkurnl and told my daughters i think it's a bad idea, a waist of time and not very healthy and the comments come as more and more states nationwide are decriminalizing marijuana and some make exceptions for medical use and colorado and washington state make exceptions for recreation use and colorado made history this month when commercial sales of marijuana became legal for adults. 170 having voted in affirmative, 162 in the negative, the motion is adopted. >> reporter: in a vote days ago new hampshire is the latest step to take a step toward legalizing pot for personal use and new mexico had pot for medical marijuana use and new york's governor has an agree di to do the same and not just blew states with democratic leaders

allen peek from georgia where pot is prohibited said he recently changed his mind on the drug after a trip to a pediatric intensive care unit where he said many children fighting for their lives could benefit from medical marijuana. >> this has been a huge shift for me. i want to be very clear we don't want to go down the slippery slope of legalizing marijuana in our state. >> reporter: supporters say the first step to improving the country's pot policy is to admit that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and that is something that doctors concluded in magazine back in 2011 when they found alcohol to be twice as harmful as cannabis and erica with al jazeera, new york. >> reporter: the president also says he is troubled that poor kids, many of them minorities are far more likely to be penalized for smoking marijuana. he said, quote, we should not be locking up kids for long stretches of jail time when some of the folk whose are writing those laws have probably done

the same thing. and 88-year-old nevada is under arrest for opening fire on his wife in a hospital room and william dresser shot his wife once in the chest at the taho medical center and the injuries are considered life threatening and transferred to another facility in reno and william dresser charged with attempted murder and on a suicide watch. they are remembering martin luther king junior today with parades and projects planned through the country to honor the legacy but as stacey says the economic divide on racial lines is still evident years after dr. king's "i have a dream" speech. >> america defaulted on the promissory note as far as the citizens are concerned. >> reporter: reverend dr. martin luther king was concerned about the economic gap

between races could derail the civil rights movement with poverty and income disparities is the ultimate segregators. >> he pivoted attention on what was then called the poor people's campaign and he was killed before his first march. >> reporter: poor people's campaign was focused on providing economic rights for blacks, latinos and whites and asked the government for a $30 billion antipoverty passage including a massive investment in infrastructure and higher minimum age and the same issues lawmakers debate today. >> sense of having control of your life and having the personal financial dignity in the choices to then create the reality that you want that i think is the issue and we have never been in that regard in control of our own destiny. >> reporter: 50 years later by some measures financial disparity has gotten worse. when the poor people's campaign

was launched in 68 the black family was making 60 cents for every dollar the white family made and they show it has fallen to 57 cents and the worth of white families in the united states stands at $632000 and falls to $110,000 for hispanics and $98,000 for blacks. while people of color are on the losing side of the country a key concern has to be what happens in about to decades when struggling minorities are the majority and the primary drivers behind the u.s. economy. >> we have got a shift to people of color all around the world, younger and darker and unless we empower these folks the world has a problem. >> "i have a dream." that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true

meaning of this. we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal. >> reporter: with an equal chance to enjoy the freedom and peace of mind that come with economic security. stacey tisdale al jazeera, new york. >> reporter: martin luther king day is a federal holiday and all county, state and federal offices are closed. banks, the stock market and the u.s. postal service are also shut today. taking a look at business news now, u.s. markets may be closed but markets around the globe are open for business and stocks ended in the red after china's economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter and the index fell below 2000 mark for the first time in 6 months and european markets are mixed after a surprise profit warning from the bank and a big deal brewing in the beer industry, anheuser-busch is buying bath

south korea brewery from kkr and affinity equity for $5.8 billion. anheuser-busch originally sold it in 2009 to reduce debt and it will help anheuser-busch to have access to the asia beer market growing twice as fast as the rest of the world and the largest private equity sale in asia to date and this is after holdings buy beam which makes the burbon brand. ox-fan says half of the world's wealth is owned by 85 people who could all fit on a single, double decker bus and have a worth of $1.7 trillion which is equal to the world's poorest 3.5 billion people. study calls politician and business leaders at the economic form to tackle the problem of income inequality and not

dodging tax or using wealth for political favors and we will talk to some of the most important people in business and finance at the world economic forum and he will be there this week and see the reports throughout the day and on "real money" here on al jazeera america. a hibernating space craft gets awake-up call. the mission and what it could tell us about space. >> a lady came up and i never forget it and got on her knees and said please bring the store back. >> how the reopening of a grocery store is reviving a community hit hard by hurricane katrina and i will have your national forecast and looking at the martin luther king junior educational campus in new york city on a holiday devoted to the civil rights activists and

includes a steal memorial and that is dedicated to dr. king's legacy. >> and pride to the south and to the state of alabama. give us the balance. >> no doubt about it, innovation changes our lives. opening doors ... opening possibilities. taking the impossible from lab ... to life. on techknow, our scientists bring you a sneak-peak of the future, and take you behind the scenes at our evolving world. techknow - ideas, invention, life. on al jazeera america

al jazeera america. we open up

♪ and here is a live look at the sunrising over the capitol building, this martin luther king junior day and welcome back to al jazeera america and ahead how scientists try to track down a comet and land on it but we will look at where the snow and rain may fall around the country and nicole mitchell is back. >> i hope everybody is off to a great holiday and the country is

staying dry except the northern tier which is active place recently because of the pattern we have been under, the high pressure to the west coast and keeping everything very dry but with the jet stream dripping to the south in the great lakes it allows the systems to come through and further dip in the week because it's the boundary between the cold and warm air and it will take over in the midwest and light snow in northern parts of the dakotas and into minnesota and into new england but not too much snow so at least that is the good part of this and start bracing for the cold, stephanie. >> it's considered one of the most daring space missions ever under taken. a european probe was launched several years ago with a mission to chase down and land on a comet, the past 2 1/2 years the craft has been in hibernation

and now waking up. >> it is using the planets of the solar system to go to 100,000 kilometers an hour and as it wakes from hibernation we hope it's intact. >> and flew by the veteran of space flight and space flight takes its toll on robot probes and hoping everything will be working and functioning fully for its main mission which is to orbit and man and land on a comet for the first time in history. it will catch up to the comet in may after going the four kilometer market and it will bolt itself to the comet and begin to analyze the service and if it is high risk and go to where we know it will erupt from

because it's heading to the sun and get warmer over the next couple years and eventually produce a big tail, if you land somewhere where the tail will flair out of and damage it and risky or do you land if a safer place where you can hold on for the whole ride. scientists are interested in the rocks which makeup the comet and think it was created 4 1/2 billion years ago when the solar system formed and they will take the close up images of the surface and could have an answer if they brought water and even life to earth and i'm with al jazeera. >> reporter: joining us now to discuss the next phase of the rosetta mission is mark, the senior scientific advisor to the space agency which launched this in 2004 and joins us from germany at the esa operations center and good morning. and first of all are you nervous at all this morning? i know you are waiting to hear

the signal and it will be several hours but what is the feeling there? >> i think it's true to say the tension is building now. i think some of us are a bit more relaxed than we are at 11:00 this morning local time because effectively nothing was happening here but getting close to 6:00 in the evening where we expect to see the signal the palms will get sweaty, and beginning to rise. >> it has an internal alarm clock running throughout the hibernation over two years and it was just triggered i understand to exit its hibernation, to hours ago eastern standard and how do you know when it's up and running and how will it communicate that to you guys? >> well, what happens now on the satellite is the satellite after the alarm clock went off and we have to presume it did and it has to warm up star trackers and

find itself in space because the satellite is spinning as well and not only sleeping but spinning at one revolution per minute for the last 31 months to keep it stable. the big antenna has not been pointing at the earth and we have to wait for it to warm up and stop spinning and find stars and it will say i know where i am and know where the earth is and we beam a signal back and expect that to take a number of hours and the first time we can get the signal back will be late in the afternoon around 6:00 in germany. >> give us a timetable of what happens next assuming you get the ping in the next several hours, when is it expected to reach this comet? >> well, what we have to do now, about 9 million kilometers from the comet and a fair amount of distance to get there and in may we will use the thrusters on the

space craft to get the velocity just right and get the speed adjusted perfectly so we can arrive at the comet in august at walking pace. all missions before this have gone past comets and past at speeds and minutes or seconds at the comet and we will go to walking speak and walk around the comet and we will map the surface and understand what it looks like in detail because we have to pick the landing site the people in the previous piece talked about and know where we are going to put the lander down in november so we will do a lot of mapping, a lot of work to try and select the best place and maybe a mixture between the most exciting place, where all the action is happening and a place that is not so risky and a lot of work to do before we get to november. >> why is the mission to land on this particular comet? >> well, actually when the mission was first put together we were going to be going to another comet but we had a

rocket failure not with this one but in 2003 and we picked another comet to go to because the first one moved out of the trajectory and we had to look for a comet which was exciting scientifically and accessible and one we could actually get to. and to be able to get there we had to fly past the earth three times and past mars once to get the trajectory to the point where we could get on exactly the right line for the comet but this is special because this has not spend very much time in the inner part of the solar system heated up by the sun and that means this has some of the earliest primitive material from origins of the solar system and a treasure chest to unlock. >> mind blowing, mark, senior scientific advisor for the european space agency and now in germany waiting to hear from the

rosetta-comet chaser. 8 years after hurricane katrina wiped it out a grocery store opened in new orleans and it's more about bringing fresh food to people who really need it. >> for nearly a decade they have been on a search for fresh food. >> where are your bell peppers? over here? >> reporter: after hurricane katrina destroyed 80% of new orleans getting groceries has been tough in low-incomes like the cities 7th ward and the nearest store was a mile away for people. >> a lot of folks did not come back because they did not have any grocery in the area. >> it's so hard because there was no places here. you know, but older people too. >> reporter: and many stores have reopened in new orleans since katrina, the issue is in urban areas and like others in the country the sheer lack of fresh foods.

13% of u.s. op escalation lives more than a mile from a grocery store and transportation is an issue for many and making the areas sort of food deserts. in new orleans there is only one store for every 14,000 people but nationwide there is at least one grocery store for every 8500 people on average. >> it's vital because of people needing fresh food, produce, meat and at a good price. >> reporter: and many of the places that returned here serve mostly fast-food, fried chicken and po-boys and options. >> and it was closed and i was working in there cleaning and i lady come up and i never forget it and got down on her knees and wrapped her arms around me and said please bring the store back because i have to travel too far on a bus to get bananas for my potassium. >> reporter: and the folks who count on it having healthy

choices is a big blessing. >> it's not about eating nothing but healthy food, it's also about eating great quality food and enjoying those really great splurge times as well. >> if you can offer quality in another area of the city you should be able to do it in this area also which is i mean this is a very rooted, long time community of african/americans. >> it's like a reunion. you come in and you get everything and everybody met here. everybody met here. and you was able to see your aunt, your great aunt and this and that. >> reporter: a place where it's about good family and good friends and good food, for jeannette it's good to have a new option, ben with al jazeera, new orleans. >> reporter: a study by the center of disease control said it's the most unhealthyist city and shows 30% of new orleans

residents have a healthy weight and 37% are overweight and 32% of people there are considered obese. and we are joined with a look at what we are following for the next hour. >> good morning, the syrian national coalition threatening to walk away from the geneva two conference and up set they vote iran to the table and iran suspended the uranium enrichment at two plants and u.n. inspectors are on the way to one, part of a six month deal to ease sanctions and there is concern about security at the sochi winter games after a video emerged that says tur tourists will be targets during the olympics. it's a half million complex designed to hold information intercepted by nsa and some activists now have to shut it down. i'm metrologist nicole mitchell and another arctic blast will hit the eastern half

of the country and i'll have the chilly forecast coming up, and we are back with you in just 2 1/2 minutes. ♪ >> everyday... at the us - mexican border, someone dies... >> two hours in, we come up on a body >> now, in a breakthough television event, al jazeera america takes you beyond the debate. experience first hand the tragic journey of these migrants. >> a lot of people don't have a clue what goes on when you live near the border. >> six strangers with different points of view... >> i don't believe in borders... >> our government is alowing an invasion... >> get to experience illegal immigration. up close and personal... >> it's very overwhelming to see this many people that have perished... >> a lot of families that don't know where their babies went... >> i wanna make sure her life, it's remembered... >> what happens when

lost lives are re-lived? >> the only way to find out is to see it yourselves... >> on... the borderland... only on al jazeer america >> hey guys wanna come to the united states?

>> an olympic sized threat, two men who claim to be behind the deadly suicide bomb attack in russia release in a video threatens attacks against the sochi games. >> iran's nuclear agreement underway today. the iranian people hope lifting sanctions will improve their lives. >> violence flare up in the

central african republic as a new leader is picked to stem the blood shed. >> a public school in new york turning out chess champions. ordinary kids consistently check mate the competition. >> good morning, welcome to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. >> i'm stephanie sy. new security threats out of russia as it prepares to host the winter olympics in sochi. a video emerged over the weekend, two men claiming to be responsible for the bombing attacks last month. >> a warning comes at a time when sochi is in a virtual lockdown with the games weeks

away. the security hasn't eased the mind of everyone. >> dressed in black and holding a.k.47s, the two men in this video claimed to be the suicide bombers responsible for the twin attacks at a train station and on a bus i in value go grad last month, killing 34 people. they say if the olympic games proceed, they will offer a presence in the form of new attacks. a similar warning in the video was offered to tourists attending the games, which has prompted more concern, this time from american politicians. >> i would not go. i don't think i would send my family. >> it's just such a rich target. >> president putin says he is ready. >> the job of the olympics host

is to ensure security of the participants in the olympics and visitors. we will do whatever it takes. >> sochi has become a virtual police state with beefed up security in the resort town. a so-called ring of steel, tens of thousands of soldiers, police, bomb sniffing dogs and video cameras. >> i think the threats are real. attacks were called for on the olympics. >> that warning made in july by russia's most wanted militant, whose death was reported a few days ago but the claim not verified. >> i am very concerned about the security status of the olympics. who do we need to worry about? are those terrorist groups that have had some success with, are they still plotting. >> hoping to dispel any notion they don't have security under control, russian authorities released a video of their own, a full scale attack on suspected

militants in the region of dagestan in the northern provinces, where the men claim they are from, seven dead according to security officials, the shootout outside a restaurant that injured several people. it's the type of response russia says it is prepared to unleash to protect and secure the games which are now less than three weeks away. thomas drayton, aljazeera. >> president putin is allowing foreign athletes to provide their own additional security but say they must coordinate with russian authorities. >> this week's scheduled syrian peace talks are in danger of ending before they even started. iran was invited to a conference set for wednesday in geneva, but that upset syria's opposition groups, who are now threatening to pull out. the u.s. wants iran's invitation

rescinded unless it agrees that syrian's president should step down. iran is going without preconditions. syrian president bashar al assad said there is a good chance he will seek reelection this june. he said the main goal of the peace talks is to stop terrorism. >> the geneva conference should produce clear results with the fights in syria. it needs to pressure countries supporting terrorism, especially saudi arabia and turkey and of course the western countries that provide political can you have for these terrorist organizations. >> president assad said: >> today marks day win of the iran nuclear agreement. they have halted the most sensitive uranium convenient richment work.

the world powers have time to negotiate a permanent agreement. most iranians are focused on easing those crippling sanctions imposed by the west. >> 10 years in the making, after marathon diplomacy, january 20 marks the day where the iranian nuclear agreement comes into force. at least in iran, the key issue is how much, if at all, it will affect daily life. main in iran don't think much will change. >> they've put us under such pressure that by even a little thing such as this, we become hopeful. we are hopeful for the future, considering that the agreement has different aspects, not just economic. some are political. it's about giving and taking concessions. at the beginning, it's good, but not enough. >> iran and the six world powers will implement the agreement over the next six months. for iran, it means stopping enriching uranium to 20% purity.

iran will continue to enrich at 5%. tehran will begin converting half its current stock into fuel and diluting the other half. >> if the agreement isn't implemented simultaneously by about the sides, it will be suspended. if either side doesn't uphold their side of the agreement, iran will continue to enrich up to 20%. >> the world powers will suspend u.s. and eu sanctions on oil exports. the u.s. will suspend sanctions on iran's auto industry and help with the supply of airplane parts and medicines. the white house has said it doesn't want to impose new sanctions. the biggest issue remains, one that affects all eye raines, sanction honest iran's central bank. >> sanction have mostly been

imposed on our banking system, transport, insurance and oil sales. it means because they have blocked iran's access to swift and international banking, we have new ability to transfer money while transportation have been band from iran's ports and there is no insurance for these goods. what has happened january 20 has no impact, but it's psychological. >> even the psychological best will be welcomed by many eye raines with so many hose holds feeling the pinch. >> in the past two years, prices have increased across iran. a popular brand of cheese, the price is now six times what it used to be, although it hasn't got any bigger. producers blame sanctions for these price rises, but iran's best economists say that's not true, it's profit tearing in a time of economic misery. >> the government is warning iranians there is a long way to go before anything returns to

normality abroad or at home. aljazeera, tehran. >> iran's official news agency now reporting that higher grade enrichment has been suspend the in the nuclear facility south of iran. >> a plea for help from an american missionary jailed in north korea. he has been detained for more than a year. he spoke today and said he hopes the u.s. will secure his release. he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for what north korea says was an attempt to topple its regime. the u.s. is threatening sanctions against ukraine if it doesn't stop the on going violence there. new violence erupted in key every after the country passed laws banning pro tests. the white house is blaming the government for not easing tensions two months after protests broke out.

peace are something police said they would do. >> a bomb in pakistan exploding in a city killing nine including five soldiers. the incident appears to have been a suicide bombing. on sunday, 20 pakistani soldiers were killed heading out in a military convoy. the pakistan. >> i taliban claiming responsibility for that attack. >> government forces in south sudan recaptured a key town after definiting rebel fighters. the town which is close to the countries capitol has changed hands more than four times since fighting broke out last month. up to 10,000 people are believed to have been killed so far in this conflict. 5,000 have fled their homes because of ethnic violence. >> fighting raging in the central african re. the transitional parliament expecting to vote on a new

president this morning. the president is stepping down after failing to end the sectashian violence. >> the state in the central african republic has collapsed. schools don't function, hospitals don't function, there's no police or judiciary, the means that a new government needs to establish law and order are extremely limited. the onus is on the international month to attend to the humanitarian needs and try to do something to stop the deadly cycle of sectarian killings, not just here in the capitol, but also hearing of a very unstable situation around a western town and from many other areas. the message from the beleaguured forces on the ground is that they would like more troops to be sent. they'll be looking for that meeting of powers in brussels.

the quicker more men can get here, the better to avoid a disastrous situation becoming even more deadly. >> that is barnaby phillips reporting from the central african republic. >> president obama says smoking spot isn't anymore dangerous than drinking alcohol. the penalty says he's troubled that poor kids, main minorities are far more likely to get locked up for smoking marijuana. he was quoted saying: >> president obama says he still told his daughters that smoking pot is a bad idea and a waste of time. >> a new jersey mayor, the latest to accuse governor chris christie's administration of wrongdoing. hoboken mayor said she got push back trying to get aid for hurricane sandy victims, his staff pressuring her to support a real estate project in exchange for those funds.

the governor's office said millions of dollars of aid was given to hoboken. >> a strong earthquake rattled the lower part of new zealand today north of the capitol. the magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck before 4:00 p.m. local time and followed by a series of weaker aftershocks. the quake lasted about a minute, rattling buildings and knocking out power. there are no reports of any injuries. >> that wildfire that destroyed five homes near los angeles now nearly under control after being driven by high winds and dry whether. the blaze is 80% contained and should be fully contained by wednesday. that started thursday from a campfire and burned more than 1900 acres. >> a blast of cold air mitt the northeast and midwest sunday, the dipping temperatures blamed on a train derailment in wisconsin. cracks in the track are being

investigated in the southwest part of the state. millions of americans are bracing for another frigid chill. temperatures are expected to plummet throughout much of the country. >> for more, we turn to nicole mitchell again. here we go again. >> oh, come on. it's january! [ laughter ] >> everyone keeps going hey, it's cold. i'm like it's january, what you are expecting? the other one i keep hearing people say almost like a buzz word, polar vortex. sometimes it is just cold. to go back and explain what that was, an area of low pressure that sits over the pole, polar and circles around with high winds, cold air, hurricane force winds. a couple of weeks ago, we got a very defined chunk of that come down the united states, historic combed as the air spread itself southward and some of that wind. we're getting a modification of that polar air.

up might hear it called a polar vortex, but i hate to hear everything get that buzz word when sometimes we just get cold air. today we're seeing temperatures drop in the midwest, tomorrow to the east coast and southward not as cold as two weeks ago. the highs tomorrow, you can see some of these drop, minus two in minneapolis, 33 in memphis. that cold air is going to spread and even negatives in that forecast in parts of the mid we have and wind chills below zero. that's part of the pattern we've had. we've had the ridge in the west, high pressure and that's kept it try, but a trough in the central part of the united states keeps the cold air reinforced. >> i didn't hear her mention summer at all, not once was there any part of that. >> i did not say polar vortex. >> i can't. >> coming up, a helping hand for edward snowden. >> some lawmakers now pointing the finger at russia saying they

may have access to his latest document dump. >> how this could affect relations between the u.s. and russia. >> growing gaps between the rich and poor. just how much wale the world's top 10% now hold. >> it is our big number of the day, and it's the big check one beer maker is writing to do more business in one part of the world. >> all this week, >> the strength of our future relies on education. >> we are creating a class of adults exposed to mediocre education. >> stealing education, part of our week long, in depth series. america tonight only on al jazeera america

>> translator: based on our medical records she was

>> now to today's big number, $5.8 billion, that's how much anheuser-busch has agreed to pay to repressure southwest's oriental brewery. >> why is this such a big deal? the asian beer market is a $258 billion industry and growing twice as fast as the rest of the world's. the worlds largest brewer has two of the top selling brands. >> u.s. lawmakers claim that

edward snowden may have had help leak i go the agencies documents. we'll look at the likelihood that russian played a part. >> let's find out how cold it is going to be across the country today. >> it is cold. >> let's turn to nicole mitchell for that. >> you wanted a silver lining. this morning, down right balmy compared to what we're going to have tomorrow morning. enjoy tomorrow this morning as you head out hopefully for something to do with the holiday. a lot of people do service projects for the mlk holiday. these temperatures are starting to fall in the midwest. with more wind, you're seeing some of this with the wind chill go sub zero. not only temperatures below zero, but wind chill's very brutal. hopefully that parka didn't get packed too far away. minneapolis is in the teens and is going to be much colder over the next couple days with air from the north coming in. back to you guys. >> nicole, thank you very much.

some top house lawmakers saying edward snowden may have had russian help leaking those documents, saying that snowden put nsa operations overseas at risk. >> this was a thief who we believe had some help, who stole information the vast majority had nothing with privacy, our army, navy, air force, marines have been incredibly harmed by the tate that that he has taken with them. i believe there's a reason he ended up in the loving arms in moscow. >> rogers isn't alone, criticizing snowden. michael mccall, the chairman of the committee said he believes snowden was cult vaulted by a for the purpose power. >> much of data gathered by the nsa is housed in utah. it's a building many would like to see closed. activists have an unusual plan

on how to shut it down. >> if you've ever wondered whether the nsa steers data it collects, you're looking at it. this is the data center in bluff detail, utah, a 92,000 square meter complex completed september at a cost of $1.5 billion. writer james bamford has to died the ns ax. >> it's designed to hold a tremendous amount of nsa's intercepted information, phone calls, email, met at a data, everything it collects, it needs a place to store it. that's what bluffdale is for. you can sort of think of it as nsa's external hard drive. >> the nsa declined a request for an interview, but in bluffdale, population about 8,000, most people don't have any qualms about their neighbor, the spy agency. >> it's an important mission. they get information from around

the world, and my understanding that they study it here. >> if you can't trust your government to do the proper thing, what can you trust? >> but in the wake of former nsa contractor edward snowden's revelations with, a nationwide movement is building to reign in the nsa, using constitutional powers visited in the states. connor is president of a utah legal think tank. >> states and cities are not at all required to help the federal government fulfill its various programs and mandates, so if we wanted to, we could oppose what the nsa is doing. >> here, the nsa foes found its ultimate weakness. opponents have come up with a perfectly legal plan to cripple the data center. they want the state of utah to turn off the tap on the water

supply. >> the center needs nearly 6.5000 cubic meters of water a day for a massive cooling system. legally, utah could stop the flow, and the result? >> if the nsa did not have water, it could not cool its servers and therefore would not be able to operate servers, then would be unable to store and sift through all that data. activists plan to put a no cooperation with the nsa bill before the legislature in the near future. similar laws are proposed in other states, including california and washington. aljazeera, bluffdale, utah. >> a bill launched earlier this month in the california state senate would prohibit state and local agencies from providing material support to the nsa, including barring state-owned utilities from providing water and electricity to nsa data collecting facilities, and block

nsa research at public universities. >> on friday, president obama called for sweeping changes to be made at the nsa. critics say what he asked for didn't really go far enough in reigning in the agency. michael brooks is a policy analyst and a contributor to the majority report. he is with us this morning. his panel, the president's own panel said 46 changes should be made. the president said five changes. did he go far enough? >> good morning. to be honest, i don't think he went particularly far. i think some of the reforms he talked about with the fisa process if that's done well by congress in terms of introducing a more adversarial process, that could be important, but this is the president's tendency. what he's done with most of these controversial national security programs is narrows them slightly and codifies them into law. that for critics, they're not going to be pleased with that. >> the big news is members of the house intelligence committee in congress saying edward show

den may have had help from russia. you're reaction to that. >> well, i think that there's been this type of thing floating around for a while. >> let's cut to the chase. they think he was a spy. >> until they present evidence that's clear and definitive, i'm no the buying it. >> you think this is an effort on the part of the united states to add a little bit of p.r. to a bad situation. >> it's on effort by a couple of members of congress to do that. other members of congress have been more ambivalent about snowden. we don't really know. let's not target that he was trapped at a moscow airport for a while. >> why do you think we are just hearing about this possible russian angle? >> again, i think there is some p.r. aspect to this. i think there's no question about it. they claim some of the new information he's releasing could not have possibly been in his purview. we've seen from previous disclosures that we don't

necessarily know who has access to what when it comes to this type of intelligence. that's actually another valid concern about these programs. >> george bush is said to have told an incoming barack obama that when he sit in this office and you have to make the decision protecting the american people, you will be surprised the decisions you have to make. is what we're seeing coming out of the white house right now the realization that nobody likes the job of president, nobody likes the nsa spying on people but when you're the one that has to make the decision how much data is enough to protect the american people, you say as much as you can possibly get away with. >> i think that makes sense that would be the president's decision. that's why we have checks and balances to hold those impulses in check. i as i am these with president obama terribly. i don't think he has any bad intentions or negative reasons for doing this, but we still need accountability in the system that's structural and institutional and not about anybody's intentions. >> michael brooks, thanks for

being with us this morning, policy analyst and contributor to the majority report. >> how long. >> taking a look at business news, wall street has the day off, u.s. markets closed for the martin luther king, jr. holiday. asia, stocks ended the day lower after economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter. china's shanghai below the 2,000 mark for the first time in six months. european markets mixed after a surprise fourth quarter loss. >> on the eave of the world economic forum in switzerland, a study finds that about half of the world's wealth is owned by 85 people, who could all fit on a single double decker bus. the world's richest 85 people have a collective worth of $1.7 trillion, equal to the world's poorest 3.5 billion people. the study is called to tackle the problem of income inquality

by not dodging taxes or using their wealth to seek political favors. ali velshi will be talking to some of the most important people in business and finance at the world economic forum this week. you can see his reports throughout the day as well as on his show here on aljazeera america. >> safety being called into question. >> as the sochi winter olympics approach, a new threat to tourists raises alarms over security. >> we'll talk to a former home land security aid to president obama about whether russia is doing enough to protect all of those who man on attending the games. >> are the syrian peace talks in jeopardy, why the u.s. is opposed to an unsuspected have it for iran. >> brazil taking heat for its world cup stadiums. soccer officials are upset with the south american country. >> his name is synonymous with the phrase one and done. coming up, we go one-on-one with one of the most successful and consist traverse yell coaches in

college sports. >> as we head to break, this is the statue of martin luther king, jr. in the nation's capital. the etchings have been corrected and many people are celebrating on this martin luther king, jr. day. >> negroes will no longer have to live on the side of the streets, no longer make use of the public accommodations for all of god's children. we are ready to march!

>> al jazeera america is a straight-forward news channel. >> its the most exciting thing to happen to american journalism in decades. >> we believe in digging deep. >> its unbiased, fact-based, in-depth journalism. >> you give them the facts, dispense with the fluff and get straight to the point. >> i'm on the ground every day

finding stories that matter to you. >> in new orleans... >> seattle bureau... >> washington... >> detroit... >> chicago... >> nashville... >> los angeles... >> san francisco... >> al jazeera america, take a new look at news. consider this. the news of the day plus so much more. answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> it seems like they can't agree to anything in washington no matter what. >> good morning, welcome back to aljazeera america. >> coming up, we're going to be talking about the concerns out of sochi ahead of the olympic games after a new terror warning emerged. we'll talk about the issue of homeland security and how what we want to do will affect the measures already in place.

>> the games just around the corner, of course. >> the united nations have extended an invitation to iran to take part in peace talks. that is not sitting well with some folks in the u.s. and the syrian opposition. >> we're going to talk about the brazil word cups. the country has 12 stadiums still to deliver there. causing concern. >> it's crunch time. >> a video show two men claiming to be responsible for a blast at the train station and bus in russia, killing dozens of people. a warning is issued to those attendings the games. president putin said they are ready. >> the job of host is to insure security of the participants in the olympics and visitors. we believe do whatever it takes.

>> putin said drones and bomb sniffing dogs are in place and the country ready for threats outside of sochi. >> it seems russia isn't the only government creating contingency plans. u.s. military officials have been looking at backup plans in the event of a crisis, including evacuating americans from sochi if needed. those officials concluded that any such plans would be difficult to carry out since it is unlikely russia would allow foreign troops on its soil. >> here now to discuss security at the upcoming olympics in sochi is michael ballbone, an expert on security and tourism. thanks for being with us. >> good morning. >> the olympics are obviously a huge international event. president putin seems confident that he he has the security apparatus to secure these games. why is he so confident? >> he's put in place 40,000 law

enforcement and security officers, a massive display of force. he's already put together a system that looks both physical security and infrastructure as well as cyber, and what they've done is they've really taken and says we're going to keep all the threats outside, as a matter of fact, what most analysts are talking about now, we don't expect really anybody to get inside the games, but they are looking for attacks on softer targets in and around the area. >> that's a real concern. tourists don't stay in the olympic village and venues. we heard self congress members complains russian aren't give in tell for the u.s. to secure its own delegation and access to help with security. does that concern you that the russians don't seem to be cot rape it maybe the way other countries do. >> they believe they understand

the chechen threat and they've been dealing with this for a while. in a stunning statistic, there have been 3500 violent events in the area since 2000 -- >> in that area, so close to the olympic convenient now. >> absolutely. 35 people have been killed you since october of 2013 in and around that area, too. just a couple of days ago in voldegrad. >> the video, it appears to be the final testimonial of these two suicide bombers, those bombings killed more than 30 people in the last month. what do you get follow that video about the extent and seriousness of the threat to the olympics? >> the head of one of the larger

militantcy grooms in the area say they will use maximum force against these games and they are all militants of like mind to come and try to help them. what this video is is just another way to put out the word we're coming for you. that's oftentimes meant to scare and frighten -- >> they seem to have the capabilities. >> that's very true. what's concerning a lot of people in the u.s. here is the transportation infrastructure around the area is not that good, therefore there can be extreme traffic delays, setting up vulnerabilities for those attending the games. >> michael, former aide to president obama. thank you for your insights this morning. >> 32 people were killed over the weekend in iraq. sunday, two blasts rocked the northern regions leaving two people dead. on saturday, rebel forces

targeted busy areas across the country with a series of car bombs, exploding outside a restaurant, bus station and hospital, and two popular markets. al-qaeda backed forces and government forces have been battling for control of the anbar region. >> the upcoming peace talks are threatened to derail, opposition groups saying they won't attend if iran is taking part. bashar al assad is giving indications that he has no plans of stepping down. we are in turkey. in a new interview released just today with president assad, he is looking at another presidential bid. what does that mean for the peace process? >> this means another spanner in the works, del. the whole basis of the geneva two negotiations was on the understanding as the

international community has kept on repeating, including van key moon of the united nations himself, that top of the list is a move toward a transitional government in syria with full executive powers. that is not including bashar al assad as president or anything like president. that was the understanding of the basis of the talks carried out. here we have one representative, the key one who we want to hear from, giving a completely different account of their understanding of what geneva two should be about and indicating clearly that bashar al assad and his government have absolutely no intention of stepping aside to allow anyone else to shepherd syria into a different future. there were many dissenting

voices that didn't want to see that happen. first they hear iran's coming which is something they don't want to deal with and now they have a very clear signal from damascus that their understanding of geneva two is a university away from what the opposition is about. >> thank you very much this morning. >> residents in west virginia are still worried about their water. it's been nearly two weeks since toxic chemicals spilled into the water supply, leaving 300,000 people without drinkable water. after the ban was lifted, the center's for disease control issued a caution for pregnant women. an investigation is underway into the spill. >> an 88-year-old man under arrest after opening fire on his wife inside their hospital room in nevada. he shot his wife in the chest at the carson tahoe regional medical center. she was taken to another

hospital in reno. william dresser is charged with attempted murder and being kept on a suicide watch. >> three duties face charges in the death of a 4-year-old. the little boy was shot by his cousin, a 4-year-old girl last week in detroit. 53-year-old patricia johnson and robert richardson were arraigned on involuntary manslaughter charges. police are looking for harry wicher, facing firearms charges in the death. the boys parents don't believe charges should have been filed, because the shooting was an accident. >> a chinese court sentencing a man to prison for poisoning dumplings. they sickened four people in china and nine in japan. that incident further straining ties between two countries. the 39-year-old factory worker was found guilty of adding dangerous substances for food. he injected insecticide into the

food. >> a japanese mayor who oppose's an air base has been reelected. the mayor has promised to block construction by denying permits for the project. japan and the u.s. had agreed to move the marine corps station to a son jested part of okinawa. many want the base off the island completely. >> hosting the word cup was supposed to be a source of national pride for the sacker crazed country of brazil. with the opening match fast approaching, preparations have fallen behind on many fronts, including stadiums brazil is still working to finish. 12 need to be finished before the first match in june. aljazeera went the to one of those stadiums to see how construction is progressing. >> >> i'm here in the city outside of the stadium. it seats about 50,000 people, and this stadium is going to host self matches in the group

stage of the world cup. let's go inside and take a look on how it's going. 66 panels called leaves provide a natural air chronning to the stadium, because the wind that blows off of the nearby lake sort of blows through here. all of these panels are fire resistant, as well as they provide u.v. protection from the sun. certainly definitely one of the most interesting parts of the stadium without a doubt, it's something that right when you get here, it immediately catches your eye. this is a stadium that is owned and managed by internationale, one of the two local club teams here. unlike some of the other host cities where the government funded the building of the stadium, not here. this was a partnership between the local club and builders. the initial cost was supposed to

be $150 million, but in the end, it's going to be about $200 million. i was initially supposed to be delivered in the late 2012, but they were delayed because of worker strikes and some other issues. as you can see, it is almost done. the grass is completely laid, all of the chairs are in place. they say that this stadium is very close to hosting one of its first test matches. here's the pitch, or the field, and this is put in more than a year ago. it was one of the first stadiums that had the pitch laid. this is grass that was imported from the united states and they're very proud of it, because they say it is resistant to all sorts of weather conditions here, wind, rain, the heat. clearly this pitch is going to see a lot of football stars on it once the world cup rolls around. >> that was gabriel alozonso reporting. today the stadiums will be

assessed that are behind schedule. >> john calipari, a college basketball coach, how the kentucky head coach is answering critics. >> we're going to touch on college basketball a bit. university of kentucky head basketball coach may be one of the most polarizing coaches in sports. even those not overly familiar with him or his resume seem to have a strong opinion about him. we visited the campus to find out if perception is truly reality when it comes to coach cal. >> at a school where coaches become icons, kentucky head coach john calendar perry is as revered in the bluegrass as any before him. in the four plus seasons he's been at the helm, the wildcats have won more than 80% of games and made two trips to the final four, including claiming the 2012 national championship. to many outside the program, he represents everything that's

wrong with college basketball. armed with his fine tailored suits and gift of gab, he sometimes is portrayed as a coach who exploits the talents of young men for his own personal gain without reward to their future or that of the school. former indiana coach bobby knight once said: night was referring to the university of massachusetts and university of memphis of their final four appearances when caller perry was of the final coach at the schools. even though he was exonerated of wrongdoing in both investigations. a track record yahoo sports columnist once said: >> who is john calendar perry really? it's a question calendar perry

himself is simply tired of debating. >> whatever their opinion of me, i agree. >> you agree. >> i agree. it makes no bearing on me. the reason is my focus is on these kids. if i worry about what's being said in the seats, i'll be up there with those people. i don't worry about that. if they want to say i'm this and this, ok, i agree. can we get on to more important things. if you're one of those coaches everybody likes, you're probably not really having the impact you want not only on your kids, on the programs, on the college games. >> both his supporters agree, calendar perry has mastered the recruitment of the so called one and done player. over the last four nba drafts, he has seen seven players selected in the top 10 and all of them have been freshman. >> it's crazier than ever, one and done. i got to leave in six months, you know, we don't recruit on that. everybody think we say do. we don't. i tell kids you need to stay at least two years, maybe more, but

if something happens after one, you know i'm not holding you back. i'm not going to hold you back, because it's about you and your family, but don't come in here thinking this way. this is about us developing young people to reach their dreams, to challenge them to understand money as wings and fame as fleeting. now, what do you want to do? what kind of impact do you want to have? what is your purpose going to be? not just to play basketball. >> what do you want your legacy to be? >> that this guy was about his players. everywhere he went, his teams played hard, cared about one another, they loved each other, they had fun playing, kids became educated, grew as a person, and many, many of them went on to become professional players and millionaires. what does that mean? that means a lot of family ins generational positivity, that

ended. eighty or 90 kids that have gotten degrees played for me. i'm guessing 75% were the first college graduate in their family, like me. i love games, but when it's over, you think i'm going to put my wins on my tombstone? that's not going to be on there. >> wildcats are currently 12-3 on the season and ranked in the top 15 in the country. that what that is it up for sports. >> thank you. it is an intergalactic wake up call. >> after more than two years in the deep sleep, must not be a teenager, a european probe now waking up. >> the daring and difficult space mission that awaits the spacecraft. >> we'll tell you about a public school cranking out chess champs. how the youngs kings and queens honed their skills schwa there's serious flooding fears, how some italian villages are dealing with rising waters.

first, on this martin luther king, jr. day, here is more of his "i hav"i have a dream" spee" >> we are ready now to march on ballot boxes. on to every situation that keeps us down at the bottom of the economic ladder, we are ready to march on ballot boxes. the stream is uniquely interactive television. in fact, we depend on you, your ideas, your concerns. >> all these folks are making a whole lot of money. >> you are one of the voices of this show. >> i think you've offended everyone with that kathy. >> hold on, there's some room to offend people, i'm here. >> we have a right to know what's in our food and monsanto do not have the right to hide it from us. >> so join the conversation and make it your own. >> watch the stream. >> and join the conversation online @ajamstream.

al jazeera america gives you the

>> good morning, welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. >> i'm stephanie sy. we'll be taking you to a school where for students chess is more than a game. the school has the awards to prove it's the best. >> nicole was talking about how cold it was going to be, now she's talking about snow. really? >> i'm just a ray of sunshine this morning. [ laughter ] >> getting to the midwest, we've

had clipper systems going through. they haven't had much moisture. the system is starting to during that temperatures here, as it moves its way along, it hasn't had light snow. look for light snow today. that's going to develop. moving through the east coast, the cold air comes in. tomorrow afternoon, the core of the heavier snow right around the mid atlantic. utah's a possibility, we already have winter snow warnings up for this, of six-inches, somewhere like washington, d.c. tomorrow afternoon into wednesday, that could be major problems on the road. >> massive flooding in northern italy getting worse by the day, the river overflowing through several towns and village. 100 people had to be evacuated from a village that is 40 miles nest of bologna. some trapped in their homes couldn't get out before the

water rushed in. more rain is expected. >> it was similar in indonesia, heavy rain flooded parts of have a cart at a this weekend. 5,000 were forced to flee their homes. heavy water overwhelmed jakarta overnight. >> after more than two years in a deep sleep, a spacecraft with a major mission finally waking up. the european probe was launched several years ago with the goal to chase down and land on a comet. it is considered to be one of the most daring space missions undertaken. the spacecraft called the roseta has been in hibernation conserving power. it's alarm clock went off just about a few hours ago. >> students at a brooklyn public school have defied the odds to

become chess champions. many come from families below the poverty line. we report on kids taking their future into their own hands. >> a chilly morning in brooklyn, students filing into school, really nothing out of the ordinary on the outside. inside, the chess elite of i.s.318 step into the hallway and you're immediately bombarded by banners and trophies, testament to the school's championship chess teams. they're a legend here for winning 30 tiles and counting, more than any other school in the nation. >> we're like the celtics and yasser arafat combined. >> it is a full blown chess obsessed culture, the game taught as part of the curriculum. the program boasts 80 students, all with a single-minded focus,

to battle it out on the boards. >> it's a way to develop our brain in a way that you can organization yourself. >> 70% of the students come from families below the federal poverty line. the great equalizer is chess. >> we think the power of our program shows that kids can achieve greatness no matter their background. for our children becoming the best at something in the entire united states is a powerful message that when he sit down across the board, you can be the equal of any student from any private school, any school across the united states, all it takes is hard work and dedication and you can be the absolute best chess team in the united states. >> that determination was put to the test when the financial crisis hit. the school faced budget cuts and the chess program was at risk, but generous donors stepped in.

the day was saved. the students kept their eye on the prize. those life lessons helped the kids not only enjoy victory one but deem with the sting of tee feet. >> i like, but i think getting better is what i like focusing on more. if that means losing, i'm all for it. >> the game has become especially popular at i.s.3 queyn. here, these are the cool kids. >> i hear geeky or you're a nerd, but it's enjoyable for me. >> in 2012, the chess club beat high schoolers in the national chess championships. their story become the subject of a critically acclaimed documentary. but they are not resting on that you are laurels. they are contemplating the next move to crush the competition yet again.

>> that was aljazeera's richelle carey reporting. at the end of our second hour, del has a look at what we're following this morning. >> the syria national coalition now threatening to walk away from geneva peace talks, upset that the united states has invited iran to the negotiating table. tehran has suspended eye rain yum enrichment at two plants. there are reports u.n. inspectors are on their way to one plant, all part of that six month deal with world powers to ease the sanctions. u.s. officials voicing concern about the security of the sochi winter games after a video emerged, reportedly saying the games will be targets. >> president obama making a bold comparison on the dangers in marijuana. how it could affect he was to legalize pot. >> the cleanup continues in west virginia as officials convince residents that the water is safe to drink. some won't drink it did he say

spate the all-clear. >> another arctic blast poised to hit the eat he were half of the country. >> the aljazeera morning news continues. del is back with you in two and a half minutes. thanks so much for watching.

>> some are still afraid to drink the water. >> not convinced their water is safe, new concerns after a toxic spill taints the water for more than a quarter million people. >> north korea, detained. urging people to set him free. >> the people have a right to seek the truth. >> absentee he defendants, four men on trial for the assassination of lebanons former

prime minister, but the accused aren't inside the courtroom. >> presidential pot. the leader of the free world saying no other sitting commander of chief has ever said. how we can change the way the world looks at marijuana. >> we begin with breaking news coming out of iraq. at least 25 are dead after a series of car bomb blasts. police say six parked cars and two improvised explosive devices exploding in the capitol of baghdad just a short while ago. those blasts were scattered across the country in several different areas, all predominantly shia neighborhoods. seventy other people were injured. so far, no one has claimed responsibility. >> officials in west virginia trying to reassure people that tap water is safe. it's been two weeks since the

chem kill spill tainted the water supply. all the bottled water and ice people can buy from the local stores. state and federal ladies and gentlemelegislatorsare investig. >> what's the very latest? >> good morning, del. here's the headline here in charleston, it is looking at possibly suing for damages that they have taken during this spill. it's cost a lot of people a lot of money, especially businesses. you can see we're standing ocean of the state capitol, there's the golden dome where later today at 2:00, senators will have a press conference proposing ladies and gentlemen r. legislation introducing an above ground storage tank regularring la atory program. that that is the issue with the chemical spill, no regular allegation on above-ground container tanks that hold

chemicals. they will come out and propose something here this afternoon. in the meantime, there is still a lot of questions and a lot of fear on the water supply here. restoring faith is the number one priority. >> in west virginia, road side water distribution sites dot the highways and county roads. >> some are still afraid to actually drink the water. >> over the past 11 days, nearly 300,000 people have lived through the unprecedented do not use order from west virginia american water, but the problems are not over yet. >> we're still getting complaints from residents in and out of the area that comes through that they're still smelling the chemical in their water stream. >> even as communities get the all clear, there is little faith among the population. >> it's just something you don't want to drink unless you have

to. >> pregnant women have been warned to drink only bottled water for now. houses smell strongly of licorice even after the pluming system flushing. people are showing up at the department of health. >> my throat burns, i felt congested in my chest and i had a splitting headache. >> she is the daughter of a coal miner and a community advocate for the group "people concerned about chemical safety." >> we're working with state and federal legislators to come you up with some laws that help protect us. the problem is they haven't protected us for a number of years, so i'm not exactly sure the best real form of change is going to be here. >> aljazeera america has been efforting a statement or interview with west virginia water company. here's what they sent us:

>> state political leaders, when asked about environmental issues have been saying it's their desire to find a balance between clean water and jobs, but overwhelmed west virginians say they've heard that rhetoric before. >> how long do you think this is going to go on until we get answers? >> years. years. that's the way it always happens. >> meanwhile, freedom industries, the company blamed for the chemical spill has filed chapter 11 bankruptcy, protecting them for now from class action lawsuits and debt collectors. >> so del, you can see there's still a lot of concern, a lot of frustration and a lot of questions about whether or not people should drink the water here in west virginia. the situation continues as lawmakers will meet here on the

capitol steps today. >> aljazeera conducting its own investigation now. can you tell us more about what you're doing? >> over the weekend, we hired an independent company to come out with us to two different sites. we went to a home where we looked at the water. we tested the water. several vials of it were taken out. also, the river here, that company is currently processing the water, looking at chemicals, not just the chemical that was released here 11 days ago into the river, but anything else that may be in the system here, we're testing. we want to see exactly what people are up against when they turn on their sinks and go for a shower. clearly, we're hoping that there's nothing in it and no detextable traces of chemicals. we should have those results by wednesday at max on thursday, del. we're curious to see what it is. >> robert ray reporting, thank

you very much. >> president obama long ago admitted that he smoked pot when he was younger but in a surprising new interview made a statement about marv that we've never, ever heard from a sitting american that president. >> in recent years, we have seen a seismic shift in public opinion when it comes to pot. according to the latest poll, 58% of americans support the legalization of marijuana and less than 40% oppose its. there is long been debate which is worse, possibility or alcohol. since alcohol is legal some believe it may be health choir than marijuana. president obama is setting the record straight about where he stands. >> if you're an adult who enjoys a good beer, there's a similar product you might want to know about. marijuana, less harmful than alcohol and time to treat it that way. >> when the marijuana policy project put out this ad last year, the national institute on drug abuse quickly responded,

saying claiming marijuana is less toxic than alcohol cannot be substantiated. the president is now making the same claim. in a recent interview, president obama said he does not think it is more dangerous than alcohol, clarifying that he thinks it is less dangerous than alcohol in terms of its impact on the individual consumer. he said it's not something i encourage and i've told my daughters i think it's a bad idea, a waste of time, not very healthy. the president's comments come as more and more states nationwide that decriminalizing marijuana. some make exceptions for medical use, colorado and wash stan state for recreational use. commercial sales of marijuana became legal in colorado for adults. >> 170 having voted in the affirmative, 162 in the negative. the motion is adopted. >> in a vote just days ago, new hampshire became the latest state toward legalizing

possibility for personal use. new mexico lawmakers proposed decriminalizing pot and the new york's governor announced intentions to do the same. republican state representative from georgia where pot is prohibited said he recently changed his mind after a trip to a pediatric intensive care unit where he said many children fighting for their lives could benefit from medical marijuana. >> this has been a huge shift for me. we don't want to go down the slippery slope of legalizing marijuana in our state. >> supporters say the first step to improving the countries pot policy is to admit marijuana is less charmful than challenge. that is something doctors concluded back in 211, when alcohol was found to be more than twice at harmful as can bass. >> the president also is troubled that poor kids, main minorities are far more likely

to be penalized for smoking marijuana. he said we should not lock up kids for long stretches of scale time when folks writing the laws have probably done the same thing. >> thank you very much. >> a new jersey mayor, now the latest to accuse the chris christie administration of wrongdoing. that hoboken mayor said she got pushback trying to get aid for hurricane sandy victims, saying governor chris christie staffers tried to pressure her to support a real estate project in exchange for funds. the governor's office said millions of dollars in aid was given to hoboken. they called those allegation partisan politics. >> top lawmakers in washington now saying edward snowden may have had help from russia releasing documents. the head of the homeland security committee has made allegations. big name people coming out this time. >> there were some serious accusations against snowden on

the sunday morning talk shows, as you just said. folks said that he had done a great dishonor to the u.s., caused a lot of harm that will take buns of dollars to undo what he he did. they also took aim at people who have said that people who say he's a whistle blower and should be lauded in fact. senator feinstein, dianne feinstein said to glorify this act is to set a new definitely of dishonor. as you mentioned, mike rogers, a republican from michigan, the head of the house intelligence committee made perhaps the most startling accusation, saying that perhaps edward snowden was in cahoots with the russians when he took all of those documents, when he was acting as an n.s.a. contractor, some very serious accusations, del. >> it does seem lawmakers are ratcheting up attacks on edward snowden ever since the president gave the speech about changing surveillance policies. >> we saw sunday morning on the

talk shows that perhaps edward snowden is working or was working with the russians. that was said on nbc's meet the press. he said the information released was beyond his technical capability, saying perhaps he had help from the outside. >> this was a thief who we believe had some help, who stole information, the vast majority had nothing to do with privacy. our army, navy, air force, marines have been incredibly harmed by the data that he has taken with him. >> i believe there's a reason he end said up in the hands, the loving arms of an f.s.b. agent in moscow. >> that's the russian secret service, the k.g.b., the successor to the k.g.b. does he have any proof of this? well, there was no direct proof

begin, no evidence given, but share man rogers did say that he didn't think this was just a gee whiz luck event. an aclu attorney working with mr. snowden was asked about this by "the new york times," about this accusation that he may have been working with the russians. he said it is not only false, but silly. however, chairman rogers and dianne feinstein said their committees will be following up on this possible connection. del. >> lisa stark joining us live from washington, thank you very much. >> there are security concerns as russia prepares to host of the winter games in sochi. a new video emerging from two men claiming to be responsible for deadly attacks last month in value go rad saying the games will be a target. >> a former foreign policy

advisor saying it is a credible threat. value put insisting athletes answered visitors will be safe, saying we have a perfect understanding of the scope of the deal and the threat and how to prevent it. he also goes on to say: more on the growing security concerns, right now, we turn a phil ittner in london. that why is he so confident he can carry it off? >> well web's certainly putting a positive face forward, and that may be certainly because he's tied himself to these olympic games so closely that he was part of the process in choosing sochi, he's been tightly tied to the money that's been put in and the effort that the russians have put forward. he's also put forward an awful lot of security measures around

sochi itself. they've implemented, the russians have implemented what they call a ring of steel, they've put tens of thousands, over 30,000 police and security in sochi itself, so the city where they are hosting the olympics this year is certainly a safe city in and of itself, but the problem is that it's situated in a very volatile region of russia, the caucuses region, so there may be some very serious threats there as we have seen in recent weeks and months. certainly for president value putvladimirputin and for him toe attacks during the winter olympics would be incredibly damaging. for his sake and the sake of the current party in the kremlin. they want to make sure that at the very least there is impression that they have security and that is followed up

by real efforts on the ground. del. >> joining us live from london, phil, thank you very much. >> another blast of cold arctic air hitting the northeast and midwest sunday, dipping temperatures blamed on a train derailment in wisconsin, cracks being investigated in the southwest part of the state. millions of americans are bracing for yet another round of cold after temperatures briefly ward up. the national weather service says temperatures are expected to plummet throughout the country. nicole mitchell. >> it's on the way, temperatures dropping in some cases. we're being asked is this a polar vortex. i think that's the new catch phrase. people learned a new term. it sits over the pole, and spins around high winds, a core of low pressure, some of those winds can be hurricane force. sometimes like a couple weeks ago, you get bigger chunks of that energy that break off.

we had historic temperatures last time, but usually, it's littler piece that is spin off. we'll be getting polar air, but it's january, it just gets cold. we'll have cold arctic air coming in over the next couple days. in minnesota, temperatures are dropping. by tomorrow, we're going to see negative and then that cold air spreads its way eastward into wednesday. back to you. >> some are calling it a new era in iran with a historic nuclear agreement going into effect. we'll talk relations we know iran and washington. >> do you take multi-vitamins? a new study says you could be wasting your time. consider this. the news of the day plus so much more. answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> it seems like they can't agree to anything in washington no matter what.

battered. she says she was beaten, burns

>> good morning, welcome back. iran starting to scale back on its nuclear exhibits. we'll take a closer look at the

agreement that led to a moment some said would never happen, but first let's find out how cold it's going to be across the country. >> minnesota, the temperatures will drop throughout the day. the northern tier of the country, much warmer temperatures for average, 40's and 30's up the east coast and 30's and 20's across the northern tier of the country. some testimonies are tarting to drop and the winds picking up, so fargo is starting to feel 20 below zero as winds and temperatures drop and the winds pick up. we are under the pattern, so a ridge of high pressure on the west, warm and dry where we can actually use the moisture, but with the trough dipping to the south, that's going to pull in cold air. highs this afternoon in the midwest already tarting to fall, tomorrow, much chillier. >> today marking day one of iran's historic nuclear agreement. nuclear inspectors are on the job, confirming that the most

sensitivure rain yemen richment work has been halted. six months gives time for something more permanent. the united states and power play will ease sanctions and release $4 billion in frozen iranian assets. some people in iran expressing optimism about that new deal. >> they put us under such pressure that by even a little thing such as this, we are hopeful. we are still hopeful for the future. >> if the agreement sentence implemented simultaneously by both sides, it will be suspended, if ires money is not released, iran is ready to resume enrichment by 20%. >> sanctions will be lifted. iran will be given greater access to airplane parts and medicine. we are joined by the author of bitter friends, bass some enemies, the iran, the u.s. and

twisted path to confrontation. she joins us from washington, d.c. this morning, the senate still talking about those tough new sanctions against iran. if that happens, is it a deal breaker? >> yes, i think it would a deal breaker. it doesn't look as though there's going to be a vote anytime soon. poovied in the democratic members of the senate last week. president obama spoke to majority leader harry reid. this legislation will not be brought to the floor of the senate for a vote at least not in the immediate future. >> even though it's not going to be brought to the floor of the senate, does sabre rattling on the part of partisan politics hurt the efforts in iran? >> i'm not sure that it does. i think the iranians understand very well that the u.s. congress is poised to pass new sanctions if the iranians do not faithfully implement this deal.

sanctions have reached their peak now with iran. it was easy to impose sanctions with ahmadinejad was president of iran threatening israel. it is more difficult now that face of iran has changed. these individuals are much more sophisticated and have shown a willingness to negotiate seriously and directly with the united states. >> do you think americans understand that when there are sanctions, that it is people in a country who are hurt and not the government officials that so often become the targets? >> i'm not sure the average american understands that, but i think policy makers do. when the sanctions effort against iran began, it was supposed to be smart sanctions, very targeted. over time, of course, it's affected oil exsports, the banks, and it really has had a very, very serious impact on ordinary people. that's why that clip you showed

was so important. what we now have in iran is a little bit of hope that the situation will improve. this puts pressure on the iranian government, again, so implement the deal with be because they don't want to disappoint the hopes of the iranian people. >> i want to go back to that interview, saying iran can enrich at 20% levels within one day if it desires to do so, so realistically, what is being accomplished? >> well, as long as the deal is being implemented, iran will not be enriching uranium to such a high level, very close to weapons grade. it will take a stockpile of 20%ure rain them and dual loot it, neutralize it, turn it into a form that cannot easily be further enriched. this is a temporary deal. we now have six months, perhaps longer to reach a more permanent agreement. this is time for a lot of other things to happen. it airanians have now been

invited to the syrian peace conference. this is a period where we can test iranian intentions on a host of issues to see whether iran will play a more constructive role. >> how much trust exists between the two countries? we see one played out in public but then learn there have been back door negotiations for quite some time. is there now a trust level to an extent that the united states people don't even understand? >> i think there is a bit more trust now, particularly between these iranian administration, this president and foreign minister and u.s. officials. as you pointed out, some american diplomats have now gotten to know the iranian team very well and the same is true tort iranians. this is really what makes this unique. over the last 35 years, most interactions with iran have been sporadic. this makes me hopeful to reach a more permanent arrangement with

iran. >> barbara slavin, thank you very much for being with us this morning. >> thank you. >> in business news, the beer industry is shrinking, anheuser-busch making a buy back to help regain taxes asia's market, growing twice as fast as the rest of the world. this is the largest private equity sale to date. it comes a week after japan's company bought jim beam. >> investors overseas are busy at work, asia stocks ending in the red after china's economic growth slowed for the fourth quarter. >> european markets are lower after a surprise loss for the last three months of 2013.

>> a new blow to bit coin, finland ruling it really isn't a currency, but a commodity, saying it doesn't meet the definition of a currency or electronic payment system. several central banks including nine that raising concerns about bit coin trading. >> the american postal workers union said it will hold protests over a plan to put postal services in staples stores, objecting to taking by staples employees, not postal workers. they said it will help grow its business and service customer segment. >> a programming note, ali velshi talk to important people in, and finance in switzerland this week. you can see reports throughout the day and on his show that airs at 7:00 p.m. on aljazeera america. >> forget everything you've been told about taking your daily

multi-vitamins. a study analyzing the effects on your heart, cancer and overall life expectancy found no benefit, only beneficial for those with vitamin deficiencies. almost half of americans take at least one supplement every day. the supplement industry doesn't agree with this particular study. >> syria's struggle for peace. opposition forces won't attend the new peace talks if iran is at the table. we talk about whether or not these talks can be salvaged. >> chaos in the streets, a rally that sparked a violent clash between police and protestors in key every. >> home field advantage held up, but just barely. coming up, i'll show you how the broncos and seahawks each punched their ticket to superbowl xlviii. >> everyday... at the us - mexican border,

someone dies... >> two hours in, we come up on a body >> now, in a breakthough television event, al jazeera america takes you beyond the debate. experience first hand the tragic journey of these migrants. >> a lot of people don't have a clue what goes on when you live near the border. >> six strangers with different points of view... >> i don't believe in borders... >> our government is alowing an invasion... >> get to experience illegal immigration. up close and personal... >> it's very overwhelming to see this many people that have perished... >> a lot of families that don't know where their babies went... >> i wanna make sure her life, it's remembered... >> what happens when lost lives are re-lived? >> the only way to find out is to see it yourselves... >> on... the borderland... only on al jazeer america >> hey guys wanna come to the united states?

>> welcome back to aljazeera america, i'm del walters, these are our top stories at this hour. residents in west virginia are worried their water isn't safe after the do not use ban is lifted. pregnant women are told to avoid drink drinking from the tap. an investigation is underway. >> president obama making a at the same time about marijuana never made before by a sitting president, in an interview with the new yorker seemed to be in favor of decriminalizing marijuana. he said pot is not as dangerous as alcohol. >> iran's historic nuclear agreement now in effect, iran has halted enrichment work. sanctions will be eased releasing $4 billion in assets. >> the u.s. is threatening sanctions against ukraine if it doesn't stop the violence there,

the government blamed for not easing tensions. the backlash coming as new riots reresulted this weekend after ukraine passed laws banning ba g protests. >> it's the worst violence in two months. thousands of protestors clashed with police, blocking the road to parliament, setting buses on fire. the police fired pepper gas. >> demonstrators kidnapped a policeman. opposition leader and former professional boxer tried to calm the people with no success. tensions heightened this week when a court declared demonstrations in the center of key every legal. the president signed into law sweeping measures that limit free speech and assembly. earlier sunday, tens of

thousands gathered on independence square to did he have the new regulations. >> i appeal to law enforcement bodies to servicemen, join the people, protect the people, because you gave an oath to the ukrainian people first of all and you to have protect them. >> the government says they're public order laws. the people disagree. >> this is not just a new law, it's a coup. especially with a social explosion in this country, it ends in unpredictable way. >> i think with my presence here, trying to show to people, parliament and the government that i'm not agree with them and i'm against these choices or these rules. >> as night fell, more than a dozen police have been injured. they continue to use flash grenades to try to busy percent protestors. explosions can be heard across the city.

>> demonstrators threw fire bombs and destroyed vehicles, but not all advocate aggression as a way to get what they want from the government after two months of demonstrations. jennifer glass, aljazeera, key every. >> a commission would be set up monday to try to resolve this deepening crisis. >> this week's scheduled syrian peace talks are in danger of ending before starting. an sunday, iran was invited to a conference in geneva. that upset syria's opposition groups, now threatening to pull out. u.s. also wants iran's invitation rescinded unless the syrian president agrees to step down. bashar al assad said there is a good chance he will seek reelection this june. he said the main goal of the peace talks is to stop terrorism. >> the geneva conference should produce clear results with regard to the fight against terrorism in syria.

in particular, it needs to pressure countries that are exporting terrorism by sending terrorists, money and weapon to say terrorist organizations, especially saudi arabia and turkey and of course the western countries that provide political cover for these organizations. >> president assad saying it is unrealistic for members to become ministers of the syrian government. here to discuss this latest wringling in the path to peace is the former u.s. ambassador to nato in washington, d.c. good morning. >> good morning. >> first the invitation to the talks, now seedy's saying they are in eligible to attended the talks, will this stop the process? >> i think what we're seeing here is a poorly prepared process to begin with. we haves. of force on one side, that's assad, that is radicalized an opposition, which is indeed conducting -- is influenced by

soon any extremists. you have a gentlemen they've in a process where the results are almost negligible. you're never going to get to a proper solution. >> assad saying he's thinking about seeking reelection, so what does that do? >> that's exactly it. assad is interested in using the geneva process to legitimize his remaining in power, despite having used the security force it is of the country to kill over 130,000 people and produce 6 million refugees. the opposition or west would like to see the process remove him from power, but there is no force on the side of the opposition that is exhale of doing that. assad wants to use this for his own purposes. with the disproportionate process on the ground, the idea of a political settlement is not

in the carded. >> let's put this in layman's turns. are we seeing stalling so that the killing continues? >> what we're seeing is assad trying to regain control of the country, killing as many people as necessary, creating as many refugees at necessary and with the the direct support i've ran and russia. against that, you have an opposition that would like to remove him from power. you have soon any extremist groups infiltrating into that in order to gain their own foot hold in syria and iraq, and you have western powers who are are actually not willing to get involved in syria, so they are not providing balance against thes. of force that the government that. so, it's all force on one side and the geneva process, yes, everyone would like to have a political settlement, but when it's unbalanced, there's no process to get to a result. the first step if there should be one is an immediate ceasefire

respected by the government and opposition. >> the united states public say they don't want to get involved in syria beyond what is already being done. without that bully pulpit of the united states, or russia, for instance, is there any reason to believe that anything going on in vie they've have a on wednesday will lead to any fruitful results? >> no, i think there's going going to come out of geneva whatsoever when the situation on the ground is so unbalance said. a side determined to stay in power, determined to use force and no one is prepared to stop them. >> a year from now, assad still in power and war still going on? >> i think so. he will remain in power because there is no force to get him out. whether he needs to continue to fight to do that or not depends on the effectiveness of his clamp down. >> thank you very much for being with us this morning. >> a high profile trial in the netherlands, a special tribunal

opening into the assassination of prime minister of lebanon. the accused aren't even in the court. >> almost nine years after the killing of lebanese prime minister in downtown beirut, the special tribunal has opened at the hague. the bomb killed him and 21 others and wounded hundreds, blowing out a creator 35 feet wide and six feet deep. the prosecution contends a truck bomber manually debt tated two tons of explosives. four men are being tried in absent i can't, shielded in arrest and prosecution by hezbollah which initially supported the tribunal but now says the men are in sent and warns that any hand that touches them will be cut off. allies have denounced the trial as a western-backed conspiracy.

it has extensive backing from the united states and was created by a unanimous vote of the united nations security council. >> the attackers used an extraordinary quantity of high grade explosives, far more than required to kill their main target. >> chief prosecutor norman ferrell. >> clearly it was to send a terrifying message and cause panic among the population of beirut and lebanon. >> the lengthy preparations and security have so far cost $325 million. the stakes are high, as well. experts say the verdict could be precedent setting for international law and terrorism cases. >> i think probably an unspoken part of this also was that many countries, including probably the u.s., saw this as a way to pressure the syrian government and hezbollah, rye an, which is

their friend, supporter and partner, so probably that was a kind of secondary subscript to this process. >> the trial comes against a back drop of of retall atory bombings that are stoking sectarian tensions, as the violence from syria's civil war continues to spill across the border. >> this is what you want, justice, not vengeance. we never seek vengeance and hopefully, by the end of this trial, we will find out the truth. >> hundred was prosecution witnesses are expected to be called, and the trial could last months and possibly much longer. courtney keely, aljazeera. >> the trial is the first time in legal history that an international court is trying a case based on terrorism charges. >> an american jailed in north korea asking the u.s. government for him. he has been held for more than a year. he talked to a few media outlets today, saying he hopes the u.s.

will help secure his relief. he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor after north korea said he was attempting to topment the regime. >> we are tired because yesterday's football on television, you just couldn't stop watching. >> did you stay up to watch the second game, del? >> i did. >> way to go, i couldn't make it. >> it was a good game. >> people don't understand we have to be here really early. i'm not a wimp, it just worked out that way. superbowl all set now. the seattle seahawks battled all season for home field advantage. in the last two years, they had lost just once at home during the regular season. they saved their best for last in front of another deafening crowd last night, taking on the 49ers in the championship game. quarterback collin kaepernick of san francisco, stellar running the football, 130 yards rushing. watch this laser to and the won bolden, 26 yards on the money,

bang, breaking a 10-10 tie. seattle kicked a field goal to pull within four. in the end zone, seattle has its first lead 20-17. kaepernick's last chance into the end zone, tipped to smith and that is that. the d. saves the day, kaepernick had three second-half turnovers. >> they know we're not done, so it's a really good mentality and i say going in, i thought we'd be fine about handling this, just gauging how they owe when they've been interviewed as they talked to us, they stayed right in. it that there's nothing to think that anything else is going to be different going into this two weeks to be ready. it's different from what you would think. they have a young mentality about them that's going to help us. >> in the a.f.c., pay manage and tom brady scaring off for perhaps the final time in the

playoffs. both how much hall of famers threatened to overshadow the game itself. manning trying to make it to his third superbowl, while brady hoping for a 60th appearance in the big game. manning was close to perfection. he completed 32-42 passes and zero interceptions. the broncos offense held the ball for 36 minutes, the denver d. held up, keeping the patriots out of the end zone until the fourth quarter. the broncos take the title 26-16. >> met life stadium in new jersey is the site. we were talking about it already, broncos and seahawks will battle in superbowl xlviii. they have two weeks to prepare for the big game on february 2. >> tennis, nodalize looking for his second australian open championship and the fourth are grand slam title of his career. so far, so good. the top-seeded in a dual pushing

throughout this match. getting a run for his money in the process, the final two sets, 7-5, 7-6, in a calendar advances to the quarter finals. >> other notes, federer moves on to the quarter finals winning in straight sets. next up, andy murray. sloan stevens was the last remaining american, man or woman in singles play at the open. finally, track and field star jones hacienda spot on the u.s. bobsled team that will compete in the winter games in sochi. >> back in the olympics. >> from track and field into the winter olympics. we love that. >> the racial divide that still

remains in america. we want to take you live right now to the nation's capitol, a wreath being laid there to honor the ref rea reverend martin lut, jr. >> you would look around and see that glad day when all of god's children would be able to call out free at last, free at last, thank god almighty, we are free at last!

>> al jazeera america is a

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. just ahead, remembering the legacy of the reverend martin luther king, jr. first, let's find out where it

might snow across the country. >> in the midwest, light snow for nowhere parts of the country. that's not too bad out there. the west is still very dry. you can see some of this into north dakota and minnesota. as this moves along and develops, this is going to be tuesday, be when we have the cold air developing. this is the tart of tuesday afternoon. look at the core of snow right up and down the mid atlantic. a lot of places in here could be talking six inches or so of the snow and that includes cities such as washington, d.c. up toward new york. especially once you get around the beltway with, not used to dealing with snow like that. i have a feeling that those kids are already going come on snow day. del. >> they've got the pajamas inside out and backwards. >> massive flooding in northern italy getting worse by the day. the river spreading through several towns and village. about 100 people had to evacuate from the village 40 miles

northwest of bologna. some were trapped inside their homes. more rain is expected in the coming days. >> a similar scene in indonesia, heavy rain flooding parts of jakarta. half of it is underwater with roads impassable in a number of areas. 30,000 were forced to flee their homes. the flooding so far has left five dead. >> $107 trillion, that is the combined wealth of the 85 richest people in the word. it was actual actual to the world's poorest 3.5 billion people. research conducted say they own 46% have the global wealth, the rough equivalent to the bottom half of the world. the world economic forum

identifying income inequality as one of the greatest risk factors facing the world in 2014. >> it is considered one of the most daring space missions undertaken, with one mission, to chase down and land on a comet. >> for almost 10 years, it has been tracking through space, using the planets of the solar system to catapult it to a speed of more than 100,000 kilometers an hour. now, as it wakes from hibernation, it's hoped its systems are intact. >> it's played three fly-byes of the earth, mars, approached two asteroids at that time. it's a veteran of space flight and space flight takes its toll an robotic probation. they hope everything is going to be functioning for its main mission, so orbit, map and even to land on a com melt for the first time in human history.

>> it is due to catch up to this comet in may after circling the four kilometer wide rock, it will send down a lander, using a harpoon system, whole itself to the comet and begin to analyze its surface. the jury's out whether to go to a high risk area where the comet is going to erupt from. the comet is heading back toward the sun. it's going to get warmer and eventually pros a big tail. if you land the lander where the tail's going to flare, oh are a safer mace to hold on for the whole ride. >> scientists are interested in the rocks which make up the comet. they believe it was created four and a half billion years ago. they hope the spacecraft will take the first close up images of the surface and say the findings could help answer whether the comets brought water, even life to earth.

>> america is pausing to remember the reverend martin luther king, jr. today. we he want to show you live right now the image comes out of the nation's capitol. that is the martin luther king, jr. library there. this is the martin luther king, jr. memorial in new york city. there are parades, marches and community service projects planned across the count are i to honor his legacy. as aljazeera reports, the economic divide along racial lines is still evident years after his famous speech. >> america has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as our citizens of color are concerned. >> according to historians, he was very concerned that the economic gap between races could derail his civil rights movement, with poverty and income disparities being the ultimate did he go degree gators. >> he pivoted all of his attention on what was then called the poor people's campaign and he was killed

before his first march. >> his poor people's campaign was focused on providing economic rights for blacks, la teen notes, native americans and whites. that he asked the federal government for a $30 billion anti poverty package, including a massive investment in infrastruckure, job training, affordable health care and a higher minimum wage, the same issues lawmakers debate today. >> it is the sense of having control of your life and having the personal financial dignity in the chases to then crate the reality that you want that i think is the issue, and we have never been in that reward in control of our own destiny. >> 50 years later, by some measures, financial disparity has gotten worse. that when the poor people's campaign was launched in 1968, the median black family was making 60 cents for every dollar the median white family made. recent data show that number has fallen to about 50 7 cents. the average net worth of white

families stands. >> while people of color are currently on the losing side of the income and wealth gaps in this country, a key concern has to be what happens in two decades when the struggling mines become the majority. the primary drivers behind the u.s. economy. >> we've got a shift to people of color all around the world, younger, and darker, and unless we empower these folks, the world's got a problem. >> i have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed, we hold these truthing to be self-evident that all men are created equal. >> with an equal chance to enjoy the freedom and peace of mind that come with economic

security. aljazeera, new york. ♪ ♪ >> a reminder that martin luther king, jr. day is a federal holiday, so county, state and federal offices will be closed. banks, the stock market and u.s. postal service also closed for the day. that is going to do it for this hour of aljazeera america. i'm del walters in new york. an update on your top stories in just a few minutes. first, we leave you with these images of the martin luther king, jr. memorial here in new york city. today is a day of service. if you see someone, help them out. >> all this week, >> the strength of our future relies on education. >> we are creating a class of adults exposed to mediocre education. >> stealing education, part of our week long, in depth series. america tonight only on al jazeera america

al jazeera america. we understand that every news story begins and ends with people. >> the efforts are focused on rescuing stranded residents. >> we pursue that story beyond the headline, pass the spokesperson, to the streets. >> thousands of riot police deployed across the capital. >> we put all of our global resources behind every story. >> it is a scene of utter devastation. >> and follow it no matter where it leads - all the way to you. al jazeera america, take a new look at news.

president obama proposes changes to controversial tactics. what they mean to intelligence gaer thissing. the man who leaked the pentagon papers gives his take on the president's speech and thinks why it vindicates the note. also what does a federal judge want on the argument of concussions. a humorous take on our biggest generation. welcome to consider this. here is more on what's