people. people who are around after they are dead, walking around, like we don't exist. >> thank you for being on "talk to al jazeera". 1960. >> this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm tony harris with a look at today's fop stories. a brutal ice storm is still walloping the south right now. hundreds of thousands are without power. former new orleans mayor ray nagin has been convicted o. and the new debate about mammograms.

>> a busy afternoon for you on capitol hill. the senate just voted to increase the nation's debt limit. and we begin with a major storm that is affecting millions of people from the deep south to the east coast. all up and down the east coast. thousands of flights, trains have within canceled. only a few people ventured out into this mess braving the elements, despite warnings from city and emergency officials, and for good reason as areas from washington, d.c. to new england will see inches, possibly a foot of snow. robert ray is in marietta, georgia. the man is walking on a road. i see you. i don't see the traffic, robert.

>> yes, tony, check that out. check out this road. i'm on a bridge on i-75 outside of atlanta. it is completely dead as bbs of sleet is coming down and ice-lanta as people are calling it, my photographer is going to wipe his lens plus it is coming down. getting sand blasted at a hurricane. speaking of hurricanes, the hurricane hunters which go into the eyes of the storms in the gulf of mexico went into this yesterday in the system on biloxi to look at this low pressure as it meets the arctic. take a look at this, that is i-75. you see the ice forming on the fence. this interstate is where the gridlock was just two weeks ago. hundreds of cars stranded all over.

well, everyone took the ice of the mayor and the governor this time. all the schools are shut. all the businesses are closed, atlanta is in total lockdown. >> is this worse than the storm that hit a couple of weeks ago? >> reporter: it's worse in the sense that it is long lasting. we're looking at 48 hour to 72 hour event. basically the whole week was shut down all the way through friday, all the businesses, and it's just--it's debilitating, the other event was a snap. it was a couple of inches of snow. the problem is everybody left at the same time all the warnings were out, so it seemed worse. this is huge. it's headed to the carolinas, to you guys. there is gridlock in the carolinas. people perhaps weren't expecting such intensity. the situation is fluid, but people are in their houses.

>> what do you say to those who actually thought. we had a guest on the program who thought there was a bit of overreaction going on that officials were going too far out of their way to warn people. >> reporter: i would say no way. this is not an overreaction. these roads are completely dangerous. walk with me for a second. i want to show you something. we'll walk through this little pocket this is where we're pocked. you can see our satellite truck right here. anyone who thinks this ice situation is not serious and it's not getting worse, i want to show you some of the trees. that is one of the biggest problems right now, the ice is getting on the huge pine trees in atlanta, and trees are snapping, causing massive power outages, over 200,000 power outages alone. this stuff is just snapping, look at this--the holly bush,

the ice, you can see this as well. here is a car. look at the amount of ice on this vehicle right here. it's unbelievable. now this is no joke. anyone who thinks this is not the real deal, come on down. >> robert, this is heading up the east coast, right? you're talking about atlanta essentially being shut down for the rest of the week, and then it's heading up to the carolinas, correct? >> exactly. south carolina and north carolina getting slammed. anywhere from nine and ten inches. augusta, georgia, where the masters golf tournament, in less than two months that beautiful coach that we all know, that is getting iced over. that is completely iced over right now. this stuff should be up to you guys in the next few days, hopefully not as bad as we're experienced right now. it's pelting me in the face. >> feel free to keep it right

there. robert, thank you. we'll go to robert to andre li, technology, it's a beautiful thing. andre, we noticed you're staying home today. to ride out this storm. what is your perspective on things? >> yes, it looks like i'll stay at home tomorrow again. just stuck here, and i'll see what the storm does. >> you have power, right? you still have power? >> i still have power. there is a lot of outages, yes, up until now we still have power. >> remind me again, how many children do you have? >> i have three children. >> and how are they holding up? >> we sent one to a friend's house. they're holding up well, watching tv, playing games.

>> i should be asking you how are you holding up with the kids around. do you have any emergency updates from the city, or have things been pretty quiet. you are probably watching a lot of television, i would think. >> nobody is out on the roads, they're heading the warnings, i think they're pretty good. >> what about your neighborhood. do you have a lot of trees in your neighborhood, in your backyard? >> yes, i have a lot of trees, limbs are broken but no serious damage. >> we just wanted to check with you and make sure everything is okay. we'll surely check in with you again. thanks, best to the family. just like people like andre are posting their storm stories online. >> reporter: tony, the storm that's right, people were not going to be kept off guard. this goes right through atlanta. this is where robert ray was

just now. people are sending out pictures of completely deserted highways. look here, no cars, folks are sending out images of their streets, drives ways, and covered in ice. and in raleigh, north carolina, different story. that's where you're seeing a lot of traffic jams. dawson street downtown not moving. and we have pacific all the way to--we have traffic all the way to the right, and she said it has taken her two and a half hours to go three miles in this traffic. also, we've got trees that are down. this one knocked down a transformer in aren't, and the south carolina energy company are telling people to stay away from all the downed lines and

trees. you'll see ice on the trees just the way that robert was showing earlier, and also ice on these power lines. you have people who are coming up with innovative ways with the power out. refrigeration items that you must use off and on throughout the power outage. they have the fridge and blocks. >> cinder blocks. >> yes. >> and people are helping out people. this person was on the way to work and they had to help this guy out. >> we're in the atlanta area and the carolinas at this point. >> that's right. >> appreciate it. thank you. the storm as we mentioned is moving up the east coast and it is setting it's sights on washington, d.c. and beyond. dave warren is tracking the path. maybe you should have been at the top of the show. >> meteorologist: we'll be developing off the coast and

moving north, right now dealing with all this ice. this was 11:00 last night. the storm intensifying, bringing the warm up up to the south. and then this pink color that is rain or sleet. rain that freezes on contact. 6:00 in the morning, there it is, continuing each our, 9:00, 10:00, still over atlanta. and now it's starting to intensify and move off the east coast bringing in dry air. but that area with the icing picked up by the computer forecast, and then a few more hours. it gets a little heavier. not quite done with the freezing rain across the southeast. we'll begin to taper off tonight as the storm begins to intensify off the east coast here and then we're talking about a big storm as it moves up the coast. and cold air coming off the backside of this. the sleet changing the brief period of snow.

ice continue on all surfaces. temperatures are down below freezing. with this storm intensity as far as ngo and the ice continues across the southeast. >> did i hear you use the word intensify at some point? >> it will intensify. >> dave, appreciate it. >> congress has avoided a prolonged fight over raising the debt limit. sending the bill to extend the government's borrowing ability. the legislation had no conditions attached to it. now president obama is expected to sign it. al jazeera's mike viqueira is at the white house for us. there was a bit of drama in the senate over this vote. what happened? >> reporter: i'll say. tony, it was reminiscent of that tarp vote in 2008 when the stock

market suddenly dropped 700 points. for a while what was supposed to be a 15-minute vote it turned into an hour and it appeared that the debt ceiling hike it would not pass the senate, and we're about to head into another crisis, frankly. but at the last minute what happened was this. only three republicans had joined 55 democrats to pass the bill. they needed 60. one of those 60-vote thresholds in the senate. among the republicans who voted, michigan mcconnell the republican leader. the last time we went through this exercise when republicans took a beating in the polls because of the last debt ceiling crisis, mitch mcconnell said we're not going through that again. but guess what, he faces an election, and he vetoed for it. the clocks ticked on, south doc, john baraso, wyoming, john

mccain, arizona, emerged, and it was hand in hand they jumped into the political abyss. they decided not to leave mitch mcconnell hanging out there. they put it over the top and in the end they had 68 votes, the senate passing it on to president obama for his signature. extending the debt ceiling. we're not going to have to go through this again for another year. the crisis averted, republicans, look at what happened to them last time. they look like they're getting traction with the obamacare, and they don't want to mix their message again and a lot of them joined hands and jumped into the political abyss. >> were democrats surprised by what happened today? >> reporter: well, i think they were. it's one of those deals in this day and age that we live in that democrats were tweeting chastising the republicans. and claire m mccaskill said only

three republicans joined to save this nation, we know it was averted but not without a lot of drama on capitol hill. >> also in washington president obama is doing his part to help boost the wages of some workers. increasing the minimum hourly wage for federal contractors from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour. it will b effect 250,000 worker, and the president announced the plan in his state of the union dress just last month. >> former new orleans mayor ray nagin convicted of accepting bribes. we have been following this story from new orleans, ben, first of all, any reaction from

the former mayor for his defense team? >> reporter: they just walked out 20 minutes ago. they didn't have much reaction. the mayor very statistic, very stone-faced as he has been as he has been at trial. it's been 11 days of trial. the jury took just six hours to deliberate this case over two straight days. ray nagin walked out of federal court the first former mayor of new orleans ever to be convicted. he was accused of 21 counts of corruption, and the jury found him guilty of 20 of those counts. one count they did not find him guilty on was a bribery count involving a businessman. as the foreman rattled off the 21 counts, nagin's face just slumped a little bit. he looked down when they got down to the last four charges that had to do with tax evasion,

he looked somber. after the judge dismissed everyone, he walked outside to talk to his attorney without even talking to his wife, who was advicely upset as she was standing in court. the hearing, which the judge did not schedule next, he could be facing 20 years in prison. did he say one thing when he was talkingwalking, he said very qui maintain my innocence. when we asked his attorney if they'll appeal on this case, they said absolutely, of course we will. >> coming up on al jazeera america, why all eyes are on a plant in tennessee, whether to unionize. and in the united kingdom, severe flooding worsens. and a new study questions the benefit of mammograms which leaves plenty of people with plenty of questions.

but first a live look at the nearly empty interstate 75 in atlanta. it runs all the way through rome, georgia, downtown atlanta, and text with 75, 85, and south into the state. a massive ice storm is pelting the south as we speak, and it's heading up the coast.

>> a huge change could be coming to the auto industry in the south. workers of a tennessee volkswagen plant are voting on whether to form an union. the chattanooga plant is owned by foreign automakers. jonathan martin in chattanooga for us, jonathan, a lot of people are watching this. >> reporter: yes it's been watched closely by a lot of

state leaders and union leaders, this could change other foreign-owned plants in the south. >> we're confident we'll win the vote. >> reporter: john wright works in quality assurance in chattanooga. he's happy with his pay and benefits but feels he has no voice in key decisions made by management. that's why he supports the uaw. the council would give blue- and white-collar workers a say in work hours and training. >> it would help us have more communication, more open communication with management for everything on the lines, or anything that the employees are concerned, anything that concerns them. >> reporter: they're voting by

secret ballot. and there is a lot riding on the outcome. it could lead to a push for union at other foreign plants in the south. like. >> obama: bmw. >> i feel like they're ramming this down my throat. >> they say the uaw is making too many promises. >> they're telling them they're going to give them $28 an hour. now me, i've been there three years now. i'm making more money now. i'll take a cut in pay. all these other people will take a cut in pay, but they're 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. let's not mess that up. >> reporter: the uaw have denied

requests. while volkswagen say they're staying neutral in the vote, some are weighing in. some blame the uaw for detroit's financial troubles. tennessee's governor said an union would help the states' chances of attracting new manufacturers. >> i know the uaw will not help us to bring other suppliers because they told us that. they said if uaw comes in there, we'll be much less likely to locate a plant close to chattanooga. >> reporter: the uaw said a solid majority of the plant want to unionize. they're counting on a victory to bring a new labor model to the u.s. and a new momentum to their organization. tony, i can tell through have been a lot of political pressure and a lot of campaigning from outside groups over the last few days, so much so that today volkswagen is not allowing any visiters on its site ahead of

this vote. so no results expected today, late friday, early saturday is the earliest we'll know the outcome of this election here. >> as you're being tossed around about a bit of wind and snow, jonathan. quick question, volkswagen said they're staying neutral in all this, why are some folks accusing volkswagen of favoring the union. >> a lot of workers felt that volkswagen should have come out and made a position like other auto wokers. some come out and say they're against unions, but volkswagen has not done that. for that reason they feel they're not necessarily neutral, and would be in favor of union i don't knowizing. >> in chattanooga, tennessee. >> so on wall street, the dow

with a four-day winning streak. proctor & gamble was a big drag on it the market after they cut their earnings forecast. mariah, good to see you. can we start with toyota? >> sure. >> the prius is the future for this company. >> definitely. >> they're recalling two milli s vehicles, because they can suddenly stall. now wait a minute. we all had big problems. >> that was in 2009. >> and the company took a major hit over that. >> correct, they did, and they're still dealing with that. >> and so you got another event like this on a brand that is important for toyota moving forward, i would guess that toyota will take another hit. >> toyota has been the highest

car sold in the country. yes, it will hurt them in the short term, but this people could see this as taking precaution. they are more proactive than any other brand. people may see this as they're putting safety first and they're trying to get ahead of anything that they may have done wrong in their japanese factories. >> let's stay in the auto sector here. we put up the weather conditions up in atlanta, and there was bad weather in january as well. are you concerned that the auto sector is going to take a big hit through this year dating back to the storms here in january and again in february? >> that's definitely a concern of analysts, and general motors had bigger than expected numbers for their fourth quarter. so people are definitely watching the sector. they saw in the fall was doing

very well. they weren't expecting this terrible weather. >> home depot. we've been talking about bad job reports. home depot is looking to add employees, is this correct, 88,000 seasonal workers? >> that's another weather-related story. as weather improves home depot will employ more people for those who want to work on their homes. another thing that is driving demand the median home price has gone up 10% in the last year, so people are going to want to put they think more effort into their maintaining their homes since their homes are now worth more. >> love that. amazon is adding jobs as well. the home depot, they're part time seasonal jobs. >> yes. >> and the jobs at amazon, are those full time jobs? >> yes, and their median pay is

higher, so they're investing in the workforce in this move. >> are you bearish, bullish on the jobs outlook over the next couple of quarters? >> one would think with the weather improving, and when you look at these two big brands adding jobs you would hope they're leading the job. >> there she's, mariah summers with buzz feed. we appreciate it. coming on al jazeera ameri america, the study of mammogram, and parts of britain swamped as stormy winter weather brings more floodwaters. we've got a lot of pictures from charlotte, north carolina. this storm has been moving, we don't even have a picture of south carolina. so you know its bad there if we're north of s.a.t. we're in charlotte now, and most folks are off the roads. we would be talking about rush

hour right now. very sparse traffic in charlotte, north carolina. we'll continue to follow that story here on al jazeera america. back in a moment.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. here is a look at your top stories at this hour. former new orleans mayor ray nagin has been found guilty. the jury came back with a verdict convicting him of 20 of 21 charges. the senate has voted to lift the debt ceiling, and hundreds of thousands are without power right now dealing with freezing temperatures, and devastating ice. this is marietta, georgia, just north of atlanta. probably i-75 right now, you see a few tractor trailers on the road. they got to make those runs, right?

but very few other vehicles on the road, on i o-75. thousands in the dark as we get tonight fall, and the national guard is on stand by in atlanta. washington, d.c. will declare a snow emergency this evening, which will, as you can imagine, really slow down travel in and out of the capitol. john terrett is outside of union station. you look good now, but my brother, it's on its way. >> reporter: i know, there is a feeling of anticipation here. there is no snow at the moment, but i've just come from the downtown district of where we are, which is union station, and people are getting out of dodge. they're leaving. it's 4:30, and people are leaving. they've been told to leave as well because it could be really bad. we don't know for certain. the weather forecast keeps

changing how many snow is going to come here. this is the national capitol so. let me deal with a few things that people will want to know. now according to flight aware.com, which i checked a few moments ago, right now as of this moment there are 3,563 flights that have been canceled. that very bad news. that means flights are going to be wrecked at the moment, they'll be wrecked tomorrow and certainly for the weekend. now union station, beautiful station. never been to washington, d.c. come here. go to the station. but there are lots of train cancellations, i'm afraid because this is an amtrak hub. amtrak has some beautiful names for their trains. but they're all canceled like the crescent from new york to new orleans. i would love to do that one day. the silver meteor and the sill

cher star. the palmetto between new york and savannah, georgia. we have pictures of how bad it is down there. and the piedmont, which poodles along charlotte, north carolina, andral laand raleigh, north car. schools in this area are being canceled left, right, and center and all administrations are waiting to see how bad it turns out. >> john, the national weather service said this is ncaa, big bag storm, right? what has the government done to prepare for it? >> reporter: well, this is, of course, the center of government action in the united states. what they're say something this is the worst storm to hit the dc area for four years. i was here four years ago, and i remember well what it was like. a big storm came through and basically no one came into the central district, and it was here for six days from the

friday to the following thursday when everybody came back the following friday there were traffic jams galore, people gave up and went back home. jay carney, the white house spokesman, he's saying what the federal government is planning to do, and the president in particular has sent fema representatives out to the affected states to be there when the big storm strikes. take a look. >> fema has deployed an incident management assistance team to the georgia center, and additional teams are on alert for deployment as needed. fema has liaisons in the operation centers of south carolina, pennsylvania, maryland and virginia, and has identified liaisons for other impacted states ready to deploy should they be requested. >> looking at me now you might be tempted to say is everybody overreacting? well, we don't think so. we have evidence of how bad this storm is coming up from the south. we have the hyperthermia warning, and the police are also

saying when the snow comes here and the supplies you guys further north, the snow comes, the deterioration is going to be swift. >> yes, that's what everybody is telling us. j.t. for us in washington, d.c. we have an update on this winter storm, dave? >> meteorologist: developing off the north carolina course. he gets all the good terms. i get nor'easter, and this is what is happening. we have cold air in place across the southeast thanks to high pressure there. that keeps the cold offer in place. we're talking about a mix in snow across the southeast but it will redevelop off the coast of north carolina, and then intensify rapid limas where you get this snow and rain moving up the coast trying to bring this warm air in. it looks like it could start as snow. change over to rain and then as the storm moves off, cold air wraps around and it's changed back to snow. here is this band of very heavy

snow at 4:00 up through baltimore, washington, d.c. philadelphia and new york. the storm tries to bring the warm air in as the rain and snow with the intensity, and it ends at snow. so a tricky forecast and a track in the temperatures are really tricky with this forecast, and it looks like along i-95 to the west with snow. and there is a mix to rain. >> it's one big 'ol mess. thank you. the united kingdom is dealing with serious weather troubles of its own. parts of its country has been underwater for two weeks now and several counties in southern great written are in high risk of worse flooding in the upcoming days. the river thames burst its banks this past week, and the government is pushing back against the criticism that it did not do enough to prevent the crisis. >> reporter: this is a scene we're seeing all over britain,

houses threatened. as the water goes up just a few more feet this house will be threatened. this is one of the lucky ones. this is on higher ground. we've been do dozens of houses where the water is just inches away. a lot of people have left their homes here and across the country. people who are staying, many have moved all of their furnishings up to the second floor and taken things off the ground. we're seeing the army come in to the villages going door to door, helping people, getting through these villages, trucks and big four-wheel drive vehicles is the only way to get around. we've been through several villages nearby and many of them are worse off than here. some areas totally cut off. the water is three, four feet deep along the roads. here in rays bury, many have left their homes, and many have moved their belongings up to the

second floor. this affects the whole south of britain now. the prime minister said they will spare no money to help these people and prevent future floods. the government has come under a lot of criticism over how it has handled this situation. we're expecting more rain and there is concern about what the thames will do in the coming days. london has a thames barrier where they can regulate the flow of water there. but we're on the edge of london not far from heathrow airport. a lot of people affected here and across the country, and more rain expected later this week. this is not over yet. this could take days, weeks or months for most of this water to go away. >> jennifer glass reporting. this is impressive, one of the largest studies on breast cancer casting doubt on the effectiveness of mammograms. the american cancer society estimates that the u.s. will have 230,000 new cases of breast

cancer this year. jennifer london is with us now with more details. good to have you here in new york. >> as you mentioned this is one of the largest studies ever conducted. it followed 90,000 women over the course of 25 years. the findings are sure to renew the debate and even confusion over the efficacy of mammogram. the screening study was published today and found that death rates from cancer were about the same for women who got mammograms and for those who did not. here's the breakdown. when you look at the numbers of women who received the mammograms and diagnosed with cancer 5 hyundai. compared to those who did not have the screening and diagnosed with correspondence through manual examines, 505 died. and women with mammograms were most likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer.

that may sound like a good thing, cash the disease early, but that could lead to the overdiagnosis of breast cancer. 22% of cancers discovered through the screening process were overdiagnosed. another way to think of it, that means one out of 424 women who were screened received treatment that was deemed unnecessary. based on the study's finding the lead author anthony miller said women should not get mammograms care. >> there is no benefit in an era where we have modern treatment for breast cancer to use mammography. >> dr. miller said the primary issue with mammograms as he sees it, the machines are unable to determine whether the cancer is slow growing and may not be harmful if left untreated or whether it's fast growing and needs treatment like surgery. he believes that mammograms should be used as a tool only

after breast cancer has been detected. the debate has been going on over a number of years here in the u.s. 67% of women have had a mammogram in the last two years. earlier i spoke with the cancer society and they continue to recommend women age 40 or older have mammograms every year and should continue to do so as long as they remain in good health. additionally they review their guidelines every five years and are currently in the review process. they say they'll take this study among others into account, and they may issue updated guidelines later this year. >> there is a lot to chew on here. thank you. lest talk to dr. debby, she's with us to talk about the study, and why doctors are so split on mammograms. dr. debby,ed good t, it's good .

what is your reaction to this report? >> it needs to be looked at in context. mammograms are not a perfect test. the perfect test will tell a person who has cancer that they have cancer, and it will tell someone who doesn't have cancer that they don't have it. if someone had cancer sometimes mammograms miss that. that's why we tell people to do self breast exams also. and sometimes you have a mammogram and it comes up with a positive result, but that person might not have cancer, so you can get unnecessary tests. but the fact of the matter is that it doesn't mean that mammograms are not helpful or not useful on certain people. one of the other things though think about in this study along the same lines, first of all, they're looking at death rates, but that's not the only measure for cancer. now someone gets diagnosed with breast cancer and dies within three months, that's very different from someone who is

diagnosed with cancer and dice 25 years later. but both of those people will have died from the preys cancer, you have to consider some of these other measures as well. >> wait a minute, doctor. when and under what circumstances do you believe now that women should have mammograms? >> well, the american cancer society and the american college of obstetrics and gynecology have the same recommendation. they say women should have mammograms every year after the age 40. i think people should do regular self wrest exam. if you're a younger person you might get a more aggressive cancer if you're diagnosed with cancer. so every year getting a mammogram every year may not even be enough. you really want to be on top of things. if you get something at a young age that means that your immune system was not able to fight it. whereas if you're diagnosed at age 80 it's probably not as

aggressive of a cancer. so it's a very complicated issue. >> why is the medical community so split on mammograms? >> i think it's the same confusion. the fact that mammograms are not a perfect test, and we don't have a perfect treatment, either. if you would rather have catch everybody with cancer and treat them no matter what, that's one extreme. if you're at the other end and say well, i really want to reduce the harms to people who don't have cancer. i don't want people who are healthy to have all these unnecessary tests and treatment, you may say let's reduce the number of mammograms. it depends on what your valleys are based on. >> doctor, good to see you. what a pleasure. a real pleasure. officials from north and south korea held their first face-to-face meeting. the two sides met to agree on

the reunions of families split by the korean war. secretary of state john kerry will be in seoul tomorrow, and the president will be traveling to the region in late april. in kenya government officials say 70 men have been charged with being members of al-shabaab. reportedly recruiting for the armed soy mali group. the police found firearms and militia. kenya have been hunting members of al-shabaab since the group took responsibility for the nairobi mall attack last year. anand in pakistan, karim khan disappeared from him home just as he was about to speak out on

down attacks. >> meet kamir khan. no one can bus he's nowhere to be found. >> there were 20 people, some in police uniforms, some with masks on. they broke the door down and picked up karim khan and took him away. >> reporter: he was considered the face of the anti-drone campaign in pakistan. in 2009 an u.s. drone strike killed his son along with five members of his family and friends. since then the university graduate turned campaigner dedicated all his efforts to bring an end to u.s. drone attacks in pakistan. his lawyers think he was picked up by pakistan intelligence agencies. a high court has given them february 2,502nd to produce krim khan. his family insists if he has done anything wrong he must be tried in a court of law.

>> if god forbid pakistani agencies have done it, my message would be that this is not the right way to do things. if we have committed any mistakes, then we would appear in a second if called. i'm a government servant myself and our family is well educated. >> many say this abduction is a set back for those who are trying to fight violence with non-violent means. >> rather than seek revenge he has gone to the court, which is is his right, for justice, for answers. the fact that his voice has been silenced at this crucial time when he was wit about to speak h the parliament on this issue is tragic, tragic for drone victims and pakistan and our judicial process. >> reporter: khan was to meet with germany and u.k. and dutch members of the parliament.

they had written to the pakistani government, and his family is deeply concerned over his disappearance. >> yesterday when i took the police officer with me, karim's little children ran away and locked the door. so when these kids grow up, what will they do for pakistan? >> reporter: he thinks if they meet their father he'll be able to help them get over their fears. but until then all he can do is hope for krim khan's safe return. >> david shuster is here now with stories making news across america. >> reporter: thank you very much. we'll start in boston, massachusetts. a judge set a november trial date for the boston bomber tsarnaev was charged with the death penalty. in april of last year three

people were killed and 264 were injured when a pair of homemade bombs went off near the finish line of the boston marathon. and tsarnaev is accused of killing a police officer three days later. and juan carlos ch chavez confessed to the goalish murder. he's scheduled to die by lethal injection. chavez kidnap jimmy rice at gunpoint as he got off a school bus. he was taken to a trailer and raped. when the boy tried to escape, chavez shot him in the back and dismemodismembered him. he was found nea near chavez ho.

challenging the bang of protection and free speech ground, and it was ruled that marriage couples should have the same benefits as heterosexual couples, but the courts have not ruled on state bans including the one in louisiana. in seattle, washington, a construction crew digging in the south lake union area made an unusual discovery. they found a tusk from an ice ice-age mammoth. according to the museum, ancient elephants roamed this part of the world, and there are a lot of fossils. >> when you dig ditches you uncover a lot of old bottles a d

weird stuff but nothing like that. >> reporter: weird stuff? at 5:40 this morning a giant sinkhole opened up claps part of a museum and damaging six cars. the home was in a domed section of the facility built to years ago. officials say the rest of the museum will remain open. just can't put those corvette owners down. bowling green sits on top of an area in kentucky that includes some of the longest and deepest underground caves and bowling grown is the only place where general motors builds the iconic car. >> the corvette. that was the prom car for me back in the day. it works magic, still. still to come on al jazeera america new york yankees great derek jeter said the time has

come. michael yves joins us with that, and the latest from the olympics. >> the conservative ideal... >> it's an urgent need... and a host willing to ask the tough questions >> how do you explain it to yourself? and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story next only on al jazeera america

>> some serious upset for the united states at the winter olympics in sochi, but first big news for major league baseball. >> reporter: maybe not shocking news, but pricing. over the last two decades there has been one face synonymous with th the new york yankees, ts one, derek jeter. he will be remembered not only for how well he played but how he carried himself on and off the field. to give you an idea of the

impact of jeter on the game. over his seasons in major league baseball. he has amassed. 3316 hits. 1996 rookie of the year. 13 all-star title, and definitely one of the all time greats. in the olympics, davis not only failed to medal in his the event at all. he was the overwhelming favor but finished well off the pace. he said afterwards there was no excuse. he simply didn't have the speed today. the netherlands took the gold and bronze. in the women's down hill event history was made as there was a tie for the gold medal.

the favorite of the event tied dominique gibson of switzerland 1:45:07. it was recorded to .0001, four digits to the right of the december middle schoodecimal po. and canada and netherrer lands with ten. united states picked up another gold medal when caitlin won the halfpipe. and women's hockey, they'll play-- >> they'll see one another again. very cool. can't wait for that. michael, appreciate it. >> mariano rivera, and now derek jeter. a look at the day's top stories when we return. this is al jazeera america. before we go, live picks from charlotte, north carolina.

there it is moving up the east coast. atlanta, this is charlotte. it is moving up into the mid lappet washington, d.c. and baltimore, and then on up the coast. it's coming to new york soon. we're back in a moment.

>> this is al jazeera america. i'm tony harris with a look at today's top stories. a new orleans jury convicted former mayor of new orleans ray nagin of 20 of 21 corruption

charges. he has been found guilty of a variety of charges including accepting $500,000 in bribes. the debt ceiling ha hassings been lifted for another year. president obama will increase the federal contract minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10. state of emergency has been declared for several areas. in southern england, thousands have fled homes, and prime minister david cameron has promised help for the

flood-affected areas. and derek jeter has announced that he will retire after this season. he said his injury-plagued season in part led him to realize it's time to retire. i'm tony harris. "inside story" is next. >> in many places in america once you're convicted of a felony you can't vote. many are calling that unnecessary and unjust, and calling for the vote to be restored to nearly 6 million americans. that's the inside story.