>> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories that we're following for. >> you there is no one who had a done more to syri make syria a magnate to terrorists than bashar al-assad. west virginia giving freedom industries two hours to disclose all information about the chemical spill into the elk river. and we take a look at homeschooling and how little to

know regulations are causing concerns. >> world leaders are gathering in montreux, switzerland, they're trying to bring a deal to syria. a short time ago secretary of state john kerry was saying that bashar al-assad cannot remain the leader of syria. >> you cannot have peace. you cannot have stability. you cannot restore syria. you cannot save syria. from disintegration as long as bashar al-assad remains in power. >> those who are behind the acts of terrorists, terrorism in syria should choose between an arsonist or fireman. they cannot be both at the same time. >> and nick schifrin is in

montreux, switzerland, tonight. tough talk from both sides of the controversy. >> reporter: yes, absolutely a chasm between both sides. but the goal from the u.s. point of view is the same, and that is to try to end the violence inside syria. ththey are convinced that the oy way to do that is to convince assad that he does not have impunity to keep on committing acts of violence. the first way is to threaten or use any kind of military action. president obama has made it very clear he has no intention to do that at least any time soon. diplomats here are trying to isolate syria diplomatically, trying to make it so difficult for assad to keep on using this violence that he simply has no choice and he has to stop. that's where you heard kerry trying to isolate assad and his

government. >> today people can more clearly understand how alone assad is in standing up for himself. not for syria. and the resolution to this crisis cannot be about one man's insistence or one family's insistence about clinging to power. this needs to be about empowering all of the syrian people. >> reporter: the stated goal of this conference that everyone here has agreed to is to create a transitional government. a government that would replace bashar al-assad. but as we talked about, assad refused to consider stepping down. in fact he's talking about running for election again. and so what the u.s. officials are trying to do is trying to get to two sides together, trying to bridge this huge gap between the two sides. as kerry and other u.s. officials have said today it is very, very difficult to make

small steps towards peace. >> all syrian people at the moment want-- >> reporter: in a conference that is supposed to talk peace the two sides are yelling at each other. [ arguing ] the man is a pro-syrian government journalist. the woman, a member of the opposition. [ yelling] >> this may be one moment of a conference side lot. in the conference hall the diplomats are just as guided. the u.s. wants to create a transitional government and remove bashar al-assad. >> there is no way. no way possible in the imagination that the man who has led the brutal response to his own people could regain the legitimacy to govern. one man and those who supported him can no longer hold an entire nation and region hostage. >> in responds the syrian foreign minister said assad had

no intention of stepping down. he called it terrorism and waved his finger at the u.s. >> no one, mr. kerry, in the world has the right to give legitimacy or to withdraw legitimacy from a president, a government, a constitution or a law or anything in syria but syrians. >> the opposition said syrians are being brutalized. the government is accused of torturing protesters and indiscriminately targeting population centers. >> what syrian people are talking about, are they the 9.5 million displaced because of the bombing of his warplanes, artillery and scud missiles, are they the 725 millions already outside of the border who are now refugees. is he talking about something

else? >> this moment when the syrian foreign minister overran his time. >> then i would have to give equal time-- >> no, no. >> to opposition groups. you live in new york. i live in syria. i have the right to give the syrian version here in this forum. >> yes, of course-- >> this is my right. >> the syrian people are the one who is are suffering. outside of the conference the opposition held a demonstration with a mock funeral. victims of what it calls assad's war crimes. [ protesting ] >> just a few blocks away pro government protesters chanting loyalty to assad. the hope in montrex is for the two sides to come closer together, but so far they're as far apart as every. >> and because that have gab u.s. officials are trying to

take baby steps towards peace. they'll talk about humanitarian corridors and trying to reach people who need basic necessities like water and food, and create local cease fires. if you do that, the hope is those local cease fires will expand to regions and cities. it is extremely difficult for these two sides with all the politics and dial up here the violence inside syria continues unabated. >> nick schifrin joins us from montreux, switzerland, thank you very much. edward snowdon said that allegations that he is a russian spy is absurd. he said clearly a he acted alone without assistance much less a government, and this spy push is

absurd. snowdon was given temporary asylum in russia. thousands of anti-abortion protesters gather in washington for the march for life. that march is held each year to protest the supreme court decision of roe v. wade. the rally at the mall will be followed by a march at capitol hill. a second chemical found its way in the water supply of the elk river. now the virginia department of environmental protection has ordered the? responsible for that leak to state all the chemicals released. >> a chemical that leaked from this tank farm at freedom industries into the elk river which supplies drinking water for some 300,000 residents in nine counties. drinking, bathing and even.

touching the water was banned for days. now the order is lifted. now there is news that a second chemical was in the water. this one an industrial solvent used in a wide range of products. 300 gallons of the chemical were leaked in the chemical that was leaked into the river. when the document was turned over from freedom industries revealing it was part of the mixture. the amount of the chemical was small enough that it was likely dill lieutenanted by the river water, and there are are no new health concerns and the water treatment process would have removed it. testing would confirm that. what is gone for good is trust. quote, it was freedom's responsibility to let people know there was another chemical in the tank, and they did not. >> that is jonathan martin reporting from charleston, west virginia. so what is p.p.h.? that's a question that we put to our science and technology

correspondent, jacob ward. >> reporter: pph is a polyglycol ether. it was in the literature that they handed officials this morning. they warned of it being a skin irritant and has less oral toxicity than the chemical we have seen released but it is very bad for the skin. to have this in one's bathing water would be quite bad. >> we'll continue to follow the story throughout the day and bring more details as they warrant. the affected area, has the largest cumulation of chemical makers than anywhere else, and there have been mistakes, mishaps. dupont would pay a settlement to

members of a town that they claim was contaminated with chemicals. the east coast continues to dig out after that massive winter blast. the latest storm coming with heavy snows, strong winds and it left behind some very, very cold temperatures. donachie outside of penn station in new york, john, the largest commuter railroad in the country and travel has been a nightmare all day long. >> it sure has. penn station, right behind me. basically new jersey transit running a sunday service. they're pretty much doing the same thing, amtrak has anselalations and delays. that's the story up along the i-95 corridor. that was one big storm, but that's gone over the ocean and the sun is out, but the bad news over the northeast is that the temperatures have plummeted. this is so cold where it wasn't so cold last night when it was

snowing. temperatures around 8 to 10 degrees, but with the wind chill it's around 14, 15 minus, something like that. you have the storm affecting pretty much the whole of the northeast closing the government, the state government. 11 inches was the total in central park up this road, seventh avenue, 16 inches down on the jersey shore. it's a pretty big wallop that we all got. >> we know it's been a nightmare for trains and automobiles, but what about the planes? >> reporter: not good. it never is good. the airplane tends to stay open but the airlines don't bring the planes in. they see the storm coming in, so they keep them away. in logan, in boston, the airport there 0% of flights from canceled before a snowflake had fallen. that's because the airlines keep the planes out of it. when i checked a half hour ago,

1600 cancellations around the country. it will take a couple of days for the country to catch up. the cost of all this is astronomical. new hampshire and chicago before this storm came along they already used up half of their snow-clearing budget for the year. one airline analyst reckons that a big storm could cost the airlines 50 to $100 million. and insurance companies will pay out $1 billion, with a "b," to help compensate for this. >> as my daughter used to say when she was young, someone turned off the heat. dave warren will tell us when they'll flick the switch and turn it back on. >> meteorologist: now the snow is gone. the storm has moved out to sea. it's intensified and it's kicked up a wind. wind gusts bringing in colder air and that's creating wind

chill down around zero. in new york, and philadelphia, only up to 15 degrees. 60 in boston. single digits in albany and toronto. when you factor in that gusting wind, the wind chill advisories because you can really see frost in a short period of time if you're outside with your exposed skin. this cold air dropping across north and south dakota and minnesota, 9 below. and there are blizzard warnings in effect there. we have more snow coming in parts of the country that are seeing warm and dry weather continue. that's all coming up on the national forecast. >> dave warren, thank you very much. our continuing coverage of education in america, we took a look at homeschooling and the strict rules some states have while others have no regulations

at all. credit to namibia, but should we be selling permits for the world's most endangered animals because someday wants to shoot one of them. what if somebody wants to shoot a sigh we areian tiger or asian he will insanity if these folks at the safari club want to contribute to namibia's good programs, they don't need to link their contribution to the killing of an animal, just give the money. that's what advocates do every day. >> one last quick question, where do you stand on elephants and their tusks? you justify talked about the value of rhinoceros horns and trying to fight that demand. how about elephant tusks? the u.s. and chinese governments

>> a lot of >> ward is hope schooling, something she's passionate about. parents set their own lesson plans and decide what and how to teach. there are no regulations over homeschooling. oklahoma is the only stated where homeschooling is enshrined in the constitution. in other states there is no oversight. ward is member of the homeschool

defense association, a concerned christian organization that has fought for and won the deregulated environment. but there is a big gap between the homeschool ideal and for many children the reality. no regulations means parents don't have to register their homeschooled children, and it's up to the parents to make sure that the kids are getting an education. but here in this gated housing projects in tulsa, oklahoma, we're told there are dozens of kids maybe a hundred or more of all ages who aren't in school, and who aren't getting education at home either. there is no way to know because no one is keeping any records. >> we're really concerned for these children. we hear stories of kids ten years old who don't know their alphabet. >> reporter: an education coordinator for oklahoma's office of juvenile affairs. >> this is a hidden issue, hidden behind the veil of

homeschooling. >> truancy laws don't apply. >> is there anything that parents have to show that education is taking place? >> no. >> heather knows a thing or two about bad situations and homeschool. she helped starter the coalition for responsible home education, an organization of formerly homeschooled kids pushing for more oversight. >> we have kids in every state. some more than others. >> reporter: before she started her work there was not even an attempt to keep track. children were who not sent to school, starved, beaten, abused, and sometimes killed. >> parents should have the right to oversee their children's education. parents should not have the right whether or not their child

gets an education. >> that is sheila macvicar reporting. tonight on "america tonight" al jazeera america continues the report. you can see those reports at 9:00 eastern right here on al jazeera america. >> on wall street a second straight day of dow down 32 points, but the nasdaq trading eyer. ibm falling more than 3% after a disappointing aaronings report. we're following breaking news coming out of target, the retailer cutting 475 jobs at its headquarters in minnesota. and those layoffs coming a few weeks after target reported those lackluster holiday sales likely effected by the news of data breach that affected millions of its customers.

the arctic is driving national gas prices to levels we haven't seen in two and a half years. the increase demand for ahead with the cold snap over the next several days. it's pushing food prices higher as well. ali velshi is at the world economic forum in davos, switzerland. you can see his reports later tonight on "real money with ali velshi" at 7:00 eastern time. we take a look at the science of subzero temperatures when we come back.

conditions. with oceans arm, it's feared the

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. here are today's headlines. peace talks about syria has been anything but peaceful. there has been a lot of tough talk between the participates,

secretary of state john kerry saying today there can be no peace in syria as long as bashar al-assad is the leader of that country. officials in west virginia confirming a second chemical finding its way into the elk river. now the state department of environmental protection ordering freedom industries, the company responsible for the leak, to release any information regarding answer known themes by 4:00 p.m. today. thousands of anti-abortion protesters gathering in washington, they are there for the sh 41st annual march for li. it includes a rally taking place at the national mall. parts of the country are seeing their lowest temperatures in decades, and that has some looking for ways to have fun in the snow. al jazeera america's ash har quaraishi went to a lab to look at the science behind the temperatures. >> reporter: the bitter cold can be a hazardous nuisance. still, fascinating things happen in extreme temperatures, and the

recent polar vortex caused a wave of experimentation. a word of warning, throwing boiling water into the air when standing downwind. in the comfort and safety of a teaching lab we created an extreme c of the water trick using liquid nitro gin. the temperatures of minus 321 degrees fahrenheit. when boiling water hits extreme cold this is what happens. scientists have debated for generations why hot water sometimes freezes faster than cold air. theories have ranged from differences in evaporation rates to super cooling times. you have hot water, and hot water is ready to go from a liquid into a gas. that's what happens when water boils. when you have that extremely

cold air, you create a lot of steam or vapor. and some of that water vapor will actually freeze into a solid, which is snow. >> reporter: the opposite effect can explain why tire pressures drop dug arctic weather illustrated in the cooling of a balloon. >> when things get really cold molecules move slower. if they move slower they can't hit the inside walls of those tires as fast so there is less pressure. as it gets colder and colder the molecules are moving slower, and potentially if you get it cold enough you would have a fa a flt tire. once it warmed up and pushed against the balloon walls and inflated, and it will back to normal. >> providing solutions rather than hindrances. sugar beat juice is being used to prevent roads from freezing in extreme

temperatures. mixed with salt brine, it reduces corrosion. >> salt stops working at 15 degrees above zero. with the addition of organic sugar beat juice it drops the affected temperature range to 10 blo25below, which is. >> a natural choice discovered out of necessity thanks in part to subzero temperatures. >> something to think about while north america suffers from a deputy freeze, and in australia they're experiencing record heat. it just keeps coming because it gets worse. >> meteorologist: the pattern is not changing much, we're getting one right after the other, and we're in the area where we're getting cold air across the

northeast. out west not seeing much by way of storms and the drought continues. the storms track over north and south dakota, reduced visibilities, and this blue area highlights the reduced visibility because of blowing snow. not only do we have the reduced visibility but temperatures are down. this is what it looks like on your skin. it can be dangerous as you step outside quickly to see frost bite happening with the 50 below wind chill. 10 below in chicago. according to northeast down below zero barely not quite as cold, but still bitter cold winds continue to gust across the mid-atlantic and northeast after the snow cleared out. these are lines of equal pressure the bull's-eye indicating the pressure stopped quickly, and this is a very low pressure. a lot of snow came down, but now the snow is gone and we just have the gusting winds. here we have the light snow with

high pressure building i in over canada. now another shot of cold air will come in right here is the arctic air. this front moving to the south. another area of low pressure will move over the same area with that same track providing some light snow across the great lakes here it fills in as it intensifies. behind that another shot of cold air. saturday and sunday another drop in temperatures, another round of bitter cold wind chills. you see that cold arctic air going over the same area over south dakota and spreading to the east for light snow. there is the cold air in eastern canada. storms not impacting california, so the drought continues there. >> thank you very much. if you would like to linger at cafes. there is a new spot in london that is probably not for you. it's called talk face. people pay for the time they

spend there, not for the food. it proves that time is money. the owners are hoping their chain will go global, but only time will tell. thanks for watching al jazeera america. "techknow" is next. >> hello and welcome. i'm phil torrez, here to talk about innovations that are going to change lives. we're testing the intersection of hardware and humanity. rax is a neuroscientist. she has the invocation of bamboo and carbon. mar inkta davidson is a biologist specializing in