on techknow, our scientists bring you a sneak-peak of the future, and take you behind the scenes at our evolving world. techknow - ideas, invention, life. on al jazeera america digging out from a second round of snow, some areas of the northeast dealing with up to 20" from the same storm that knocked out power across the south. same sex marriage ban in a southern state is struck down by the courts as another state moves in with a controversial law called blatant discrimination and millions around the world dancing in the streets for justice, a global movement pushing for an end to

violence against women. >> with valentine's especially and it's a good gift to go. >> reporter: in some places guns could be a popular present this valentine's day. ♪ good morning and welcome to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy, a powerful winter storm hammered the northeast a day after bringing the south to a stand still and people are digging out of the message included another round of snow overnight and the northeast got hit with 20" of snow. the south also reeling from the storm and georgia and the carolinas still in the dark from massive power outages and responsible for deaths up and down the coast and grounded thousands of flights and biggest disruptions are charlotte,

atlanta and philadelphia and we are tracking the storm's impact ap we are standing by in greensboro, north carolina but we begin in new york. >> on this valentine's day there is no love for mother nature and more snow fell overnight and into the morning as the region already deals with another powerful storm. after getting hit hard by a storm on thursday a big part of the northeast got another blast of snow overnight and the nation's capitol was a ghost town and airport busy on the runway and not with planes but snowplows and maryland which exhausted the budget for the year is dealing with to feet of snow. >> we were sliding all over the roads and as big as the trucks are and we are sliding and i'm pretty sure they do not have the

truck at home. >> reporter: people in new york, new jersey and connecticut have no power which for some means no heat. >> you get over a third of an inch and the danger zone and half an inch or over you should expect widespread outages. >> reporter: pennsylvania is also recovering from widespread power outages and the heavy snow in philadelphia, that city has broken a 130 year record for the most 6" plus storms in one season. >> snow remains a very dangerous storm that we are dealing with in philadelphia. >> reporter: in new york commuters slid through nearly a foot of snow thursday. some relief when the snow stopped in the city but then came the rain turning many streets into a slippery mess. in brook land a pregnant women died after being struck by a snowplow in a grocery store parking lot, her baby delivered alive by an emergency c section. new york governor has a state of emergency for part of the state

and neighboring new jersey is under a state of emergency. and as the storm goes up the east coast hundreds of schools which closed across massachusetts where the storm is still dumping heavy snow and some areas could see as much as two feet. >> stay home and don't come out the roads are terrible, stay home. >> reporter: this is the 12th storm to hit the region this winter and what made the latest storm particularly tricky is it kept showing and snow and sleet and freezing rain and then snow but people are exhausted with dealing with the long, cold, snowy winter. >> reporter: jennifer reporting for us in new york city and thank you and let's head south where jonathan martin is standing by in greensboro, north carolina and jonathan that region still in bad shape 24 hours after the storm swept through the area. >> yeah, it really is stephanie and you think about some of the

communities got 21" of snow, not as bad in greensboro and where 8-10" fell but the roads are worse today than yesterday and look here because everything that melted last night refroze overnight and now you have a bunch of crunching snow and what you cannot see is black ice and people ready for the temperatures to findly warm up today so they can be on the end of the storm that has been crippling and in some places historic. the latest winter storm finished blowing through the south by thursday afternoon but the impact is still being felt by millions across the region today. here in north carolina plows were out in force cleaning the remaining snow and tow trucks began to remove the abandon cars and still warning residents to stay off the roads. >> mother nature is still right here with very dramatic weather swings and expecting hazardous road conditions.

>> reporter: another problem is power outages and people in the south are managing in the dark and without heat. >> trying to get the lights back on. >> reporter: and georgia governor in augusta and tens of thousands are without power and mississippi to virginia it's about digging out and greenville, south carolina the salt is almost gone, the concern there black ice. >> it's going to get bad again. early in the morning it's going to be rough. >> reporter: it's the roads that are treacherous, in some cases deadly, in virginia a record snow fell led to the death of a man working for the department of transportation and killed by a dump truck that struck him as he pulled over and stood on the shoulder by his snowplow. and right now there are 100,000 people in the state of north carolina without power and i can tell you the city really is shut down and we were out yesterday just trying to find a place to eat. we went by 20 restaurants and every one was closed except for

one and we had to eat there and most people are staying off the roads. temperatures expected to warm up in north carolina in the mid 40s today so finally some of this snow and ice will start to melt away. stephanie. >> jonathan martin reporting from greensboro, north carolina. erica farari is at new york's laguardia airport and tracking delays and cancellations across the country. good morning, erica. >> reporter: good morning, stephanie, there are few airports along the east coast that have not felt the impacts of yesterday's storm. some 6,500 flights were cancelled yesterday. today that number has gone down significantly to about 1300 flights but there are still massive delays. now here at laguardia airport in new york there is some movement happening and flights are getting off the ground. last i looked at the big board there were about ten cans --

cancellations and delays and flights are taking off and it was a very different story yesterday when there were a lot of unhappy passengers across the country who were stranded. >> horrible and it's valentine's weekend and i came here on a business trip and leaving to go home. >> you have to deal with that. it could be worse. >> i feel frustrated and feel disappointed about what i can do. and the airline company, they just say stay here and wait. >> reporter: and stephanie here is an interesting fact, the large number of storms we have had this year have led to the most flight cancellations in 25 years. now since december 1st of this year alone there have been 75,000 cancelled flights and we still have two weeks left in february and all of march and we will keep our fingers crossed in

laguardia airport in new york and back to you. >> thank you so much and we are not done with this storm yet and let's bring in metrologist nicole mitchell to show you where it's lingering and how long. >> for most places it's cleared out and to the digging out stage at this point with another one on its heels and we will have something else to watch but as we look at the radar what we will see is going up the coastline and there was an interesting mix, if you were right along the coast where some places switched over to rain and it made a reverse pattern in the totals in some cases. inferior you were seeing significant amounts of snow. parts of maryland for example we saw over two feet in a couple of spots, pennsylvania inferior and even new york interior, a foot, foot and a half not out of the question and close to the coast lien and the totals, boston is in the 3" range versus dc around a foot because that was more rain in boston. now it continues to move up the

coastline. the other thing you need to be concerned with is it's very gusty out there. a lot of winds gusting in the 20s and a couple of places in the 30 miles per hour rarnl so what snow is out there will be blowing around and kind of battering you in the face which is never pleasant. here is where it goes. by this morning it will clear boston, maine probably around midday. there is already another system on the heels though. we are only going to get a brief break today in most cases before the next round comes in tomorrow. the good news is this one has less snow associated with it and as we clear out some watches and warnings in one direction we see them pile up in the midsection of the country south of the great lakes where the snow is coming through this morning and this is the band we are talking about into iowa with areas of snow and 2-4" but we are getting snow weary out there.

>> relentless winter and stay with al jazeera for continuing coverage of the severe winter storm. the white house is backing off its request that afghanistan's current president sign a new security deal. the agreement would determine how many u.s. and international troops will remain in the country. the change suggests the u.s. might be ready to wait and see what karzai's successor has to say about the situation and he said he will not sign any new security agreement until after elections are held this april. karzai ruffled more feathers in washington where he ignored and released 65 detainees held at a prison near kabul. the u.n. chief mediator said an impasse is hurting the deal of ending the civil war in syria and he is meeting with the war torn country again today in geneva but says failure is always staring them in the face. top russian and u.s. diplomates are promising to keep the talks

alive. the u.n. humanitarian chief is urging immediate action in syria and says the cease fire in homs is not a long-term solution and needs to be a plan to get humanitarian aid to those who need it. hundreds of civilians in homs have escaped the violence in resent days but fighting is ranging in other parts of the country and the human rights say in three weeks since talks began nearly 5,000 people have been killed in syria. there are more reports of executions anvid villages being burned to the ground and they killed men and women in the eastern part of the country and we report that the violence is taking a toll on aid efforts. >> reporter: this food is going to feed hundreds of thousands of people displaced by fighting in southern republic of congo and

battling government troops and there is a growing humanitarian crisis and take at least three days for the food to reach the most vulnerable. >> translator: tomorrow situation is volitile and worried and everyday the villages are burning down and running from village to village and makes it hard to know where people are and how many need help. >> reporter: they are concerned about the growing violence and this village, the capitol of the providence was recently attacked allegedly by myanmar rebels and she wants the u.n. to protect her family from more attacks. >> translator: the soldiers said if you hear shooting stay in the house, don't come outside because you will be killed. but we still don't feel safe. as the people ran in the bush. >> reporter: there are not enough soldiers or u.n. troops to patrol the province roughly

the side of spain and the fighting displaced more than 400,000 people. this area has been attacked several times and people live in constant fear. this house belongs to the chief. when the fighting started he ran away and has not been seen in a while. but the armed groups say atrocities committed by soldiers and not them and they want a referendum held so the people can choose whether to separate from the democratic republic of congo. the province which is rich in minerals is a source of income for the government and letting it go may not be an option, al jazeera on the province. >> reporter: there are at least 40 armed groups in the drc eastern region and ethnic and competition for control of the area's mineral resources killed millions over the past two decades and lawmakers in belgium approved assisted suicide law for children and the law which is first of the kind in the

world allows terminally ill children to be asked to be put to death and the parents must approve and three doctors and a psychiatrist will have to certify the patient is aware of the consequences of their decision. and the king phillip is expected to sign it. in the uk entire neighborhoods are under water and how the flooded areas are getting the last thing they need and getting more rain. plus shining a light on violence against women, it's a global dance party known as one billion rising. forget flowers and jewelry, we will hear from women who want guns for valentine's day. ♪

another round of heavy rain making flooding in england even worse and good morning and welcome to al jazeera i'm stephanie sy and people are trying to cope with that disaster in a minute but these are the temperatures this the country and nicole mitchell is back. >> good morning and as we start out the door the temperatures on

the east coast are so critical that interior with colder temperatures and it was snow and close to the coastline with temperatures close to freezing and snow totals varied from place to place because of that. still cold temperatures and that is why in atlanta it's 31 refreeze and it's a very slick morning. in the midwest temperatures briefly warmed but i don't mean they were warm, they were not as cold, another 3 in minneapolis. through the day i mentioned atlanta freezing conditions right now but as we get through the day this is going to be important, 55 degrees that allows us to start melting off some of that ice because at this point we have no other way to get it cleared off and it's very hard to clear off the ice and good news and up the coastline it's mild and the temperatures around 40 degrees, however we had the next weather system come in so you will see some temperatures drop as we get in the next couple days by a few degrees back solidly in the 30s and one part of the country with

a warm up la in the 80s and it will be mild. >> the river breached its banks as the uk battles the wettest weather in years and they have been flooded and homes evacuated and the country in southern britain is on high alert and several more storms are coming. the government has promised to help homeowners rebuild and as jennifer glasse reports one community is working to get back only its feet. >> this is st. paul where the community has pulled together to help its own and guided by father rooper originally from chapel hill, north carolina. >> this is food to go out and there is cold and hot food and all sorts of things. >> reporter: the waters spilled on nearly every street here and

father michael tours the area daily. how much of the parish is effected? >> two thirds is under water. >> reporter: they visit their homes and move what hasn't been ruined. where are you heading today? >> i will take stuff and put it in a friend's shed and then back to my parents. >> reporter: aid comes from the unexpected kindness of strangers but not everyone is here to help especially after dark. >> and close to the school, there have been definitely some break-ins. >> reporter: the empty water logged homes too big a temptation for some and this is the edge of the parish and they are helping as many people as they can and all they can really do now is wait for the waters to go down. it doesn't look like that will be soon. the ground is soaked and there is more rain to come. the british army has arrived with men and trucks to help support the community through whatever comes next. >> we are providing some power

for the civilian effort to relieve some houses in the area. >> reporter: the waters are expected to rise again and a new storm to hit on friday with areas expected to see another inch and a half of rain and every one here including father michael is trying to take it one day at a time. jennifer glasse, al jazeera, england. >> reporter: more than 1100 homes have flooded in the valley since the rains started falling last month. senator chuck shumer is trying discharge petition to allow the immigration bill to bypass the house committee process and it would go directly to the house floor for a vote sidestepping majority opposition. the process has only been successful once passing campaign finance reform in 2002, if the house democrats support the plan he would still need more than a

dozen republican signatures. people who signed up for health coverage under affordable care act and 1 in 5 people did not have insurance because they did not pay premiums and 2.1 people were set to start on january 1st and a month to pay up, the last step to completing enrollment and officials say they don't know how many people missed payments because the website to process premiums is not finished. california is considering putting warning labels on soda and sugar drinks and it is sponsored by moonen has support and it would require a warning label on soda and juice drinks with more than 75 calories per 12 ounce and read the safety warning drinking beverages with added sugar contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay. the companies oppose the idea saying it unfairly singles out one type of product for

regulation. the winter weather is having an impact on the sports world and john henry smith is here to tell us how it's keeping some college schedule makers pretty busy and good morning. >> the world of nicole mitchell is colliding with mine and the world is winning and ice across the country is forcing schedule changes and various sporting events and forced six division ones to be postpones and louisville smu is moved from thursday to friday and both games played at 6:00 p.m. eastern and football prides in playing the weather and it's still on in north carolina at ferman university, two americans take center stage in sochi and bode miller and ligity are the last people of the skiing event in 2010 and 2006 and both in trouble after finishing 12 and

18 respectfully in the down hill portion of the event this morning, 6:30 a.m. eastern they will try to save themselves in the super combine. metal winner team canada and taking on norway and score in the second period and shane webber has a goal with canada on the board and second period and dallas star jamie and that team canada takes a 2-0 lead in the second period and they trade goals and not good to bring norway back and canada beats them 3-1. in speed skating not much expected of china in sochi but all she has done is give them the first gold metal with one of the dominant performances and .67 seconds is the largest since bonnie blair 20 years ago and heather richardson finished 7th place. america is doing better in the

women's skeleton event and picus-pace has 157.43 and good for second place behind great britain and the final two runs will wrap up 10:30 eastern this morning. men's figure skating he took a brutal fall during the program thursday and crashing in the wall before his momentum stopped him but to great applause he picked up and finished his routine without further incident and he will not win the gold but japan may after the first skater that is over 100. to the nba, la lakers played thursday like they really didn't want to set the lakers home record for consecutive and led by 10 in the fourth quarter but that is when durant scored in a 35 point quarter for okc and

107-103 win and that is the look at sports this morning. >> thank you. struggling to survive. >> it was pretty bad. but i've seen worse and it's been much worse. >> reporter: how this long winter is impacting the bottom line for small businesses. plus shining a light on violence against women, a global dance party known as one billion rising. a pink gun would be cool. i would be happy. >> reporter: and a police department encouraging people to give a gun as a valentine's day gift. and taking a live look at the vatican where people francis will be getting in the valentine's spirit and greeting engaged couples going through the catholic marriage preparation courses and it's called the joy of yes forever. ♪

it will carry over into the february/march sales. purchasers put off in january hopefully will be shifted into the later months in the future. >> consumer spending drives 70% of economic active ci. the winter -- activity. the winter storm postponed janet yellen's second day of testimony. the senate banking committee will re schedule. no new date has been set. >> it's enough to make a corvette lover cringe. a disaster at a museum dedicated to the cars. we look at the science behind sink holes.

al jazeera america. we open up your world. >> here on america tonight, an opportunity for all of america to be heard. >> our shows explore the issues that shape our lives. >> new questions are raised about the american intervention. >> from unexpected viewpoints to live changing innovations, dollars and cents to powerful storytelling. >> we are at a tipping point in america's history! >> al jazeera america. there's more to it.

♪ welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy and people are digging out from a powerful winter storm and the northeast got covered with almost two feet of snow and the storm has grounded thousands of flights across the country. there are major disruptions at airports in charlotte, atlanta and philadelphia while many people took a snow day for some working through the storm was a priority. america tonight reporter lori glehay explains. >> nobody wants two storms back to back but when mother nature deals you just have to deal as well. >> reporter: john and his dad joe are doing their best to deal with the situation left at their family restaurant outside philadelphia. they are among 150 million

people pounded by this latest snowfall. a tough blow as they were just getting back on their feet from the ice storm last week. >> i heard a song, boom, boom. the power outage is no more and then we have a very cold night. >> reporter: not only did the family lose power in their home for a few days their chinese restaurant had to close. >> i remember going with my dad to the restaurant and moving all the food around and refrigerators to plug those in generators so the food didn't go bad so that was stressful. >> and it survived and so did the fish in the tanks for customers who visit. but as they reopened another storm shut their doors a second time. >> and we are totally out, you know, because of all the snow accumulated on the roads and parking lot, you know, we are not able to open for business

and we decided to remain closed today because we figured a lot of customers would not be able to make it out of their homes either. >> reporter: in washington d.c. driver warren fudge is faring a little better in the weather with the help of cab fare. >> what is going on, man? >> reporter: he is a fuel truck driver by day who says he needs two job to help him pay the rent. that's why people also hire him through a cell phone app called uber-x and it's an on line service to transport people in his own vehicle like a taxi. >> responsible for insurance, licensing, registration, taxes and everything. and it's not like we work for uber we are a partner with uber so it's just like being self-employed. >> reporter: fudge takes advantage of days like this when

the roads are tricky and the construction site where he normally works is closed. his personal suv helps him make end meet. >> you know as far as wintertime construction work we go through periods where we don't work as much as we would in the summertime and there is not much work available and with bills a rent being really high out there, it's just you need two jobs to make it. >> reporter: like any customer we paid for our ride with fudge as he navigated the streets and how he makes the best of such miserable conditions. >> it was pretty bad but i've seen worse and it has been much worse. as far as the plows they have done a good job clearing the streets. >> reporter: we were the 9th customer and wanted to make 200 by the end of the day and said the bad weather is an advantage

because most part-time drivers are not willing to drive on the roads. >> today like this is a good day because there is nobody on the road. you know, so it's more demand. everybody wants to go somewhere. i had a couple people that needed to go to work and had no way to get there and they really showed me some appreciation. one guy wanted to try to tip me and we are not supposed to take tips so we didn't take tips and he went and got me a cup of coffee and works at mcdonald's and got me a free cup of coffee so i appreciate that. we are reporting from washington and you can catch america tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern right here on al jazeera. women in afghanistan are protesting against domestic violence and 100 people marched through the city on kabul and speaking out against a new draft law which will ban people from testifying against relatives and it will limit justice for

victims of domestic abuse but it has not been signed by karzai. women in afghanistan are not the only ones drawing attention to violence against women and people are expected to take part in a grass roots campaign called one billion rising for justice and dance rounds the world to raise awareness against women and girls. she is the coordinator for one billion rising for justice and is from ann arbor, michigan and thanks for being with us and happy valentine's day and it's staggering and according to the u.n. and world health organization 1-3 will experience sexual violence in the lifetime globally and 64 million are child brides worldwide and 140 million women and girls have

suffered genital mutilation and there are more statistics i could list. what do you hope this movement can achieve? >> well, happy valentine's to you and thank you for having me on your program this morning. i think that the one billion rising campaign has brought the issue of violence against women front and center for discussion all over the world. and has provided this amazing global platform upon which activists and communities can rally around to bring this issue to the forefront to their legislators and to their politicians, to their judiciary, to the police, to all these places where justice ought to be given out but is not carried out in most cases. >> reporter: this is the event's third year, have you already seen some tangible results from this movement? >> actually it's the second year so the inaugural one billion rising was 2013 and was the

first one. this is the second one and the first one was really sort of to highlight and to show what one billion people looks like and this year we are really focusing on the justice piece because that is what seems to resonate throughout the whole world where women and girls are concerned is that perpetrators get away with rape and domestic violence and all kinds of violence with impunity. and so this is also focused this year and seen tangible results and more and more women are speaking out against violence. we have seen more women victims come forward and talk about the issues. this has a way of making sure that the perpetrators are brought to book. there are laws that have been changed across the world. gosh, it's just hard to imagine how huge this is but we believe that after this particular year we will see even more resolve. >> reporter: the movement really has spread to many

countries. how did the movement become so global and are there places you have not reached that you would really like to? >> well, last year we had 207 countries sign up. and the movement has grown so big because of the passionate work of activists on the ground in their communities. you have to realize that february 14th is actually the combination of lots and lots of advocacy. of collaboration among activists in the communities and we come together on this particular day to actually showcase, if you like, all the work that has been going on prior. >> reporter: is violence against women growing worse in places? and where have the numbers improved? >> reporter: it's hard to say whether it's grown worse because what we are seeing is i think violence against women always

existed and probably at the same proportions that we are seeing it's just that i think the media now has been able to sort of bring into focus just how prevalent and how ubiquitous it is for women and in places it's a cultural phenomenon and we are hoping with time we can undo by raising consciousness, by education, and actually the more we continue to keep a focus on violence against women i think the more it will become a zero tolerance issue. >> reporter: i'm curious why you became so personally and passionately involved with the one billion rising movement. >> to be honest i'm a mother of four daughters. i'm a woman. i grew up in zimbobwai and my work is in south africa and i see my sisters and continue to see my sisters go through

horendous level of violence and i want a different futures for my daughters and the daughters through the whole world to be honest with you. >> reporter: global coordinator for one billion rising for justice, thank you so much for speaking with us this morning. a federal judge in virginia has struck down the state's ban on same sex marriage and the second state in the south this week to make a decision on the legality of gay marriage and a kentucky judge said the state must recognize gay marriages performed in other states and although the court did not specifically address the ban. currently 17 states allow same sex marriage. and states are increasing the rights of gay couples and people are making moves to restrict them and john reports on one state's fight that is pitting freedom of religion against the freedom of sexuality. >> reporter: in the push for same sex marriage at least one state is resisting and kansas may have a controversial law on the books and some consider

blatant discrimination and a new bill beyond the conservative state would give businesses the right to refuse service to gay couples. on wednesday the kansas state house approved the bill, 72-49. it's now headed to the state senate's judiciary committee. the legislation would protect people and businesses from government sanctions if based on their religious beliefs they turn away same sex couples and critics are attacking the bill as homophobia and he says it is hurtful and no place in society and precisely why we are moving the bill and said there have been times throughout history where people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs because they were unpopular. this bill provides a shield of protection for that. >> reporter: that was al

jazeera's john and kansas senate president says the bill is unlikely to pass in its current form. breaking news in the world of business, it's official, joseph bank is buying eddy bower for $825 million in cash and stock from private equity owner golden gate capitol and it comes over a take over battle between men's warehouse and joseph bank and we will find out how up beat people are over the economy over disappointing on retail sales and labor market and expect to see a small improvement in early february from january. wall street futures are flat at this hour and the dow starts above the key 16,000 level. s&p is 1829. nasdaq is 4240. in asia markets ending the day higher after inflation data out of china is steady by the nikki fell 1 1/2% and they are posting

slight gains. gm is recalling 780,000 cars in america and effects cobalt s and g 5 made between 2005 and 2007, a facility ignition switch can shut off the engines causing crashes and six deaths links to the problem and gm neither makes either car. the black market has been hacked. reports say silk road two's entire bit coin wallet worth $2.7 billion was stolen, silk road two was launched in october after the original site was shut down by the f.b.i. out of gifts for valentine's day, one police department is encouraging men to give guns to ladies in their lives and brandon found out why. >> she shows off her valentine's gift from her husband of 37 years. >> he travels a lot and wanted me to have one for protection.

>> reporter: the 9 millimeter and perhaps a different token of love but one endorsed by the police department which recently took to facebook to encourage the gift of safety in the form of a firearm. >> it has over 2000 likes and everything and most of them have been positive remarks. >> reporter: and nearby fire as ashl -- arms in texas and men are leaving with guns to give as gifts. >> and it's a good gift to get. >> reporter: pink and purple are for women customers looking for a new gun but you won't find them in the store with valentine's they are all sold out. thomas here with his girlfriend to fire from a gun they share and then surprised his girlfriend with a firearm of her own. >> no, that did not cross the mind and i don't know how happy she would be about that. >> reporter: he knows now

because we asked. >> a pink gun would be cool. i would be happy. that would be cool. >> reporter: tonya waxler certainly likes what she is leaving here with. >> we decided which one i was most comfortable with and purchased it. >> reporter: officers with the pd stress safety first adding a gun should not be in the hands of someone who has not fired on a gun range for. brandon with al jazeera katie, texas. >> reporter: more traditional valentine's gifts with flowers and they will spend $2 billion on flowers for a special someone and in detroit homes have sold as little as $1 and giving three homes to aspiring writers for free. these three houses in detroit may not be much to look at, they are old, abandoned structures,

eyesores to many in the diverse community. but when toby barlow and a few friends came across these properties they saw room for growth. >> there are plenty of people taking apart and tearing down homes but not a lot of people restoring homes so we thought it would be a great opportunity. >> reporter: two houses were sold at $1,000 apiece and acquired a third through a donation and the plan is to renovate and give the homes away to three aspiring writers for free and it's called write a house project >> this is a city that needs and deserves writtens if you are a poet or journalist or novel list there is a lot to write about and inspiration. >> reporter: more houses are being torn down in detroit than there are being built. once word got out about this project, the news spread fast, not just locally but worldwide. >> let's get this going.

>> reporter: shannon lowell has worked and lived here all of his life. >> and trying to put the soul back in the skeleton of a neighborhood. i think that is a good thing. >> reporter: as you can see there is still a lot of work to be done. it will cost between $25-$50,000 to renovate each house and once the work is complete, the selected writers can move in. the only cost to them will be to pay property taxes and insurance. barlow believes that it's a concept that could literally hit home. >> and our hope is that it inspires people to do something differ here, we are focused on writers but there is no reason why you couldn't use this model and bring teachers or say to a fire department or the police how would you like a house. >> reporter: after money is raised for the project a nonprofit that teaches the youth carpentry will begin work and they will welcome applications in the spring with hopes of

making a difference in detroit, one house at a time. i'm with al jazeera, detroit. >> reporter: detroit's population has lost more than 1 million residents since the 1950s. it's a place where you can create just about anything. the space that is giving innovators the tools they need to bring their ideas to life and the city where thousands of people may have been exposed to measles on the transit system. >> and the south and east clearing out from one big weather system and we have another one we are starting to watch and i will have the weekend forecast. >> have a look at this, taiwan a very festive end to the lunar new year celebration and how the spring festival is wrapping up, some pictures of fireworks in taiwan. ♪

welcome back to al jazeera and a place that makes dreams a reality and this is where the snow and rain may fall across the country and nicole mitchell is back. >> we have both of those things going on a the big weather system to hit the south and east coast is clearing off and we are monitoring behind that, one area of snow in the midwest and look at the very active pattern we had in the pacific northwest recently and i will start on this direction because this is some heavy rain right along the oregon and california border and the whole area is under dry conditions all the way north to south on the west coast so it's needed moisture. we had enough of this recently that it will start to den the ground a little and that is great but so much snow for the

higher elevations and start to see that again and rain for the lower elevations and a little warmer with the last round that it melted some of the recent snow that we have a lot more concerns in terms of some of the creeks and rivers flooding around the areas and the areas in green you see most are flood watches and higher elevations is just the driving is difficult with the new snow coming in. speaking of new snow coming in we have a little disturbance that moves across the northern tier and great lakes but this area is developing. what we see moving into iowa in the last frames and that is what will continue to move across the country hitting the east coast by the time we get to late tonight and tomorrow. already a number of watches just south of the great lakes have started to come up for the winter storm conditions. in the core of this it looks like 2-4" but as we just clear out one item in the northeast and you don't want to hear there is snow in the forecast tomorrow even if it's lesser amounts. >> make i end. the island of java in indoe k de

-- indonesia and it has been spewing ash and two killed when the home collapsed and the military called in to evacuate 100,000 people and airports at three airports have been can't sled because of the ash and it ur ruptured a few years ago and killed 30. in san francisco may have been exposes to a man with the measles and the student road on the bart transit system and believe he contracted the highly contagious disease traveling in aisa and riding the rails from february 4-7 could have been exposed and more than 400,000 people ride the bart each week and most people who are vaccinated are immune to the measles but the problem is with unvaccinated people or kids who may be vulnerable.

russell simons is known for culture and he is an advocate for ending the war on drugs and he spoke about it this week on talk to al jazeera. >> the war on drugs has done more to destroy the fabric of the black community than anything we can think of. not the effects of jim crow and the effects of slavery, it's the war on drugs have taken innocent, diseased people, locked them up, educate them in criminal behavior and dumped them back in the hood with no hope. >> reporter: and you can see some of that and the entire conversation with russell simmons this sunday at 7:00 p.m. eastern on talk to al jazeera. in seattle there is an unusual cafe where you can get expresso with high-tech manufacturing and gives customers the tools to make anything they can imagine. >> it's a place where anyone can walk in and make anything with

just about anything. from sewing and knitting machines to laser cutters and 3d printers. >> we have parts, supplies, snacks, free internet, coffee. >> reporter: metrics creates space is a place to meet, mingle and make. it strung out of matt's idea of what he calls the tool curve. >> at the bottom of the curve is hammers and nails and things everybody has. >> reporter: the curve goes up to the super modern high end presses, printers and cutters. >> these tools are things you would not find in your house and now we have some things that are not found in the university lab. >> reporter: like the proto laser that just came in. it can shave weeks off an electronic project by hunting circuit boards. >> metrics is open every day of the week noon to midnight and as with most workplaces there is a vending machine in the corner and not just for snacks but you can get cookies if you want them but do you need a circuit board or a tvro -- romote or any kit,

it's all here. and he designed incubators and microscopes during the day but at night he has a chance to get out and play. >> there is a lot of like minded geeks like me that come down here and spend time. >> reporter: they helped spur his idea for a make it yourself 3d printer and raised $120,000 on the online fundraising tool kick starter. >> and if a parent can assemble a kids bike can probably put it together with a child helping in about a weekend and start printing. >> reporter: once you have it assembled row can print the parts to make more 3d printers and it was the cool tools that got tam in the door here it's the creative people that keep him coming back. >> when you put these things together in a room in a place

like this, that is when the magic really happens. >> reporter: for matt the hardest part might be figuring out what the next big thing will be so he can build it or help others build it. >> reporter: that was allen reporting. the metric create space allows walk ins but price to use the equipment are less expensive if you become a member and they have uncovered an ancient mummy over 3,000 years old and dates back to 1600 bc and found in a wooden sarkoglifs and decorated with feathers and they will study it to learn more about the identity of the mummy. ralph waite has died and the father of the wall tens in the 70s and set in the great depression and acted in the cbs crime drama and cis as seen in the photo, his manager did not reveal the cause of his death

and ralph was 85. and walters joins us with a look at the stories we are following for the next hour and good morning. >> parts of the northeast dealing with 20" of snow from the same storm system that caused the massive power outages across the south. in britain entire communities along the tems are under water because of serious flooding and bracing for two more storms expected over the weekend in that region. a federal judge in virginia striking down the ban on same sex marriage. also ahead why things are boiling in the balkins and how extreme unemployment now leading to violence in bosnia. syria, egypt and iran and ukraine and the games and we will talk about how putin is making his mark on the world stage. >> reporter: and i'm metrologist nicole mitchell and as one storm moves out another on the way for parts of the east coast and i'll have the forecast. >> reporter: and al jazeera continues in two minutes with

dale walters and libby casey and i'm leaving you this hour with more of the end of the lunar celebrations taking place in taiwan. ♪ >> al jazeera america is a straight-forward news channel. >> its the most exciting thing to happen to american journalism in decades. >> we believe in digging deep. >> its unbiased, fact-based, in-depth journalism. >> you give them the facts, dispense with the fluff and get straight to the point. >> i'm on the ground every day finding stories that matter to you. >> in new orleans... >> seattle bureau... >> washington... >> detroit... >> chicago... >> nashville... >> los angeles... >> san francisco... >> al jazeera america, take a new look at news.

>> digging out from a second round of snow, some areas of the northeast dealing with up to 20 inches, that same storm system that knocked out power across the south. >> the philippines working to recover following the typhoon, the strides the country made and challenges that lie ahead 100 days after the storm. >> social and political unrest in bosnia not seen since the end of that civil war 20 years ago.

>> there are plenty of people taking apart homes but not storing homes. >> making homes a symbol for detroit's recovery. one group's plan to turn the motor city around. >> good morning, welcome to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. >> i'm libby casey. >> millions in the northeast are waking up to slashy winter mornings. snow hammered the area, some areas hit with 20 inches of snow yesterday. it didn't end after daylight. another round of rain and snow swooped in overnight. >> the southeast blamed for 21 deaths nationwide and thousands in georgia and carolina still in the dark after trees snapped

power lines, leading to massive power out. >>ages. >> we have our team of reporters tracking the storm's impact but begin in new york. jennifer, good morning. people are waking up to another rough commute today. >> indeed they are. good morning to you, libby, as the city wakes up and people start making their way to school or work, there is certainly on this valentine's day no love from mother nature. >> after getting hit hard by a winter storm thursday, a big part of the northeast got another blast of snow overnight. the nation's capitol was a ghost town but its airport busy on the runway, not with planes but snowplows. maryland which has nearly exhausted its winter budget for the year is dealing with

two feet of snow. >> we slide all over the road. as big as these trucks are we're sliding. i'm pretty sure no one has this type of truck at home. >> new jersey and connecticut have some with no power, meaning no heat. >> you get in the danger zone, you get up to half an inch or over, you should expect widespread outages. >> pennsylvania is always recovering from widespread power outages with heavy snow in philadelphia. that city has broken a 130 year record for the most six-inch plus storms in one season. >> snow remains a very dangerous storm that we are dealing with here in philadelphia. >> in new york, commuters slid through nearly a foot of snow thursday. some relief when the snow stopped in the city but then came the rain, turning many streets into a slippery mess. in brooklyn a pregnant woman died after struck by a snowplow in a grocery store parking lot,

her baby delivered alive by an emergency c-section. new york's governor declared a state of emergency for part of the state while knowledge is also under a state of emergency. as the storm snaked up the east coast, hundreds of schools were closed across the state of massachusetts, where the storm is still dumping heavy snow. some areas could see as much as two feet. >> stay home. don't come out, no, the roads are terrible. stay home. >> even though the storm is expected to taper off tonight, in fact, we haven't seen snow for a number of hours. the concern, libby is that enough snow will melt as the temperatures warm up, creating dangerous black ice and that will impact the evening commute. >> jennifer london, thank you so much right here in new york city. >> our coverage continue witness jonathan martin in greensburg, that ragen is still reeling 24 hours after that storm moved through. >> people here are certainly not

used to this kind of snow. 21 inches fell in north carolina here and in greens borough, a little left, 10 to 12 inches or so. the roads are worse than yesterday because all the snow that started to melt last night quickly refroze overnight. we are standing in a road here, not many people are coming by. a lot of people waiting for later this afternoon, because the temperatures are expected to go up about 45 degrees, finally they hope putting an end to the snowstorm that has been crippling and in many cases historic. >> the latest winter storm finished blowing through the south early thursday afternoon, but the impact still felt by millions across the region today. here in north carolina, plows were out enforce cleaning the remaining snow, while tow trucks began removing abandoned cars. that state's governor still warning residents to stay off the roads. >> mother nature is still right here with very dramatic weather

swings. we're still expecting hazardous road conditions. >> another big problem, massive power outages, forcing many across the south to manage in the dark and without heat. >> we're run ragged trying to get the lights back on. >> georgia governor saw first hand the havoc caused in augusta. tens of thousands in his state are still without power. from mississippi to virginia, it's about digging out. in greensburg, south carolina, the salt's almost gone, the concern, black ice. >> early in the morning, it's going to get rough. >> the roads have proved treacherous and deadly. in virginia, a man died working for the department of transportation, killed by a dump truck as he stood on the shoulder behind his snowplow. the big concern that in story, black ice everywhere on the roads, that's why schools are closed, businesses closed. in fact, we had trouble even

finding a place to eat yesterday, because pretty much every business here in greens borough is shut down here today. about 100,000 people still without power, but again, everyone waiting around 1:00, 2:00 today when temperatures are expected to finally go above freezing. >> jonathan, thank you very much this morning. >> we are at laguardia airport tracking the delays across the country. erika. >> good morning, libby. yeah, there are few airports across the country that were not affected by yesterday said storm. some 6,500 flights were canceled yesterday. now today, that number is down significantly. last we checked, it was just under 1400 flights. now here at laguardia airport in new york, there is movement happening. last i checked, there were about 10 canceled flights and a few delays but for the most part,

flights were getting off the ground. >> how have things been in the airport this morning so far? >> fine, except for this very long line. yeah. so, but i mean, it's usually moving along. you kind of take the understanding that they have a lot to deal with, so just sort of be patient and wait. >> considering we still have two whole weeks left in february and all of march to get through, travelers will likely have to hold on to that patience. here's an interesting fact. the snow and ice storms this winter have led to the most flight cancellations in 25 years. >> live in laguardia airport in new york, thanks so much. >> it's not over yet. let's check in with nicole mitchell to find out about where the storm is now and what's on tap. >> it's moving out, so that's going to give us a little bit of a break, but there's already another weather system behind this, so winter hasn't ended

yet. as we move across the country today, you can see the system behind it now into the central plains and we'll watch that. here's a system we've been monitoring. this has a long history through the south, as well. as we moved across the country, ashville, north carolina, the day before with the snow coming down was seven-inches, over seven-inches, a record. philadelphia, washington, d.c., farther to the south almost had a foot of snow. some parts of town actually did. as you got farther to the north, boston, three inches of snow. with the pattern, some of the coastal cities were seeing a little more rain mix in and then as you got interior, that really changed things. just to tell you how to put this in per perspective, parts of maryland were at over two feet. this will continue to move out through the day today, all right boston, for example, which has seen a little more snow right now will probably within the next couple hours get out of

this and parts of maine mid-day, probably what we're looking at. in the meantime, winds gusting in the 20-30-mile per hour range, that is still really blowing the snow we had out there. as this system exits, the one i pointed out in the midwest right now already by tonight could bring new snow to the coastline. we'll have more on that coming up. back to you. >> nicole mitchell, thank you. >> stay with aljazeera america for continuing coverage of the storm and its aftermath. >> the u.n.'s chief made 80 other saying a political impasse is hampering a deal for syria. they will be meeting again in geneva today, failure staring them in the face. top diplomats are promising to keep those talks alive and russia's foreign minister was critical. >> those backing the opposition

wanted to make regime change. everything they want to talking is the creation of a transitioning governing body. >> in the three weeks since talks began, 500 people have been killed in syria. >> at least a dozen bodies were found in a grave in a muslim rebel camp, violence now at the level of ethnic cleansing. it's unclear who committed the killings but christian militia's are increasing retaliatory attacks. nearly one quarter of the country has fled their homes. >> secretary of state john kerry asking china for help in dealing with north korea. he wants beijing to bring the north to the table to talk about nuclear disarmament. he's asking the chinese president to roll back on what

is called aggressive steps in territorial disputes with smaller anybody's. south korea has agreed to proceed with reunions for families separated by the korean war. the meetings were threatened to be haled because of the south's hill military exercises with the u.s. >> it's been 100 days since the typhoon in the pill teens. three months later, millions of people are still displaced. aljazeera returned to tacloban to see how people are recovering and rebuilding their lives. >> the streets are bustling again, but life is anything but back to normal. electricity and running water have been restored to most place, but after the typhoon, much of the devastation remains. dead bodies are still being found in the debris and survivors remain haunted by the

memories. 66-year-old fisherman lost his home and five members of his family. >> i thought humanity would be wiped up. every was water, defense dark and wind and waves howling. i left it in god's hands. >> what's left of his family have been surviving on donations. like others in this community, he also lost his boat in the storm, his only means to earn a living. >> to prevent a similar kilowatts free, the local government has banned anyone from living 40-meters from the shoreline. many people here have nowhere else to go and rebuilt their shelters exactly where they used to be, just meters from the water's edge. >> the local government has built temporary bunk house to say accommodate the displaced, but there aren't enough for

those in need. housing is just one of many challenges facing these communities. >> the infrastructure was ruined, people trying to get back into their livelihoods, especially the vulnerable and poorer people in society, it's difficult for them to get them on the first rung of that ladder. >> more than 650 million u.s. dollars in aid have come in, but solutions for long term rehabilitation aren't implemented fast enough for many. >> they keep calling me things, but no help has come. what about our livelihood. what do we do when the relief runs out. >> these children aren't as worried about the future. they take each day as it comes and unafraid can still build their sand castles on the shore. aljazeera, tacloban. >> the fill teens president said rebuilding will cost more than

$8 billion. sunday marks the 100th day since that disaster. >> yet another victory for same sex couples, virginia saying it view lathes equal protection statutes in the law. this is the second state making a decision on the legality. kentucky said gay marriages must recognize marriages performed in other states. 17 states now allow same-sex marriage. >> two republican senators are looking to protect the states that don't recognize same-sex marriage. texas senator ted cruz and mike lee of utah are introducing a bill called state marriage defense act, similar total defense of marriage act which the supreme court overturned last year. political analysts say the bill has little chance of making it to the democratic controlled senate floor. >> senator chuck schumer trying to revive immigration reform

with with a discharge petition, allowing the immigration bill to by pass the house committee process. the measure would go directly to the floor for a vote, side stepping the republican majority in the house. the process has been successful once, passing campaign finance reform in 2002. even if all the house democrats support the plan, he needs a dozen republicans, as well. >> one in five people didn't have insurance last month because they didn't pay their premiums on time. 2.1 million people were set to start coverage and given up to a month to pay up. it's the last step to completing enrollment. obama officials don't know exactly how many people missed the payments, because the website to process premiums isn't finished yet. >> the dallas morning news saying wendy davis, they are spending big on president

obama's 2012 reelection team, $1.5 million is how much she spent. >> that shows she is serious something the governorship and democrats serious for seeing in roads there. >> did the same thing in virginia. >> they are looking at 2016 in texas and verge. >> aren't we in 2014 right now? >> the way politics works, you're always looking forward. >> president jacob zuma gave his state of the nation address thursday, but the cape times say his speech lacked substance. the president told parliament to wait until after upcoming elections for concrete plans. those elections aren't until may. >> one of the leaders in south africa gave a zero on a scale of one to 10 on the process uma has made. it's tough to be the one with nelson mandela's shadow. >> with the presidential election looming, he only opens

himself to more criticism trying to make concrete plans. >> u.s.a. today says the president will have meetings today, but with the snow in washington, d.c., they could be playing golf. >> researchers making a break through in the hunt for new energy sources. how this development could result in new power supplies with very little waste. >> $2.2 billion, that is our big number of the day. it is a huge investment in alternative energy. first of its kind and also could be the last. ♪

what is this place? where are we? this is where we bring together the fastest internet and the best in entertainment. we call it the x1 entertainment operating system. it looks like the future! we must have encountered a temporal vortex. further analytics are necessary. beam us up. ♪ that's my phone. hey. [ female announcer ] the x1 entertainment operating system, only from xfinity. tv and internet together like never before. >> now to today's big number,

$2.2 billion. that is the cost of that giant solar project opening in the california desert. there is a problem, the heat, the intense heat killing birds near the plant. >> officials found dozens of dead birds during testing in december. they include falcons, night hawks and sparrows. the panels reach temperature of 1,000 degrees fahrenheit and regulators say this is the first and likely last time they'll approve such a project. >> welcome back to aljazeera america. others are making major strides producing what many believe to be the ultimate source of clean energy. >> first, the temperatures across the nation. nicole mitchell is here with more. >> nothing close to 1,000 degrees. as we get out, we have temperatures still below zero through a lot of the south. we warmed up a little during the day. that melted and then we had some areas of refreezing overnight especially bridges and

overpasses, that always tends to happen more quickly so watch for slick spots with temperatures like 30 degrees right now in birmingham. up the coastline, temperatures around freezing made interior places below freezing snow and coastline got more rain. the snow totals have been all over the place from this last system. temperatures milder today, atlanta 55 will get more of that ice melted off. >> back to that thousand degree problem. while some researchers in california are having problems, other states making break through is developing into sources of energy. their work could lead to an endless supply of energy without waste. >> scientists say it's a major step toward the holy grail of clean energy, nuclear fusion. in a laboratory experiment reported in the journal nature, science activities at

california's lawrence live moor lab produced more energy out of fusion than was contained in the fuel used to create the reaction. unlike nuclear physician, used in atomic weapons and nuclear power plants, fusion produces energy forcing atomic particles together. fusion is the power that fuels the sun and stars. it does not create any explosion, leaves behind no radioactive waste and produces no greenhouse gases linked to global warming. fusion's few he will source is hydrogen, the most plentiful element in the universe. the experiment deploys 192 powerful lasers that focus enormous amounts of energy in billion of a second long pulses. scientists did not reach the break through point called ignition, a sustained fusion reaction that produces more energy than used in the entire

pros. researchers say they have a long way to go before they reach that goal. rob reynolds, aljazeera los angeles. >> it could be used to make new weapon systems. >> joseph a. bank is buying eddie bauer for $825 million from cash and stocks. news of a deal comes amid a takeover battle. shares are down more than 1% before the market opens. >> we'll find out how upbeat consumers feel about the economy after disappointing data on retail sales and the labor market. economists expect a small improvement innocentment in early february from january. >> wall street set to open higher, dow futures up.

in asia, market ending higher after inflation data out of china remained steady. european markets are posting gains after encouraging data on economic growth. >> general motors recalling 780,000 cars in north america. they will recall the cobalts and pontiac g5's made between 2005 and 2007. a faulty ignition switch can shut off the engine causing crashes. there have been six deaths linked to the problem. g.m. no longer makes either car. >> cluster headaches can be more severe than migraines. nicknamed suicide headaches, they come with intense attacks and have been known to drive people to extreme measures. those who experience them say the government should do more to help. >> describing the pain of a cluster headache is one thing, showing it is quite another as

many patients have done recording their own experience. >> i'm about an hour into my attack and it's getting worse. >> the waves of pain spread from the major facial nerve but seem to be activated by the brain's area that regulates the sleep and wake cycles. >> these parts of the brain are acting in concert to create these short but incredibly intensive severe storms of pain for cluster headache patients. >> they can last one to three hours at a time coming in daily attacks or in cycles lasting months. >> after four months of this, your suicide looks like a pretty good option. it's not that you want to kill yourself, you want to get rid of the pain. >> it's a disorder that can make normal daily activity nearly impossible. >> i just keep myself isolated because i can't be around people. i need to be in my dark room in

bed or just in a dark room period, because that's the only place i can feel ok, and basically it's waiting out the pain. >> once a year, sufferers come to washington, d.c. to appeal for help, which has been lacking. >> breathing pure oxygen has been shown to shorten the attacks, but the government's medical insurance plans won't cover it and the newly institute the of health have sponsored only one small research study. >> substances can treat cluster headache... >> when l.s.d. was first discovered, he was looking for migraine and cluster treatments. that was in the mix at that point and then got shelved for 40 years. >> as restricted substances like marv become a mainstream treatment for some illnesses, those suffering cluster headaches want the law to give

the same kind of special attention to their pain. >> cluster headaches affect approximately one in every 1,000 people. >> it's incredible the pain that they go through. >> the pictures are so vivid there, that's why they're trying to get congress to pay attention. >> vladimir putin throwing his weight behind egypt's military ruler for president. what that could mean. >> years after the bosnian war, citizens take to the streets in anger over the countries economic system. >> our hope is that it inspires people to do something different here. >> we'll tell you about the plan one group has to rebuild detroit, especially abandoned neighborhoods as opposed to tearing them down. >> america is climbing in the medal rankings. we'll look back as a productive thursday for team u.s.a. in sochi.

al jazeera america. we understand that every news story begins and ends with people. >> the efforts are focused on rescuing stranded residents. >> we pursue that story beyond the headline, pass the spokesperson, to the streets. >> thousands of riot police deployed across the capital. >> we put all of our global resources behind every story. >> it is a scene of utter devastation. >> and follow it no matter where it leads - all the way to you. al jazeera america, take a new look at news. there's more to finical news than the ups and downs of the dow. for instance, could striking workers in greece delay your retirement? i'm here to make the connections to your money real.

>> good morning. anti-government protests spreading across bosnia bringing to light social problems not seen in 20 years. >> one group is helping turn detroit's staggering problems of abandoning homes around and they're looking to artists to help. >> the israeli government is slamming european union officials comments, sharply critical of expanding israeli settlements. a european parliament member saying israelis receive four finals more water than palestinians. those comments are prompting protest. >> on the outskirts of jerusalem, thousands of israelis declare this land is theirs. this is the israeli right wing, they are settlers demanding

their government build on territory that would be the heart of a future palestinian state. he is pressuring leadership to expand settlements on palestinian land. >> these people would clearly say all of the land of israeli belongs to the people of israel. >> 3,000-acres, critics say it's so large -- >> it is simply not willing to provide -- >> so far, israeli's only built this highway and police station. the u.s. has strongly pressured the government not to build more, but today, the housing minister said he won't listen to the u.s. >> we will remain here and we will build here, he says, as part of greater jerusalem.

>> this isn't only about land. it's also about politics and sending a message to the united states. these people feel that in the current peace negotiations, the u.s. has abandoned them. >> at home, before the rally, he takes out his bible. >> this land that you see, i will give it to you and to your children and those children after you forever. >> he feels god gave israelis this land. he moved here from new york as a teenager, shows me his house that according to international law israel has taken illegally. he argues that the u.s. is trying to force israel to give up land in peace talks. he said a u.s. document outlining steps to peace will be refused. >> the government includes a majority of right wing parliament members who are unwilling to just say here's a

piece of paper, let's give up our lives and aspirations for a piece of paper. it's not going to happen. >> today's demonstration was one of the largest right wing rallies in years. they hope the more they protest, the less likely the government will give up land for make peace. aljazeera, occupied west bank. >> current talks are based on a two state solution, calling on the palestinian state to be established alongside israeli. >> the u.n.'s chief mediator says a political impasse is hurting a chance of a deal with syria. they will meet again in geneva today. he said failure is staring them in the face. top russian and u.s. dip mow mats promise to help keep talks alive. russian's foreign minister was critical of those favoring a syrian opposition. >> >> we have an impression that

those backing the opposition wanted to make the entire communique a subject of the talks for regime change. everything they want to talk about is the creation of a transitional govern body. >> the human observe atory for human rights said nearly 5,000 people have been killed in syria since talks began. >> vladimir putin met with germaegyptian army leader, sisi. an expert on european security at the and corporation joins us from washington, d.c. to talk about russias image and role on the international stage p.m. thanks for joining us. i want to read to you something mr. putin said. he said i know that you, defense minister have decided to run for president of egypt that i wish

you luck personally and from the are you sure people. who is this geared towards? >> egypt and the rest of the world. putin is making clear that he intends to play a role in the middle east, and is backing sisi for president. >> how does the u.s. take what he says? is there an international audience intended, as well? >> to some extent an international audience, but i don't think the united states will be particularly bothered by the fact or surprised, i should say by the fact that russia now is backing egypt. they've had a long relationship with egypt stretching back to the 1950's, and egypt needs economic assistance and military assistance, and russia is trying to get back into the middle

eastern game, so it's not much of a surprise. >> we've got some finger pointing, russia criticizing the u.s. for what it calls delivering in international affairs and the audio tape of the u.s. diplomat knocking the european union with a four letter word, what is putin trying to position himself as? where is he putting hips right now? >> right now, i think his most important concern is the olympics, and therefore i don't think, wouldn't expect a dramatic move by russia in terms of ukraine until after the olympics are over, because this would have a rather poor impact on russia's image, but once it's over, i think he's likely to play much more assertive and active role in trying to woo

ukraine back towards russia. >> so we have a late gallup poll that just came out. i want to go over these numbers for you. 63% of americans find putin unfavorable. 60% down on russia. >> russia is not supposed to be an ally, it's a partner or supposed to abpartner, but that has never meant that there wouldn't be differences between russia and the united states, and this is just one more example of the fact that the partnership is very limited in its scope. >> give us a sense of how syria factors in to the relationships here. the security council is debate ago measure on aid for that country, differs from one sponsored by russia. do you think putin would risk looking like he's not supporting

humanitarian aid especially trying to burn issue his image with the olympics? >> i think he would, because not too many people are paying attention to syria. he's played his what i would say is a weak hand or rather skillfully, and he's obviously as with egypt, wants to get russia back into the middle eastern game as a regional, sees russia as a regional power. >> i want to hear more from you about how significant that president in the in the middle east is, how much russia needs a foot hold there, influence in order to be able to feel it's a world power. >> psychologically, it is important. i wouldn't over-dramatize the role russia's playing, but the fact that it's been active in syria and now more so in egypt, again is a reflection of the

fact that putin wants to see russia back on the international stage and considers it russia to be an important regional power. >> thanks so much. steven laraby from the and corporation joining us this morning from d.c. >> several al-qaeda inmates are free after away attack on a yemen prison, officers and gunman killed. a car bomb exploded at the prison gate, no one claimed responsibility for the attack. yemen is dealing with a threat from one of al-qaeda's most active wings. >> pakistan is honoring its police officers killed in an apparent suicide bombing attack, 11 officers died when their bus was targeted leaving a training police center thursday. the attack in the city is one of the bloodiest in recent months.

no one's claimed responsibility for the killings. >> officials from the european union expect it to arrive in sarajevo next week to solve problems in bosnia, rocked by a week of protest at a level not seen in decades. laid off workers and angry youth took to the streets and rioted, following the collapse of four privately owned companies. officials were forced to deal with the riots and some said time to take the issue seriously. >> what happened there is a wake up call to the european union and international community. we need to focus more effort on helping bosnia towards the european union towards nato membership. >> we are joined now by tanya, part of the negotiating team that put together the peace

accords decades ago. the country remains deeply difficulted. what do you say to people who say here we go again? >> i worked on the implementation of the accords, i didn't negotiate them. this isn't about what happened during the war. this is about economic injustice, a huge economic gap between the political elites and the people. we're talking nearly 40% unemployment among the general population, among the youth over 60% unemployment. we're talking about politicians that have the liest salaries in the region. >> you maintain this is an economic problem and that the european union and the west needs to look at what's going on there now, because it could get worse? >> it is an economic problem, also a political structure problem, because the accords negotiated at dayton stopped a terrible war, but it was not a document that basically set forward a likely democratic

outcome. >> i want to show our audience exactly what you mean by this being a come about hersome political state. one state, five presidents, the federation has been called cantons, or regions, 127 registered political parties. in washington two can't get along, is that the biggest part of the problem use that? >> it certainly is a structural problem, there's no question about it. it's a burdensome system, set up at dayton to stop a war. it does not yield to proper democratic governance, so what the problem is with that system is that the high representatives in e.u. charged with implementing those accords and keeping the political elites accountable. they've failed to do so for over a decade, and that's part of the

problem, because they supported these politicians that have not carried out their duties. >> are we also not looking at a case of the well running dry? when europe was doing well, the economy in both europe and the united states and russia were doing well, they say there was a trickle down effect, but in the case of that area, the balkans, the money is tight, no aid to give out anymore. >> a couple things about the economic situation. one is 20% of the g.d.p. come from remittances from people from abroad. people left that country and migrated to over 80 countries around the world. that is what keeps that economy afloat, the problem is that the e.u. and including the united states really has not forced the political class to carry out its

responsibilities, and part that have is corruption. when we look at the privatization issue -- >> corruption has been rampant for decades. >> corruption is part of the problem. when you look at the privatization process and the corruption of that process, that's ultimately what kicked off the initial riots in tusla, considered the most multi-ethnic, harmonious part of the country, that is indeed a wake up call. >> 45% unemployment, 62% for youth. what do you do to fix that? >> first of all, you listen to them, and they are now holding citizen plenums around the

country. >> do you think, what about e.u. membership? is that a solution? >> it is, because that is part of its process to join the e.u. they have to adopt certain reforms including a decision by the court of human rights that said bosnia has discriminated against people who are not croat cannot run for office at the highest levels. >> thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you very much for having me. >> 18 members of congress have signed a letter to president obama asking him to drop marijuana from a list of illegal drugs the federal government claims have no medical value. the letter was written by oregon congressman and signed by 16 other house democrats, along with california republican

daniel orbacker. they want him to take it off the schedule one list. removing from schedule one would make the plant available to researchers and allow those to sell it in states where it's legal to claim federal tax deductions. >> rhode island is making moves to be the third state to legalize recreational marijuana, treating we'd similar to alcohol. adults would be able to grow their own marijuana plants. colorado and washington state realized recreational use of pot and 20 our states allow it for medicinal purposes. >> turning to sports, the american striking it big in slopestyle events in the winter games, but a rough day for two top men in figure skating. we turn to john henry smith with a look at all the action from sochi. >> at the'm u.s.a., they got greedy for medals in men's

skiing. the results were impressive. >> make it a triple crown for u.s., leading the slopestyle skiers on a medal roll. ten full spins within 15 seconds while he skiid over the ramp backwards. he took gold. teammate grabbed a silver, a third bronze. christensen got the hero treatment. >> now that we're the first slopestyle medalists is even bigger and that we swept, can't believe it. it's perfect. >> i think today was one of the most in sane competitions that we've ever had. >> more awesomeness from the u.s. men's hockey team. in a smashinging debut, they won 7-1, scoring six goals in the second period in less than 14 minutes, setting up a showdown with russia saturday. >> we're going to play a russian team at home, their home country cheering them on.

the skill level on that team is probably the highest in this tournament, so we're going to have to work our butts off, do the little things and play our blue collar hockey in order oh to win that game. >> it was a sad last hurrah for one of the titans of figure skating, limping off the ice for the final time after falling during warmups thursday. he had injured himself in practice wednesday. he was the first figure skater in the modern era to win medals in four different olympics. american skater jeremy abbot was able to go on after a bad fall, smashing into the rink wall attempting a quadruple toe loop. he lay on the ice for sometime, but got up and completed his program. >> here's your medal count, norway leading with 13. the nexter land and u.s. tied with 12, russia has 11, germany 10 total medals, seven gold.

that's tops in sochi so far. right now, sweden and switzerland underway in men's ice hockey, later today, qualifications for women's aerials in freestyle skiing. >> i can't get over people skiing backwards and then doing tricks. >> hard enough time i ever going forwards. >> the women are just as amazing at this skiing. it's incredible. >> thank you very much. >> detroit has come up with an artful solution to deal with the surplus of abandoned homes. why a pen and your imagination may be the key to say unlock the doors to a new home. >> lawmakers in one state taking a new approach discouraging people from drinking sugary beverages. why the next soda may come with a warning label.

>> you are looking live right now at hartford connecticut among other things, the home of libby casey's father, a snowy commute there. detroit trying to turn art into a promising future. >> where the snow and rain are falling today, so many struggling with their commute. >> we've had the big system moving through the south and up the east coast causing problems in places in the south, the weather long gone. the east, pores of new england, but still problems behind that. the next two systems, one in the midwest in the later frame in the parts of iowa with snow this morning and then the northwest, it's like the spigot has been turned on recently. we've had system after system, the moisture needed, but so much rain and snow recently that it's actually and with some warmer air, all of this especially in

our coastal rivers and streams, there's been a little flooding concern. you can see a lot of those areas on green, otherwise pinks and purposes, we've had storm concerns. the next one coming will make its way to the east coast already tonight. back to you guys. >> nicole, thank you very much. california thinking about putting warning labels on soda an sugary drinks with 1475-calories per 12-ounces. the proposed label would read like this, state of california safety warning, drinking beverages with added sugar leads to diabetes and tooth decay. beverage companies say it singles out one type of product, opposing the idea. >> homes in detroit have sold for a dollar, and one non-profit is giving away three homes to

aspiring writers for free. >> these three houses in detroit may not be much to look at, they are old, abandoned structures, eyesore to say many in this diverse community, but when toby barlow and friends came across these properties, they saw room for growth. >> there are plenty of people take ago part homes and tearing down homes but not a lot of people restoring homes. >> two of the houses were sold to them at $1,000 apiece. they acquired a third through a donation. the plan is to renovate and then give the homes away to three aspiring writers for free. it's called the write a house project. >> this is a city that i think needs and deserves writers, whether you're a poet, writing essays, whether you're a journalist, a novelist, there's a lot of inspiration here. >> more houses are being torn down in detroit than there are

being built. once word got out about this project, the news spread fast, not just locally, but worldwide. shannon has worked and lived here all of his life. >> it is trying to put the soul back into the skeleton of a neighborhood. i think that's a good thing. >> as you can see, there's still a lot of work to be done. it will cost between 25 and $50,000 to renovate each house. once the work is complete, the selected writers can move in. the only cost to them will be to pay property taxes and insurance. >> barlow believes its a concept that could literally hit home. >> our hope is that it inspires people to do something different here. i mean, we're focused on writers, but there's no reason you couldn't take this model and bring teachers, tell the fire department or police, how would

you like to have a house. >> after the money is raided, i don't got carpentry will begin work. applications will be welcomed in the spring with hopes of making a difference in detroit one house at a time. aljazeera, detroit. >> detroit's population lost more than 1 million residents since the 1950's. >> at the end of our second hour, del has a look at what we're following this morning. >> libby, parts of the northeast still dealing with up to 20 inches of snow, that same system that caused widespread power outages across the south. in britain, communities near the thames under water, bracing for two more storms expected to dump more rain this weekend. >> a federal judge in virginia striking down that state's ban on same-sex marriage. >> we'll talk about comcast, $45 billion deal to buy time warner cable met with mixed reviews. the change subscribers could

face with that and the hurdles that remain if the deal has to go through. >> the aljazeera morning news continues. del is back with you in just two minutes. real reporting that brings you the world. >> this is a pretty dangerous trip. >> security in beirut is tight. >> more reporters. >> they don't have the resources to take the fight to al shabaab. >> more bureaus, more stories. >> this is where the typhoon came ashore. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. >> al jazeera, nairobi. >> on the turkey-syria border. >> venezuela. >> beijing. >> kabul. >> hong kong. >> ukraine. >> the artic. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america.

>> buried in snow with another round on the way, the impact the storm is having on millions up and down the east coast. >> going to be another rough day for travel, airports cancel thousands of flights. >> virginia, same-sex marriage, what a judge had to say on the ban on couples tying the knot. >> hacking the websites here. simple as that. >> it's a class that teaches

people how to be better hackers. we'll tell you why they say this is really a good thing. good morning, it is the last thing people on the east coast want to hear, more snow is on the way today and tomorrow. more than 100 million people continue to dig out from this latest storm. it dumped two feet of snow in some place. the wet, heavy snow and ice leaving hundreds of thousands of people in the dark. power crews now working around the clock just to get everyone's power restored. >> airports around the country brought to a grinding halt, thousands of flights either canceled or delayed. we have the story covered from all angles, including the airports where more delays are expected today. the southeast where the big problem is getting your lights

back on and northeast where people are navigating piles of snow to get around. that's where we'll begin, in new york. i'm hearing that more snow is in the forecast. >> good morning, del. well, there may be more snow in the forecast for tomorrow, but i can tell you right now, new yorkers are wake to go a very welcome sight, sun and blue sky. it did snow more overnight but stopped many hours ago. i can tell you it is giving a much-needed reprieve to an area that has already seen three major storms so far this year. >> after getting hit hard by a winter storm all day thursday, a big part of the northeast got another blast of snow overnight. the nation's capitol was a ghost town, but it's airport busy on the runway, not with planes, with you about snowplows. neighboring maryland, which has nearly exhausted its winter budget for the year is doing with close to two feet of snow. >> we slide all over the road.

as big as these trucks are, we're sliding. i'm sure no one has this kind of truck at home. >> many have no power, which for some means no heat. >> you get over a third of an inch, you're in the danger zone. half inch or over, you should expect widespread outages. >> pennsylvania is also recovering from widespread power outages with heavy snow in philadelphia. that city has broken a 130 year record for the most six-inch plus storms in one season. >> snow remains a very dangries storm that we are dealing with here in philadelphia. >> in new york, commuters slid through nearly a foot of snow thursday, some relief when the snow stopped in the city, but then came the rain, turning many streets into a slippery mess. in brooklyn, a pregnant woman was struck by a snowplow in a grocery store parking lot, she died, her baby delivered alive

by an emergency c-section. >> a state emergency for new york, while new jersey is also under a state of emergency. as the storm snakes up the east coast, hundreds of schools were closed across the state of massachusetts, where the storm is still dumping heavy snow. some areas could see as much as two feet. >> stay home. don't come out, the roads are terrible. stay home. >> what new yorkers are now facing as the weather clears at least temporarily is all the snow is starting to melt just as fast. if we pan the camera around here, you can see a lot of the snow here, a lot that fell overnight is already starting to melt, and turning into this big, slushy mess. the concern as we get into the day is if the temperatures do drop and they will, of course, as the day goes on, all of this snow that has melted could turn

to black ice and threaten the evening commute. >> live in new york, thank you very much. we go to the south now where they are still reeling from those back-to-back storms. jonathan martin is in greens borough, north carolina. how are they handling things? >> they're not used to this at all. we were hearing yesterday this is the biggest snowstorm or snow totals in about 15 years for people here in this region, so certainly something they're not used to. the snow is starting to peek out, the temperatures expected to rise to 45 degrees, hopefully melting away the snow. it will likely take a couple of days. about 10-20-inches fell here. what started to melt last night quickly refroze. we're in the middle of a road, not many people taking chance along it, because the are the conditions now are still very, very dangerous. >> the latest winter storm

finished blowing through by early thursday afternoon, but the impact still felt by millions today. in north carolina, plows were cleaning the remaining snow while tow trucks began removing abandoned cars. residents are warned to stay off the roads. >> mother nature is still right here with very dramatic weather swings. we're still expecting hazardous road conditions. >> another big problem, massive power outages forcing many to manage in the dark and without heat. >> run wrath trying to get the lights back on. >> georgia governor saw first hand the havoc caused by the storm in augusta. tens of thousands in his state are still without power. from mississippi to virginia, it's about digging out. in greenville, south carolina, the salt is almost gone, the concern there, black ice. >> it's going to get bad.

early in the morning, it's going to get rough. >> it's the roads that have proven treacherous, even deadly. in virginia aba snowfall led to the death of a man working for the department of transportation, killed by a dump truck as he pulled over and stood on the shoulder behind his snowplow. as far as power outages here, we understand right now just about 100,000 people still without power. hopefully those numbers will quickly go down. this area here is pretty much now, we were out last night trying to find a place to get something to eat. we went by 20 restaurants and tried to find one open. schools are closed today and near the four seasons mal, the big mal, nobody's out today. it looks like a lot of people staying home, because it will take a while before conditions can get good enough for people to travel on the roads. >> jonathan, thank you very much. the last thing anybody wants to here, more snow on the way. nicole mitchell has been

strangling the groundhog after groundhog day and says she is going to do it again. >> thank you for at least blaming the groundhog instead of me for all of this. we already have another system we're watching, at least with less snow. as one system clears, we have another in the midwest that will come this way and a lot of rain into the northwest. let's get to those snow totals. some were higher farther to the south. washington, d.c. almost a foot, that was a record. a few localized spots did see over a foot. ashville north carolina, seven inches. new york, 10 inches, boston three. that's areas where rain mixed in with temperatures going just above freezing rain. i want to mention washington, d.c., almost a foot, all of last year, we only got about three-inches. this and almost a foot is what we see in an entire season.

definitely this has been a season we will remember, but the new york total doesn't even put us close to a historic snow. it just depends where you are as to how bad you thought this was. this is clearing out and already parts of new england later today we'll see this into the afternoon, northern parts seeing clearing. behind it we have wind gusts making it feel cooler and any snow might be blowing around. as that system clears, in the midwest, it is start to go head this direction. tomorrow, more snow, less snow, maybe two to four inches, but still, we're getting a little weary of shoveling it. >> as you might expect, all of this bad weather taking a toll an air travel across the country. we are tracking the delays and a lot of cancellations at laguardia. >> there were few airports across the east coast that were not affected by this storm.

in fact, yesterday, some 6,500 flights were canceled. now today, that number is down significantly to around 1500 flight cancellations this morning. here at laguardia airport, though, things are looking up. last i checked, there were just a few cancellations and delays, but for the most part, flights are getting off the ground here in new york. that's good news for travelers. i spoke to a couple this morning, including a pilot. >> so is your flight taking off on time today, captain? >> it is, so far. >> where are you going? >> to northwest arkansas. so far it's on time. shouldn't have problems today. the weather obviously today is better than yesterday. i don't anticipate problems. >> how often things been in the airport so far? >> fine except for this very long line. yeah. it's usually moving allege. you take the understanding that they have a lot to deal with, so sort of just be patient and

wait. >> here's an interesting fact, the snow and ice storms this winter led to the most flight cancellations in twenties five years. we still have two weeks left in february and all of march so get through. del. >> erika live at laguardia. if you have a flight, phone ahead and stay with aljazeera america. we will have continuing coverage of the storm throughout the day and over the weekend. >> the white house backing off its request that afghanistan's current president hamid karzai sign that security deal determining how many troops will stay in the country. the country might be ready to wait and see about his successor. karzai ruffled more feathers in washington thursday, ignoring protests from the u.s., releasing 65 detainees held as a

prison near kabul. >> the u.n.'s chief negotiator saying an impasse is hurting chances of a syria deal. meeting with the syrian opposition and government coalitions says failure is now staring them in the face. top russian and u.s. diplomats promise to keep talks alive. aljazeera's diplomatic editor james bays in geneva. that is a grim assessment. what happened today? >> we have even more grim news, i think and those are comments from the russian minister. remember, the u.s. and the russia are supposed to be the co sponsors of this process. now, russia is hitting out at the west and u.s. for trying to derail this process. that has really serious implications for this deal, because the u.s. and russia are the once who came up with the idea for these peace talks but also for that deal on chemical weapons. u.s. and russia there are also

the two nations behind this. the u.s. is already saying it doesn't believe the syrian government is doing enough and is stalling. remember, these two deals, the deal for the peace talks and also the chemical weapons deal are the reason that washington backed off launching a military attack on damascus last summer. we are at a very important moment now and secretary of state john kerry has said that now president obama has asked him and his team to come up with new policy options. >> james, i guess the situation that really calls the most attention is that while they talk, people are dying. the syrian observe atory for human rights saying, nearly 5,000 people have been killed since talks began. is there a sense of urgency that they have to do something and something quick? >> there's a sense of urgency among some of the parties, but if you listen to the opposition they believe the syrian

government is quite deliberately stalling and while stalling, dropping barrel bombs, launchinging new offensive at a key strategic town near homs, they believe the government is stalling to intensify fighting on the ground. now we have a dispute between the u.s. and russia who were supposed to be the two countries trying to get this going. we have big problems. >> james bays joining us live from geneva, thank you very much. >> there has been a rare agreement, north and south korea saying yes to reunions of families in the north and south. the two have been holding high level talks this week, today's announcement making no mention of the military drills the north was opposed to. both sides agreed to stop exchanging verbal insults and continue to talk. >> it is almost been now 100

days since the typhoon struck the philippines, more than 600,000 people killed, 3 million homes damaged. three months later mails of people still displaced. we return to tacloban, the largest city directly hit by that typhoon. >> the streets of tacloban are bustling again, but life is anything but back to normal. electricity and running water have been restored to most places, but three months after the typhoon swept across the fill teens, much of the devastation remains. dead bodies are still found in the debris and survivors remain haunted by the memories. 66-year-old fisherman lost his home and five members of his family. >> i thought humanity would be wiped out. everywhere i looked, there was water. i looked up and it was dark and the wind and waves were howling. i had no hope that i could still

be alive after that. i left it in god's hands. >> he and what's left of his family have been surviving on donations, like others in this community, he lost his boat in the storm, his only means to earn a living. >> to prevent a similar catastrophe in the future, the local government has banned anyone from living forth meters from the shoreline, but many people in village here say they have nowhere else to go and have rebuilt their shelters exactly where they used to be, just meters from the water's edge. >> the local government has built temporary bunk house to say accommodate the displaced, but there aren't enough for those in need. housing is just one of many challenges facing these communities. >> the infrastructure needs help, the poor people in society, it's difficult for them to get them on the first rung of

the ladder. >> more than 650 million u.s. dollars in aid have come in, but solutions for long term rehabilitation aren't implemented fast enough for many. >> they keep calling meetings, but no help has come. what about our livelihood? what do we do when the relief runs out? >> these children aren't as worried about the future. they take each day as it comes and unafraid can still build their sand castles on the shore. aljazeera, tacloban. >> the president of the philippines saying rebuilding will cost more than $8 billion. sunday marks day 100. >> epic flooding in the united kingdom, people bracing for more. what some homeowners face besides rising waters. >> we're going to get second class service at very high price witness no options to choose. >> concerns over that megamerger

between comcast and time warner. some fear the customers will be left paying on this one for a long time.

>> straight ahead, gay rights advocate celebrating a big win in one state. first all the temperatures across the nation and whether or not everything that melted is going to refreeze. >> we've had some of that overnight, be careful in places like the south. temperatures are starting to get above freezing, atlanta 34, birmingham 30. watch for slick spots. up the coastline, temperatures right at that freezing mark and again tonight could be doing the same. watch for a couple days of those freezing temperatures and possible refreezing. now we'll be able to melt a significant amount of this into the south today. temperatures yesterday made it more into the 40's, but today into the 50's, that will really help melting that ice off. up the coastline, a little more 30's and 40's today, but behind this system and with another coming in with more snow, those temperatures drop into the day

tomorrow. if you really want the mild stuff, texas some temperatures in the 70's and widespread through the southwest, a lot of temperatures in even the 80's, so if you're taking advantage of the long holiday weekend, maybe that's the place to, some sunshine. >> there has been another victory for same sex couples, a federal judge in virginia saying that state's ban in unconstitutional violating equal protection laws. it is the second state in the south to make a decision on the legality of gay marriage. wednesday, a judge in kentucky said that state also must recognize gay marriages performed in other states, although it didn't specifically address kentucky's ban on same sex unions. currently, 17 states allow same-sex marriage. >> two republicans senators are now looking to protect states that don't recognize same-sex marriage. texas senator ted cruz an utah senator mike lee introducing the state marriage defense act,

similar to another act overturned last year. the bill has little chance of making it to the senate floor according to analysts. >> java is on high alert because of a volcano spewing ash. two were killed when debris caused part of their home to collapse. the military's been called to help evacuate 100,000 people. flights have been canceled. the last time it erupted was 17 years ago. >> the thames breaching its banks with the wettest winter in years. every county on the south is on alert and more storms on the way. the government promises help. one community isn't waiting. >> not far from the swollen thames river, about 25 miles west of london is st. pauls.

the community has pulled together to help its own. guided by father michael roper, originally from north carolina. >> this is all food parcels to go out. there's cold food, hot food, there's all sorts of things. >> the waters have spilled on to nearly every street here. father michael tours the area daily. >> how much of your parish is affected? >> two thirds of the parish is underwater. >> where you are heading? >> i'm bog to take as much stuff and put it into a friend's shed and then back to my parents. >> aid often comes from the unexpected kindness of strangers, but not everyone is here to help especially after dark. >> two, three streets over closer to the school, there have been break-ins. >> the empty water-logged homes, too big a temptation for some. >> this road is the very edge of st. paul's parish.

father michael said they are helping as many as they can and all they can do now is wait for the waters to go down. >> it doesn't look like that will be soon. the ground is soaked and more rain to come. the british army has arrived with men and trucks to help support the community through whatever comes next. >> we are providing some man power to assist in a civilian effort to relieve flooded houses in the area. >> although the waters have receded, they are expected to rise again. a new storm is due to hit friday with some areas expecting to see another inch and a half of rain and everyone here, including father michael is trying to take it one day at a time. >> more than 1100 homes flooded since rains began last month. >> the nation's biggest mortgage lender is slowly getting back into the sub prime home loan business, far go expected to extend credit to high risk borrowers. banks tightened credit standards after those same sub prime loans

figured the financial crisis. wells fargo is looking for more sources of revenue after refis slow. >> joseph a. bank is allowed to cancel the pressure if it reaches a deal with men's warehouse. >> the cold weather seems to be good for campbell profit, saying earnings rose 71% in the last quarter. soup sales jumped 5%. >> we're going to find how upbeat consumers are about the economy. today's report on consumer sentiment follows disappointing data number that came out on retail sails and the labor market. they expect a small improvement in consumer optimism. >> looking straight now to wall street, looking at a mixed opening ahead of data, do you futures up just a point, the dow

kicking above the key 16,000 level, s&p 1829 nasdaq at 4,240. asia markets ending higher after inflation data out of china remains steady. european markets are higher after encouraging economic growth data. >> russell simmons passionate when it comes to ending the war on drugs. he talked about it with soledad o'brien. >> the war on drugs has done more to destroy the fabric of the black community than anything we can think of. not the effects of jim crow and the effects of slavery, it's the war on drugs. you take an innocent people, lock them up, educate them in criminal behavior and dump them back in the hood with no hope. >> you can see the entire

interview this sunday at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. that is talk to aljazeera. >> it would be one of the biggest mergers in history, but some say comcast acquisition of time warner is bad for business when it comes to their customers. >> also, there could be a major break through that could change the way we get our energy. scientists saying that we are one step closer to an endless supply with little if any waste. >> a class where people are taught to be computer hackers. they say they're doing to it catch the bad guys on line. >> things are not bowedding well for bodie miller in sochi. we'll head to the slopes. >> you are looking live at sochi where the games continue and the u.s. is making some gains. all the details and heights straight ahead.

it will carry over into the february/march sales. purchasers put off in january hopefully will be shifted into

the later months in the future. >> consumer spending drives 70% of economic active ci. the winter -- activity. the winter storm postponed janet yellen's second day of testimony. the senate banking committee will re schedule. no new date has been set. >> it's enough to make a corvette lover cringe. a disaster at a museum dedicated to the cars. we look at the science behind sink holes.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. these are the stories we are following. >> the east coast digging out, some parts hammered with two feet of snow. power out courages reported in new york, new jersey, connecticut and pennsylvania. flights are taking offer once again this morning. more than 70% of all the flights canceled in boston, philadelphia and washington, d.c., the snow and ice this winter causing the motor flight cancellations in 25 years. >> a grim assessment from the u.n. chief negotiator on a way forward for syria, saying the talks in geneva are making very little progress and failure staring all sides in the face. he met with delegates from the syrian opposition and government today. >> cyber crime on the rice, as

evidenced by attacks on major retailers. one school in new york is teaching students how to use hacking for good. >> every week, dozens of students order pizza, play music and fire up their lap tops. >> you're really hacking into websites here. >> yep, we are. we are. it's kind of scary when you think about it. >> let me get your attention. >> it's called hack night. here the websites they're breaking into are fake. >> you ever made our own version of flickr, pretty much. >> teaching students how to become so-called white hackers, good guys who can fight off cyber attacks. >> the best way for us to defend against the attackers is to understand how the attacks are working in the first place. >> recent breaches exposed the vulnerable of the on line world. only 11% of companies are properly protected. >> i will not pay with anything using a credit card. i will pay cash everywhere i go.

>> cyber security professor swears he almost knows too much. >> i see the ways that hackers can get in, the ways things can go wrong. >> if i could see what you see? >> you would see the world as a scary place. >> gangs, criminals are turning on line for cash and technology changing so quickly, it's difficult to keep up. >> there's almost a check list of a million things you have to do right and if the attacker finds one that you didn't quite do right, then they've hacked your system. >> companies launched bug points, offering cash or prizes to anyone who finds problems with their systems. >> submitted a form on the user's behalf. >> kevin discovered a security flaw in a major on line retailer. >> didn't do anything with it, but it's something bad could happen later down the road. >> he shares his knowledge with classmates. >> in the end, it's up to them to not take what they learned and do mean things with it. with great power comes great

responsibility. >> a great power especially in demand. jonathan betz, aljazeera new york. >> i want to look at some of the figures on this. we are seeing now that in 2012, cyber crime costs the average u.s. company $11.5 million, last year, as we had been reporting, 40 million target customers had their credit card and debit card information compromised by hackers, 7 million had their personal information compromised as well. are companies taking cyber crime seriously? >> i think they're absolutely taking it seriously, what's become apparent with recent attacks is keeping up with the different types of avenues and attacks out there. these attacks are a great example that being aware of just how exposed the point of sales

systems are and the networks leading to those systems is possibly and avenue not everyone took seriously at a threat before but certainly are doing so now. >> i've read that you have had your credit cards hacked. i've had mine hacked. only 11% of businesses adopting the industry standards with reward to say security. why? >> well, it's a large expense for the companies. there are countries outside of the u.s. a little more ahead of adopting secure technology, such as chip and pin transaction specific encryption, but i think once the companies are required to keep up with those trends or its regulated, we'll see swifter action. we've already had the companies that are affected by some of these latest issues commit to accelerating their efforts to adopt more secure transaction

technologies and enable to more secure purchasing process for their customers. it's still going to be sometime before allowing these entities in the u.s. to catch up with other parts of the world. >> these credit card companies are making billions just off of us using their cards. why aren't they required to do so? i go back to the old days of what she the only thing you had to worry about was not having enough of it or somebody ripping you off. >> i think we're probably not far from that, but some of the onus is on the issuers of the cards and retailers themselves, as well. if there's doubt or concern about the security of those cards or the pros of using those cards, then, you know, you're absolutely right in that there's going to be times you have to evaluate what you're doing with your cards, who you're spending it with, what merchants you're doing business with and if you feel more safe and secure using cash, you a at his have that

option as a consumer, there will be a time when our retailers and the card industry are forced to utilize these more secure methods. while not flawless, definitely offer a more safe and secure transaction process for consumers and limit the attack surface. >> what do you say to people who say this is now a younger man's game that as the younger generation gets tech savvy, they are better at hacking? >> well, there's two side to say that. it's definitely -- we're growing up in thing a of digital natives and the environment of in this eco system of white hat-black hat hacking and where to find certain information, good information, bad information is much more obvious to the younger and current generation than it was to my own generation. people are growing up in this

environment, they've never known it to not be there. there's a lot to be said for some of the earlier generations or my own, for example, where you have experience and you kind of know how these things popped up, you know the evolution of the threats and actors and where the motivation is and where to find them. it goes both ways, but there is something to be said for those going up in a time where they've not known any different. >> jim, thank you very much. >> researchers in california saying they have made a broke through in their effort to find a new source of energy. their work could lead to an endless supply of energy without waste. >> scientists say it's a major step toward the holy grail of clean energy, nuclear fusion. in a laboratory experiment,

scientists create more energy than used in the fuel to create the reaction. in a laboratory experiment reported in the journal nature, science activities at california's lawrence live moor lab produced more energy out of fusion than was contained in the fuel used to create the reaction. unlike nuclear physician, used in atomic weapons and nuclear power plants, fusion produces energy forcing atomic particles together. fusion is the power that fuels the sun and stars. it does not create any explosion, leaves behind no radioactive waste and produces no greenhouse gases linked to global warming. fusion's few he will source is hydrogen, the most plentiful element in the universe. the experiment deploys 192 powerful lasers that focus enormous amounts of energy in billion of a second long pulses. scientists did not reach the break through point called ignition, a sustained fusion reaction that produces more energy than used in the entire

process. researchers say they have a long way to go before they reach that goal. rob reynolds, aljazeera los angeles. >> nuclear fusion could be used to develop weapons. >> in sports, one week down, one to go, the winter olympics in sochi. >> bodie miller could use fusion to get things going. they were in big trouble in the super combined after finishing this morning's downhill portion in 12 and 18 spots respectively tried to save themselves in slalom. miller's time of 51.9 was only good enough for seventh place in that event. neither legty nor jared goldberg could do better, none medaling. switzerland was also down after the downhill portion, but top spot in the slalom with a few skiers to go.

switzerland has taken a second gold medal in cross country skiing, winning the classic style race ahead of sweden abalso taking the top spot in last sunday's ski-athalon. >> a bobsled crash, one of the only 20 sleds not to make a run. it was only a training run. the wall street journal reports that the american speed skaters are being hampered by suits that are not exactly up to snuff, being made by under armor. american seany davis, word is that he wanted to wear his nike suit and put an underarmor logo on it to compete in future

events. america is in very good shape in the women's skeleton event. the pace turning in a time of 157.3 for second place behind great britain. the final two runs wrap up competition around 10:30 eastern time this morning. >> critics who said a russian skater should have let a younger skater take his spot are saying i told you so after leaving because of back pain. he did help russia win a gold medal this year in team figure skating. he was russia's only men's figure skater, so his withdrawal means no medals for russia in men's singles this year. crashing hard into the wall, another skater to great applause picked himself up and finished his routine. he won't be winning gold, but

japan looks poised to do that after becoming the first skater to get a score eclipsing 100. >> the l.a. lakers played thursday like they really didn't want to set the record for home losses. they led kevin durant and visiting oklahoma city thunder by 10 into the fourth quarter thursday night, but that's when durant hit the after burners scoring 19 of his 43 points in a 35-point fourth quarter leading them to a come from behind win. the lakers now have lost 17 games in a row. >> i remember glory days for the lake jeers wasn't that long ago. >> as we have reported, comcast reach that go deal to acquire time warner would make comcast the largest cable provider in the u.s. if approved, comcast would then control a third of t.v. and broad band services in the country. aljazeera takes a look at that deal and what it would mean for

consumers. >> by any measure, comcast proposed bid to take over time warner is huge. by buying the second largest cable provider, comcast would have roughly 33 million subscribers cementing its place as the countries largest cable company. >> when chase both j.p. morgan, that was only a $33 billion deal, so this is a really large merger. >> the deal was unexpected and comes after comcast became a major content producer by finalizing its purchase of nbc universal. comcast is the largest provider with 22 million subscribers, satellite direct t.v. and dish network follow. time warner is next with 11 million. smaller companies have more than

4 million each. what can consumers expect? one analyst said changes for consumers won't be dramatic. >> consumers who are in comcast markets probably won't see any change at all. time warner cable market consumers will see subtle changes to their services, some sorts of improvements over time, although that will probably take a while to implement and integrate, but relatively subtle over time, although not inconsequential. >> comcast is more aggressive with t.v. everywhere products, allowing content on mobile devices. comcast also has more on demand programming, comcast calling it pro consumer, critics think not. >> in 19 of the 20 largest cities in america, there's just one choice or will be after this

merger, comcast as their local cable monopoly. the problem for consumers means they're going to get second class service with no options to choose anybody else. >> while the two companies have no geographical overlap, the deal is expected to come under intense scrutiny from federal regulators. comcast said it will shed 3 million subscribers, but some observers expect more concessions will be needed. aljazeera. >> is this a good thing? amy young is an analyst in new york. craig is president of free press in washington, d.c. to understand the size of this merger, let's look at the numbers. comcast time warner with close to 22 million subscriber time warner, roughly 12 million.

with the reach of over 30 million subscribers in the u.s., is this a good thing? >> i think from a consumer perspective, people are always worried that bigger will mean something that's negative for the consumer. you have to remember cable companies don't overlap. there's no overlapping zip codes, so combining them actually gives these companies much greater skill -- >> even though they don't overlap in terms of service area, they do in terms of there being one mace the management sits and they make the decision how much everybody pace. >> again, you have to remember, this is a business of scale and as scale increases, this is actually pro consumer, helping innovation and could potentially drive higher broad band speeds, which is the reason people like and use cable companies these days. >> i think the supposed benefits of this merger are being vastly

overrated. the one thing you never hear is that prices might go down. they won't. cable prices go up and up and up some more and this this merger is allowed to go through, that's going to be the consumer experience. this deal will also give the new giant comcast so much control over what we watch, hear, read and download, really unprecedented control. this is also about your broad band connection beside cable t.v. and it would be number one in all categories. >> is it your feeling that they will be signing off an a monopoly? >> i certainly would call ate near monopoly, unprecedented media power certainly in the cable business, comcast would be the dominant company, the number one internet service provider which they already are. this combined company would offer service to with it thirds of americans. that's an incredible amount of

gate keeper power if you want to get a cable channel, access internet content, all that have goes through comcast. they would become by far, i think the most powerful media company in this country, no one else would be close. >> here's the thing that you hear a lot of consumers say. they see mergers take place, the companies getting bigger, but also see their bottom line, their bills getting bigger, too. can you name an instance where there has been one of these megamergers and the consumer won by paying less? >> you're see that go at t mobile, sprint, at&t verdicts and mergers have actually helped lower prices for telecom and wireless services. i think this is one scenario. google fiber coming in, they're much more video options than ever before, including netflix, hulu and amazon.

>> the benefit for consumers has been in stopping mergers. the just department stopped the at&t mobile personal their created more competition benefiting consumers seeing new pricing plans and lower prices from actual competition. consumers benefit when companies change behavior because of facing competition. google is only in a couple of markets. again, comcast would be in 40 states if this deal goes through, giving them a lot of power over things like netflix which need to ride over those cable wires to reach viewers. >> you have to ask yourself what jane and john doe who just want to watch sports why they need high speed and the bills. thank you for being with us this morning.

>> it is a place where you can create just about anything. the space giving innovators tools they need to bring new ideas to life. >> tracking the end of the storm and glick of another. back with our final forecast.

al jazeera america. >> welcome back to aljazeera may. i'm del walters. set a putting a new spin on the cafe. let's find out what is going to happen next with weather. >> we have a long holiday

weekend ahead for some. we're getting one system cleared out. new england will be out from under this. we have another disturbance coming into the midwest poised for the northeast and mid atlantic. the west coast has been extremely moist with lower elevations, heavy rain, higher elevation snow, enough that between that and the fact that it's been a little warmer and some melting of the recent snow, there could be places that get three inches or more over the weekend, but we are seeing some flooding areas especially rivers and streams, so watch for that. the midwest is a system that will continue along. this has less moisture with it, so in the core of all of this two to four inches and on the periphery, one to three as this moves along, we've seen snow in iowa for example this morning. this is starting to hit up watches and will hit the east coast just as we get out of one

area of snow. back to you. >> in seattle, there is an unusual cafe where you can get espresso with a side of high tech manufacturing. it gives customers the tools to make just about anything they can project. >> it's a place where anyone can walk in and make just about anything with just about anything. >> from sewing and knitting machines to laser cutters and lead to printers. >> we have parts supplies, snacks, free internet, coffee. >> metrics create space is a place to meet, mingle and make. it sprung out of matt's idea of what he calls the tool curve. >> at the bottom of the curve, you have hammers and nails and things everybody has. >> from there, the curve goes to the super modern high end presses, printers and cutters. >> these tools are things you would not find in your house and now we have some things not even found in university lab. >> like the protolaser, it can

print circuit boards. metrics is open every day of the week noon to midnight. as with motor workplaces, there's a vending machine in the corner, although not for snacks. if you need a circuit board, old timey t.v. remote control, it's all here. terrance gets a chance to get out and play at night. >> there's a lot of really like-mind geeks like me that come down here and spend time. >> those like minded geeks helped spur his idea for a make it yourself lead to printer. he raised more than $120,000 on the on line fundraising tool kickstarter. >> a savvy enough parent that can assemble a kid's bike can

probably put is together with a child helping in about a weekend and start printing. >> once assembled, you can print the parts to make more 3-d printers. while it was the cool toolles that first got tam in the door, it's the creative people that keep him coming back. >> when you put these guys together in a room in a place like this, that's when the magic happens. >> for matt, the hardest part might be figuring out the next big thing so he can build it, or help others build it. >> that is alan reporting and that's it for this hour of aljazeera. thanks for joining us.

this is the 900 page document we call obama care. and my staff has read the entire thing. can congress say the same? there's more to it.

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

as a leading industrialized nation, why are we power less to prevent these outages? why is hamid karzai setting free? and the high cost of valentine's day. hi, i'm antonio mora, here is more on what's ahead. >> we're going to continue to monitor the power outages. >> frozen rain and sleet may be