in the field in afghanistan. athletes, owners and celebrities can come up and interact with the troops. >> appreciate the time. >> thanks. >> good seeing you. best of luck. >> thank you. >> this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm richelle carey with today's top stories. president obama arrives in california bringing federal aid to farmers. digging out and cleaning up in the northeast but could it all be for not? plus jonathan martin was not the miami dolphin harassed. a new report says that two more people in the organization were ridiculed.

>> storm after storm after storm is made it a wet winter in the eastern u.s. but a lack of rain and snow has created disaster in the west. temperatures in eastern u.s. has about below normal this winter while much of the west has seen above normal or record temperatures. that is helping to worsen the drought in california. president obama arrived on the west coast just a short time ago. he will soon announce financial assistance for those affected by the drought. for more on the president's trip west, there is a perspective on how bad this drought is. >> what is extraordinary we haven't heard that much about it. sips they started keeping

records this is the worst drought on record. this is a map put out called the drought monitor. it's the dark red you see there is exceptional drought. the red and somewhat lighter drought is extreme drought and half the state and more profoundly affected. and it's not just--it's not just the entire state but some the sensitive agriculture growing regions, the central valley, the san joaquin valley that puts much of the produce on families tables. president obama has a round table with ranchers and farmers and he'll be talking about one particular farmer and touring his farm as well. he'll announce some measures his administration can attack. $100 million in live stock disaster assistance. $15 million in conservation assistance.

obviously with water as well. it's not just california. there are other drought-affected regions in oklahoma and texas. tell' tie this into the larger issue of climate change. he'll announce a new proposal that will be in his budget, $1 billion in climate resistence, research and steps that farmers, and others in the agriculture industry can take in what he believes will be i think evitable climb change. jay carney spoke to the president's new initiative. >> no storm, no drought could have been caused by climate change, global climate change, but the science is clear that everywhere it's influenced by climate change. >> as part of that agenda the president and the epa are going to be issuing rules of

coal-powered fire plans, and that will be controversial. we should also say that this is just the beginning for the president's trip to california after fresno. he goes to the desert in palm springs and he has a bi-already meeting with king of jordan, and they'll have a working dinner and the president will stay on for three days of r&r. >> you have to get that in even when you're the president. >> reporter: absolutely. >> mike, thank you so much. california central valley is one of the most productive agriculture coastal regions in the world. we look at how the drought is having an impact on the economy and it's people. >> reporter: diane friend inspects the wheat field on her 600-acre farm passed down to her by her father. the worst drought in her memory has her worried. >> it grabs you from down deep,

and you're making me cry. when you see the soil, and you touch it, and you know that it may not be here for the next generation of family, that's big. >> she says she had hoped to plant pistachio trees, but without water she'll postpone those plans. friend is also director of county farm bureau and has spent many averages assessing the effects of the drought. >> it will be dry like this all year. >> reporter: she takes us to stone land farms. it left land fallow because they don't have enough water. >> we're not spending the money on the crop because we don't have the water to grow it, then everybody down the line is affected. >> reporter: the farm is taking on half the migrant workers that it usually does this time of

year, it means half the number of workers in the field and hi higher unemployment. >> if we don't have water, we don't have jobs. the water keeps it up. people working in the fields. because no water, no jobs. >> reporter: to probably understand the drought's impact it is important to note that the central valley has had dry conditions for a few years now. so the drought has turned an already bad situation worse. we met dan short as he unloaded food at a distribution center. this organization expects to give away exit was 10 million pounds of food this year. california, one of the breadbaskets of the world is unable to feed itself. >> it's heartbreaking. then you're like, i'm feeding the guys that actually grow the food. >> reporter: according to the california warm water coalition the central valley could lose up to $2.2 billion this year because of the drought. some farmers will go bankrupt. >> i heard the other day a

farmer said to me, what will do i? what will i become? >> the people here tell us farming is not a job. it doesn't end at 5:00. it's not even a small business that folds. it's a lifestyle and culture. and if it disappears you're left with nothing. melissa chance, al jazeera, in the san joaquin valley, california. >> back to the east coast people are left in a mess after the huge storm. dozens of vehicles were involved in a series of accidents authorities say 30 people were hurt in these crashes which caused these huge backups that you see here. officials say none of the injuries is life threatening. the road was obviously still slick. 25 deaths are blamed on the storm, including a tragic death in new york city. the police say a 36-year-old pregnant woman died after she was hit by a snow now outside of a shopping center in brooklyn.

she was rushed to the hospital where doctors delivered her baby, and that baby is said to be in critical condition. a canadian couple was one of many people stranded on a north carolina highway during the storm. mark and diana were driving from raleigh to west virginia when ena crash brought traffic to a standstill. you may recognize them from the history channel series "ice road truckers." they say they were stuck for several hours. now just as the east coast is digging out from one storm, yes, another one is on the way. we have all the details, kevin? >> meteorologist: well, we don't think this is going to be as big as the last one. we're seeing the remnants of that last storm going through maine, so they're going to deal with it. coming through ohio, that is an alberta clip. we do have snow in parts of" and indiana and mix in kentucky and

maine. that is going to make its way through the northeast. it will be across the area where it goes to three inches. on saturday it could be one to two inches of snow in the area. not looking as bad as what we had before. now the big problems is what is happening in the northwest. we're talking about flooding. they've had so much rain over the last several days. really the last week. it continues to come across parts of southwestern as well as oregon. we're talking about flood warnings in affect for most of western oregon right now as well as over here towards idaho. this is a big problem. a little too much rain and too little time right now. they do need the rain, but this is a big problem. we're going to be seeing a continued mudslide landslides across that region. >> it has been a tough winter for airline passengers. 75,000 domestic flights have been canceled including 14,000

this week alone. that means one in every 20 flights scheduled since then haven't taken off. earlier i spoke with transportation contributor ted curtis about why. >> there was a change in pilot rules where pilots have to have more rest between flights. which means the airlines have to adjust their scheduled accordingly. although the rules can change quickly it takes a while for the pilot population to get used to those new rules. airlines may be hiring more pilots, but it may take a while before they are they come on stream with the airport. and there are rules when it comes to fines. an airline has an airplane on the tarmac for three hours or more. there could be a huge fine of $27,000 per passenger. the airlines have been fined, not to that extent but this is another factor that causes airlines to think, well, what's cheaper, delaying the flight or canceling it out right and

rescheduling the passengers. >> the airline industry has changed considerably over the past couple of deck ladies. the flooding in britain will not let up. more rain, high winds and even snow. people are still swamped from previous floods. we have reports from the hard hit town of chersea of how people are coping. >> believe it or not flood levels from the river thames has stabilized yet more rain is on the way. the body of water surging across roads like this will only increase. right next to the thames the authorities are preparing for the worst. it's called an aqua dam. it's filled with water to keep the floodwater out. but james nolan's house will be on the wrong side of the dam. all he has are these sandbags delivered by the army. >> i've been at it so far. we've kept it out of the kitchen. we've been up all night, i'm rather tired, but now that the

flood is gone a bit, it means that i can ge lift the sandbagsd get sheeting down and do it properly. >> reporter: outside of a local church local people helping each other. fresh, wet sand arrives to fill sandbags for whoever needs them. forecasters predicting another 14 millimeters of rain will fall in the next few hours. and in the next few days it will result in a dramatic increase in the level of the river thames here and as a result of that another thousand homes at least will be flooded. >> reporter: as people look to keep this from happening again they look at the causes. climate change and shifting weather patterns are the chief suspects.

the flooding has all happened since the year 2000. >> scientists, which is quite strong, i must say, but what does it mean for people like us? it means more of the same. it means more unpredictability and more extremes. >> if this is a sign of things to come, huge infrastructure projects will be needed, and they will cost billions. at a time of shrinking public budgets finding the money will be a critical challenge. al jazeera, on the river thames. >> at least three people are dead after a powerful volcanic eruption on indonesia's most populous island. the eruption sent ash and debris 12 miles into the air. that ash and debris rained down on towns and villages near that volcano. it forced 2,000 people to leave their homes. seven airports have been closed and tremors were still being

felt, and they expect another major eruption. north and south korea sat down for a second round of talks discussing plans for reunions of families who have been divided for more than 60 years. north korea wants south korea to delay it's military drills. we have more from seoul. >> the previous gap between high level talks lasted seven years. this time they walked across the military demarcation line for the second time in 48 hours. friday's talks were shorter and seemingly more productive. reunions for families separated by the korean war are slated to go ahead as planned. >> north and south korean agreed to 9 schedul the schedule of re.

>> for weeks north korean maintained that the family meetings could not take place at the same time as south korean's military exercises. south korea insists they have made no concession on that front and they'll go ahead as planned. >> the first step towards trust building are the reunions of separated families. we persuaded the north that we should trust each other and hold the schedul reunion as schedule. >> they've agreed not to slander one another. the problem is much of what they call slander such as recent reporting of kim jong-un's failure to take off his shoes at an orphanage. it was pointed out that they could not sto put a stop to such

coverage. >> reporter: with reports of renewed activity at rocket test sites relations could deteriorate very quickly but at least the two sides are talking at this level, and they promise to continue doing so. >> president obama is looking for new options as the peace process for syria comes to a standstill. the syrian government in opposition leaders both say no progress has been made during face-to-face talks in geneva. the only item agreed upon was limited evacuations of home hom. iraq blames world powers for sabotaging negotiatiosabotagingd powers for sabotaging negotiations. >> they want to make the communique the subject of talks.

but regime change. everything they want to talk about is the creation of a transitional governing body. >> u.s. and russia have been increasingly at odds over how to reach a peace agreement. a pakistani anti-drone activist was set free after he was apparently kidnapped. he said he was tortured and held in an underground cell. no one has claimed responsibility for taking him. khan said he'll continue his fight to stop the use of military drones in civilian areas. people who sell marijuana legally have a big problem. banks will not handle their money. now the government is stepping in with new rules that could help that problem. also russian president vladimir putin hangs out with american athletes with selfies and the online reactions next.

>> colorado's legal marijuana business is bringing in millions of dollars. so far banks have not been willing to take all that money. not take that cash.

the treasury department is trying to bridge the gap and the guidelines issued today may not be enough for banks. paul beban is live with details. what are the new guidelines? >> reporter: well good evening, richelle, it is confusing. what we have is another sort of two steps forward one step back situation for the legalized marijuana. i'm in the wellness center in downtown denver. some of them don't want to be on camera for security reasons, reasons about their jobs, so we'll stay over here. but the issue is that these new guidelines coming out from the department of treasure one of the enforcement arms got a very enthusiastic reception from marijuana industry groups saying this is a green light to do business with banks. and for all those piles of cash they're building up, to be deposited for checking accounts

and lines of credit. then we talked to the colorado banking association. they said not so fast. this is what they had to say about it. >> we started today at the five yard line with 95 yards yet to go. the department of justice and treasury wanted to move the ball down the field quite a ways, but in the end we're still at the five yard line. we've only gone a tiny fraction of the distance we need to go for banks to feel comfortable providing a service. >> so you heard from the banking association saying what these guidelines have done is muddy the water rather than clear it. what they want to hear from federal reserve in the fdic. we have the owner of wellness here. tell me about the situation here. how difficult is it to do business not being able to work with banks? >> it's extremely difficult and dangerous.

we deal with a substantial amount of money on a daily basis, and we have to be very concerned about the safety of our staff and employees, and of course it makes it difficult to pay the simplest of things like our sales tax. >> does today's announcement do anything to color that up for you? >> well, we thought this was coming down the pike, but as they said there are other regulations that need to fall in place. i think what this really means is we need to have congress step forward with the appropriate legislation so that we can function as a legitimate business. >> and you're repeating what dawn said earlier. what they need is legislation, and that's who the fed and fdic is taking their cue from. >> forget the war on the middle

class, how about the war on the 1%. last night billionaire investor said the rich are being treated unfairly, and he had radical suggestions of how to fix the problem. david shuster, who is in for ali velshi. shuster, let's talk about this. before we get into that, tell us what tom perkins has said before. he's been in the spotlight before. >> reporter: he wrote, quote, i would call attention to the parallels of fascist germany on ththe 1% namely the jews, to the 1% namely the rich. he apologized for his crazy analogy but said they're being demonized and persecution that targets the rich. >> that's just the latest. tell me what else he said.

>> reporter: perkins said that only tax payers should have the right to vote, and that the rich should deserve more votes than everyone else. >> tom perkins system is you don't get a vote unless you pay tax, but what i really think it should be like a corporation, you pay $1 million in taxes you should get a million votes, how's that? >> a lot of people call that insane, and a lot of people say that shows the fundamental misunderstanding of what our government is all about. but there has been a very sharp debate about progressive taxation and if the millionaires and billionaires are paying what they should or if they should pay more than they do now. >> oh, boy, what else are you looking at tonight at 7:00. >> i know you're a very big fan of the city of detroit, and revitalizing detroit, officials there suggesting they may be able to revitalize the city in

part by giving visas, it's a fascinating idea. we'll get into that on "real money" right here on al jazeera america. >> you have fantastic topics tonight. david schuster in for ali velshi. thanks, david. russian president vladimir putin made a surprise visit to team usa's headquarters in sochi. he met with olympic committee sew scott blackman. why not, cheers. the usa team houses a place where athletes and their families gore. some snapped selfies. maria is here with more. this type of thing is made for twitter. >> reporter: it sure is, richelle, and one of the tweets that came in, he wrote, putin just walked in to team usa house. this is not the start of a joke.

but it was the start of selfies. especially the luge athletes prisoprestonwrote, just hangingh putin, no big deal. and chris wrote sochi selfie with putin. and lauren also took a selfie with the russian president in the background. he then went to the canadian house and trevor wrote putin with canadian fans and the speed skater for the canadian team said, i should have asked him to be my valentine. we haven't seen any side by side selfies with u.s. athletes. we're not sure if he didn't put himself there, or if the athletes didn't approach him, if they exist or if they weren't made public. but he did challenge the canadian to be at the hockey

final. take a listen to the reaction from the crowd. >> thank you. >> mr. president. i would like to tell you-- >> are you kidding me? >> now, some of the people have been poking fun at this whole incident s so it was written, lt us know if he left ed snowdon behind. and, quick, check under the sofa to see if he placed a bug. jeff writes, those eyes. and camilla writes, can you someone explain to me why anyone would want to take a selfie with putin, richelle? >> very interesting tweets. marie, thank you so much. big news today on the miami dolphins harassment scandal. the report is out and it has ugly details from the team's locker room. that is next. also the city that managed to get all of its homeless veterans off the streets.

we'll show you how they did that.

>> i'm ali velshi, the news has become this thing where you talk to experts about people, and al jazeera has really tried to talk to people, about their stories. we are not meant to be your first choice for entertainment. we are ment to be your first choice for the news.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. here's a look at your top stories. president obama is now in california for a first-hand look at the drought conditions there. president obama's plane touched down in less than an hour and will announce a plan to bring relief to that state. a turnpike shut down after a series of crashes involving dozens of vehicles. at least 30 people were hurt in this morning's accident. drivers say the roads from slick at the time. the government has given new guidelines to help legal pot sellers to fos deposit their ca, but some say the government

didn't pass enough. the nfl released a report today on the miami dolphin's scandal. there was a pattern of harassment. jessica taff joins us with more. to be clear this was an independent report. this was not the nfl investigating itself. >> the nfl hired a private lawyer to do that, they were waiting for his findings, and this is exactly what we got. including the details of the scandal involving jonathan martin and richie incognito, who both play for the miami dolphins. this 144-page document names three starters of the team's line, but that's just one part of the report. it also indicates that martin wasn't the only target of the harassment. >> when dolphins offensive tackle jonathan martin walked away from the team in october it was like opening up pander are a's box. martin was the subject of intense bullying with richie incognito playing the biggest

role. the dolphins suspended incould go neat toe indefinitely saying, quote, we believe this decision is in the best interest of the organization at this time. neither martin nor incognito have suited up for the dolphins each and the nfl is left to defend its culture while it's fans have to ask can a 300-pound man be bullied. incognito had a history of bullying rookies, and then we heard some of what incognito had subjected martin to with racially charged voice mails and video were released. martin met with representatives to discuss allegations of workplace harassment. when does hazing qualify harassment and bullying?

incognito broke his silence and said, quote, i'm not a racist, and to judge me by that one word is wrong. in no way, shape or form is it acceptable to use that word even in a voice mail, i regret that. all was silent until januar january 31st when incognito sent rather unsavory messages back and forth. then the case got more bizarre when incould go neat toe had a twitter meltdown and the troubled player sent out five tweets airing his issues, in one he talked about being dragged through the mud by his, quote, best friend and then a dear john participant, the truth will bury you and the entire camp, you could have told the truth the entire time and then most troubling, incould go neat toe telling the world that martin

contemplated taking his own life. through all this bullying scandal we have learned one thing for certain. if this is a friendship, it is a complicated one. >> it absolutely is a complicated one. in the report we learned all sorts of things. there was a kangaroo court of sorts which happens in professional sports where they write down and keep offenses where they fine players usually the rookies, things like that, and in it some of the fines were unbelievable against martin. they were insane and after martin left the team it lists some of the words in there were horrific to see and the fact that afterwards it was richie incould go neat toincognito whod of the whole thing and instructed one of his teammates to destroy the evidence, putting it out there that it will be tough for him when he asked to

destroy evidence. >> are we hearing anything now from richie incognito's camp? >> we haven't heard anything from him, but jonathan martin's camp said, quote, he feels vindicated as you saw in that package they were talking about the text messages and incognito said the truth will come out. it did come out and it favored jonathan martin. we're going to hear so much more about this and later on in the next hour of sports we'll talk about more in-depth pieces from coaches. coaches from the miami dolphins texting jonathan martin, asking him to support his teammates. there is a lot going on in this, and 144 page report. >> the dolphins are still processing this as well? >> absolutely. they said they're going to sit back, process it, and their whole existence with the statement they put out they have a culture of team-first accountability and they have respect for everybody. they'll sit back and review this huge document and we'll see

where they go from there. certainly a couple of players could be facing all kinds of suspensions and richie incognito has not played since september, so we don't know what his future will be. >> this comes when nfl could have it's first openly gay player. michael sam can you announced that he's gay. soledad o'brien spoke about michael sam. >> reporter: michael sam number 52 just came out of the closet right before the draft, and it sort of started a little firestorm, i think is fair to say. you've been very vocal in gay rights, tell me why, and then tell me what you think about young guys. >> people are suffering. people need to wake up, conscienceness. it's always the same thing, right? you have a voice.

the right that we can't for ourselves are the rights we should give to others. the respect that we demand for ourselves we should give to others. that's a simple mantra that i try to live by. i won't be able to get married again, not now. >> well, let's hear what noise you're making for me? >> i want to get married again. people should have the right to get married. people should have the right to live freely in our society. things like that are obvious. if you see an injust, and you don't say anything, then maybe you have issues. >> this kid if he ends up playing in the nfl. >> he's going to play in the n nfl. >> will he be the first openly gay nfl player? >> good for him. bad for america that he's the first openly gay.

there are a lot of gay football players who are proud of him and rooting for him. gay football players right now in every locker in almost every team who are rooting for him. and straight guys like him rooting for him so that's good. >> and you can see soledad o'brien full interview with russell simmons this sunday 7:00 p.m. eastern. in phoenix the city is helping those in need. they are offering veterans assistance everything from medical assistance to hair cuts. >> this is the largest standdown in the country, and we're expecting 1600 veteran who is are homeless or at risk to come through the doors here. this gives a sense of how big the need is. that's the line.

this is an one-stop shop. they've got showers. they've got beds where they can rest comfortbly. they've got desks set up to talk to experts about social security benefits, medical benefits, driver's license. it's an annual event, but it's getting so much attention this year because the city of phoenix has become the first city in the country to eliminate chronic homelessness among all veterans the federal government, the city all local and non-profit all work to get every one of the 222 chronically homeless veterans off the streets. they've done that through an unique approach called housing first. that means getting veterans permanently in homes first before treated for mental illness and substance abuse. a lot of other cities started to look to this model. salt lake city, philadelphia, because they see the success in the city.

they tell me as of today they have all 222 veterans in permanent housing. >> reporting from influence. italy 's city is considering the next prime minister. if chosen, he will be the youngest prime minister in history and the third straight unelected italian leader trying to turn the stagnant economy around. japan is having one of the worst snow seasons on record. 13 people have died this week from a storm related accident. more than 100 flights were grounded and transportation has been brought to a standstill. a news storm has will drop 12 inches of snow. last week tokyo got more snow

than it has seen in half a century. india is on high alert for a tiger who has killed nine villagers in seven weeks. hunters have been sent into the jungles to find this tiger. she has been tracked across the 120 miles but so far has avoided capture. poachers and development in the area has forced tigers to move closer to human population. in germany more than 70 years since the end of the second world war but many are trying to find art work stolen by the nazis. the german government is trying to make it easier to return the art to its rightful owners. >> reporter: hollywood's hands are all over the art, but it's a much harder process. it is hidden in ordinary homes in ordinary walls across germany. this is a real life treasure

hunt, and getting it back to its rightful owners can be difficult. a draft bill was introduced on friday to make the whole process easier and to speed it up. this is where the bill will eventually end up. the german parliament, however where it will end is anybody's guess because it has been the 70 years since the end of the world war ii, and when it comes to the issue of stolen art nothing happens quickly. the panels of time is one of the big problems here. under german law once that person has held that art for 30 years it automatically becomes their property. getting across that part of the lou is part of the goals, and the other one is locating the art. >> combing museums for looted work. the question is what was stolen, what was given under intimidation and what was gifted to the nazis? it's a big legal gray area.

here's it's very strange. it's necessary. >> they have to sign a contract that it must be sold at auction because they know they don't have the money to pay the lawyer to get back the painting and to hold it in a family. it is impossible. >> just this week as many as 60 works from the likes of monet and picasso was di covered in this home in austria. new law or not, many more may never ever be found. al jazeera, berlin. >> now marie is here with a look at other stories making headlines across the country today. maria?

>> reporter: richelle, an actor best known as john walton jr. in the 70's cbs drama "the waltons" died in his home in palm springs, california: he had several recurring tv roles at the time of his death but it was his performance on "the waltons" that made him a star. in tennessee, 1500 united auto workers are deciding whether to unionize at a volkswagen plant in chattanooga. the state's republicans and conservative groups are fighting it. they think it will hurt tennessee's economy. president obama weighed in, too. he said today the opponents are more concerned with the shareholders than they are with u.s. workers. in phoenix, arizona, a dignified farewell for someone who paid for the funerals of fallen police officers and others forgotten by society.

lee scott died at the age of 79 this week over the last 15 years he paid for at least a dozen police officers funerals as well as those for the homeless. his own condition was that he remain anonymous. to repay his generosity, the phoenix police department is now giving him a funeral with full honors. a 1,900th stamp may be the most valuable. it already broke auction house records three times. putting it up for sale in june it expects the stamp to command anywhere between $10 million to $20 million. in arizona, hosting hundreds of folks who are searching in earnest for e.t. the 23rd annual ufo conference. the five-day schedule includes panels of scientists, filmmakers and academics all gather to

discuss inter galactic travel. the out of this world event runs until sunday. richelle, a lot of people go to these. >> it could be kind of fun. >> reporter: yes. >> marie, thank you. >> researchers say they have found the key to preventing disease, and they found it on the skin of sharks. next how the discovery could save human life. also valentine's day is not always candy and flowers. we'll show you how people celebrating the holiday is officially banned. >> ground breaking... >> we have to get out of here. >> truth seeking... al jazeera america's breakthrough instigative documentary series. over a year after the bengazi attacks, chaos in the streets... unspeakable horrors... >> this is a crime against humanity >> is libya unraveling? >> there's coffin after coffin being carried into the cemetery. >> fault lines libya: state of insecurity

only on al jazeera america to i.

>> love is in the air this to i. valentine's day here in the u.s. and around the world, even in countries where it's banned.

how do people celebrate in other nations. >> many people see valentine's day as a western holiday so not everyone is in red roses. in keg estan kids are banned from celebrating valentine's day in school. the government said it's not meant for children and not part of the islamic culture, and in saudi arabia selling roses and cards is banned on the run up to today. and in malaysia the government said that valentine's day is a threat to muslim values and blames valentine's day for everything from alcoholism to abortion. and in iran where the government has tried to ban the sell of your typical gifts like red roses and heart-shaped balloons people still buy gifts and take dates out to dinner. my friends there tell me more and more iranians are celebrating these days.

and even in country of conflicts like in iraq people find ways to sell rate, too. teddy bears, satin pajamas, even lipped shaped pillows. and in ukraine despite deadly protest in the capitol of kiev, this couple got married in the same square where demonstrators battled police. the two met there while protesting and fell in love. in syria, using valentine's day to send a political statement. they put out a video mixing images of bombs with what they call messages of love. >> this is from syria on the day of love, syria with love. >> we arlove. >> amid starvation a message from syria on the day of love from syria with love.

>> many see sharks as killers. some believe they could be life savers. they started to unravel some of the shark's secrets including what protects them from disease. >> thanks to some of the most feared oceanic species on the planet, they spend their lives underwater and yet sharks remain algae, bacteria and barncal free. on close examination dr. tony brennen at the university of florida discovered the tiny sharp teeth like shape found all over the sharp's skin. >> when you try to draw shark skin it's very difficult on a flat piece of paper. so i modified it. when i modified it i came up with a shark-look pattern. when it was used on a navy ship,

it stopped algae 85%. this was no toxin. it doesn't release anything. it's a physical structure. >> the pattern duplicated and placed in multiple layers forms a film barrier. the pattern is so minute it's invisible to the naked eye, but they run numerous experiments demonstrating it's ability to block bacteria. >> staph-a, where we exposed our surface with sharklet, and the surface without sharklet, and the side with bacteria on it has no sharklet on it. >> it has 90% production. >> this is a 99% reduction. that's typical with surfaces that are treated with our sharklet technology.

>> we're live from los angeles, 99% effective against bacterial growth. what is the theory of why this works? >> this is amazing. what you saw from the scientists who came up with this, bacteria growth, algae and barncals on the bottom of navy ships. sharks swim through the water all the time and they don't have algae, barncals and parasites all over their skin. he didn't duplicated exactly. he took a three-dimensional structure and come pressed it into two dimensions taking a three dimensional cube and flattening it to a square. but when tested the bacteria has a hard time crossing the surface. the surface is not killing any bacteria, it's preventing them from moving and growing because of that, and transferring. so that's the big plus if we were to get this into hospitals

to reduce hospital-acquired infections. you put your hand on a wall or surface, bacteria is less likely to transfer off of that wall. that could be the real advantage. >> when could that realistically happen? when could we see this in hospitals, offices in real life. >> sure, in industry we have a five-year rule, right? this technology is introduced and five years from now we'll see it. sharklet is working with fortune 500 to get it's product in office chairs and high traffic surfaces making iphone cases, cell phone cases, even place mats and light fixture covers for kids. we could see this relatively quickly. >> so i no you're techno

co-contributor phil torres has a cool store on sunday's show about space archaeology. tell us about that. >> phil on "techknow" has something very cool. what happens when you don't start figure diggin digging rige ground for artifacts but start 300 miles above the surface. they're using satellites to analyze the light being reflected out of deserts, to find archeological digs, artifacts, structures like pyramids that they never would have seen before or had the resource to do. they're using it to track looting to help preserve their heritage. it's really amazing technology. you should check it out. >> truly the eye in the sky. that is good stuff. check out "techknow" this sunday 7:30 eastern, 4:30 pacific right here on al jazeera america. packers have attacked the

new version of the silk road black market website. posting the site attacked by one of its sellers, and the post sending $3 million in bit coins belonging to users and the site itself were stolen and none of it is anti-hacking measures could have prevented the attack. silk road only accepts bitcoins. and receiving a special gift, the archbishop of reio de janeiro blessed the team an update on the day's top stories next. david shuster is in for ali velshi on "real money." keep it here.

we're going back to doing best of storytelling. we have an ouportunity to really reach out and really talk to voices that we haven't heard before... i think al jazeera america is a watershed moment for american journalism

>> this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm richelle carey with a look at today's top stories. president obama is in california this evening. he's there to get a first-hand look at the affects of the severe drought that has been gripping the state for months.

the president is making an $160 million emergency drought money available. the sale of marijuana is still illegal at the federal level. the northeast is still digging out from a pair of snow storms this week. officials report scattered power outages across several areas along the eastern seaboard. more snow is in the forecast for the northeast this weekend. a report finds that pro football player jonathan martin was harassed by three of his miami dolphins teammates. an independent reporthe nfl comn independent report one move after jonathan martin left the team. russia accuses western countries of sabotaging negotiations by pushing for regime change. and 100,000 people have left their homes after a volcanic

eruption in indonesia. the volcano spewed ash and was heard 125 miles away. i'm richelle carey. "real money" is next. david shuster is in for ali velshi today. >> a very wealth whic wealthy ms about class warfare. and your local florist is asking for some love, and you may get some in return. i'm david shuster in for ali velshi, and this is real money.