consider this. the news of the day plus so much more. answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> it seems like they can't agree to anything in washington no matter what. welcome to al jazeera america, i'm del walters. these are the stories we are following for you. janet yellen testifying for the first time on capitol hill as fed chair. and the southern part of the country bracing for another brutal blast. >> we are honored to have you here as one of our strongest allies and closest friends. pomp and circumstance at the white house as the president welcomes his french counterpart. ♪

janet yellen, the new chair woman of the federal reserve is testifying before congress this hour. she says the economic recovery is far from complete, despite the drop in unemployment. we'll take a look at how the markets are reacting, but first to capitol hill where john siegenthaler is standing by live, and john what has she had to say so far? >> good morning, del. well right off of the bat there was a republican attack against the new chair. it came in this form, the chairman of the house financial services committee talking about business in the u.s. drowning in red tape and struggling under the single largest tax increase in u.s. history. this was the texas republican. >> despite being almost five years into the so-called obama

recovery, we still see millions of our fellow citizens unemployed or underemployed. shrinking middle income paychecks and trillions of dollars of new unsustainable debt. >> that was the opening words that janet yellen had to sit through, and she got her chance to respond. and she said she agreed there is a lot of work to be done, she talked about the unemployment rate and how it is well above levels that participates would consider consistent with maximum sustainable employment. and she said when you are considering the unemployment rate you have to look at a lot more. >> too many americans remain unemployed, inflation remains below our longer-term objective, and the work of making the financial system morrow -- more

robust has not yet been completed. >> so now the issue of the federal reserve pumping billions of dollars in to the economy here. it is now down to $65 billion a month. people on the committee will want to know what she feels about that. del. >> john lots of things changes on capitol hill with regards to the new fed chair. she prefers to be called the fed chair, not chair woman. and she is breaking quite the glass ceiling. >> she really is, the appointment of janet yellen to the position of the chairman of the federal reserve is a very, very big deal. it puts her right up there among the most powerful women in the world alongside the american in charge of the international monetary fund. it was very intimidating at the start of this hearing for her.

as she began to deliver her testimony, the cameras rose up, now she is used to have of course, but she is giving robust answers. the significance open difference is this new name that she has, because alan greenspan and ben bernanke were the chairmen of the fed and she prefers to be known as the chair. we should point out that the text came out before the market opened. the dow is up 96 points now. patricia sabga here now with more on the market reaction, and i was struck by your comments while we were talking. fed careman -- fed chairs do not like to make news during their testimony. >> ideally it is boring testimony, and not hugely market

moving. and by that measure, she is doing very well. the fed wants to be steady. and sure enough when she came out, she really emphasized continuity with the bernanke fed, because markets don't like surprises. they want to be able to anticipate what is coming up. and she sent some pretty strong signals. she said the federal open market committee expects the economy to expand at a moderate pace this year. we have seen two consecutive months now of disappointing jobs growth, but that is not enough yet, not enough data yet. and she did signal as long as we continue to see moderate economic growth, the fed will continue to scale back its asset purchases. >> you business types pour over every word that she says.

you look for everything. so it's not like these speeches aren't dissected for every word. >> oh, they are completely dissected. and everything is trying to read into it. and especially in the q&a session, people will listen to her answers. and this is happening on the hill and this is an election year, so you are likely to see political grandstanding, but this is the test of a chair, which is will she remain unflappable. >> the fact that the markets are up right now is a good thing? >> that is the continuity part. because she emphasized she still sees moderate growth, and as long as they continue to see that, the fed will continue to scale back its asset purchases. the next fed meeting is in march, and by then the fed will have a new set of data, including a jobs report.

>> patricia sabga thank you for being with us. >> thank you. another blast of winter weather is on the way. georgia this time trying to get ahead of the storm. the brunt isn't expected to sit atlanta until wednesday, but storm preps are already in full gear. officials hoping to avoid the problems atlanta faced two weeks ago. the kids were stuck in schools, computers were stranded on the highways and some even abandoned their cars all together. dave warren is here with more. >> there are two areas of moisture we're watching. the second will bring a lot of rain and warm air above the cold air to this area across the southeast. winter storm warning, but ice will be the big problem here.

freezing rain, accumulation of half inch or more of ice. it looks like it is ending here across mississippi and alabama, it is. but the next storm developing across texas. these temperatures will be dropping. you are getting cold air from the north and warm air from the south. here is the timing. overnight tonight rain develops and a big area of mixing here. this is rain falling into cold air. and this will continue wednesday morning out there wednesday afternoon. some of that will be very heavy at times. what to do is this large area of freezing rain with temperatures below freezing, and that will continue throughout wednesday afternoon and evening, del. >> thank you very much. the president of france arriving at the white house this morning. being greeted by both the president and the first lady. lisa stark is in washington.

and the white house rolled out the red carpet for them. >> oh, they did indeed, del. it was a very, very warm welcome on a bitterly cold washington day. he called the president america's oldest ally. and how they went to the home of thomas jefferson and talked about the country's shared values. here is some of what the president had to say, including a little bit in french. >> here under the red white and blue and blue white and red, we declare our devotion to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness [ speaking french ] [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: now the president said the two countries owed their freedom to each other, and he said let's do even more together in the future. those themes were echoed by the

french president. >> today we stand united and we have built a model of friendship, a friendship that is the best recipe for a better world. >> reporter: now after the ceremony the two went into the oval office to begin their discussions on the agenda, likely the conflict in syria. also talking about improving economic relations and trade between the u.s. and france. >> lisa it will be very interesting to see how the president's french plays in paris. but we might expect to see the nsa come up? >> it is likely that that will come up. the french, all of europe's

partners not happy. he has been quoted as saying in time magazine that this were practices that never should have existed, but he said he thinks the u.s. and france can and should work together on intelligence gathering going forward. del? >> lisa thank you very much. the iranian president taking a few jabs at the u.s. today. it came in a speech he delivered at the 35th anniversary of the 1979 islamic revolution. he said that countries in their region had nothing to fear from iran, this despite the fact that iran test fired two new missiles on monday. we go back inside the embassy

compound in tehran for a rare look inside. >> reporter: stuck in time. the former u.s. embassy in tehran still stands mostly unchanged since 1979. the same old equipment, curtains and green paint, machines and old phones, even the famous paper shredders all relic of a time when enemies were friends. relations between the u.s. and iran are starting to change. abraham was a voice -voice -- [ technical difficulties ] >> reporter: -- one of the men who took over the embassy and held 52 americans hostage.

he says he was motivated by the belief that the u.s. was trying to sabotage the revolution. >> translator: at times there have been good conditions foi friendship. but at the beginning of the revolution, we believed that iran had to leave the american influence and become independent. >> reporter: animosities, war, bloodshed, and painful sanctions. now they are trying to put 35 years of hate behind them. >> translator: we relationship is complicated. as long as the u.s. supports the israel regime, does not recognize the rights of palestinians, continues to interfere in the middle east, and continues sanctions against iran it is very difficult to say the relationship is a good one. >> reporter: last year,

meetings, and a phone call broke 35 years of official silence. whatever comes of this softening in the relationship between the united states and iran some will never be convinced that these two enemies should put the past to rest, and one of the reasons is exactly what happened in this building the old embassy, what it was, what it is, and the two very different experiences it continues to represent. according to state-run radio, a military cargo plane has crashed in algeria. about a hundred people are presumed dead. we will give you more details as they become available. shirley temple, one of the most popular child stars in hollywood history has died. ♪ your funny side and have your

fun ♪ ♪ it's all a buggy ride >> shirley temple seen here with bill bow jangles robinson started acting when she was just 3. she went on to come a u.s. diplomat. she died at our home in california from natural causes. she was 85. coming up on al jazeera america, jury deliberations now on hold in the case of the former new orleans mayor. and one duel citizen is trying to remind people there was a time when both sides lived together.

michael dunn is testifying, taking the stand in his own defense. he is the man accused of shooting jordan davis, an unarmed teenager. closing arguments in that case

could take place today. many are comparing this trial to the trayvon martin case. and deliberations in the corruption trial of former new orleans mayor were supposed to be in their second day today. but an unexpected event has put things on hold. ben what happened? >> reporter: -- sigh across the city of new orleans, as many people did expect a verdict from the jury. but both sides were here, kind of milling about, the jurors sort of came in, one by one, and then they were missing one juror, even an hour and 15 minutes after they were supposed to be there. so the judge said, look, we're not going to have deliberations today. everybody was expecting a verdict on the 21 counts against ray nagan, but that is on hold now, so we'll have to wait until

tomorrow at 9:00. no word on what happened to the juror. we'll have to see tomorrow morning if that person returns. there are four alternates in this case, but yet the judge told the alternates that they could go home if they wanted to. so we're not sure if they are here or will be available tomorrow. >> ben, one of the reasons they were expecting a quick verdict in this case is because there were so many guilty pleas leading up to this case involving some of ray nagan's top aids. if he is found guilty does he face jail time? >> oh, he absolutely faces jail time. this has been the big mystery among the political experts that we have talked to, the fact that he didn't take a deal with prosecutors. many experts say he could have been facing three to four years if he had taken a deal, right

now he is looking at 20 years plus in prison if he is found guilty on every one of those charges. the jury will look at each charge individually and has to come to a unanimous decision. >> ben, thank you very much. we should always point out that all men are innocent until proven guilty. ♪ ♪ wall street continuing to show clod gains. the dow up 118 points. stocks opening higher today. barclays is slashing up to 12,000 jobs, saying it needs to cut costs. reporting wider than expected losses in the fourth quarter. but while some employees are getting pink slips others will be looking at big bonuses. the company says bonuses attract

top talent. one proposal of the ongoing immigration debate has stepped up security on the u.s. border. now one resident is using a gap in the fence to teach local history. >> mexican chief of the soldiers revolutionary army, it was here. >> reporter: it's a history lesson across borders. alfredo is standing in mexico. >> 20 days camping around in these mountains, 2,000 soldiers. >> reporter: while his audience stands inches away in the united states. so this is a pretty special place. >> yes, it is special. >> reporter: the international border here is just a line in the cement. it's the boundary figueroa must stand behind. the duel citizen runs the museum

on the mexican side of the border, and teaching the area's history to americans over these wide-open spaces is his favorite part of the job. say in five years there is a fence between us, what do you think of that? >> some people don't -- don't like it, and say will put a fence -- in this area. >> reporter: do you like it? this >> no. >> reporter: i would love to take us right now into alfredo's museum which is just about 50 feet on the other side of this line, but since we can't cross here, we'll have to take a drive to an official port entry. along the way a border fence. and finally we're back, steps from where we started. a walk through the door

transports us to 1911, when the border was a community of free-flowing peoples and cultures. >> look at that -- the american [ inaudible ] and the regrande on the other side the soldiers mexican revolution. >> reporter: and they just went back and forth freely. >> yes. >> reporter: a peak outside show how things have changed. have those fences always been here? >> no. i baptize in the rio -- >> reporter: you were baptized in the river. >> in 1985, no fence. no fence. >> reporter: security is still a real concern here. patrol members say there are five to ten attempted illegal entries per day. >> there are plenty of places

for somebody to hide and try to come in. >> reporter: kout a fence the border patrol use cameras and agents. agents that sometimes get pulled into a history lesson too. you are watching this history change so much from what it was a hundred years ago. does it make you miss the past? >> reporter: yeah. >> reporter: alfredo understands that world he so admires can only be found in his books, but he hopes the next chapter of the museum's history doesn't include more fences. heidi zhou castro, al jazeera, el passo, texas. coming up the multi-million dollar violin that was stolen is now center stage.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. here are your headlines at this hour. janet yellen is testifying

before congress in her first public comments, she says the economic recovery is far from complete. the president of france receiving a warm welcome at the white house this morning. he is in washington for an official state visit. a big part of the southeast is bracing for yet another winter storm, but georgia's governor this time not taking any chances. he has already declared a state of emergency and closed public schools. the state was caught off guard last time, leaving a lot of people stranded on highways and stuck in schools. and people are fearing this storm will be worse or just as bad as the one before. >> would not hesitate to say just as bad and it could be worse. a lot of ice with this storm coming up. it is just getting underway here. the area of moisture will move out, the big storm we're talking about tomorrow developing across the gulf there. the temperatures are still above

freezing in atlanta, charlotte is down to 30. this is tomorrow afternoon right at 5:00. the pink area is where you get rain, which is falling into air which is below freezing. a large area, and the lighter color indicates very intense precip coming down. atlanta is right on the border, but certainly close to that 34 degrees mark could see a lot of ice accumulation here. 6 to 8 inches of snow that will be in western north carolina and tennessee. a half inch or more of ice at least. once you get to a quarter inch, though, that downs the tree limbs and causes a lot of power outages, but these areas could see a quarter inch to a half inch or a quarter inch to three quarters of an inch of ice with the storm. this is across the southeast.

high-pressure keeping that cold air in. but the storm be intensify, then we're talking about a snow storm on thursday mid-atlantic up to the northeast as the storm intensi intensifies. and the snow will continue to move up through new england. you are k looking at a foot to maybe 20 inches of snow, and right along 95 it goes from snow to rain, so you could see sleet or freezing rain. very tricky snow forecast wednesday and thursday. del. >> dave, thank you very [ technical difficulties ] police recovered the price instrument last week, and last

night the man who it was stolen from played right there. the violent and the violinist were given a prolonged standing ovation. thanks for watching, al jazeera america, i'm del walters in new york. "inside story" is next. ♪ the u.s. is trying to shore up afghanistan before the bulk of military forces leave, but it's not ♪