welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we are following for you. the nfl releasing that independent report on the scandal that rocked the miami dolphins. the aftermath of a storm, dozens of cars and trucks in a huge pileup in pennsylvania. president obama traveling to california, trying to get a firsthand look at that devastating drought. ♪ the nfl has now released a

report on that miami dolphin scandal. the independent report details the bullying scandal involving jonathan martin and richie incognito. it cams three starters on the offensive line, it says all three engaged in a pattern of harassment directed not only at jonathan martin, but another young offensive linemen and a young trainer. jessica taft takes a look at how we got here. >> when jonathan martin walked away from the team in october it was like opening up pandora's box. details emerged that martin was the subject of intense bullying. on november 4th the dolphins suspended incognito indefinitely

saying, quote . . . neither martin nor incognito have suited up for the dolphins since. and the nfl has been left to defend itself culture. it didn't take long before the public learned incognito had a history of bullying rookies dating back to his days at the university of nebraska. and we heard some of what he subjected martin to. on november 8th, martin met with nfl representatives. at issue for investigator ted wells is when does hazing qualify as harassment and bullying. two days later incaution knee toe broke his silence and said, quote . . .

the nfl's investigation concluded in late november and all was silent until january 31st when incognito's lawyers released text share showing that both had sent some rather unsavory messages. and then incognito had a twitter meltdown. in less than 45 minutes, he sent five tweets airing the issues for the world to see . . . but arguably the most troubling was . . . all of this coming just seven days after incognito has tweeted support for martin returning to football in 2014. through all of this bullying

scandal, we have learned one thing for certain, if this is a friendship, it is a complicated one. >> and that is jessica taft reporting. in many places the roads are still slick, the lights are still out, and plains are still sitting on the ground. jennifer, this storm left quite a mess. >> reporter: it sure did, dell, and this morning we have already seen quite a few weather extremes, it started with heavy snow turned into light rain and now we have blue sky, sun, and plenty of wind. but ice is really the concern here in the northeast. in pennsylvania the turnpike has been described as an ice rink as part of the turnpike was closed after a multi-car accident left 16 people injured. as of this morning more than half a million people are still without power, mostly in georgia and the carolinas, and when you

talk about air travel, certainly air travel not above feeling the impact of this storm. 1600 flights canceled today, on top of the 6400 flights cancel yesterday, and since december more than 5% of all flights have been canceled. we're starting to see the sun come out and melt some of the snow, and it's turning into this mix of slush and ice, and that's the real concern as the temperatures start to drop later this afternoon you might have a lot of black ice on the roads. >> how frustrated, how angry are people becoming that this has been an endless cycle of snow? >> well, they say we are done with winter, but people still do have a good attitude. we saw one person out here earlier cross country skiing. he said i want to get some extra

size, why not. but even though it is valentine's day there is no love for mother nature today. >> this is nothing like what we saw, though, so we are seeing a little break at least now. sunshine, the snowmelting, it could befreeze tonight. south carolina to washington, d.c. feeling the effects of the snow, but now things are pretty quiet. we have sunshine, maybe a few light snow flurries in sections of pennsylvania and western new york. take a look at the temperatures now, washington at 41, 32, right at the freezing mark in pittsburgh. clear skies, our little break is right here, as we go farther

west we see more snow. this will intensify pretty far east, still close enough where we'll get a little light snow developing. you can see it tracking east. and starting to intensify. this is saturday morning, some light snow expected. it will accumulate and continue until about noon, and then it really blows up, but effecting eastern canada. there will be some snow coming down, but this is leading to a pattern change. i'll look at that with the complete forecast a little bit later. the president is headed to california later today. he is expected to deliver millions in aid to the region. he spoke a while ago to house democrats about their annual issues conference where he

praised his healthcare initiative. >> you have seen reports that we actually slightly exceeded our targets for signups and enrollments this past month. we now have well over 3.5 million people who are signed up and getting insurance through the marketplaces for the first time. that does not count the close to 7 million folks who signed up for medicaid or the 3 million young people staying on their parent's plans. the royals are lending a land to flood victims in england today. they are working with emergency crews to hand out sandbags before yet another storm rolls in. non-step rain causing the thames to overflow. thousands are right now without power. native americans are speaking out against the keystone xl pipeline. the pipeline would carry crude

from canada's oil sands into he refineries in the gulf coast. but some native americans are worried. dye diane has more. >> reporter: in the black hills of south dakota tribe members burn an offering of sage and pray to mother earth. >> we come and stand in the footsteps of our an zest t zest -- ancestors. >> reporter: the project begins in the canadian tar sands, running 1100 miles from montana to nebraska. in south dakota it would skirt seven native american nations. >> the pipeline will be four miles to the west here. >> reporter: that's too close

for 60-year-old steve vance. he worries if the pipeline ruptures it could pollute the cheyenne river and the ogallala aquifer. it's solvents to make it fluent, so when the pipe breaks, which i know it will, it is not going to just leak oil. >> reporter: this isn't just a battle over water. it is also a battle over land. the tribe says the pipeline violates 19th century treaties it negotiated for territory rights in the black hills. treaties the u.s. government abolished more than a century ago, but treaties the tribes say are still valid. the construction of the pipeline could also unearth sacred native american artifacts. trans-canada says it has protections in place to protect the environment and cultural

sites. in a statement they sa . . . >> 830,000 barrels a day -- >> reporter: but at this meeting tribe members prepared for a fight, some even threatening to physically block the construction. >> they are going to have to run over us or put us in jail to lay their pipeline. >> reporter: a threat the lakota hope they won't have to carry out. russia is accusing western and arab countries of trying to derail the syrian peace talks now underin geneva. christian has more on the un mission and its hope forprogress in the war-torn country. >> reporter: drenthzs of the old city continue to be evacuated,

sick, frail, and hungry. nearly 1400 have left, and the operation, ak kwoerding to the local governor has been extended another three days. >> the situation for people living in the old city is absolutely dire. i met a 13-year-old boy who was the side of an eight year old, he hasn't eaten meat for two years or more. >> reporter: the un hoped the evacuation would pave the way for cooperation, but the government remains on the offensive, in aleppo, and on the lebanese border. a call from the un refugee agency to open the border crossing between iraq and syria for aid deliveries. the humanitarian chief says the security council needs to do more. >> what progress there is, is extremely limited and painstakingly slow. we have not been able to deliver

enough, and many areas remain beyond our reach. >> reporter: the council is working on a resolution to improve humanitarian access, but there are dueling drafts. >> given the situation on the grown, better no resolution that a bad resolution. we are not interested in a resolution for resolution's sake. as we intensify our discussions, we have to find text that we think maximizes the likelihood of meaningful consequences on the ground. >> reporter: negotiations will be taking place in the coming days with more than 9 million people in need of some form of assistance and peace talks at a stalemate, there's a growing sense of urgency. represents of russia and the united states met with the un social envoy to try to break the

impasse. >> it is a very, very complicated subject. failure is always staring us in the face. as far as the united nations is concerned, we will certainly not leave one stone unturned if there is a possibility to move forward. >> reporter: for now it seems the desire to help the besieged and displaced may be the only way forward. coming up on al jazeera america, we'll go to arizona. we will take a look at the annual stand-down event, an event where veterans can get any type of help they need. and anti-fraccers protesting in ireland.

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♪ it is day three of deliberations in the case of michael dunn, the florida man charged with killing 17-year-old jordan davis in the dispute over loud rap music. 12 jurors will decide whether to convict dunn of first degree murder. he claimed self-defense. phoenix veterans in need are all coming together. the annual event has government and community organizations all in one place. they are offering everything from medical services to haircuts. what is this event all about? >> reporter: well, del, this really is a one-stop shop for those veterans who are homeless or at risk, because they have all the of the services under one roof here. it is the largest standown in the country. we're expecting 1500 veterans

coming through these doors already. this gives you a sense of all of the services they have here. we have a box full of clothes that veterans can go through. all of the tables back here are the benefits. veterans can get their social security benefits, check on their medical benefits, and they have showers and beds set up here. this is an annual event, but this year they are marking a very special milestone. the city of phoenix has become the first city in the country to end chronic homelessness among veterans. all 222 veterans have permanent housing as of today. i want to bring in james. he is a navigator, social worker who has been critical in helping this city reach this milestone. and i know you work with these veterans every day, what does an venning like this mean to them? >> it means everything to them.

this is one shop stopping right here. if you are on the street, you can get anything you want today, tomorrow, and sunday. everything you need, all kind of services here from social security [ inaudible ] everything is here. free food. you can stay here if you don't have a place to sleep tonight you have can sleep here also. >> you work with these veterans 24 hours a day. what is the biggest hurdle they face? >> the biggest hurdle is to get them to come in. the biggest hurdle is getting people off of the streets to come here to ask for help. we're working back here with the vets today who don't want the services. they would rather stay out there on the streets. so we have to convince them that we have services for them to help them get off of the streets. that's the hardest part giving them what they don't want but they need. >> and the most important

component is getting them into permanent housing first. why is that so important. >> i know where you are now. i can go talk to you and offer you the services that you need. if you are on the streets, it's hard to find you. but once i get you housed i have a place to go to give you all of the receiveses you need right there at your apartment. >> i know you have done some great work. i should mention that while the city of phoenix has reached that milestone of 222 of those chronically homeless off of the streets, organizers say it is important to remember that there are still a lot of homeless veterans, and del here in the state of arizona alone, there are still more than 1200 still out on the streets. >> thank you very much. ♪ investors seemed to be in a

good mood ahead of the long president's day weekend. the blue chips on track for a second straight week of gains. the nasdaq is down slightly today. the missouri house has been asked to investigate the soaring price of propane. propane suppliers say the harsh winter has send demand skyrocketing. the stuff winter also affecting u.s. factories. manufacturing output in january has its largest drop since may 2009. and we made know tonight the outcome of that vote involving union labor. workers at the volkswagon plant wrapping up the vote on whether

or not to join the union. opponents say unionization will be bad for business and make the area less attractive for companies. in northern ireland local officials are asking for a referendum on frac-ing. lawrence lee reports. >> reporter: northwestern ireland, the farther reach of the united kingdom. remote, pretty, but nobody is much so why not frac for gas? but there are people here, and they rely on the land for tourism and air and water for life. when the g8 met this year, all of the security people got furious anti-frac-ers. >> it is going to spoil everything.

it will completely change. it's also irreversible which is a huge worry for humans. >> reporter: so they are planning something here which hasn't been tried before in the uk, asking the people in a referendum if they want frac-ing or not. >> it's very, very important that we have an informed, we reach a conclusion, if the conclusion is that the people don't want it, then i expect everything would respect that. >> reporter: environmental groups which are trying everything from blocking roads to legal actions against it, say local referenda could be taken throughout the country. >> the government is really trying to circumvent what local people really think. so a series of referenda would be something we would be keen to look at. >> reporter: but there is another fault line, this river is the border between northern

ireland in the uk, and the republic of ireland to the south, and many of these waterways cross borders, so what happens if frac-ing in one country ends up polluting a different one? a few kilometers downstream is the irish farming town. the river runs through this area, it's ireland's longest driver and the government wants to use it for drinking water, which would mean polluting it would effect millions. >> we believe this cannot go ahead because of the transboundary issue, and has the hasn't been addressed by the authorities or our government yet. >> reporter: we wanted to ask the australian frac-ing company if it would carry on if the majority of people voted against it. we also wanted to know what it thought would happen if frac-ing

affected not one but two country's water. their response they have been granted a license, and look forward to beginning this year. coming up, a wedding to remember taking place in the philippines. ♪

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters, here are your headlines at this hour. the nfl releasing an independent report on the miami dolphins bullying scandal, the report finding that jonathan martin faced a pattern of harassment, and another player and assistant trainer were also being harassed. a at least 16 people were injured in this massive pileup in pennsylvania this morning. more than a dozen vehicles were involved. witnesses say weather was a factor in the crash. president obama is headed to california today. he is expected to offer federal aid to farmers who are enduring

one of the worst droughts in that state's history. it's amazing we are dealing with drought conditions on one part of the country, and floods in -- storming in the east. >> yes. a bit unusual, usually things stabilize after a winter storm, and really seeing that stae stabilization now. 38 new york, philadelphia at 41, washington is almost up to 45 degrees. so we're seeing that felting with the sunshine, and seeing more snow. this is moving east, does not look like a lot now, but it will intensify. look for light snow to develop tomorrow from d.c. up through philadelphia and then eventually new york. a lot of this stays south, and

the intense indication will occur, but it's well to the east off of the coast. heavy snow is up in maine and eastern canada, and then we're clear behind this. these are the storm tracks. you see this low off of the coast because of the last storm. and now we're seeing storms come in to the west. not no well up to the north like they have been. this is the typical pattern. we need this to go down just a little bit to hit areas desperately in need of moisture. a little too much rain, though, there are some flood watches in effect because they are expecting a lot of rain around seattle del? >> dave warren thank you very much. more than a hundred couples in the philippines exchanging i

dos. yesterday one man saying the event symbolizes that every day is valentine's day. thank you for watching al jazeera america. i'm del walters in new york. "the stream" is next. ♪ you are in "the stream." we'll break down the trans trans-pacific tonight. ♪ our digital producer wajahat ali is here bringing in all of your live feedback. this trade agreement while like