good afternoon. i'm morgan radford live from new york city. here are the stories we're following right now. syria talks in geneva managed to get humanitarian aid into homs. demonstrators in ukraine reject the president's power-sharing offer and vow to keep on going. plus, police have identified the gunman who shot and killed two workers as a maryland mall yesterday before killing himself. and the real turf war. a battle brewing between

new york and new jersey over whether the super bowl is actually going to be played there. just a couple of hours ago the united nations special envoy to syria gave an update on the ongoing peace talks in geneva. he said he'll meet with both sides on monday. nick joins us live from geneva where the syrian government and opposition leaders are now meeting. this is the first agreement after almost three years of a very bloody civil war. can we safely call this a win, at least for round one? >> reporter: well, look, this is a bit of a breakthrough, and we're talking about the city of homs, one of the worst, most besieged cities in all of syria. this was a city about 1 million before the war, and these days there are just a few thousand families there.

the downtown has been ravaged by almost daily bombs and mortars and air strikes, and we just heard last hour brahimi announcing a small aleve yags for all of the suffering of homs. >> what we have been told by the government side is that women and children in this besieged area in the old city are welcome to leave immediately. >> reporter: now, women and children allowed to leave immediately starting perhaps tomorrow morning. men, however, are not allowed to leave. but the larger goal for homs is to get humanitarian assistance, that humanitarian corridor we have spoke about so much. that's still a problem. the u.n. says it has food and water, it has medicine that is waiting to get into homs, but it seems like the two sides are still bickering over what the real problem is or who is

causing the problem as to why the food and water hasn't been there for eight, nine months. first we heard from the deputy foreign minister of syria, and he seemed to blame the opposition for all those problems inside homs. >> i have been personally involved for the last more than two years to get these children and women outside of the old city of homs. we could not. we did this when the general was there leading the arab league's mission. we did this later with the united nations mission. we have been doing this all the time. but in all of our attempts we have been prevented by the groups that could not allow a single person, a single child to be leaving the center of homs. i assure you that now at this moment, at this second if the armed groups, if the terrorists in the city of homs allow these

children and women to move and to leave the old city of homs, we shall allow them immediately every access. we shall provide them with shelter and medicine and we shall provide them with all the needed necessities for their daily life. >> reporter: the question is shelter, medicine, all that the government claims it will provide. well, the u.s. in the middle of this back-and-forth this he said/she said in syria came out strongly for the opposition. it says the government is at fall. it says, quote, the regime has been blocking the convoy to homs for months. anything the government says to the contrary is false. that's a u.s. official to me and a few other journalists a few hoursing a. the administration is pushing strong it's the regime's fault. still, the problem of humanitarian assistance has not really been solved. >> nick live from geneva. thank you so much for being with us this afternoon.

we'll keep you all i couldn't tell dads. for more to jennifer glasse following the protests for us live from deyef. what exactly did the president offer, and why isn't this enough for protesters? >> reporter: president viktor yanukovych in a major turn-around offered opposition leaders the prime ministership and the deputy prime ministership. huge positions in his government, but the opposition says it really is too little too late because they have been protesting so long and the fact that the president has made such a huge about-face leads them to believe they can do a lot more. to get a sense of how determined the protesters were, earlier today i went downstairs to the ground level to what is essentially kiev at independence square where this all began.

this is the center of the demonstrations of independence square. there are thousands milling around. this has been going on for two months. this it is how people are coping in the bitter cold temperatures because they live in tents. they have fires here to keep warm. this is how, you know -- this is how people have been living for two months now. there are several thousand people who have been living here, volunteering here, people who are ordinary ukrainians who come here when they can when they're not working. this, really, i think is what has frightened president viktor yanukovych, if you look at the many people that participated in the protest for so long. they set up almost a whole camp here. it is the power of people, but it's not just here. for two months president yanukovych ignored independence

square, but once the protests spread around the country, that's when he became a little nervous. i think that this protest now has a new life to it, a new vitality to it. yesterday the opposition leaders refused the offer by president viktor yanukovych to join his government. they think they can press him further to get what they want. people are owl here supporting that not only here in kiev but around the country. we're seeing those protests spread further and further around the country, and i think probably most worrying for president yanukovych in the country's east are some strongholds. they are meeting resistance there as expected, but the fact they come out at all is a serious threat to the president. we saw people there saying, calling these anti-government demonstrators terrorists, and they say they will fight against them. this is not over yet, but

certainly growing, growing protests against the president across ukraine. on tuesday we're expecting a special session of parliament, but until then, i think everybody will watch and wait and see how much these grow and whether the president makes any more concessions. the opposition says there's willing to negotiates with him. i don't know what else he can come up with to satisfy him. >> jennifer, where exactly do we go from here? what are the next steps? >> reporter: as i said, there's an emergency session of parliament on tuesday. the opposition has told people to keep pushing to keep pressure on the government. president yanukovych, while he offered concessions, really has shown no inclination to resign or call early elections, and that's one of the main demands of the protesters. one of the others is that all of those who have been arrested and detained and there are dozens of them across the country for these protests for peaceful

protests around the country, the opposition would like to see those people freed and like to see those people amnestied and dropped without charged. some people have been charged in connection with with demonstrating and remanded in custody and put in prison for two months including a 72-year-old man. they want all those people amnestied. they're going to keep putting pressure on president yanukovych's government. we'll see what concessions they get from him. on tuesday we'll see what the parliament has to offer. we see a couple of members of the ruling party in parliament wavering thinking about resigning. make by tuesday the president won't have a majority there, but it's all in play right now as we see protests and dmon strathss spread across ukraine, morgan. >> jennifer, thank you for being with us again this afternoon. meanwhile at home there's still no word on a motive, but

police have identified the gunman in saturday's deadly maryland mall shooting that claimed three lives. we have more. >> reporter: police say 19-year-old darion marcus aguilar took a cab to this shopping mall and he was heavily armed with a shotgun, ammunition, and backpack filled with homemade explosives. an hour later he entered a skateboard shop on the second floor and opened fire to two people killing both before turning the gun on himself. police are still trying to understand why aguilar took the lives of 25-year-old tyler johnson and 22-year-old brianna benlol benlolo. >> we can't verify a relationship at this point. it's an open question. >> reporter: beyond that, little is known about the victims and the shooters on what appears to be her facebook page, one of the

victims brianna benlolo says she's a mom and assistant manager at the store. five other people were injured at the mall. only one was shot. they have all been released from an area hospital. while police search for answers, a memorial facebook page has been posted for the two victims. al jazeera. a pregnant woman who lapse into a vegetative state last year has been removed from life support. john peter smith hospital in texas issued a statement on sunday saying they would follow a court order to disconnect the machines keeping munoz alive. she was 14 weeks pregnant when her us found her unconscious in november possibly due to a blood clot. both the hospital and family agreed that the ruling meant she met the criteria to be brain-dead. edward snowden says national security isn't the nsa's only purpose. in his most recent interview, he said the nsa collects dat to to help u.s. corporations gain a

competitive advantage. >> does the nsa spy on successful german companies to prevail, to have the advantage of knowing what is going on in a scientific and economic? >> i don't think to preempt the editorial decisions of journalists. i will say there's no question the u.s. is engaged in economic spyi spying. if there's information they think would be beneficial to the national interests, not the national security of the united states, they'll go after that information and they'll take it. >> that interview was conducted at an undisclosed location for german tv. meanwhile, a russian lawmaker told panel members at the world economic forum that moscow plans to extend the offer of silence of notice snowden beyond august. tensions mount in central african republic as peacekeepers try to put an end to the

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french peacekeepers are struggling to control violence in the central african republic. many christians have been driven by their homes, but the muslim community is also under attack. al jazeera has been following the story from the beginning, and barnaby reporting from the capital of bangui. >> reporter: in a muslim neighborhood on the outskirts of bangui, people are hostile to the french peacekeepers. we don't want you here, he says. don't come any closer. many people here are armed, but they are also frightened. they tell me that the french have killed some of their people while making no effort no disarm the christian anti-balaka militia that hide in the hills nearby. they say they've had enough of the french just standing by. all of these muslims camped out on the edge of bangui say they want to scale the capital and

head north as soon as they can arrange transport and feel it's safe. some say that the central african republic should be divided and that muslims should take over the north. it seems that these peacekeepers are struggling to hold this country together. just a stone's throw away, a christian neighborhood. i walk there to ask them what they think of the french. we like they, s them say they. they're doing a great job. the french patrol bangui tirelessly but they move through a city of stark contrast. many christian areas are busy and the french well-received. muslim areas tend to be quieter, and people don't seem so happy. the french say they don't take sides. >> translator: we disarm the

anti-balaka like we disarm the ex-seleka. we're combashlt impartial to the two groups. we treat them exactly the same way. >> reporter: in the central mosque the mood is tense and the imams say the french are complicit in christian attacks on muslims. >> translator: how can the french disarm somebody carrying a knife or personal weapon and leave them at the mercy of the hostile crowd? that crowd will then steal all his belongings and kill him. >> reporter: we have seen the french take weapons by force from both sides. here they disarm the christian youth. the frefnch try to win hearts ad minds, and in this christian area they succeed. if they're not careful, the perception they're more comfortable with one side than the other could become reality. they can't let things drift in these dangerous waters.

barnaby phillips, al jazeera, bangui. egypt's interim president says the country will hold presidential elections before the par liamentary polls. it comes after protests where 49 were killed in clashes over the weekend between supporters of the military-backed interim government and those still loyal to ousted president mohamed morsi. general abdel-fattah el-sissi is expected to run for president. one of thailand's most senior opposition leaders has been shot dead. he was attacked in his car moments after he gave a speech following days of large protests where demonstrators were blocking access to polling stations trying to stop early votes in the upcoming elections. former new orleans mayor ray nagin that led the city after hurricane katrina could gain note right. he's accused of taking more than 200,0$200,000 in bribes and gif.

he denied a deal with prosecutors and is now taking his chances at trial. >> reporter: within a few days after hurricane katrina, it seemed like the entire world knew of new orleans mayor ray nagin. >> he had a shining moment on wwl radio when he said mr. president, get your ass down. that was great. everybody cheered him. >> he was soon criticized, p now on trial for corruption, it appears that the former mayor has opted out of a plea deal and will put his feat in the hands of jury, in aplace where many blame him. >> a lot of people don't feel the rebuilding was going assist expeditiously and as smoothly as they liked, and it was a difficult process. >> reporter: with the city still in shambles, nagin shifted his re-election approach making a speech that called for new orleans to return to a, quote, chocolate city. >> what he did this 2006 certainly was play the race

card. the issue became about the right to return, and that really resonated with african-americans who had been displaced. >> the people have said they'd like the direction we're going in. >> reporter: by 2011 six people with city contracts from nagin had been convicted or pled guilty to bribery and corruption charges involving the former mayor. >> this corruption took hold. it might have had had its roots in the first years, but it really took hold in the second four years when all that money started to come in and these shady contractors came around and started to sleeze up to him. >> you have the ability to have contracts for the city. for a certain fee i'll give you this contract. >> last year they indicted nagin on 21 corruption-related charges alleging he took more than $200,000 from contractors who are now set to testify against him. >> what ray nagin has to do during the trial is convince these 12 jurors that roughly a

half a dozen of his former friends are now lying to help themselves. >> reporter: that may prove tough in a town where wounds haven't healed. >> they're tired of ray anything begin, but you're tired of looking at a bad rug. you want to throw it out and see it taken away by the trash guy. people are tired the ray anything begin, and they want him to pay for what he did. >> if he has pay for it, it won't be in dollars. it will be in days, months and years in prison. still ahead on al jazeera america, although the super bowl is taking place in new jersey, a lot of people still have a new york state of mind.

in the village the deputy mayor remembers him and wond

good afternoon, and welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford live from new york city. in geneva mediators meet with syrian government and the

opposition trying to bring humanitarian aid to homs. brahimi will meet jointly with both parties on monday. demonstrations in ukraine heat up after protesters attack a government building with police officers still inside. they reject the offer to join the government vowing to continue their demonstrations until the president steps down. police identify the gunman in the maryland mall shooting at 19-year-old darian marcus aguilar. he shot two workers before kills himself. the super bowl is just a week away. as fans get ready to walk the seahawks and broncos duke it out on the turf, there seems to be some confusion over which turf they will play on. al jazeera explains why. >> reporter: the official logo says nynj, new york, new jersey. ask people across the country where the big game is being

played this year, and they'll likely tell you -- >> new york. >> it's being held in new york. >> new york. >> the big apple. >> new york. >> unfortunately, the super bowl is played in new jersey, unfortunately. >> that's the problem, isn't it? there's the city over there. gotham, the big apple and the city that never sleeps and it's a hell of a town, but the game is played over here one state line and a couple of rivers away in east rutherford, new jersey. so new jerseyites within sight of but so far from the center of the super bowl universe across the hudson can be forgiven if they're a little miffed. >> everything may be directed at new york, but the game will be held in new jersey. >> if you look at the ticket itself, it just shows manhattan, and they show jersey city with a little circle like that. i don't think that's fair. >> super bowl advertising is new york centric. look how the nfl is promoting

the game. all over manhattan you find super bowl reminders including 12 blocks of broadway that are super bowl boulevard. jers jersey city's columbus drive will be known as super bowl drive. both teams are staying in jersey city, and the circus that is media day will be held in newark. certainly some of the hundreds of millions of out of town dollars will be spent here and none of this comes as much of a shock to the garden state. >> i got it. >> we appreciate all of the accolades and all of the advertisement and all of that. we appreciate all the attention, but the game is being held in new jersey. >> so for jersey the whole thing is a bit of a familiar cold shoulder from the first cold weather super bowl in nfl history. al jazeera, east rutherford, new jersey. as alan mentioned with the super bowl just ahead, we're

going to tell you about a severe blizzard bringing in some of the coldest air of the season. >> that's right, morgan. it's making its way across the dakotas right now pushing into minnesota and down into iowa. very cold day to say the least. we have a bit of snow about 2 to 4 inches of snow on the way to those areas. that's not the problem, though. the problem is the wind. we're going to see winds gusting up to 50, 60 miles per hour across some areas. so folks on the roadways particularly across i-94 and i-90, want to take it easy other there. the cold air pushes into chicago. tomorrow we see the cold air push in, and we have a 32 degree temperature drop. minus 6 for the high on monday. that prompted on officials in charge of schools in chicago to cancel classes to about 400,000 students tomorrow. which is a very wise decision. very dangerous cold coming in, and that can instigate frostbite and hypothermia. you want to be careful on the roadways, but keep in mind that

cars sometimes don't start when it's this cold. have a backup plan, and if you have to stay home, stay home. no change in the pattern here. we do have a deep trough in the jet stream. all of that cold air continuing to track across the midwest and head towards the northeast. as i said, wind is a major problem tonight on the roadways. we're about 50, 60-mile-per-hour wind gusts. this lady is covered, and really everything except for her hair expos exposed. it's very, very cold, and it will continue to be cold. our day in new york is going to be tuesday. a high of 17, normally at this time of the year we're around 39 degrees, overnight lows in the single digits. that's what it will feel like on your skin throughout the day. please bundle up and stay warm and check on elderly folks and keep your children wrapped up tight as well. that cold pushing down into atlanta tuesday into wednesday. typically this time of year they're in the 50s. winds are whipping up across the north-central plains. up to 44 miles per hour in

bismarck, and it will get worse throughout the evening. look at the temperatures. they continue to plummet. fargo, it feels like negative 36. that's because of the wind. we will continue to see that cold air push all the way down to the coast. back to you, morgan. >> thanks so much. we're getting a preview of what to expect from president obama's state of thele union address on tuesday. the white house released an e-mail to supporters on saturday saying the president will lay out a set of proposals to strengthen the middle class. mr. obama is also expected to push the issue of immigration reform. a top aide says three words sum up the president's message and that's opportunity, action and optimism after the speech on tuesday the president is expected to go on a four-state tour to push his middle class agenda. he'll visit priss skworjs county in maryland, pittsburgh, pennsylvania and milwaukee, wisconsin and down south to nashville, tennessee. al jazeera america will have live coverage of the state of the union address starting at 6:00 p.m. eastern. thanks so much for watching

al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford. "real money" is up next. remember for news updates all through the day, head over to aljazeera.com. . welcome to "real money." i am ali velshi. you continue to be the most important part of the show even though i am in switzerland. tweet me at ali velshi or at ajrealmoney. i check those tweets as long as i have free wireless. i am in davo, switzerland where the world economic forum has been underway for the last week. it's wrapping up ovee