>> the latest winter storm leaving pennsylvania in the dark. half a million have no power. >> it could take days to turn the power and heat on. >> a terror threat warning a day before the olympic games in russia, why airlines are told it be on the look out for explosives hidden in toothpaste.

>> a breath taking snapshot of a country on the brink. soldiers of the central african republic bad a man to death moments after the president promises peace >> and a touch of reality, a bionics hand allowing amputees to feel what they are holding. good morning. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. nearly 1 million people are waking up in the dark after another round of snow and ice caused massive power outages. wednesday's storm brought down trees and powerlines leaving residents in nine states without electricity. the weather shut down schools and colleges, closing highways in new york and pennsylvania. it caused widespread delays and cancellations for air

travellers. airports in chicago, new york and other areas cancelled flights. >> let's bring m maria. the storm hammered where you are. >> it certainly did. i'm standing inside the cafeteria of a shelter in this area. 105 people stayed here overnight. some will come in later to have breakfast. a third of those people are children. to give you an idea of how badly the area was hit, the shelter is running off of generato, and utility crews have been working overnight to try to get the power back up. >> it's the second winter storm this week. in its wake a trail of misery spreading 1500 miles across two dozen states, leaving 100 million to deal with snow,

slush and ice. >> i think you can only describe it as this is crazy. >> it's terrible. >> it's pennsylvania feeling the brunt. over 500,000 people are without power. the weight of the wet snow and ice downing powerlines plunging residents into darkness. with no heat and freezing temperatures, the governor is taking no chances. >> we have a total of 500 soldiers ready to response. i have requested the president to support an emergency declaration. >> the storm has had a direct iment pact. >> screws -- impact. >> screws are scrambling, but it could take a week to clear the trees brought down by the storm. it's dangerous and unpredictable. watch as the powerline causes a van to catch fire. further north problems of a

different time. the weight of snow look its toll on some homes, like the roof on this house in the bronx. >> new yorkers didn't fair any better on the streets, going a delicate dance on sloppy roads. >> this is worse than i have ever scene. there was havoc on the highways. plough in indiana trying to clear the roads. this chain reaction shut down i94. in new jersey an elderly couple had to be rescued. at the airports a nightmare. nearly 3,000 cancelled flights left many passengers stranded. >> right now i'm not going anywhere. >> it was wisconsin, and illinois with good news as 50,000 tonnes of ice came in on

two ships, after a third storm is expected to hit this weekend. >> i've had enough, please, no more snow. >> the red cross is trying to consolidate everyone in shelters. they'll transfer everyone to a larger facility holding 1300 people an hour west of philadelphia. >> how long do you think before people in the area can get their power back. >> yes. they are talking about a couple of days. saturday even in this area. i spoke to a person who stay said here overnight a while ago. he said it's a wait and see game. >> maria reporting from chester. thanks so much. >> the mid west and north-east have been hit by storm after storm. it's a different story in the west. let's bring in meteorologist with a system that is welcome news for an area that has drought.

>> january through march should be the we season in the west coach. we have been dry. a lot of places set records for being the drier year. we need the rain. here is the broad picture. the system in the north-east has moved out. a lot of slick spots, refreezing overnight and textures not doing um. it will be a cold day. here is a look at the west coast. we have the moisture moving in. between today and tomorrow with a couple of different systems, it will be very, very beneficial. we are going to see parts of northern california that could get several inches between today and tomorrow and southern california - widespread areas with half an inch or more. here is my information with that. we need the rain so desperately. here is the area, the drought area. when you have not had rain, you

get a build-up of oil and debris. it can become slick if you have not had rain watch it away. it's not hydroplaning, but watch for the conditions. here is the forecast over the next calm of the days. a lot of wet weather. in a couple of days from now maybe more snow back. even that is beneficial. it melts as we get into the spring. here is the forecast - not as warm as it has been because of the system, but the rain is so beneficial we will take it. on the other side the last system that went through, cooler area. some places 40 degrees below average. more than the temperatures in a couple of minutes. >> the opening ceremony for the winter olympics in sochi russia kicks off. americans travelling to the games have a new terror warning.

erica pitzi explanation it's one of many potential threats. >> more than 10,000 americans travelling to sochi face another threat. terrorists may try to use toothpaste containers to smuggle exsplosives. >> it's inyeahed yible -- incredible. >> it does not target americans specifically. vladimir putin insists that the games are safe, stationing 40,000 police in and around sochi. rick nelson told al jazeera he expects more terror warnings to come out, adding that it can be a hard balancing act. >> how much information do you put out so the public can be smart and wise, but you don't want to tip your hand to the terrorists. i expect there'll be more indicators. it's a difficult thing for the

department of homeland security. >> another concern with the threat is the form of explosive. >> we have seep in the past where -- seen in the past whether the enemy is adaptive. with the shoe bomb are, there was bombs in the shoes. the caring j container -- cargo container bomb in yessen. >> a tube of toothpaste may seem too small, consider this if the shoe bomb had been successful the people on that flight would have experienced something similar to this. >> let's go to paul brennan in sochi. competition got under way, with qualifying for a snow boarding event. the olympics are here. what security would the average spectator experience. >> it's interesting. it's a layered sense of

security. people will not be able to turn up behind me and go through a stringent process. if they get string et processes there'll be bag searches. they'll be told not to bring in liquids. that's to prct the interests of the -- protect the interests of the concession stall holders and security. to get to sochi you have to enter a security zone, designated some months ago. most people cannot fly direct. there are metal detectors to get to the venues themselves. they need a spectator pass to get into the wide area. it's layer after layer, and that is why the rushesans are saying the -- russians are saying the venues themselves are secure much president obama said that he believed sochi, itself, was probably going to be the most secure games that there has ever

been. >> sounds like a fortress. the u.s. navy moved a pair of worships into the back sea with 500 sailors n standby ready to help american athletes and fans. with the extra security. what is the atmosphere like now in sochi? >> it's interesting. although the security is overt, it's not obstructive. there are police officers pretty much on every corner as you are driving from the freeway. there are officers on each intersection. we came in by train. it was the easiest way to get here. as well as the metal detectors, we noticed officers stationed along the track. so despite that, the atmosphere is relaxed. the sun is shining. it's cold, but not ridiculously

combed. people have their colourful track suits on, the qualifying has begun, the opening ceremony is tomorrow. people hope that despite the police presence, they'll enjoy the sport. >> let's hope so. paul brennan for us in sochi. russia. >> for months we vice-president covering the violence in central african republic and now we have a shocking story, one that illustrates the level of brutality. a man was attacked by a mob of soldiers while attending a political rally. we must warn you this story has graphic images. >> it begins with pomp and circumstance at a ceremony for the country's new interim president catherine samba-panza. surrounded by soldiers and

citizens, she addresses the crowd and calls for national unity. the president waves and leaves. it is then that the violence erupts. moments after her exit and in full view of photo journalists troops in uniform turn against a man suspected of belonging to a rebel group, a group that led a coup. a photographer from "time" magazine was his make was idris and to be muslim. he's the victim of a tidal wave of barr barrianism. one person there to enlist is heard shouting he will kill him. without warning shots or chance to escape. the man is helpless. the soldiers stab him, kick him and hit him with concrease blocks. a man tries to intervene but is whisked away. a man that taned a day of unity

is no more, and what is left is his body on the street. his death, one of thousands in central african republic, a country torn apart, and one appearing to plunge deeper into chaos. that sectarian violence shows no signs of letting up. rebels that fled bangui are regrouping in the north-west, where they are launching new attacks. the political crisis in ukraine is taking a toll. they fell to its lowest level. it is down about 10% since anti-government protests began in november. neve barker is in kiev with the story of a protest work are claiming to be tortured. this man is a symbol for the protesters and the fight. >> he has.

and the case of dmytro bulatov has sent chills throughout the protest moves, not only in kiev, but nationwide. he left ukraine, heading to lithuania, he's being treated by doctors. he gave a long press conference in which he went through the day to day experiences that he went through at the hands of unknown assail ants. he describes having been tortured, crucified. in what seems to have been a systematic, professional form of treatment. he describes being punch the and kicked in ways that only trained men would be able to know. suspicions immediately here at least have fallen with the ukrainian security services. the authorities continue to deny involvement. there are fears growing for 30

members of the opposition movement that are missing. the fear is that something similar to them would be something very similar to the dmytro bulatov situation would have happened to them. >> neve, i understand that during the press conference that dmytro bulatov said the men that did that to him had accused him of working with the u.s. can you tell us more about that? >> well, that's right. all part of the systematic form of kidnapping and torture. he said that he was regularly interrogated, and those were filmed. he was largely asked questions about where financing for the automaidan opposition movement came from and asked to shed light on allegations coming from his captors, but his movement had been funded by the

americans. dmytro bulatov said under extreme torture, just to make the pain stop, he gave a false account of having been paid by a u.s. ambassador, receiving $50,000 to assist the automatedan movement. and also video cameras. he repeated that these were allegations made falsely and he was making the statement in order to make sure that the beatings stopped. >> neve barker for us in kiev. thank you so much. >> north korea may be backing out of a deal to allow families of north and south korea to unite. the two sides hammered out a deal that would let... (technical difficulties) ..

.. ..reunion take place. the last time families separated by the korean war saw each other was $2010. >> a top state department official for east asia said china needs to clarify territorial claims. six countries believe they have rights to reefs and islands. and there's a separate dispute between japan and china. half the world's goods are shipped through they say water. >> leaving west virginia. >> the cost of living here in west virginia is too high for my children. >> why some say the water cop tam nation scare is forcing them to pack up and leave. >> it's the body standing up, that he took. that caused mr reeves to fear for his life.

>> killed over a tax message. a became hearing for an accused gunman is head. a decision by the hug. >> new technology allows amputees to feel with bionic hands. >> i'm ross shimabuku, winter games is underway tomorrow. there's action on and off the slopes. >> and taking a live look at a beautiful supy day in -- sunny day in sochi, russia.

>> good morning, welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. federal officials trying to calm fears on the water in west virginia. >> first the temperatures, meteorologist nicole mitchell is back. >> definitely problems this morning. because of yesterday's snow and ice storm it brought down so many powerlines that parts of

philadelphia, for example, one the hardest hit, temperatures 25 degrees and through the region in general, it will be cold if the pour is off. temperatures below average. it will be a concern. behind the system we have temperatures as much as 30-40 degrees below average. a chilly day in that direction as well. hopefully the power will be on. >> thank you. is the water safe it drink? people in west virginia are still asking that question weeks after a dangerous chemical leaked into the water supply. as robert ray reports state officials gave the water the green light. some residents are not convinced. >> four weeks after a hazardous water spill, leaving 300,000 unable to drink the water, west virginia's governor, members of the c d.c. and other officials made an appearance at the state

capital, trying to calm the public. >> i am frustrated and angry. i share concerns about the water crisis as does my team in west virginia. the national experts that we depend on. >> at the request of the governor, the centres for disease control sent a lead scientist to charleston. >> i can say that you use your water however you like. you can drink it, you can bathe in it, you can use it how you like. >> the epa says the spill site on the elk river is stable. some public health officials are questioning the safety of the water. >> we are live unwilling participants in an experiment that we don't know a lot about. >> how afraid were you?

>> very. >> worried residents like mother of two rochelle are planning to leave the state. >> my husband and i are born and raised in west virginia, i love our state, but as i told friends, the cost of living here is too high for my children. >> despite the effort on wednesday by the governor and officials to ease concern and restore faith, the state of emergency conditions, water distribution sites are open and the smells linger, as well as worries about long term effects. >> federal lawmakers are looking at regulating the nation's water supply. the senate introduced a bill aimed at similar chemical spills. >> the opening ceremony gets under way in sochi. >> the reason why the games are starting early is there are 12

new events. one of them is slope-style minus shaun white. more on that in a bit. it's caused controversy. cann aid can max parrot has the best qualifying run scoring 97.5. charles godermot finished 86.5, fifth. the top eight will qualify for the finals. the remaining athletes will fi for the four remaining spots. white fell and injured hits wrist. he had issues with the course, calling it intimidating. he issued a statement saying: >> shaun white is the 2-time olympic defender of the halfpike and will focus in on that.

the halve pike competition gets under way next week. an injury will scope steven stam coat off the ice. the tampa bay all star will condition his rehab and miss the sochi games. >> stephy is gushing about david beckham's underwear commercial. the former soccer star and male model is taking his talents, bringing professional soccer to miami. his investment group reportedly includes lebron james. the group price $25 million, that's a discounted rate. it was established when he signed on as a player with l.a. galaxy. bcks is not sure when the team will play. he admits there'll be challenges. >> to have something successful you have to work hard.

there'll be challenges and bumps along the way. we are aware of that. it was an important announcement. we have announced that we are coming to miami. i think people were hoping that we'd have the team made, that we would have the stadium lock down. these things take time. >> who thinks more is better than less? it's not complicated. the n.f.l. is bajing on more -- banking on more viewers thursday night football. 70 million viewers on cable, versus 150 eyeballs on network tv. several hundred thousands plans partied up in celebrate the seattle seahawks championship. 700,000 fans is greater than the estimated population of seattle 643,000. the party ended up at the stadium, the seattle seahawks making the fans the 12th man.

the seattle school district reported 75% of children were ansent. ditto for 565 teaches. i believe they are on the field and streets. >> they hadn't had a major sporting win for three decades. >> dealing with america's hidden heroin epidemic. >> i felt i had found a solution. >> the struggle of overcoming addiction, and how one state is dealing with the problem. >> is a surprising response from the vatican following a report on the church sex scandal. and twitter stock may have dropped, but it has plenty of power in the market. a look at how twitter trends influenced

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy, and these are the top stories. snow and ice knocked out pour to more than a -- power to more than a million homes and businesses. it shut down highways, schools and grounded flight. a warning ahead of the games. terrorists could use toothpaste tubes to smuggle expressives on planes. >> another ukraine opposition leader says he is was beaten by the public. dmytro bulatov says he was questioned about being an american spy. >> results of an autopsy on actor philip seymour hoffman are inconclusive. more tests need to be underfan. it looks like he died of an o r

overdose. the great white way had its lights dimmed. the actor's death is shining a spotlight on a spike in heroin abuse in the cause. some states are calling it a full-blown crisis. >> this is what drug addiction looks like. the hungry heart is a new documentary focussing on the effects of opiate abuse. the film is centered and fred holmes, former paediatrician. >> if you take care of someone with an addiction, there's no road maps for guarantee. no defined outcome on the basis of past experience. it gets difficult. >> lamont's heroin epidemic made headlines. the population is 650,000, but

has the highest drug rate. $2 million worth of hoirp and opiates are trafficked into the state every week. the number of people needing treatment has increased by 770%. the drugs problem in the state and this region reflect a national trend. figures from the drugs enforcement administration, the dea shows in a five year period starting in 2008 the number of americans using heroin has doubled, so too overdoses. changing attitudes is essential. >> we need to address it as a health issue, not a criminal issue. we need to dispel the stereotype and the prejudice and the stick ma that exists authorities individuals. this woman was 30 when she took a payne killer for backpain.

>> felt i would breath and found a solution to being in in world. an addiction gave way to heroin and crack campaign. she went to rehab. on thursday she'll celebrate three years of sobriety. every day she worries for her children's future. >> i wish there was something i could do to guarantee they don't have to live that pain. i'm fully aware of the fact that i'm one of the lucky knew that made it out. >> as any addict tells you making it out is one thing. staying out is a lifelong struggle. only 10-20% of addicts stay off drugs after leaving rehab. an emotional hearing for a retired cop accused of texting a man in a movie theatre. curtis reeves wept in court.

he is facing murder charges in the death of chad olson. his wife was shot and was there for the bail hearing. >> you will learn from the witnesses they'll testify that it the no time did mr olsen threat ep, strike or touch mr reeves in this case, judge. >> the judge says he'll allow surveillance video from inside the theatre to be shape in court. reeves has been held in a court since the shooting. the bail hearing is expected to resume on friday. >> concerns over attacks on the u.s. power grid. the power station was a target of terrorism. a stiper attack on gas and electric in april, that knocked out transformers could have been a pre-trial rup. the fbi says there's no proof of that. a team that killed them would be

send to rehab instead of gaol. attorneys argued his parents coddled him. the lawyers called it affluenza, outraging the families of his victims. critics say it shows how justice treats rich kids differently. >> an alabama mother kicked out of court for breastfeeding had three months old. she was waiting for a child support hearing when her infant got hungry. when she started to breastfeed he was ordered out of the court room. but mums have an a local right to breastfeed. . >> i will come ut. i will have it printed out. i'll be ready next time. >> alabama state code says a mother may breast feed her child in any location public or

private. >> he was a successful singer on "american idol", clay aiken now want a career change and will run for is the senate. he is determined to make a political mark. >> and i see it as a responsibility when you get into the public eye and have the platform, to use it for something more important than yourself. >> the runner-up in the 2003 "american idol" show became a father in 2008 and acknowledged that he is gay. >> twitter blew expectations out of the water. stock is trading over $70 after its initial public offering debuted at $26. investors are wary of twitter's long of this term growth. it hasn't stopped them using the social media site to gain an

advantage. >> an increasing number of vestors looking for an edge use twitter as a gouge of market sentiment. >> if you are an investor, and you are not paying attention, you are missing an important piece of the puzzle. >> august 13th, 2013, on that date billionaire investor carl iken tweeted to his 142,000 followers: >> trading doubled. >> carl iken is a smart man. >> howard linsen - his company got a start on twitter. it is a separate and profitable social member with more than half a million users and warns that posts are not investment advice. >> investors need to beware this

is the wild west. >> joe runs social markets analytics. a greying number of companies -- growing number of companies that develop twitter data. they turn tweets into quantifiable bits of data. othe othersar included. >> we have hedge funds, by sideforms, banks, financial institutions that can take advantage of this. social market analytics tracks the tweets of 450,000 investors to determine which stocks groups of traders are tweeting about. a positive score moons investors are talking about buying. >> we are not taking the sentiment on individuals. >> that preach could minimise the risk of tweets designed to minimise market or hacking into

asserted press. the syrian electronic army gained control of the ap's account and posted a text claiming there was an explosion at the white house rur. >> the do you dropped. eventually it recovered. regulators can't stop hackers or those intend on using twit are, they are trying. the securities and change commission fined an invest mag for making misleading statements. via twitter. >> thompson broader is adding twitter. bloombergs displace select twitter posts. >> sony is making changes. the japanese electronic company is selling its pc unit and spinning off fv operations. it is slashing 5,000 jobs, 3% of its workforce. the restructuring will result in a $1 billion loss for the

company. >> wall street distributing games. the dow starting the day: >> in asia markets were mixed. the nikkei fell, but the hank sending rose three-quarters of a percent. european market are higher ahead of monetary policy decisions. greenmount an shares is amalgamating with another to serve cold drinks. >> general motors will a big jump in profits thanks to rising sales in the u.s. in china.

gm has to focus on innovation going forward. >> between the advance driver systems with blind spot monitoring and adaptive cruise control or the info tapement systems, everyone is trying to make technology - tut-tut it at the -- put it at the forefront. sales in january fell nearly 12%. a scathing report slams the vatican for its handling of clergy sex abuse. the clergy's suppressing rehabilitation to a united nations report. >> the new bionic sec knollingy giving am -- technology giving amputees feeling back. >> and finally rain for areas devastated by drought. >> a live look at sochi russia.

it's 45 degrees as they get set to kick off tomorrow. the opening ceremony.

>> the united nations and the vatican facing off over paedophile priests. in a new report the u.n. accuses the church of protecting its reputation instead of preinging chin. the church -- protecting the children. the church is fighting back saying the report is bias, we look at the criticism. >> the report lists many failings and has many recommendations. the church is still moving guilty abusers from parish to parish to avoid prosecution. that must stop. there's a code of silence when it comes to reporting abuse. that must stop. all known and suspected abusers must bet removed and reported to

the police wherever they are. the church must pay compensation and provide rehabilitation to victims. the crisis plagues the credibility of the chch and its new -- catholic church and its now coach. francis set up a committee to deal with it. the u.n. says they have to call on outside help. >> the credibility of the church will be at stake unless there's zero tolerance, protecting children to the hilt, all the protection that they need and deserve. >> the report's tough stance will be welcomed by vic tums of abuse -- victims of abuse worldwide, numbered in the tens of thousands. >> for so long we have been disbelieved. for so long wet have been criticised because they - the church said that we were only after money or we are ant kath olic.

>> this is a clash of cultures between the u.n. determined to uphold the rights of child and the vatican. a hire arkical institution used to keeping its business secret. it's a challenge to pope francis. can he turn the language into a change into the secretive culture of the church. >> for more on the catholic church's reaction to the u.n. report we are joined by theology chair. good morning. good to have you. what is your take on the report. how many of the recommendations will the vatican follow, how many will it ignore. >> like the report says, it's a clash of cultures. we have the u.n. standing up for what we may think of as a progressive western take on the rights of the child. the catholic church is saying hold on, if we go down the line we won't have relageous freedom.

there's deeply held valuation, that may make if difficult for the parties to talk. >> the vatican is party to the convention on the rights of the child. it should be under the purview of the united nations body. among the recommendations that it makes, the vad can -- vatican remove those involved in child abuse. how controversial is it? >> very. one of the interesting things about the report is government leaders around the world could step up the candour of their criticism. back in 2011 the prime minister of ireland stood up in his parliament and said this has to stop. that's a catholic country. a place that would never have had that criticism. there's a more open dialogue. the vatican has gone to the u.n., they testified in front of a u.n. body.

>> home dialogue. it took them 14 years to be in front of the u.n. body. >> it did. >> the u.n. claimed that the vatican kept a code of silence, refusing to share internal files with the commit me. there's a lot to be left with transparency. >> that's right. >> and whether the catholic church laid its cards on the table. >> i don't think it happened yet. as your reporter said, this is an organization that prizes its pry si, confidentiality, and one of the conflicts that the new pope, in other ways have been capturing the imagination of others, he'll have to figure out how to take in a culture, centring on clericalism. and it allows some of the outside forces to come in and affect the way in which business is done. >> let's talk about pope francis. he was on the cover of rolling

stone. the report uses the word progressive to describe the statement he made last july. do you foresee major changes in the way sexual abuse is handled. >> one of the things that this pope has done, in other areas, not on child sex abuse, he has created a space for a new conversation. i don't know what is going to happen on this issue. it's something that has been a challenge for the church. i hope that he listens to the people around the world who are coming to the vatican. we have a report from germany and switzerland. 85% are saying church issues needs to change. there's a tension of what is taught and what many who belong to the churn, what they believe. >> the report was meant to

address child abuse, but it included recommendations on the church's laws regarding homosexuality and abortion. what did you make of that. the vatican seems to think it reaches too far into doc trip. >> first of all, we have to say the abuse of any child by anybody in any tradition is an absolute. it's a horror. something no one would want to have happen. >> would the u.n. have gotten a better hearing. maybe. all of these issues are connected to each other, in the way that you teach about gender and clergy, the way you teach about god. these things line up with each other. and so the u.n. body is thinking about protecting civil rights as it understands it. thus it felt like he needed to go to the areas. >> theology chair at fordham

university. >> a major blow to freedom of expression in turkey. the country's parliament approved a bill tightening government control of the internet. it gives turkey's telecommunication agencies the power to block websites without court authorisation and requires providers to keep records on activities of users. they'll be required to hand them over to the government without notifying the users. wordpress and vineo was blocked. youtube blocks were lifted in 2010. >> the members of team usa will have to do without his i don't go ard. the russian government is blogging a shipment. they say the proper paperwork was not submitted. the container are sitting in cold storage at newark airport.

new york senator is blasting the blockade. the yog urt company is an official sponsor. the company said he hopes the yewing urt will be given diplomatic im community. now for the weather. >> i don't know if they'd need the cold storage, they could put it outside. everyone without power, after the system went through, is suffering. that system cleared up. we are watching - because there's so much cold air in the mid section of the country, 30 or 40 below averageful snow in parts of oklahoma and texas. what we are excited about is the rain. it's moving to portions of california, northern parts of california. inches of rain in an area crippled by drought of the be careful on the roads. you get the build up and it's

slicker. the north-east cleared out. it will monitor moisture rolling through the south and west. a lot of the country is quiet. we are keeping a lot - a lot of people are talking about this, our eye on a clipper, but something brewing off the east coast. far enough away for not significant know, but we'll have to monitor that. >> police may be a step choser to recovering an stratavarius. they were accused of using a stun gun. it is worth $5 million and is still missing. >> it's a break through in the field of prosthetics, a bionic hand that allows amputees to feel objects. it can sense the shape and stiffness of items ooen when the use ir -- even when the users is blipd folded.

>> efforts to connect the human body to feel is new. we have made an enormous leap. a han that lost his left hand in a fire works accident was fitted with a prosthesis connected with the nerves in his upper arm. wearing a blindfold and head phones he distinguished between a bottle, baseball and mandarin orange, and could press with light, medium or firm pressure. it's the first true robotic sense of touch. without it people who watch limbs must match the article hands to make sure they have a grip. a sense of touch could restore the unconscious grace of human limbs. typically it moves from the brain out wards. a joint research allowed a paralyzed woman to control an

arm and bring a drink to her lips. a washington department allowed one to control a person's fingers across campus and chinese researchers allowed a wheelchair bound patient to control a flying drone with brain waves. this was the cutting edge of this technology, the thought of sending from the artificial limb to the nerves, fooling them to feel what your missing limb felt. it will allow functional things like picking keys off a table, running hands over a cloth, holding children's hands and get back what they've been missing. >> jacob ward. the next step is to shrink down the size of the technology, eliminating external cables. >> a man behind beloved tv shoes

tied. arthur rankin helped to create "rudolph the red-nosed reindeer", and others. he passed away at his home in bermuda, at the age of 89. dell joins was a look at the stories we are following. >> love them cartoons. u.s. officials warning about warnings in sochi. terrorists may try to use tubes of toothpaste to snuggle explosives. >> trees and powerlines down across the north-east. >> a plan to allow families in north and south korea to reunite could be in jeopardy. the north says it will consider if the south moves ahead. >> c.b.c. cuts tobacco from its stores. why that mate not be got for the

chain store >> and using soccer to help the homeless make a change in hair lives. >> i'm meteorologist nicole mitchell, we are seeing rain in the west coast coast, what does that mean for the drought. >> del walters and libby casey are back in 23.5 minutes. -- in 2.5 minutes.

>> it is 4:00 p.m. in sochi. you are looking live as the sun sets on anotheray there. there are security warnings. u.s. officials sounding the alarm for americans traveling to the games. >> winter storm aftermath, power outages in pennsylvania leaves thousands in the dark with and now concerns over when the heat and light will turn back on. >> they're constantly trying to help us, it's not just soccer,

but the community itself. >> using the power of soccer to help the homeless score goals and and off the field. >> all we want to do is see his movie, that's it. i don't need to get on his account. if you guys could -- >> a passionate plea. one father is asking facebook and you tube to help honor the memory of his son. >> good morning. welcome to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. >> i'm libby casey. just a day away from the opening olympic ceremony and new security threats for american athletes and fans heading to sochi. >> u.s. intelligence sources now saying terrorists may try to smuggle bombs onboard planes using tubes that tooth paste. we're talking about back-to-back threats in this case. >> that's right, del, those

intelligence leaders just said in a congressional hearing they're tracking specific olympic threats, the latest a cyber security threat against anyone with a smart phone and then this terror threat about bombs on planes. >> more than 10,000 americans travel to go sochi for the olympics now face another security threat. new intelligence information shows terrorists may try to use tooth paste containers to smuggle explosives onboard planes. >> i believe that it's very specific and credible information. >> the threat does not specifically target americans, but the alert affects flights directed to russia. president putin insists the games are safe, stations 40,000 police and armed services in and around sochi. >> they've given him a warning. >> intelligence expert expects more terror warnings to come out surrounding the games, adding it can be a hard balancing act. >> how much information do you put out there for the public can

be smart and wise but at the same time we don't want to tip your hand to much information you know to the terrorists, soiled expect, you know, that there will be more indicators like this. it's a very difficult thing for the department of homeland security. >> nelson says another concern with this particular threat is the form of explosive. >> we've seen where this enemy has been creative and adaptive with the shoe bomber richard read able to put explosives in the shoe. we saw a cargo bomb out of yes, ma'am anyone. these individuals have adopted their technique to say fit into everyday items. >> the other latest olympic security threat stems from everyone in the sochi area who uses a computer. hackers are going after smart phones, too, experts say the information they get could be financially or physically harmful. >> will we ever be safe? thank you very much. >> before fans can get into the venues in sochi, you'll have to

make it through security first. paul brennan joins us now. what kind of security search will the fans actually experience? >> well, it's a big security operation, as you can imagine. it's not just here, at the perimeter, the whole zone around sochi extends for hundreds of square kilometers. you can't really get a direct flight into sochi airport. you have to come through moscow. you can imagine the metal detectors, body scan, baggage scrutiny there, too. the idea of a tooth paste explosive being smuggled actually refers to flights coming into russia. once you're in russia, the security is very tight indeed as pledged by president putin. here at the olympic park, you've got standard bag checks, body

searches, metal detectors, sniffer dogs. you are not allowed to take liquids in, largely to protect the commercial interests of stores inside, but security very tight. >> what's the atmosphere like with all the security in place? >> actually, it's rather relaxed. there is a high profile security operation, police at every railway station, making regular patrols of the perimeter fence behind me. they're basically all over the place, intersection of roads, but they're not actually obstructive. they are checking cars, but not actually really causing major delays. the atmosphere is actually one of great expectation. it's sunny here, you can see it is cold, of course, interolympics, but people are dressed in bright track suits, the different nations coming together. there is the hope that the fear of security threats is actually going to be overtaken by the joy of the actual sport getting underway.

>> thank you so much. paul brennan in sochi, russia. >> this morning we're hearing from leading protestor saying he was tortured by the ukraine government. he said he was beaten or eight days. he's become a symbol for protestors who want the president to step down. today, he said his abusers wanted information. >> most of all, these people were interested by who was giving the money, how much the american ambassador is giving, who is giving commands to us, whose orders we follow, which relations we have with the american ambassador and the americans. >> he is currently in lithuania, receiving medical treatment. >> almost a million people

waking up in the dark this morning after yet another round of snow and ice causing massive power outages, storms bringing down trees and power lines. residents in nine states are without electricity. schools and colleges are closed as well as hirples in pennsylvania. 17 miles west of philadelphia, maria is with us. that area got hammered. >> it certainly did, del. i'm inside the cafeteria of a shelter here. 105 people stayed here overnight, about a third of them children, just to give you an idea of how bad it's been here, this shelter is running off of generators. utility crews have been working overnight to try to get the power back. >> it's the second winter storm this week. in its wake, a trail of misery

across two dozen states, leaving 100 million to deal with snow, slush and ice. >> i think you can only describe it as this is crazy. >> but it's pennsylvania feeling the brunt this morning. over .500 thousand people are without power. the weight of the wet snow and ice downing power lines, plunging residents into darkness. with no heat for all those people and freezing temperatures lingering for the next week, the state's governor is taking no chances. >> our national guard has been activated. we now have a total of 500 soldiers ready to respond, and i have requested the president to support and emergency declaration. >> this winter storm has had a direct impact all across the state of pennsylvania. >> crews are scrambling, but officials say it could take up to a week to restore electricity and clear the trees brought down by the storm. it's dangerous and unpredictable. watch as this power line causes a van to catch fire.

further north, problems of a different kind. in new york, the weight of the snow took its toll on some homes, like the roof of this house in the bronx, which was crushed in. >> heavy snow load, heavy type of roof construction. >> new yorkers didn't fare better on the streets, doing a delicate dance on sloppy roads. trains in subways stalled. >> this is the worst i've ever seen. >> plows in indiana trying to clear roads, while this chain reaction spin out in michigan shut down i-94. in new jersey, an elderly couple had to be rescued when their car stalled in three feet of water. at the nation's busiest airports, nearly 3,000 canceled flights left many stranded. >> supposed to go to miami, but right now not going anywhere. >> wisconsin and illinois got good news as 50,000 tons of salt came in on two ships, a welcome

sight as another possible blast, the week's third storm is expected to hit this weekend. >> i've had enough. please, no more snow. >> the red cross wants to consolidate the people in different shelters in the area, so they're going to transfer everybody to a larger facility that holds 1300 people about an our west of philadelphia. del. >> maria, do we have any idea at this hour how long it is going to take to get the power back on? >> well, they're saying a couple of days, there is word that it may be as early as tomorrow, perhaps, though, saturday. i spoke to one person that was staying here overnight. he said it's just a wait and see game at this point, del. >> maria, thank you very much. >> people in the west are also getting precipitation, but it's welcomed with open arms. >> for more, we turn to nicole mitchell. good morning. >> we have been joking recently some of these place witness

record snow like chicago recently would have gladly said west, you can take it, but we're going to see changes out here. we already have this system that's moved off the east coast, still cold for those without power and warming quickly. the west, we have been in just exceptional drought recently and finally, a couple systems coming onshore that are going to turn that around, at least briefly. this is not going to reverse the drought. the drought is years in the making, last year was a record dry year in many cases, so a couple days of rain doesn't fix all of that, but it certainly helps. here's a look at the radar right now, snow for the higher elevations. that's also important, because snow pack melts in the spring, so that can add moisture sources, but here's how widespread the drought is out here, so any little bit helps but isn't going to be a reversal for us. 17 communities right now are looking at being dry for drinking water in the next

several months. what we have over the next couple of days certainly will help at least replenish supplies. as that moves off, still a chance for snow in the higher elevations. even adding to the snow pack helps. los angeles best chance today, the higher amounts of rain are going to be in northern california where places could pick up a couple of inches, so that's big news, across the rest of the region, midwest, central plains very cold. i'll have more in a couple minutes on the temperatures. >> north korea may be backing out of a deal to allow families in north and south korea to reunite. an agreement was hammered out but north korea said it will reconsider if south korea holds joint military exercises with the u.s. despite the threat, south korea's defense minute city said the drills will proceed. the last time families separated by the korean war were allowed to see each other was in 2010.

>> the united states is criticizing china for claims over the disputed south china sea, saying it should follow international law. six countries claim islands and reefs. there's a separate dispute between china and japan. more than half of the world's goods are shipped through those disputed waters. >> there were deaths and injuries in baghdad. no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but al-qaeda affiliates have been known to target government buildings and security forces in the area. >> west virginia officials are working to ease public concerns over the state's water supply. it's been one month since a chemical leak tainted the water for hundreds of thousands of people in west virginia. the governor and health officials made their first appearance at the state capitol on wednesday.

the governor said the spill site has gotten the all-clear, but the state of emergency continues. >> i am frustrated and angry. i share your concerns about the water crisis, as does my team here in west virginia, the national experts we have depended upon pour guidance and the federal partners who are standing with me today. >> water distribution sites remain open, but the chemical smell lingers along with worries about long term affects. >> officials enforce carolina say their water is safe after coal ashe spill the into the river between north carolina and virginia. a prone pipe from a now-closed coal plant is blamed for the leak. >> checking headlines around the world today, the milwaukee journal sentinel saying three are charged in connection with last months violin robbery. they're confident they have the right people in cust but say they don't have the violin,

which is worth $5 million, sadly, it is still missing. >> there are to few. >> how do you hawk one on line? >> they tasered the violinist. they were serious about getting their hands on. it musicians want to see it returned. >> there is progress in the $330 million construction project taking place around the gateway arch. construction includes repairs to bridges, highways, two new parks and a museum. the arch turns 50 next year. >> that is the gateway to the west, the mississippi the dividing line, you go to the arch and there you are. >> in england, the telegraph is saying a government official there is in hot water and seeing pink. uk minister said parents who dress their daughters in pink and play with dolls encourage them to take low paying jobs like nursing.

>> nursing is an incredible profession. >> not touching this controversy with a 10-foot pole. >> a new terror threat at the sochi olympics. >> americans are potential targets. why thousands of u.s. citizens travel to the games may need to pay more attention. >> the clock is ticking now until america runs out of time to pay its bills. the deal over the debt ceiling. >> $1.25 billion is our big number of the day. it's a big investment one soft drink giant is making in a coffee company. the new device the duo is looking to put in your home.

>> now to today's big number, $1.25 billion, that's what coca-cola is paying to buy 10% of green mountain coffee, those two companies collaborating on a coca-cola at home beverage, just like the little thing you put the thing in and get one cup of coffee at a time. >> green mountain stock

skyrocketed, shares shooting up 45%. soda stream appears to be the target. its shares took a slight dip, falling 4%. >> welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. >> good morning, the olympic games are set to get underway in sochi, as new security concerns raise questions about the safety of those compete range. >> first let's find out about temperatures you might see when you walk out the door this morning. nicole mitchell. >> we are going to start with the northeast, because not the coldest spot in the country, but the place you're most likely to be without power this morning. these temperatures really matter, places like philadelphia at 24 degrees only getting up to near freezing today and tomorrow, so this is going to be chilly pretty quick and we get more interior and single digits. >> looking across the broad country, minus 22 as we get out toward billings, another cold spot. parts of the central plains all the way southward are going to

run about 20 degrees below average, so -- and 30 degrees blow average, in houston, only a high of 43, so definitely cold air out there. >> the nation's about to hit the debt ceiling again. friday, america may not have enough money to pay its bills. this time, conservatives are determined to get something in exchange for green to bump up the limit. tracy pots reports on their demands. >> america needs more cash. tomorrow is the official dead lane when the u.s. runs out of money to pay its bills. the treasury department says they can stretch that in my the end of the month. >> hopefully it will be addressed in a way that doesn't cause the high wire brakesman ship that damages our economy. >> republicans don't want to hand president obama another credit card without something in return. >> nobody wants to default on our debt. while we're doing this, we have to do something about jobs and

the economy. >> like balancing the budget. >> ideally, lawmakers would agree on a path to balance in 10 years or less before increasing the debt limit. >> other ideas, approving the controversial ketone excel pipeline, preventing cuts from medicate doctors and the rolling back part of the health law that limits what insurance companies can earn and lose. democrats fear the debate could drag on for too long. >> one thing we should not do is mess around with whether or not america pays its bills on time. >> the concern, too much bargaining for too long could rattle the economy and threaten jobs. >> lawmakers on both sides think in the end it will come down to a vote on raising the debt ceiling without adding all those extras. >> later today, the athletes hit the snow in sochi.

qualifying events get underway today. the world will watch the opening as her moneys. sochi is being called one of the beingest, dangerous games ever. director of crisis and emergency management at red lynn strategies specializes in homeland security. the newest threat now tooth paste tubes and the possibility of bombs being made out of components. you say this is not a new threat. >> it's an extension of the liquid ban. there's the 311 rule everybody is familiar with in the united states. they are looking to limit the amounts of material that could possibly be used to create an explosive, either on the aircraft or in this case, it could be that someone is just trying to smuggle explosive components in the ring of steel around sochi. >> if this isn't new, why did the united states issue this travel warning at this point in

time? is it just to tweak the russians? >> it's not to tweak them. it's out of an abundance of caution. it's less than what the russians are doing, they've been banning liquids for a couple of weeks in anticipation of this. >> i want to go through the laundry list we have now watched as a society. richard read tried to blow up the passenger jet with his shoes, the underwear bomber, ink cartridges. how safe can web? >> we can be very safe. there is multiple players of security. when the government finds or hears about a potential threat, they'll talk about it to increase the heat on the people who are attempting it and let them know we know, and a lot of times, they'll back off. the example of that would be a big guy who was going to try to cut the cables on the brooklyn bridge. the minute he heard the law

enforcement agencies were aware of it, he backed off. they are not worried about being caught but want to be successful. >> there are those saying sochi is no more dangerous than new york or washington. are they paying so much attention to russia that somebody might be trying to do a back door attack on the u.s.? >> you've got to always worry about where you put a lot of security. the minute you harden one target, then the other targets around it become relatively soft targets. so you've got to watch that. with all the emphasis right now on securing sochi and the olympic village and the olympic sites, you've got to look at the airport around that perimeter where people gather. >> is it time for americans and the world to be realistic that we live in changing times and that by saying maybe we shouldn't go to sochi, by saying maybe we should harden ourselves against this threat, in reality, the terrorists have won? >> certainly people should not

avoid going to the olympics, because of the threat. because then you're right, the terrorists have won. we always need to be vigilant here to protect ourselves, not just against terrorists, but, you know, you're walking down the street, you want to be vigilant just to make sure you don't get robbed. >> the problem is nobody wants to be robbed just walking down that street. >> that's it. >> thank you for being with us this morning. he is a former police commander at new york's j.f.k. and laguardia airports. thanks. >> have a great day, thank you. >> members of team u.s.a. will have to do without their yogurt. the shipment is blocked from chobani. russian officials say the proper paperwork wasn't submitted. the containers are stuck in cold storage far from the olympic village. chuck schumer is blasting the yogurt blockade and obama

administration is getting involved. a company said he is hoping the yogurt will be given diplomatic immunity. >> twitter shares taking a hit on the stock market, even though a 116% jump in sales in the last months of 2013. the number of people using twitter grew with the slowest rate on record. >> sony making changes to turn around its business. the japanese electronics company is selling its p.c. unit and spinning off its t.v. operations. sony is slashing 5,000 jobs, which is about 3% of its workforce. the restructuring will result in a $1 billion loss for the company this year. >> general motors is reporting its first quarterly results since the company appointed mary berra as chief executive. there are rising sales in the u.s. and china. one industry watcher said berra

is likely to face a lot of scrutiny. >> she doesn't buy into what i consider to be the old boys club, which kind of looks at management as being a little layered, a little heavy, and, you know, really tough to get, you know, cut through the, you know, the paperwork, let's just say. >> g.m. has not gotten off to a good start this year, sales in january fell 12%. >> wall street looking to open higher today, dow futures up. in asia, markets ending the day mixed. european markets are higher after the bank of england left interest rates unchanged. the european central bank also set to announce a policy decision this morning. >> c.v.r. is snuffing out

tobacco sales. >> how the pharmacy chain's decision could reflect a larger change in attitude when it comes to lighting up. >> worries about the economic recovery are coming back after a series of weak employment reports in the hurdles that are difficult to jump in getting americans back to work. >> one group shooting the goal of soccer. they say their new goal is getting homeless off the streets. the world soccer players are improving their daily lives. >> ice hockey is improving the lives of somali refugees. it could land them into the winter olympics.

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story begins and ends with people. >> the efforts are focused on rescuing stranded residents. >> we pursue that story beyond the headline, pass the spokesperson, to the streets. >> thousands of riot police deployed across the capital. >> we put all of our global resources behind every story. >> it is a scene of utter devastation. >> and follow it no matter where it leads - all the way to you. al jazeera america, take a new look at news. >> you're looking at a live shot of the capitol building in washington, d.c. this thursday morning where unemployment benefits are the talk of the town. good morning, welcome to aljazeera america. >> we're talking about c.v.r. appraised for the decision to

stop selling tobacco. it's going to cost them billions of dollars. >> we'll get the latest gauge on how strong the employment picture is. we'll also look ahead to tomorrow's monthly jobs report. figures are closely watched after december's week reading. >> we're talking about the drought in california causing problems for residents. we're going to talk about one farmer and how he is growing a very popular snack. stay tuned. >> c.v.s. is winning praise for its decision to stop selling cigarettes and tobacco products, the first major drug chain to do so. aljazeera's mary snow looks at why the company decided to make the move. >> c.v.s.'s plan to snuff out cigarette and tobacco sales at its stores definitely brought it attention. the nation's number two drug chain was ready. the c.e.o. delivered the news on the company's website. >> when we asked ourselves where we expect to be in the future as a health care company, it became

clear that removing tobacco products from our stores is the right thing to do. >> the move was widely applauded, even president obama weighed in saying: >> c.v.s. is gaining good p.r. the question is, is it good business? the company estimates it will lose $2 billion in revenue a year, a fraction of the $123 billion in sales in 2012. >> it's a good business move, because tobacco sales in the u.s. are declining. on top of that, primary care delivery is actually not declining, it's growing, so if c.v.s. is dropping tobacco, it's getting out of a declining market and into a market it hopes to be more of a player. >> while cigarette consumption

in the u.s. dropped over the last three decades, health spending has gone up. c.v.s. is stressing heights a health care company, air mark is for the medicate program. it's acting now as the health care system gross. >> c.v.s. has been expanding health clinics at its pharmacies 30% annually over the last six years and plan to say add more. this spring, it will launch programs at those clinics and pharmacies to help smokers quit. >> it would be very odd for c.v.s. to sell tobacco products and tobacco cessation. >> one question is e cigarettes. it will monitor what the f.d.a. says about them. will the move toion tobacco products put pressure on other pharmacies. walgreens and rite aid both continually evaluate their product mix and sell product to say help customers quit smoking.

it makes up a small fraction of total sales. it remains to see whether convenience stores or gas stations benefit much. aljazeera, new york. >> joining us to discuss the significance of this plan is professor of public interest law at george washington university and founder of action on smoking and health. he is joining us from west palm beach florida, good morning. >> good morning. >> so, what's your take on why c.v.s. is making this change, which will cost them billion dollars of dollars. >> it's going to cost initially but in the long run will make money. they're a health provider, making more money as a health provider than as a drug store and that's their future. you can't be a health provider if you're always a health destroyer, selling a highly detective product that kills half of the customers.

if they want to partner with doctors and hospitals and health care groups and so on, they have to get out of the tobacco business and yes, this will pressure those other drug stores, because if they don't do it voluntarily, i can guarantee you my colleagues and i will be back at the legislature argue that go we need a level playing field, that if one company, c.v.s. can do it, everybody should be able to do it. that's only fair. >> compare this oh other milestones in the anti tobacco movement. you've been involved in the efforts to get smoking off planes and out of restaurants. is this as significant? >> i think it is. it's not as big, of course as when i got and thety smoking messages on the air and cigarette consumption plum melted or smoking banned on airplanes. it's a small step in the right direction, which combined with others will have a big impact. right now, for example, smokers are finding that under the affordable care act, obamacare, they are facing a 50% premium in

what they have to pay for their health insurance. they're about to be hit by $100 million are anti smoking messages on radio, television put out by the government. more and more companies are decline to go hire smokers. you put this together with the fact that kids coming into c.v.s. are no longer going to have to look up at that big wall of cigarette brands and advertising, customers who buy their cigarettes at c.v.s. will be inconvenienced, have to go elsewhere. they'll see them gone and think maybe this is important. often, those that want to quit, it's the one small step that break the cam em's back. >> just 4% of overall cigarette retail valleys in c.v.s. do you see this going wider? >> i think it is. drug stores are the most likely ones to restrict it.

we're looking not just at walgreens, but places like wal-mart. target gave up selling cigarettes many many years ago. a number of other major chains have, and as more and more companies do it, it's harder for the others to remain. how can you be saying we are a public service company, we are a family company, and yeah, we're selling this deadly product and mom, if you bring your kids in to buy toothpaste, they're going to have to walk by this display, see all these cigarettes. that's in compatible. >> sales are on the decline since the late 1990's and sales down $200 billion. what do you think this means for the tobacco industry overall? >> what it means to the tobacco industry is they see the handwriting on the wall, facing a dead end. they're going down rapidly in this country and unfortunately what they're doing now is expanding worldwide, using the same gimmicks and tricks and the

marlboro man and virginia slips in third world countries where the governments have much more important things to do than monitor cigarette commercials. that's where they see their future and that's where we have to fight it, because directly or indirectly, when billions of people around the world are killed by smoking, we pay more in terms of aid and other problems. there's a lot more smuggling. we're worried about the worldwide expansion, but we're worried about our people here in the u.s. >> thanks for joining us. >> the senate is set to take up unemployment benefits this morning. that program expiring, leaving 2 million americans without benefits. john, as we look at the senate, you have to ask the question is there any bipartisan support. >> not much sign of it so far. good morning. let me set this up for you.

we are talks about the reed and read show, the two coming together to try to kickstart the emergency unemployment compensation act, which is all rather stalled. millions of americans were left without their long term unemployment benefit when the do nothing congress let them expire. today, this is the second amendment, the second chance to try to get this going. the headlines are that it will last three months and pay retroactively the money people have not been getting, as usual, the scenario breaks down like this, the democrats are worried about the long term unemployed, left without this money, 1.4 now grown to 1.7 million americans. republicans are saying we're worried about them, too, but on principle won't vote for anything that adds to the debt pay load. the democrats hitting back saying we've got it paid for. if you can vote in favor, what will happen is under the law,

employers will be allowed to reduce pension contributions, which ill will have more money in the bank for them, taxable by the government. what we don't know is whether it has sufficient bipartisan support. certainly republicans aren't really jumping up and down saying this is great. >> those jobless claims numbers due out, could that impact those numbers? >> i don't think so. this week, this comes out every single week, a measure of those claiming unemployment benefit. the people we're talking about here are the long term unemployed, already in the numbers. last week, it was down, but i think economists think that was a bit of a blip and we're looking for it -- sorry, it was up last week, looking for it to be down this week. certainly the trend is thought to be down, so we shall just have to wait and see. >> john, thank you very much. >> democrats saying if you can just snake sure those payments don't go to millionaires, maybe republicans will bite.

>> both sides now starting to understand that the unemployment benefits don't affect those not looking for a job, they're people that can't finds jobs. >> for months and months. >> yes. >> a texas teen who killed four people in a drunk driving accident will be sent to rehab instead of jail. ethan couch's attorney argued his parents coddled him too much and made him irresponsible. it outraged the families of his victims. critics say the case shows the justice system treats rich people differently. >> a woman convicted of torturing and killing a mentally impaired man has now been put to death in texas. 59-year-old sues dan bathow was pronounced dead 11 minutes after she was given a lethal injection. prosecutors say she lured the

man from new jersey to texas by promising that she would marry him. >> new concerns over a tax on the u.s. power grid, a former energy official believes an energy station in california was the target of terrorism. it knocked out some of the transformers and could have been a trial run for a much larger attack. the f.b.i. said there is no proof of that. >> the top agriculture secretary saying the government will set up seven new climate hubs across the country, saying the centers will collect information on changing weather conditions across the country. that data expected to better protect farmers and forest observers from more intense droughts, and other very severe weather conditions. >> one of those hubs is in california and that state is under a drought emergency right now. the dwindling weather supply is having an effect on almond crops. >> seven years ago, bill

switched from growing corn to almond orchards. a sensible decision at the time, trees require less labor than other crops and the price of almonds was soaring, but trees are an investment. you can't switch out the crop year to year so when a drought hits, the water must flow at least to keep the trees alive. >> we still have a chance for some rain, so we're hoping. i've seen march become very, very wet in the valley. we're hoping that we can get a little reprieve from it. >> he may not be in a panic yet, but when almond have become a dominant crop in the county, many others are drawing water and without letting the field lie follow during lean years, it makes the cries particularly urgent. >> over the past decade, almond orchards replaced land for cattle in this part of rural california, driven by the new global demand for the nut.

>> california's almond industry produces 80% of the worlds supply, much of the demand driven by overseas consumers in china and india. canals used to bring water down from the mountains for us but in the last few years, people have taken to drilling wells themselves. >> this well was drilled to about 250 feet down. >> the county has seen a spike in lickion or drilling permits, while environmentalists worry about the ground water impact. one group filed a lawsuit against the county in an attempt to stop the drilling. the drought has also impacted the city of modesto. >> from watering or lawn to how many loads of clothes can i economically do a week. someone needs to know what's going on or we're going to run out of water. >> for bill, this entire water crisis could have been avoided

if the state had planned ahead. >> we're going to have to think about maybe, you know, building more reservoirs for when we do have the snow, we can capture the water and store it, rather than just let it go. >> that's one solution, but not a project that can happen in time to save this season's farming. melissa chan, aljazeera, california. >> the federal government has already promised $20 million in aid for farmers and rampers hardest hit by the drought. >> let's talk about sports. it has a way of bringing us all together. ross shimabuku joins us now. >> somali refugees have it rough by the time they arrive in europe. a small community is trying to demonstrate that skin color doesn't matter. they want everybody to live and play together. they're playing ice hockey, which could lead somalia all the way to the winter olympics. >> a big darby match in a sport

followed by millions across scandinavia and russia. this is ice hockey, but on a football sized pitch with a ball instead of a puck. it will be demonstrated at the sochi winter games and could become an olympic event in time for 2018. here, they are playing for bragging rights. >> being a darby match, there is plenty at stake, but this type of ice hockey could have wide importance on the question of immigration. here in sweden, they are using it as a blueprint to see how sport can help refugees really become part of society. >> introducing the national team of somalia. the squad was formed from refugees from a town in the forest north of stockholm and has already been accepted to play in the world's

championships in siberia. they could complete in the winter olympics for the first time. the main tame is oh reduce tensions caused by the arrival of about 3,000 somalis in this town of 50,000 people. >> >> we will have an opportunity of just sharing with the swedish people what they have and what they are proud of, because playing on ice is not a part of somali culture and it creates a kind of platform where we can meet, and then we have something to discuss together. >> if we did something very strange, that everybody seems impossible. we do it together, make it possible. sweden and somali together. >> a practice match before they head off for their world championship opener against germany ends in defeat, but they

do score they are first official goals on the ice. >> it feels good that we score goals, actually two goals, so it feels awesome. now we are in the game. >> great err victories await if these young men continue to show how immigrants can adopt to and enrich lives in their new homes. >> like they say, it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game. they're winning over the fans of the tournament, coming together through bandy, sort of like ice hockey but with a ball. >> i would have played hockey growing up if they just could have done it in a warm weather climate. >> street hockey. >> a father's plea getting an answer. this one on line. >> how one dad's on line request went viral and got the attention of facebook. >> we'll also tell you about this time using soccer to better people's lives, getting a kick out of a game that helps homeless people get back on

their feet.

>> oh my! >> good morning, to aljazeera america. >> you just miss add great conversation between libby and nicole talking about curling. we'll get to that in a second. >> an organization giving homeless skills to get off the streets using sports. >> first lets look add rain and snow across the country, an expert curler. >> you come from the north, you figure out ways to entertain yourself in the winter weather. you're going to have the cold enough weather for the ice in many parts of the country, although curling ice is special. deep cold air into the south is supporting snow as far south as texas this morning.

then, some moisture into the west coast. this is desperately needed. we have a couple of weather systems that are going to impact this area in some locations especially as we get northern up the west coast, this will be our first significant snow. you have to remember winter driving skills. snow even as far south as texas, because of the cold air. back to you guys. >> nicole, thank you very much. >> imagine losing a son and then turning to facebook trying to relive memories that he left behind, but not being able to access his account. a father in missouri lived through that before delivering an emotional plea asking mark zuckerberg and facebook for a chance to look back at his son's life. >> my son passed away january 28. 2012. we can't actions his facebook account. i've tried emailing and different things, but it ain't

working. so i'm asking my friends to share this video and your friends to share it and so on and so fort, and maybe... maybe somebody will see it that counts. >> less than a day later, john got his wish. facebook agreeing to make a special look back video, commemorating his son. facebook is looking into helping other familyion who have lost loved ones. we talked so much about the power of social media sometimes for the worst. this was one of those examples where it really did do something to help somebody else. >> you post things on line day after day, it turns into a picture of your life over time. there's a special program using soccer to help homeless get back on their feet. it is in 20 cities across the country. it's having a significant impact on participants. >> you may not think of a face like this as the face of homelessness, but that's just

what she was not long ago. >> i was homeless for three months. it was horrible. the shelter itself was a shelter, so it was somewhere to go, but there was a lot of random people there. >> despite being homeless, she attended high school and tried to get back on track. a teacher told her about street soccer, u.s.a., a program created by rob cann and his brother, lawrence. >> you see how things happen in people's lives and whether they're homeless from their own mistakes, or just bad luck, whatever the circumstances. we found people that really could use something, like sports, you know, because they need add positive community. >> with that in mind, the brothers create add program that uses the power of soccer to help transform the lives of homeless men and women. >> participants in the program are expected to set three, six and 12 month goals. >> through the practices, we worked on showing up on time, so if we had practice at 7:00 at

night, you were there early, getting your gear on ready to play and kind of leaving whatever was going on in your life behind, and really being tuned in mentally. >> if we stay organized, we can win this game. >> in soccer, you've got to work with your teammates. in the job force, you've got to work well with your coworkers and you've got to be able to make it work. >> you create this bond, hey, we're here to play soccer, nothing else matters outside, and we're like having fun and once the game's over, it's like hey, do you need any help, they always give us job updates or hey, there's job openings here. they're constantly trying to help us. it's not just about soccer, but the community itself. >> the players say they learn more than soccer skills out on the pitch. they learn life skills, too, and that's something that organization founder rob cann says the game of soccer is

uniquely sit waited to teach. >> it's great especially in the united states because a lot of people in the inner city have not played it before, so it's a fresh start for people. >> 1-2 we three change! >> i like that street soccer does a lot of skills in the field that you can actually apply into your life. >> according toed founders, 75% of street soccer players see they are lives change for the better within a year. the program connects them to jobs and housing as they complete a rehabilitation program or further their education. >> i stopped doing drugs i was doing before street soccer. what it taught me is how to help others out while i'm trying to better myself. >> step up! >> street soccer u.s.a. has teams in 20 american cities from coast-to-coast. the best players get together each year to compete for the street soccer u.s.a. national cup. having a trophy is nice, but

having a future off the streets is the biggest win of all. john henry smith, aljazeera, san francisco. >> street soccer u.s.a. says its goal is to have 75% of its players off the streets within a year of joining the program. >> at the end of our second hour, del has a look at the stories we're following this morning. >> u.s. officials are warning about airline security for americans headed to the winter games in sochi. intelligence officials saying terrorists may use tooth paste to smuggle explosive onboard. >> a winter storm bringing down trees and power lines knocking out power to more than a million homes and,s. >> family reunions for people separated between north and south korea could be in jeopardy. officials in north korea saying they may reconsider because of a jointly u.s. and south korean military exercise. >> students seeking a higher education are finding they will receives going into the workforce with a lot of debt. we're going to look at the effect the financial crisis is having on our younger americans and the rest of the country.

>> the aljazeera morning news continues with that del is back with you in two minutes.

>> hundreds of thousands of homes are still without electricity this morning as power lines from pennsylvania to maine fall victim to the heavy snow and ice. new security concerns ahead of the winter olympics in sochi. u.s. officials are warning that tubes of tooth paste packed with explosives can be carried on to planes. >> they are blaming me of being the american spy. >> this opposition activist in

ukraine telling a tale of survival, claims he was beaten by days for government pores who wanted to know if he speed for america. >> the long term cost of going to college. how much debt your children will graduate with and how it could drag down the entire economy. >> good morning. welcome to aljazeera america. i'm del walters in new york. nearly 1 million people waking up in the dark after this, another round of snow and ice causing massive power outages. wednesday's storm bringing down trees and power lines, leaving residents in nine states without electricity. the weather also shutting down schools and colleges and closing highways in new york and pennsylvania. 17 miles west of philadelphia, that storm really hammered that

area. >> >> definitely. i'm inside a red cross shelter here in chester county. i'll tell but 105 people stayed here last night. a third of them children. just to get an idea of how badly this area was hit, this shelter is running off of generators and utility crews have been working overnight trying to get the power back up. >> it's the second winter storm this week. in its wake, a trail of misery spreading 1500 miles across two dozen states, leaving 100 million to deal with snow, slush and ice. >> one of the worst i've had so far. >> this is crazy. >> it's pennsylvania feeling the brunt this morning. over .500 thousand people are without power. the weight of the wet snow and ice downing power lines, plunging residents into darkness. with no heat for all these

people and freezing temperatures lingering for the next week, the state's governor is taking no chances. >> our national guard is activated. we have 500 soldiers ready to respond. i have asked the president to support an emergency declaration. >> this winter storm has had a direct impact all across the state of pennsylvania. >> crews are scrambling, but officials say it could take a week to restore electricity and clear trees brought down by the storm. it's a dangerous and unpredictable job. watch as this power line causes a van to catch fire. further north, problems of a different kind. in new york, the weight of the snow took its toll on homes, like the roof of this house in the bronx, crushed in. >> heavy snow load, heavy type of roof construction. >> new yorkers didn't fare better, doing a delicate dance on roads. trains and subways stalled, stranding commuters. >> this is worse than i've ever

seen! >> plows in indiana trying to clear roads, while this chain reaction spinout in michigan shut down i-94. in new jersey, an elderly couple had to be rescued when their car stalled in three feet of water. at the nation's busiest airports, nearly 3,000 canceled flights left many stranded. >> supposed to go to miami, but right now not going anywhere. >> it was wisconsin and illinois that got some good news as 50,000 tons of salt came in on two ships. a welcome sight as another possible blast, the week's third storm, is expected to hit this weekend. >> i've had enough. please, no more snow. >> two of the people that stayed here at this shelter last night are sharon and barnier. when did you realize we better head to a shelter last night? >> the temperature i knew was

going to really drop last night, so we figured, and my mother's 91, so i knew i needed to come to a shelter rather than stay in the house. >> what's this experience been like? >> humbling, i'm going to use sharon's word. i've never had to do something like this. >> you couldn't stay with friends or family? >> no one has power. if they did, trying to get there, because there are trees down, roads closed, and i just couldn't get there. >> you don't even live far from here. >> i had called sharon thinking if she had power, i was going to go to her house. she said i was just going to call you and see if you had power, we were going to come up there. >> what will you be doing today, tomorrow if the electricity doesn't come back? >> we'll have to really take time to think about our options, what we have. i really don't want to have to stay in the shelter again, so i might have to see if other friends have power restored. >> how hassor mother held up? >> she's done really well.

i was surprised, but she's done really well. it's hard to get her to leave the house to begin with, but this was an emergency. >> what about you? >> same thing. if i can somebody that has power restored before me, i'll call in a few favors and see if i can stay with them. >> best of luck to you. >> del, the red cross wants to consolidate the people in different shelters, moving all of them about an hour west of philadelphia. that holds up to 1300 people. >> thank you very much. a remind their when it gets this cold, people should call and check on loved ones and relatives. the power may be out, but the phones still work. >> especially with cell phones. yesterday, part of the problem was not just that this was a snowstorm, but a lot of this was sleet and freezing rain that just came down, that really weighs the tree branches and power lines, so the branches can snap or the lines themselves collapse under this.

this is why we have so many power outages from this previous system. what else happened was that left wet coating on the ground that refroze. that's very slick this morning. these temperatures, philadelphia where we have the really widespread power outages, we're barely going to get to freezing, running 10-15 degrees blow average for the whole region. it's going to be very cold for people who don't have the power right now and check on even if it's not someone you know very well, a neighbor that could be in need. this region stays clear but we have more activity heading to the west coast. there's probably a little more appreciated than all the storm after storm, as we've gotten to the midwest and to the northeast. this we're going to have a couple of different storms that are really needled in the west coast because of the drought situation. it's been on going for years, worsening each year and this should be the wet season and it's been pretty dry. this is very needed rain. the only qualification i have with all of this is that both

the cascade and sierra are expecting heavy amounts of snow. really, we haven't had a snowstorm in some cases in a couple months because of the drought and dry conditions, so this is almost like the first snow of the season that no one remembers how to drive. you need to be very careful as this adds up, but the moisture certainly needed. >> the month jobs report is set to be reds later this hour. it will give us a picture of how the job market is faring. the senate set to debate long term unemployment benefit bill that expired in december, leaving 2 million americans without benefits. is there bipartisan support for that bill concerning the unemployment insurance? >> precious little sign of it so for to be honest with you. jack reed of rhode island and harry reid coming together now.

last year, the do nothing congress didn't reup the emergency unemployment benefit for long term unemployed americans. they are offering to get this going for the next months and pay people relate actively. it's the usual tale, the democrats concerned about the 1.7 million americans with long term insurance benefits. the republicans are saying we're worried about them, too, but we will not on principle volt for anything that increases the deficit or adds to the debt pay load. the democrats saying we've sort that had out, paid for it. the way they're paying for it is if the bill does get final passage, employers will be allowed to reduce pension contributions, meaning they have more money in their bank taxable by the government. whether or not the democrats have republican support, i think

only one republican has put his head above the parapet so far. i'm sure americans are desperate to get this money coming back into their bank accounts again. today is just a procedural vote. it's the vote at 11:00, looking for 60 votes, otherwise the whole thing has to go back to the drawing board or somebody can talk out the whole bill. if they get the vote today, there are 30 hours of debate. there are two more votes after that, one to close it down and one for final passage. maybe next week it will be completed. i don't know. >> the jobs report coming later in the hour. will that affect deliberations? >> i don't think so, because the weekly jobless claims is a figure that we get every single week, 52 weeks of the year and it basically tells us the number of people signed up for unemployment benefits. the people we're talking about here are the long term

unemployed and this is congress trying to reup their benefits. of course as you know, it's very unusual to have people unemployed for this long. normally the benefit money runs out. i think they're already included in the figures you are going to see at 8:30 this morning. last week, the figure was up and that was a shock to everybody. i think economists think that was a bit of a blip and certainly the long term trend or unemployment now is down, del. >> john, thank you very much. unless you think you are in a bad episode of groundhog day, the debt ceiling is set to expire tomorrow again, the treasury saying it can last until the end of the february, but if congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling, the country will begin defaulting on its bills. they are trying to get a deal for increasing the debt limit. >> the winter games in sochi underway. before fans can get to the event, they have to mike it through security. what type of security are we

talking about for the average fan? >> it's extensive and not just here at the park where they've got the conventional metal detectors, body scans, sniffing dogs and taking away liquids, pastes and gels. the zone of special security extends hundreds of miles around the sochi area. there are road blocks, police on each intersection. i have to say that the police are actually, although very overt in their presence, haven't been hugely obstructive. the flow of people, early arrives, coming in and out on the official transport has been smooth so far. >> with all of that security in place, i guess the question has to be asked how do people feel? what's the atmosphere in sochi. these are supposed to be happy, fun times, games. >> well, there's no doubt that the controversy leading up to the games, issues about gay

rights, civil liberties, about security have overshadowed the preparations for the games. the hope from the organizers certainly is it wants sports start. we had qualifying today already. once that gets into swing, the actual joy of sports will take over the controversy of all the other issues, corruption, things like that. that certainly was the expectation here. in sochi and here at the olympic park, you've got lots of people in colorful track suits, different nations mingling together. i think the stage is set for a good sporting event, despite the overshadowing backdrop of security worries. >> russian president vladimir putin cited the boston marathon bombings as a big reason for that security. then there were knows twin suicide attacks in volgograd. have they played a role in sochi?

>> they certainly have, because the common thread from the boston marathon bombings and volgograd is the country of dagestan. the two brothers responsible or involved allegedly in the boston bombings came, the family came from dagestan. the volgograd bombing, they came from dagestan. it boils down to that militant caucus of dagestan. that's what president putin is talking about when he says that the boston bombings and volgograd all feed into the security framework around these games, because dagestan is only a few several hundred kilometers from here. it's very, very close. >> paul brennan in sochi, russia. paul thank you very much, let the games begin. >> it has been four weeks since the water was poised for hundred of thousands of west virginia.

many are still avoiding the tap though they say it's good to drink again. >> nearly four weeks after a hazardous chemical spilled into the elk river, leaving 300,000 people unable to drink the water, west virginia's governor, members of the c.d.c., e.p.a. and other officials made their first appearance together at the state capitol, trying to calm the public. >> i am frustrated and angry. i share your concerns about the water crisis, as does my team here in west virginia, the national experts we ever depended upon for guidance, and the federal partners standing with me today. >> at the request of the governor, the centers for disease control sends one of they're lead scientist to say charleston. >> i can say that you can use your water however you like. you can drink it, you can bathe in it, you can use it how you like. >> the e.p.a. says the spill site on the elk river is stable,

but some public health officials are still questioning the safety of the water. >> we continue to be live, unwilling participants in a experiment that we still don't know a whole lot about, the impact of this chemical on humans. >> how afraid were you? >> i was very afraid. >> some plan to leave the state. >> my husband and i were born in west virginia and love our state, but we have two daughters, and as i've told several friends, the cost of living here in west virginia is too high for my children. >> despite wednesday's efforts to he's concern, the state of emergency continues, water distribution sites remain open and the chemical smell lingers along with worries about long-term effects. >> the situation in west

virginia also has legislatures looking at the nation's water reserves, last month bills introduced to deal with sump reserves across the country. >> an annual gathering of people of all faiths that dates back to 1953, it underlines the underpinnings of religion and how it plays a role in our society. >> pay ago high price to go to college, the average debt students graduate with and why paying it off is important to the american economy. >> actor philip seymour hoffman's death, shedding new light on the heroin addiction in america, addicts sharing stories of daily struggles to stay clean. >> the financial world, what started out as a simple social media concept now influencing what happens every day on wall street.

>> good morning, welcome back to aljazeera america.

i'm del walters. we're going to focus on the catch 22 of a college education. you need to go to get ahead, but going can leave you buried in student loan debt for years. >> first, relief spelled rain on the west coast and nicole mitchell is here with that. >> we've been so dry in this region, but it is keeping temperatures cooler than that warm spell recently. we'll take it if we get the rain along with it. speaking of cooler temperatures, the core of the cold air, anywhere from the foothills of the rookies to the mississippi valley, we've got temperatures 20, 30 and even 40 degrees below average, as we get down that far south. houston today, only at 42 degrees. that's actually supporting some snow in parts of north texas and oklahoma, and a brutal one degree in minneapolis. want to point out the northeast, because 29 in new york, 36 in washington and the next couple of days below average.

that's significant, because so many are without power, it's a dangerous situation not to have the heat in these temperatures. >> we are looking at breaking news at this hour from general motors, profits for the last three months of 2013 missing estimates, earnings falling 22%, g.m. blaming weaker than expected sales. this is the company's first quarterly results since it appointed the new chief executive. some tough news about job cuts, a new report finding that layoffs by companies were 47% last month. outplacement firm saying most layoffs were in retail, stores slashing jobs after a weak holiday season. >> dow futures are up at this hour. in asia, markets ending the day mixed.

european markets are higher after the european central bank and bank of england left interesting rights unchanged. >> sony making changes to turn around its business, the company selling its p.c. unit and spinning off its t.v. operations. it is slashing 5,000 jobs, 3% of its workforce. the restructuring will result in $1 billion in losses for the company this year. >> americans are graduating college with increasing amounts of debt. people in this country owe more than a trillion dollars in outstanding loans. as aljazeera explains, this student debt crisis is hitting america's middle class hard. >> brooklyn ohio middle schoolteacher and coach is doing the job she always wanted, but fund thank dream was no layup for the 28-year-old. >> i knew that i wanted to teach, so i knew college was the

only way to achieve that goal. >> a goal her father did everything he could to help her reach. >> he was a crane operator at the steel mill. he made probably around $50,000 range. he knew he wouldn't be able to pay for all of my school which almost broke his heart. >> she bridged the gap working through school and taking out student loans, watching every penny to limit what she'd owe. >> i paid for books out of pockets. i didn't take out for living expenses. i did two years at the community college and tried to pay for all of that up front. >> she still graduated with $25,000 in student debt. her husband jeremy borrowed $30,000 to pay for his college degree. >> that's another one from our wedding. >> the couple's combined student loan repayments are $600 a month, a fifth of their after tax in come with that the burden ties their hands. >> if were you ever our car

goes, we don't know what we would do. we live paycheck to paycheck. >> they can't afford to become parents. >> weaver been trying for three years and aren't able to get pregnant on our own. we can't adopt, it would be $30,000 and we can't take out anymore loans. >> there are federal and private aid programs to help pay for college, but many are geared toward students from families earning less than forties thousand dollars and young people who fall just on the other side that have cutoff are racking up on average $11,000 more in student debt than kids from lower income families. >> college costs have skyrocketed in the past 20 to 30 years and yet middle class incomes completely stagnated. >> a study showed students graduate with higher debt in the middle class. >> they make too much to qualify for aid but not enough to keep up with the rising cost of

college. it's these kids who face the burden. >> i feel like things are pretty stacked against the middle class. we work hard, and to provide for a family and once it comes to higher education, we're just kind of forgotten about. >> aljazeera, brooklyn, ohio. >> company founder of student debt crisis is trying to reform how we pay for college. he is in cleveland this morning and is the father of two daughters just graduating, trust me, i know this situation all too well. the average student debt nearly tripling over the last two decades from $10,000 in 1990 to $29,000 for the graduating class of 2012. how did we manage to get here? >> i think it's a mix up of values. i'm a new father myself. if you compare what college tuition costs in the 1970's

compare to now, it's skyrocketing. i think the thing that's changed is maybe it's sort of a national spectrum of how we view higher education in this country. i ask a lot of people around the country, do we view higher education as a used car sales lot or as a sacred tenant? i think we have viewed the privatization and profit motive over prioritizing the two most important players, the students and teachers. because we went that direction, that's how we got here. >> when it goes to buying a car, you can haggle when you go to buy a car. when you go to college, that price is fixed and they say you can pay this and take out this amount of loan or find another college. what do students do? >> in the immediate, there's a couple things. one is reducing as much cost as you can. that's not always fair. right now embracing things like community college, even though they have student debt, it's much more approachable.

if i canning out ways to stay at home, not go to college dorms or live on campus. those things inherently are important, leaving home, going to a campus, experiencing, learning, exploring yourself and what you can be are important. unfortunately right now looking for immediate solutions, it's about reduce thank overhead. i feel things like community colleges can offer you a good college education until from a national situation we can makes it affordable for everybody. >> when it comes to paying off your student loans you need to have a phd to navigate the paperwork. it's easy tore get a mortgage. is that on purpose? >> it is. the government has made billions of dollars on the american student, private lenders ever made so much money on the american student, the colleges, for-profit universities, non-profit universities have all turned this into what i call an

exploitation of the american student. it is purposeful. so we have to take -- >> wait a minute, you're saying the government wants to make money off of my kids' student loan debt. >> yes. the government, as well in tandem with bankers, lenders and the universities themselves in terms of their administrative blow. what we don't see is all these funds, all this money, all this profit made by universities, and the government. we don't see this being redistricted to making tuition affordable. in fact, if collegion are making and they are making a lot of money, why aren't they using that to reduce tuition? instead they're giving the penalties raises and raising tuition for the children. that's just not fair. that's not how we should treat people. >> i think we want to talk after i get off the air. >> thanks for having me, appreciate it. >> ukrainian opposition leader say he was kidnapped and tortured, saying the men who left him beaten and bloodied now

accuse him of being an american spy. also, we're going to look closer at security around the sochi winter olympics. tubes of toothpaste packed with explosive being smug would on planes. >> first shaun white, now another olympic athlete complaining about safety on the course.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. there are no allegations from an anti-government protestor in ukraine. he says he was beaten for eight days and his captors cut his ear off. he has become the symbol for demonstrators. they believe he was tortured. >> the activist has become the

face of the opposition movement after his eight day ordeal in which he says he was tortured by his kidnappers. he said he went through a system take series of investigations. they were focusing questions on who funded the grass roots movement and secondly whether or not the organization had links to the united states. >> most of all, these people were interested by who was giving the money, how much the american ambassador is giving, who is giving commands to us, whose orders we follow, which relations we have with the american ambassador and the

americans. >> he had been beaten so severely for several days, he said he was prepared to say anything to his captors and claimed that he fabricate add story saying he had been paid $50,000 by the u.s. ambassador here in kiev, money that went towards petrol for his movement, and also cameras to film their activities. after this, a couple days after that. he was dumped by his captors in woodlands outside the capitol. many are pointing the finger at ukraine's secret services. there is no clear cut evidence yet that that is the case but in the absence of clear cut facts, many point the finger firmly at the top, firmly at presidentian

covevich. >> u.s. intelligence courses saying terrorists may try to smuggle bombs onboard planes in tooth paste. >> there are two threats. >> more than turn thousand americans travel to go overy for the olympics now face another security threat. new intelligence information show terrorists may try to use tooth paste containers to smuggle explosives onboard planes. >> i believe that's very specific and credible information. >> the threat does not specifically target americans, but the alert affects flights directed to russia. president putin insists the games are safe, stations 40,000 police and armed services in and around sochi.

>> they've given a warning. >> intelligence expert rick nelson told aljazeera he expects more terror warnings surrounding the games, adding it can be a hard balancing act for the u.s. government. >> how much information do you put out there for the public to be smart and-wise. at the same time, you don't want to tip your hand to much information you know to the terrorists. i would expect, you know, that there will be more indicators like this. it's a very difficult thing for the department of homeland security. >> nelson says another concern with this particular threat is the form of explosives. >> we've seen in the past where the enemy has been creative and adaptive with the shoe bomber, they were able to put explosives in the bottom of the shoe. we saw the cargo container bomb with the toner in yemen a few years ago. >> they have adopted techniques to put in ordinary items. >> another security threat could impact anyone with a computer.

hackers are going after smart phones, too, the information they could get could cause financial harm. >> max abrams is a political science professor and analyst that looks at terrorism. he is in boston this morning. homeland security saying it is not aware of any specific threat to the homeland saying: >> looking at what homeland security is saying, how serious should we see this threat? >> well, i think that typically among americans, we very often overstate the terrorism threat, but i think that terrorism threat to be olympics is really quite unique and serious. never before has there been an olympic games on the edge of a war zone.

since the mid 1990's, with their first chechen six war, over 3,000 russians have been killed in terrorist attacks. there have been over 125 suicide attacks. there are a host of warnings coming out of these militant grooms in the caucuses. we think that maybe there have been some black widow terrorists who have been able to penetrate the ring of steel, the security perimeter around olympic village, and so it's really no wonder that in a sort of a post 1972 munich games world, given the placement of these games, that all delegations, not just the american delegation, would be rightfully concerned about the terrorism threat. >> max, i want you to listen to the rhetoric proceeding the games. this is from matt olson, the director of national count terrorism. this is what he said on tuesday.

>> we think the greater danger from a terrorist perspective is in potential for attacks to occur outside the actual venue at areas surrounding sochi and the region. >> should web focusing more on the security outside that so-called ring of steel as opposed to the 40,000 troops that are inside the area of the games itself? >> yeah, i think that that's true. i mean, terrorists like to strike where they can. it's a lot easier as you move further and further away from the very hardened targets at the olympics to wage attacks. if you look at the target selection of these groups, particularly the chechens, they do have a history of striking soft targets, so they struck a rock concert, a bus station, a theater, of course, a school,

and so the terrorists, you know, they're strategic actors. they know how hard it would be a penetrate hardened areas so they're going to take what they can get and i think attack soft targets which aren't as heaviry secure. >> thank you very much for being with us today. he is a professor of political science. he joins us this morning from boston. >> as we talk this threat, the opening ceremony underway tomorrow in sochi, russia, but some of the games have already started and rot shim is here to explain all that have. >> the reason for the early start is 12 new events have been added to the winter games, one slopestyle by shaun white pulling out of the event. slopestyle qualifying got underway today. canada's max perot dazzled

crowd. for the americans, charles goldman finished sixth. the top eight riders have already punched their ticket to the finals, while the remaining athletes will view for the four remaining spots when competition resumes on saturday. shaun white complained that the slopestyle course of intimidating. american rather than ross is saying the same thing. she be said she felt like a test dummy. organizers had to fix the course after her run for safety reasons. >> it's figure skating, men's pair and short program. tomorrow, it's all about the opening ceremony, and women's figure skating kicks off saturday morning with the short program and dance. oh, canada, an injury will keep one of the best hockey players off the ice. steven stamkos fractured his right leg, has yet to be cleared by doctors.

he has decided to continue his rehab and miss the games. >> the u.s. hockeys team has medalled in every olympics since the sport was first introduced. the team won it all in 1998, but this year's group is very hungry, some call desperate. they finished behind canada in the last three games. canada and the u.s. recently got into a fight on the ice. first things first, because the united states will have to focus on the opening match against finland saturday. it's going to be a proud moment for u.s. head coach katy stone, the only female coach on the women's tournament. >> i understand the importance and the significance of this, and wish that i weren't the only female coaching in our tournament but that's the way it is, and like i said all along, it's an honor to be representing the united states, but i look at it as a responsibility and there's a job to do and that's our focus. i don't get caught up in those,

the labels or the first, i just as i also said i hope that i'm not the last. >> you go, girl! >> it's been quite the journey for the jam make can bobsled te. their gear got lost. the team worried that it would not be able to practice. the good news, their equipment and luggage arrived later that night, the team making their sixth appearance in the game. >> you know what they said? no problem. >> ya, mon. >> the struggles that actor philip seymour hoffman had with addiction have been well documented. now his death is shine ago spotlight on an alarming spike in heroin abuse. some are calling it a full-blown crisis. >> this is what drug addiction looks like.

the hungry heart is a new documentary which focuses on the devastating effects of opiate abuse. >> if you're trying to take care of someone with addiction, there are no road maps, guarantees, no expect to find guarantee on the basis of past experience. it gets really difficult. >> the once population is just 625,000 but has the highest rate of illicit drug use per captain at a in the country. the governor of vermont said $2 million worth of heroin and opiates are trafficked into the state every week. the number of people needing treatment has increased by 770%. the drug's problem here in the

state acknowledge region reflect a national trend. >> figures from the de.a. show that in a five year period, starting 2008, the number of americans using heroin has almost doubled, oh so, too, the number of heroin overdoses. bob has been treating addicts for 40 years and says changing attitudes is essential. >> i think we need to begin addressing it as a health issue. it can't and shouldn't be treated as a criminal issue. we need to dispel the stereotype and the prejudice and the stigma that exists toward individuals. >> raina was 30 when she took her first pain killer for back pain. >> i felt like i could breathe for the first time and felt i found a solution, you know, to being in this world. >> addiction soon gave way to heroin and crack cocaine. she went to rehab and on thursday, celebrates three years of sobriety. every day, she worries about her

children's future. >> i wish there was something that i could do to guarantee that they won't have to live that pain. i'm fully aware of the fact that, you know, i'm one of the lucky few that made it out. >> as any addict will tell you, making it out is one thing, staying out is a life long struggle. >> only 10-20% of addicts stay off drugs after leaving rehab. >> twitter blew expectations out of the water with its quarterly earnings. the company stock now trading over $70. its initial public offering was $26.03 months ago. some investors are weary of twitter's growth. twitter hasn't dimmed. >> an increasing number of investors looking for an edge are using twitter as a gauge of market sentiment. >> if you're an investor in a company and you're not paying attention to the twitter sentiment about that company,

you're missing a really important piece of the puzzle. >> examples of twitter's power in mr.ence stock markets include august 13, 2013. on that date, billionaire investor tweeted to his 142,000 followers: >> trading volume more than doubled. the company's value increased $17 billion. >> he's a smart man, he's been delivering a message. >> a company got its start on twitter but now is a separate and profitable social network with half a million users. he warns posts are not investment advice. >> investors need to be aware, this is still the wild west. >> joe runs social an littics, a growing number of companies that collects twitter data and sells analysis to investors. his company developed a computer

program that turns tweets into quantity final bits of data. other players include nip, data sift, data miner and social sonar. >> our customers have been hedge funds. we have been selling to big financial institutions that can take advantage of that in a problematic manner. >> tweets are tracked of 450,000 professional investors to determine which stocks, groups of traders are tweeting about, ranking the mostly mentioned stocks, a positive score means investors are talking about buying. >> we are not taking the sentiment of individuals, we are taking the sentiment on security across all individuals. >> that approach could minimize risks of tweets designed to manipulate markets or situation like the hacking of the president's twitter account in 2013. a group known as the syrian army posted an erroneous text claiming an explosion at the white house.

>> the dow dropped before eventually recovering. regulators can't always stop hackers or those in tent to manipulate the market, but are trying. the securities and exchange commission recently fined an investment manager for making misleading statements via twitter. aljazeera. >> reuters plans to add twitter to its data. >> the world's most famous soccer player is now one of the most famous team owners, david beckham buying a team from miami. it may take a while before they ever take to the field.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. just ahead, why they could be

bending it like beckham in miami. >> first, let's find out about the weather with nicole mitchell. >> miami is probably sounding good to people, between the cold air and weather systems we've been seeing. the weather in the east coast moving out, it is icy and a lot of people without power. >> we have an area in the central plains and through the south, and also some really needed rain as we get to the west coast. let's look at that first. northern parts of california, we could be talking a couple inches over the next couple days. we have a couple systems coming in. the higher elevations, the sierra, cascades, decent know, which is beneficial for the snow pack. we haven't had and we've been in an exceptional drought a lot of snow recently. that's going to be dangerous. >> today, tomorrow, this weekend, more chances, so we really have chance to say really rack this up.

not probably making a dent in the drought, but a lot of places are close to running out of water within the next couple months, so any bit we can get in california and through the west is beneficial. >> snow from oklahoma into texas this morning with a little bit of freezing precipitation, not a lot of that reaching the ground, but texas and lose, watch for that. we're monitoring for the weekend a system that looks like it could be far enough off the coast it will limit the amount of snow we get, but really watching this, another clipper, as well, but for sunday into monday, could see some snow along the east coast. del. >> thank you very much. >> sir david beckham bringing professional soccer to south beach. his group which includes lebron james will bring an expansion team to miami. beckham said there's still plenty of bending to do. >> we support miami, miami, miami. >> one of the biggest soccer

stars in the world is bringing a team to miami. >> the hottest city in the world and greatest sport in the word. it's time the two came together. >> he said owning a major league soccer team is a passion, ranking number one in his priorities after his family. he never envisioned being a team owner until recently. he intends to make his team world class. >> as a kid, i never dreamed of doing, all i wanted to be was a soccer player. the fact i've had the career i've had and now an owner is surreal. >> he paid $25 million for the franchise. it was an incentive to lure him from the top european leagues to the l.a. galaxy in 2007. as a comparison, the owners of the new york city team paid $100 million. beckham and investors will be paying a hefty price for a stadium. taxpayers aren't pitching in 1 cent. beckham is still looking for a downtown site and hasn't settled

on a name for the team. despite the fact that he's a global celebrity, he faces enormous challenges. miami is an over saturated sports town and distractions, such as the beach abound. >> i think the primary thing they need to do is have a good team, a good team that has the ability to win. the second thing he'll have to do is at the end of the day, sports are entertainment, so they will have to pack a soccer match and make it entertaining. >> from 1998-2001, major league soccer eliminated the team to cut costs. >> the league is stronger than 10 years ago, the sport is a lot more stronger and exciting in this country than 10 years ago. this city is definitely ready for a soccer team. >> not everyone is convinced. sports talk show host andy slater says there's an enormous

buzz now, but what about in a few years when the players hit the field? >> is it going to be a big thing or be on the back burner like some other sports in town. >> there's no time table yet for when the team will be ready for competition. despite that and all the obstacles facing a new team, fans have been texting saying they want in. >> as a player, beckham won six english premier league championships with manchester united. before david beckham, there were the four lads from liverpool, tomorrow marking the 50t 50th anniversary of the beatles touching down at j.f.k. in new york city. screaming fans greeted the fab four and british invasion was underway. aljazeera america caught up with ringo starr to talk about that historic moment. >> we'd landed in new york, we were in america, there was

nothing more far out than that because all the music we loved, we were in our 20's anyway, all lads, was incredible. i felt even on the plane new york was pulling us down, come on, come on. i had a great time. >> ringo shares more memories from the early mop top days to the psych dellic era and beyond. you can see the interview tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. right here on aljazeera america. that's going to do it for this hour of aljazeera america. i'm del walters i have not new york. thanks for watching. as always, there is more news straight ahead. remember, you can check us out 24 hours a day just by going to aljazeera.com. ♪

>> with my to aljazeera america. these are the stories we're following this hour. there is as warning out ahead of the winter olympic games, u.s. officials saying terrorists could use tooth paste to smuggle

explosives on planes. >> north korea could be backing out of a deal to allow families to reunite, the two sides hammered out a deal but north korea is reconsidering if south korea holds joint military exercises with the u.s. >> snow knocking out power to homes and businesses across the northeast, shutting down highways and schools and grounding thousands of flights. the federal government will set up seven new climate hubs across the country, set to collect information used to better protect farmers and forest owners for more intense droughts, wildfires and severe weather conditions. >> a texas teen who killed four people in a drunk driving accident is going to be sent to rehab instead of jail. attorneys claim his parents coddled him and made him irresponsible, calling the condition affluenza, outraging

the families of his victims. >> those are your headlines. "consider this" is next. you can checkous out 24 hours a day by going to august.com, where the news continues 24 hours a day, seven days a week. >> out of a russian prison, onto a new york stage. the latest on the pussy riot saga. also why are some ethnic groups more successful than others. the tiger mom amy, will talk more about her book. plus are robots coming to your job? and can you forgive a man who almost killed you? i'm antonio mora. welcome to "consider this." ergs here's more on what's ahead. >> removing tobacco products is the right thing to do.