check >> this is al jazeera america live from new york. i'm jonathan betz. >> new demands from ukraine's protesters as the president decides to return to work after calling up sick. >> a warning to israel's secretary of state john kerry worried that they could face boycotts if the peace talks fail. >> californians struggle with water restrictions as they face a drought.

>> and philip hoffmann, found dead this morning. >> we start this sunday night in ukraine. the president will return to work tomorrow. president viktor yanukovych was out sick for four days as protesters filled the capital. they are demanding a new government and the release of protesters. this comes after a key opposition figure dmytro bulatov says he was tortured and beaten and that the government was involved. >> heading to the runway is the kiev's airport. dmytro bulatov free at last from his torrmentors and the threat of arrest. he says his kidnappers nailed him to a door, mutilated him with knives and beat him for eight days. he'll receive treatment in lithuania, inside the european

union. >> translation: i think we have just saved his life. after what they wanted to do with him, arrest him, put him in prison, his life was in danger, and we wouldn't have had a chance to investigate the torture. one life was saved. we'll do it to everyone arrested. we won't leave anyone without attention. >> this may seem like a concession by viktor yanukovych, another one, but if a police investigation had been launched into the kidnappers, it may have revealed too much about the shadow i organizations that torture, intimidate and kill investigators into silence. earlier in the day in independence square, tens of thousands gathered to call for the resignation of president viktor yanukovych, who returns to his desk on monday, after being freed for a respiratory

infection. he pledged support. >> sunday prayers were held in the square for the future of ukraine. fears of violent confrontation are growing. right wing groups are splintering away from the main body of protesters, who are determined to keep the demonstrations peace. some were on the streets, trained in tactics of close quarter fighting, with the police. >> after ukraine's president returns to work, parliament reconvened. jennifer glasse with more on what is ahead for the struggling government. >> a controversy averted with dmytro bulatov leaving the country, the government dropping charges. it's a big week for ukraine. president viktor yanukovych comes back to work after an unannounced sick leave.

the opposition protestor will watch what the president has to say and what he will do. tuesday the parliament reconvened. opposition leaders say they'll try to get an amnesty bill through the parliament. try to release 100 opposition supporters in gaol, held in police cells around the country. they are held as prisoners basically, until demonstrators leave the streets. that's what the previous bill says. they want the change, everything freed. still a big divide between the opposition and the government. a big week in ukraine. we'll see if the opposition can make progress or the government make concessions. >> sharp words are flying between the american and israeli deposit. sitcoms as frustration grows over the slow pace of peace talks. we have more. >> another flare-up of interpretations between the us and israel. on saturday, at the annual

munich security conference, the secretary of state warns that isra israel faces a threat of boycotts. theest raily prime minister binyamin netanyahu called attempts to boycott israel immoral and unjustified. first it entrenches the palestinians position of refusing and therefore pushing away peace. secondly any pressure will not make me give up the vital interests for the state offest rail. for these reasons the threats of a boycott on the state of israel will not achieve their goals. >> israel's minister of intelligence had harsher words for kerry. >> translation: the state of israel cannot negotiate with a gun to our head. >> israel's criticism of kerr

sparked a strong response. secretar secretary ker secretary kerry said: >> some european officials warned that israel could face deepening economic isolations. a major sticking point in the peace negotiations. this latest war of words began with a newspaper article two weeks ago. israel's defence minister characterised efforts to broker peace negotiations. the state department fired back in kerry's defense, calling the commends offensive and inappropriate, considering all that the u.s. is doing to support israel's security needs. the defence minister apologised for the remarks, claiming that

he believed they were off the record. >> meanwhile, the u.s. secretary of state met with iran's foreign minister. it happened on the sidelines of a security conference in munich. the iranian foreign minister believes the time to negotiate is now. >> it would be foolish for either side to break away. >> i think the opportunity is there, it's historic, we need to seize it. if we don't, if we work on illusion, we'll regret it in days and years to come. >> the next round of talks begin in vienna. >> it could become more expensive to become an american citizen. a senate bill wants to fine illegal immigrants $2,000. the cost is $680. critics say the hike could face some families out. the fines are necessary to

ensure reform does not lead to amnesty. >> a republican law maker doesn't believe any laws will face, saying his party doesn't trust the barack obama administration. a roadmap has been unveiled for unveiling a way forward and is open to grant legal status without full citizenship. >> a bill cleared the house on wednesday, cutting crop subsidies and the foodstamp prices. it seems it will be passed. the five year farm bill will cost nearly $100 billion, cutting $800 million in food stamps. that's a 1% slice from the $80 billion program. the cut will hurt people who depend on food stamps. conservatives say it is not enough.

house republicans want to 5% drop in food stamp funding. for more on the politics of the farm bill, let's bring in alan ferguson, an agricultural reporter for cq roll call. most people think of the farm bill, their eyes roll back. it's a critical piece of legislation. explain that. >> is its wide-ranging. it -- it is wide-ranging affecting agriculture, conservation, snapfor low number people, the food stamps, soil conservation, dairy. as i said, it's wide-ranging and it sets policy for the next five years, giving the u f.d.a. authority to act on various things. it will spend $956 billion over 10 years, $756 billion for the snap or food stamp program.

>> how many do farmers rely on the farm bill? >> it depends on what kind of farmer you are. this bill is heavily tilted towards the biggest percentage, 2 to 10% of all farmers who do grow about 85% of all crops in this country. then we have a number of farmers who grow specialty crops, fruit and vegetables, who get some benefit, but not as much as producers of corn, wheat, soy, rice and cotton, but it provides protection, crop insurance for the farmers, it provide for local regional farmers, funding for local market, farmers' markets for organic growers - they'll get help with crop insurance that reflects the value of the crops that they are growing. there's something for everybody.

if you were going to look at it, the two big parts are the parts largely for commercial agricultural production, and then very a snap. >> the foodstamp program saw pretty deep cuts. the republicans think it was not big enough. were you surprised at the bickering over that program in particular. >> one of the things about the farm bill cycle is it left money to go around. in 2008, the chair woman of the senate agricultural mittee, a top negotiator on the bill. she went to the senate saying "we have additional spending for snap." this week she'll say, "i was able to fend off basic structural changes to snapthat might have affected 4 million

people. that's because they have less funding to go around. >> why do you think this farm bill did get passed or looks like it will be passed, especially since it's a divisive issue. ron cline, a representative from wisconsin talked about farm bill fatigue. chair woman stabina and chairman lucas have been trying since 2011 to get a farm bill passed. it's been three years, it's been ups and downs, a roller-coaster, so there's part of that. the other thing too is along the way they included things to interest people beyond farm country. there's one year funding for payments in lieu of taxes. that was to bring westerners on to it. there are changes for organic growers, that's to bring urban and suburban lawmakers in.

there are some additional funding for food banks, to bring in a wider swath of lawmakers who might not necessarily come from agriculture or farm districts >> as we mentioned the president expected to sign the bill possibly this week. ellen ferguson with cq roll call thank you for your time. >> thank you for inviting me. >> at 8 o'clock eastern we'll have more on the farm bill debate. find out how proposed changes could affect you. >> now to california, where a drought has taken a toll on residents. despite some rain today the state is in the midst of a 3-year dry spell. in an effort to conserve california water, water supplies will be cut off starting later this year. residents are asked to voluntarily reduce their usage. we are joined from south pasadena. what does the move mean for

californians. >> well, it means that people will have to take measures to conserve. in fact, some californians are praying after the governor declared a drought memory si in the state. catholic churches in california recited a weekly prayer for rain. it came from the conference of bishops who said "our reliance of water reveals how much we are part of creation and creation is part of us." others are doing the same thing. praying for rain was an age-old tradition, coming up in the face of perilous drought. >> the picture is bleak. reservoirs running near empty. snow packs at record lows, parching farm land. faced with a drought of historic proportions, californian water

officials are taking historic measures. >> this is the first time in the 54 year history that projected water supplies have been reduced to zero. >> that's right, zero. the state has cut off water shipments to local agencies that served 25 million californians. farmers in water district will be forced to find water elsewhere. some are prepared to do that. >> the metropolitan water district serving los angeles and california has been preparing for this kind of emergency, with water storage and conservation. they have no plans to impose mandatory water restrictions it has called on citizens to conserve water. governor jerry brown is calling on californians to cut their water use by 20%. >> don't flush more than you have to, don't shower more than you need to. >> are californians listening,

how do they measure the 20%. >> i have been cutting back on my lawn waterering, on the time i've been cutting back on my shower time. that's so little. >> i don't want to conserve any water. i want to enjoy what i have. >> people work in a crisis mentality until it happens and it affects their lives. people in america are oblivious. >> a 2 minute shower could be a crisis for a lot of people. >> it would be for me. >> i'll cutit in half making it short. >> which is what. >> five minutes top. >> showering together, that helps. we should suggest that to people. >> if voluntary conservation doesn't catch on, nature may have to take tougher measures. >> when we have gone back in history there has been long droughts, megadraughts.

we could be in one of those. >> the four cast calls for light rain, but in california, it amounts to also than the proverbial drob in the buck elt. >> meanwhile the faithful prays for rain as they did at this catholic church in pasadena. they offer a prayer for state water officials saying "may god give them the wisdom and strength to balance the needs of people and commerce." >> they'll need that. praying for rain in california, are the prayers going to be a d answered? >> today they were. some on monday. there's a storm moving in. there's a large amount of drought for california stretching into nevada on the drought map, as we see on the storm system coming in offshore,

it's more of a coastal hugger. the low pressure system not just tracking on store, it's sending in rain along the coastline of california. so far san francisco has an inch. we should get closer to an inch in the next hour. the storm will swing in for mexico and arizona. that means we'll have cold air, dropping temperatures for the west coast, something they haven't experienced, and we'll get rain and mountain snow moving inland for the south-west during the course of monday. more details on where we have snow concerns coming up. >> thank you. also ahead on al jazeera america. new attacks against new jersey governor chris christie. dr philip seymour hoffmann found

dead in his new york apart. details from the scene when we return.

>> academy award winning actor philip seymour hoffman has died. he was found in a new york city apartment, and there are reports he died of a drug overdose. >> academy award winning actor philip seymour hoffman was a stand out on the screen and stage, earning 20 awards including an oscar for his role in the film "capote", he's better known for breakthrough performances in "booingy nights", "magnolia", and "almost famous", he awarded two tony awards for best actor. he had a public battle against addiction. he checked in last may to a clinic for substance abuse. he was found dead in his new

york city apartment. his family released this statement: >> philip seymour hoffman grew up in new york, attending new york university's tish school of arts. he leaves behind a long-time partner costume designer mimy odonel and their three children. >> i spoke with bill wyman earlier and told us how philip seymour hoffman stood out among the stars. >> he had a way of taking over the films. he wasn't a conventionally handsome man, he was shy, inward. he embodied emotions, fear.

he took a lot of daring roles, he was in "flawless" and he played the role of a nurse, and in "boggy nights", and "capoate," it was a mincing effeminate man, philip seymour hoffman was big and hulking, but he embodied the strange character and walked away with the acting accolades for that year. weeks ago it was announced that hoffmann would charge in a series about a middle aged man's pursuit of happiness. >> new jersey governor is taking more heat. the latest coming from the assemblym assemblyman. chris christie denied prior knowledge of the plan, even after his close aids were implicated. on "face the nation",

assemblyman john says he sees a shadow of doubt. . >> i have skeptisism in the governor statement. i haven't said he has responsibility for this or he knew when this was happening. that's something that wide said. i said the governor made a statement, and i have my doubt about the timeline. he could have known, but i have doubts about what he said. >> the government is firing back. telling supporters: sh >> david wildstein's lawyer said he had evidence that chris christie knew of the closures. if you plan an visiting cleveland, he will not book a flight on united airlines. it lost tens of millions of dollars on the cleveland route over the last few years. the area will lose $470 jobs.

it will reduce flights by two third as part of the cost cutting measures. >> president obama says many americans are struggling to make ends meet. he wants to raise the minimum wage. we have an indepth look at the struggles facing america's middle class. >> on monday al jazeera america starts a year-long conversation, rebuilding the dream. listen to this. nine out of 10 americans identify themselves as in or aspire to be in the middle class. almost all americans agree that the middle class feels squeezed after job losses, rising cost and stagnant raises. today's middle class is under pressure. >> i feel like i'm on a treadmill, sweating. >> 44% of americans today say they belong to the middle class. that's down nine points from 53% of americans who identified

themselves as middle class in 2008 when the recession hit. millions of middle class families that built their wealth through their homes found themselves under water. millions discovered that a college degree is not always enough to guarantee prosperity in the future. soaring student debt makes it harder for many to move up the economic ladder and bolster the american middle class. >> we called the local bank. how much stupid loans we -- how much student loans we have, we couldn't refinance. >> households are made you have anywhere between $40,000. the middle class insists on families that have a secure job, owning a home, access to good health care and a college education for children. add to that time off for

vacation and saving for retirement. these things are becoming harder to achieve. >> to achieve the american dream it's difficult. >> it turned into a nightmare, actually. >> rebuilding the dream is crucial. the most important part of the a robust economy is its middle class. spending by middle class families creates strong consumer demand and desperately needed tax revenue. without a strong middle class america's economy will falter. >> we are kicking off the coverage with a special show. i'll have a number of guests, a mixed bag but worth watching. >> a lot of great guests. watch: >> the polls in thailand are closed. the anger is growing among those

kept from voting. the latest ahead. life after football. former pro players joining forces to find careers after the game ends.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. here is a look at your top stories. >> award winning actor philip seymour hoffman died. the 46-year-old found in his manhattan apartment sunday morning, it may have been drug related. in 2006 he won an oscar for "capoate." >> secretary of state warned israel they could face boycotts if peace talks with palestinians fail. israeli took offense to the warning, calling it a threat. >> ukraine president viktor yanukovych returns to work after being out sick for four days. protesters are demanding that he step down and a new government take over, and is calling for

the release of imprisoned protesters. >> polls may have closed in thailand's election, many were unable to vote. yingluck shinawatra's party who called the elections is likely to win. official results are not expected for months. scott heidler as the latest. >> in the north neighbourhood prime minister yingluck shinawatra arrived as the polls open. setting an example she hoped millions of thais would follow on stund. >> it's our duet -- on sunday. >> it's our duty to vote. >> in other parts of the capital there are problems. >> this is one of the polling positions here in bangkok. even though the leader of the protesters vowed not to prevent voters coming in. his followers stationed themselves out the polling

position. the organizers opened the time. >> more than 400 polling center were closed in bangkok. some from blocked, some never got their ballots, and some have no workers. >> my right is to stand and make sure there is reform. >> 93% of polling centres were able to open in the capital. 90% choose the country accepted voters. because of the disruption. the number of the voters exercising a right would not be made known, that is unfortunate. it's clearly showing that the protesters are in the minority. >> in the ding dang district. the two sides square off. officials shut down voting. later the anti-government protesters pulled back, and a

group of people that demanded the vote marched to the building. >> this is a democracy. people can't show their support of the election. >> they broke through the front gate and demanded they be allowed to vote. they'll have to wait until special elections are scheduled for the thais who could not vote on sunday. with no clear definitive results, there's little chance that the election will soften the divisions between the thai people, nor will there be process in mending the political divide. >> voters in el salvador are choosing a new president. crime and security are the important matters. scuffles broke out outside voting centres. no one was hurt. a former rebel commander and leader of the leftist party is ahead in the polls. he may not have an outright

majority. for more we'll go live to andy gallagher. how did the voting go today? >> well, fairly brisk. we were at a polling station this morning. both parties were in full swing, campai campaigning, waving flags and convincing parties to vote for them. securi security -- when you talk to people on the ground, whether they are middle class, living behind security or they are poor, they want it sort out. there's a fragile truce. there's killings going on. we visited a lab yesterday where they find mass graves. 31 bodies. statistics are covered up because of the election. the scientists at the lab have

been told to stop further investigations. the polls have closed in the last few minutes. we are not getting exit data. there may be no definitive result. the winning candidate needs more that 50%, it's so tight it may come to a run-off. how much hope is there among people that any candidate here will be ability solve the crime problem. >> well both candidates are offering distinct views on how to tackle this. the flmn say they want to get gang members into educational programs. we have seen where gang members are breaking bread. the right wing party has a far for approach that's more about the iron fist that they are talking about, using the armed forces and military forces to crackdown. one thing is clear the gangs are here so long, they are well

entrenched. this is a problem that will not go away easily. is there a concern that the result of the election may spark more violence there. >> i don't think so. the fact that these two candidates is statistical. it comes down to what voters think, and which tactic will work. a third of the population lives below the poverty line. there's an issue of security and safety that is upper most in people's finds. robberies happened, there are killings and lists of the people. and the truce that is 2 years old and definitely fragile at the moment. serious concerns. >> afghanistan's presidential campaign has began, concerns of violence raises fears that the elections may be cancel.

we have more. >> people in kabul will have these faces staring down at them for the next two months. as presidential election campaigns kick off. they are finally allowed to put up posters. several front runners hope to compete with turn outs and rousing speeches. there were problems. as one candidate's followers fought with his deputy over men and women playing in a band together. while keeping the peace inside individual campaigns may be tough, the threat from the taliban is greater. we do no that enemies will attract the security of the election. we are well prepared. we have good experience of the past elections.

we are big in numbers and capabilities. we are much, much better this time. >> campaigning outside the capital will be important and vulnerable to ethnic and tribal influences. i'm worried the ethnic divide could be exploit. >> that's one of the concerns. that people might be using ethnic groups, religious groups. that is something they are trying to stop at national level and at the provincial level. it should be a natural process, and people should vote for who they like. >> the threat for the presidential election are so grave that some believe the vote may not take place. despite concerns over security, corruption and divisions across the country, sunday's launch of the campaign is a crucial start.

>> more than 100 people have been killed in government raids in the syrian town of aleppo. explosives were dropped on the rebel held town. most of those killed were civilians, including at least 10 children. government troops fought into rebel held towns. more than 130,000 people died since the civil war began three years ago. >> thousands of people against gay marriage protested in france. conservatives are upset with president francis hollande and his party. the interior minister warned that violence aimed at police will be dealt with marshly. >> in russia, thousands took to the streets of moscow, calling for the release of dozens of people arrested two years ago. the protests led to the rest of 400. it comes a few days before the world's attention shifts to

russia. in the winter olympics, a couple of days away. but first super bowl. >> it's super bowl country. the came going on in the met life area. every kid that steps on a football field dreams of playing in the n.f.l. and winning a super bowl. to players, it's hard to make the transition to post-football careers once the career is over. a group of players are pooling their resources. >> for some, when they walk off, there's not a path to endorsements. two years after leaving the game, 70% of players have gone bankrupt or are under financial success. even for the players that saved their money, the beside world is

a different ball game. there's a lot of research about transferrable skills. players have a phenomenal skill set if given the chance to nurture it and they respect the person coaching them. if i want to become an executive at ibm. it starts with the coach who is straining me as an in-turn, as a management trainee on my first real work experience outside of sport. >> we are having a 14th annual player networking event. >> founded in 2000. the player networking event is a way the n.f.l. and the pro football retired players are investing in the future of former players, for men that spent most of their lives being sought out and recruited. the important message is don't wait until you need a pay check to build your next career. >> i represent the 75 to 80% of players playing less than four years, who have not made enough money to go into a

business, be an entrepreneur. they have to go into the workforce, making high 20s, low 40s, which will be a culture shock. they have to start from the bottom and understand what it is they want to do and take the transferrable skills into a corporate america setting. they'll be more successful. >> one of those that got to the message is veteran quarterback. he is about to open three retrofitness franchises in jackson victim. >> you have to think about it while you play. you never know when the last year will come. i want to be a businessman, an owner of something. i want to have a legacy to pass on to my kids. so i joined up with retrofitness. >> with elevated incomes and college educations, one would expect n.f.l. players to have the tools needed to build productive careers. >> many times college athletes

will not get the chance to enter a career field. this is a place to be, it's the only place for players, for their career transition. >> they have been ak limbated to what it takes to succeed. my little thing will be to give them the totality of the picture of success. not every connection will bring a path to success. sooner or later the n.f.l. dream ends for every player. and for some the networking initiative is a place to prepare for a change they know is coming. ♪ change ♪ change ♪ i'm not the man that i used to be ♪ >> he was a premier sports agent leigh steinberg parlayed his

clients success outside the game. i asked what advice he'd give to richard sherman. >> he talked his way into national consciousness. he took a mainly out of miley cyrus's book and did something so dramatic that all the country is talking about it. first of all, since i think he preplanned it and was ready to do it to grab his moment of fame i say, "you succeeded, you did a great job to take a defensive back from the seattle seahawks and make him the top topic", super bowl week he can soften it, he can continue to be outrageous. richard sherman has the ability, if he plays well enough. that either he becomes a pet

rock, but if he interviews well and leaves a distinctive impression, america will allow a boisterous person to retract - it's harder to get the attention in the first place, and he has it. >> leigh steinberg was the inspiration for the main character in the movie "jerry maguire," starring tom cruz. the entire interview coming up on the top of the hour. what leigh steinberg was talking about - whoever plays well, whoever the mvp is, you write your ticket to maddison avenue, endorsements will be lining up. >> sounds like the way he twerked into america's mind. >> he saw the opportunities after. the thing about richard sherman is a lot of people found out he was not the person people thought he was, thug and that.

he graduated from stanford early while playing football. he's a bright guy. maybe we seized the opportunity. >> have we seen endorsements. >> he had a commercial in the game for dray headphones, airing tonight. we will see more of him, i think, doing commercials. >> and the game is coming up quickly and cooperating. so far, so good. >> i'm glad michael is here. this is a big di for the department. a day of prognosticating. for him, prognosticating the superboll and for me it's groundhog day. it's a great day. in fact, we watched what he was going to say. >> super bowl winner, i will not predict, but my weather forecast you cannot contradict.

why that's not a football, but my shadow i see, it's six more weeks of winter it must be. >> six more weeks of winter all right. folks in the north-east are feeling it. now, we were feeling it is where we are getting snow and hail in parts of the midwest. the same storm is headed to the north-east. right now, right where the big game is being played. it looks too warmed to get snow immediately tonight for the area of new jersey to new york. it will be changing over the snow and creating big, big problems. expect to have a very icy snowy monday morning across a major portion of the north-east. right now it is mainly some rain showers skirting through, and if you go further to the south you can see the next round of precipitation coming. it has a wintry mix in there. we'll have ice accumulations across indiana and ohio. temperatures now, as you can

see. you have 51 for new york, it is too warm to snow. it will be a rain shower through the first part of the evening. by the end of the game, as we get towards 11:00 pm we'll start to see the risk of cold air coming in and changing some spots around philadelphia to d.c. over the wintry mix or a rain snow fix. toronto, cleveland, temperatures in the 20s. they'll get snow. we have a band of a winter storm warning that impacts a portion of maryland, manhattan and new jersey. be prepared again for the morning of monday to bring one to three inches of snow at least. >> well, scientists in ecuador are keeping their eyes on an active volcano. two small explosions followed by a large one, sending ash into the air. lava flowed down the slopes.

volcanos located 85 miles south-east of capital keto. next - we introduce you to a would-be republican congressman running in four u.s. states. another catholic diocese files for bankruptcy in the wake of a church sex abuse scandal.

cl >> a former mayor who served the city of chicago for 22 years is in intensive care. richard daly was rushed to the hospital. his family said he fell ill whilst on a business trip to arizona. he's resting comfortably awaiting test results. he was elected mayor of chicago in 1989 and won five terms until retiring in 2010.

>> a roman catholic church filed for bankruptcy to settle lawsuits over sex abuse. brian rooney has the story in montana. >> the kath eed ral of st. hellens stands high on a hill. the diocese has 50,000 parishioners and 200 employees. it's the 11th u.s. diocese to declare bankruptcy in the wake of a settle: >> the idea that a future is unsettled is hard to talk about. i thought about some of the horrible things and how to engage them and help with what has been done. this may provide a means for that. two lawsuits against the arch diocese claimed that priests abused children from the 1940s to the 1970s, and the diocese shielded priests who were a

threat. victims were abused on school, playgrounds, camping ships. >> the bishop said in a press conference, i want to say i'm sorry. a victim's advocate posted: >> the arch diocese says it's been forced to look back on a lock unhappy history and the makes made. >> when someone was caught or suspected of doing this, it would be treated as an isolated incident and a strong sense of remorse would be a reason to think this won't happen again. >> the u.s. bankruptcy court in montana will be responsible for distributing $50 million to 362 identified victims, 2.5 million will be set aside for victims that may come forward later.

the arch diocese must publicise the name of priests involved. few of the victims have been identified, and some say the whole issue has not been a big topic of discussion. >> we don't talk about it, not because we are trying to hide it or anything like that. it doesn't come up, it seems. >> empty offices are evidence of cutbacks. most of the settlement will be paid by insurance. the arch diocese must come up with 2.5 million cash. there's a loft hurdle. creditors will have to vote to approve the deal. >> after a four-year court battle the first undocumented attorney was sworn in, surrounded by supporters on the steps of the californian building. sergio garcia became the first officially recognised undocumented attorney. he came as an infant, attended

law school, passed the bar exam to find out his licence was invalid because he was undocumented. he says he is the american dream. >> you know, i'm superexcited that my case inspires, you know, across the nation. i think independently whether you are blessed to be in this country, a lot of people are inspired. >> undocumented immigrants were allowed to document lou. the californian supreme court upheld the law. in an the effort to push lawmakers garcia promised to continue his work alongside immigration rights. >> for one candidate all roads lead to washington d.c. this man is increasing his odds at winning a primary by running in four states. this is all legal. the constitution says candidates

need to be 25, a citizen and a resident of the state when elected. it says nothing about prim ris. >> finally - street parades are in full effect in rio de janeiro as brazil kicks off another season of carnivale. hundreds of people turned out to dance in the streets. the festival is a test of the infrastructure with the world cup kicking off in june. last year's celebrations drew hundreds of thousands from all over the world dancing it up in rio. that does it for this hour. i'm jonathan betz. i'll be back in an hour with more news. headlines after the break.

>> you are watching al jazeera america live from new york. i'm jonathan betz with the headlines. >> award winning actor philip seymour hoffman is being remembered. the 46-year-old was found dead in his manhattan apartment this

morning. there's no official word on the cause of death. drugs may have played a roll. the actor run an oscar in 2006 for "capoate." >> a flare-up between the u.s. and israel after secretary of state john kerry warned the country could face boycotts if peace talks failed. israelis took offense calling it a threat. >> this week ukraine president viktor yanukovych returns to work. parliament reconvenes. demonstrators are calling for him to step down and for the release of imprisoned protesters. >> voters in el salvador are casting ballots. top issues are crime and security, a former rebel demander and leader of the leftist party is ahead of the polls. >> a live look - snow heading for the east coast. the weather easing up for super bowl, but temperatures will fall tonight and snow monday could

cause delays for tourists heading home. >> the score of the game. 5-0 seattle seahawks in the first quarter. "talk to al jazeera" is up next on al jazeera america. s . >> it's a blessing to be given a second chance. >> former sports superagent leigh steinberg is back in the game following the devastating professional and personal collapse. >> i chose a self-destructive way to block it out. that was alcohol. i spiralled down. >> inspiration for the movie "jerry maguire" talks about his comeback and head injuries in football. >> i called it a ticking time bomb and an undiagnosed health