thank you for your time. best of luck at the oscars. >> the show may be over but the conversation continues on the website aljazeera.com/considerthis, on twitter and google+. see you next time. >> here we go again. another winter storm is on the way, bringing dangerous snow and ice to southern states before setting its sites on the north-east. >> a night of glitz and glamor at the white house. the whose who of celebrities turn out for a state dinner honouring the president of france. >> a mafia roundup on two different continents, authorities busting members of the mob in new york and italy, accused of running a massive drug ring. >> i was arrested for illegal

fishing >> arrested for fishing. native americans thrown in gaol decades ago may finally be let off the hook. >> hi there. welcome to al jazeera america. good to have you with us. i'm thomas drayton. we'll get to the stories in a moment. first, get ready. georgia and the carolinas are preparing for the worst as another storm bears down on the south-east. we'll show you the satellite image. 100 million people are in the storm's path. several governor's declared states of emergencies. that's the case in georgia, where robert ray reports from roswell, outside of atlanta. >> 2200 flights have been

cancelled at hartsfield jackson, the busiest airport in the world. they can't remember that many flights being canningsedly in recent memory. >> two weeks ago the traffic gridlock that occurred, officials took that as a big-time lesson as the country looked at it. the governor nathan deal opened his own emergency committee of 32 members, including meteorologists who are giving him guidance. mayor of atlanta contracting salt spreaders, 32 more, giving them about 60. they are pretreating roads with sand. a lot of lessons learnt from two weeks ago as this maimer swath is about to hit the region. augusta, georgia, which holds the tournalt could take the

biggest brunt with size and snow in the next 24 hours. >> i've been tracking snow, freezing ice and glaze across parts of the south-east. in fact, we are going to continue with freezing rain and sleet giving ice accumulation on powerlines and trees. texas to south carolina are coming from the east. behind the storm is wind gusts, snapping trees and knocking limbs on to the powerlines. as we get through the day, georgia and the carolinas will have ice coming down. the highest accumulation will be in central georgia, up to an inch of ice accumulating. it's likely. we are looking at georgia, this is where we have the warnings.

we'll put snow on top of that, adding 4-8 inches of snow. this is impacting not only texas, but mississippi. alabama. ice accumulations tapering off for parts of texas, louisville, and mississippi. it will be continuing as it works towards the eastern sea board and snow will pile up. they are going to have higher hills, mountains in the south-east accumulate up to a foot of snow. again, that, again, is on top of ice in places closer to the coast. on the coast itself it will be rain, until the storm works up into the north-east. we have winter storm watches impacting manhattan and boston. it's the tract of the storm that looks unsure. now it does appear that the storm will bring snow to maryland, but we'll get snow for

the manhattan area and parts of the eastern new jersey, maybe about one to four inches approximately as we get thursday night into early friday morning. and a lighter storm coming over on top of that. temperatures. ing it -- something to watch in the days ahead. >> we'll have updates on al jazeera america. >> on capitol hill, the house voted to raise the debt ceiling with no conditions attached. it approved a clean debt limit bill. the senate is expected to take up the bill today. a fight over the debt ceiling contributing to a 17-day shutdown last october. >> attorney-general eric holder is making a case for allowing former felons to vote. banning convicts from voting once released from prison makes it harder for them to reintegrate into society. he pointed to a study finding

ex-felons return to prison less often. >> holder doesn't have the power to force states to change laws, but hopes comments will start a national break. >> there has been a break in a 40-year-old kidnapping case. a convicted child sex offender is a person of interest in the abduction of these two girls in 1975. sheila lion, and katherine, her sister, vanished from a mall. police believe lloyd lee welsh was there the day they disregard. welsh is in a dell aware prison for sexually assaulting young girls. >> the u.k. is dealing with some of the worst flooding it has seen. scientists say the bad weather could last months. simon mcgregor-wood has more on people along the thames river, forced to evacuate their homes. >> willow way is underwater. foot by foot, house by house.

the river thames has taken over. 50 people live here, most of them moved out. it's the same story all along this stretch of the river. hundreds of homes lost to the water. >> all michelle gray can do is rescue her possessions through freezing knee-deep water. >> inside this is her kitchen. these are the clothes she needs for work. >> it's been very difficult. we started in january, the road where the house stayed dry and managed to go to work. and came home in the evening. this time it came up quick, within the space of 24-48 hours. no warning, no nothing, and it came straight in this time. >> this small riverside community was built in 1947. it has not seen flooding anything as bad as this since then. it's been the wettest december in january on historic record.

all across the southern part of the u.k. in other places the flooding is worse. it has been for much longer. >> like here in summer set in the south-west of england, hundreds of square kilometres of low-lying land has been flooded for weeks. villages and farms cut off, hundreds of homes abandoned. rail lines washed away. forecasters say more rain to come. >> global warming and claeng are are to blame, some say. wetter winds like this could become the norm. that has not stopped the politics. government accused of indifference, the environment agency of doing too little too late. protecting up tos and ignoring the countryside. >> everybody needs to get op with the vital work of bringing nation's rorss to get the road and rail moving, to help people who have been flooded to plan tore the future and learn the

lessons of the difficult situation we are in. >> with less public money to spend, tough choices lay ahead. which areas to defend, give up to flooding. in willow way they've been left to fend for themselves. for michelle gray and the others. this could be a sign of what is to come. >> the problem is widespread. there are more than 20 flood warnings. it was a toast to a relationship that spanned sent youries. mike viqueira has more on the black tie affair at the white house. state visits are about symbolism. they arrived on the south lawn. there were comments from president obama and francis hollande. lauding each other, talking about the lopping friendship that the -- long friendship that

the two countries enjoyed. then there was a bilateral meeting in the oval office, followed by a press conference in which the two leaders took questions from the press for little better than an hour. both presidents, very tough on syria, president barack obama saying the situation was crumb bling, there had been deadlines missed by the regime to remove chemical weapons, reminding everyone by the threat of force, which was an interesting point. the french had been upset in summer, when president obama pulled back from military strikes. he appeared in the rose garden, saying he was going to congress to see if they would approve the strikes. french war planes were all but ready to be airborne, in the skies over syria. president obama spoke very harshly, forthrightly i would say, about russia and their role, asking them to do more to

stop blocking humanitarian assistance and evacuation of refugees. there were two other major issues talked about. one was iran. the other was n.s.a. spying. on the last score francis hollande said the mutual trust was restored after it was revealed that the n.s.a. and the united states spied on his phone calls. the evening ended with the centrepiece, with all the bells and whistles. the obamas tented off a portion of the south lawn. 380 guests. julia louise dreyfuss, the secretary of defense and others gathered to have rib eye, washed down with wines from california, sparkling wine from virginia, and entertainment from mary

jblige. francis hollande heads to silicon valley in california to talk to tech titans. back to you. >> mike viqueira at the white house. >> still ahead a florida pan accused of killing a teenager over loud music testifies at his own trial. he said he feared for his life. testimony paints a different picture. how authorities broke up a major drug operation. in the westminster kennel club - names its best in show. we show you what makes this year's winner the top dog.

>> bad weather is blamed for a military plane crash in algeria, one person survived, killing 77 on board. it was carrying soldiers and family from the southern deserts. the lone survivor, a soldier, is

being treated at a hospitalment >> you have probably seen laser pointers used at a presentation, the size of a pen. they emit a bright focus of light. they are increasingly shined in a cockpit. when it happens it can obscure visility, especially at night. it ground add number of planes, ib -- including a jetblue flight. the fbi has offered a reward. >> closing addresses in relation to a man accused of shooting an unarmed team in relation to loud music. michael dunn took to the stand saying he killed the teen as self-defence. >> i have every right of self-defence, and i took it. >> michael dunn repeated the sentiment as he testified in his own defense. in an emotional moment, a

47-year-old software engineer described what was going through his mind. he said he was concerned not only about his own safety, but that of his fiancee. she had gob in the store at -- gone in the star at the jacksonville gas station to buy a bottle of wine. >> michael dunn said he saw what looked like the barrel of the shotgun, that jordan davis opened the door, got out and threatened to kill him. >> i was in fear for my life. i was probably stunned. >> during cross-examination, the prosecution argued that doesn't sprayed bullets into the s.u.vl with four unarmed teenagers. he was asked why he kept firing. dunn responded that he shot at the teens to, "keep their heads down so they wouldn't shoot at him", he said he didn't shoot to

kill, but the prosecutor noted there was no gun or sign that anyone shot at him. >> you could imagine a gun. >> anything is possible. between his threats and action, they are reinforcing what my eyes told me. >> during rebuttal the prosecution stressed that doesn't never told his fiance that the teens had a gun. >> did the defendant tell you he saw a gun in the red suv. >> no >> did the defendant tell you he sou a weapon of any kind in the suv. >> no >> there was no mention of a stick? >> no >> there was no mention of a shotgun? >> no >> there was no mention of a barrel? >> no >> there was no mention of a lead pipe? >> no. >> michael dunn testified about why he was irritated with the teep's thumping music. he said he has hearing loss in one ear, making the other more

sensitive. >> we should add that doesn't pleaded not guilty for firing at three other teens in the car. >> a man is dead and a woman fighting for her life after a package bomb exploded in her home. it happened in lebanon, 30 minutes outside of nashville. it was delivered to a retirement lawyer, jon setzer. the injured woman suffered ones to her hands in chest. >> the death penalty in washington state has been put on hold. governor jay inslee is suspending capital punishment, concluding that it was applied inconsistently and unequally. washington has nine inmates on death row. he said if a death penalty yes case comes to his desk he'll issue a reprieve. >> two dozen americans in the american italian mafia are under

aarrest. accused of running a money laundering operation. the fbi worked with italian lawmakers to get the suspects in custody. >> it was shortly after midnight in new york when federal agents rounded up suspects in a plot to establish a new international drug shipment pipeline. first words came in a tweet from the new york office: >> in the closely coordinated transatlantic action federal bureau of investigation agents in new york arrested seven suspected members. at the same time italian authorities nabbed 17 alleged associates of another crime organization. >> american and italian law enforcement determined that the ndrangheta aimed to move

narcotics across boundaries, attempting to build a bridge of criminality to corruption, stretching from south america, italy and new york. >> five of the seven suspects live in brooklyn new york. including a bakery owner, the limping pin of the plot. according it the indictment. the father-in-law is a member of ndrangheta, italy's version of the mafia. the associates sold more than a kilogram of heroin and plotted to ship 500 kilos of cocaine from south america to italy. authorities say it was the first time ndrangheta attempted to gain a toe hold in the u.s. ndrangheta can and has to be considered a powerful organization for handling international drug traffic. >> they maintained a money laundering network handling

proceeds from narcotics. >> according to italian court papers, the shipping company the suspects were working with had been caught smuggling several millions to italy in cans of pineapple and coconut milk. >> decades after being arrested for fishing, a group of native americans could have their records wiped clean. years of work. the top dogs from this year's westminster dog show.

>> welcome back. a live look at sochi russia, where the 2014 winter olympics are underway, it is 11:23 in the morning. good to have you with us. welcome back. former all-american college wrestler, hudson taylor formed a

group to end homophobia in sport. he travelled to russia to ship a spotlight on the issue. he spoke with michael eaves. >> you, of course, returned from sochi, at the start of the 2014 winter olympics. going in we thought there would be more public protests from the fans and athletes. so far we have not seen the activism we expected. why is that? >> we have to be cognisant of the fact that athletes have been competing for this moment for their life. some had the dream since they were six years old. first and foremost they are there to compete and win a medal. once you see athletes step off the podium. you'll see more athletes take the stance. having been in sochi, talking to olympians, there's an interest and a dire to use the opportunity to show support for

l.g.b.t. rights. competition comes first. >> one of the reasons hudson went to sochi was the initiative by athlete ally principle 6 reading: >> why was that part of it the olympic charter so significant to bring up at this particular olympic games. >> the ioc has rule 50, prohibiting athletes making statements, gesture and demonstrations. we thought the only way to keep it not political was to make it about the principles of the olympic charter. talking about principle six, the nondiscrimination clause enables athletes to be truthful, but not violate russian law or iocs charter. >> how important is the platform

of sport and gay rights issues. >> it's important. sport is its own religion, it's on the back of every sports page. go to any high school or middle school. it's sports trophies lining the hallways. athletes have an amount of cultural capital with the ability to influence public opinion. not only on the l.g.b.t. community but any issue. sport place an important role. jackie robinson breaking the colour barrier in baseball, and michael sam and l.g.t.d. competing today are doing just that. >> a multi-million violin stolen is back in the hands of its opener. to celebrate both appeared in wisconsin for a special performance. the 300-year-old stradavarius

was recovered. it was returned in good condition, despite a few scratches. >> a fight over fishing as gone on for 40 years. dozens were arrested for dropping their lines in the water. now there's a movement to wap away criminal records. allen schauffler reports. >> this is where the game wardens come down on all of us. >> billy frank and hank adams back at the river, the scene of the crime, of many crimes. >> we are fighting battles, right and left. >> adams helped to produce this documentary on the fish wars of the "50, and "70, pitting tribes against the state of washington, as frank and others continued fishing outside tiny reservations. >> i'm about eight miles from the reservation. the game warden said "you have to fish on the reservation.

you took our reservation. >> frank figured he was arrested 50 times. when the men were in gaol, the women pulled in the nets and were hauled off too. this is where the defence was being made and needed to be made. >> in september 1958, frank, adams and hundreds more brought it out into the woods, into the open and made the state capital a public battlefield. >> i was 40 feet away from the water on the bull horn and arrested for illegal fishing. billy was thrown in gaol, i wept in with him. >> all the civil and criminal violations are on the protesters' records. even after the federal government sued the state. now a bill in the washington state legislature could wipe the

records clean. >> we are talking about ain shept history. the courts waited on this. >> the bill affected 80 people, there hasn't been public opposition from the state or prrtion. while it is symbolic, it is a start, say fraping and ad -- frank and adam, who say the battles were worth it. half a septemberury on, the fight continues. >> finally - a fire fox terrier takes home the top price in the westminster dog show. 5-year-old skye won best in show. the ginger and white dog is no stranger to success. the wire fox terrier has won 14 times more than any other breed in the show's history. before heading home skye will be

treated to a big prize - steak lunch in new york city. >> that'll do it for this edition of al jazeera news. aime thomas drayton in new york. thanks for watching, "the stream" is coming up next. >> hi, i'm lisa fletcher, and you're in "the stream." is it time to reset the conversation about motherhood and success? we ask if feminism and science and pop culture have led women astray. you're digital producer, rang raj is here, to bring your feedback tonight.