america.me to al jazeera seven i'll dell walters these are the stories with refollowing for you. president obama asking corporate america to help out with the long term unemployed. and the issue of immigration reform causing divisions inside the republican party. >> you tell me -- we send soup to those stuck at home alone, or injuries people who request not leave. >> this priest refusing to leave a city devastated by syria's bloody civil war.

>> president obama making good on a promise during his state of the union address on tuesday the president vowed to do something about the issue of income and equality. on wednesday, he took the first step visiting a costco store in maryland where he called on congress to raise the minimum wage. yesterday, he went to a g.e. factory in wisconsin, there he called on businesses to offer more in the way of job training. today the focus is on unemployment, and once again he is turning to big business for help. mike is at the white house, what does he want the ceos to do? >> century the unemployment picture remains the black cloud inside the silver lining. more and more the economic picture brightening with each passing day figures about the fourth quarter rising at 3.2%.

but everybody though the unemployment rate is sinking the lowest it has been since before the great recession, there is the question of people dropping out of the work force, the long temple unemployed simply giving up. we know the situation when they left town, they did not extend that long term benefits. the federal government was picking up the tab for unemployment checks. that has ended now. and now we have a total and it increases every day of 1.6 million people off the rolls of unemployment benefits. part of the problem for some of these folks getting another job and studied support this, is they are stigmatized. they look past this. so the president following up on a promise he made, has 300 ceos some of america's largest companies saying they are going to reform their hiring practices to give some of these folk as chance that's what the president is going to be

talking about in the east room in just a few minutes. >> and mike, give us a hint of which ceo said yes, and which said no? >> well, it is a huge who-is-who of some of the largest companies. wal-mart, best buy, call pillar, morgan stanley, visa, some 300 many of them in the porch top 100 top 200. are onboard here. so it is widespread participation. i think many of these companies look at it as a no brainer, the white house wants you to come along and get involved in something like this. why not do it it is all voluntary, and the president is also going to extend reform of some of these practices. some has to do with h.r. screening some folks employers sift through the information, and throw out people frankly who have been out of a job for so long. again, it is something of a stigma. the president extending that to federal government highing practices as well. >> mike at the white house, mike, thank you very much. >> and the white house today tapping a 30 year navy veteran to leave the

troubled national security agency, tapped to become the next nsa director if confirmed by the senate, he would replace general keith alexandar. he has served in that eight years now. meeting at their annual retreat in maryland they have come up with their own plan, but that plan is not sit ising well with others. libby casey has more. house speaker john boehner says he has been ready to deal with reform since a day after the 2012 elections. >> i think it is unfair. so i think it's time to deal with it. but how we deal with it is going to be critically important. >> nearly 3-1, but there's doubt in the republican ranks that now is the time to tackle a devicive issue, when they could instead focus on the if the reese healthcare law, or the economy.

the weekly standard says speaker baner should -- and announce that he won't move forward on immigration this year. he writes if there's one with thing that can blow up gop chances for a good 2014, it would be an explosive debate over immigration in the house. immigration is pretty well been ignored for the past 2 1/2 decades. and i would like to see something at least sway some of the uneaseness that surrounding the issue. >> and republicans are concerned about the future. the hispanic with increasing voting power.

the hispanic population has been dispersing across the country, so it is states like north carolina, georgia, that have had some of the fastest population growth. >> he says latinos made up 10 of the vote, and that's with less than half turning out to vote. but some think they can buy time. and push off the issue until the 2016 presidential race. anybody hiss panics we do see a drop off in participation. from a presidential to a midterm election. >> as the house republican leaders unveiled their immigration standards the question is how farther willing to go, and how much members of their party will get onboard. al jazeera, washington. >> president obama campaigning on fixing immigration, but he is on track do report more people than his predecessor. more than 2 million people have been deported.

they have not stopped the flow of undocumented immigrants. last year there were an estimated 11.7 million people living in the u.s. illegally, just 15% of those deported were convicted of any type of crime. meanwhile, issues of their own, they say they are being targeted by immigration authorities as home. in in different places including their front yards, grocery stores, even at bible study classes. >> it's a new effort by immigration and customs enforcement called the criminal alien removal initiative, which is aimed at apprehending violent criminals who are at risk to public safety. but some compare it to new york's highly controversy stop and frisk policy. they say this approach is arbitrary, and nothing short of racial profiling. they claim some latinos have been stopped,

handcuffed, fingerprinted and detained for months for similar glitches on their record. like immigration paperwork problems. and are far from violent criminals. people don't know if they are go to the grocery store, bible study, we have been calls that there are weekly bible groups had to stop, because people literally were too afraid to go to their own place and worship. >> this program focused on the limit enforcement resources on identifying arrested and removing at large criminal aliens who pose a risk to community safety. >> police arresting two agencies. many of them working 12 hour as day, six day as week, the workers are from latin america, most of those arrested are from china.

the geneva two peace talks between the syrian government and opposition ending today, there were more carls than resolutions. nick schafer has been followed the talks all week. what did he say as the talks came to a close? >> the u.n. special envoy for syria who has been mediating these talks announced that he hope the two sides was come back for a second round on february the 10th. he said the opposition had acknowledged that, the government said that it had to go back to damascus and ask the president for his permission. he didn't have anything concrete to announce, didn't really accomplish anything concrete in the last week. he said he wished he had, but says this takes a lot of time and urges everyone to have patience. >> there are a lot of people -- first of all syrians. i am sure that the overwhelming majority of the syrians went interrupted and to this.

>> as far as i'm concerned and as far as the united nations is concerned. we will spare no effort. to make it happen. but you know, the syrian parties those who have guns, have got also to think of their people. >> and it's those people on the ground, who are still struggling and still suffering. and it's important to remember that we may be talking about political transition here. we are talking about local peat treaties humanitarian corridors but so many people inside syria are struggling and suffering including people for whom syria will also be home. >> for centuries the orthodox church has been a sanctuary. >> and for 50 years father francis has been it's conscience.

he came from the netherlands to lead a christian community built on tolerance. >> or injured people who have not lead their homes. a mosque that is 1,000 years old, when the beth tolls -- there is no one to hear it. this is the old city of holmes. it used to be 70,000 christians here, today only 66 are left. more than 60 churches have been destroyed. in fact, nearly all of holmes' old city has been destroyed. an antigovernment activists filmed this documentary. government war planes targeted these streets because they were controlled by rebels. the two sides fought

brutally. and the opposition says the government cornered this city off choking its residents. this woman says she has no medicine, no flour, and no electricity since 2012. france has had the chance to leave, he refused. this week, he release add plea via youtube. it's impossible for us to continue like this we need a lot of help. >> what are the quarterbackings for the beam who are still living in the old city? >> on a cell phone, his assistance filmed his horrific answer. >> people are running down can streets screaming "i am hungry." france's is the only werner who is left in holmes.

he shows us what is left of his dwindling food supply, olives can he eats for breakfast and dinner, a little tea, an empty jar once filled with wheat, he is a proud man, he is clinging to what little dignity he has left. >> i wish these people whose lives are at risk don't die as a result of all this want. i wish they create a bridge to transport everything we need. in geneva, they have spoken about that bridge, but so far nothing has been built. >> the u.n. has 12 trucks of food, water, and medicine outside the old city of holmes. the u.s. and the opposition says the government has not let them in, dell, that aid is only a few hundred feet from where frances is living. it is not clear if he will ever see it. >> there are other complications. we learned yesterday that syria is still sitting on chemical weapons stock

piles. >> this is a big deal, privately they have been grumbled about what they call -- delaying tactics in the words of one official. in terms of the chemical weapons being removed. now they have gone public for the first time, it is a real sign that they are losing patience, but also worried about june 30th, that's the deadline by which all chemicals need to be destroyed. the white house is putting pressure now, so we don't get to that deadline, and they would feel pressure to launch a strike. so we heard from the secretary of defense, putting pressure, and now we heard from john kerry who has deliver addiblematic threat. >> the work we are doing together on syria, could not be more important right now. this is destabilizing the entire region. the world is witnessing human catastrophe unfolding in front of our eyes every single day.

and i would remind bashar al-asaad that the agreement that we reached in new york with the security council makes it clear that if there is issues of noncompliance they will be refers to the security council the u.s. is trying to put pressure on these talks to find some kind of peace, and on the chemical weapons. but dell, so far, there's been very little movement. >> a lot of developments coming out of that city, thank you very much. coming up on al jazeera america, the u.s. also speaking out about the crisis in ukraine. secretary of state john query, critical of presidentian that cove itch.

♪ . >> secretary of state john kerry says ukraine's president isn't doing enough to end the conflict in that country.

kerry is expected to meet with opposition leaders today. yanukovych finally signing that law that drops charges against those arrested if they leave government buildings. the opposition the protestors say they have no plans of doing so. jennifer glass is in kiev, on one hand we are getting mixed messages. secretary kerry saying more powers shouldn't get involved and then he gets involved. >> well, i think that's the way russia will see it as foreign intervention, which they have warned against in the past. secretary kerry says the if the hasn't gone far enough in offering concessions to the opposition, but is expected to say to the opposition, that if the government offed an inclusive option that they should take the opportunity, that violence isn't good for anyone, he is trying to avoided any more violence that we have seen in the past week or so with opposition demonstrators clashing with police here. the president for his

part says he has done all he can. he has fulfilled his obligations in trying to end the crisis. we have also heard from the russians in form of one of the president's senior aids. he has told the if the that he could lose power here, if he doesn't quash the rebellion. so very different messages from very different sides. reflecting the kind of tug of war between east and west over ukraine. all of the violence there and some graphic images. ask activist who had vanished for eight days is found last night, very badly beaten, he has been tortured he was dumped in a r to nest sub zero temperatures actually we are hearing right now that the police are heading to his hospital to arrest him.

we don't know when he will come back, and lead. the opposition is saying that it rejected the amnesty offer, the parliament past and the president has signed requiring them to leave the buildings in order for people to be released from jail. so it remain as very tense situation here in ukraine tonight even as opposition leaders get ready to meet. >> jennifer glass, thank you. >> we are looking at a sell off this morning on wall street. investor confidence shaken by turbulence, and even more disappointing earnings report, the dower right now down 135 points. stocks are on track now for the worst january since 2010. consumers are spending more despite wages. the commerce department reporting the spending

grows. up .4 of a%, however income showing no gain, but wages going nowhere consumers dipping into their savings. that is almost a five year low. that wasn't the case for households that were making led. less than $75,000 a year. and a program note, ali velshi is going to have a special report on the middle class, all next week. you can see america's middle class rebuilding the dream beginning monday right here on al jazeera. america. coming up next, we are just two days away from super bowl xlviii. mark morgan is standing by live at met life stadium with a sneak peek.

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i'm dell walters here are your headlines at this hour. president obama taking steps to fulfill a state of the union college. federal agencies will no longer disqualify applicant cans because they are unemployed. the president hoping to convince business leaders to do so as well. if confirm bid senate, rogers would replace for more than eight years. >> mark morgan is ready too, he is at met life stadium, and new jersey as they get ready for another big day. hey, mark. >> hey, dell, you know

the most publicized and scrutinized player on the roster this week, and essentially all season long has been without question quarterback payton manning. >> he wants them to win 24 game for themselves. and the organization as well. >> i want guys to play for their families and play for those people, but if somebody wants to win a game for you, boy, that's extremely frate flattering, and i know i would like to win it -- for them to be in the 8th super bowl, is an accomplishment in itself, and he deserves another champion. so i'd like to help the broncos get another champion, and you have other people that you like to win it for as well.

>> and the teams also have been practices since then and meeting the media as well with. now the broncos practiced indoors yesterday. head coach john fox said he brought his team inside, because he thought the synthetic turf outside was too lard, and he wanted them to have a softer surface, meantime, sea hawks head coach he is thrilled with the health of his team, in fact, yesterday carrol said his team is as healthy as it has been all season long. seattle practiced yesterday in the new york giants facility here in the shadow of met life stadium, and the sea hawked open as few doors to let the cold air in during their 90 minute work out, so that's the situation with both teams holding work outs every day. all of their media availability now in the rear-view mirror, they are focusing on the game plan, and both teams will hold their final practices today and just tweak a few things then they will be ready to go. >> safe to say more

pressure on the broncos than there is on the sea hawks. because. all that pressure on payton manning? >> you know what, i think that's fair. the broncos this week, really try to kind of deflect that, but i think without question a lot of people have said hey, if he wins his second super bowl, without question, he will be one of the top 5 of all time, and will be remembered as such. i don't necessarily think that should be there, but i think there's slightly more pressure on the broncos to bring that home. >> his brother eli has more rings. markmore gone, thank you very much. speaking of pressure, you have the pressure on you right now to deliver the super bowl forecast. >> temperatures were down into the single differents, but luckily, we have a much warmer air maz purposing in out of the south, so i do believe that the temperatures is at kick off time will be around

42 degrees and feel around 36 with the wind blowing. and the skies are going to be mostly cloudy, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. when you have that cloud cover it helps retain the heat. when you have high pressure in control that cold air can really push through, when you don't have that overhead cloud layer. so it is going to feel quite comfortable for the actual game. temperatures are rebounding quite a bit. 11 so we are looking for things to continue to improve here. a little bit of snow on the way, friday night, not going to accumulate out there, but could cause some slippery travel on the roadways with temperatures dropping right around the freezing mark, but by saturday, and certainly on into sunday. doesn't it look and feel a lot better out there period. now we with do have a little bit of a disturbance pushing on through. bringing snow across the new york state, down into pennsylvania. it is going to turn into an icy mixture. >> thank you very much.

and no frozen tundra of lambeau field it sounds like, in new york, inside story is usually next, but when we come back, we are going do listen to the president and how he plans on helping the long term unemployed.

president obama making good on a promise during his states of the union address on tuesday yesterday went to a g.e. factory in wisconsin and called to business to offer more job training, today he is going to be focusing on the issue of unemployment. once again turning to big business for help. mike viqueira is in washington and we are waiting on the president to speak in just a few moments, but while we wait and as you realize, i could cut you off as we always do,. >> reporter: i am always prepared for that. >> what does he want ceos to do.