people be allowed to have a vote. >> all right. thanks for a terrific discussion. until next type, waj and i will see you online. ♪ good evening, everyone, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. iran uninvited after pressure from the us. the united nations does a 180. at the same time, sanctions ease. the u.s. and europeans take some of the economic pressure off of iran after that country begins to unplug some of its nuclear programs. >> do you drink the water? >> occasionally.

>> reaction to west virginia's coal mine chemical spill puts the governor in the spotlight. plus the legacy of dr. martin luther king, the celebrations of his life across the country, as americans keep his dream alive. ♪ and we begin tonight with a diplomatic drama over talks to end syria's civil war. the question, who should be invited to participate in those talks? the answer from the united nations today, not iran. here is how it unfolded. the u.s. said iran should not participate unless the iranians agreed to certain conditions. iran refused, and the un withdrew his invitation.

john terrett joins us tonight from the ushsn. why did the un make this decision? >> what a day of draw, john. it all goes back to yesterday, sunday when ban ki-moon extended the list to include the iranians, and wakes up to find out state department is unhappy, britain is unhappy, mainly because iran won't sign up to the main points of these talks. so pressure grew throughout the day to withdraw that invitation to iran. the national opposition in syria will be there in geneva on wednesday looked to pull out, but in the end the united nations said they were disappointed -- ban ki-moon said he was personally disappointed that the iranians did not sign

out to the agreement to create a transitional government. before he made that statement, the iranians said look if that's what we would have had had to signed up for, we wouldn't have come anyway. >> has there been reaction to fact that the talks are back on. >> yes. on again off again. there was a written statement today, and we have a full frame graphic to explain to you. i will read it . . . so, you know, at the moment, barring in snafus, and there could be any one of a number of

those, we're going to see the regime sitting alongside the opposition on wednesday. >> the big goal is to end the syrian civil war, but what about the specifics? >> well, it's rather anyone's guess to be honest with you. we just don't know how these talks are going to go. bashar al-assad is already talking about running for a third term. the commentators viewing this, many say the hurdles are so insurmountable, it is really a question of how these talks will fail, fall apart, rather than be successful. but we have seen so often in the past, getting the two parties together in one room is very often the first step, and it will only be the first step on wednesday, but it does at least look like that is going to happen. >> john, thanks for the update.

in syria at least 16 people are dead after two car bombs exploded on the border with israel. nick shift -- shiffren reports. >> reporter: monday's attack, more than a dozen killed. the bombed targeted vehicles and destroyed nearby shops and killed their customers. we are right on the syrian-turkish border. it may look pretty calm down, but just about 15 minutes ago there were two huge explosions, apparently at least one of them a car bomb. one eyewitness saw dozens of bodies, and he said most were women and children trying to flee the war in syria. >> translator: we were at the crossing and heard a huge explosion. five minutes later another

explosion went off. many people died. >> reporter: in aleppo which is experiencing the greatest fighting, one bomb created this crater. both cars burned for hours. the attack was launched by radical fighters targeting moderate rebels they think will too moderate. the infighting weakens their campaign even as assad continues his assault. >> translator: the government dropped bombs and destroyed dozens of homes. >> reporter: survivored were carried away on make-shift

sketchers in make-shift ambulances. children had to take cover from sniper. conditions here are so bad people are dying of hunger. anti-regime activists say the snipers have already shot dead women and children. iran is also making headlines tonight on the nuclear front. they began shutting down some of their nuclear enrichment work. un inspectors were there to monitor that. in return the u.s. and europeans have started to ease sanctions, but iron's moves are not convincing some on capitol hill. we'll have that litter. a tense stand ipo in ukraine's capitol. thousands filled the square as anti-government protesters battled police leaving dozens

injured recent protests have been fuelled by a new law signed by the president that sets limits on the right to protest. a video released over the weekend repeats a threat at the upcoming games in sochi. the two men say they are members of the group that carried out december'ss bombings, and they are heard threatening tourists who come to the winter games. today runners carried the game's torch through the area. paul brennan has more. >> reporter: the olympic train rolled into town exactly as planneded. but the welcome was deliberately subdued. just weeks ago 18 people were killed here in a bomb blast. a second attack a day later took the total dead to 34.

this man is a native of the area. he told me of his pride to carry the flame and his pride for the city, but when asked about the bombings his words dry up with sadness. >> three weeks ago, i guess like the whole country, we feel like a -- um -- like pain in our soul. >> reporter: the station still bares the scars of the baum attack which happened here barely three weeks ago, and by staging the olympic torch relay as planned, the city cements its commitment to resistance. that said, the threat remains very well. this 4 9-minute video claims to show a recording of the two bombers. the authenticity of the tape hasn't been a verified. but included a threat to carry

out more bombings ahead of the olympics. the people nonetheless happened to see the area. >> translator: we must move forward. >> but it was noticeable that various musical events were canceled. >> we limited all of the celebrations during the route in this city, and the -- special [ inaudible ] was hardened, so right now we are just -- make our normal olympic torch relay without no celebrations. >> reporter: the city is a powerful symbol of russian national pride, but that symbolism and its position just north means it has been repeatedly targeted by separate advertise attacks. with sochi now approaching that threat is now continuous.

nebraska officials are investigating an explosion at an agricultural plant in omaha. part of the building collapsed after the blast, and police say they believe everyone in the building has been accounted for. there were more than 30 people working inside. new questions and concerns in west virginia. some people still won't drink the water in charleston despite the raising on the ban. >> obviously we continue to test the water supply every hour, and it is showing up at a non-detect level as i have been told. we'll continue to do that and, you know, to try to get the smell out of the water as

quickly as possible. if people are not comfortable with drinking the water, they should use bottled water. we're still giving that out. it has been a long or deal, and we're hoping in the next few days it will be back where people can use the water with confidence. >> firefighters in southern california say they hoped a wildfire near los angeles will be completely contained think wednesday. it charred some 1900 acres of land. authorities say the blaze was started by a campfire, and they said record-dry conditions are keeping the fire threat high. the east is bracing for another blast of snow and very cold weather. kevin corriveau is here with more. >> that's right, john. we're talking about temperatures right now across north dakota in the minus double digits, and

that isn't even the coldest we'll see tonight. what we're really concerned about is this next alberta clipper. you can see this area of snow coming across illinois. that is going so quickly that it is going to be tomorrow that we'll really be concerned about it. we have seen a couple of light snow showers, not a ton of accumulation. but the storm is looking to show we have warnings out in effect to parts of virginia. these kick off at about noontime tomorrow, go all the way through to wednesday. and you can notice this really right here along the eastern seaboard, but we have some fairly bright spots, and that's where we will seeing the biggest cumulation. 6 to 10 rear in the western part of long island. when you get around the city it could be between 2 and 6 inches

of snow. of course that will cause major havoc at the airports. john? >> kevin thank you. more accusations against governor chris christie. his team now accused of holding back disaster relief funds from hurricane sandy victims. plus you go to the library, you expect books. that's so yesterday. the lay bare of the future is next.

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.

of course it's a holiday, and it is martin luther king day. the nation's largest event is held in denver, it's the annual mar-ade. and paul beban is live with more on that. paul? >> reporter: be be , john, that's right we sent the day outside at the mlk mar-ade. but tonight we're at the national western stock show, and tonight on martin luther king day, on the 8th annual mlk, junior african american heritage rodeo.

it's all african american rodeo stars from across the country. celebrating the little known story of the african american cowboy. i have my new friend here. reggie harden. he has four children competing tonight. reggie you have had cowboys in your family for generations. tell me what cowboy culture means to you? >> it means a lot to me and my family. it's all we have ever known. we have taught our grandkids on up. all we know is rodeo and that way of life. >> right. and reggie -- as i said four of his children competing here tonight. the first event is steer wrestling, an event invented by an african american cowboy. tell me about that. >> it was an event invented by an african american cowboy by

the name of bill picket. he invented it back in the early 1800s, and we are taking this culture in rodeo and carrying on. and we are going to continue to carry on for generation after generation. so that the world gets to see there is more than one cowboy. [ laughter ] >> there's more than one color of cowboy. >> yes, sir. >> john it's a wonderful event here. we have music and people celebrating, again, sort of a different side of the mlk western african american cowboy story. >> paul beban in denver. paul thank you. say the word library and you likely think books, but san antonio, texas, is home to one of the country's first all digital libraries, designed to make the economically depressed

south side. heidi zhou castro gives us a tour. >> reporter: it's a library without books, where instead of hushes, the walls talk. it's 12-year-old favorite place to go after school. >> they don't have books, books. they really just have the digital ipad books they got. >> reporter: his family is about the 1300 people who signed up for library cards here. the area is 88% economically disadvantaged. 17% of the population lacks basic reading skills. >> there are a lot of families that don't have access to wi-fy or even computers in their home. >> the new library have 20,000

ebook titles. >> reporter: it is also good for those adults who may have difficulty with reading or maybe at a lower reading level because the devices will actually read to you. >> reporter: connie is a nursing assist important and mother of three. she never graduated from high school. >> now that my daughter is in middle school, a lot of the worlds i wouldn't pronounce and i couldn't read along with her or understand what they were doing. >> reporter: she said since discovering this library, her reading level has jumped. the staff says an electronic library also operational benefits. they can perform the functions of a traditional library in this a third of the size at the third of a cost. so what is to keep these

expensive ereaders from going out the door and never come back. first of all there is no internet access, and secondly, after two weeks, all of the content disappears. >> the more than people read the better off we're going to be in this country and so we want to expand that a much as possible. >> reporter: this nook in the bayer county courthouse is the new satellite unit for a captive audience. 93 people on jury duty signed up on the first day as they scroll to a new chapter of old-old fashioned reading in the new age. chris hatfield attracted a huge fan base tweeting and singing during his time in orbit. he has written a book called "an

astronaut's guide to life on earth." >> i was so inspired by the early part of the space race with the race and neal and buzz walking on the moon. it set a long-term goal for my life that i have been pursuing ever since. and i think it is just recently the ability to share that experience has opened it up to the whole world. and i'm delighted to see the level of interest. >> so why did you write an astronaut's guide rather than an autobiography. >> i have been speaking at schools all around the world for the last 21 years as an astronaut talking about some of the cool stuff that happens, but really trying to figure out what is important and useful out of what we're doing?

and the book is just a natural extension of that, of telling some of the stories of the amazing things that happened on the way, but also looking at what is useful for that back on earth. >> so what is it like to be weightless and on board? >> well, weightlessness is like magic, i mean it's like someone just -- just touched you on the shoulder and gave you a super power where you can fly and float and tumble. it is so liberating and -- and you get so used to it. when you come back to earth, you just -- it feels so unfair that you are squished down into the planet, it's an amazing place to be, especially for spending five or six months like we do right now. >> talk about what else you learned in space as an astronaut and what you think might

surprise people. >> you know, the most dangerous thing i have done in my life, john, is to ride a rocket ship, and i have done it three times. it is the most dangerous nine minutes of my entire life, and i was a test pilot before, and i think the thing i learned from it is how do you not let fear keep you from doing something? how do you deal with something that you know should generate fear? and yet reap the benefits that can follow? how do you deal with fear? and the way we do it is so much wrapped up in really identifying each of the things that might happen. >> others have said don't sweat the small stuff, you say you should sweat the small stuff. >> astronauts and test pilots who don't sweat the small stuff are dead. it is critical. and trying to get to a

destination, you need to think about the small things. because things always go wrong. that's life. and if you haven't thought about what you are going to do when that thing goes wrong, then you are just counting on luck or charm to get you through. think of the most likely things that will go wrong, and then sweat the details of them, and figure out your actions. if they don't happen, you are all right. if they do happen, you are ready for them. and rather than being pessimistic or fearful, it lets you come in with a sense of preparedness or calm and sense of optimism. >> did you ever dream you would become an inspiration to others? >> that's such an honorable place to be. and to get direct reflection of it. i have spoken in so many schools, i have spoken to kids who were at first in grade

school and now in university, and to see that maybe some idea or experience i had gave them a confidence to make different choices with their life. to become a more confident and productive person. i can't think of a better compliment and better reward than to see that type of thing happen as the result of the choices i have made. and i am really pleased to have had a chance to live on the space station for five months and share the results. >> chris hatfield, great to have you on the program. thank you very much. well the dolphin round up now underway in japan, conservationists watching in horror as fisherman hold dozens of dolphins captive. we now know who will play in the super bowl, but the fans are talking about richard sherman

and what he said last night.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler? new york. and here are the top stories. west virginia water, some still don't trust the water in charleston, west virginia, after the chemical spill there. state lawmakers talk about new rules to help prep event another incident. winter games threat. a video released over the weekend shows two men making threats against the up coming games in sochi. they say they are members of a group that attacked the area twice last month. on the video they threaten tourists attending those games. syrian peace talks are on again after a diplomatic disagreement over who should attend. the united nations withdrew his invitation to iran today. talks will begin wednesday in

switzerland. iran began pulling the plug on parts of it nuclear program today. in response, the u.s. and european union began easing economic sanctions on iran. yet there are 59 senators pushing for a new set of sanctions. >> reporter: a team of inspectors pays a visit to iran's nuclear facility. the team was on monday making sure that iran was living up to its commitment to stop enriching uranium by 20%. >> translator: i believe by early afternoon the measures will be completed. >> reporter: but washington and the u.s. congress, many in the senate are pushing for tighter sang showns.

the iranian americans are worried. they are canvassing the offices of u.s. senators to let the politicians know they are opposed to the proposed legislation. >> iranian-americans are very opposed to war. they see a potential opening for a diplomatic resolution between the u.s. and iran, and they see that the senate is potentially going to torpedo that. >> reporter: if past it threatens to undo the nuclear deal struck in geneva. why would so many senators want to undermine that progress? well the answer has a lot to do with how u.s. politicians raise money, to get elected and stay in office. many u.s. politicians fear supporting iran could cost them thousands of dollars in donation from pro-israeli lobby groups.

>> they don't want to get on the wrong side of groups that provide political contributions, apex other groups like that, so they are just doing what various lobbying groups tell them do. >> which is why they are ignoring the appeal to delay sang showns. >> they are going to divide more and more united nations into iranians versus jews, muslims versus jews, and this is the problem. we don't need no division in this country. this is a home we all chose for freedom and democracy. >> reporter: if enough members of congress back it, the bill will become law. dashing the hope of iranian-americans and prospects of improved relations. an american mission neir being held by north korea is asking the u.s. to intervene.

kenneth bae appeared today. we was sentenced to 15 years hard labor for crimes against the state. he apologized and admitted to anti-government acts as a guard stood by. the state department says they are actively working to secure his release. another claim of wrongdoing by the christie administration. mayor dawn zimmer said he threatened to hold back funds after hurricane sandy. today the lieutenant governor denied zimmer's allegations. >> mayor's version of our conversation in may of 2013 is

not only false but illogical, and does not withstand scrutiny when all of the facts are examined. >> the governor's office says hoboken received millions in relief funds. but tonight zimmer says she has got the documents that back up her claims. she said she has spoken to the u.s. attorney's office about the threat and stands by her word. joining us now from matt arco from new jersey. he has been covering the christie controversy. welcome. >> welcome. thanks for having me. >> what do you make of the latest twist in the story? >> it is coming at a time when we have had a couple of weeks of controversy. and now also this is coming at a time -- so this is just kind of compounding that, and it's becoming right before governor's christie's inaugural. in less than 24 hours, the

lieutenant governor and the governor will be sworn in for a second term, and governor christie has its plans for ellis island tomorrow night. so this is really not a good time for the administration. it's another controversy that they are having to address when they are trying to roll out some stuff for their national audience. >> i want to clarify the story i just read. the major of hoboken gets on television on msnbc over the weekend and says she was approached by chris christie lieutenant governor and told to support some sort of real estate deal that the governor was interested in allegedly. and that unless she did that, the city of hoboken would not get some of its hurricane sandy relief funds is that right? >> right. that's the gist of it. and she is claiming that the

administration held back some recovery aid dollars, and you played a clip of the lieutenant governor denying those conversations took place and they were mischaracterized, and refutes them completely. >> and the mayor now says she has documentation. >> we know the mayor met with medical prosecutors over the weekend. there were reports that she gave them documentation. so that -- again, it's some serious allegations that -- if it's something that the federal prosecutors are meeting with her with, there could be criminal charges. i don't want to insinuate that criminal charges are pending just around the corner, but they are certainly serious accusations. >> i heard a suggestion today from someone in this area who said -- said look, people are ganging up on governor christie

too much. i don't buy all of these allegations. do you get the sense that after a certain number of these that maybe christie gained some support as a result or not? >> that's a fair point. he is a pop lair -- popular figure in the state. there was a number that came out and i think his favorability dipped a little bit nationally. so i think it can go either way. they are taking the stance that this is just the national media making a mountain out of a mole hill. but you have democratic lawmakers in the state legislature who through this investigation, members of the cabinet have been dismissed so serious stuff as happened as a result. >> one other quick question. the governor was down in florida

doing fund-raising over the weekend, and there were questions about whether or not nationally republicans want to be seen with him during this period of time when they are running for reelection. not something -- if they don't want to be seen with him it wouldn't seem to bode well for any presidential campaign. what about republicans in the state of new jersey? >> that's a good question. they obviously support their governor, but we haven't been hearing a lot of them in the state house. there are a handful of governors that are saying we support chris christie, but there are others that seem to not have their talking points in order. they support the governor, but there hasn't been a lot of discussion, and people have been waiting to see how things shake out. so they have largely been fairly quiet at certain times during all of this. >> a lot more coming up. matt it's good to see you have

245i7k you very much. >> thank you. another education scandal this time in philadelphia. 130 educators now being investigated for cheating. the charges revealed by the city school administration. now joie chen is going toel us what is coming up on merck. >> good evening, john. "america tonight" tonight will take a look at any education crisis, and we'll begin with five digits. the zip code. but parents are now being accused of crossing the line and lying about where they live just so they can enroll their kids in a better school. this is called boundary hopping. "america tonight" special correspondent soledad o'brien

explores why many are stealing education. >> i wouldn't have done it. i never thought i would go to jail about lying about my zip co code. a they did it for their jobs, safety reasons, maybe education, so many different reasons why a parent would want to take their child out of that district into another district. >> soledad o'brien with a two-part report on stealing education. also tonight, martin luther king the third stops by as we remember his father on a holiday commemorating what would have been his 85th birthday. >> joie thank you very much. it's a rare moment in super bowl history, the best defense versus the best offense. but the story everyone has been talking about today is the one player's performance on and off the feel. michael eaves is here with more. >> this got too much attention

considering how good the game was, and it was either the worst or best postgame interview ever. seattle cornerback gave a real in the moment glimpse into his mind set following very emotional trash-talk filled game. >> i am the best in the game! don't you ever talk about me! >> who was talking about you? >> don't you open your mouth about the best! >> the reaction were varied and swift last night. many going as far as to table him a thug. in an op-ed piece that ran on "sports illustrated".com. sherman explained what lead to his comments and shared his reaction to the backlash. saying i ran over to crabtree to pat his hand and he ignored me.

he shove my face and i went off. it was loud in the moment, i'm not a villainous person. to though who would call me a thug or worse because i show passion on a football field, don't judge a person's character by what they do between the lines. judge a man by what he does off the field, for his community and for his family. but people find it easy to shake shots on twitter. it's sad and somewhat unbelievable to me that the world is still this way, but it is. i can handle it. anita you have been around for quite sometime, what are you comments? >> as a sports fan and analyst, and athlete, i loved it. i was pretty disappointed that

fox pulled out as quickly as they did. apparently the fox producers were telling erin to throw it back into the studios. but look at the situation. you have richard sherman playing for the seahawks. you know that team despises the 49ers. he makes an unbelievable play to send his team to the super bowl. adrenalin is flying. he is an absolutely warrior, and at that moment in time, you are sticking a mic in front of his face, and again, understand how much the seattle seahawks hate the san francisco 49ers, let alone the one receiver that was part of that play. >> fans typically want this type of passion from athletes. they want them to give fresh incite, then why all the

backlash to sherman seemingly doing exactly that. >> i think not a lot of people realize who he is off the field. he is a very intelligence guy, comes from a great family. actually finished number 2 in his high school with a 4.2 gpa. and then went on to stamford. played at stanford, came out of stanford with a degree. graduated with a communications degree from stanford, mind you, and this is where a little of the animosity stems from. played for jim harbaugh at stanford, and they did not get along. so richard sherman also does not like the head coach. on top of that, apparently in the off season, wide receiver for the cardinals held a charity softball event where -- grab

tree and sherman almost went to blows. i can't emma size enough how much these two teams despite one another. so, you know, i think the perception if you don't know the man off of the field -- i think it was a little skewed perception, especially all of the negative criticism he got last night. >> he apologized for attacking an individual player and taking the attention away from his team today. how effect will this have on the super bowl preparations? >> i'm not worried about it. they know what is at steak, and pete carol has this all under control. i think all of the focus is going to be on the matchup, the best offense in the nfl, against

the best defense in the nfl coming right here to new york and new jersey. >> he didn't punch anybody. he didn't curse. his announces and verbs actually agreed so to call him a thug a lot of people are astounded at the backlash. >> it is not the first time any athlete has gotten on television and gotten angry. >> nor will it be the last time. >> yeah. all right. michael thank you. this is a controversial dolphin hunt going on in japan. fishermen have corralled hundreds of dolphins in the secluded bay. some will be sold, others released, and the rest will be killed. they kill roughly 20,000 doll min, pore pus and small whales

every year. caroline kennedy wrote . . . the u.s. government opposed drive hunt fisheries. some will tell you there is little to cheer ashe once the parade passes by on this day.

good evening, earn, we're still looking at the same weather pattern that is causing cold air to come down from canada. this is going to continue to make its way down here towards the south. it will drop down across new england and parts of the mississippi river valley. and we'll see those cold temperatures like we saw last week. tomorrow will be a very active day concerning the snow along

the eastern snowboard. where we see the most active weather is along the coastline. you could be seeing up to 12 to 14 inches of snow in long island. there is a potential blizzard situation across cape cod. but we think we're going to be seeing much colder air. low temperatures will be in the single digits across much of the region. and the highs aren't going to get much better. up towards the border, zero to minus area. highs for you in tennessee, we're looking at about 20 degrees. that's a look at your national weather.

it was made a holiday in 1986, and people across the country have been celebrating today for dr. martin luther

king, jr. one of his closest advisors participated with the marches. i talked to him about the impact on generations of americans. >> what doc went to me was a man that had the strategy that would allow african-americans first to find their way in this nation, find a way to speak back and act back in the face of -- in the face of all of the years that we had -- had to kowtow, and belittle ourselves to really find the solution and then he was the man that was able to do it. he was able to speak it. he was able to understand both

sides of issues, and come to decisions that had great meaning for all of us. and in 15 years he changed not only we, but we changed everything major institution in this culture. >> can you tell me what gave you and you think dr. king the courage to stand up in this the face of beatings and attacks during that time? >> my religion, my faith, my spiritual understandings was the real basis of it. you can -- and you can too easily dislike people, hate people, put people down, but you see, can you do it when nay are -- when you know they are totally against you? this is what it was all about. and we were able to do it because we continued to see and understand their dilemma as well as ours.

>> in the 1980s, i discovered a piece of film in which you in selma, alabama were beaten by sheriff court when you were trying to register voters on the courthouse steps. >> uh-huh. >> it was an incredibly disturbing picture, but it seems to me that was the height of non-violent action. you took an absolute beating in the face and never ever struck back. how could you do that? >> you see, because you know how much it meant. it meant more than my pain for a few minutes. it meant more than what i had to do, and i was not there for me. i was there for the people, and -- and for them to back off would have meant the end of their willingness to struggle

against what they knew was wrong and the whole world knew was wrong. we had to let the whole world see it and then -- for them to make the decision. >> i wonder when you look around today and then look back at those old films, what do you think? >> i think we won. we won. our methods won. our message won. our understanding of the human dilemma. we won. all right? and that we changed the very nature of the society we lived in, and that was the goal, and we changed it not only for ourselves, we changed it for everyone in this culture. we have a generation now that has no idea of what their parents and grandparents really went through. >> and what do you want them to know? >> i want them to know that -- that the method we used and the attitudes we had are the methods and attitudes they must

used to be able to give the most to this culture, to change, to continue to change america. i want us to live by the kind of understandings that martin king had that one day we would all be one together in this nation, and -- and to solve the problems, the cultural problems in particular as one as a force together, the -- around which all of us would come out with better educations and -- a greater sense of life itself, and with a deeper spiritual understanding of -- of -- of the human condition. >> reverend, it's great to see you again. thanks for being on our program. we appreciate it. >> okay. thank you, my brother. last fall in 2013, the reverend vivian was awarded the

presidential medal of freedom by president obama. the first family got into the spirit of celebration today. they spent the day volunteering to honor his legacy. and today's photo finish, one of the pictures that got our attention today is case. it's the image of coretta king greeting her husband in march of 1956. a judge had just suspended a $50,000 fine imposed. a look back on this mlk holiday. we'll have the headlines after this. >> 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

bloc welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york, and here are tonight's top stories. live pictures from kiev ukraine where thousands are demonstrating and continuing a standoff with police.

a the ukraines have protested for weeks after the president agree on a bailout deal with russia instead of signing a deal with the european union. demonstrators have also been angered on the new legislation on limits to protest. syrian peace talks are back. the u.s. said iran could attend only if it agreed to certain preconditions. shortly after syria's main opposition coalition confirmed it would still be at the table. the u.s. has started easing sanctions on iron after the country began shutting down its nuclear plants. the u.s. said it will release about $4.2 billion in frozen funds. and at least 130 educators in philadelphia are being

investigated for cheating. three principles have been fired in connection with the investigation. those are the headlines, "america tonight" is up next. you can always get the latest on aljazeera.com. i'll be back here at 11:00 eastern 8:00 pacific. ♪ boundary parents really go to jail for stealing education? >> handcuffed with a leather belt. >> with handcuffs. >> we went in jail. >> also tonight, more to come. new threats for tourists coming to the winter olympics. why there's reason to sta