have a good weekend, the show may be over but the conversation continues find us on twitter @ajconsiderthis fp see you next time. >> good evening everyone, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm 82eth in new york. did christie know? a friday bombshell. the new allegation in the bridge scandal. we'll talk life to a former new jersey governor. the kate from ukraine. the incredible story of one man miss being for days found brultly beaten and barely alive. extreme measures, california's historic drought is getting worse with the state's reservoir system about to be cut off. plus, view from above. the record breaking space jump

like you've never seen it before, tonight what the helmet cam captured. njt governor chris christie was in new york city tonight attending a birthday party for mowrd stern. he tweeted this picture of hi himself treating john bon jovi at the birthday. this may come down to one question: who do you believe is telling the truth. we begin with john terrett in fort lee, new jersey. john. good evening john as you can see the george washington bridge is the busiest bridge in the world.

i'll step aside, you can have a look at it. it's a really pretty bridge as well, chris christie appears to be in a pretty tight spot. the man who ordered the lane closures, is saying by letter that evidence exists that governor christie knew about those lane closures at the time they are taking place and that is something that governor christie has vehemently denied. the lane closings at the george washington bridge creating a commuter nightmare for days, caused not by a traffic study, but as the alleged political pay back against a democratic mayor who refused to back christie for his reelection. christie is being considered a contender for 2016, he remains popular, but was asked if he knew about the plan for lane

closeless. his answer, clear and forceful. >> i had no knowledge in this issue in its planning and its execution and i am stunned by the abject stupidity that was shown here. >> but now, a sharp rebuttal from a former official at the port authority who owed his job to christie. in a letter david wildstein's lawyer, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the governor stated publicly. and the letter described the lane-closing decision as the "croift administration's order" was the one who exchanged texts last summer with christie's former deputy chief of staff, bridget ann kelly. time for some traffic problems in fort lee she texted him, he replied, got it. christie vowed to take

appropriate action if any senior members knew of the closings. new jersey state assembly and senate are investigating and several have been subpoenaed. the timing of the letter's release also raising questions coming just two days before the super bowl hosted by new jersey. in a statement tonight the governor's office says the letter from wildstein's attorney confirms had a the governor said all along. he had absolutely no knowledge of the lane closures before they happened and whatever mr. wildstein's motivation for closing them to begin with. meanwhile 20 members of chris christie's campaign team have been subpoenaed. they must come up with e-mails, phone records, whatever they knew of the fort lee closings, handing them in by monday. this is super bowl weekend, and i'm sure chris christie would rather have the super bowl as headlines, looks like that's going to be different.

>> the investigation continues. what could this investigation, the impact it could have on his administration while he's governor? >> oh, i think this could turn out to be very serious indeed for governor christie. if it turns out as david wynnsteiwinewinestein insists, r christie knew about these closures as they were happening he doesn't have a leg to stand on, i don't think. on the january 9th news conference which lasted more than two hours, that no he knew knowing about it until afterwards. that would be a defining issue for governor, and possibly rule out any run in 2016. having said all of that we must have a check of ourselves and remind ourselves we don't know what the evidence is, chris christie remains the governor of

new jersey and very, very popular. it's too early to write him off. john terrett, thank you. dick cody currently serves in the united states senate. welcome. >> thank you very much. >> what is your reaction to the story? >> this is huge. a very well respected criminal lawyer in the state of new jersey saying that the governor knew about this scandal when it was unfolding. which is in direct contrast to what he said at his press conference for an hour and a half. he kept repeating i knew knowing nothing, i new nothing, i knew nothing. on monday the evidence is handed over to the legislative body, i don't know when it will be revealed but i don't know how you can continue being governor of the state of nblg. who would respect him?

>> have you heard anything about the evidence? i'm sure there is a lot of stop. >> i'm saying what would be the motivation of this incredibly well respected lawyer for mr. wildstein to send this letter if it were not true? he would be through as a criminal defense lawyer in the state of new jersey. >> let me point this out. intergo right ahead. >> he is being investigateand under some pressure i suppose for his role in this. so i mean isn't it a question of who you believe? whether or not you believe governor christie or you believe wildstein? >> at some point and i think pretty soon there is evidence of his knowledge of this event while it was unfolding will have to come out. so we will have to know pretty soon who is telling the truth and who's lying. >> what's involved with the legislature, what can you do, is there anything you can do in the next week or so?

>> the legislative committee can show the public the evidence that wildstein and his lawyer allege exists. at that point, you know, that's a make or break for the governor without question. >> is this just partisan politics at work here? >> oh god no. it has got nothing to do with partisan politics in any way, shape or form. people are very upset. for four days you had four hour backups at the george washington bridge. what's. >> katy: the reason? they said it was a traffic study. we don't have one. nowadays traffic studies on bridges or anywhere else are done on the computers. so for some reason we don't know yet there's two suspicions, one it was against the mayor for not ambassadorsing thambassadorsinge governor or two, it had something to do with the land deal where a very close lawyer

to governor christie lost out for his client, the redevelopment of a large parcel of land in fort lee, a very valuable parcel. so those are the two reasons, one or the other, or maybe something else, for doing what they did. there's no human reason for them to do what they did. other than some kind of retribution for something. >> let me just suggest. you're not even suggesting that you or other democrats should call for his resignation right now, right? >> no. i'm saying when the evidence comes out, if in fact what the -- this letter today says is true, then how could you possibly effectively governor when you had a press conference for an hour and a half going on and on and on saying i never had any knowledge so forth and so on, he would lose the respect of the people of new jersey and all due respect to your report

wildly popular he's down about 17 points from just a month ago in terms of favorable ratings from the people of the state of new jersey so that's a dramatic drop. >> governor -- and his u unfavorables are . >> thank you for being on the show. >> my pleasure, bye. >> top secret documents from snowden last july. the order to destroy the computers came from 10 downing street which threatened legal action if the paper didn't stop publishing the snowden leaks, watched the journalist destroy the computers in the guardian's basement. now to the crisis in the ukraine and tonight a story putting a face to the conflict. the story of this man, a leading opposition activist, security

forces want to question him but they have been blocked by workers at the hospital where he's receiving treatment. jennifer glasse has that story. >> beaten and left for dead in the ukraine forest. he's lucky to be alive. >> i was crucified. i've got holes in my hands. a part of my ear was cut off. i have bruce bruises on reply f. i couldn't tell who they were but the accent was russian. i have been in darkness for so long. >> he was a thorn in the side of the government. he organized vehicle convoys to protest at government ministers homes. and received threatening text messages then their leader disappeared. he isn't the only one that disappeared.

there's about 30 others. they say they want to see their loved ones come home alive. every night volunteers at lidan so srchlsos record what they se. >> the most notorious examples, arrested persons and god forbid there there's any persons who lost their life. >> their hot line keeps track of the missing and they have a list of lawyers who will help ukrainians who have been arrested or detained prospect. >> it is important to know what they can do, what they are not to do, what they are entitled to do, because the legal averness of the ukraine people is not as high. >> in a new study, accuses,

pattern of abuse they've seen before and called for investigations. as he left to meet with the u.s. secretary of state in germany one of the opposition leaders called for the same. >> translator: in munich we will insist on an international investigation of all the cases of killing, torture and kidnapping of people and the fact that journalists are being targeted and shot at. today's experience regarding bolotov is prove of that, like death squads just like in latin america have appeared. >> in independence square at the height of the opposition demonstrations they read the names of the missing in hope that someone will know something and ensuring that those out of sight are not out of mind. jennifer glasse, al jazeera, kiev. >> and now, robert mcnamara, robert, what have you seen?

>> well, it's kind of not like anything i've ever seen before. travel around to 25 different countries and i've never really seen anything like what's going on here. it's kind of like if you took times square in new york city and built a small village made out of tents inside of it and barricaded off all the streets to the square. and it's been like that apparently for two months. but i've never seen anything like it. there's people walking around in makeshift military uniforms, everyone's carrying a club. it's a pretty bizarre environment. >> did you get very close to the violence? i mean these pictures look like you're right in the middle of it. >> well, i got-i got to kiev on the 22nd which is the day that two of the protestors were shot by the police. and that day i didn't go up to the front lines.

i was only in the square and the square was packed. and it was pretty crazy environment. since then, i've been up to where there's still like basically an encampment on both sides. by the parliament building there's protestors and police constantly camped out. each side has about a dozen metal trash can fires going on constantly. the night i was there, there was a massive tire fire in between the two encampments where just black smoke was going and you could actually see the smoke billowing over the midon area which is independence square. because the clark is pretty much around the corner from the -- the clashing is pretty much around the square, the front line of all the fighting was. >> what does it smell like with the tires burning and the folks camped out there for the past

two months? >> there's smoke in the air everywhere. it's freezing cold here so even the in independence squares there are probably 100 military tents set up within the square. because it's freezing everyone has wood stoves inside their tents and trash cans outside the tents. the tire fire is actually horrible smelling. they actually gave me a mask to wear when i was shooting photos. i thought i would throw up when i was filming. >> same situation or different? >> that's the main area around parliament, kind of the front line, but the larger protest is in the square and then there's also a barricade of police up by the presidential complex protecting that. but there have been like seven or eight buildings that have been taken over by the

protestors. there. >> there are some remarkable pictures that we've been showing while you've been talking. robert graham mcnamara. thank you for sharing your story and your pictures, we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> and north africa, we warn you this is graphic. nigeria, at least 47 people were killed. al jazeera is the first media operation to reach the violent. yvonne nej has the exclusive report. >> this is all that's left of the church. the attackers came through that doors, some on motorcycles, some jumping out of vehicles. they began to attack the parishioners. the roof of the church has practically caved in. now many of the parishioners tried to escape through windows.

but as you can see the windows are basically barricaded. some of the preparis parishioned manage to escape and fled into the bush. many met their death right here in the church. those who did survivor, who did manage to get out alive are being treated in hospital. >> yvonne nej, in nigeria. president obama met with a group of executives today and he signed a memo ordering the federal government not to discriminate against job applicants who are out of work. >> we've engaged employers of all sizes all around the country including many who are here today to commit to is a seat of application policies to commit that open door policy that

actively encourages all qualified applicants. and of course it's only right that the federal government lead by example. >> the president criticized congress for allowing benefits for the long term unemployed to expire last month. there's new information about the keystone tonight, the proposed oil pipeline from canada through the u.s. the state department now says the pipeline would have political impact on the u.s. rosalyn jordan has more. >> state department officials are keen to say that if seis is just a report, not a decision whether the transcanada would be allowed to build the pipeline on the country from the canadian border to the gulf of mexico.

it's for government agencies to figure out exactly what other issues will be created if this pipeline is created. it would be up to the secretary of state john kerry to decide whether the economic benefits outweigh the diplomatic political and environmental concerns. there would not be many negative impacts from the report, in terms of wetlands climate change, environmental facilities or the local economies. however, there is considerable political pressure to build this pipeline and the administration is already hearing the pressure from particularly republican members of congress. >> rosalyn johnson. one small step and one unbelievable leap, a new look at the spectacular space jump.

>> every sunday night al jazeera america brings you controversial... >> both parties are owned by the corporations. >> ..entertaining >> it's fun to play with ideas. >> ...thought provoking >> get your damn education. >> ...surprising >> oh, absolutely! >> ...exclusive one-on-one interviews with the most interesting people of our time. >> you're listening because you want to see what's going to happen. >> i want to know what works what do you know works? >> conversations you won't find anywhere else. >> talk to al jazeera. >> only on al jazeera america. >> oh my! >> in california, drastic steps to preserve a dwirched ling water supply. the state water project will not deliver any reservoir water this spring. that does not mean the taps will

run dry but it affects water resources from the silicon valley to los angeles. i asked jake ward our science and technology expert about the announcement. >> the straight water project which is the massive water project, has said that they are not going to provide any more water to 25 million customers here in california. water is life in california in a way that it is in almost no other state. and the farmers and property owners here depend on so-called water rights for the very water that they depend on for their way of life. through the governor's state of emergency declaration, the state water project basically has taken those rights away in an effort to conserve water. and state officials today basically said that though they tried to plan ahead for this, they always try to plan ahead, the weather here just took them by surprise. >> we should always be planning for dry years. that's one of the reasons we attempt to deliver as much water

as we can in wet years consistent with those environmental protections so it is in storage in the places of need. we will always be challenged in a year as dry as this one. >> this is a full blown crisis. state officials are saying to us that this is not a case of life or health being threatened but this is an unprecedented event. we are on track for the worse drowtd in thdrought in the histf california. there has only been two times close to this, one in 1970s and one in 1580. a effect of biblical proportion. we are going osee die off of trees, estuaries being more

salinated. the blood vessels that carry water, the artery system of california that has all run dry and as a result is going to begin falling in on itself because it is hollow. when those blood vessels are lost, it never comes back. >> jake win yellow us later with new helmet cam video of a record breaking space jump. kevin corriveau is here with the weather and whether any relief is on the front. >> laying down astroturf in new subdivisions or new apartment homes because the drought situation is not expected to be relieved any time soon in their foreseeable future. we did get rain earlier in the week, it is not enough to end the drought. the snow pack we are only at about 15 to 20% of where we should be this year. and of course the snow pack in

the sierra nevadas is what we need for drinking water as well. how did we get to this situation? since 2012 we have had this ridge of high pressure located here on the western seaboard. what it has done is kept things sunny but very, very dry. what we have seen over the last several days is we have seen a break here. that's why we have got the rain. the trough is out here, towards parts of the pacific. what is happening here is this ridge is beginning to shift back towards the west coast. and i think on the 7th or 8th of february this ridge will be right back over parts of california and we'll be back to the same situation we were last week. john. >> kevin, thanks very much. deadly dose, the surge in heroin death and the toll it's taking. a famed photographer on the iconic images and moments he's covered for decades.

o. >> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler and here are the top stories. new allegations in the george washington bridge constantly. and chris christie, a port authority official and a friend of christie through his lawyer says christie knew about the closures as they happened and there's evidence to prove it. the governor again denied he had no knowledge of the bridge lane closures before they happened. case and reports of violence amid the unrest in ukraine have alarmed human rights activists. secretary of state john kerry will meet with opposition

leaders. keystone xl project will have limited impact an the environment. the white house is facing more pressure to approve the project. a story we brought you earlier in the week, the healthy concerns for the impact of heroin deaths in pittsburgh. 22 people have died after overdosing on a deadly batch of the drug. hoirn use has been on the rise in the region, officially, bisi onile-ere reports. gls the the high can be deadly. i.t. comes in different names. thera-flu, bud ayes, an income tax. 20 people over 24 hours died from overdosing and from there, the death toll continued to

climb. >> saturday when i had four and sunday when i had three, i knew i was hitting a knowledge part of an overdose crisis. >> by monday similar deaths were reported throughout the region. >> what this is we're finding is, it contains a synthetic opioid called fentanil, 70 times more deadly than morphine. >> even if warned of the dangers some drug abusers take the chance. >> if people were dying from something you would think common sense would tell you stay away from that. but because of the nature of addiction when people with addiction hear it they believe that's the good stuff, that's the strong stuff. >> a little over 1 million people live here in a allegheny

county. >> carmen capozi knows the dangers of heroin addiction firsthand. he lost his son. >> i didn't know what heroin looked like you know. >> today he shares the story of his heartbreaking loss with others. >> what i hope to accomplish is creating awareness. compassion. and action. those are three words. >> pittsburgh police say they are working closely with local, federal and county law enforcement to find where this new deadly patch of heroin is coming from. some arrests have already been made. capozy knows he doesn't stand alone. over 6,000 have joined sage's army, a foundation he created to help others struggling from addiction, before it's too late.

bisi onile-ere, al jazeera america. >> her son was an honor student in high school, after becoming addicted to heroin matt lazarus died in 2012. his mother chris joins us. chris, welcome. >> thank you. >> tell me a little bit more about your son. >> matthew was an aplaysing kid. he was -- an amazing kid. he was in gifted and talented from second grade along. he received annal academic achievement award signed by george bush. he was bright, talented, musical, a gifted young man. >> not the sort you would expect to get into drugs, but he did. >> never. >> when did you find out? >> i knew he was drinking and doing some of those things in the summer of 2011. he didn't start doing heroin from what we learned his first

use was september of 2011. >> how did you find out about that? >> his best friend actually came and told me. >> so you have taken on this cause for a number of reasons i'm sure. but tell us why. why are you so interested in speaking out after your son's death? >> well, i guess one of the main reasons is the stigma that seems to come with heroin use. people think that it's not the middle class, it's not the affluent kids, it's not the athletes and the good students. and i guess what i want people to understand is there really is no boundary for kids that can become addicted to drugs. >> when people find out, when people found out that he was still taking drugs that he was a heroin addict, what was their reaction? >> he kept it pretty quiet. it happened pretty fast, obviously when his first use was the end of september he passed

away the next january, so it wasn't a very long time in between and he was actually clean for several weeks. but after -- after the fact and when i made it public that he passed away from heroin and cocaine there was a lot of people that questioned why i would say that publicly. >> how easy is it to get, for kids like this to get heroin? >> they can get it anywhere. >> anywhere? >> anywhere, they can get it at school. we did some interview with some kids at some of the local high schools. and they said give them ten minutes and they would be able to get ahold of heroin. >> so you heard this story that we talked about in pittsburgh, with the many deaths. what would you like society to do about this problem? >> you know, i think that the first thing is just recognizing that it is an illness. and i think that's -- that's a good place to start. a lot of parents don't want to admit or see the signs that their child may be using drugs.

and you know, it's about, to me, a community that needs to come together to raise our kids. and that seems to have gotten lost somewhere over the years. >> when you speak about this, do parents say oh not my child couldn't happen in my community? >> all the time. >> do they? >> they do. >> and do you tell them? >> yeah, i have a lot of kids that will come to me about friends about themselves concerned and i try to get the kids to go to their parents and i have heard many times, not my child, you're wrong. >> chris lazarus, we appreciate you sharing your storyith us today, thanks so much. >> thank you. >> talks to putting an end of the fighting in syria have ended with no results. 1900 more people died in violence that was raging across that country. those figures come from the syrian observatory for human

rights. nick shifrin introduces us to one orthodox christian priest pleading for help. >> for centuries this ciriac or orthodox church has been a sang wear and for 15 years, francis has been its spokesperson,. >> we send soup to the elderly that are stuck at home or injured people who cannot leave their homes. >> reporter: in this area there is a church site that is as old as christ, a mosque that is a thousand years old. but today, when the bells toll, there is no one to hear it. francis had the chance to leave. he refused. this week he released a plea vea youtube. >> it is impossible for us to continue like this.

we need a lot of help. >> after it posted we talked to francis by skype. >> what are the conditions for the people still there? for a cell phone he formed his hornistic answer. >> people are running down the street screaming, i am hungry. >> francis is the only westernest who is in homs. his dwindling food supply, olives which he eats for breakfast an dinner. a little tea. an empty jar once filled with wheat. he is a proud man, clinging to whatever dignity he once had. >> i wish these people whose lives are at risk don't die because of all this want. i wish they create a bridge to transport everything we need. >> in geneva they've spoken about that bridge but nothing's been built. nick shifrin, al jazeera geneva.

>> from syria to north korea, leaving north korea may be a dream but a story of a man who defected to the south who wants to go back. and he is not alone. harry faucet reports. >> for sun jong hun, the memory of the mother and sisters he left behind in north korea. >> there isn't one moment over the last 12 years that i felt any happiness during this holiday season. >> sung has taken the public announcement of going back to the north. he wants both to agree. >> south koreans would see me as

an illegal redirector. i want to express my feelings to the officials first. >> he says his stance is political, designed to draw the antagonism of the two governments that keeps their nations unnecessarily divided but points to financial troubles in the south. >> life here can be very difficult, can be very lonely and in recent years there's been a surge in the numbers that are going home. there have been reports of coercion in at least some of these returns. certainly the authorities in pyongyang milk them for whatever information they can. spoken out about its internal workings as well as north korean human rights. he knows his own brother was executed for helping to get his son to south korea so what about the risk? >> they could maximize my use for political propaganda or use

me once and separate me from society. but the reason i made what some might call an extreme decision is someone has to pay the price in blood for ending the chronic an tag mix genetic the sides. >> families are celebrating the lunar new year. willingness to make the journey to make a political point as well as to be reunited with his loved ones is testament to the cost of so many on this yoabl ideologic arely guided divided country. >> shirley chisolm ran for president, winning 152 delegates to the democratic national convention. okay, we're less than 48 hours

from the super bowl yet the problem of technology versus ticket sales is rampant. john henry smith is at met life stadium with more on the story. john henry. >> hello john. super bowl week seems to reinforce the point that the nfl is still king of the american sports landscape and yet, this year the nfl failed or almost failed to sell out three playoff games. a sign of trouble? our mark morgan ponders that question. >> with the super bowl approaching america's most popular sport could be at a crossroads of economics and technology when it comes to having its fans actually going to the game. >> you're spending a lot of money. >> you're over 100 before you even think about going there. >> associates at team marketing report, the average cost for a family of four to go to an nfl game is $460.

dip in attention to 2011 and has slowly filled the gaps since. ten stayed is yums played at stadiums under 90% capacity. how are nfl franchises still attracting fans. >> even enhancing their wifi and interactive experience within the building. >> the eagles have overhauled their stadium with wifi and eagles app. >> the eagles app is a one stop shop from anything you need from nfl red zone to access tot live feeds on the scoreboard, the fantasy stats, to everything, you now have all of that at your fingertips when you are watching that at the stadium. >> improving the game experience can never be taken for granted.

>> the competition for the entertainment dollar is so strong. there are so many options, you have to find ways to bring people back. >> one that does go back is john mansanelli junior. eagles tickets have been in the family since 1971. >> just the pure excitement of being in an nfl game makes the game exciting makes you want to be there for it. >> even the technological improvements mancanelli has seen. >> it's for lack of a better word, luxurious. >> long time eagle season ticket holder corky has run from the seat of the stadium to the front row of his home theater, with a 110 inch screen. >> it's pretty convenient. i don't have to worry about the temperature being zero degrees

and snowing, watching it in my home theater kind of outweighing going to a game. >> easier and more affordable products. >> i think when the cost get such that you know, the average middle class avid fan can't get down to the game you know they're going to be sitting at home watching it in the family room. >> and that's precisely the argument still yet to be resolved. >> all right, thanks to mark morgan about that report. about the fans temptation to watch the game from home roger goodell said, what we have to say is that's a great experience but let's make the best experience our stadium experience better. technology into the stadiums is a good part of it, making people feel safe when we're in our facilities is a critical

component. i'm john henry smith, al jazeera. >> ticket prices might be a part of that too. we'll see about that drm thank you very much. working hard all day. coming up our picture of the day plus free fall, our jake ward returns for new details and video from this astonishing space jump. >> the struggling midddle class >> we just can't get ahead... >> working longer hours, for less pay. >> people are struggling everywhere. >> school loans... morgages... inflation... taking it's toll... >> we live paycheck to paycheck... >> now in a continuing series, join ali velshi as we follow families, just like yours, as they try to get by... >> we're all struggling financially... >> america's middle class: rebuilding the dream only on al jazeera america!

>> well, we have hundreds of thousands of people converging

on new york and new jersey for the big game. the weather is going to be cooperating. there is a lot of concerns about is it going to rain, is it going to snow. well, you see the snow to the north that really wasn't a concern here. people have been enjoying the temperatures as they have been coming up over the last couple of days. we are in a warming trend and i'm going oput it out there that it's not going to have any precipitation, whether it be rain or snow for sunday. let's go to your forecast. as we push through for saturday and as we go towards sunday we are thinking of really dry conditions sunday 3:00 p.m. you can see shower activity just to the north. that's really not going to be a factor. if you see something it's going to be in new york or new jersey that's about it. temperatures warm up from 44 to about 48° as the high. as we get towards kickoff we see think that that temperature is going to go down to about 46 or

45°. monday the temperatures go down this could be a problem especially in the morning we may see some snow in the area. that is a look at your national weather, your news is right after this.

>> it was a record-breaking feat that was literally out of this world. in 2012, austrian felix baumgar baumgartner made a record. >> what a promotional stunt it is. because this footage gives us a new and more intimate look at felix baumgartner's almost insane feat. jumping from 127,000 feet is purposeless in a way but manages

to break an ancient and amazing record of 107,000 feet. he broke the sound barrier, the first human to do so without the benefit of an engine. we see in the footage he goes into a flat spin and you can see him in the middle saying, i think i'm going to have to pass out, because the force he of gravity on his extremities, are driving the blood away from him. if he had experienced greater than 3.5 gs, he has not. i have experienced 3.5 gs, it was horrible, if you have given me the choice of doing something useful or taking a sig cyanide capsule i would have taken the cyanide capsule i think. when they can dpraw hi graduated

joe said, you made it! his first words were, that was really tough. how incredibly scary it is to jump from that altitude and come down in one piece. >> jake ward, thank you very much. arts segment. peter turnley, snapping photos sings the age of 16, from 1986 to 2001 he shot 43 covers for news week. we asked him to tell us about his incredible. >> in 1971, i grew up in the midwest and the camera became three things. a pas passport. allowed me to go anywhere. it became secondly an opportunity for me to witness moments of the human story to capture moments that touched my heart. and thirdly, it became an opportunity to share my feelings

and perceptions in form of a response to the people and stories in the world that i come across. over these last now almost 40 years i've traveled to more than 90 countries around the world. i'm very passionate about what i like to call the human condition. and photography has brought me in touch with the human story, across the very wide spectrum of experience. from moments that touch upon extreme human suffering, war, conflict, disaster, i've had a passion and a real desire to be present, where important moments of history are taking place. i have encountered many moments of great danger. i've covered many if not most of the world's wars in the last 30 years. i worked in bosnia, kosovo, chemchechnya, haiti, on and on,n

the middle of these horrible moments i've seen people and decency and humanity. cameras are simply a tool. situations and time periods that stand out for me was the year 1989. the year of tremendous changes throughout eastern europe, where the berlin wall came down. the themes i have been most passionate about is the theme of refugees, group of people so often and too often are out of sight and out of mind for the rest of the world. it's hard for all of us to imagine what it means to cross a border, and to suddenly to have lost a house, a car, a bank account, a family album, a

passport, anything and everything that relates to what we know as our life. and that is the plight of refugees, no matter where i travel to i always return to my home of paris. i have photographed the daily life of paris for 40 years. i just recently published french kiss, the life in paris, gran grandure, when people ask me what was the most interesting moment i've ever seen was the moment nelson mandela walked out of prison in capetown, south africa. i saw a tall man holding the hand of 1ie mandela, i began to press the button on my camera and i'll never forget seeing his

right hand raise. this was a feeling of joy for world that i will never forget. >> peter turnley has entitled, french kiss, a love letter to paris. chris christie leaving a birthday party in manhattan this evening, for howard stern. the governor denying the new allegation that he knew about the lane closings on the george washington bridge when they happened. our headlines are next. has tonight's exclusive report. >> stories that have impact... that make a difference... that open your world... >> this is what we do...

>> america tonight next only on al jazeera america

>> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york and here are the top stories. new allegations in the political scandal involving new jersey governor chris christie. a new report shows that christie

knew about the lane closures when they occurred and he has the evidence to prove it. the governor once again denied any knowledge. tension on the rise in the koran. an opposition activist claims he was kidnapped and beaten. obvious signs of store churs. in a sign of how serious california's drought is, officials say they will not be releasing any water from the state system. the move affects drinking water for 25 million people and irrigation for 1 million acres of farmland. a boost for the keystone pipeline system, keystone xl link would connect canada's oil sands to refineries here in the u.s. president obama quawlg on the private and public sector to end long term joblessness. he met with kerries today and

ordered the federal government hiring practices that discriminate against the unemployed. "america tonight" is up next. you can always get the latest news on aljazeera.com. >> on "america tonight": a bridge bombshell. will an old friend tie new jersey governor chris christie to the gw bridge scandal and how will what the governor knew raise the stakes on his political future? >> i had no knowledge or involvement in this issue. in its planning or its execution. >> on "america tonight," convicted but unconvincing. an italian court says amanda knox should go back to court for -- to prison for the horrific measured of her