. >> welcome to aljazeera america. i'm del walters, and these are the stories we're following for you. >> we all know we have a lot to do. >> president obama outlined his plan for the unemployed, asking big companies for help. retaliations against the police in ukraine. and now a war of words between a quarterback and a defensive back.

president obama taking steps to fulfill a state of the u.n. pledge. announcing federal guidelines aimed at helping the long-term unemployed. mike vicarra, it looks like common sense. >> the president is hamstringed by congress, and what he's trying to do today is get congress to pass the long-term benefits. the 1.3 to the 1.6 have thrown off those roles. no longer giving benefits beyond 6 months that have been available assistance the beginning of the great recession in the mid 2000s. the president announcing an issue to give some of those folks, who are long-term unemployed to get with major corporation. he has more than 300 signed up, del, to reform some of their hiring practices, so the long-term unemployed are not

just thrown out their resumes because they have had a job so long. it's backed up by data to show these are frequent occurrences. so the president joining with the department of labor, a $150 million job training program. but the president spoke to this phenomenon. >> the folks who have been unemployed the longest often have the toughest time getting back to work. it's a cruel catch 22. the longer you're unemployed, the more unemployable you may seem. now, this is an illusion, but it's one that unfortunately we know statistically is happening out there. >> reporter: so del, this caps a long week, of course starting with the state of the union, the president putting forth some of the program that he's trying to enact now. he talked about the pen and

using executive orders and going around congress, traveling for the last two days, keeping up the drumbeat here in the east room the white house. >> i was going to point out that the president said this is his year of action, and the white house has to be satisfied with the optics. three days of tours by the president, and no talk about the nsa or obamacare. >> that's true, but not for lack of effort on the part of republicans when it comes to obamacare. but it almost points out the fact that some of what he is proposing has marginal effects around the edges, but to push the congress further. even in this bill, talking about billions of dollars of infrastructure and dire need to fix america's bridges and roads. and something that he has talked about for years. the corporate tax code, streamlining the tax code. everything that the president

has proposed in the last three days can have a difference in the margins to have a significant effect on the economy, it's going to take congress to go along with it. >> patricia has been with me throughout the conversation, and she joins me with the long-term unemployment. as the president was speaking, i saw you circling that these are things that need to be done a long time ago. >> because the problem is acute. the long-term unemployed, these are people who have been out of work for more than half a year. right now in the united states, there are 3.9 million people who count as unemployed. and another thing to keep in mind, these are people actively looking for work. it does not capture the people who have fallen out of the workforce, who have gotten discouraged and given up. right now, roughly 40% of the unemployed count as long-term

unemployed. and it's a very deep problem. to give you a comparison, the recession, the share of jobless who are long-term unemployed was 26%. and last month, it's nearly 40%. it's still a very, very acute problem. >> the thing that captured your attention more than anything, when the president talked about credit scores, and it seemed to be one of those areas where everybody has been saying for a long time, why don't they fix this? and finally it seemed that somebody in washington was listening. >> absolutely, my eyes just popped open. and i have to give a shout out to my colleague in "real money," stacy tisdale, who has been on this story for a long time. basically a lot of employers will discriminate against people if they have a poor credit score, and anyone can be prone to a poor credit score. especially who have had bankruptcy and debtors who have

fallen into default. and then they spend all of this money getting their degrees and they default and their credit score tanks, and employers will not look at them. >> you can't get another job, and it's an endless cycle. we want to remind you that our ali velshi is going to be looking at the plight of the long-term unemployed in a series of reports. america's middle class, rebuilding the dream. with ali velshi. he's always on 7 p.m. eastern time. in geneva. the first round of peace talks between the syrian government are over. and nick schiffrin has been following it all week. he laid out what the two sides can agree to. ask can you tell us more about it? >> yeah, del, this is a

negotiation that has gone on for a week, where both sides have not agreed on anything. so like a good mediator, he spoke at the last press conference and laid out the things that they do agree on. perhaps the audience was the delegation, trying to convince them that they're not as far apart as you think. and the main point that the delegations agree on, the geneva 1, that lays out a political transition inside of syria, and they are discussing that document. and there's progress. but there's a caveat. the fighting inside of syria has to stop. before they can talk about the rest of the communique, the opposition says that you have to talk about it first. and both sides are speaking past each other. he pleaded with everybody to be

patient. >> first of all, there's sirria this horrible situation, and i'm also certain that a lot of people in the world also want that to happen. and as fa as far as there's no t to make it happen. but the syrian parties,. >> and to continue those efforts, he hopes to bring both sides together. and the opposition, del, is already committed. and the government has to go back to damascus.

>> are we hearing anything from president assad in all of this? >> he came out and criticized very heavily the united states and the opposition, saying that the u.s. congress was funding and arming the rebels, and he said that the people who made that decision were "on the moon," and they the united states said that they have only been supplying non-lethal aid to the rebels, but stepping back, the aid to tacome, the food and water and medicine that the city desperately needs, has not gotten there because they have written assurances from armed groups inside of the old city of homes that the armed groups will not shoot at the convoy, and they cues the foreign minister of syria of lying. so every side is digging in

their heels and trying to make an argument. and very alleviation of suffering on the ground for the syrian people. >> nick schiffrin, and also in syria, john kerry ordering the assad government to remove the chemicals before the deadline. the government has only destroyed 4 force of the chemical weapons arsenal so far. >> the work that we're doing together on syria could not be more important right now. this is destabilizing the entire region. and the world is witnessing human catastrophe unfolding before our eyes every single day, and i would remind assad that the agreement that we made in new york with the security council makes it clear that if there are issues of non-compliance, they will be

referred to the security council. >> and kerry saying that ukraine's president, victor yanokovych is not doing enough for his country. they said that they will sign if the protesters leave the government buildings, but yanokovych is thing to quash the rebels. and they said they are being attacked by government forces. we should warn you that some of the images are very disturbing. >> i have holes in my hands, and part of my ear was cut off. they cut my face. there's not a spot on my body that hasn't been beaten. i can't tell who they were. but their accent is russian. i will tell you later, i can't see very well because i've been in darkness so long. >> kidnapped and torturedded and left for dead, activist, dmitry

bulatov, tells of his ordeal. he was held for week beforening abandoned in the woods outside of kiev. he struggled to a nearby village and is now being treated in hospital. he's a member of the automaidan movement, protesters against victor yanokovych. they have vowed to carry on the struggle. >> personally i'm very angry about what happened. but we're very happy that dmitri is alive. we have no idea who did this, but we're determined to find out. >> the authorities, they claim, have used violence and intimidation against protesters. one of three activists whose disappearances have shocked the country at large. especially after at activist's body was found in a woodland

outside of the ukrainian chapter. some protesters are running military style catches camps whe people are learning self defense, if anything against the brutality of the government. the human rights watch has revealed that the ukrainian police have assaulted and injured dozens of journalists and medical workers trying to it disburse street protests. calling into investigations for human rights abuses. this week, leaders will meet u.s. secretary of state, john kerry, in germany, and the discussions will focus on restoring calm. the people the new leadership without yanokovych at the helm. >> the white house has decided to nominate a 30-year navy veteran to head the security.

rogers has been tapped to head the nsa. he will replace alexander, who has served for more than eight years. when we come back to aljazeera, open prisons. helping inmates land jobs in technology.

>> powerful criminal organizations operating inside of jails is common in brazil. but with the prison populations doubled in the last decade, some are having to strike it deals with gangs to keep the peace. in the second part of our series, we look at the state of brazil's prison systems. >> this is the central prison complex in the city.

and it has become more than a prison, but centralized criminality. both inside and outside of the prison walls. while the guards control access to the prison complex, the open secret is this. security and discipline in the blocks are run by the gangs themselves. the police rarelier in, and it keeps the peace, but it has the proliferation of crimes and drugs and extortion. >> drugs are sold freely in prison, many of the inmates are drug addicts. and the mothers receive calls from inside of the jail, demanding that they make payments to their bank accounts. >> drugs and guns have been seized from inside of the prison. with 2,005 inmates above capacity, officials admit that they have to strike deals with

the gangs, but they say they're in control. >> the moment we agree on the rules with the faction, if he didn't agree with us, we transfer him, and he doesn't want that. so we control the power. >> the divisions within the criminal factions within the jail are stark. >> there are four prison gangs, and each controls a different winning of the prison, and they're not allowed to mix. but critics say that by dividing the prison like this and allowing the inmates to control themselves leads to extending the power outside of the prison walls. >> interpreter: the confiscated guns in the jail are not used to control the guards, but for the drug trafficking in the jail. the trafficking is profitable to them. and controlling a winning of the

prison is controlling the soldiers inside and outside of the jail. >> by striking deals with the inmates, it leads to more of the criminality that is filling the jails in the first place. >> the dow is down right now. and wal-mart expects the sales of its namesake stores to be lower in the 1st quarter. bad weather. it's warning that the profits will be lower than anticipated if. >> consumer spending is up, but the paycheck is the. a better than ever rise last month, but consumer spending is flat. and for a year, income growth

falling almost a percent. yahoo is resetting passwords for customers hacked. some of the names and passwords were stolen, though the company is not saying how many accounts may have been affected. like the argument breach last year, they used a third party provider to get into yahoo's system stereo. >> a unique approach to job training. at san quentin, they learn to be business owners. >> reporter: in an industry full of hoody wearing techies, it's no start of a cliche. he's a 40-year-old father of three, a newcomer on twitter. he has never held a smart phone until last year. >> what did you think when you got your first smart phone? >> you know what? i just wanted to dial the number, right? >> my name is horatio harts. >> this was ray nearly a year ago, an inmate at san quentin

state prison. serving and a half years for manslaughter. >> the turning point was actually at the moment i committed my offense. i had enough. and i knew that i needed to make some changes. >> his transformation began with venture capitalists. the founders of the six month prison program, aimed as turning hem into tech entrepreneurs. there's pencil and paper, and passion for learning. they call it the last mile. >> what we want to do is make sure that the guys get out and they get the chance to assimilate back. >> california has more than 130,000 inmates, according to the department of corrections. 65% commit another crime after release. these statistics convinced the couple to start want program three years ago. >> we're not giving people the tools that they need to be

successful in society once they're released >> reporter: students here learn to blog and tweet through books. and they wrote business plans through people like mc hammer, and all culminates with a demo date where they pitch to investors. >> i am the founder and ceo of funko onion. >> he landed a paid internship at rally.org, in san francisco. >> i'm not going to lie, we were all like, it could be a little bit scary, we don't know. >> he is now one of five graduates working full-time. >> you want to start your own company. >> absolutely. >> the program has expanded to twin towers jail in los angeles. they plan to take it further. a goal that begins with each inmate taking another step in that last mile.

aljazeera, san francisco. >> when we come back, two days to go before the big game. we'll take you live to met life stadium, be a look at both teams now headed to the super bowl.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. and here are the headlines at this hour. president obama taking steps to help job seekers to find work. applicants can't find a job because they're out of work for so long. the federal checking their applications. syrian peace talks are over, they ended promises of more negotiations to start in a week, but government representatives in syria have to ask damascus before they can return.

john kerry criticizing victor yanokovych that he hat ended the turmoil there. the big game is now just two days away. the seahawks versus the broncos. it continued this week with two players specifically. >> reporter: it's true, del. it seems that every super bowl week this happens. and obviously the players, their final practices are today. but all weeklong, they have been answering questions of the media and being peppered with questions for several days. several themes emerged, one of them from outspoken quarterback, richard sherman, questioning peyton manning's arm strength. saying that he throws ducks, and manning responded yesterday. >> i believe it to be true as

well. he's a smart player, and i think that's a real reach, what he's saying there. i do throw ducks, i have thrown a lot of yards and touchdowns ducks, so i'm actually quite proud of it. >> you're saying he does three ducks? >> i agree, it's a repeat of what i said. >> just for information's sake, the ducks accounted for 5477 passing yards and 55 touchdowns this season. and also, the broncos, the first team in nfl history to have players score at least five touchdowns. >> on the eve where there would be trash talking, and the big question about the super bowl, will it rain on their parade?

we're not talking about the frozen tundra of lambeau field this time. >> it was horrible, and freezing and we're not going to be dealing with that for super bowl sunday. the weather really improving, and maybe mother nature is a fan of football because temperatures are rising rapidly. 42, and that's where we should be this time of year in new york city. but the temperatures are certainly an improvement. earlier in the week, we were in the single digits, and the cold air spread all the way down to atlanta. if we look to the storm making its way to pennsylvania across ohio and upstate new york as well. but look here, the storm is just a little bit to the west of new york city. we might see a few flurries out there tonight. but by tomorrow, major improvements, the good news, this system is extending all the way back to california. and it has been 52 days since california has had any

measurable amounts of rain. but the good news, this snow and rain is pushing through the sierra into california. and they're getting the precipitation that they definitely need. we're looking at a portion of the central plains, 6 inches to a foot of snow in chicago and that's extending to michigan. icy measures on the way. i-80 across the new york state freeway. so please be careful out there tonight. >> it only happens two or three times a year. we're talking about a partial solar eclipse. here's the catch. it can't be seen from earth, only by nasa. it happened last night at 8:30. they said it's the longest recorded solar eclipse on record. thank you for watching aljazeera america.

i'm del walters. and you can watch "the stream," go to aljazeera.com, and remember to tune in to ali velshi with his special program on america. he airs every night at 7:00. our digital producer wajahat ali is here wiping you all the feedback. it's tough topic because the stories are very tragic and real but the numbers surrounding it are widely contested. >> that's the point of contention with our community. everybody acknowledges it's a problem, but huge debate whether or not we are hyping this up,