>> people across the south being warned to stay home as a winter storm described as potentially catastrophic hit the area. a large study casting doubt on value. why researchers say they may not help women survive cancer. it's hard to choose a role model when there's no one out there that reflects you. >> the struggle of being openly gay in sport.

a former athlete shares his story of coming out at the height of his college career. >> 95 years old. still going strong, how america's oldest paper boy proves that age is state of mind. >> good morning and welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. much of the south is now directly in the path of a severe winter storm. the national weather service is using words like "mined bog lipping", and "historic" so describe it. ice will be a major problem. roads could be glazed over, making driving nearly impossible. the ice is threatening to cause widespread power outages. more than 3,000 flights have

been cancelled. the storm is on track to go up from georgia up through the carolinas, to the north-east. >> several governors declared states of emergency. that inclues georgia, including areas that shut them down last month. that is where robert ray is. how are things looking. i see that it's already raining. >> reporter: good morning. it looks like rain, but it's a sleet. the temperatures dropped here in the past couple of hours. the city is literally shut down. ice is ensuing on the roads. i'm at a staging ground for power companies and tree-cutting countries that came from the south and the midwest to hep during the storm. let me show you some ice that has come down. all this came down in the past half hour. it's a dangerous situation.

let me walk you into this tent. these are the power crews from around the country that came to wait on standby for when this gets bad and the power out court. i can tell you this: yesterday the hurricane hunters made a rare flight over the northern golf of mexico to look at -- gulf of mexico to look at the weather system. that will create a massive situation here in the south, and all the way up to d.c. and new york. let's take a look and listen about how big the situation is. >> it's what is coming, and it's what has to many bracing for the worst on the ground. >> this is one of mother nature's worst kind of storms that can be ipp flighted -- inflicted on the south. >> another weight bringing down trees and power lines, leaving

many without electricity. >> we are looking at hundreds of thousands of outages. this is going to be a change for all of us. -- a challenge for all of us. >> texas, which had a taste of the storm sent power crews to georgia to help out if and when the lights go out. >> the storms and hurricanes help us out. we return the favour. >> 100 million people are expected to feel the fury of the arctic blast and georgia criticised for a lack of the preparation is in the strike zone again. >> we are not kidding. we are not crying wolf. it is serious business. it is something that the greatest cooperation we san receive from the public is our best abbott. >> the public is emptying supermarkets, stocking up and hungering down. >> we learnt.

stay off the roads. >> snow in atlanta did not capture what is coming. elsewhere in the south, a dangerous mix of snow and ice, leading to slick roads and four fatalities. in mississippi, trucks slid off the roads parents took kids home after snow forced schools to close. >> our goal is to be over-prepared and underwhelmed by the storm. >> so 2200 flights cancelled here in atlanta, is a spokesperson for the airport said it is a passengers record. no one at work today. obviously schools are closed. and this is not snow, this is actually the ice that is just about - that has fallen on some of the streets here. you can see we are in a situation that is going to be rough for the next 48 hours, and

it's heading up the coast and your way. >> robert ray reporting to us from atlanta. the hurricane hunters took a look at the storm. meteorologist nicole mitchell is in the air force hurricane hunters and has more about how the storm will move. >> i was leaving for duty, but going from the north-east to mississippi, all my flights were cancel. it was a rare flight in the gulf of mexico. the hurricane huntiers fly, but for winter storms usually it's the nor-easters off the coastlines. this is not typically a storm moving across the gulf. we don't have significant storms. we have a dense corridor, freezing rain. atlanta, where robert ray was. north of town it's snow, south is rain. the freezing rain is the

treacherous. already we are into this morning. places like columbia, and across the i-20 corridor there could be places seeing an inch or more of freezing rain, and a lot of places getting to the half inch mark, it is when you get so much weight on the trees and powerlines. it's a significant power outage. that's why you see the power of people on standby. watch for that. north of this, in places like north georgia, south carolina, significantly amounts of snow, and this is why we are concerned about the conditions. as all of this moves along, we move towards the mid-atlantic, d.c. can see a half inform of snow or more. ex-ly moving up to cities. this will be a widespread

problem. >> nicole mitchell, thank you. >> investigators believe bad weather caused the crash of a military transport plane in algeria. one survived, 77 killed. the plane carried soldiers and family members from the southern desert region to the mediterranean coast. >> the federal bureau of investigation is cracking down on people that point leasers at airplanes, shining the lights into cockpits can be dangerous, causing blindness for pilots or obscure visibility. the issue grounded the perhaps, including a jet blue flight. the fbi is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to rests or convictions. >> the minimum wage will go up for federal workers. president obama will sign an executive order to raise the hourly raise to $10.10. that's up from the current

$7.25. the president mentioned in his state of the union address that he would take action if congress did not. this order could impact $250,000 workers. it's hoped he will raise the minimum raise. >> the senate will take up the bill on a clean debt limit. tracy potts reports, the move caused a split in the republican party. >> it feels like "alice in wonderland", totally upside down. >> 28 republicans joint the developments to allow america to borrow money. those that voted yes say the spending mus stop. >> we are on a spending trajectory that is unsustainable. the president knows it. every democrat and republican in this up to knows it. it has to be dealt with. >> the tea party is furious

conservatives held out for something in exchange for new borrowing, like reversing part of the health law. they got nothing. democrats say the back and forth was a waste of time. >> we need to stop playing the political games with the economy, stability and reputation. >> now it's up to the senate. >> we should get this done quickly. >> one never knows. >> especially since senator ted cruz is forcing a filibuster, forcing to borrow for more money. >> that was tracy potts reporting from washington. a fight over the debt ceiling contributed to a 17-day shutdown last october. >> attorney-general eric holder was making a case for letting former convict vote. withholding a vote made it harder for them to reintegrate

into society. those with the right to vote returned to prison less often. holder does not have the power but hopes to start a debate. >> voters in free mont wants to require representers to swear they have legal permission to live in the u.s. the ord naps was approved in 2010, passing on tuesday with 60% support. tenants must affirm that they are legal u.s. residents butt don't have to show proof. critics say it's ineffective and damaged the city's imaging. >> a group of commuters are calling on chris christie to resign over the traffic ty-ups over the george washington bridge. 50,000 have signed a petition asking chris christie to step down. chris christie was making

fundraising appearances. he was asked about the fallout. >> we are in the midst of an internal review. whatever it discloses, we'll release to the public. if there's more anxious that needs to be taken, i'll take it. >> i don't think it will curtail an agenda. >> on tuesday new jersey state police who provide governor chris christie with helicopter service say he did not fly over the bridge during the week that access lanes were closed on the bridge, causing traffic jams. >> delegates from north and south korea are holding their highest levels talks, taking place on the highly mitt ittarized border. it's not just rare, but is happening at the north's request with short notice. they had two rounds of dialogue lasting several hours. it's handled with such secrecy it's not clear what is on the

agenda. family reunions between the two sides are set for later this month. the north threatened to cancel them because of military exercises between the south and the united states. >> evacuations resumed in homs. logistical difficulties forced operationst -- operations to be sustained on tuesday. since last week, 1,100 people managed to leave homs. the world food program delivered supplies for another 1500 families. humanitarian efforts take place inside syria, delicate talks are happening in geneva. james bays is there. good morning. there seems to be a rush of dell fates arriving there today over concern that there hasn't been enough progress. what is happening there today. >> well, the reality is there has been no process.

we are in the second session and no positive developments. that is why the international community gets involved. the russians are the first to arrive. he arrived a few hours ago. then the u.s. delegation is on its way here. the u.s. undersecretary of state, wendy sherman will be here. the idea is that the russians and the u.s. will try to kick start the press. they are the only people with some sway over the parties. the u.s. over the opposition, the russians over the government side forcing them to negotiates. they haven't been able to agree on an agenda. were there might have been progress is on the humanitarian front. russia says it will veto a u.n. resolution in its counter form. why is russia denouncing that draft? >> well you have this whole idea that u.s. and russia are the

only people that can kick start the process. in new york. they were divided. russia says they considered vetoing the resolution. president obama weighed in saying if that happens russia will share the blame for the humanitarian stress on the ground in syria. >> they are concerned about the wellbeing of the people when there are starving civilians. it is not just the syrians, the russians as well, if they are blocking this kind of resolution. that is an example of the the kinds of diplomatic work that we are engaging in right now. >> and another development. russians are considering their own rival draft resolution, not on humanitarian access, but terrorism. great divisions between the russians and the u.s. in new york security council.

it's the russians and the u.s. coming together trying to save the talks. >> james bays reporting. >> thank you. fresh off a hollywood-style dinner in washington. francis hollande is taking his u.s. tour west. we'll be in sill -- silicon valley, meeting with google and other companies. francis hollande is expected to face tough questions over france's high taxes and its economic policies are not business friendly. the state dinner featured a who's who of celebrities and la makers. steven colbert, singer marie jblige. it was old on the south lawn, featuring a 5-star meal. francis hollande honoured several american world war ii

veterans that fought in france and held a press conference with president obama. the struggle to be openly gay in sports. >> the single battle that athletes have to make is postpone being their whole solves. >> why a former college athletes say they feel the need to live double lines. taking a trip to the company without involving the insurance company. a new way to save time and money. the oldest working paper boy in america proves age is number. his secret to going strong. >> america is celebrating an olympic first. details on that. >> here is a look at the torch in sochi burning strong through the winter games. a live view here of the mountains, where the ladies downhill, ski jump and halfpike

are all getting underway today. i must begin my journey,

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>> with his admission that he is a proud gay man, michael sam may be paving the way for others. many others are struggling with the issue. >> welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm si stephanie sy. >> one of those athletes shares his story in a minute. first, meteorologist nicole mitchell. >> temperatures play a crucial role. atlanta 32 degrees. to the south there's rain. there's rain on the east. through the center of town it's treeing, north it's snow. when you have the warm air w wem -- wedging in, that's part of the the mass. >> 53 degrees in minneapolis sounds cold. it's a warm up of 20 degrees.

it will feel a little more comfortable. ordinaries temperatures up and down the east coast in the 20s and 30s. the next place for the big system. i'll have more on who is getting the snow in a few minutes. >> they are trying to contain a new chemical spill in west virginia. more than 100,000 gallons of waste from a coal processing facility leaked to a contributory of the river in charleston. a toxic leak tainted the supply for 3,000 residents. the latest link should not impact drinking water because of where the spill happened. residents complain the water smells and it is making them siing. governor announced a plan for testing homes in the state capital. a team will begin testing tap water in homes, results could take weeks. the state set aside about half a million for the testing

program. >> michael sam revealed to the world that he was gay, and received an outpouring of support. not everyone is handling the news well. sam's father is upset by his son coming out. he had a text from his son saying, "dad, i'm gay", sam senior told the times: >> and the n.f.l. hall of famer deacon jones is turning over in his grave over the news. michael sam's move is helping some players. he's seen as a role model, where there was none before. >> when shaun smith swam for the university he never doubted his ability to finish a meet or break a record. as a gay man he kept his image

preserved. >> i get my gay lifestyle secretive and tried to be a swimmer and police the identities so there was no crossover. >> during his senior rear his secret surfaced. >> i was dating another swimmer on the team. he was not closeted. he was tired of keeping up with my lives and told more and more people. >> his last year was disrupted. he graduated, becoming a swim coach at the university, but the enterm battle was present. halfway through his first year he stepped away. >> i quit, because i needed to catch up on allowing this other identity to mature. >> smith knows who he is but has not forgotten the journey.

members of the l.g.t.d. believes 5% are out, 4% are pressured to be silent. >> the biggest thing an athlete has to decide is postpone being their full sell. there's pressure to conform. >> smith used his experience to help others cope with their identities. >> i knew that there were other people like me. i did not know how to find them. it's hard to choose a role model. when there's no one out there that reflects you. >> now there is, missouri lionman michael sam announced he was gay, potentially becoming the first openly gay player to be drafted by the n.f.l. >> the action in sochi is heating up, especially in ice hockey. one of the hottest rivalries will write another chapter.

john henry smith has the details. >> good morning. carolina, red sox yankees, ohio, microcan. there's no more intense rivalry than team usa and team canada, playing for every one of the sports geed halls in 1990 -- gold medals in 1990. there won't be a medal at stake, but there were no goals in 2013 when the teams dropped the gloves and threw punches in a 7-game friendly series. the winner will go to 3 and 0, putting themselves in a better position to make the gold medal game. >> switzerland's dominique gisin, and slovenia's tina maze will share the gold medal in the downhill, a first in the 90-i don't remember history in alpine skiing.

on the halfpipe snow boarding superstar shaun white tried to become the seventh athlete to win gold medals. he hoped to achieve the goal by executing a new move called the yo-lo. he stumbled, it left him out of the medal. white - what will he do now know that he knows he'll leave sochi without a medal. >> i'm heading home, playing with a band. i hope to play music and refocus on the next season. >> elsewhere - a first for team usa erin ham lan won the bronze in luge, becoming the first woman to win an olympic medal in the loouge. germany took gold and silver.

>> coming out of michael sam as the first openly gay n.f.l. prospect brought the issue of acceptance of gay men in a locker room to the forefront. men's sports are slow in following society's lead, that trend is rapidly changing thanks to heterosexual athletes advocating on behalf of their counterparts. hudson taylor found an ally in the hopes of ending homophobia in sports. he travelled to sochi to push the principle 6 initiative. and that prohibits discrimination on any grounds. he addressed the importance of sports being a platform for gay rights issues. >> sport is its own religion, it's on the back of a sports page. you go to high school or middle school. sports trophies line the

hallway. athletes have cultural capital with the ability to influence opinion. on any issue, not just l.g.t.d. sports has an important role in the identity of american culture. certainly jackie robinson. baseball progressed this country forward. michael sam and l.g.t.d. athletes competing are doing just that. >> profound words. that's a look at your sports this morning. >> a new study on ma'amo grams could change the debate over health benefits. why the screenings may not make a difference. >> the aims of the film were to make sure lingering support from the nazis was undermined. >> footage of a nazi concentration camp shot by icopic director alfred hitchcock. the film 70 years in the making. >> what coops the country's

oldest paper boy rising early to make his social delivers. -- delivery ris.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy, and these are the top stories. a potentially dangerous winter storm is moving through the southern u.s. states of emergency have been declared in several states. snow and thick ice is expected to cripple travel and cause widespread power outages. humanitarian workers are resuming evacuation in homs. 1100 people have been removed from the syrian city since friday's ceasefire. little progress had been made in the peace talks in geneva. >> the senate is expected to take up the debt sailing bill.

house republicans agreed to i don't on the measure. the bill would extend the borrowing ability for the next 13 months. a new study on mama grams finds it does not lower deaths. >> the benefits of mama grams have been debated. this study takes it to a whole thu level. >> if you are older, you should get a mama gram. five years ago guidelines suggested you don't have to get a mama gram until you are 50, and then, every couple of years. this research will get people talking, and it's been called a rigorous comprehensive study following 90,000 women over 25 years. led by researchers in canada, and published in the british medical journal. there was no benefit for women. take a look at the results here. rarners compared canadian women,

40 to 55 years old. it's an extensive study with 45,000 women, those with ma'amo grams and those that had breast exams and not mama grams. years later and both had the same number diagnosed with breast cancer. of those diagnosed in the mama gram group, 500 women died, virtually the same those diagnosed who did not get the exams. the results also revealed one in five cancers detected by the ma'amo gram were harmless and did not need to be treated. the study - it came up with a lot of different results. some of them an a little alarming. one of those results is that it found ma'amo grams wan harm women. how is that possibly. the study found one in 400 women who had ma'amo grams under went

unnecessary cancer treatments, surgery, chemo, radiation. it will spark a debate i am sure on this issue. thank you for bringing us that. >> we'll talk to the lead author of the study. doctors in canada delivered a baby boy from a brain dead woman kept on life support. robin benson suffered a brain haemorrhage when she was 5- months pregnant. doctors hoped to keep the pregnancy going until 8 months, but they delivered her son over the weekend. her husband and father wrote that his wife was disconnected from life support after the delivery on sunday. he says it was difficult to say goodbye adding: belgium is considering extending euthanasia to terminally ill

children. it's one of only a handful that protects a person's right to die. removing age limits will help kids in pain die with dignity. protesters are concerned protesters could be convinced making such a decision. the house of representatives will debate legislation today. >> former nbc news anchor tom has cancer. he was diagnosed in august, affecting blood cells and bone marrow. he says he is optimistic about the future. he says he'll work for n.b.c. during treatment. he turned 72 last week. >> americans are used to comparison shopping. now the medical industry is getting in on the act. stacy tisdale shows us online medical auctions are bringing duration and patients together. >> zac foster will be the first to admit he doesn't go to the

doctor. when he wasn't feeling well a knew website made finding affordable health care and a new doctor easy to resist. >> it allowed me to determine how much to spend on the visit, how much i had left. >> zac is one of a growing number of patients turning to half-a-dozen online marketplaces to shop around for health care. robin, the president of the nonprofit fair help says the sites are helping to shift the national health care conversation from coverage to costs. >> the train left the station. we are entering a paradigm where consumers are asking questions about costs. providing they are thinking about different vehicles. >> there are a few different models for the health care marketplaces. snaphealth, used by 20,000 doctors works like an e-commerce site. you get to go online, shop for the service or type of doctor

you are looking for and compare prices. once you found your match, you pie pocket on the website. the insurance company does not come into play. a neurologist in pasadena on snaphealth says the direct payment cuts ot 50% of overhead, reducing paperwork and insurance cost. >> it frees my staff to help the patients and frees me up to take care of the patient, not the paperwork. >> we verified credentials, make sure they don't have a malpractice history. >> metabid, thousands of doctors and patients square off in a bidding process. pocket-dot works like a matching service, you put in a service you're looking for and they find a doctor near you. >> we are living in a laboratory in real time. there'll be a lot of models try. some have staying power, some

will not. >> e-commerce, matching an auction-style medical site is not changing health care for consumers and doctors, they are changing the game for employers. some are servicing services as part of the health care coverage. forcing insurance companies to be upfront. the medical care has been life changing. >> doctors gave great feedback on issues bothering me. they were able to incorporate that advice into my daily life. >> stacy tisdale, al jazeera new york. >> critics say even though doctors include credentials, patients should do thorough background checks. it is a landmark day. 1500 workers at volkswagen will vote on whether to join the united autoworkers union.

a yes vote has been stymied. non-unionion labour is attractive. a no vote could be a blow to the uaw. >> they'll have to make a foot hold into the havingal companies that have their factories in the southern states. if the uaw can't get an autoplant to unionize. that is going to say something about the long-term viability. >> according to the labour department, union membership rose 25%, adding 31,000 new members. wall street was set to pick off. futures are up 27 points. the dow is up 5 points at this hour. blue chips jumping 200 tuesday after federal reserve share

janet yellen said she would continue with market-friendly processes. >> too many americans are unemployed, inflation is below the longer-term objective. the work of making the financial system robust has not been completed. >> taking a look at where things stand, the dow starts below the s and p level: >> in asia markets took their cue from wall street ending higher. >> european markets are on track for their sixth straight day of gains. >> 3.8 million car safety seats have been recalled. the harness buckle may not uplatch making it difficult to

exit in app emergency. 11 models sold from 2009 to 2013 are covered. federal regulators wound 8 million rear facing car seats to be included. >> the u.k. is dealing with some of the worst flooding it has seen. the bad weather causing it could last more months, say scientists. simon mcgregor-wood has more from the people along the river thames forced to evacuate. >> willow way is under water. foot by foot, house by house the river thames has taken over. 50 people live here. most of them have moved out. it's the same story 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 had it in january, the house stayed dry. went to work every day, come home in the evening. this time it came up very quick. within the suppose 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 seep flooding anything as bad as this since then. it's been the wettest disease since january. aum across the southern part -- all across the southern part of the u.k. in other places the flooding is worse and has been for long are. here in somerset hundreds of square kilometres of low-lying land has been flooded for weeks. villages and farms are cut off, hundreds of homes abandoned. further west, rail lines washed away.

forecasters say more rain is to come. global warming and climate change are to blame. wetter windows like this could become the norm. that has not stopped the politics, government accused of indifference, the environment agency doing too little, too late. protecting towns, ignoring the country side. >> everywhere need to get on with the vital work of bringing nation's resources to get the road and rail moving, helping people who have been flooded to plan for the future and learn the lessons of a difficult situation we are in. >> with less public honey to spend tough choices lay ahead. which areas to defend, which to give up. in willow way they have been left to fend for themselves. for michelle gray and the others, this could be a sign of what is to come. >> our jennifer glasse is live in the village of race brie, not far from the river thames.

i can see that you are standing in a flooded neighbourhood. what are the continues like there? >> well, you know, here the river thames is a few hundred yards this way. in arrest --raysbrie, you can see the flooding. you see a car that tried to make it through, and didn't. it stalled. the homes here, water lapping up at the homes, it's a serious situation, this is the second time it's been flooded in four weeks. hundreds of villages around england. it's a national problem. they called in people interest all over the country. we spoke a few minutes ago from someone that came from north london. adam hind, and here is what he said. >> all over the country, the rain hit everywhere. england is a small island. it's been a gradual thing.

prolonged rain. we'll cope. >> and you can see you get a sense of how bad things are. there has been a lot of comolympic games here that not enough has been done there's a lot of concern, it's very overcast, supposed to rain this week. so it's not over yet, here, here in raysbrie or anywhere else. >> we are hearing that there may be winds in the u.k., up to 150 miles per hour, up to a month of rain in the next two days what, is the government doing to help? >> well, the government has called in a lot of emergency services. we have seen the army here, services from all over the country, from two separate parts of the country in this village. there's a lot of complaints by the people that the government didn't do enough to present or respond to it. we are seeing a lot of do it

yourself. i'll show you over here sandbags are a big problem. we are in an area where there were not enough sandbags. here people are - this is vital. this is how people are keeping the without out of their homes. cars are on high ground and hope the water will not get higher. the thames is a few hundred kilometres away. jennifer glasse reporting from raybrie. >> closing arguments to begin in the case of a florida man accused of shooting an unarmed teen over an argument over loud music. michael dunn took to the stand on tuesday, saying he gild jordan davis, and -- killed jordan davis and shot at three others in self-defence. he was concerned about his safety and that of his fiance as well. >> i was in fear for my life. i was probably stunned. >> michael dunn fired 10 shots into the s.u.vl, saying he has

hearing lose in an ear, making him more sensitive to their thumping music. >> the death penalty in washington state has been put on homed. the governor is suspending capital punishment whilst he is in offer. he concluded that it was being applied inconsistently and unequally. there are nine inmates on death row. he said if a death penalty case comes to his death he'll issue a reprieve. >> alfred hitchcock was known for big screen thrillers, a documentary focussing on the liberation of nazi concentration camps. the film, not seen for decades, debuted at the berlin film fest valve. >> soon the fire will die, smoke and... >> it is 70 years since world war ii ended. images like these still very

raw. memories captured on film. this was the ber gin bell sen concentration camp. the edit overseen, but not completed, by alfred hitchcock, before it disappeared into the archives. it's been recompiled by the london imperial war museum, premiering at the biennale. this was going to be a film to a de-naasification. the aim was to make sure lingering support for the nazis was undermined and make german people aware of a shared responsibility for the atrocities. >> nazi germany is a big unofficial theme. from hollywood takes like "the monument's men", starring george clooney, to this one, looking at how paris was saved from

destruction. it was a life-time ago from many, but a subject that interests, intrigues and horrifies: >> this monument is a reminder of the history. the horrors of the hollow caused. it's a mark of respect to those killed in the concentration camps. germany moved on. this is a different country. yet those memories, that history will never beforgotten here. >> and should never either. holocaust experts point out that film is not always about entertainment but education. >> film festivals reach a wider audience usually than our educators and researchers do. for keeping the awanes really alive and the interest alive, it is important. >> the documentary certainly helped with that end u kags. others hike this one -- education. others like this explore the

life of hype rick himler. it's explored through fiction and fact. still very strong. >> the hitchcock documentary was supposed to be shown in germany after world war ii, but was held back. the complete film has never been seen in its entirety until now. they say you can't keep a good man down. >> when the mortician picks him up, that'll be the time he stops working. >> the country's oldest working paper boy reveals his secret to long and healthy life. >> the storm in the south could become a nor-easter. >> a look at the icy hudson river, where it is 14 degrees this wednesday morning.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. just ahead the oldest paper boy in america that believes hard work is the secret to a long life. first, a look at where the snow and rain may fall across the country, meteorologist nicole mitchell is back. >> the big story is the storm in the south. before i get to that. we have a disturbance heading through the midwest, areas of light snow, and system after system in the north-west. rain and snow and warmer air that will melt areas and create flooding concerns. for the south - icing occurring in atlanta, heading to columbia, in a core of significant ice. a lot of roads shut down. if you can stay home, that's the best thing. all heading to the north-east. places can pick up significant

accumulations, like philadelphia. half an inch of snow. >> all right. thank you. could working be the key to a long life? john henned ron reports a -- henned ron reports a 95-year-old veteran says that is what keeps him going, delivering newspapers at the crack of down. >> the oldest paper boy in america is doing what he knows best - working. >> keep working. i was born on a form north of montezuma. there was eight of us kids. depression - we didn't know anything but to work. >> at 95, despite colon cancer and recently a broken arm, that seems to work for frank wheeler. she starts his day at 5am. no alarm clock required. >> i haven't had an alarm clock in all my time. >> he was born in the days after

world war i, started his own construction business in 1936, one his son harold operates. he served as a sailor in the pacific. frank stopped working construction six years ago, about the time he moved on to delivering newspapers, some to friends at the local retirement home, many younger than he is. >> thank you, frank. how are you. >> good. >> you are looking good. >> he waltzes and exercises. that looks different. he doesn't smoke or drink - not even coffee - and sets an example for his son. >> you see that in families, the mother and father smoke, and as teenagers they'll pick up the habit. if someone sets a good example, you'll follow that example. >> neither of them has much patients with the younger generation. >> they are different. they expect a check to come.

without having to work for it. >> that's my opinion. >> we had college students coming to do the job. if it doesn't have a sitar or motor on it, they don't want to do it. >> are you going to stop working? >> i don't know. no. >> probably when the mort irn comes to pick him up that'll be the time he stops working. >> by the time the sun rises, frank's work is done. stories like his are more common. the key, he says, is to get up the next morning and do it all over again. >> wheeler says his paper routes started as a job for his grandkids. he took over and has delivered

papers. >> del walters is here. >> many across the south bracing for a winter storm, historic ice and snow could cripple travel, causing widespread power outages. >> the house passes a bill on tuesday so extend the debt ceiling. >> a major medical study casting doubts on the value of mama grams. >> a lobby group could be losing some lustre, why legislation is not being pushed by apac >> mitch mcconnell faces a challenge to his seat. we look at the race about what is going on. >> i'm meteorologist nicole mitchell, major ice causing problems for the deep south. >> al jazeera continues.

del walters and libby casey are back with you in two minutes. have a great morning.

>> winter's wrath returns, expected to be a storm of historic pro pores slamming the south with snow and ice. next stop, the northeast. >> passing doubts about mammograms. why a new study is certain to have women talking about their health. >> mitch mcconnell taking a serious hit from tea party challengers and now the top senator is in the battle for his political life. >> i feel like his support is

one of the best things i ever had in my life. i had that outside family that i never had before. >> rooting for a rival, how one teen's story scored a victory with an unlikely fan base. >> good morning, welcome to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. >> i'm libby casey. much of the south is in the path of a severe winter storm. national weather service is using words like mind boggling to describe it. >> ice is going to be a major problem. driving could be nearly impossible and widespread power outages are expected. >> several southern governors have declared states of emergency, including georgia where they hope to avoid the major traffic problems that shut down atlanta next month. >> robert, you have been talking

about to power crews down there. how are things looking in atlanta? >> things right now, del, are not good. we have freezing rain and sleet coming down at a rapid pace, almost like bullets. you can see the ice and the sleet starting to come down on the streets. the power companies behind me, the tree cutting trucks are mobilizing, waiting for the sun to come up to figure out exactly where the power outages are. an intense situation down here as metro atlanta is shut down and the swath of this storm is amazing. >> this satellite image above the earth is what's coming and has so many bracing for the worst on the ground. >> this is were you ever mother nature's worst kinds of storms that can be inflicted on the south. >> an enemy armed with enough weight to bring down trees and power lines that will likely bring many without electricity.

>> we're looking at the possibility of hundreds of thousands of outages, so this could be a long duration. this is going to be a challenge for all of us. >> texas, which already got a taste of the coming storm, has sent power crews to georgia to help out if and when the lights go out. >> during storms and hurricanes, they help us out, so we return the favor. >> georgia sharply criticized two weeks ago for its lack of preparation is right in the strike zone once again. >> we're not kidding. we're not just crying wolf. it is serious business and it is something that the greatest cooperation we can receive from the public will be our best asset. >> the public is getting the message, flock to go super markets, empties shelves, stocking up and hunkering down. >> we learned last week, it's not a big deal, just stay off

the roads. >> light snow in atlanta did not capture what's coming, but elsewhere in the south, the dangerous wintery mix of snow and ice led to slick roads in dallas, causing four fates. in mississippi, trucks slid off the roads. in north and south carolina, parents took their kids home after snow forced schools to close. in total, a half a foot fell in the south, more on wednesday and up the atlanta coast. >> our goal is to be overprepared and hopefully underwhelmed by the storm. >> robert, you are in georgia. i see you standing next to a power crew. what's their battle plan? >> these guys are ready to mobilize. let me just get in with this guy. you're in with a tree cutting company. how rough is this going to be to move around here? >> it's going to be difficult

especially with the roads being real icy and stuff. i think it's going to be hard driving around these conditions. >> be safe, man, good luck. del, here's the situation right now, the sleet and the storm is coming in really hard, wind gusts of 30 miles an hour reported at the airport. our cam race under a tent right now, that keeps getting knocked down. this is a scan snare yo that was expected, and it's intense. at this point, you can see all the sleet coming down. we've got about a quarter inch of ice as we see right now and it will freeze over as the day goes on and it's going to head up the coast into d.c. and new york in the next couple days. del. >> robert ray in atlanta, georgia, it is very messy out there, you can see the rain and snow falling. >> let's bring in nicole mitchell. >> it really is just getting going. we had one band roll through

yesterday. you said ok, if that was it, it wasn't bad, we have another developing area of low pressure, so you can see as we get to the south and hone in a little bit, we've focused on georgia and south carolina because that will be the core of the heaviest ice. i want to emphasize that we still have tennessee, northern alabama back into mississippi, some of that ice and combination that have south of rain and north snow. as we zoom in on the worst areas, the u.s. 20 corridor is where we can see the worst that have. we have seen reports this morning, this is how it progresses through the next few hours. we're really just getting started but reports of thousands without power, trees in the road, power lines in the road in some cases, and so all of that will have to be cleared out and more will happen, because the ice as it builds up through the course of the day, some places total will get a half inch, isolated spots over an inch. that weighs everything down, snapping trees and power lines

and make road conditions more dangerous and add to the power outages. that's why we have the widespread area and freezing rain can be worse than the snow we deal with. through the course of the day, this pushes more to the north, a little bit more snow as it gets farther north, but the system develops into a nor'easter and then starts to bring the heavy snow up the eastern seaboard, all right d.c. by later this afternoon or evening and new york it starts overnight. back to you guys. >> thanks for watch that go, nicole mitchell. there is good news for air travel, several carriers are relaxing their appeals to say allow passengers affected by the southeast storm to change their flights without having a pay a penalty. that list includes u.s. airways, southwest, delta, united, and american airlines. affected cities and travel dates vary by the airlines. check in with the airline to see what is in store for you if you're traveling and what

changes are allowed. >> the house voting to raise that debt ceiling for another year, no strings attached, house speaker john boehner allow that go vote to go forward. that forced him to rely on democratic to say pass what is called the clean bill, the move sets the stage to avoid a default of the nation's debt, the senate to take up the bill today. >> federal workers going to see more in their paychecks, president obama set to sign an executive order to raise their hourly minimum wage to $10.10. that is up from $7.25, the president mentioning in his state of the union address saying he would take action if congress didn't, the president said he hopes to raise the minimum wage for all workers by the end of his second term. >> attorney general eric holder is making a case to allow former felon to say vote. holder says preventing released convicts from voting makes it hard tori integrate into

society. exfelons in florida with the right to vote returned to prison far less often. holder did not does have the power to force states to change their laws, but does hope his comments will start a national debate and del, 5.8 million americans affected by this. the laws vary from state to state. >> this entire debate is whether or not these people vote because there is as fear they will vote pro democratic, republicans trying to block it. it is one of those issues in washington again republican versus democratic. >> and african-americans disproportionately affected by this. >> detainees in guantanamo bay on hunger strikes are tied through chairs and fed through their nose. it is called a breach of international law. 34 detainees are now on hunger strikes, half of them continue to be force fed.

>> delegates from north and south korea are holding their highest level talks in years, happening in the highly militarized border between two countries. this meeting is happening in the north's request with short notice. so far, they've had two rounds of dialogue lasting several hours. the event is handled with such secrecy that it's not even clear what's on the agenda. family reunions between two sides are scheduled for later this month. the north has threatened to cancel those because of military exercises between the south and the u.s. >> evacuations once again resuming in the hard hit syrian city of homs. logistical difficulties caused suspension on tuesday. aid arrived after bat sides agreed to a temporary ceasefire last week. since then, 1100 people have managed to leave. as the humanitarien efforts continue, there is as political deadlock in geneva.

there has been little on the way of progress and president obama is criticizing russia for blacking that resolution. >> they cannot say they are concerned about the well being of the syrian people when they are starving people. that is the work we are engaging in now. >> the draft resolution sets the stage for military intervention against the syrian government. there is limited progress taking part in those talks in geneva, causing increasing concern. >> for the last couple of days, the second session of these talks has gone nowhere. the second session like the first deadlocked with no progress between the two syrian sides. the international community is clearly worried and that's why they're getting involved, the

russians the first to arrive. a deputy foreign minister that flown into geneva and met the man who's caring these talks, and the american delegation is on its way under asks wendy sherman coming here to geneva, originally, she was going to meet with her russian counterpart friday. that's been brought forward to thursday, showing, i think the urgency of both the russians and u.s. to get involved to rescue this process. >> that was aljazeera's diplomatic editor james base reporting from geneva. >> they're trying to contain a new chemical spill this morning in west virginia. more than 100,000 glance of waste from a coal processing facility leaked into a tributary in charleston. last month, a toxic leak tainted the water supply. the latest leak should not impact drinking water because of the location of the spell.

>> that has prompted the governor to plan for home testing. people complain the water still smells and still is making them sick. the governor setting aside a half million dollars for the plan. a team will begin testing the tap water in 10 homes today, those results could take weeks. >> a new study on mammograms find that the exams do not lower breast cancer deaths among middle aged women. the effectiveness has been debated in the past, but this study takes it to a whole new level. >> used to be when you were 40 years old or older, you should get a mammogram every year, but new died lines five years ago saying look, you don't have to get that routine exam until you're 50 and then only every other year. this new research could cast further doubt on the benefit of the exam. it's called one of the most comprehensive studies ever done,

following 90,000 women over years, finding no benefit for women randomly assigned to mammograms. researchers compared canadian women 49-50 years old. those who got mammograms, those who did not. years later, both groups had the same number of women diagnosed with breast cancer. of those diagnosed in the mammogram group, 500 women died, virtually the same as those diagnosed who did not get the exams. the results also revealed one in five cancers detected by the mammogram were harmless and did not need to be treated at all. >> the study found in some cases mammograms harmed patients. how that is possible? >> the study found that one in about 400 women who had mammograms ended up undergoing unnecessary treatment like chemo, radiation, surgery. >> what about the guidelines, will the new study lead to

guidelines for women? a lot of women are going to be confused. >> all eyes in the medical world are looking at this study, saying it is looking to revise guidelines later this year. >> thank you. >> now today's headlines making news around the world. the new jersey star ledger saying a federal judge ok'ed the fast action lawsuit against m.f. global. former new jersey governor will be included. >> the detroit news reports that ford's new aluminum f150 truck is creating a high demand for the metal. >> what ever happened to the days when trucks were men's truck, now they have cup holders, plush leather seats and they're talking about gas mileage. >> aluminum vehicles weigh less so you get better mileage. this is creating a real buzz, aluminum the second most frequently used material. >> i borrowed a friend's truck and said i want to move a sofa.

he said just don't scratch the bed. what do you have a bed for if you can't scratch snit. >> energy drinks are under fire, high caffeine, high sugar. the washington post say state lawmakers want to ban sales to minors, seeing real concerns about the health of children. >> a 14-year-old died consuming too much of the drinks. they're follow older peers, seeing them drink the drinks and want to do the same. >> marketed to kids. >> the largest lobby in washington, d.c. in damage mode. >> the political tugful war over iran that has some wondering if the group still waters weight on capitol hill. >> senator mitch mcconnell fighting for his political future, the candidates trying to take his job in november. >> $163 million is our big number of the day. it is the big bust by police in australia. we'll tell what you they found

and where they found those illegal substances.

>> no to today's big number, $163 million is the amount of the value of drugs found in kayaks. >> 19 of them had met am pet mean hidden in secret containers. five were arrested in taiwan, all face life in prison. >> not the first time drugs were found in things like surfboards, so smugglers trying to be creative. >> after a number of defeats, brought israel lobby apac is face ago tough battle on capitol hill getting tighter sanctions imposed on iran. >> first, there are concerns about the weather and temperature around the nation are going to affect a lot of things. >> we'll start with the saw the. it's that temperature line along freezing. we had warmer air and then the

cold air intruded. when you get that warm pocket trapped in there, you get the situation that sets up for freezing rain and sleet which we're seeing in so many places today. atlanta at 32 at the surface, but a little bit of warm air is contributing to all that have. as we get across the broad country, a warmup from yesterday morning. i want to point out the next place the system is going is up the east coast. twenty's and 30's today, but actually with the system coming in, it warms just enough that we also start to get around that freezing level, so a lot of places will see snow, but there could be rain and sleet mixed in for the east coast tomorrow, as well. >> president obama saying companies that explore business possibilities in iran are doing so at their own risk. during a joint news conference with the french president on tuesday, the president said if companies violate sanctions against tehran, the u.s. will come down on them like a ton of bricks. >> we don't want new sanctions

because the ones we have in place are squeezing iran and brought them to the table, but we also want to send a message to the iranians that if they don't resolve this broader issue of their nuclear program, that there will be consequences and that the sanctions regime not only will stay in place, but will likely be tightened in the events these talks fail. >> in washington for months, the most powerful pro israel lobby has been pushing for tough new sanctions against iran. the committee will hold its annual meeting in a few weeks. last week, the group faced opposition from republicans, democrats and the white house. the president saying that he would veto any new sanctions against iran. it was one of a series of setbacks for apac including defense secretary and pushing for u.s. military action in syria. ambassador the former general counsel for israel in new york is in tel aviv. what happened?

>> in which of the incidences? you probably are referring to the iranian issues. they miscalculated how many departments will join the republicans in pushing forward the mark kirk, bob menendez bill. once apac pushed for that bill and not enough democrats joined the republicans and the bill was not rescinded, but put on hold, by then aipac alienated many republican senators and in thus doing got into some kind of an unpleasant exchange with both parties, but i wouldn't call that a failure on aipac's side. it's just one of those things that happens when you do a political math on the hill and

you get it wrong. >> was it a matter of math on capitol hill or was it a matter of underestimating the war weariness of the american public when it comes to any type of sanctions, action in syria. the american public send ago clear signal it does not want anymore engagement overseas and is this a danger for aipac? >> >> it's a very important question, because i think there is as miscalculation on many people's side in terms of understanding and interpreting american public opinion moods that they are adverse to further entanglements in the middle east, which is why they were adverse to any kind of military action in syria, adverse to any kind of military action in other places, and obviously very unenthusiastic or no one

enthusiastic about iran. this does not just refer to aipac. this is not just about aipac. this has to do with a lot of republicans and a lot of conservatives and people here in israel who misunderstand the public mood and the obama white house, which leads us to the political angle here. i think that in the end, while aipac is still strong and potent and still very effective in what it does on capitol hill, at the end of the day on an issue of war and peace, the white house is stronger than aipac and the white house is stranger than congress. >> what does aipac do moving forward? clearly what happens in the middle east and united states they see at headlines in the newspaper, a story on the television but in israel, it is the next door neighbor, the country that threatens the borders. how do you make those differing views of the situation in the middle east marry? >> they are often in compatible.

the implication in your question is accurate. these things are often inconsistent and i am compatible. let's not forget for the sake of our viewers, aipac doesn't work for israel. it is not an extension of the state of israel, it does not get its marching orders from israel. it is an american lobby group, just like the pharmaceuticals or defense industries or n.r.a. or naacp. they are all lobby groups. in that respect, aipac is doing what it things best for the u.s. israel on the other hand sometimes finds itself recently in the last several years at least in particular at odds with american policy in the middle east, particularly or specifically, rather, on the iranian issue. that lead to say a confusion, because the administration says one thing, israel says another thing, aipac is trying to go between them and then finds itself in a limbo of sorts,

because israel changes its mind or because america or the white house for that matter, has its policy and has its say and that is the final say. so what you saw with the iran thing in terms of the israel action, you saw that while aipac was pushing for the menendez-kirk bill, israeli wasn't to the best of my knowledge. even if there was implicit encouragement, it was nothing public and there was nothing very forthful from israel asking senators and asking public opinion shapers to push forward and to advance the bill. once the bill was put on hold, israel could say well, you know, we never got involved and we never meddled. while aipac, being the american organization, being an american lobbying group, being a very effective american foreign policy lobbying group, in this respect, aipac found itself kind

of torn between two side that is changed positions in the middle of the game. >> are we to assume that aipac may be losing some of its clout in washington? >> i don't think so. i think that aipac's strength throughout the years was that it was a one issue, u.s. foreign policy in the middle east/pro israeli powers issue. it never expanded, enhanced, went beyond that mission statement. in that respect, aipac's a grass root operation in congress is still extraordinarily effective and i think it is to aipac's credit and an attribute to strength that they succeeded in getting a bipartisan support for israel throughout the years. all that said and established, there are cracks in this

bipartisan coalition on israel, and there are cracks in public opinion in america about israel and about the middle east and you referred to that earlier and i greed with you, but there is some aversion and circumspection in terms of getting involved. aipac's group is so strong, it has so many detractor that every little blip or lack of success is now deemed as a major failure, and connecting the dots, and everyone is saying aipac is losing its power and clout, i don't think that's the case. ask your average councilman and they will tell that you aipac remains one of the number one, two or three most powerful lobby group for good reasons. they are doing a good and effective job. you may agree or disagree with what their doing, but they're doing it right.

>> ambassador, thank you very much. >> u.s. business and labor are bracing for a critical vote, 1500 workers in chattanooga will join whether to join the united auto workers union. opponents say non-labor is more attractive to business and a u.a.w. win would discourage companies from investing in the area. >> as the global marketplace becomes a stronger and stronger force, you are going to continue to see unions decline. i think that for most industries, unions will continue to shrink in influence. >> according to the labor department, union membership in tennessee rose 25% last year, adding 31,000 new members. >> amazon is hiring. the on line retailer said it needs to fill 2500 jobs at its

distribution centers. median pay for those positions is 30% more than traditional retail jobs and they come with benefits, bonuses and stock awards. >> dow futures are unchanged right now, the blue chips jumping nearly 200 points yesterday after fed chair janet yellen said she would continue the central bank's low interest rate policies, the dow starting blow the 16,000 level, the s&p above the 1800 mark. in asia, markets ending higher, rising near 1.5% after stronger than expected trade data out of china. european on their sixth straight day of gains. >> recalling safety seats, the harness may not unlatch. recalled models sold from

2009-2013. federal regulators want more recalls. they don't believe that the little children eat the food that cause those buckle to say jam up. >> federal reserve chairman janet yellen getting a test, the markets reacting to her comments. >> he may be one of the countries most powerful republicans, but mitch mcconnell fighting to keep his seat. >> challenges are coming from all sides. we'll take a look at what is at stake in this year's election. >> governor chris christie weighs in on the political scandal surrounding his office. hat bridge controversy taken its toll with his ability to raise money? for the last four months, i've been on my own moving from shelter to shelters. >> football fans give a teen a helping hand. >> a couple of americans made

history in sochi, shaun white is not one of them. details ahead in sports.

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>> good morning and welcome to aljazeera america. >> senator mitch mcconnell and this may be the underestimate is literally facing the battle for his political life. he is the minority leader. >> it's all what the voters back home think. >> closing arguments are set for a florida man accused of shooting an unarmed teenager. >> this compared to the trayvon martin case. >> chris christie's fundraising tour has been good for republicans, but can he shake that bridge controversy. he was in chicago answering more questions about the scandal, telling rahm emanuel and city business leaders he is

disappointed by his staff's actions and promise to say cooperate with any investigations. >> we're in the midst of an internal review and whatever that discloses, we're going to release to the public and if there's more action that needs to be taken, i'll take it. >> christie's visit to chicago creating the windfall for the republicans, just days after endorsing chris christie, offering up a more flattering tone, reading christie's bravado is back for now. the statehouse reporter for the new york star ledger is in philadelphia this morning. good morning. >> good morning, thanks for having me. >> chris christie raising $6 million for the republican governor's association, $1 million in chicago alone. are donor's actually voting with wallets and aren't they casting a lot of votes for chris christie? >> well, that's a very good month for the r.g.a. and for christie, so, i think certainly that speaks to his political

abilities and his appeal to donors. there has been some hesitation expressed and reports we've seen recently from some big republican donors who say maybe we shouldn't decide that christie's going to be the nominee for president in 2016 right now, but other than that, there has been a number of republicans sticking behind him, the r.g.a. is behind him, a number of governors have stuck out and come behind him. mayor rudy giuliani has become his chief defender in all of this. on that front, he's doing well. let's not forget, that's just one month. there could be fluke's. we might get a better picture if we see a few months and certainly this bridge controversy is not going away anytime soon. he face as drip-drip-drip of bad noose, which could be very damaging. >> even though he's racing a lot of money for the republican

governor's association, the polls have not been kind. the polls show hillary clinton has a 4 point lead over christie. should republican candidates keep their distance from him? >> well, certainly you're right about the polls. he has taken a hit. national polls included one just out yesterday show him in the hypothetical matchup with presumptive democratic nominee hillary clinton at this point. he has lost quite a bit of ground between democrats and independents, which were his key to victory. obviously in new jersey, a historically blue state, that was widely considered his approach nationally. in terms of the gop, what you're seeing, i don't think it's true to say he doesn't have support. a lot of people have come out in support of him. there have been some, the failed gop governor candidate in virginia suggest he should

resign from r.g.a. and yesterday joe scarborough made similar comments. you see some national politics, some deciding they're going to stay away from this christie issue or maybe not come out full throated for him perhaps because they're interested in a 2016 run or have someone who's interested in the 2016 run that they may back. there's obviously politics at play here as to why you're not seeing a full-floated, you know, from all corners defense of christie. >> i want to get to this, because this is uncommon to say the very least, a newspaper rescinding its endorsement, but the star ledger came out saying: >> are we any closer to determining christie's role in the future and what we night expect from this upcoming investigation?

>> i think we're getting closer, but it's important to point out here that this is going to take a while. obviously, the state legislature is continuing its investigation, it issued 18 new subpoenas this week. it is still awaiting responses from 18 that it issued last week. there are challenges to those subpoenas, a lot of high powered attorneys involved who are making a lot of money. >> everybody has lawyered up so one of the things emerging from this is it's difficult for anybody to say anything because all the lawyers are saying don't say anything. >> this is turning into a behind the scenes legal chess match here and all that means is that this is, you know, likely to end up in court one aspect or another and that's really going to take a long time and remember the x factor in all of this is the u.s. tornadoes office in new jersey, which is conducting an investigation, so at any time that could break into the

public, so there's parallel investigations going on here and i think, you know, from both sides, the criminal side and legislative side, you're not going to see anyone drop this issue until they have got answers. >> thanks a lot, chris. >> thanks for having me. >> he may be one of the most powerful republicans in washington, but senator mitch mcconnell is fighting for political surviving kentucky. he faces voters weary of beltway politics and challengers hungry to shake up the establishment. >> this is not a very proud day in the history of the senate. >> senator mcconnell is less popular than president obama in kentucky and that's a low bar since mr. obama lost by 23 points last election. mcconnell is in constant odds with the president, a third of kentucky's republican voters says he compromises with the white house too often. mat bevin is challenging him

from the right. >> the people of kentucky have had enough of you fighting desperately to keep your job while doing nothing to help keep jobs in kentucky. >> it's not just a tea party republican attacking him. mcconnell's democratic challenger, allison grymes is playing up his inside erstad at us. >> there is a degree of dysfunction in washington, d.c. and after 30 years, senator mcconnell is at the center of it. >> for three decades, mitch mcconnell has represented kentucky in washington, weathering battles and rising to become the senators top republican leader. with his next election nine months away, a poll shows the democratic grymes four points ahead. career journal washington correspondent jim carrol said this virtual dead heat has the gop concerned and democrats smelling blood. >> they see him as sort of the symbol of republican obstructionism in the senate. republicans obviously want to

reelect him because they feel that they're this close to taking the u.s. senate and would like to make him the majority leader. >> while millions of dollars are pouring in for mcconnell outside kentucky, grymes is getting her own bump. >> she understands how the issues debated in washington affect the people in kentucky. >> republican campaign strategists say mcconnell has survived in politics by never taking an election for granted. >> it's a real race, but a long way off. it hasn't even really begun. >> the clock is ticking for mcconnell to turn around the opinion of voters in his home state. >> joining us now is associate professor of political science at the university of kentucky, joining us from louisville this morning. good morning, professor. first of all, mitch mcconnell thinks of a primary challenger a tea party style opponent, but

that comes under his own opinion for supporting mainstream opinions of washington. >> he signed off on an investment report that suggested some of the actions for which he has criticized mcconnell are good. the question is how much voters are going to blame what he signed off in an executive position now that he's a candidate. usually voters will cut people slobbing for what they do in other jobs. >> how serious is that challenge? what do the polls tell us at this point? >> right now, the polls show the tilt among republicans especially conservatives pretty soundly toward mcconnell. they are not happy with the job he's doing. they think he compromises too much. they don't think he's necessarily conservative enough, but when the chips are down and he's asked how are you going to vote, they lean heavily toward mcconnell and not really

undecided. there isn't a lot of people who say they are still wait to go decide how they're going to vote that in race. mat bevin would really have to shake things up. >> we saw the poll numbers with allison grymes a political dead heat. what does he have to do to convince voters he should stay in office? >> that one is a dead heat, we've had it suggested that it's even, the last one tilted toward grymes. i wouldn't read too much in that, consistently showing they're even. it's partly because of mcconnell's low favorability ratings but not mostly that. a lot of his unfavorabilities are from people who are not going to vote for grymes, they're very conservative republican. the worst sign is that the voters when asked gentlemennerically will you leaning toward republican or democrats, they tilt democratic here. they just recently elected a

democratic governor with firm numbers and a bunch of statewide elected democrats. that's really the biggest danger sign. mcconnell has to tie grymes to barack obama, who's unpopular, to some liberal policies that are not supported at all among even these democrats and mod receipts, for example, gay marriage, same-sex marriage, not popular with many voters otherwise willing to support democrats. he's got to tie her to the national democratic party, harry reid, to president obama. what she has to do is the opposite, stake her ground as a moderate kentucky style democratic, the state's more than happy to elect those. >> thank you so much, stein volunteers at the university of kentucky. >> there's national implications for this. what happens in kentucky has a real impact elsewhere in the country. >> the race shows what happens when you have to be a national leader in the case of mitch

mcconnell but also run because all politics are local. >> that's the state elected rand paul, as well, a conservative, libertarian. we'll see how it all plays out. >> closing arguments set today in florida for a man accused of shooting an unarmed teenager, michael dunn taking the witness stand saying he killed 17-year-old jordan davis and shot three others in self defense. he said he was concerned not only about his own safety, but that of his fiancee, as well. >> no, i was in fear for my life, and i was probably stunned. >> stunned saying he fired 10 shots into the s.u.v. he said he has hearing loss in one ear, making him more sensitive to what he called their sensitive music. >> the governor is suspending capitol punishment while he's in office.

he said after months of review he concluded it was applied inconsistently and unequally. washington state currently has nine inmates on death row. the governor said if the death penalty cases come to his desk, he'll simply issue a reprieve. >> turning to sports, another busy day in sochi. a look at all the winners and in one case a loser. >> very surprising loser in fact. as we look forward to the outcome of this morning's women's hockey meeting between bitter rivals canada and the u.s.a., we look back on what has been an eventful 24 hours in sochi. there have been historic firsts as well as surprising disappointments. >> for the first time ever in the 50 years since the women's luge became an olympic event, an american has won a med approximatelmedal,er inham mill.

>> i was biting my nails because all the competitors are so good and you know that anyone at any given point can put down a run oh bump you out. >> logan overcame all the slushy wet snow, but her win was tempered by a series of frightening wipeouts including a horrific crash by a canadian. u.s.a.'s sarah hendrickson became the first woman to ski jump as an olympic event. neither she nor her teammates placed. shaun white will not bring home a medal. the two time gold medalist had been favored to repeat in the halfpipe but finished fourth after failing twice to execute a move called the yolo, short for you only live once. >> gosh, i hate the fact that i landed that run perfect in practice and just got in the

pipe and it didn't work out, but it happens, you know. >> the athlete from switzerland in vented the yolo and performed it. >> the women's hockey game between undefeated rivals canada and the u.s.a. is underway. right now, there is no score in the first period. that's your look at sports. >> so many great sports events going on. i was watching cross country skiing yesterday, an alaskan hope to go medal didn't make it through. >> he reached out and thanked the guy that won, so that's sportsmanship, you like to see that. >> he's had a lot of success in the sport and you certainly hope he would be gracious in defeat. >> officials in one state looking to bring an end to a more than 40 year fight over fishing. >> the steps they're take to go

wash away the differences with a local native american tribe. >> there is a happy ending for this teenage fan of the san francisco 49ers who is now without a home, the seattle seahawks helping him to get back on his feet.

>> lawmakers in washington looking to wipe away the records of native americans arrested for fishing. >> first let's look at the storm hitting parts of the u.s. today. >> we have rain and snow. before that, through the

midwest, light snow, not a lot of moisture with this front. the northwest is getting system after system, so high mountain snow, heavy amounts, lower elevations, heavy rain and even flooding concerns with warmer air melting new snow. as we get to the big system causing problems, we had round one, round two is now coming through. the heaviest icing, georgia, already the power outages reported and isolated reports of icing all the way back to louisiana. so it's just the core of it is just in that one case and then it moves up the coastline, so more snow getting into the day tomorrow. back to you guys. >> nfl fans do battle on the field but came together for a good cause. fans raising $30,000 for a homeless teen is going to go for a college fund for the 15-year-old. it happened after photos of him wearing the 49ers gear at the

seattle seahawks superbowl parade went viral. he is still shocked by the outpouring of support. >> i feel like the support is one of the best things i ever had in my life. i had the outside family that i never had before. >> the website was originally created for andrew to go see a 49ers game. took a lot of guts to do that. >> walk through the crowd with the opposing team's on. got attention though, he's a young guy. >> he deserves it. >> the face over fishing has been going on for fierce. dozens of native americans arrested for dropping their lines in the water, but now there's movement to wipe away their criminal records. we report from washington state. >> this is where the game wardens come down on all of us, for finishing right here. >> billy frank and hank adams back at the river, the scene of the crime of many crimes. >> we are fighting battles here right and left, all the time.

>> adams helped produce this documentary on the fish wars of the 1960's and 1970's, the battles pitted tribes against the state of washington and frank and others continued fishing outside their tiny reservations claiming treaty rights that dated to the 1850's. >> i'm eight miles from the reservation and the game wardens always said you got to fish on the reservation. i said you took our reservation. >> frank figures he was arrested 50 times. when the men were in jail, the women pulled in the salmon nets and got hauled off, too. >> this is where the defense was being made and it needed to be made. >> in september of 1968, frank adams and hundreds more brought the fish wars out of the woods and into the open and made the state capitol a very public battlefield. >> they mass pleased us with state patrols, county sheriffs. city of olympia, i was 40 feet

away from the water on the bullhorn and i was arrested for illegal fishing. billy was thrown in jail and i went in with him. >> all those civil and criminal violations are still on the protestors' records even after the federal government sued the state, leading to the decision and vindication for the tribes. now a bill in the washington state legislature could wipe those records clean. >> we're talking about ancient history, 40 years ago and the court's awaited on this and we were wrong and everybody knows we're wrong. >> the bill affected 80 people. there hasn't been opposition from the state or local prosecutors. the bill is a start, say frank and the adams who say those many battles so long ago were worth it. >> we'd do it again if we had to. >> half a century on, the fight continues. aljazeera, washington. >> many believe the ruling

cleared the path for other tribal rights cases, gambling issues, cigarettes and gasoline, also tribal law enforcement. we have a look at what we're following this morning. >> millions across the south are bracing for what could be a cats traffic winter storm, ice and snow of historic proportions could cripple travel and lead to thoses of power outages. a divided house passing that clean debt ceiling bill tuesday, now it's headed to the senate. the bill will allow the senate to borrow enough money to pay its bills for the next year. >> a study casting doubt on mammograms. we'll talk to the lead researcher, about the findings and long term impact on women's health. >> a major ice storm is already causing big problems for the south, poised to impact the east coast. i'll have your forecast. >> the aljazeera morning news continues. del is back with you in two

minutes. >> a live shot of the hudson river in new york city as people brace for this winter storm making its way up from the south.

>> the south is bracing for what could be one of the worst ice storms in decades, slick conditions could bring traffic to a standstill and also lead to massive power outages. >> for years, nerve the first line of defense against breast cancer. mom grams may not be getting the job done. we'll talk to the lead doctor behind the study. >> we are confident that we will win the vote. >> going union in an industry

nearly wiped out just a few years ago, the controversial vote that could create a domino effect from coast-to-coast. >> some government workers getting a raise, president obama promises to raise the minimum wage to more than $10 an hour. >> >> good morning and welcome to aljazeera america, i'm del walters. much of the south now in the path of a severe winter storm. say it ain't happening, but it is again. the international weather service using words like mound boggling and historic to describe this one. ice is going to be a major problem, icy roads in a number of states could make driving impossible. the ice is also threatening to cause widespread power out. >> ones, more than 3,000 flights across the country have been canceled, the storm tracking north from georgia so the

carolinas and up the east coast later tonight. several southern governors are ready declaring states of emergency, include, inc. georgia where they hope to avoid a repeat with what happened last month when much of atlanta was shut done. that's where we find robert ray. you are stand, utility workers. >> good morning. it is an absolute mess here this morning, significant wind gusts coming in, beebees are freezing rain and you can see the sludge here on the ground, about an inch. the big concern with these guys, utility workers from around the south that have come in here and are in a waiting zone to see when the power ices over and the trees start to come down, they're worried about how they're going to get out of here and move around these streets with this sludge. as the temperatures drop throughout the day, this is going to turn to ice and that's the major concern.

a lot of these trucks are already putting chains on the tires hope that go will help, but this is a major storm with a huge swath as it heads up the east coast towards you in the coming days. >> it's what's coming and it's what has so many bracing for the worst on the ground. >> this is one of mother nature's worst kinds of storms that can be inflicted on the south. >> an enemy warmed with enough weight to bring down trees and power lines likely leaving many without electricity. >> we're looking at the possibility of hundreds of thousands of outages, so this could be a long duration. this is going to be a challenge for all of us. >> texas, which already got a taste of the coming storm, has sent power crews to georgia to help out if and when the lights go out. >> those storms and hurricanes come and help us out, so we'll return the favor. >> many are expected to feel the

furry of this arctic blast and georgia sharply cyd sides two weeks ago for its lack of preparation is right in the strike zone again. >> we're not kidding. we're not just crying wolf. it is serious business, and it is something that the greatest cooperation we can receive from the public will be our best asset. >> the public is getting the message, flock to go super markets, empties she was, stocking up and hunkering down. >> we learned it's not a big deal, just stay off the roads. >> light snow in atlanta tuesday did not capture what's coming, but elsewhere in the south. the dangerous mix of snow and ice led to slick roads in dallas, causing four fates. in mississippi, trucks slid off the roads. in north and south carolina, parents took kids home after snow forced schools to close. in total, a half a foot fell in the south with more on the way wednesday and up the atlantic coast. >> our goal is to be

overprepared and hopefully underwhelmed by the storm. >> you can see the chains being put on the tires right now, gearing up for the rest of the day and the evening, as the slush and the beebees of ice continue to come down. you guys are going to get around here, is this going to be possible to even drive as this starts to freeze over? >> this should make it to where we can drive, yeah. >> good luck, you guys are going to work on the trees? yes, sir. >> thank you, appreciate it. >> if you look at this, just a ton of slush. it's a disaster at this point and that's why no one's on the roads. that's why the governor has declared a state of emergency. that is why at this point early in the day, 20,000 people are out of power in the metro area according to georgia power. we're going to be on this all day and it's not pretty. >> robert ray, thank you very much. >> one of the problems is that

crews coming in to help out with the storm are also waiting and bracing for the same bad weather where they live. how bad is the storm actually going to be? >> we're already seeing some of the signs of this, but this is such significant ice, and it's through the south. the core is going to be in the georgia and south carolina but i'm seeing freezing reports back into louisiana. i don't want you to think you're not getting it because we're not mentioning it, we're talking about the worst of it. some places could get a half inch, isolated spots an inch and really the half inch is that cut off where we start to see power lines and trees come down, because the freezing rain gloms on to that and power lines break. in addition to the power outage we're already getting, we'll get more through the day, because there's reports in this corridor where we already have trees in the road because they're coming down, power lines in the road because they're coming down,

because it's a good thing that a lot of people around out there today. this afternoon, it clears this region but heads this way up the coast possibly into a nor'easter. we're watching the track, closer to the shoreline versus further out could make some ditches in snow totals, but a lot of the region could easily see six inches or more, even places like washington, d.c., boston could see a little less with more areas of rain, but significant snow into the east coast to really. del. >> the carolinas expected to be hard-hit. joining us by phone is the deputy secretary of communications for the north carolina department of transportation. thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> north carolina are not ready for things like this, but are you this times since things went

so bad in atlanta? >> we're as prepared as we can be. our crews have worked hard over over several days to put down the brain solution over the roads to have traction there, help with the melting as it hits. really, we've started to see snow in the western part of our state and even the east he were part along the coast yesterday, we've got teams that have already cleared roadways, treating slick spots and then we have more crews poised and ready throughout the state, more than 2,000 employees on stand by ready to roll. >> when i lived in north carolina, there were only two snowplows throughout the entire state. >> we have the braining operations that started several years ago to prep the roads in advance. just last week, we had winter weather that came through, the height of it had more than 2700

employees and more than 1500 trucks and plows out on our roadways helping clear and treat spots, so we are certainly ready and prepared and have our supplies, ready to get the roads safe. >> one of the big problems they faced in atlanta was the fact that the schools let out, the people went home to get their kids and the ice all happened at the same time. what you are telling residents in north carolina to do ahead of this particular winter storm? >> that's also helping here in north carolina. luckily our school systems and employers are heeding the warning, telling folks that if they don't have to be out on the roadways to avoid getting out. they're limited travel, once for their own safety and having fewers on the roads, our crews can work more quickly. many school systems closed yesterday and today, many more here in and around the triangle are releasing early today and

we're hearing a lot of employers heeding that warning, as well. certainly it's a team effort, state government, local municipalities, school systems and local business leaders coming together to make sure we're keeping our citizens safe and moving. >> mike, thank you very much. >> we are not alone. the u.k. dealing with some of the worst flooding it has ever seen. that weather could last for several more months. jennifer glass is in a village west of london. we can see what your conditions are like. >> you can see the rain has started in earnest here. this is what the residents are really worried about. you can see this is one of the lucky homes. we just took a walk further down this road and many homes are already flooded. a lot of them don't have basements, but their garages are already flooded and many people are living just on their second

floors, moving thor belongings up off the first floor but worry what might happen soon, whether they'll run out of electricity. they can't use anything down stairs, obviously, no washing machines, anything with water, it's a very desperate situation. we talked to one of the emergency services men who came from the north. here's what he had to say about the situation. >> it rains everywhere, this is a small island. it's been a gradual thing with the long rain, but we'll sort it. we'll cope. >> this rain is exactly what people did not want. the water level here dropped down a couple of inches but now of course it's going to go straight up. one bright spot, though, del, people have been very sensible, done very well and so there haven't been any real terrible emergency rescues. we know there are a few older people stuck in homes behind me.

>> what is the government doing there to help. the government sent in the army, sent in emergency services. this has been declared a red zone now. a red area. we're on red alert here. that means has lives are at stake. not only do we have rain, but there's wind, as well and that's going to be a real problem for the coast. here at least for now, a lot of it is a d.i.y. effort with sandbags up. they say the government didn't even get here until yesterday. there's been a lot of criticism that the government didn't do enough to prevent this and hasn't done enough to respond to it. it's a very desperate situation not just here, but all over britain. there are thousands of towns flooded, tens of thousands of families have been displaced or are thinking about leaving now. >> jennifer, thank you very much. london not impacted, it is surrounded by a huge sea wall.

their trying to contain a new chemical spill in west virginia this morning, 100,000 gallons of waste from a coal processing plant leaking into a tributary in charleston. last month, a toxic spill at the same timed the water supply for more than 300,000 residents. authorities say this latest leak should not affect the drinking water because of where this spill happened. residents complain the water is making them sick, so the governor announcing new plans for testing in the state capitol. the team will test tap water in homes today, but the results could take weeks. the state set aside a half million dollars for that particular testing. >> there is a new study out on mammograms finding the annual exams don't lower the breast cancer deaths among middle aged women. the benefits of mammograms have been debated before, but this time, it's a whole new level. >> there have been guidelines for women on this that have changed quite a bit in recent years from if you're 40, go get

a ma'am grom every year to no need for a mammogram until at least 50 years old. this new research will get people talking again, called one of the most comprehensive studies ever done on mammograms, following 90,000 women over 25 years. researchers in canada conducted the study and published it in the british journal. there was no benefit for the women randomly selected to get mammograms. the results, researchers compared canadian women 49-50 years old, 45,000 women, those who got mammograms and did not. roughly the same number of women diagnosed with breast cancer. of those in the mammogram group, 500 died virtually the same as those diagnosed who did not get the exams. the results also revealed one in five cancers detected by the mammograms were harmless and did not need to be treated at all. >> this is the part of the study

that is interesting. it found in some cases mammograms actually harmed the patients. >> it's hard to believe how could that be? that's because the study found one in nearly 400 women who did get a mammogram ended up going under unnecessary cancer treatments, chemotherapy, surgery. >> we are now hearing from the american cancer society. >> yes, saying that its date that shows mammograms reduce breast cancer deaths by about 20%, however, american cancer society still about to reveal fro revised guidelines later this year. it will be interesting to see what they say. >> this has a lot of women talking and we're going to be talking to the lead author that have study straight ahead in about 15 minutes at 8:30 eastern time. >> still ahead, a big battle brewing in the south. >> i feel in my heart there cramming this down my throat. >> we'll tell you about the volkswagen plant that could be a

key stone for union auto workers across the country. >> from volkswagen to toyota, trouble for prius, why 2 million hybrids are recalled. >> twitter getting a makeover. what it may look like the next time you tweet.

>> a big vote today to unionize a volkswagen plant in tennessee. how it could have a domino affect from coast-to-coast and some workers are against it. welcome back to aljazeera america. we're going to have that story, but first nicole mitchell is tracking the ice storm. >> temperatures are playing a big role. we had milder air in the south and the cold air has gotten in. it comes out of the cloud as snow, hits the warm air, turns, melts, turns into droplets, hits the cold air, super could say and freezes on contact so you get the freezing rain.

atlanta 31 degrees. the midwest has warmed nicely, temperatures up about 20 degrees, still cold, but an improvement. the east coast will warm slightly, but the snow is on the way. >> a landmark labor video in tennessee, workers at a volkswagen plant are set to decide whether to join the united auto workers union. the decision is closely watched by automakers and politicians across the country. this is one of those things that the old south side would never happen, a union. >> that's right. it's being closely watched by a lot of people and there's been so much political pressure and campaigning from outside groups that the volkswagen plant today has closed off its facility to outside visitors, so really only the workers will be here to begin the vote. it's closely watched because if the u.a.w. is successful unionizing, many think it will

signal change, an area in the south that for so long has rejected the idea of having a union. >> we're pretty confident that we will win the vote. >> john wright test drives cars at the vokes wa volkswagen plan. he feels he has no voice in manment and supports the plan to unionize the plant. the u.a.w. would bargain wages but hopes to sets up a works council, standard in germany and in plants in other countries, giving blue and white color workers a say in work hours and training. >> it would help us have more communication, more open communication with management for improving anything on the lines or anything that employees may have a concern is important to them. >> 600 hourly employees are voting this week by secret ballot. there's a lot riding on the

outcome. if the u.a.w. is successful, it could push for a lead at other plants in the south, bike b.m.w. and nissan. >> i feel in my heart they're ramming this down my throat. >> mike works in the body shop and feels a union would create more red tape, hurt his wallet and lead to more work hours. he said the u.a.w. is making to many promises. >> they're telling them they're going to give them $28 an hour. me, personally, i've been there three years now. i'm making more money than that now. i'm going to take a cut in pay, all these other people are going to take a cut in pay but are being told that they're going to make more money. >> we're down to 40 hours a week instead of six days a week and we have a three day weekend every week. lets not mess that up. >> the united auto workers declined requests to speak to aljazeera about specific plans for the plant. while volkswagen has said its staying neutral in the vote,

outside conservative groups are weighing in. the center for worker freedom led by anti-tax activist grover norquist rented bill boards in tennessee blaming the u.a.w. for detroit's financial troubles. tennessee's governor said a union would hurt the state's chances of attracting new manufactures. >> the u.a.w. will not help us bring other suppliers. they said we are going to be much less likely to locate a plant close to chattanooga. >> the u.a.w. has said a solid majority of workers want to unionize, counting on a victory to bring a new labor model to the u.s. and new momentum to the organization. this vote is facilitated through the labor relations. they'll be voting through friday. it likely will be friday night or saturday morning before we know the outcome.

>> jonathan, thank you very much. >> the director of the worker institute at cornell university joins us this morning. the old south and the union, what has changed? >> as a matter of fact, there are unions across the old south and there are plenty in chattanooga, as well. there's a large beyondized general motors plant in spring hill tennessee, not far from chattanooga. unionization is not something that is excluded from the south. what's new in this case is the opportunity for the united auto workers to otherwise a fortune-owned plant. what's new in this case is it would bring a new meddle of labor relations in this plant. union representation would include a german style work council where workers get an active voice in decision making and it's an exciting possibility

for an experiment here. >> explain to all of us what the difference is between that works council and a union. >> you have to back up and take a look at the german economy. it's a very strong economy, strong in exports on world markets. one thing that german business labor and government all agree on is that the system of co determination that includes works council is a major contributor to german economic success. what a works council -- what a union does is bargain basic wages and working conditions. what a works council does is provide an elected council, elected by all employees in the company, whether they belong to the union or not, who then have a regular daily engagement with management about production decisions about productivity, about performance issues, about personnel, about labor

standards. it's a very constructive model of labor management cooperation. it adds a second channel of representation and it's one that has been enormously successful in germany. what's interesting in chattanooga now is volkswagen is very much a german firm, they have 62 plants around the world, all of them exempt chattanooga and the two plants in china have both union representation and a works council. it's a part of the v.w. culture, and this is an opportunity for the workers in chattanooga to get that same kind of voice, to get the voice not only of union representation, but of an elected works council that can solve problems on a daily basis. >> do you think that the workers in chattanooga tennessee hear your definition of works council or do you think the only word they hear is union? >> no, i think the union and the company have done a pretty good job over the last years as a matter of fact in explaining what a works council is.

you're always going to get workers in any workplace, you're going to get some in favor of a union, some against the union. that's why we have democratic elections so the workers can decide for themselves ideally without the outside interference of well organized, well funded far right anti union groups, but i think that most workers -- >> do they not have a point, though, because one of the reasons for the problems in detroit had to do with the high cost of pension that is detroit right now is still trying to unravel as it goes through bankruptcy. it wasn't that the unions were the be-you will, end-all of life, but they came to some problems. how do you get rid of the bad and take away the good? >> overwhelmingly, unions have had a positive influence on the american economy. in the 1950's and 1960's when i was growing up, we had a less

than equal society, rising wages, the largest employer in america was general motors. the united auto workers played a constructive role in pushing up wages and standards and benefits and then through pattern bargaining spread that go throughout the economy. over the last 30 years, we've seen a change and we've seen rather aggressive employer strategies to defeat unions and to keep unions out. that's part of the reason why we have unsustainably growing in equality, a massive redistribution of wealth over the past 30 years. there's problems like pensions, but workers work all their life and pay into pension funds and when they get to retirement, the pension funds are not something that have come from the sky, they're something workers have paid into. as far as the city of detroit is concerned, some of these right

wing bill boards say the u.a.w. destroyed detroit and chattanooga next if we let them in. that's ridiculous. the u.a.w. never had anything to do with running the city of detroit. the city of detroit was massively mismanaged. there's no reason why they couldn't have handled their pension obligations if it was managed better, but those pensions were certainly not, the pensions -- the city of detroit were not targeted at auto workers, the united auto workers at all. >> thank you very much. >> ending three years of political bickering with just one vote, something that almost never happens in washington did. a deal with no strings attached, why america won't default on its debt. >> there have been no diplomatic ties between the u.s. and cuba's since the 1960 says, by allies are warming to the castro regime. we'll tell you what's behind the news. >> every time the phone rings or

someone says they have news from the prison, my heart sinks. >> this palestinian mother's heartbreaking story, by dozens aren't getting the medical care they need to survive behind bars.

>> for the good afternoon, the minimum wage will be going up, president obama set to sign an executive order today raising the hourly wage to $10.10. he mentioned it in his state of the union address last month saying he would take action if congress failed to act, affecting 250,000 federal workers. the president hopes to raise the minimum wage for all workers by the end of his second term. it looks like the nation will be able to pay its bills, the senate expected to take up a bill on a clean debt limit increase after the house voted to raise the debt ceiling for another year with no strings attached. tracy, this caused a big wrist in the republican party.

>> it's a wrist that has yet to be repaired. the republican leadership brought it up for a vote that they knew the majority of republicans did not support. >> this feels like alice in wonderland, totally upside down. >> 28 republicans joined democratic to say raise the debt ceiling, allowing america to borrow more money to pay its bills after this month. >> the bill is passed without objection. >> even those who voted yes say the spending must stop. >> we're not spending trajectory that's unsustainable. the president knows it, every republican knows it. it has to be dealt with. >> the tea party is furious conservatives held out for some things in exchange for new borrowing, reversing part of the health law, they got nothing. democrats say all that back and forth was a waste of time. >> we need to stop playing these

political games with our economy, our stability and our reputation. >> now, it's up to the senate. >> we should be able to get this done very quickly, but one never knows. >> especially since senator ted cruz is threatening a filibuster, forcing a vote to borrow more money in a tough election year. >> the white house reaction to all of this, the white house issued a statement saying this was a good thing, a positive step forward that the debt limit legislation passed the house, but they still think congress needs to pass that minimum wage. >> this is an election year for several lawmakers. did most republicans feel they couldn't vote to borrow more money? >> some of them felt backed in a corner, either you vote yes, if you vote yes, then when you go home and you're rung reelection later this year, your opponent points at you and says there's

the guy in washington causing the problem, the woman voting in washington to spend more money, borrow more money to cover it, so this was a real political problem for a number of house republicans and it may be a problem for some senate republicans, too. >> thank you very much. >> for years, women have been told mammograms are the best way to defect breast cancer. now a no study published in the british medical journal raises questions about their value. this study covered 25 years and 90,000 canadian women able 40-59, it found no benefit for women who had mammograms compared to those who did not. the lead author of the study joins us this morning. dr. miller, are you say that go women should not continue to have mammograms? >> this is what our study shows. there is no benefit in an era

where we have modern treatment for breast cancer, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, to use mammograph. >> is there any use for a mammogram from this day forward going forward based on what you found in your study? >> i believe that the only use now for mammography is as part of the diagnostic process. women take precauses examining themselves. when they do that and attend a physician who understands the signs of early breast cancer, then modern treatment will give them the best chance of survival and will avoid the excess

abnormalities found by mammograph and what we call over diagnosis of breast cancer. >> your study actually also found that in some cases, mammograms harm women. how does that happen? well, what happens is that breast cancer. we have to understand breast cancer has a very long natural history. a number of scientists have tried to work out how long it takes for a breast cancer to get to the size where a woman can detect it herself from the time the cells in the breast start becoming cancerous, when they go through the process of growth and mutation and eventually develop a tumor and a cancer. that is on average around nine years. that average includes cancer that is go extremely slowly as well as cancer that is grow

rapidly. it is the rapidly progressive cancers we fear, but screening, when given every year or every two years is not able to pick up the vast majority of these rapidly progressive cancers. we have to remember that the old studies, which found a benefit from mammography screening, found that mammography in those circumstances seemed to reduce deaths by 30%. that means 70% of the breast cancers still resulted in death. now since those old studies, modern treatment has improved magnificently, tremendously so that we can now cure a much higher proportion of cancers. >> are you worried, though, concerned that your study, your study focused on canadian women and yet this is a sweeping indictment of mammograms word wide. should web concerned that there

might have been an environmental difference between canadian women for instance than women in japan or are you confident this does affect women worldwide? >> there are certainly differences between the factors which result in breast cancers in different countries, at least the extend to which these factors operate. we know countries like japan as well as countries in the middle east i recently visited both cairo and baghdad, i can confirm this, that the increase in breast cancer, which is being seen in these countries is due to the changes in those countries from the adoption of western type diet and the increased longevity by virtue of other social changes, so that we

should not assume because a study is done in one country the findings do not apply in other countries. they do. >> dr. miller, thank you for being with us to explain the study, joining us this morning. the conversation probably on this will continue. >> also another debate. since 1962, the u.s. maintain that had economic embargo against cuba, but now allies in europe are improving their ties with the communist nation. just this week, the e.u. agreed to increase trade investment and dialogue with cuba, seen as a major diplomatic shift. why is the e.u. now parting ways with the u.s. in saying it's a good time to in vest with cuba? >> people have been talking about a post castro era impending for sometime. after all, fidel castro retired,

his brouwer raul in charge. i think we are already into a transition and i think the european move is evidence of that. >> is this a case, i guess of the european union being more proactive or the u.s. being more stubborn when it comes to cuba? >> from the u.s. perspective, i think we need to be a little more patient and give the sanctions a little more time to work. you know, obviously, we've had more than a half century of sanctions against cuba and they haven't worked, they haven't got be rid of the communist regime. it's hard for any country to admit that a policy has failed. i think president obama has shown signs that he would like to change our policy toward cuba, but needs some sort of opening here. i think the european move very likely has been coordinated with somebody in the add to guess help create a momentum or a catalyst that can help shift american policy. i think the cubans also have to

give something, too, for example, one gentleman allen gross who's been sentenced to 15 years in cuba would greatly facilitate a shift in american policy if he were to be released. >> it has been decades, dating back to the 1960's since the u.s. has had any type of relationship with cuba. the berlin wall has fallen, the communist nation no more, russia is now our ally although some question whether they're really our best friend, butty is cuba such a thorn in the side of the united states? >> it's one of the in escapable facts of geography that cuba is going to be in the shadow of the united states. cuba has enough ability of escaping our shadow as georgia to escape russia's. for the long term, there will

have to be some change in cuba and i think that change is coming. the question is will it be sudden, gradual, violent or peaceful. >> the question that has to be asked is whether or not cuba is going to be as welcome to go these changes as people in the west believe. i saw a recent report saying they are selling new cars in cuba and a lot of people are nostalgic for the old days and don't want to see those new autos on the streets. >> we saw that kind of transition in all the other former communist countries in east europe. even several years after the fact, you start to get kind of, you know, for example in eastern germany, they have east german nostalgia where people look around for the old automobiles. we're not yet into a post communist period in cuba, but i have no doubt that 5-february years after the transition occurs, there will be a lot of people saying yeah, how wonderful things were in the good old days of communism. >> the managing director of the

global strategic communications group joins us from washington, d.c. >> 150 palestinian prisoners are critically ill on the west bank. their families say the inmates have no access to proper medical treatment. we met with one family now pleading for their loved one's release. >> he is in an israel prison. palestinian officials say he's close to dying. in 2006, he was given a 20 year sentence for his involvement with the armed group islamic jihad. two years into his sentence, he fell ill, an illness he hid during visit witness his mother. >> i was crying. the woman asked why. i said he isn't well. they joked asking if i was a doctor, but i know, i'm his mother. >> she was right to be concerned. the palestinian authority says he's suffering from i intestinal

cancer. >> these are his medical records, consisting of 2,000 pages. the israeli authorities won't release his records from 2006-2000 yea when his deterioration began and when his family asked why, they were told those files are a secret. >> his family believes the authorities hide negligence, but the prison services tells aljazeera that he is in stable condition and there notice dang tore his life. if i as i says for human rights believes the family has every right to be concerned. it says palestinian prisoners in particular suffer from prejudice and abuse inside the system. >> the diagnose needs further diagnose. >> sick prisoners are released only in their final stages or when they become a burden to the system, like the december

release of a man who suffers from motor neuron disease. >> i'm leaving behind several people. go see for yourself. go see the living dead. go see the half men, go see the open abdomens. >> she goes about her chores, but the fears of a mother always creep in. every time the phone rings or someone says they have news from the prison, my heart sinks. >> every now and then, she allows herself a mother's moment. aljazeera in the west bank. >> palestinian leaders sending the names of 80 critically ill west bankries nurse to john kerry, hoping he can push for their release. >> we're gag back live to atlanta for an update on the ice storm. >> more than 2,000 couples in one big happy wedding, but some of the brides and grooms never

knew each other, they met for the first time. >> another edition of one of the best rivalries in sports in underway in sochi. we'll bring you up to speed on hockey, u.s.a. versus canada style. consider this: the news of the day plus so much more. >> we begin with the government shutdown. >> answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> it seems like they can't agree to anything in washington no matter what. >> antonio mora, award winning and hard hitting. >> we've heard you talk about the history of suicide in your family. >> there's no status quo, just the bottom line. >> but, what about buying shares in a professional athlete? real perspective, consider this on al jazeera america s more to .

>> welcome back to aljazeerato . america. we want to check again on that weather that is going to cause a major problem down south. nicole mitchell has been tracking the storm all morning. what's the latest? >> we've warned for a couple of days we knew this was going to be a problem through the south. this isn't our only spot. through the midwest, light snow and round and round of rain and snow in the northwest, too. our big player where we're not used to it, one round went through, not as bad. the second round, we're getting more ice.

i've seen ice reports back to louisiana from north carolina, but especially south carolina and georgia, the core, isolated spots could go over an inch of ice bringing down trees and power lines and making things basically miserable. this will move up the coastline. a lot of places will see six inks of show, if not more and driving winds. back to you. >> robert ray in atlanta is actually out in the elements and robert, what are we seeing? i understand you're already starting to hear about power outages? >> del, indeed, 20,000 confirmed, but the word is that there could be upwards to 30,000 metro atlanta right now, with the temperatures dropping, that likely will continue. i'm standing on the bed of one of the trucks that will go out and help the power companies later today. this vehicle actually with the cherry picker will help cut down trees as many of them will

likely fall because of the heavy ice. this is all right a sheet of ice on top of this truck right now. that's what the roads will be as the temperatures drop into the 20's, 20's in the next few hours. they've already got the chains on the tires and these guys ready to deploy, at any moment waiting for emergency officials to tell them go, hit the neighborhoods where the actual outages have occurred. officials have also been warning residents to not hit the roads and all that warning has increased in the past few hours, as you can see, the slush is unbelievable here. the beebees of sleet and freezing rain occurring and people are hunkering down. one of our producers was just out on i-75 here in metro atlanta just in the past few minutes. he described it as suicide, if you want to go out there. there's no one out there, thankfully, but a dangerous situation, dell, here in

atlanta, as this travels up the carolinas into d.c. and new york. >> this storm is affecting a lot of states, not just georgia, south carolina and north carolina. do you have any idea however they had to get those truck to say assassin metro atlanta? >> these trucks are pretty much, there's about 75 of these behind me in this parking lot. they are from florida. some are from indiana. let me just ask this worker real quick. where are you from? ask we're actually local. >> you are local, but a lot of these guys are from florida and other areas, indiana, we've heard? >> right, i've talked to a lot of guys from tennessee and on up north, guys from florida are here. >> have you ever seen an ice situation like this? >> not here. not in -- well since i've been around. >> appreciate it man, good luck.

be safe. you can see a multitude of agencies from sounding states. >> thank you very much. we want to go to south carolina. pete poor is the director of communications for their department of transportation. pete, good morning. what are you doing to make sure the roads are clear in south carolina? >> good morning, del, we have close to 1500 employees on the roads with nearly 500 pieces of equipment, and that is all designed to make or keep the interstate as passible as possible. this weather situation is we've seen accumulations of up to three inches of snow and ice and it's still coming down, but the key is the temperature is dropping, as of 8:00 this morning, still falling. it's a constant bat toll deice bridges and the interstates. the governor yesterday declared a state of emergency for south carolina and essentially urged everyone to stay off the roads

unless you absolutely had to go out. but we were dumping we've dumped up to 4,000 tons of salt since monday and used 800,000 gallons of salt brian just to keep the bridges and the interstates open. >> thank you for checking in with us this morning. we will probably be talking a lot in the upcoming days and weeks. that is pete poor with the south carolina department of transportation. >> in sochi, things are heating up especially in ice hockey. >> you talk about rivalries, forget duke object carolina, ohio state o. michigan, you can argue there's no more intense rivalry than team u.s.a. and canada in women's hockey. no gold medal at stake yet as these two teams go at it in sochi, but the winner will put themselves in dominant position to earn a trip to the gold medal game february 20.

right now, the united states has just scored and lead 1-0. >> u.s. men's hockey opens thursday against slovakia. they came one goal short of winning a gold medal in 2010. 13 players remain from the team that dropped the goad medal game four years ago. the americans aren't taking a return engagement to the gold medal game for granted. >> we know how hard it is to get back there and a lot of things ever to go right, and i think what was important for us in vancouver as we got better every game as the tournament went on and we were playing our best hockey in the semifinals and finals, so in short term, it's like this, that's what you're looking for. we know it's not guarantee that go we're going to find ourselves playing in that last game. >> switzerland and tina mace

will be sharing the gold medal. julia mancuso failed to tie bodie miller for most all time skiing medals with five. >> there nowhere americans in the medal mix for the ski jump pores of the nordic combined this morning. germany has gold that in event. >> on the halfpipe, snowboarding superstar shaun white was trying to win three straight winter olympic gold medals, hope to go achieve a difficult relatively new move called the yolo, a move he has done in the past. he had stumbles that left him out of the medal mix in fourth place. what will he do now that he knows he'll to have leave sochi without a medal? >> gosh, i'm supposed to head home and i play with a band

called bad thing, so we're going back on tour. there's a lot going on in my life, so i'm hoping to play music and refocus on the next season. >> all right. bad things, have to remember that. the women's halfpipe qualifications are over. >> 2500 new couples sharing one thing in common, their anniversary date, all married during this mass wedding performed by the unioccasion church in south korea, couples traveling all over the world to take part. they are married by the widow of reverend moon. that does it for this edition of aljazeera.

mafia. a former marine finds the best way to fight terrorism is to fight poverty. despite spending hundreds of billion a year the government fails the test on mental health. i'm antonio mora, and there's . syria. >> president obama called the peace talks frustrating. >> syria must meet commitments, russia has a responsibility to ensure syria complies. progress. >> the group wants to establish