>> i'm del walters. we have news for you. one day later drivers are still stuck on atlanta's roads and the national guard has been called in to help. a top u.s. intelligence official warns a militant group tied to al-qaeda wants to attack the united states. a day after the state of the union address the president hits the road taking his message straight to the american people.

>> and the new york congressman threatening a reporter on capitol hill right after the state of the union address. >> we begin with the weather of snow and ice storm hitting the south hard. those highways turned into parking lots when right in the middle of the storm people rushed to get home or even to pick up their kids. some of them wound up being stuck inside their cars for more than 14 hours. the governor hats since called the national guard to help out. there was a news conference held earlier in the day. >> we've not had any fatalities in the city of atlanta. we've 791 automobile accidents. our focus right now is to assist in any way with getting our freeways cleared.

so we can start pulling people from cars, taking gasoline to cars that have run out of gas as a result of being on the road last night. >> lots of students in atlanta got stuck inside their classrooms. >> at 6:00 p.m. there were about 25,000 children who were either on buses or in their schools. their various schools in their system. by 9:00 p.m. it was down to 5,000 children that were either on buses or in schools, and this morning there are no children on buses and there are about 2,000 of the fulton county school systems children who are still in their schools. >> now there are no children on buses, but that is al jazeera's robert ray and robert, i'm sure that bus has a story behind it.

>> reporter: indeed, del, it cuss. there are certainly no children on this bus. this bus like the one behind me have been here since yesterday 4:00 p.m. school let out when snow began yesterday. they did not cancel schools in the metro atlanta area. when the snow started to come down, kids got on the buses. the next thing you know the ice began and heavier snow and trying to make--make it through these hills in the atlanta area near impossible. many buses like the one i'm sitting in right now are stranded all across metro atlanta as are 2,000 kids that slept in various schools in the metro area throughout the night. many parents have gotten those kids at this point. some parents are still efforting that situation. a lot of those parents stuck on the enter states as i was for nine or ten hours into the evening. many people abandoning their

cars, not able to pick up their kids. not able to get home. some people just walking home. no hotels were available within 50 miles of the area. so a treacherous area and it's pick up in the area. >> those authorities are being hammered because of their response to this particular storm. >> reporter: they are mainly because the schools were not put out yesterday. they were not canceled. three weeks ago the city of atlanta and the metro area decided to cancel school because of very low temperatures, not even a precipitation risk. so the question from many parents here and people around the state why were the schools not canceled with such an unpredictable storm moving into the atlanta area why not do it as a precaution? on top that have the salt and sand spreaders around the city i, a lot of people thinking that

those did not get out early enough, and they should have treated the roads before a mad rush of schools, businesses, and government were let out. >> thank you very much. now the question in atlanta, the temperatures. when will it get warm enough for all the ice to melt. the roads cool slower than the rest of the air. >> meteorologist: we have energy coming through the clouds, and that will help melt the ice to water, but it will refreeze overnight tonight. the temperatures may touch freezing today but then go down tonight. still sleet and ice coming down. this is a front that moved through, but it's stalled. southeast georgia getting the mix. florida getting the mix. the gulf coast seeing that mix of sleet and freezing rain. a little spin here, and an area of low pressure slowing down this front and the wave of

moisture moving along it through that cold air which the temperatures are down below freezing. there is still coming down, but it's pushed to the south. it's all cleared up but the temperatures are the big key now. they still remain freezing to the 20s and teens and we'll have the national forecast coming up. >> president obama speaking in pennsylvania, he's hitting the road in several states selling his state of the union message. bisi onile-ere was there when he talked up the steel town turned success story. pretty proud of what he had to say. >> they are proud, and president obama just took the stage right hyped me. i'm told he chose to talk about his new plan, that deals, and he chose thi this city.

>> alyssa ash wood, among a number of entrepreneurs launching start ups in pittsburgh. >> pittsburgh is an interesting city. it was never on my list of cities that i would live in. >> but it was mere that this 42-year-old wife and mother is trying to make her dream a reality. in 2012 ashwood started a company called "truly accomplished." it's a web-based operation that helps people organize their lives and their businesses. >> if you have a good idea that can be proven in the midwest, and in pittsburgh especially you can usually be very successful in every other market. >> but it wasn't always this way. 30 years ago pittsburgh was at its worse. as the city lost much of its steel and industrial base in the early 80's the economy collapsed. over 100,000 jobs were lost and a quart million people moved out. >> it was really a steel

depression in the early 1980's, and pittsburgh has had a long road to come back. >> reporter: leading the city's community development, after the economic bust healthcare, education, technology and financial services fuel the economy here now. >> now we've got hundreds of economies employing hundreds of thousands of people. >> reporter: however, with unemployment hovering above 6%, the region at economist at the university of pittsburgh said there is still a lot of work to do. >> i think the challenges remain in some of the core mill towns in the region. the place are weather steal plas

were, they have not come back. >> the school thing about being part of an entrepreneur community is that, one, you do something great. what is exciting other people come to support you and amplify it. >> reporter: which can lead to more opportunities and more economic growth. >> and again president barack obama just taking the stage here outside of pittsburgh. as i said earlier we're expecting to hear more about a plan he talked a bit in the state of the union address last night, a plan that would encourage more americans to invest in their environment. >> bisi onile-ere joining us today. thank you very much. and in a set of hearings, james clapper issuing a warning about fighters in syria's civil war. many of them see syria as a training ground, and they'll take that training back to their homes and carry out attacks.

>> syria has become a huge magnate for extremists first those groups who are engaged in syria itself, some 1600 different groups. we estimate in the neighborhood between 75,000 and 110,000 of which about 26,000 we grade as extremists. we estimate at this point in excess 7,000 foreign fighters have been attracted-- >> and in a straight development al jazeera has learned there are new concerns about an al-qaeda link financ financier believed e back out on the streets. >> according to the u.s. government, one of al-qaeda's top financeers based in iran. he has been wanted since 2011 for allegedly moving money to

pakistan, afghanistan, and the west. now officials say al suri has added his homeland to his operation. >> as head al-qaeda facilitator in iran he's responsible for transferring experienced operatives,. >> al suri has been reportedly working in iran since 2005 with that government's consent. u.s. officials would not offer an explanation why iran, a majority shia country, would offer harboring al-qaeda. six al-qaeda operatives have been hiding in iran since 2001

there has been an award for his capture. but he is now back on the street and more active than ever. all the more reason to highlight his case. >> he is an al-qaeda operative, and we know that he's moving money an for extremists. >> reporter: capturing al suri would hinder al-qaeda's functions but they are under no illusions that it would destroy the network. >> national security agency now the focus of another hearing on the hill. this time was attorney general erik holder being questioned. libby casey is live on capitol hill. were they specific in their concerns? >> reporter: there were two

hearings. the intelligence committee and also judiciary committee were asking questions about cyber security and homegrown threats and dianne feinstein asked specifically about the safety of sochi. and the national counterterrorism director had an answer and a warning. >> the biggest issue from my perspective is not the games themselves and venues themselves. there is security at the site of the events. the greater threat is the softer targetters in the greater sochi area and the outskirts beyond sochi where there is a substantial potential for a terrorist attack. >> when it comes to cyber security, del, there are questions in the wake of the target preach. just how secure ask governmental

information. they had questions about that as well. >> so what did we learn from what they had to say? >> reporter: del, he talked about how he is working to put together a plan on how to bring that metadata, that information about phone calls out of the hands of the government and into the hands of a second party say phone companies. they voiced fears of putting that information in a company's hands. >> when it is accessible by far more individuals than it is today. >> if we were to move to a different scheme i think we have to answer the question of how can we put it in a different place and maintain the integri integrity--of the process that i think the nsa has done a pretty good job. >> the attorney general talked

about how he would over the next two months work out some of these plans and get back to congress. he emphasized wanting to work with them, del, something different than we've been hearing on capitol hill. >> thank you very much. a congressman caught on tape threatening a reporter. it happened on capitol hill right after the state of the union address. it all happened when the reporter asked a question the congressman didn't want to answer. >> read the bottom of your screen. republican michael rim facing a federal fundraising investigation, the reporter defending his question several times but grimm off camera said he would break the reporter in half. he has apologized and invited the reporter to lunch. >> we'll be right back.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. another day has come and gone in the peace talks in syria. thou a document that will layout their basis for negotiations. nick schifrin is in geneva. how significant is this latest move? >> this is a political transition and lots of steps that both sides have agreed to take. but the government says they will talk about this document only if they can go step by step. the first step is terrorism, ending the violence inside of syria. that is not going to happen any

time soon. that's what the government has been saying for years. we heard from the opposition spokesman a little while ago. he said the government is being two-faced. >> the problem of course with us is that the regime says one thing and douse something else. today the regime has bombarded a city using explosive barrels. 20 of them were thrown on populated area, and has created this bombardment of the city of azarra and we believe this is counterproductive. anyone who would like start political process for reconciliation and for change should stop killing the citizens of syria. >> so you see the conflict here continues and the violence and the conflict between the two sides inside of syria continues. the man in the middle, the mediator, the u.n. special envoy

to syria said everyone be appreciate. everyone calm down. this is going to take a very long time. he said the ice is beginning to break, but he admits the ice is really thick. >> the two parties seem to be willing to stay on and willing to talk. the gap between them is quite large. >> and yet brahimi will continue to meet with them. the two sides have committed to a second round in ten days. >> nick schifrin joining us from geneva. thank you very much. in ukraine parliament still trying to decide whether to grant amnesty to all those arrested in demonstrations. again any movement in

parliament? >> parliament is actually trying to figure out what bill to use. the opposition wants a straight amnesty for any protesters who have been arrested in the past two months. the government would like to see protesters leave the streets either now or just leave government buildings or gradually. they know that is his leverage. the only reason they got the government to talk at all is because they are out in the streets, not just in kiev but around the country. that is what gives them their power. right now an en pass. right now while everyone is talking about amnesty, nobody has really set which conditions will work for whom, and it shows how far apart the two sides are. president yanukovych went to talk about his parliament, because he's afraid he'll lose his majority. if he loses majority in

parliament, everything could change and the opposition could get everything they want. >> when this all began there was no snow on the ground, and it was substantially warmer. they were hoping the cold weather would dim the hopes of the protesters, but i'm assuming by the crowd behind you that that has not been the case. >> that's right. if anything i've seen in the past five weeks i've been here is the determination of these protest. i think president yanukovych originally thought he could wait this out. there were just a few thousand people in the square. after hundreds came out, the numbers waned but the government can't wait this out. not only are they here 24 hours a day, seven days a week, there are hundreds of people behind me, there are several thousand on the streets parallel to this, but also the fact that demonstrations have spread across the country shows these demonstrators have no sign of going home any time soon.

they want to see change in their government, and they'll stay out on the streets no matter how cold it is until they see it. >> jennifer glass in kiev, thank you very much. our al jazeera colleague peter greste appeared in court to appeal his detention, but that appeal was denied. he and four other of our staff members continue to be held without charge. bader mohammed and mohamed famny have been held for two months, and two others who have been held for nearly a year. >> for journalists, for egypt to treat journalists this way is a shame on that nation. >> a spokesman for al jazeera

maintain that the journalists have not been notified of any developments in their case. they said, quote: >> we're following breaking news coming out of washington. the federal reserve saying the economic recovery in the u.s. is strong enough for further cuts in the stimulus program. ben bernanke along with other policy makers refuse to reduce its bond buying. it began reduce its bond buying last month and they will keep interest rates low. the dow right now down 182 points. stocks have been deeply in the red all day on worries about

economies and emerging markets. this programming note, ali velshi will have a special report on the middle class all week on "real money." you can see america's middle class, the american's dream. army ranger sergeant first class wounded in afghanistan by a roadside bomb

forced to flee, many to neighboring countries such as

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. a deep freeze bringing parts of the deep south to a complete stand still. georgia called the national guard to help motorists who are still stuck. it took some 14 hours to get home, if they did, in the ice. president obama speaking at a steel plant in pittsburgh.

the syrian government and opposition agreeing on something. they're going to use the 2012 geneva i document. our other top story of course is the weather. the only thing hot in lappet right now are the tempers of the people who were stuck in the cars overnight, and dave warren joins us it could get dicey again tonight. >> meteorologist: that's right it melts in the day and refreezes at night and some places did not even climb above freezing there. the front that pushes through with the cold air behind it has slowed down a bit. temperatures now 20s. 32 in shreveport, and the temperatures may try to climb up to the freezing mark.

we go to the computer forecast to show that, but then the sun goes down, you lose that energy and anything that melts could refreeze again tonight. 16 in atlanta. 28 in new orleans. the freezing rain line is right here moving through the panhandle of florida. it will eventually move up and stay warm. thursday afternoon teaches are climbing in the 30s. 63 on sunday. so the warm air comes back and these low temperatures stay above freezing, but not until saturday and sunday. there's this pattern. it looks to be changing a little bit, though. that's good news for the west coast. the storm coming down from the northern utah bringing moisture to california and the northwest. >> they rarely talk about the state of the union speech the day after, but a standing ovation for this man.

army ranger sergeant wounded by a roadside bomb in 2010. take a listen. [applause] >> that ovation went on for quite some time. "techknow" is next. about innovations that will change laughs. we'll look at hardware. this is a show about science by scin histories. kyle hill is an engineer, and he's investigating head-to-head combat and cutting edge technology that can help to detect a concussion before it's too late. >> lindsay moran is an ex-c.i.a. operative. she was packaging that can one day replace