>> this is al jazeera america line from new york city. i'm tony harris with a look at today's top stories. the southeast bracing for a winter beating. just in, the house passes an increase of the debt cerealing in an unusual display of bipartisanship. and warm weather could cancel parts of the olympics in russia. ♪ >> the south is now dealing with the second winter storm in as

man weeks. today president obama signed an emergency declaration for georgia, and other states, and they have also declare states of emergency as rain and snowfall across the region and people prepare for what could be a repeat of last month. that's when atlanta experienced massive gridlock. drivers were stuck in the cars for hours and hours, around children ended up sleeping at their schools. robert ray is in roswell, georgia, ten miles from downtown atlanta. hey robert, i just saw someone take an evening jog behind you, so clearly the conditions are okay at the moment, but things are about to change, right? >> reporter: yes, tony. continue was doing a quick jog before the storm hits. smart man, i would say. all is clear here in the atlanta metro area right now. this is roswell suburb, a place that usual lie would b usually d with people walking around to

the restaurants. one restaurant is open here but everyone else is shut down. the oh governor has put a harsh issue on everyone, saying to hunker down for the next couple of days. the national guard is out in full force. there is an arm of electrical crews, trucks of people waiting for the power outage to occur. the governor's new emergency task force is watching the satellite and weather. businesses are closed, and no one is on the roads right now awaiting the storm. governor nathan deal who took criticism two weeks ago for lack of preparation for atlanta metro has been giving hourly press conferences throughout the day. this is what he said an hour ago. >> everybody needs to be patient. they need to be prepared as possible and be ready for the next two days, do not assume

your normal routine. >> tony, massive ice expected. i was watching the local weather, and i could tell you right now i've been in a lot of storms, and even this guy was scaring me a little bit saying that the next 48 to 72 hours we should prepare for a half inch to maybe an inch of ice all over the roads, on the trees, the power lines and some pockets of three to five inches in the atlanta metro area. the grocery stores are emptied out. people are hunkered down and no one will be out on the roads in the next day or so. tony? >> boy, can you imagine that city as big as atlanta and the metro area essentially a ghost town. robert ray for us in roswell. robert, good to see you. we've been talking about what is coming to atlanta, but this storm is hitting all across the southeast. hear what they can expect is rebecca stevenson. rebecca? >> meteorologist: we've been watching the storm with the potential to being a catastrophic storm across

georgia into south carolina. the reason we ka say that is the amount of ice coming down. once it comes down we'll see it coat trees and also roadways not only causing problems for traffic but the minute we start to get wind gusts coming in it will snap the trees. it's going to bring down all kinds of things, even the potential for some roofs giving way if they've not been replaced over the last decade. right now we're just seeing the development of this storm to bring a rain-snow mix across parts of northern louisiana and arkansas. it's that storm that is going to be crossing over towards atlanta. we are just too warm for any ice, but tonight temperatures fall. by 9:00 for alabama, we're going to see the ice develop. as we get close for midnight that icing is going to be stretching farther across south carolina. that's where we're going to have the widest area of ice accumulation. we're also going to have it coating areas around atlanta.

we're talking about amounts from one-tenth o inch, and then potential for inch of snow and then another four to eight inches of snow on top of ice. here's where we have our ice storm warning including atlanta down through central georgia. initially we're hitting south carolina as we get into the morning hours. as we get into the next 12 hours it will be rain south of that, and the storm will have just gun to deposit that ice and snow and then over atlanta and south carolina. it will be a treacherous night over the southeast. >> we'll see new the newscast. people are getting ready for this storm. long lines in grocery stores and store shelves are amount. no bread, no milk. >> reporter: when people go to the stores a lot of times they're finding this, no bread, for example in this store.

it's not the ice age people, it's an ice storm, hashtag snow apocalypse. this is in another storm where there is still peanut butter but the bread is history. and the same scenario if you go to the walmart in atlanta, walmart shelves are empty from the apocalypse writes this person. and take a look at this one. this is happening in other states like in north carolina, did someone say snow? the meat section of the grocery store is empty. and here you also have people going to the hardware stores trying to get batteries and flash lights, that type of thing. and take a look at the pictures coming in. team mike, he is with the air force. he wrote, second snow day of the year in north carolina. they canceled absolutely everything, and everything on base and in town is closed. people are telling the authorities are saying please stay off the roads. robbie from the emergency

operations center in georgia sent out this picture earlier today. this is north of atlanta, and here you've got south carolina, the department of public safety saying stay off the road, especially the bridges. those are the first places to accumulate ice. >> maria, thank you. mo ivory is joining us from atlanta. she is a big time radio host. good to see you. >> good to see you. >> it's good to talk to you. you need to tell me what is going on in atlanta. delta has canceled flights and 1500 flights tomorrow. and southwest is shutting down operations tomorrow. is this out of an abundance of caution or are the forecasters predicting something really horrible here? >> i think both. i think it's an abundance of caution, and rightfully so. imagine if they didn't take the

precautions they didn't take and we have a repeat of two weeks ago, it would be awful. i think they're being pre-cautious because they have to. they're using the task force that the governor set up, and all the things that mayor reed put into place. it is like a ghost town. the grocery stores are completely-- >> i just mentioned that a moment ago. >> you want to sit back and say, are we overreacting? really? maybe we are. and when i went to work the roads were completely empty, no ice, no slick roads. when i returned at 2:00, still no ice, no slick roads. we might be feeling this was a little bit ahead of time for us to prepare, but i guess it's better than not being prepared at all. >> the timeline on this is like late tonight in the opening hours, and then it looks like it continues for another 24 hours

or month. are you--i don't want to use the word scared, but are you concerned? >> i'm concerned for the basic things like is my power going to go out? that kind of stuff. i'm not really concerned about anything major happening because everybody has already got everything that they need. they shut down all the schools, so parents are not going to find themselves in the same position that they did the last time because kids are already home. many offices and workplaces have been shut down, and i expect it will probably go all the way to friday until we start to see everybody resurface again. i'm not nervous about that because i think they have done the right thing. what they did was evacuate everybody before it could happen. >> i'll call you tomorrow and you can let me know how things are progressing. >> for sure. >> a big deal radio host in atlanta. the house took steps to avoid another battle over raising the nation's debt limit. they approved an one-year debt

cereal with no conditions. john terret, good to see you, what are the numbers on this, and how did it pass? >> 221 yays, they got two more than they needed including speaker john boehner, and people who invested in u.s. debt like chinese and others country around the world and companies around the world who have taken on our debt, they won't get their interest payments, and that could have a very serious knock effect on the economy. the full faith and credit of the united states is at risk, and no lesser organizations of the businesses around the round table told congress you got to raise the debt ceiling and the house voted in favor.

>> the republicans trying to ring some concessions out of democrats, is that why the vote went forward? >> part of that, and the snow. that is a big issue here because we are going to get snowed in tomorrow and thursday and next week is a holiday for congress, so they decided to get this out of the way today. they did try to ring concessions out of democrats on things like the keystone pipeline and in the end the democrats said no, we're not playing ball. we want a clean bill and that's exactly what we got. here the minority whip in the house, and he's saying, look there, is blame on both sides. >> on our side we said the republicans cut revenues, therefore they were responsible for the debt. their side they say democrats spent money and invested money, therefore they're responsible for the debt. the fact of the matter is we

were all responsible for the debt. >> so let me take it from here. when would the government run out of money? well, technically it did on friday. that's when the deadline was. the treasury is very good, and we've had this experience every year for the last three years, they're very good to rob peter to pay paul. they take a little money here to pay this, but me thought they had longer than they do. they said they have tax bills to pay out, we'll have to pay out billions than we normally would, therefore they're down to cash only. so now the house has voted and the house is going to be out until the 26th. the senate has the democratic majority, so it should pass there, but you never know, and it could get held up, so we'll see. >> john, thanks. police say they have broken up a drug ring that span three

continents, american and italian authorities say the joint operation targeted a group that smuggle drugs from guyana through south america to a port in southern industry. some of the drugs were destined to new york city. randall pinkston is here with more on today's arrest. >> reporter: for two years the officials in italy and u.s. conducted an undercover operation trying to identify links between america's criminal under world and it's counterparts in italy. this morning authorities brought the hammer down. >> reporter: it was shortly after mid night in new york. first word of the bust came from a tweet from the new york office of the fbi which read, major mafia roundup in new york and italy. iin the transatlantic round up,

and at the same time the italian authorities nabbed associates of a crime organization in southern italy. >> american and italian law enforcement terms that the androggatta aimed to move deadly narcotics across international boundaries intent to building criminality and corruption to stretch from south america, italy, and back to new york. >> five of the seven u.s. suspects live in brooklyn, new york, including a bakery owner, the linchpin of the plot. the member of androggotta, italy's version of the mafia. they sold more than a kilogram of heroin and plotted to ship 500 kill lows of cocaine from south america to italy concealed

in frozen food. it was the first time an doing aandrogottaaimed at obtaining an the u.s. >> authorities say they maintained a money laundering met work that handled proceeds from narcotics and illegal weapons trafficking. >> all seven u.s. defendants were arraigned on charges of narcotics trafficking, money laundering and firearms possession. five are being held without bail. conviction on the most serious charges could result in life sentences. >> thank you. president obama tonight is paying tribute to the close alliance between the u.s. and france. french president françois hollande is in washington for a three-day visit. both spoke at a news conference speaking on everyone from healthcare to the cries in syria, and there will be a state

dinner in honor of president hollande. give us bit of the talking points today. >> sure, the ceremony later on this evening in the north part of the white house the president and first lady will come out and greet president hollande who will pull up in his limousine to attend that state dinner. it's a state visit a three-day visit, with the arrival ceremony and a press conference in the east room. both these men, president obama and president hollande both tough on syria as those negotiations continue in geneva, face-to-face negotiations with the assad regime and forces backed by western powers. president hollande said it's not just about humanitarian aid but regime change. and they said despite russia brokered that agreement to get rid of serious chemical weapons,

deadlines have been missed, and they want russia to do more. president obama had strong words for russia and it's role in syria. >> they're concerned about the well-being of the syrian people when they're starving civilians. it's not just syrians that are responsible but russians as well if they're blocking this kind of resolution. that is an example of the kinds of diplomatic work we're engaging in right now. >> so this visit is really about a celebration between the close and ever closer ties between the united states and france cooperating in libya and syria and in iran, of course, tony. >> mike, i love this moment. the president made an interesting comparison about his family at today's press conference. share that with everyone. >> you know, it might be intercepted as awkward. a lot of people thought it was funny and good natured. there was a french correspondent

who said problem united states and france are guessing closer. are we better friends now, france and united states than great britain and the united states. >> first of all, i have two daughters, and they are both gorgeous and wonderful and i would never choose between them. that's how i feel about my outstanding european partners. all of them are wonderful in their own ways. >> okay, so the context of the question was nsa surveillance a sore point in europe. president hollande was asked about it. he said the mutual trust between france and the united states has been restored. >> that's a good moment at the white house. just ahead on al jazeera america, the growing popularity of digital currency bit coin, and what's being done to regulate it, and what happens

when you ask if your country would have been better off losing world war ii. this russian tv station found out.

>> digital currencies have surged in popularity since bitcoin was launched five years ago. but there are few regulations covering the crypto currencies. but as kimberly hallic reports, that could change. >> there is a change taking place. the money changing hands here isn't dollars but instead an online digital currency. this is the satoshi square named after the mysterious satoshis in nagamoto. this is where people can buy and sell their digital cash. >> it can be stored online where

nobody else can reach it. >> bitcoins along with variations have risen in popularity with digital cash buyers and sellers interact directly. the growing number of restaurant accept bitcoin as a way for people to pay for meals. merchants are also accepting crypto currency. >> it may be popular but it is not without risk. policymakers debate building the currency's constant fluctuating value make it a risky investment or the currency of the future. >> in recent weeks the values of digital curren currency has flud widely, making it a tough sell for those who prefer cash. silk road allow people to buy illegal items anonymously.

the international intelligence unit said the online currency is devised with the goal of disguising illegitimate activity. >> those who choose to act outside of the law will be held accountable. >> a growing number of lawmakers are pushing to bring the digital currency under strict football rules of everyone else. that may be impossible given lack of regulation is one of the huge attractions. >> there is no third party to regulate it. if i want to make contribution to an unpopular organization i can do that with bitcoin. >> it's the currency's independence that users love. there is no central government manipulating the value of your personal savings for political gain. that's why supporters dismiss the criticism of this digital money as nothing more than the

growing pains of an alternative currency whose use one day will be widespread. kimberly hallic, al jazeera. >> you can call it a yellen rally if you want to, stock soaring after newly appointed chair janet yellen testified on the hill. and it's the biggest gain since mid december. ali velshi is looking at what yellen brought to the table. what is the big take away from today? >> the big take away this woman is going to put me out of business. she's clearer than ben bernanke, who was clearer than his bread predecessor. she was so plain spoken and much easier to follow than past fed chairs. here's the take away. homeowners and home buyers who are worried about rising interest rates yellen said the fed will keep the rates low now.

the with a actual 30-year mortgage rate does not get set by the fed. it will move no matter what the fed says. and she said the stock market does not pose a substantial risk to the economy. it may pose a risk to your stock market investments but that's not the economy. by the way whether it was her comments or the fact that we heard that the republicans were going to actually raise the debt ceiling we had a big rally in stocks as you know. the dow was 193 points higher than the day. as you said 1.2% gains. not bad thanks to janet yellen and thanks to republicans, who knows. >> she's watching interest rates there. >> yep. >> she is also watching job growth. what did she say about jobs? >> this is important because the fed is very interested in jobs. she acknowledged that the long-term u unemployed is the problem of our time. she said the labor market is far

from complete. we knew that. even though unemployment has fallen to 6.6% in january there are 10.2 million americans looking for work who can't find it, and more than 35% of that 10 million have been out of work for six months or more, and we know the longer you're out of work the harder it is to get a job. she's committed, but ultimately the unemployment is not something that the fed can do anything. we were sparked by aol tim armstrong talking about the cost of distressed babies, we're looking at what employers are allowed to know about your private life, your health situation and health insurance. they do pay for part of it, so they must have some access to information but how much information do they hav and accy

have to my medical information. >> it's getting warm at the winter games, and some events have been canceled. >> mild temperatures and soft snow have seers and snowboarders pushing through spring like conditions. many athletes have ended up face down or have pulled out for self preservation. >> we did the down hill training wall, and it transforms from the top to bottom. it's wintery at top and spring like at the bottom. >> athletes are expressing concerns. shawn white said the flat bottom is just sand and mush. while his american teammate said its dangerous because it's crappy. another american snow barredder called the course garbage. shawn white has received criticism for pulling out last week after calling the course intimidating.

white wanted to focus on the half pipe. this is not the first time that the winter games have had to deal with warm conditions. four years ago at the vancouver games snow was brought in by helicopters as the warm than average temperatures wreaked havoc with the temperatures. >> officials are not concerned yet about the need to bring in stored snow--spoiler alert, shawn white did not medal i in e halhalfpipe, well, he didn't wi. white man who murdered a black teen defends himself saying he felt threatened, and we have more on former mayor of new orleans ray nagin.

>> welcome back, al jazeera america. this is a look at your top

stories. the house took the first step late today to avoid a government default, and they voted to approve an one-year debt ceiling with no conditions. the bill now goes to the senate. french president françois hollande is here for a three-day visit. and in just a few hours a state dinner will kick off in honor of hollande. two ledge members of the move i can't have been arrested in connection with a global drug smuggling ring. the american and italian authorities say the men conspired to smuggle in cocaine. the southeast is hunkering down bracing for another winter blast, georgia's governor not taking chance this is time around has declared a state of emergency. robert, give us a timeline here. you've gone through one wave of

snow and rain, when is the heavy stuff expected to come in? >> heavy stuff overnight. let me just tick down for you. governor nathan deal saying they're not crying wolf this time. the national guard are on stand by. power trucks are in the area or on their way, hospitals have back-up generators, and makeshift hotels for employees, and schools and businesses are closed. grocery stores have been cleaned out virtually. teams of salt spreaders are on the interstates, georgia power and emergency services saying this could be catastrophic. the unite president of the unitd states calling for a state of emergency for georgia, and the hunkering down for the residen residents. this is a good ol' fashioned

southern ice and snow storm. >> it will head up through the carolinas where the forecast is really nasty. robert ray, thank you. why do some struggle with winter weather. it's all about perspective. >> fighting know storms is a numbers game, and the scale in southern cities it is a lot bigger than you may realize. metro atlanta, it is huge. 5 million people live here, but they're spread out over 8,000 square miles. that is a lot of sprawl. consider metro atlanta is about the same size as all of massachusetts. to cover all that have land, northern georgia has about 660 snowplows and trucks, but look at massachusetts. again, roughly the same size and has access to seven times as many plows, that's not even counting boston's fleet.

look at the salt, all of georgia has 22,000 tons of salt for all of its roads. again when you look at massachusetts, it has seven times as salt, close to 150,000 tons. of course, boston sees a lot more snow, 43 inches or about that a year. atlanta, not so much. it sees only three inches of snow a year. but when it does snow in atlanta, the fact that georgia has so few tools to protect such a big area that is why a little bit of ice can cause a lot of problems. >> jonathan betz for us, thank you. in his first day on the stand michael dunne broke down in tears as he recounted the moments before he shot 17-year-old jordan davis. he said he was defending himself and his fiancé. >> it wasn't just my life i was worried about. [ sobbing ]

>> in terms of your mental state. >> now it's doubled because it's not just me you're talking about. >> davis was sitting in an suv with three other teens when an argument with dunne over loud music turned deadly. natasha, dunne's testimony today, here's the question, was it in line with what we'd heard from him in police interviews? >> the prosecution said no, that it was riddled with inconsistencies. dunne spent several hours on the stand. he said the, quote, the thumping music was so loud his ears were ringing and his car window vibrating. at some point he saw four inches of a barrel of a shotgun and that the victim, jordan davis, got out of the car and threatened to kill him but under cross-examination the prosecutor said there was no sign of any gun, and no sign that anyone shot at him.

>> you just imagined the gun. >> anything is possible, sir, it's just not likely. like i said, between his threats and actions they were reinforcing what my eyes were telling me. i have every right of self defense and i took it. >> to answer the question, they you aimed right at the door. >> yes, i pointed at the direction that it was happening. >> we got more insight as to why dunne might have been irritated by the music. he has hearing loss in one ear that makes the other one more sensitive. >> dunne's fiancé took the stand as a prosecution witness. what did she have to say? >> she contradicted dunne. she said he never told her there was a shotgun a led pipe of any

kind. he never told her that there was a shotgun. >> thank you. former new orleans mayor ray nagin will have to wait another day for a verdict in his corruption trial. a juror fail to show up, slowing deliberations. >> after the jury deliberated yesterday and went home for the evening, everyone expected them to come back and deliberate for a while longer and possibly have a verdict. both sides showed up milling around court as jurors trickled in, but one was missing for at least an hour. no one knows where this jury was, and the judge finally came out and said they were going to postpone deliberation until tomorrow morning. no word are where that juror could possibly be. there are four alternates in this case. if they do have to boot the missing juror they would bring in another alternate, but that would mean that deliberations would have to begin all over again. in the meantime ray nagin is

facing 21 counts on corruption-related charges. if he is found guilty on all 21 counts he could be facing more than 20 years in prison. again deliberations will begin tomorrow morning at 9:00. >> in algeria the military is blaming bad weather for a plane crash that killed all but one person. it crash into a mountain killing 77 of the 78 people on board. no. britain prime minister david cameron said the government will spend whatever it takes to help the country recover from massive flooding. british royal marines have been reinforcing flood defenses in southern england after the river thamesover ran its banks. over 5,000 homes have been flooded and some have been underwater for more than a month now. and in russia the last remaining independent news channel could soon be shut down. russia's big cabbel satellite provider dropped the station earlier this week.

many are blaming the kremlin. we have reports from moscow. >> reporter: since 2010 tv deutsche has been feeding it's mix of entertainment into russian homes. it's willingness to broadcast opposition viewpoints has been drawing criticism of pro-kreml pro-kremlin. >> i don't like it when we're called opposition, and i will always tell that we're normal tv channel, and we do what we're required to do, and what every tv channel is required to do. we're covering all possible problems. >> reporter: last month they ran a phone-in poll asking would it have been better if leningrad had surrendered to the nazis in world war ii. the reaction was

uncompromisings. first, putin's secretary said that they had crossed the red line. the very existence of the channel is now in doubt. supporters gathered near moscow's red square and symbolically opened umbrellas over the weekend. more than 40 from bundled in police advance and arrested. they see it as a direct continuation of the recent crackdowns on gay right demonstrations. >> they showed a numbe tolerancr the last number of years. but it's become less and less tolerant. we've had a crackdown on freedom of assembly, there was a huge campaign of non-government organizations receiving funding. >> deutsche is putting together a survival plan pushing on with its internet broadcast and searching for new sponsors and advertisers. whether it can survive will

speak volume about the state of russia. >> this is much bigger than just a story about an opinion poll. this is about the freedom to have a dissenting voice in modern russia. the people here at deutsche tv said they did not set out to pick a fight with putin. they just wanted to be independent. paul brennan, al jazeera, mosc moscow. >> hollywood icon and diplomat shirley temple black passed away today. david? >> reporter: tony, at the height of the depression was president franklin rose set who said as long as our country has shirley temple we'll be all right. well, our country has shirley temple no long. the adorable little girl who danced and sage he sang her wayo stardom died last night. she retired from films at the age of 22. she went on to raise a family

and become active in polic polis and even serv served as ambassa. shirley temple dead at the age of 85. police in montgomery county, maryland, outside of washington, d.c. reporting a break in a disappearance case that has gone unsolved for 40 years. the police have identified a child sex offender as person of interest. two girls were walking home from a shopping mall when they vanished. through the years mr. welsh has been convicted of raping girls, and previously worked as a carnival ride operator. south of aspen a snowmobiler has been killed and a skier is missing after an avalanche.

the skiing is missing after an avalanche near the ski resort. the snowfall has ratcheted up the potential for slides. nine people have been killed by avalanches in the united states this year. and in houston, texas, the police say they have arrested two teenage boys in connection of a gruesome murder of a 15-year-old girl. the investigators say that she was lured to a vacant apartment near her home by that man where she was sexually assaulted and beaten to death. the police charged jose reyes with capitol murder, and an accomplice has also been under arrest. reyes has admitted to killing the girl as part of a satanic ritual and wanted to make a pact with the devil. in idaho west of twin false the police are on the defense in the shooting of a dog.

the officer approached the family's home while the young boy's birthday was going on inside. the officer was responding to the report of two large dogs running loose. he kicked one of the dogs and moments later shot and killed it. the officer knocked on the door and spoke with the dog's owner rick club. >> i just shot your dog because it tried to bite me. >> no, it didn't. >> yes, it did. >> it didn't bite nobody. >> i don't care. put your hand in my face again you're going to go to jail. sit down. >> the police chief is defending the officer saying that the cop felt the dog was a threat. but homeowner rick club who is pictured there who was throwing the birthday for his son inside the house said there were other options and club who suffers from parkinson said that the dog was a trained service animal. >> a majority of americans believe that undocumented workers should have a way to

obtain legal status. house speaker boehner said he does not see a way forward on immigration this year. morgan radford is here. >> that's right. unlike any other student body president you've ever seen. 's running at the nation's first public university. while washington battles over pathway to citizenship his pathway to his own future hangs in the balance. he seems like any other ambitious college kid. >> hi, i'm emilio, i'm the candidate. >> reporter: he's campaigning for student body president of the university of north carolina. >> i'm morgan. >> nice to meet you. >> reporter: he has all the traits of a budding politician even putting limit on our time together. >> i do have to go to class. >> reporter: he's unlike any other candidate this university has ever seen. >> i'm undocumented. i'm gay, and i'm latino.

>> reporter: emilio's parents smuggled him across the border from guatemala when he was just six. >> i remember being in a cattle train, at night. i could smell the cow manure. >> reporter: when his father was paralyzed working in a lumber yard they went back to guatema guatemala, leaving emilio in the care of an older brother. >> how old were you? >> i was 15. >> he has been involved in eight campus organizations all to prove he's as american as the next guy. >> so i feel like an american. i know that i'm an american. the only difference is i don't have a piece of paper that says i'm an american. >> reporter: even emilio's opponent are root forgive him. >> people like emilio should not be penalized because of circumstances you're born into. >> i plead the fifth. i would rather not talk about

it. >> but they are talking about it because it's the first here at unc. and what more fitting place than the nation's first public university. now north carolina has generally been an enclave of progressives compared to the rest of the south. but now residents are concerned that a new wave of conservative policies may undo decades of progress. >> the more you push us back, the more we'll fight to move forward. >> reporter: leading protests called "moral mondays" at the state capitol. they're led away in handcuffs. >> there is no reason that a student like emilio, who has finished high school, wh who isw a student at u this, c, should not have a clear, fair, and just path to immigration. how can a country of immigrants

discrimination against immigrants? >> reporter: but emilio said whether he'll be able to make something of himself in this country is not up to him. it's up to congress. >> i think its time that overall politicians leave immigration as a talking point and actually address it. >> reporter: as the debate rages on at capitol hill, emilio continues at chapel hill. >> emilio is in the process of applying for deferred process for childhood arrival. he was brought here as a child, he's still in school and he's under 31. >> how many students are there like emilio. >> they estimate 1.7 million students are out there in america just like emilio who would qualify for two years of deferred proceedings. >> how about moral mondays, is

there any indication that they will spread to other states in the country? >> there is truthful tuesday in south carolina and moral mondays. they said, look, any transformation in america always begins from the south up. >> let's see how he does. morgan radford. up next on al jazeera america, an online push to get citizens to join the fight against the mass surveillance. maria finds it is gaining mow momentum.

>> a protest against mass surveillance on the internet is going on right now over 5,000 companies website activists are taking part of the campaign called the day we fight back.

maria is following this for us. >> reporter: google and twitter, facebook, those are some of the companies that are supporting the day we fight back. people are urged to call their representatives and ask them to reform the nsa government surveillance program. i spoke to the organizers of this proest, and they say they're getting 5,000 calls per hour. and some of the legislators in support of this is berni sanders from vermont. they also put out this internet youtube video in support of this protest. and there is also this contest that went on, web we want, and they put out this contest asking illustrators to illustrate the imagine of the nsa program. we want to show you a couple of them. this is a guy and girl talking.

okay, you hang up. no, you hang up. no, you hang up. here is the president on the right saying, no, both of you hang up. >> that's the president? that's supposed to be the president? >> reporter: yes, right there. and this is a mall directory. you just look at the directory there, and it said sponsored by the nsa. it says you are here. sometimes you're here. every friday you're here. you parked here, you live here. so they're just adding a little bit of humor to this. tony, the organizers of this protest say they're not expecting a new nsa but they do expect people to call their legislatures. >> okay, marie y appreciate it. and now turning to our top story, that is the coming storm in the southeast of the united states. rebecca stevenson is here for us. >> meteorologist: we're looking at two storms hitting, one on the west coast bringing a lot of valley rain and plenty of

mountain snow p great for our snowpack there, and great for the water supply. it's a different story in the southeast where we have one to three inches of snow that came down with the first disturbance anywhere from one to three inches across georgia and into parts of north carolina. now we have the second round coming in tonight. the problem with this, it will come in with cold air in place, warm air riding up over it, we have ice storm warnings starting tonight for northern alabama, and closer to 11:00 it will be moving into georgia. we have rain-snow mix in parts of texas, and over the next 15 hours we'll see the ice fall developing. we'll have accumulation from a .1 of inch to .5-inch. the trees will build up with ice layers, and then with the winds

with the 25 mph gusts it will track those trees, everything will be brittle because of that ice, and it will come down as soon as the wind picks up with the storm. temperatures right now are begin to go cool, it's starting to transition to just snow. as temperatures fall overnight it will be ice accumulating on top of snow, and an additional to four to eight inches of snow coming on top of that. the response for that, northern alabama, north georgia, atlanta is going to be literally shut down by the amount of ice and snow that's going to fall, and so is south carolina. they're expecting a wider coverage of the ice fall. this storm system is going up the coast as we get into thursday. right now the model is going back and forth with low confidence about whether it's going to be snow or rain as far east as manhattan. currently it looks like it's

going to be a snow-rain mix with temperatures that are just too warm. get ready for a really tough day in the southeast, tony. >> the day's top stories next and then it is "real money" with ali velshi. >> reporter: the house does the right thing and avoids another debt ceiling debacle. that will make janet yellen's job a bit easier. we'll talk about jobs and interest rates and what it means for your prosperity. new websites that let you comparison shop for doctors and doctors that bid on serving you. all that and more on "real money."

their stories. we are not meant to be your first choice for entertainment. we are ment to be your first choice for the news.

>> this is al jazeera america live in new york city. i'm tony harris with a look at your top stories. it's ice that forecasters are worried about across the southeast. the region is bracing for another storm.

the national weather service is warning this system could reach historic proportions. the house met and voted to avoid to approve the debt ceiling increase. it will go to the senate tomorrow. janet yellen assured that things won't change for now. if the economy continues growing the fed will reduce its bond buying program. president rouhani, western countries says that iran is building a nuclear weapon, something that iran denies. temperatures exposing patches of green around the olympic mountain venues, can you believe it? a training session for alpine skiers was canceled today. it could hit 60 degrees by

week's end. if you like the latest from any of the stories on our news hour head over to www.aljazeera.com. that's www.aljazeera.com. "real money with ali velshi" is next on al jazeera america. buildings braw congress takes action to avoid a catastrophe that would have hurt you and the economy. and how much is too much for your boss to know about your private medical information. plus don't look for a doctor, let the doctor look for you and bid on your next procedure. i'm ali velshi, and this is "real money." ♪ this is