differs from al qaeda because for the first time now they are controlling land. >> every saturday join us for exclusive, revealing and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time. >> only on al jazeera america. >> this is al jazeera america. live from new york city. i'm a tony harris with a look at today's top stories. israel's prime minister discuss plans to dissolve parliament, and hold elections. crossing the border. massive crowds demanding that the president step down amid the disappearance of 43 students.

>> political unrest in israel. prime minister benjamin netanyahu is discussing holding early elections. we have more now from jerusalem. >> reporter: it was a five-party coalition that never got on and it all came to an end with angry exchanges. netanyahu had the last word. he fired his critics. >> almost from the first moment, and maybe for other reasons in this government there was friction and there were opposing views. it is under the threat of ultimatums, and acts towards the government and at me. >> the government had been charged with divisions. finance minister had a showdown with netanyahu on monday night. he accused hip of deliberately dragging the country into an

unnecessary election. >> israel is not in an easy situation. our relations with the united states have been damaged severely because of the patronizing and sometimes insulting behavior. we could have worked together to fix it. >> major disagreements from netanyahu over the 2015 budget, defense spending and impede tax on first-time house buyers. the most outspoken opponent to netanyahu's met project, a bill that would make israel the nation state of the israel people. it would be discriminating towards palestinians. this government had become one of the most extreme in israeli history. he has already stood to be looking at formal lies in the past. and in his attempt at a fourth

term. whatever it is an election that many israelis don't really want. >> they decide there had are internal issues that are pushing them forwards elections. but at the end of the day it's not going to help the civilians, the people living in israel. >> i believe that it's not right to have elections now. it is too expensive. the country isn't in good shape any way. and many israels are living beneath the property line. >> there may be 120 seeds from the knesset, but putting together a coalition will always be a patch-work job, with no firm guarantee that it will all hold together. there is a lot of dealing ahead with the majority security issues and bloom over any chance of peace talks, the timing for an election is not good. andrew simmons, al jazeera, west jerusalem. >> france's parliament overwhelmingly voted to recognize palestine as a state.

the president has said he wants peace talks to start with israel before making a former decision. sweden has officially recognized palestine as a state while the u.k. spain and ireland all approved non-binding resolutions. the family of isil's mysterious leader has been caught illegally crossing the border. he and his wife and child were caught using syrian passports. the capture came after close coordination with western intelligence service. >> on tuesday morning the lebanese military announced they had picked up ten days ago a woman traveling from syria into lebanon across a border post on a false passport. she was traveling with a nine-year-old child, and they identified her as a wife offal baghdadi, and they did dna testing on the child to make

sure that it was al baghdadi's child. this is significant because the lebanese government are under increasing pressure to increase the pressure on soldiers who were taken in ambush in august near the border of syria. they are believed to be held by isil and the al nusra front on the border of syria. this woman and child could potentially be used for a prisoner swap. at 5:30 there was then an ambush, according to the lebanese military, near that area where soldiers were kidnapped back in the summer. in an area where theres with an ambush on lebanese soldiers there. it is believed that the lebanese army responded with artillery fire. it's not clear who is responsible for that attack, whether or not it was isil or the al nusra front, but it is known that both groups are active in ther. >> president obama is expected to nominate the next secretary

of defense. there was a lot of speculation that ashton carter, who has a long history at the pentagon s the leading candidate. we have a look at carter's resumé. >> reporter: ashton carter has been a fixture in the security world for years, and was the number two in charge of the pentagon. ash, as he's known to his friends, where he cut canceled an outdated acquisition plans. he would get better weapons to the troops and a better deal to the tax payers. he has taken controversial stands in 2006 when north korea was about to test it's new, long-range missile.

he has his bas bachelor's degree in physics. he went to yale and oxford, where he was a rhodes scholar. he has been called qualified and non-controversial. >> president obama's executive action on immigration comes after homeland security jay johnson defended the policy before a house committee looking at its impact on border security. how will republicans try to stop the president's executive actions on immigration? >> tony, this is really going to be an inter mural fight among republicans. right now republican leaders plan to do this, they only control the house for one more month. the senate right now is in

democratic hands. later this week they're likely to put something on the floor of the house to block president obama's executive action on immigration, something that has incensed republicans from all quarters. the bill on the house floor later this week is not going to go anywhere in the senate. now republicans will talk about trying to block funding come this spring. but there is resignation and system tans that in the short term there is very little that republicans can do to stop the president's plan from going forward. and they said as much in the capitol. >> we're looking at a number of options in terms of how do we address this. this is a serious preach of our constitution. it's a serious threat to our system of government, and frankly we have limited options and limited abilities to deal with it directly. >> so however leaders do ultimately deal with it, it is not going to be enough for

conservatives. some are still talking about a government shutdown as early as the middle of this month. some are still mentioning the iword, impeachment. >> how did the homeland security secretary respond to all this criticism over the president's actions? >> there is a lot of anger on the republican side. it was jay johnson homeland security secretary's turn to address some of that anger on the house side in the capitol today. basically the republicans had is this: what gives president obama the constitutional right to move forward unilaterally without congress and use executive actions to make legal some 4 million--potentially up to 4 million individuals who have a child in this country who is a legal resident or citizen. they looked at it every which way. they determined that the president is in solid ground. >> thank you.

lawyers for a texas death row inmate are making last-minute appeals to stop his execution, which is scheduled for tomorrow night. scott penettie's attorneys say that he suffers from mental illness, and putting him to death would cross moral lines. heidi what other arguments are his attorneys making in their appeal to the u.s. supreme court? >> reporter: they're asking the justices to consider whether the eighth amendment would protect panetti. that's an amendment against cruel and unusual punishment. they say severely mentally ill patient should not be subject to execution. this is a man for the past 36 years has struggled with paranoid schizophrenia. he was hospitalized 16 times prior to shooting and killing his in-laws in 1992.

his attorneys say that he was under delusions and he thought he was getting ready of th rid of the devil. and the problem is he was allowed to represent himself, dressing up as a cowboy. now they say that panetti has been on death row for 20ines without treatment to his illness, and he simply doesn't understand that his pending execution is for the crime that he committed. >> if scott panetti is executed on wednesday, we're taking a step that in this country is unprecedented. someone with his severe mental illness was permitted to represent himself in this trial

and we will have crossed a moral line. >> panetti, whether he has a factual and rational understanding of his punishment, there is a cause-effect relationship between the murders he committed and his impending execution. >> the american couple stuck in qatar after the death of their daughter will soon be headed home. qatar lifted the travel ban for them to return home. immigration officials seized their passports when they tried to leave the country. the captain of the concordia cruise ship was charged in italy. 32 people died when the ship ran aground. the ship remained partially submerged for more that two years before it was salvaged.

four others pleaded guilty and are serving prison time. top executives from all four major sports leagues answered questions about how they deal with domestic violence. it's been a heated issue since surveillance sho video showed running back ray rice hitting his wife in an elevator. >> it's a first time that sports leagues have been on capitol hill. they pointed out how the league mishandled the domestic violence incidents recently, but also pointed out that the none of the commissions from the nfl, mba, nba, or nhl, all citing previous commitments. >> i committed my life's work

for the last 20 years as an advocate against domestic violence in an effort to keep others from experiencing this lifetime pain. i relate to the 20 million victims, survivors of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and everacross our great nation. >> the committee grilled about the surveillance video of ray rice striking his wife. >> senator, the first video, heartless, gutless, despicable, i don't think there was a need for a second video to impose the proper discipline. we failed in that area. the commissioner has

acknowledged that. our office acknowledged that. we made a critical mistake. >> it's going to be a busy vehicle foweek for vincent, and he must also testify during adrian peterson's hearings as well. vincent told him the games he missed would be considered as well. >> thank you. president obama said the fight against ebola is still an urgent priority, even if it no longer dominates the news. president obama met with researchers working on an experimental ebola vaccine. the nih said that the tests show that the vaccine appears to be safe in humans, but the president said that the fight against ebola is far from over.

>> with much of the progress we've made and the progress we still need to make, depends on funding. it's an expensive enterprise, and that funding is running out. we cannot beat ebola without more funding. >> the president has requested more than $6 billion from congress to help fight the virus in west africa and security against its spread in the united states. a call to action in mexico residents call for the president to resign. his plans for reform coming up. also rush's economy is sliding towards recession, and sanctions by the west could be playing a part.

>> mexico's embattled president,

violence broke out in the capitol after weeks of peaceful protest against president enrique pena nieto. many are calling for him to step down. mass protest against police with 48 students still missing. alleged attackers are still speaking out. >> many took part of this video. they're calling for a global day of action to take place tomorrow. they want people in the u.s. to also take part. they say this would not be for the missing 43 students but parents and thousands of people across mexico. also mexican actors took place of this viral video called "what's happening in mexico." they want to raise awareness about the violence and impunity

in their country. watch. >> if you're mexican, and ever been. >> mugged, kidnapped, abused, raped or lost someone that you know to crime. >> then you know. how can you forget about it. >> this is a knew beginning where we demand our government to fulfill their obligations. if the government cannot meet their obligations, the government must resign. >> and protesters say they not only want justice for the missing students, they're calling for the president to resign. >> thank you. earlier i spoke with christie thornton, a latino american historian candidate and board member of the north american congress, and i asked her what she thought about municipal police reforms announced by the president.

>> we're the good guys. >> exactly. he wants to federalize the police forces. >> power grab? it feels like it might be. >> i don't think--mexico has always been a very presidential kind of political system. >> right. >> but this is one in which he's trying to say this is not the federal government's problem. this is a problem on the local level, and what the protesters are saying they don't buy it. there is no way that they think that's true. >> which leads me to my next question. is there history that suggests that reforms of this nature work at roo rooty out corruption at the local level and winning back the trust of the local people? >> there has not been that history because president pena nieto's party ruled for 70 years

before losing power. it has been really strong. >> the activists are calling on congress to withhold aid funding to mexico until they fully address the crisis. in hong kong protest leaders are urging students to end their sit-in. sara clark with more. >> reporter: it was a very emotional address made by the three founders of the occupied hong kong movement, which started this campaign around 64 days ago. they announced that they would surround to police tomorrow around 3:00 local time, and they asked and appealed to the students here to retreat. they consider this site now a dangerous place. they say the police action is now out of control. having said that they also asked

for the movement to continue. they want to transform that movement and they want to get it off the streets, they want to keep it peaceful, and they want the campaign now to be one of peace and community campaign as something that it maintains on the streets. but they also said that they would respect the students' decision if they decide to stay. >> russian president vladimir putin announced he's scrapping the pipeline to europe. it is the latest round in an economic war over russia and the west in the ukraine. ali? >> reporter: it is really the first battle over pipeline. putin made the announcement, he said that he plans to send more gas to the turk who is are looking to become the regional

hub of transportation. what they're scrapping--it was not all of their choice, but they're scrapping a south treatment pipeline, i appreciated this aactually featured this last week. this would move gas from bulgaria, italy, austria and points in western europe. the pipeline would have skirted ukraine entirely. the pipelines send up to half of moscow's gas exports to the we west. putin complained that the sanctions forced him to scrap that thing. and of course we know those sanctions were imposed because of russia's interventions. pop line it does not affect any amount of gas that is going from russia to europe, it just doesn't now. they're going to be going through turkey, and for all other complications that that entails.

>> oh, yes, when it comes to the pipeline, does the west win one here? why not thwith the russians in the cold war that we're seeing. >> putin quit before they could fire him. this is a draw. still the gas comes from russia. largely in europe they con sunny a lot of natural gas. they don't frack for it. they get it from ships or from qatar. they don't have enough of those shipping terminals. poland is building a big one but for now gas comes through pipes from russia. last year the u.s. and others did scrap a rival pipeline that would have skirted russia all together, but scrapping that russia won that round. hard to know in the energy battles who actually wins and

who actually loses. >> the russian economy is definitely taking a hit. i think we can all agree on that. how bad could it get for russia? >> it just got worse because of the plummet in oil pricing. the sanctions in june, july, august, that was really taking a toll in the russian economy. a lot of investors pulled rubles, and then oil, which is a big part of the economy, the price of oil dropped more than 30%. moscow expects the russian economy to get into the recession. the russian economy did say that the economic output will shrink. that is expected to hit russian households and will take 2.8%

out of their collective disposal income. we know what that means, the russian huma human ruble has devalued. >> ali velshi here at the top of the hour here on al jazeera america. general motors is recalling hundreds of thousands of vehicles because their headlights will stop working. the automaker said it is unclear if the defect has led to any crashes. this is g.m.'s 79th recall in north america so far this year. coming up on the program, a look at what washington is doing in the wake of michael brown's shooting death. we will talk with a member of congress, and a massive backout in detroit leaves businesses and schools in the dark.

>> hundreds of days in detention. >> al jazeera rejects all the charges and demands immediate release. >> thousands calling for their freedom. >> it's a clear violation of their human rights. >> we have strongly urged the government to release those journalists. >> journalism is not a crime. >> both president obama and attorney general eric holder

calling for change in the wake of the unrest in ferguson, missouri, death of michael brown. president obama is calling for the purchase of body cameras. the speech was greeted by hecklers. >> what we saw was a genuine eggs progression of concern and involvement. >> holder has announced new standards in efforts to end racial profiling. congressman gregory meeks, member of the congressional black caucus. look, a pleasure. what do you think of the president's request for

$263 million from congress, a request to bu buy 50,000 camera to be worn by police. >> my thoughts are exactly what the president said. he has two years left, and he's focused on trying to resolve some of the issues that we have until the united states as it pertains to the african-american community and police. one of those mechanisms so that we can eliminate some of the questions that come forward at times is the cameras with technology today we should have the ability to do things that we did not have the ability to do in the past. so cameras that will record taking place is good for the police, and it's good for civilians. so it makes a lot of sense to me. >> congressman, with respect to the families who have lost black males to police encounterer

encounters in recent years and going into the unrest of ferguson s the high profile nation of these cases and a 24 hour news cycle creating a narrative that is not supported necessarily by data, and the narrative that i'm talking about here is that there is open season on african-american males by police in this country. dubai into that narrative? >> here's what i think the reality is. you have a video where african-american males especially have been racially profiled and pulled over on a greater basis than anyone else. i think this is factual a situation where you have a number of police officers who don't know or don't have a relationship with individuals in the african-american community,

and as a result you do have a number of cases where police officers have shot unarmed african-american males. we had one subsequent to mr. brown in new york in one of the public housing developments. the male happened to be shot dead. in ohio, young male 12 years old shot dead. you can go and you can go to my district a few years back sean bell shot dead. those are things that are not made up. then you have a scenario where african-american males especially feel often times victimized. if you talk to parents of young african-american mails they will tell you that they tell their children, they tell their sons of what to do if you are ever stopped by th the police. when i talk to black police officers, they tell me that they

tell their sons so make thorough that this does not happen. >> so you pointed out an issue that i think deserves more attention. that's racial profiling. why has the racial profiling act been stalled in congress and could it get back in the agenda in this new congress? >> well, i would hope so. >> largely it is scald because you have a number of members, especially from now the majority party of the house of representatives, who want to bring the bell up to the floor, and therefore, we don't have the votes to pass it. our goal is to try to work with some of the--especially the republican members. if you listen to some of the remarks yesterday that the congressional black caucus held on the floor of the house, they're reaching out and saying we want some of our republican colleagues to look at the facts,

maybe then we can pass on legislation that can be good not just for those areas like ferguson and new york, but good for all of america where we can try to improve the relationships that we have currently. because there is no denying the fact that we've come a long way with regards to race relations in america. there is no question about that. but we still have a long way to go. we're not in a post racial america. racism is still alive and well in the united states. >> congressman, as a practical matter. since state and county prosecutors work with local law enforcement, shouldn't an impartial agency investigate police-involved shootings and when appropriate prosecute shootings to avoid any thought of bias? any perception of bias? >> i think a couple of things. number one, in ferguson i believe that that prosecutor

should have stepped aside because he had prejudged on the evidence any way. you don't present a case to the grand jury in the manner that he does. i'm a former prosecutor. i was presented cases to the grand jury previously, and i know you don't do it in a way that this prosecutor did it. you don't try the case and prove all of the facts, etc. to the grand jury. that's not the purpose of the grand jury. the purpose of the grand jury is to show that there is probable cause to believe that a crime is committed. you don't present all the evidence or witnesses, that is something for a jury to do. they have to decide a case beyond a reasonable doubt. >> should prosecutors be more the rule than the exception in cases of police-involved shootings? >> well, i think that there should be cases with special prosecutors are involved, and i think that the da should know when they should step aside. but i also think that here is where there is a responsibility for the people of ferguson, or

the local folks no matter what the town is, these folks have to get out and vote. you elect those prosecutors, so you want someone who is there that you know, but really is going to respec represent the people. i bring out oftentimes in new york where in brooklyn new york, where you had a prosecutor who the people decided they did not have any more confidence in. they elected someone else. and they have confidence in that prosecutor in king's county. just as they've done in some of the other boroughs. now there are times, though, where--and i think you have to take it on a case by case basis. >> thank you for your time. congressman gregory meeks joining us from capitol hill. in today's power politics, in a louisiana senate race the political world is buzzing over the remarkably harsh debate held

last night. >> this was a heated debate dominated by controversies democratic incumbent senator mary landrieu accused candidate cassidy of using taxpayer money to take charter flights to campaign events and they collided over discrimination. >> senator landrieu made a statement that some how president obama was not being viewed favorbly because we have a history of racism in the south. i think just because you disagree with the president does not make a racist. >> i said the south has not always been the friendliest place for our african-americans, and it's also been a region that is not quickly recognized the leadership of women. i will make no apology for something that is a historical fact. >> the run off election for louisiana is saturday.

in the obama care enrollment, officials say that sign ups have been strong. a year ago in the first two months of the sign up the total was 137,000. the sign up period this year in addition to a working website has been accompanied by a new television campaign. >> i was very surprised about the affordable rates. >> budget-wise it worked for my financial situation. >> now i can afford it. it came down to pure dollars and cents. >> no matter how up be upbeat that ad campaign, ohio senator rob portman just pulled himself out of contention saying, quote,

i don't think i can run for president and being an effective senator at the same time. while i appreciate the encouragement, my focus will remain on ohio, and running for re-election to the senate i in 2016. one of the pro gay marriage presidential candidate ohio senator announced his support for same-sex marriage la year, two years after his son came out as gay. jeb bush, the governor spoke to a wall street dinner last night. >> i'm thinking about running for president, and i'll make up my mind in short order, not that far out to the future. i don't know the exact timeline. >> bush told the audience he's asking himself if he has the skills to run in a way that lifts people's spirits and not get what he said get sucked in the vortex. he then mentioned another

consideration. >> perhaps more important can i do it where the sacrifice for my family is tolerable? >> bush noted it's a pretty ugly business in the world of presidential politics. in the u.s. congress can get ugly. negotiators are trying to work out a deal in government funding. the issue of immigration reform has dominated the discussions. several discussions infuriated about the executive action and threatened to shut down the government. on the other side there is senator harry reid. he said for many families the president's actions saved thanksgiving. >> many immigrant families celebrated holidays together for the first time without the threat of someone knocking on their door. in a police uniform. these people now, instead of staying in the shadows, their holiday is not threatened to be ruined. >> that's right. their holiday has not been ruined and they're having a good

time. perhaps they've been watching stephen cor colbert. >> you're here for the colbert bomb. is this a trial pool alone to be secretary of glens i was thinking about running for president again? what do you think? >> you would have the full resources of the colbert report at your back in 2016, if we're still on the air. >> the colbert report is going off the air later this month because he's becoming late night host next fall on cbs. many have to assume that next year his guest also include senator john mccain. >> appreciate it. thank you. let's go check other news across the headlines. >> reporter: police in west virginia say revenge is the

motive for monday's shooting were spree. he fatally shot the rival tow truck firm and then later killed himself in a pick up truck. he said he was deeply hurt by the event that led to the killings. 21-year-old shane month comery was last seen early on thanksgiving day at kildare's irish publish. he left on foot at 2:00 a.m. he has not been seen on any surveillance footage in the area he was last seen. new york city's mayor wants to change with how the city deals with mentally ill suspects. he said that those suspects should be in treatment facilities not behind bars. the plan includes training police to be able to identify these suspects and then sending them to treatment centers. the overall comes after two

inmates who suffered from mental illness died in jail. power slowly returning to detroit after a mastiff black out this morning. the outage closed city hall and all detroit public schools were dismissed early. bisi onile-ere reports. >> the city's aging electrical grid is to blame for this power outage. over 900 locations primarily here in downtown detroit were affected, but the lights are slowly coming back on. as you can imagine when the outage first hit it caused a lot of confusion. a number of buildings had to be evacuated over 700 traffic signals were out. 36 fire stations were without power. electricity was cut to over 80 schools, and some people were even stuck in elevators. the detroit mayor mike duncan held a press conference, he blamed the black out on the city's crumbling infrastructure. out of the bankruptcy the city is getting out of the business of the lighting department, and

an energy department will soon take over. mayor duggen talked about where the city is at in that transition. >> dte is in the process of building a $200 million system to serve these customers because the dpd system was so far gone it just could not be salvaged. and so we're in the early phases of this four-year process. >> throughout all of this the city of detroit never lost 911 dispatch, and the mayor said that no one was seriously hurt. the power is expected to be fully restored by night's end. bisi onile-ere, al jazeera, detroit. >> also in detroit police are asking residents for help finding a man who set fire to an apartment building. the crime was caught on a surveillance video. you can see the man walking into the building sunday and pouring gasoline on the floor before setting fire.

a sprinkler system put out the fire and police say all the residents, including the dog, are safe. but they're asking for help from the public to identify that man. >> you know how many stories we tell of smoke alarms and sprinkler systems not working. >> this one worked. >> yes, this one worked. >> a drought-stricken california is getting much needed rain today, but it may be too much too quickly. officials are worried that wildfires have left them vulnerable to flooding and mudslides. we're live in glendora. jennifer, have you seen the worst of this storm yet? >> tony, i don't believe we've seen the worst of the storm. forecasters are saying that the heaviest rain will fall later this afternoon into the evening, increasing fears for possible mudslides and heavy debris flows. tony, you said it, too much to quickly. and here in the city of glendo glendora, 30 miles east of los angeles, they're bracing for

the worst. in january earlier this year. glendora was hit with a massive wildfire that burned 2,000 acres, and that wildfire basic denuded the hillside that surround the homes here. without plants or trees on the hillside, it makes it vulnerable for giving way, if you will, when too much water comes down too fast on the ground and it's not able to absorb it. there are voluntary evacuations in order for the city of glendora. they have left some high schoolers go home early telling parents to come pick you have your kids. school is closed for the day, and they have distributed 18,000 sandbag earlier today. we visited the distribution center in glendora. we spoke with one woman, who told us about the precautions she has been taking. >> i've been buying plastic, and i have tarps and drop clothes because what i'm doing is putting the plastic first, and

then i'm putting the sandbags up against it, so the water won't come in, and then drop cloths on top of it. >> as i mention there had is a voluntary evacuation order in effect tony, officials say that they do reserve the right to make that a mandatory evacuation order if the weather warrants it. >> let's check in with kevin now who has more on this sizable storm. >> it is a big storm, tony. they had a little bit of a break on monday. but monday night really kicked in, and three inches of rain we've seen. let's take a big look at the picture. we have an area of low pressure out here in the pacific. it's stationary and now it's beginning to move towards the east. let's take a look at all the rain in play. you can see how it's crept in, and almost all of california has

seen rain. we do have watches and warnings in effect. flash flood watches in effect for southern california as well as we do have a flash flood warning in effect for parts of san bernardino county. and we're talking about that being in effect until 7:00 p.m. pacific time for them. we do expect to see the rain overnight. let's take a look at what we expect to see. in southern california, another 200 inches expected. up towards northern california we expect to see three to five more inches, and in northern cal, more snow. >> michael: tha >> that is significant. thank you. appreciate it. they're called burn pits. areas on military bases where waste is burned, and it could expose tens of thousands of residents to toxins.

minimum wage workers now in a political fight.

>> 10,000 veterans say they were exposed to toxins. they say it came from the burning of waste on military bases. america tonigh tonight's sheila mcvicar has more for us. >> the burn pits some as big as an acre in size operated on bases in afghanistan where u.s. troops were based. those pits were used to burn everything from tires, medical waste, and some of the veterans we have spoken to said that they were continually exposed to the smoke that it drifted over their living quarters and where they worked. >> i have lost a lot, and i don't like being like this. >> 35-year-old anthony thornton suffers from a rare and

aggressive form of brain cancer. >> i don't remember everybody's names. thedoctors had to take out the left part of his brain. he has troubles speaking. can't read any more and has trouble keeping up with his three-year-old daughter. he believes he got sick from toxins he was exposed to while serving his country. massive open air burn pits like this operated on u.s. military bases across iraq and afghanistan at the height of the wars more than 250 bases burned their trash, releasing large plumes of black smoke into the air. >> during the daytime it was solid black. you could smell it. >> it's not just anthony

thornton, there are 25,000 veteran who is have signed the burn pit registry, and contractors, civilian who is worked on u.s. bases are reporting illnesses as well. >> sheila mcquicke mcvicar, you can see much more at 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. pacific time. political maneuver that is causing a big fight. rahrahm emmanuel pushed through an minimum wage,, and we have more from chicago. >> reporter: dogma enoughing to get just what he wanted on the city's minimum wage. he said that he was tired waiting on springfield lawmakers at the state capitol to do the job. and he said that he's on solid league ground to do that by evoking what is called home

rules, the right of the city to governor itself apart from the rest of the state considering the cost of live something cheaper than the rest of the state. now it rais raises minimum wage from $8.25 and topping out at $.13 by 2019. the ordinance has been pushed because there is talk that lawmakers this month might pass a law for bidding emmanuel to act on his own, so he wanted to beat them to the punch. opponents from the new ordinance think it will be bad for business. but stoppers say they should not worry. >> the cost gas up, and you have to do one of two things. you have to raise prices or reduce hours to compensate for that increase. >> it gives people the bottom of the economical more money in their pock. what we know is if you put money in your hands in the folks of

peoplat the bottom of the economic ladder, they spend it. >> he said he's doing the minimum wage to gain favor with minimum wage voters. but he has opponents who are asking for minimum wage to be raised to $15 an hour ultimately. he's getting it on both sides. >> coming up, former british prime minister's viral christmas card going viral. >> russia is locked in a new cold war with the west. i'll tell you how pipelines are a big part of the strategy. plus the start up where few have gone before. space, the moon, and beyond. all that and more on real money.

>> so a quick update on the weather situation in california. we just learned in the last few minutes that mandatory evacuations are being ordered in camarillo springs. we will keep you updated throughout the evening here. okay, this is one of the stories of the day. former british prime minister tony blair was trying to send holiday cheer, but his christmas carved ha card has turned into a viral. >> yes, tony player and his wife. it seems that those teeth follow you around the room. twitter users have been having fun with that comparing that smile to friends, and grant wood, and even this guy from wallace and gromet. >> the brother is a little tight. he's a little tight. it's definitely the teeth,

yes, one person wrote if this was the best photo he had, imagine what the rest were like. >> yes, "real money with ali velshi" is next on al jazeera america. >> it's the new cold war and russian economy is taking a beating as vladimir putin takes on the west. plus giving pregnant workers protection from boss who is want to take them off the job. the supreme court is set to hear a case that may permanently change life for women in the workplace. had and i'll introduce you to the start ups in an effort to win the modern day space race. i'm ali velshi, and this is real money.