uh la makers want to know why that chemical swill in west virginia happened. science verses creation, set to take place in kentucky. >> tensions between the

u.s. and afghanistan are mounting at this hour. there is a new report that claims afghan president is trying to broker a peace deal with the taliban. that deal would leave the u.s. out of the picture all together. in washington, and mike, have we heard any response yet? >> well, there's a briefing right now, and basically we have a lot of moving parts and people that are very angry about that report, who are slamming the obama administration, and they are handling of the sensitive negotiations now. they are at a standstill between the government and karzai. on the world stage, has stood in the way of much of what has tried to the ice is trying to accomplish given all of the blood and fresh sure that this country has spent in afghanistan. at 3:00 today, general joseph dunford, he is the commander of all international forces in afghanistan, will be here at the white house to

meet with the president, top officials from the pentagon, the secretary of state, the president, vice president, on down will be there at that meeting to talk about the end game. what is at stake here? that fours, some 10,000 americans 3,000 international troops to stay in afghanistan after the u.s. combat role is done there. here is the problem, he says he wants to wait until the next president is installed. the united states government has threatened him, saying if we don't get this soon, we won't be able to leave a force there, that's what is on the table today. i had an opportunity, on the capitol hill earlier food, to speak with both john mccain, two republican senators and lindsay graham as they came out of a closed intelligence briefing. had some very harsh words but for the administration as well. >> he is paranoid, and irrational.

but like most people with paranoia, there is a basis for that. and when he reads that the united states is planning on having everybody out by 2017, then think makes accommodations such as trying to negotiate with the taliban. that is completely unctionble. >> yes, they say, karzai is paranoid, as john mccain put, but he has no choice, but at this point to negotiate, and recall this is something that the united states has been trying to get to sit down for some time. you remember that big blow up, when the taliban showed up, flew their flag, and karzai left in a huff, saying we are not negotiating. apparently he has gone behind the united states back, and is talking directly to the taliban.

>> mike, there is another issue that the white house is dealing with that report. the congressional budget office that says that the affordable care act can have a much larger impact than once suspected. >> and that is the topic of conversation, just over my left shoulder as the chairman of the council of economic advise discoers, is briefing reporters and the reason they bring out the big guns is because this is potentially explosive. but the white house does have an explanation for this. now the ceo says the bottom line that something republicans are seizing on, is only ba marry care would cost this country the equivalent of 2.5 million jobs. that the cost curb is feinting down, but at least the growth of health care costs is slowing in this country, as a result of the affordable care act, that way have not seen any evidence that the aforthble care act is compelled those employers

to hire fewer people. simply giving people more choices. which they may not have had. >> . >> mike, thank you very much. >> thank you. ershundreds of recruiters and they assistance. john is in washington on capitol him, and the senate looking into the issue today, what do they find? >> well, there was a lot of anger, and hot air in the room. this is the national guard recruiting assistance program, turns out 1200 individuals are accused of taking money completely illegally, including 200 officer

tuesday basically recruit their friends. there were 106,000 individual payments made under the scheme under the eight years of its life. one person got $275,000, four individual whose have been identified got around $100,000 each. so a lot of money changing hands illegally. clair mckaskel is the senator from missouri. she is hopping mad about this. she called together the financial and contracting oversite committee. authorized by law. >> now, dale, obviously recruiting new recruits to the united states army is a good thing. and 24 scheme was a good thing at the time, but i think the issue is the way they went about it,

the mission use of funds. the misappropriation that was not intended to be used in the way it was. >> do we know whether this program was necessary in the first place. >> i think you have to look back to the era, 20005. the war was at it's height, the afghan war was still going on, and it is very difficult to recruit people to the army. i think much less so the u.s. navy and the air force, i think when you are fighting there, you have an element of protection. people were reluctant to sign up, and there was a real feeling that they may have have to resort to a draft. now here is colonel michael jones. and he said look, at the time, this was pretty much a last resort. take a listen. >> it was what can we avoided to do to avoided

a draft 357 because that was beginning because of all that was happening and all of the other traditional methods that had worked honestly for 20 years. >> weren't working. >> they weren't. >> and the scheme finally ended. congress can be moments away from sending that massive farm bill on to the president for the sit. the final vote expected within the hour. the five year overall cost nearly $1 trillion. it happened this morning part of delta's terminal was cleared out, after suspicious package was spotted.

that bag was removed for further investigation, business resumes shortly thereafter. now under the micro scope in washington. 300,000 people were without water after that toxic chemical spill, congress quantitie quantito know how it happened and the senate has called all parties involved to washington. what happened? >> into this particular body, but speaking of washington, d.c. d.c. and on the hill, the senate committee on environment and public works met for about two hours. they went over the safety and security supplies members in attendance.

now the secretary of state here in west virginia natalie, she called for a ten year study, on the long term effects of the chemical, that came into the elk river here, in west virginia, and here is some of the things that she has to say earlier, dell. >> one day we are told that the water is safe, the next day we hear that pregnant women should not drink it. it doesn't add up. either it is safe or not. quite frankly, people are fed up, they are angry, and they are scared. i have families telling me that they are melting snow just to be able to give their children baths. dealt, melting snow is what many of the families here have been doing for the past few weeks. most of them still not even bathing in the water, the water company here still distributing bottled water, in fact, the government here is just ordered them to reup

that. resend out thousands of bottles of walt tore the citizens here. so the situation is still very fluid. >> let me ask the basic question, do they know if it is safe to drink? >> that's a question that i think lawmakers, and even the people that live here are grappling with. no one is quite sure, because there's a lot of mixed messages. one day it is one chemical, the next day it is another. one days is 7500-gallons the next day it is 10,000-gallons. so no one really trusts what anyone is saying. you talk to people on the ground, they have absolutely no faith in the system right now, they don't want to take the risk. last night inside the house chambers at the state capital, about 50 residents voiced their opinion to delegates, we talked to one of them,

one of the women who was with her two children last night, we talked to her on the river earlier today, here is what she had to say. >> i am disappointed in the lack of leadership at the state to protect the average citizen. it wasn't something that was immediately toxic and we don't have thousands of deaths on ournd has but i want to make sure they are working hard to make sure this doesn't happen again. >> now, rachelle tells us that she and her husband and her two kids are looking to move out of the state. they are already begun the process, as you heard, she wants the state and legislatures to make good. as far as your question previously, dell, is the water safe? the tests are showing that the water is safe. the water company is saying that it is safe. independent tests we have done is showing that the water is safe.

yet, all of this information that is swirling around, no one is still quite trusting it, they want washington to act, they want the state to act, and they want them to make good on their. pros because a lot of the people here think in the past, it is just a lot of hot air, and no one is really real about the future. >> robert, thank you very much. in another hearing john mulligan targets chief financial officer appearing before the committee, he apologized for that massive data breach last year in detailed new security measures that are taking place. also talking about the need for a national coordinated effort to help retailers when public breeches occur. >> on behalf of target, i

am committed we will be an active part of the solution. >> and the senate is also calling for a federal law protecting all credit and debit card transitions. refailers are force today follow state laws and they differ from state to state. there's also a bill that would punish hackers with 25 years in prison. while quite a swing today on wall street, the dow right now is up. 68 points, this following yesterday's huge sell off, stocks giving a lift from that new report out on factory orders. when world leaders met in switzerland last month, many of them raised concerns about global water shortage. the u.n. predicting a crisis sometime within the next decade.

in california it is already there. five severe drought already prompting action. and jennifer, how bad is the drought and what is being done? >> dell, when the state's governor declare add statewide drought emergency, he said the situation is serious, and unprecedented. and clearly, while the state does not have enough rainwater it does have plenty of this, sea water. and harnesses the ocean to help solve some of california's water woes welt, it is closer than you think. >> we live in a world of water, oceans control the weather, give us food, and a place to play. but the irony is the sea can't give us what we need most these days. fresh water. that's where the promise of desahlennization comes in. a way to college the growing thirst, by taking the salt out of saltwater.

there carlsbad california hope for a future -- in the western hemisphere. when it is completed in 2016, the plant will provide 300,000 san diego residents. peter says it is time to dip our straw into the pacific ocean. it says it is worth it. >> without doing desahlennization, without having another source of supply, we would have shortages of water. >> large plants are already operating in the middle east. but the west has been slow even reluctant to adopt the technology. >> the promise of

harvesting water remains very much up for debate. with some water policy saying on the surface, desahlennization sees like a valuable option. there are a number of unresolved issues that must be addressed before we can say pass the salt. >> we would consider it an option of last resort, when you have exhausted all the preferable alternatives. >> that enormous energy demand, and that it's so expensive that it crowds out other alternatives. conservation, storm water, recycling waste water.

question sahlenization is not a new thing, in fact, santa barbara to the north, they built one in the 1990's when the state was experiencing another severe drought, but wouldn't you know, the rain started before they finished the plant, ultimately it was moth balled and now given the current situation we are in, there has been talk about maybe trying to restart that plant, but the equipment is so outdaded they say it would take two years to retrofit it. >> jennifer, thank you very much. and they are watching the skies in california but you have some pretty sophisticated instruments

things are changing slightly, starting to see storms come in, bringing in moisture. they are going well north, and now the change is happening just slightly, we are start tock see a little moisture here come in, just some light snow expected here. the storm track was going to the north, now changing just a little bit, hopefully get a few more storms and more snow to the mountains. it is a fight over evolution, as the owner of the creation museum takes on bill nigh the science guy.

well, the bulls haven't been run out of wall street just yet. the dough is up 69 points. putting the money back into the market. there is a new report out on manufacturing that is helping to lift the stocks. reporting sales jumped more than 3% in the holiday season. that was the first

increase in more than two years. >> it is a battle for the ages. squaring off against the owner of the creation museum. her going to be debating whether creationism is a scientific alternative. why so many people will be watching. >> teaching science for more than ten years astronomy professor has seen his students regularly question theories. he says they often challenge the theory that humans and other living things have evolved over time. students come to me and say i heard that such and such measurement of something that had previously been heard turned out to be wrong. when a debate about evolution takes center stage in kentucky, bellini the science guy host of the popular fv program, will face off against kim ham. owner of the creation museum.

five post add video blog, arguing that teaching creationism that they have already existed in their can't form is harmful to children. >> you want to deny evolution, and live in your world that is completely inkop with everything we observe in the university, that's fine. but don't make your kids to it, because we need them. >> that racked up nearly 6 million views. he fired back and challenged him to a public debate. >> he has an agenda to teach children not to believe in god. to teach them the result of evolutionary process is they came from slime over millions of years. in fact, bill nigh doesn't understand science. >> while, evolution is overwhelmingly accepted in scientific circles that same level of certainty does not exist in the american public. a few research poll conducted in december shows 60% believe in evolution, and 30% support creationism.

were most likely to support that belief. the debate is being held at the creation museum itself. a facility with a mission to prove literal interpretation of the bible, exhibits include a garden of eden room, where live reptiles and statutes of adam and've. >> with the controversy that's been around for decades, he takes the challenges in stride, and the debate in perspective. >> i think when students raise these questions it isn't just to be on stan minute, but it is because they want to understand ultimately what human beings have always wanted to understand. which is the truth. >> the event is already sold out, 900 people are expected to attend. but no matter who is received that, the debate will no doubt go on. jonathan martin, al jazeera. >> up next, archaeologies make a discovery of

should we say bib lickble proportions. program stun gran neighborhoods to disperse

here are today's ted lines. prompting hearings on capitol hill. a senate committee questioning state and local officials about that accident, that left 300,000 people without any water to drink. mrs. a new report out that claims the afghan president has been engaged in secret talks. trying to broker a peace deal that doesn't involve the u.s. white house meanwhile is urging to sign an agreement that would allow troops to remain in afghanistan beyond 2013, and so far karzai has refused. final passage of that massive farm bill could be minutes away. the bill would cut the program ebbing panned farm subsidies and expand the program. president obama is expected to sign that bill into law.

dealt with a storm yesterday that's what it looks like about 12 hours ago on the satellite plus the radar, enjoy the break, it is a short one, another storm developing here down deep in the heart of texas and look at how it just ex-nd pas. this area of snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain. two problem is the cold air in place. where it's cold enough it is all snow. which is in place because of all the snow, behind that other storm you are getting a large area of freezing rain, that's a coating of ice that will be the big story here with the next storm. you can can see the temperatures are at the freezing mark, you are getting rainfalling into that very cold air. now the storm will continue to push off to the northeast. waycan snow back here across kansas.

overnight tonight it effects the mid atlantic, and the northeast, and that will be tomorrow morning. it is all clear tomorrow across the southern plains. this ice area with quarter to half an inch of ask ice coating. a foot of snow or more. how about the timing here from washington, d.c. that's the rush hour. sleet and freezing rain, this will be a big coating of ice between six in the morning and noon. this snow line has pushed well to the north. it clears out by wednesday evening, you are talking about significant snowfall, but ice the big problem there along, i 95. >> brettish archaeologies believe they have discovered in this unusual because of it's size, it is as big as a football feed, and mostly undisduringed.

archaeologists are ex-and siting the site. thank you for watching, 101 east is next. and check us out at aljazeera.com. but behind the high walls of many city homes here, young girls continue to serve as slaves. known as kamlari, they are the daughters of indebted farmers, sold to landlords for little to no money.