$10.10. that change takes effect in january. those are the headlines. "america tonight" is up next with joie chen. you can get the latest on the website aljazeera.com. the flooding, t drought right now. >> on "america tonight," the ice, the snow, the flooding. extreme weather of every kind. why all of this could be our our new normal. >> the next 48 hours will be tough in the carolinases. >> extreme whether is too common and frequent. >> also, from upstart performer to a raft of corruption convictions. in a city well-known for political implosion, the verdict against the new orleans former

mayor rocks the biggeesy. >> the behaviour doesn't reflect the heart and sole of the people of new orleans. the rest of the nation knows that. >> from the sea a delicacy and aphrodisiac is kicked out of china. what it could mean for an american community that counts on it. on it. good evening. think for being with us. i am joie chen. the worst predictions are coming to pass with more than 100 million people in its path, the second vicious winter storm system is heading to a deep freeze. despite efforts to war residents of safety, the disaster is in full swing. drivers abandoning cars, trying desperately to get off of the

roadways and avoid a repeat of the scene down in atlanta two weeks ago. it's not just this weather disaster either. waves of flooding wash through the pacific northwest. some parts of the west are parched with drought. weather at its most extreme is the center of our focus this hour. beginning with the crisis which has left more than 300,000 without power already in georgia and the carolinas, cities across the south virtually on lockdown and meteorologists and emergency managers out of words to describe how bad this is going to get. >> in a sign of how great the concerns and how big the challenge is. hurricane hunters were pressed into rare service to tap the ice monster with tracking devices that often check how many wind and water will swirl in from warm weather systems. dire. >> these things are changing quickly.

this is going to be a very through. >> with a giant ice storm colliding across northern alabama through georgia and into the carolinas, the fear isn't just about slipping and sliding but that the region's great trees felled by heavy eyes could leave hundreds of thousands to struggle through days in the cold. >> our primary point of concern at this point in time are power outages due to the freezing rain and ice in addition to difficult road conditions. >> georgia, stung by its epic fail two weeks ago hushrushed to be ahead of the game. residents stocking up for what they have learned can be a long wait for a thaw, putting salt and sand out early and mulling in more than 150 generators from f. fema. hundreds of flights at hartsville jackson cancelled even before the weather fell from the sky. >> the state's nabors sounded

determined to learn fromga's mistakes declaring states of emergency before the storm moved north, closing schools, pulling out road crews and letting the public know what to expect. >> this storm has been very unusual, very, very hard to predict. we are going to wait for the snow to start falling. as soon as we have enough accumulation and we have to have like six to eight inches, then we will plow the street and salt right behind. >> headed into a holiday weekend, worried families have cleared out store shelves expecting to be indoors for the long haul. >> i am hoping i got everything. i am hoping that i got all of the food, the juice, the milk, so i don't have to come back. snow. >> with meteorologists warning the giant system will pummel up the eastern seaboard over three days and snow snowfall predictions of as much as 10 inches in the most densely population parts of the country around new york city. the tumble of predictions are that the cancellations that have

started in the south will lead to delays, upwards of two hours by thursday across a busy northeastern air corridor and worries that this disaster is just a sign of more trouble to come. >> we are monitoring the weather once again in the quote, unquote world of the new normal and extreme weather, where extreme weather has become all too common and all too frequent. >> in the southeast, extreme weather is still not as frequent but enough of it lately to havega angels on guard. went -- georgia angels ans on warm. airport tar macs said no planes waiting to take out. flights were cancelled. nationwide, more than 3200 have been closed down for the time being. al jazeera robert ray has been covering the storm from atlanta. >> the major winter storm that

is blanketing the south with snow and ice has been hitting the atlanta metro area very hard all day. you can see on a major bridge overpass here just north of the city, virtually empty. i-75, if the camera turns over there, also virtually empty. >> that's where all of the gridlock was just a couple of weeks ago. people calling it one of the court withs traffic situations they have ever seen in atlanta. some of theition forming on the fence here that's the big worry in atlanta overnight as the ice will hit the power lines and the big pine trees here can perhaps cause even more power outages than we have seen all day. there has been over 200,000 power outages in the georgia area so far, the govern warning we are not through this there is more to come tonight into tomorrow. to sum all of this up, it's been a winter sandwich, essentially

at 3:00 a.m. here on wednesday, started with rain. then went into sleet. then went into freezing pebbles that actually hurt when they hit you and snow. it keeps going back and forth all day. you can see the streets are filled with ice right now. this was snow earlier. and now, it's just completely complete ice all over the streets here in atlanta. they have pre-treated this time, unlike two weeks ago, which is a good thing, a lesson learned. so, most of the people in atlanta, six million plus in the metro area, have stayed home today. the governor asking people to stay home tomorrow as a state of emergency is still in effect. businesses not open. it's hard to en find somewhere to eat. hotels are booked. schools are closed and people are hunkering down as this winter storm has blanketed georgia, is going up into the carolinas tonight, south and north carolina with traffic gridlock in raleigh and up into d.c. where they are expecting in some places nearly a foot of snow in virginia and then up into the new york

area. >> robert ray reporting to us from atlanta. now, let's look ahead. al jazeera meteorologist kevin coriveaux, i think my team are chattering seeing what robert ray was seeing in atlanta. is it over for them now? >> it is not yet joie but we are close. we have to remember this storm has been deadly here across parts of mississippi and texas. six people have died because of those ice conditions there. let's put this into motion. for atlanta, see all of the ice they had here across the region. as i said, they have about another three to four hours of icy conditions for them. let's put that into motion as well. you can see we still have those effect. >> that's ice storm warnings there. now, i want to put the forecast into motion starting at 9:00 o'clock tonight. you can see atlanta right there in the icing area. as we go through, at about 11:00 p.m., things start to break out for them.

the ice, though, take a look at south carolina. look at north carolina. major problem there. so, it's going to be a series of events that happens. atlanta will clear out. the carolinas are going to get the brunt of the storm overnight and as we go towards tomorrow, it will make its way up toward the eastern seaboard and washington, joie, you are going to see mostly snow coming through that particular area. ice. it's not going to be that much at all as we go toward tomorrow afternoon, charlotte, wilmington, raleigh clear out and the ice will turn stosnow in that particular area as we take a look at that. you can see, here it is right there. you can see, as we go into motion, washington right here, beginning too get snow. it will be mostly a snow event york. >> meteorologist kevi coriveaux, thanks so much. europeans and south americans,

too, are dealing with climatic conditions not usually this intention. in england, they are having their wettest winter in more than -- get this -- two sentence trees and some of the worst flooding in decades as the river thames burst its banks. it is not over yet. much of the u.k. is under a flood warning. a red alert has been issued for 80-mile-an-hour winds. jennifer glass wadded into southern england to give us a here. >> this is something we are seeing all over britain, one ofman hundreds of roads flooded, houses threatened. if the water goes up just a few mo more feet here, this is on higher ground. we have been to dozens of houses here today who were where the water is just inches away. a lot of people have already left their homes here in raysbury to across the country. many have moved furnishes to the second floor, what they can and taken things off of the ground.

worry seeing the army come into these villages going door to door, helping people that they can here in the an army truck getting through these villages, trucks and big four-wheel-drive vehicles are the only way to get around. we have been to several villages nearby and many are them are worse off than here in raisebury. some areas totally cut off, the water is three, four feet deep. here in raysburgy many have left thomas. others have moved belongings up onto the second floor. these are scenes we are seeing repeated across britain as this flood really affects the whole south of britain now. the prime minister has said they will spare no money to help these people and to try to prevent future floods. the government has come under a lot of criticism about how its handled this situation and it's not over yet. we are expecting more rain. there is a lot of concern about what the thames will do in the coming days. london, so far, not really threatened it has a thames

barrier on the other side of london where they can help regulate the flow of water there. we are not far from heathrow airport. a lot of people badly affected here an across the country. and more rain expected later this week. so this is not over yet. it could take days, weeks, or even months foremost this water to go away. >> al jazeera jennifer glass, remarkable to see what's going on there in raysbury in england. there is devastating flooding in bolivia. more than 40 people dead, hundreds of thousands left homeless in the wake of relentless mudslides across large swaths of that country. communities are in desperate need of food. military relief et cetera try to reach those who have been cut off. thousands of acres of prime, ag cultural land under water, in flooding that many believe to be worse than in that country's 2007 el nino floods, and that displaced nearly half

bolivians. ironically, next door in brazil, the problem is the opposite. vote gripping parts of the country. willings healthy rivers reduced to dry beds by unusual dry and hot water. they provide major cities like sao paolo. and it is taking a toll ol export costs of coffee, corn and citrus. what is behind the wild weather we are experiencing both here and all around the world? joining us via skype, climate central meetrologist bernadette woods-plaky. you are joining us because the weather is so unpredictable, you needed to be safe. we appreciate you talking to us about this. the thing that occurs to me is we heard governor queer mo say

i am wondering is, is governor cuomo about that? >> one thing we do know in an atmosphere that's warming, when you get down to the basic physics of it, there are some fundamental things we are doing to our atmosphere. it can hold more moisture. ebb in the balance of weather patterns where we see some drying and we do see these storms, even in those dryer areas we are receiving heavy precipitation on the rise and that is something that's going to continue. you covered a range. this has been ongoing and on the rise. we will continue to see that. >> will the patterns stay the same? in other words, places like atlanta, which really isn't accustomed to this sort of weather, should they get a come offed to this happying every year in the future? >> not necessarily this exact thing. we are going to have variations in our weather pattern. >> will always happen. what we have to do when we talk about climate change and global warming is look at the large picture and the long-term trend. no case, we are warming. and one of those side effects of warming that's really being researched right now is what is

exactly that doing to our weather pattern? there is some interesting research out there that, as we warm the arctic at the rate that's happening right now, we look at the difference between the tropics and the arctic and it's that difference in temperature that drives our jet stream which drives all of our patterns along, it pushes our storms along. but as we warm the arctic it's lessening that temperature difference. sot that may be slowing down our jetstream. now, i can't say for certain, but it's a very active area of research that as we do this, atmosphere is doing something to weather patterns. we are trying to find out what. >> brings us back to the basics we know in a warmer atmosphere, we will continue to see the heavy precipitation events on the rise. >> we were also listening, talking about bolivia and the whole el nino effect, back to 2007, people might remember the significance flood that took place then we were just talking about. is this a characteristic?

one of the things that went right? >> it was. i roncally, a lot of this is happening outside of an el nino. so we just had an above average year for the united states for the globe, it was a top 5 year on record for warmth. that's that global picture we have to look at. so en though the united states came in the 30s for the globe, we were top 5. >> that's outside of an el nino year. the thing is as we look forward, there is a really good chance that we could kick back into an el nino late this spring or summer. >> that's generally the sign that has been showing up in a lot of the models. and the reason that's significant, some people not up to date with these terms, as we enter el nino years, that as warmth into our atmosphere which continues to drive these stormy events. >> it could be a hot one for us as well. appreciate your being with us. climate central meteorologist bernadette woods thanks?

>> >>. our focus on climate, change and what it means for all of our communities continues thursday on "america tonight" when we look to camera where hope for better weather is drying like a raisin in the sun. >> i keep on saying in two weeks, things are going to change. i want going to rain more. the grass is going to start growing more. i don't know. i mean you look up in the clouds and you go, rain? >> farmers and ranchers running dry on cash, forced to make tough calls, and it turns out, they are not alone. what california's drought emergency means for all of us thursday on "america tonight." after the break tonight, final words to the florida jury considering a novel stand-your-ground defense in the case of the gunman who shot and killed an unarmed teenager over loud music. word yet on the case with details of closing arguments. ♪

jurors heard the closing arguments in the loud music murder trial at a jacksonville 2012. the shooting took place when dunn confronted 17-year-old jordan davis about the loud rap music coming from the car. florida's controversial stand your ground law whose fate is now in the hands of the jury. america tonight sarah roy with the story >> reporter: let me be very clear:

on november 23rd 20012, when this defendant shot and killed warren davis, there was no gun in that did you range 0. there was no stick. there is no bat. there was no led pipes. there was no begun. >> assistant state attorney erin wilson kicked off closing arguments in the trial of. >> jordan davis didn't stand a chance. sitting in the back of that s.u.v., he frantically pulled by his best field leland and this defendant fired round after round after record into that car. >> dunn is charged with first degree murder and three county of attempted murder in the november 2012 shooting of 17-year-old jordan davis over loud music. >> i am looking out the window, and i said, you are not going to kill me, you son after (bleep)" and i shot him.

>> yesterday, jurors heard dunn's version of events when hours? >> after hearing the something, something, cracker and this and that, i hear, i should kill that (bleep) and even in a morelvated voice, i hear i should (bleep) kill them. now he is screaming when he says, i am going to kill you. i look and i am looking at a barrel. he is showing me a gun and he is threatening me. i didn't call the police at all until the following morning. >> that didn't go through your head like maybe i just shot at something because they pointed a gun at me. i should call the police? >> you know, you are right. it sounds crazy and i couldn't tell you s thinking when all of this happened. i could just tell you that i didn't do it. >> defense attorney cory strollo gave his closing statement before the lunch break? >> they have to overcome it with

their evidence, not emotion, not anger, and not sympathy. >> dunn who has pleaded "not guilty" admits shooting davis. defense. >> he had no duty to retreat and had the right to stand his ground and meet force with force including deadly force. >> dunn and his fiancee stopped at a gas station in jacksonville, florida where davis and three friends with were parked in a s.u.v. the courtroom heard from the fism ance who gave a tearful account of what happened. >> what did the defendant say? >> oh, i hate that thug music. i heard pop, pop, pop. >> after you got back in the passenger's side of the car, did point in time? >> yes. michael was putting it into the glove box. >> when the white defendant and a black victim, the trial has generated national attention

because it parallels with the trayvon martin case. martin, a black 17-year-old, was shot and killed by george zimmerman who is white in early 20s 12 during al dispute in sanford, florida. zimmerman was acquitted. in the case of michael dunn, police say no we hope was found in davis's vehicle. >> at any point that night, did you see anybody take a weapon of any kind out of that car? >> no, sir. >> but the defense argues the times had team to dispose of a weapon and dunn had the right to defend themselves under florida's controversial stand-your-ground law. the case has gone to the jury. if convicted, dunn faces life in >> america tonight, sarah has been following trial closely

>> there is a lot of reading done into the prosecutors remarks and the defense attorneys remarks. one of the things brought up is whether or not this young man had any kind of weapons, a gun or anything else in the vehicle. do they know for sure? >> you have the defense saying one thing, prosecution another. the police did not find a weapon, we heard that, that is on the record. dunn swears he saw inches of a barrel, "i have reason to believe this kid had a weapon", that's his story, and he's sticking to it. >> "america tonight" sara hoy, thank you for following us up on this. >> joining us for a closer look is criminal defense attorney and prosecutor joining us from davey florida.

i thought it was a very, very good case for the prosecution. the reason is just to get right to the point is rarely do you have in a trial a window right in to the head of the defendant and what he was thinking. and we have that window in this case. and that window is after firing not once, not five times, but 10 times at a vehicle as it was pulling away as well, as he is driving away with his fiance, he never tells her, his fiance that there was, in fact, a we hope in the car and that's why he had to fire his gun. >> is huge. >> that's a window into this shooting. >> sarah hoy and i were just talking about the presence or absence of any sort of weapon in the car that the teenagers were riding in. does it matter to the stand-your-ground defense whether there really was a weapon or not, whether it was a gun or a baton or anything else? >> no. actually, it doesn't.

unfortunately, the way the law reads in florida, as long as the individu individual, here the defendant, reasonably believed his life was in danger, then he could stand his ground and use force including deadly force in order to defend himself. so, it doesn't really matter so much as to whether or not a weapon was found in the other vehicle. what matters was in the mind and was it reasonable in the mind of mr. dunn. i think again the window into his mind, the fact he doesn't call 9-1-1 while he is fleeing the scene, he is going back to a hotel. and he doesn't say that, in fact, there was a gun in the other vehicle. >> raises questions? >> those are going to be huge pieces of evidence. >> those are questions that are hard to answer. the prosecutor argued a stir can convict him on a lesser charge of second degree murder. let's listen to what was said today. >> sending nine bullets into a

cal full of unarmed teenagers. >> that's second degree murder, no doubt. it is reasonably certain an occupant of that vehicle could suffer death or great bodily harm. that act, itself, shows an indifference for human life. >> interesting. what is it, do you make of it that she is suggesting the jury can convict him on a lesser charge >> she would be correct because the law in florida is the charge is first degree murder in this case. then the jury is going to be instructed and has been that there are lesser included crimes that they can consider. sla slaughter are lesser included crimes of first degree murder. the evidence in this case is for a very, very strong second degree murder case. pre-medtati pre-medtation. it will be up to the jury. it's a stronger, second degree murder case in my opinion after

looking at the evidence that i see in this case. >> all right. i want to take a look at another comment was made. this was from the defense attorney, arguing that no adequate search -- we have been talking about the possibility, presence or absence of a weapon in the vehicle the boys were riding in. let's listen to this. >> how many times did the state ask their witness: was there a weapon in that truck? was there a gun in that truck? was there a truck, truck, truck? never asked about the plaza, never asked about underneath the cars in the plaza, never checked dumpsters. ken? >> well, the defense attorney is doing the best job that he coan with the evidence that he has available with him. it's going for the weekest link. weakest link would be to have the jury focus on the fact that no other weapon was in the car because there was a number of minutes that went by where these young men had taken the vehicle and could have gotten rid of a weapon that mr. dunn claims that he observed.

>> that's what the defense attorney is focusing on. the problem, again, though, is the fact that mr. dunn doesn't tell his fiance moments after the shooting or even the next day that, in fact, he had observed a gun. >> really, i think, overshadowed the defense attorney's good point that he is making to the jury but it's going to become overshadowed by this window into this man] mind as to what he was thinking after thatshoot shooting. >> we will see what the jury decides, criminal defense attorney ken padowitz, thank you for being with us again? >> thank you for having me. >> coming up on "america tonight," nagan's nasty fall from his passionate plea after katrina to a guilty verdict. what's next for the former mayor of new orleans. later in our program? >> i imagine a day when women wake up in the morning, put on whatever they want to or don't. >> dancing in the streets, the energetic movement to mobilize the power of women.

>> this is a crime against humanity >> is libya unraveling? >> there's coffin after coffin being carried into the cemetery. >> fault lines libya: state of insecurity only on al jazeera america

>> a snapshot of stories - a sink hole collapse, nature of the national corvette museum. the hole opened up, swallowing

eight cars. setting off an alarm and tears. it was 40 feet across and 30 feet deep. >> the white house agenda is adding is a visit from binyamin netanyahu. lately the israeli leader has been critical of a u.s. deal with iran and its nuclear program. aside from binyamin netanyahu, the president will meet with the kings of jordan and saudi arabia. >> class action lawsuit over the n.s.a. phone collection has been failed against president obama. the lawsuit claims the n.s.a.'s actions violate the 4th amendment. >> he is was a famous politician, the face of hurricane katrina. now former new orleans mayor ray nagin is facing 20 years in prison. a jury convicted ray nagin on 20 counts of corruption in a louisville federal court.

"america tonight" correspondent laura jane reports on the developments. mobbed by media cameras, ray nagin walked out of federal court stone faced and quiet. without addressing the cameras. the counter new orleans mayor mitch landrew had something to say. >> there was a loud cry from the courtroom that the behaviour will not be tolerated. the behaviour does not reflect the heart and soul of the people of new orleans. now it's time to look forward, and we'll continue to make great strides that we have made in recent past. >> a jury found ray nagin guilty of 20 corruption-related charges for committing bribery and fraud in 2004. he's guilty of a kickback scheme delivering him hundreds of thousands in the form of cash,

wire transfers, personal services and free travel, including a vacation with his family to hawaii. and free cell phone services. >> in exchange city contractors received business deals with the city, worth millions over the span of several years. the conviction is a fault in ray nagin's political career, when he roared into office promising to implement reform and clean up corruption. >> there are too many who thought that city somehow go in a different direction. the people have said they like the direction we are going in. >> in his first months as mayor, ray nagin launched an assault on corruption, seeing entire city government departments suspended. a sting operation resulted in 80 arrests, and the voiding of numerous contracts he considered to be sweetheart deals. his approval rating hovered around 80%. everything changed on

august 25th, 2005. more than three-quarters of the city was flooded during nasser al khatter -- during katrina. hundreds died. people were displaced. ray nagin lashed out: many residents blamed ray nagin, the federal government accused the mayor of the same crimes he campaigned against. while on the stand testifying in his own defence, nagin continually pointed the finger at other people, saying most of them were lying and confusing facts. after seven days of testimony, a jury sided with the prosecution. >> laurie jane.

what is n. for louisville politics this is a big one. clancy rejoins us. you know, this is quite remark i believe. 20 out of 21 charges he was convicted on. what does that tell us? what was the one charge he was not convicted on? >> the one charge he was not convicted of was the one involving his sons. i'm speculating. while the mayor was on the witness stand, at one point when the prosecution was cross-examining him, he kind of threw his sons under the bus saying "i didn't do that, they did that on their own", and another time he blamed his sons for not filing impact tax returns. i suspect the jurors were discertaining in spiriting his sons from him. i think he might have gotten sympathy for his sons. his sons were not on trial. they separated the actions of the former mayor's sons to the

mayor's own actions. the the 20 counts relate to actions taken by ray nagin himself. >> ray nagin was a charmer. i mean, he fitted into the mould of louisville politics, charming his audiences. what was he look in the course of this trial. how did that play for or against him. >> to whatever extent he had charm, it wore off. after katrina and the look of recovery, most voters, people, around here had enough of ray nagin. whether people liked him or didn't like him or thought he was guilty or not sure. most people in this area - and i've talked to a lot of him - they want him to go away. the city is moving forward as the mayor said in a story we saw. he's right. the city is moving forward. we want to put the chapter behind us. this does close one of the sadst

soriest chapters in the long kat reapa saga, a chapter dealing with ray nagin and his incompetence, and according to the jury his corruption. >> do you have a sense that he recognised what transpired here, and how much his legacy was tinged by all this. >> it's a good question. i said for a few years, that i think ray nagin is a narcissist and they will never look in the mirror and acknowledge his faults, he'll put it off on someone else and never want to be held accountable. i can't read his mind, but i have known him for 20 years. he was comparisoning and i think it has worn off. he has to man up. >> you know, part of what is left is the sense that he tried to use that it was someone else's doing.

>> again, it's classic naas six. a few people. i was one. is he going to charm his way out. i thought he would get one, maybe two jurors to say "maybe there is some doubt here", and get a hung jury. as we saw, it didn't work. there was no counts on which they were undecided. the prosecutors, by the way, put on a strong case. >> sentencing doesn't happen until june, what is the prediction? what will he serve? >> this is a good judge, i think she'll wait to see what the report is from the probation depp. we need to see -- department. we need to see that. their recommendation comes out, then the prosecution and defense argues about it. they'll argue for lower points on the scale of the federal

sentencing guidelines and they may argue for upping the points, i would be surprised if he had less than 15 years, possibly 20. >> thank you very much for rejoining us. coming up on "america tonight." >> i know what violence does. i know the consequences of violence. i see what women do through, and how long it takes to recover from one incident of violence. >> seeing red - a call to rise for justice. a powerful valentine's day movement next.

>> every sunday night, join us for excusive... revealing... and surprising talks, with the most interesting people of our time. hip hop pioneer russell simmons talks with soledad o'brien

>> i make mistakes everyday, i don't try to count them... >> about his music.... >> the artist should say what's on people's minds. >> his cause... dominion over the animals does not mean abuse... >> and his future... >> i wanna make movies and tv shows that reflect the new america. >> russell simmons up close and personal... talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera you know her as the author ever "the vagina monologues", she is the founder of one billion rising, a valentine's day global activist movement to end violence of all kinds against women and girls. the united nations says one in three women will be raped or beaten in their life times. sheila macvicar sat to talk about the rise for justice.

. >> all around the world on friday, women and men will rise for justice. whether women need laws to be passed or cases to be heard, or schools where women want boys to be brought up differently, and have a different vision of mann hood, and masculinity so we don't get to violence. >> what drives you to do this? this is now a more than full-time occupation. what is your motivation? >> i think it's simply. i want to end violence against women and girls. as a survivor of enormous violence - i grew up in a violent house. my father was the perpetrator. i was sexually violated and beaten by him and, you know, thrown against walls and had my nose punched on a regular basis. i know what violence does. i know the consequences of violence. i see what women go through, and

how long it takes to recover from one incident of violence. how it isn't an act, it's a life. i imagine what the world would be like if women were free and safe, and we weren't always living under the siege of violence. we are so used to the siege or our cage. we can't walk where we want to walk, we can't wear what we want to wear, we can't do what we want to do, we can't travel the world freely. we have accepted the boundaries of the cage of violence. i imagine a day where women wake up and put on what they want to, or don't, and don't worry that someone attacks them or grabs them or hars ass them or puts them down or comes into their bedloom uninvited or jumps on them when they've had a few drinks. what would our world be like. [ ♪ music ] >> of all the one billion rising

events, which surprised you the most? >> the ones that moved me were women risking their lives. there's an organiser in somalia. we had an african summit. in the middle she stood up and said, "i'll do a rising in magga dish u", we knew the risk she'd face. on february 14th, they rose in the streets of mogadishu. before that there was a case where a woman pressed charges against a government official for rape, and the woman had been arrested. after the rising he was prosecuted. >> she was released? >> yes. we are seeing how the energy of rising, the energy of dancing - it's electric. it's contagious. it's beginning to create a kind of world energy that is giving people enormous courage, creatisty and allowing them to

press forward in ways they haven't been able to. it legitimizes them, protects and energiesizes them. we have seen women traumatised and raped, often they don't feel safe in public space. i cannot tell you how many women wrote in to say dancing in a public space changed them. that they could be in their body, feel safe, in community, and that began to change so much of their lives. they came back into their bodies. we know drama removes us from our bodies. it's the landscape of pain. >> what dancing and a movement of dancing does is allows women to come back into their bodies, allowing us to think, to begin to envision, allows us to imagine, and allows us to connect with everything and everyone around us. that is where our strength comes

from. >> that's "america tonight" sheila mcvicar. "the vagina mono logs", and its author raised over a million to help stop violence against women. she hopes friday over one million will take to the streets and dance for justice. >> ahead - in the markets for a savoury, crunchy and banned from entering china. why. we'll find out when we dive for that seafood next.

>> do you know the gooey duck? it comes from the native american work meaning "dig deep." one country is refusing this lucrative strange delicacy after a botched shipment. as al jazeera science and technology correspondent jacob ward reports, it is becoming a cosley loss for puget sound in washington. >> sinking down, a diver seeks a rare prize. it's buried deep into the saidiment, hidden to all but the trained eye. it's called a gooey duck. while it's rarely seen in the united states, it's prizes as a

delicacy in china. essentially a giant clam they are an unlikely source of wealth, especially for washington's state's coastal tribes who by law are entitled to half the seafood harvest and specialize in exporting gooey duck. it is a cougheted job. the tribe limits the work to 25 lottery. >> how much can a diver make in a year? >> lucas would maybe 150,000. cody is a new diver. >> going out one day a week? >> yeah. >> that's $150,000 a year for a single diver working just one day a week. >> finding the

gooey ducks themselves hard? is that a thrill? right? >> yeah. >> yeah. it's like a dollar bill sign there. you seattle groove and then once you hit the ground, you will see it sink, and you know that that's a gooey duck. >> china's appetite is so voracious in 2012, the u.s. expected $68 million worth. once a responsible tribal food for 1200 zukuamis, now a valuable industry. >> what part do you eat? >> this here, you want to plant this in the water or you can eat it as a sushi. this skin peels out. this is all edible here so you don't really waste nothing. >> washington state exports 90% of its gooey duck harvest to china. as china's prosperity has climbed, so has the tribes'. in december, a shattering setback. chinese officials said they

found a shipment contaminated with arsnic and banned imports. divers are collecting samples contaminants. >> i am always concerned about any kind of pollutants going in here. i dive in the water. i swim here with my son. i eat fish out of puget sound all the time. >> lydia sago has been diving for gooey duck. one of only two women divers. >> the income is huge for the tribe and it's a big part of our budget which is why the gooey duck ban worries my tribe because we use that for my tribe's elder's check. 40% goes to the divers and the 60% goes into our tribal budget to give our elders a monthly check to help them pay their bills. so we are all kind of up in the air wondering what's going to happen now. >> behind me

is the facility whe where the demands is met. the plan was to replace the building twice as large. >> tony forceman is the manager. >> were you surprised by the ban government? >> it's unprecedented for us. we have never seen anything like this happen. >> how much revenue do you imagine you have lost so far because of this ban >> i would suspect we are down dollar. >> in january, washington state's department of health tested samples from the area and found them to be safe for consumption. state officials say they have sent the results to chinese officials but china's response is hard to predict. in 2003, china banned beef imports after a case of mad cow disease in the u.s. 10 years o the u.s. still can't export beef into china. >> if this ban continues and you can't dive for gooey duck, is there something else you can do with this boat?

>> we were actually looking into doing you aurchins but they are not going to clear a lot of money. >> how does the price of gooey duck compare to other seafood? >> it doesn't compare because the gooey duck is so lucrative. >> tony forgeman said he has been able to buy a new overseas buyer in other asian kuntz trees. but learning the global market is new for this tribe. >> the market thing is still uncertain. i mean something could happen next week that disrupts it or anything. so, you know, we are trying to, you know, take the best advantage of it we can. >> what was once an almost impossiblebly lucrative business is held hostage between two kuntz trees. bad luck for a tribe that built modern life on an unlikely piece of good fortunate called the gooey duck. suquamash washington. >> that's it here for us on "america tonight." if you would like to comment on any stories you have seen here

tonight, log onto aljazeera.com/americatonight. and please join the conversation with us on twitter or at our facebook page. good night. we will have more of "america tonight" tomorrow. [ ♪ music ] >> hi there, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm thomas drayton. here are the top stories we are following. dangerous weather gripping the east from the gulf coast to maine. 22 states and 100 million affected. hundreds of thousands of people

across the south lost power because of snow, ice and rain. the storm is expected to continue until friday. >> parts of england are under water after more than two weeks of flooding. authorities issued high-risk warnings for north-west england and wales. the military says 2,000 soldiers are available to help if needed. >> a jury found former new orleans mayor ray nagin guilty of 27 corruption charges, and he faces 20 years in prison for taking kickbacks in exchange for contracts during his time in office. he's the first mayor in city history to be convicted. >> federal contractors who earn minimum wage will get a raise next year, an executive order signed by the president increasing the hourly raise by $3, from $7.25 to $10.10. the raise won't take effect until 2015.

>> the debate over mammogram readings has had a public study staying it it does not help women suffering from breast cancer survive. >> those are the headlines. i'm thomas drayton in new york. >> america is dealing with a storm and weather-related power outages, why cann the infrastructure better handle the storms. new questions over the effectiveness of mammograms causes concerns, and major failures in life - not such a bad thing? >> why did a college professor decide to live in a dumpster for a year. i'm antonio mora. welcome to "consider this." here is more on what is ahead. snow and ice storm gaining strength.