news. we'll see you next time in washington. i'm ray suarez. ♪ welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we're following for you. the debate over same-sex marriage taking center stage in michigan, while they protest a gay right's bill in arizona. >> i really don't feel like i have any other choice. >> a look at the silent army across america who are caring for the aging loved ones in the nation. plus why some syrian refugees are making refuge in

yemen. and unique qualities of dogs that are helping the nation's vets. ♪ we begin in arizona, governor jan brewer facing pressure from inside her own party having to do with the state's controversial bill that many believe to be anti-gay. that bill allows business owners to turn away business to customers simply because of their sexual orientation. >> reporter: arizona is gearing up for a fight. >> it feels like it opens the door for discrimination in a huge brood spectrum the way the bill is written. i mean i feel like we could get kicked out of a restaurant.

and now the bill that could get business owners the right to refuse service to gays and lesbians, based on strong religious beliefs is one signature away from becoming law. last week, arizona house and senate passed the republican-backed bill. in washington where center john mccain took to twitter wall -- calling for jan brewer's veto. >> this bill gives people the power to excuse you from commerce, and if i can do that, i can excuse you from society itself. >> reporter: 21 other states allowed bills that discriminated

on sexual orientation. >> i believe in what the bible says. >> reporter: the state investigated a discrimination claim and ultimately the bakery shut down after the public backlash. back in arizona large companies like american airlines and apple are urging the governor to veto the bill, and that includes the nfl. the super bowl is scheduled to be played next year near phoenix. >> we had four companies call us to tell us that we will be dropped from their list as a potential investment location unless the governor vetoes the bill. >> reporter: the governor hasn'ten come down one way or another, but time is running out. >> i have got plenty of time. >> reporter: plenty of time, these voices say to sway her decision. meanwhile attorney general

eric holder offering advice on same-sex marriage bans. he says ignore them. he says states attorneys general are not obligated to defend the bans. six states attorney general all democrats are already refused to defend those bans. in michigan a lesbian couple is not being allowed to adopt each other's children. bisi onile-ere family rights at the center of this debate. >> reporter: they are, del. the couple behind this lawsuit filed it after learning that they couldn't jointly adopt their three children. they are blocked by a michigan law that bans gay marriage. it was passed back in 2004. the state is arguing right now

that parents who have heterosexual are better equipped to raise children. the women behind this suit are fighting back saying that no, same-sex couples are just as capable of raising kids. you can see behind me there are protesters. people really ignited about this issue. and amanda joining me now. thank you for joining us. you said it is really important for you to be here today, why? this >> absolutely. for two reasons. one i am married to a woman, and we have two beautiful children, and unfortunately my spouse could not adopt our children in michigan. so we had to go out of state to accomplish that, and no one should have to do that. second of all, i am an attorney here in michigan and my law partner and i represent a lot of gay and lesbian clients who are dealing with these issues regarding family and child custody issues, and it is

unacceptable. so it's time for michigan to step up about protect the kids. >> reporter: some will argue the voters made their voices here in 2004 when they voted to ban gay marriage here in michigan. what is your reaction. >> human rights and civil rights are not up to popular vote. i'm sure if we had a vote in some southern states about whether blacks and whites should marry, we would lose that vote today. so civil rights are not up to popular vote. >> thank very much. i'm hold by a lot of experts who are watching this case that this is a situation that will

likely reach the supreme court. >> thank you very much. president obama telling the pentagon to get ready to bring u.s. troops home from afghan. he said he had a conversation with the afghan president. he said since karzai is unlikely to sign a security pack, american should prepare to remove troops by the end of this year. riot police going on the stage monday night in kiev begging for forgiveness. saying they were sorry for the actions of their colleagues. demonstrators yelled shame on you as the men walked through the crowd. the officers say they aren't involved in the shootings, but ask forgiveness for those who were. jennifer glasse is in

independence square in kiev where the mall is once again open for business. >> reporter: life is getting back to normal, the subways are running again, people are going to work. this is a shopping mall underneath the square. it had been closed for about a week as people tried to get their lives back to normal, and that includes the government. they are trying to put together an interim government. they say they expect to happen on thursday. the people at independence square have called for transparency. and speaking of the past, former president, viktor yanukovych remains on the run. his last known location according to the new interior ministry was krimia in the

south. but they are preparing an arrest warrant for yanukovych for the crime of mass murder of civilians. people even though they have gone back to work come on their launch hour. children coming being brought by their parents andment coming after school to lay flowers on the graves of the people who died here. people want to make sure what they died for is not in vain. they are watching the government closely, and they want to make sure it's the kind of ukraine they are building that they fought for, for months. dozens of students dead in a school in nigeria. it happened in the northeastern region of that country. right now we'll being told by death toll stands at 40.

boek -- boek ka harran is being blamed for attack. many refugees from syria are now heading yemen. [ technical difficulties ] >> reporter: in just a few minutes an air raid by syrian army jets turned this three-story house to rubble. >> we used to live in peace and

we were able to make due with what we had. suddenly trouble began. >> reporter: now they live in yemen, their elder daughter is pregnant from a failed marriage with an old saudi. the second daughter is also married to a old man from yemen who refuses to take his wife home. and with a young son unemployed, the family lives on handouts. this young man a university student from syria has launched an unregistered charity along with others. >> translator: with priority of

families of martyrs and widows. we also help them with cash and try to help them with as many problems as they can. they are denied residency. most of their children can't join schools. and they can't find jobs and the few who can, get meager salaries. >> reporter: now most family members and other syrians who fled to yemen were allowed to fill out applications as asylum seekers. they pay for yemen visa extensions every three months. it has been more than a month but some residents in charleston, west virginia still won't drink the water. and dogs are a man's best

friend but dogs that help soldiers, that is a story in itself. dollars an hour... ten...twelve hours a day... >> caring for the caregivers, on al jazeera america

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.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. in charleston, west virginia, some residents say they still won't drink the water. kimberly reports. >> reporter: when this woman learned the drinking water in her state capitol, charleston was contaminated, she acted quickly to keep our customers coming back she knew she could no longer rely on tap water for her three restaurants. >> they are all running on bottled water. >> reporter: but she is now spending about $5,000 extra month so her customers have bottled water with their meals. she says she is paying the price of mismanagement. the chemical's company failure

to maintain its storage tanks. on the 9th of january, one of those tanks sprung a leak. and a chemical pored into the nearby river and into the water supply of 300,000 residents. the charleston mayor is furious the owners of the company have filed for bankruptcy protection, and now it's almost impossible for citizens to suit for compensation. >> the damage to our brand will be carried on for years. >> reporter: in the past two years charleston has spent more than $50 million revitalizing its downtown economy. now it is fear that news of the leak will drive away any hope of future investment and tourism dollars. west virginia's economic fate

has long been tied to the coal industry. it is one of the poor estatess -- poor estates in the u.s. and it needs jobs. >> all we have is big special interest in the state. i feel like to some extent they must have the idea that they have bought a certain amount of reprieve, and i'm not naive enough to doubt that that is the case. >> reporter: so for now thousands like her are left to absorb the cost of the industrial spill and reflect on their relationship with big business. ♪ wall street seems to be looking for direction at this hour. the dow up 15 points right now.

it has been up and down all day long. the case schiller survey of 20 major cities showing that home prices in december soared 13.5% this year. and prices for luxury homes are jumping. the average price of a home -- its home increased by 22% last year. it helped hits fourth quarter profits to rise by more than 900%. the head of alabama security commission issuing aern waing about bitcoin. those comments come as the website for one of the largest bitcoin exchange shut down today. an increasing number of elderly americans are unable to care for themselves. up next, we'll tell you about a silent army that is stepping up and becoming caregivers for our nation's loved ones.

plus an amazing story about dogs helping out veterans with post tau -- traumatic stress syndrome. ♪ 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.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. here are our headlines at that hour. in michigan two detroit nurses are challenging that state's ban on same-sex marriage. their trial began this morning. the couple wants to adopt each other'ser children. the state says that is against the law. president obama set to unveil a manufacturing initiative that he hopes will create jobs. uncertainty in ukraine, parliament delaying the formation of a new government until thursday. the acting president now warning of the risk of separatism. we all grow old sooner or later. there is one question all of will be facing, and when that

happens it will be two takes care of me? often that responsibility falls on your family. >> she said just promise me one thing, that you will take care of dad. that was my mother's only dying request of me. and i said i would. of course. >> reporter: to hear her tell it, her father robert was more than a good provider, he was larger than life. a successful artist, a jazz enthusiast, a world traveler who sent his 20s living in europe. >> if there was one word you could used to describe him what would it be? this >> renaissance man. >> reporter: ho did everything? >> he could do so many things. he was so talented. >> yeah, this is me as a child, and this turned out to be my first car. >> reporter: when did you

realize that something was changing with your father? >> about five years ago. how would you like to eat it now? are you hungry? okay. have a carrot, raisin and banana salad. he started to become forgetful. couldn't remember the sequence of events of yesterday for example. i discovered at some point that he hadn't been opening his bank statements for more than a year. i just said dad, i'm taking more your finances. give me all the stuff, and then i spent about the next five months dealing with his bank, getting power of attorney. making him stop driver because he had his license taken away. rrl really pretty. >> yeah. >> reporter: maria is one of the 40 million americans considered informal care giver.

according to a 2013 aarp study, people like her are at the forefront of ament doing care gap. by 2030, the ratio will fall to 4 to 1. three-quarters of today's family caregivers are also holding down jobs. in order to work she had to enroll her father in adult day care. the cost for his adult day care and part-time professional caregiver is nearly $36,000 a year. luckily for her, her father purchased long-term care insurance. >> he bought this long-term care insurance and forgot about it the next day. >> reporter: even with the insurance her life revolved around her father.

earn wants a life. and to what extent is your personal life suffering from this? >> don't feel like i have a choice. >> reporter: has this made you change how you view your future? >> yes. >> reporter: how so? >> i don't want my daughter to ever have to go through this. if she sees me starting to decline, just let me go down to the desert and dry up and -- you know, not come visit >> reporter: you can't be serious about that. you are suggesting that your daughter leave you alone and go ahead and continue to live her life. >> uh-huh. >> reporter: really? >> i won't want to burden her with having to take care of me. i wouldn't want her to be burdened with that. ♪

i'm meteorologist dave warren these storms are tracking to the south now over the next few days as we get this cold air that is pushed in from the north. a little disturbance moving through west virginia, virginia, and the mid-atlantic. just some light snow. and the cold air is here pushing south, another storm will track off of the coast and intensify a little bit. this will be followed by bitter cold arctic air. another shot of that cold arctic air coming in. last look at the snow. and here is the cold air. let's get ready for another shot of arctic air, bill.

>> dave thank you very much. as part of our special series, deciphering dogs, we went to a facility for psychiatric service dogs. >> reporter: dogs have two great gifts, an incredible sense of smell and unmatched ability to follow instructions of human beings. a new category of trained canine, psychiatric service dogs help veterans suffering from posttraumatic stress, brain drama, and physical injuries. mary runs operation freedom paws. one of the few organizations in the united states that provides these dogs to veterans. >> we train them to train their own service dogs. >> reporter: she now trains dogs for tasks that help

anxiety-plagued human beings. >> the dogs can learn whatever you tell them. block, watch my back. >> reporter: research has suggested that dogs can smell the signs of cancer and diabetes, and she says they can also smell anxiety and defuse it. >> they know what your normal chemistry and scent is, so when you get anxious, your adrenalin or your chord sol goes up. they know it. we take that ability to scent and turn it into a task. >> reporter: this organization receives no government funding, and the idea that these dogs can have threat putic benefit hasn't been adequately studied. but to spend a few hour with

these dogs, is to meet people who have been transformed by these dogs. >> with her, i'm able to have a communication with my wife. i'm able to actually talk to my wife and spend time with them. >> reporter: the human-dog team receives more than 300 hours of training at a cost of roughly $10,000 for dog which is covered by donations and grants. >> at the very end they go through six and a half hours of a public access test where they must demonstrate everything that they have learned and that they are effectively using the dog. >> reporter: the results at least for the 156 clients so far, seem to bring together the best qualities of dogs in the interest of restoring the best parts of being human. >> she is telling me that we're okay. we're okay? yes. yes. yes. yes. >> jacob ward, al jazeera,

gillroi, california. we want to leaf you with images of northern lights shining brightly. a nature photographer captured the images as they shown over the norwegian skies there. i'm del walters in new york, "the stream" is next. >> hi, you are in the stream. a program designed to revolutionize how the kids in low income areas are taught. a hash tag is discussing where the group is living up to its mission. >> we have all of the live feedback throughout the