around the world. the effects that could have here at home. we're on facebook and twitter and you can tweet me. we'll see you next time. . >> this is aljazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. possible nominee to be the new defense secretary, what you need to know about the likely person to lead the pentagon. >> ferguson unrest, a gut wrenching cry of despair or inciting a rye idea? police investigating michael brown's stepfather.

>> a weekup call for american american cities. >> 3-2-1. >> plus tis the season, perhaps the only thing republicans and democrats can agree on, tonight, the history of the capitol tree. >> he is a physicist and expert in mid evil history and may very well be the next defense secretary. his name is ashton carter. president obama tapped him to replace chuck hagel but how would he change the pentagon. we have details. the man who appears in line to be president obama's fourth secretary of defense has been a fixture in the national security world for years and most recently was the number two in charge at the pentagon. >> ashton carter who likes to be called ash made his mark as a top weapons buyer sheparding in a 10 year plan to safe

$500 billion. he lifted two priorities, getting better weapons to the troops and getting the public a better deal. >> my second priority has been to deliver better buying power to the taxpayers and the war fighters for their defense dollars. >> at times, carter has with senator john mccain. now the incoming send foreon the armed services committee said while they bat would about weapons, that contain has called carter qualified and non-controversial but he has taken controversial stands. carter advocate add preemptive strike that would destroy the missile on the launch pad. he wrote in an opinion piece co authored with william perithat the united states should immediately make clear its intention to strike and destroy the missile before it can be

launched. north korea could respond by taking the drastic step of threatening all out war an the peninsula but is unlikely to act on the threat. it was risky and is an invitation not likely to take. his farewell ceremony, joint chiefs chairman described carter as a middle aged uber worm. >> makes hearts flutter. >> incoming chairman in my said he is more likely to focus on the administration strategy, than carter's personal performance. >> all right, jami mcintire, thank you. joining us now is a retired

military man. is he a viable candidate? >> he is vile. he's qualified to manage the bureaucracy. he's been in the bureaucracy most of his life, highly qualified academically. restructured the f35 program, no small thing. it was his idea to do the pivot to asia. just antagonized the chinese, it's not clear what we're supposed to positive have it to. he was behind the afghan church. the jury's still out, not going well, i don't think we are going to come out of afghanistan, it was his surge, his concepts. those two are his. going forward now i'm concerned about what is necessary is actually teg a president no, mr. president, we he can't do this. rather than going along with the

flow. maybe that is what the white mouse is seeking. >> he's never served in the military. >> that's correct that you can be the ultimate roadie, put up the concert tents and make sure the lighting is all good to make sure everything is ok on stage. he's been the ultimate roadie, the guy behind the scenes going the hard technical issues, but he's never been like panetta or gates who's not been in the uniform, but have done hard things to make hard leader chirp decisions. we clearly need new policies on technology, he's a very smart technology guy, but not clearly suited an policy issues rewarding national security, including syria and russia. >> based on what you said, it

sounds like he's going to have trouble getting through a republican controlled contest. >> they will have questions rewarding his numbers. hagel's confirmation hearings were no cake walk. i think there was issue there that he was able to explain away. they're going to ask will you be able to manage the policies of the united states without white house interference. i don't think he'll answer that honestly. i think he'll say they can, but i don't know if it's an honest answer. >> what priorities would the candidate have? >> first, you've got to get rid of isil. secondly, ukraine, you've got to figure out a way to deal with the russians so we don't

antagonize them earlier. they got weapons, a across agreement and china are the big three regional issues. the f35 needs to go away. it's not going to be able to perform mission's advertise. we need a look at cyber praises. i'm working to put together a seminar. we need to look at the future of cyber sovereignty. those with the big people he he has to deal with. this is not about understanding the candidates of the bureaucracy. >> you think he's the wrong choice? >> i do. i don't think he's the right choice. i have a hard time with career bureaucrats. they tend to dig in and be bureaucratic. he's the ultimate bureaucrat. it's not a bad thing. if your job is to administer

programs to behavioral implement policy, that's wonderful. in this case, he he's got a direct and established policy and again, as i opened with, the two things he has done that i don't think turned out well was the pivot to asia and the this whole afghanistan surge wimp i don't think will come out with a lot of benefit for us from that. >> on capitol hill today, republicans bashed president obama's executive actions on immigration. homeland security secretary jay johnson faced the angry committee panel defending the plan. hike has more. >> republicans are unified in one respect. they all agree they want to roll back president obama's executive actions on immigration. they are having a hard time with the strategy. there's little they can do at least in the short term to stop president obama from going it

alone. >> it's a serious threat to our system of government. frankly, we have limited options and limited abilities to deem with it directly. >> house speaker john boehner plans a house vote to block mr. obama later this week. it will die in the senate. the little will be more than a chance for conservatives to vent their anger. >> they did nothing on immigration. >> there is plenty of anger, tuesdays target, homeland security secretary jay johnson, time after time at a capitol hill hearing what gives president obama the constitutional rights to act on that immigration without congress. >> i'm fully comfortable that we have the legal although shorts two push forward these reforms in particular, specifically with regard to the third action, that is an authority that presidents ever used for decades. >> don't just start yelling

young ladies. >> but it was the president's recent comment in response to pro reform hecklers that drew the sharpest rebuke. >> but what you're not paying attention to is the fact that i just took an action to change the law. >> to a represent, it was a telling comment. >> so you say he didn't change the law, but the president he changed the law. >> we acted within our existing legal authority. >> tuesday, the white house tried to explain. >> i think he was speaking company locally.

>> detroit's aging electrical grid is to blame for a power outage, 900 locations here and 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 stuck in elevators. detroit mayor mike dugan held a press conference this afternoon, blaming the blackout on the city's crumbling infrastructure. out of the bankruptcy, the city is getting out of the business of running the light department. a downtown energy company will soon take over. the mayor talked about where the city is at. >> d.t.e. is in the pros of building a $200 million system to service these customers

because the system was so far gone, it could not be salvaged, so we're in the early phases of this four year process. >> throughout all of this, the city of detroit never lost 911 dispatch. no one was seriously hurt. >> that's bisi onile-ere reporting. last minute efforts underway to spare the life of a texas man on death row. lawyers for the mentally ill man are calling for a halt to the execution scheduled for tomorrow. we have a report. >> scott pineti was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic at age 20. medication didn't work. he was hospitalized more than a dozen times, then in 1992, he shot and killed his wife's parents. >> he did so believing that this was a fight between that good and evil and in killing them, he was getting rid of the devil. >> he insisted on representing himself at trial.

>> scott wore a cowboy outfit with a purple necker chief around his neck. he tugged his jeans into cowboy boots and waived a cowboy bible and spoke obsessively about cowboys and broncos. >> he tried to subpoena god, john philadelphia flyers kennedy and the pope and said an alter ego sergeant was guilty for the killings. he was sentenced to death, and on death row for 19 years. his lawrs hasn't received treatment for schizophrenia for much of that time and has been instead decline. the defense hired forensic psychiatrists seth silverman to assess him in 2007. >> he has one of the most severe forms of schizophrenia that i've ever seen. >> that year, a federal court ruled he was competent to be executed. the defense appealed to the supreme court at that time,

resulting in a new legal standard for executing the mentally ill. a defendant must ration ally understand he is being punished for his crime. the justice did not say whether he specifically met that criteria and so the question remains open. >> in my opinion, it was pretty clear that he did not know the right reason he was being put to death. he thought he was being put to death because he approached the word of the gospel. >> the state of texas said he is competent, citing a recent lucid prison visit with family. state experts said the illness is an act. >> has he been faking it? >> i just have never seen anybody fake that. maybe five, maybe 10 minutes, but this guy goes on for three hours. i've been on death row evaluating other people and you can hear him in the background

going on and on and on. >> i think that if he is executed wednesday, we will be taking a step that in this country is virtually unprecedented and what this would say about the american justice system is that we've crossed a moral line. >> aljazeera, huntsville, texas. >> we'll have more coverage on this execution tomorrow morning. the attorney who represented andrea yates will talk about the guys. >> powerful storms swept through california today. the state's in the middle of a record drought, the rain ought to be welcome but created dangerous mudslides and flash flooding and more storms are expected tomorrow. we have more. >> when you look at the wall, you can see just the size of the storm. you can see the problems that we have seen in terse of flooding

as well as other problems. look at the video that has come in on the flooding across the area. there we go. the flooding not only for southern california, but we expect to see more flooding towards northern california. some areas received over three inches of rain, normally for the whole month of december, los angeles would see 2.5 inches of rain. rain is still heavy toward the south. we're starting to get a break in two areas, south that continues to move up here towards the north as well as into northern california. we do have wars in affect right now for southern california. we did have a flash flood warning that has since been dropped. these will stay in effect. we continue to see more rain coming into the picture for the next 24-36 hours. we are going to see heavier rain to the north. up there, we expect to see another four to five inches of rain expected.

in the higher elevations, it could be 12 to 16 inches of snow. san francisco not getting out of the rain until thursday. after that, we expect clear skies, no more rain probably for the next week. >> jennifer london is live in california where a flash flood watch is in effect. good evening, residents and city officials spent the day on edge and on alert here in glenn dora concerned that the burned out hillsides could give way because of the heavy rain. a heavy rainfall happened pretty much for most of the day, work crews out and about trying to clear mud and debris from the storm drains while residents were stockpiling sandbags. 18,000 have been described to homeowners in glenn dora. there is a volunteer evacuation order issued.

we're told that residents have chosen to shelter in place rather than going to an evacuation center set up. we spent time at the sandbag distribution center the city set up. we spoke with one homeowner said she is collecting sandbags but her back yard is one big mud slide. >> i'm worried that all of the mud is going to just go all the way to my back wall and i won't have any yard but gravel. >> mudslides aren't the only concern. health officials warn people to stay out of the ocean for at least three days because of runoff. the storm drains have channeled water directly into the ocean carrying mud and debris that can carry harmful bacteria in the water. health officials say saw out of the ocean for at least three days. first responders will continue

to work extra shifts throughout the night, but so far, no major mudslides have been reported. >> you can hear the rain still falling. the hidden danger for troops in iraq and afghanistan. thousands suffer from cancer and respiratory illnesses. >> housing costs rising quickly in california. where residents are living, instead.

former fbi special agent ali soufan. >> if that specific information

was shared with to the fbi agent 911 could have been stopped at its early stages. >> the ethics of torture, preventing terrorism and combatting isil. >> islamic state, their strategy 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. >> russia feeling the pressure from a double blow he to its economy. leaders predicting a recession next year, blaming the drop in oil prices and western sanctions over ukraine. the g.d.p. is expected to shrink 1% and inflation to rise. the ruble fell against the dollar monday. oil and gas are russia's main exports. >> a new development tonight in the fight against isil, lebanon holding a wife and son of the

islamic state leader al baghdadi. they were arrested with fake i.d. cards. they could be used as bargaining chips in exchange for lebanese prisoners. twenty were taken hostage by isil and the al-nusra front in august. >> thousands of u.s. soldiers say work overseas developed life threatening illnesses. during the war, the military disposed of hazardous materials in burn pits. some soldiers say the toxic smoke caused lung disease and cancer. >> 35-year-old anthony thornton suffers from a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer. >> i cannot tell you my wife's middle name or my daughter's. i don't remember everybody's name. >> thornton believes he got sick from toxins every exposed to while serving his country. >> there he goes.

>> 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. >> they produce add lot of volatile organic compounds, for example benzene, a known carcinogen. >> the toxins have been analyzed found in burn pit smoke. for three years since leaving the agency, he's been fighting to get the department of defense and v.a. to recognize that burn pit exposure sickened veterans. he is representing a specialist who lived a quarter mile from the largest burn pit in iraq. >> there was always a yellow haze over that base and anybody that you talked to had respiratory issues with it.

>> doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong until he had a lung biopsy. >> it showed that i had titanium, aluminum, iron, chrome yum, steel, silica in my lungs. there's nowhere else i could ever got metal in my lungs. >> is this something you would normally find in a healthy person, a person fit for deployment? >> no, this is a very uncommon diagnosis in an otherwise healthy individual. >> doctor miller says burn pits are one possible explanation, but when he presented his findings to d.o.d., they stopped sending him patients. the top public health official said thief looked at numerous studies and found no link to

burn pits for long term health effects. >> we are trying our best to determine whether purpose pits are responsible. in 2010, the institute of medicine examined this question, as well, they looked at that data and we were unable to identify a definitive health risk associated with those burn pits. >> thornton's wife jami says her husband feels betrayed after serving his country for more than 10 years. >> here these people go and they risk so much, and forego so much for our country, and then our country doesn't stand, you know. >> with more and more veterans and contractors coming forward claiming that burn pits made them sick, pressure on the military and veterans affairs is mounting. aljazeera.

>> in hong kong, pro democracy leaders are bobbing off for now, telling demonstrators to retreat in the city center camps. the concern about safety after violent clashes with police, officers have responded to force against protestors using batons, water hoses and shields. the original founders of the movement say they will surrender to police wednesday, but vow to continue their fight through peaceful means. coming up next in this broadcast. >> i relate to the 20 mol victims, survivors of domestic violence. >> emotional testimony from an nfl executive during a hearing on capitol hill. plus: michael brown's stepfather could face criminal charges. why ferguson police are investigating. educate poor children. >> schools where kids need grade teaching the most. >> can unprepared teachers make a difference?

>> why are we sending them teachers with 5 weeks of training?

>> i'm joie chen, i'm the host of america tonight, we're revolutionary because 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

>> coming up, florida stand your ground law is heading to state supreme court. >> minimum wage workers in chicago getting a big raise. >> a cheaper alternative to sky high rent, living on a boat. >> we begin in ferguson, missouri, the governor scaling back the national guard presence after days of relative calm. violent protests erupted when a grand jury declined to charge officer darren wilson in the shooting death of michael brown. tonight a ferguson protest leader said if president obama visited now, it would be too little too late. the president considered visiting after a meeting yesterday in washington to address racial tensions.

investigators say they may charge michael brown's stepfather with attempting to incite a riot. he was heard yelling angry comments after the grand jury's announcement about burning it down. more fallout in st. louis after five rams players took to the field with their hands up. a local sports bar says it will take down all rams memorabilia. let's talk about michael brown. does -- do police have a good case against him, the stepfather? >> i think one of the things that's troubling about this case is that one of the key figures in the ferguson protest, an alderman happen quoted as saying that the mood shifted after mike brown's stepfather made those comments that weaver heard on this video that's gone viral. the question is did he incite a riot, did he encourage,

persuade, cause the people who were out that night waiting for the grand jury decision to start burning buildings, to start looting, to start acting in a violent way. that's the case that the prosecutors would have to make in order to charge him. >> will a decision in this particular case, what impact -- it's not a legal impact. what's the impact it's going to have on the community. >> you know, many ever taken to social media saying how dare this police department even consider, you know with, charging mike brown's stepfather, some saying the police department needs to indict itself. i think the real question here is does the decide want to risk pole rising the community even more, causing more protests unruly protests, some of which we've seen following the grand jury's decision. how comfortable is this prosecutor going to be, the st. louis prosecutor in charging michael brown's stepfather in

light of the fact that officer kill son was not indicted. >> legally, what does inciting a riot mean? >> encouraging, persuading, causing others to take violent action, causing them to engage in violent conduct that can harm individuals or in this case property damage. >> how do you prove it? >> it's going to be a matter of talking to witnesses, did the mood shift, did people follow the instructions as you will of his stepfather, did they believe this to be an instruction to loot or to commit a crime or was this an emotional just burst from a stepfather hearing the distressing news. >> what about distressing news? >> and whether he haded in tent. all crimes have to of mens rea i can't, an in tent to commit a crime. i think that's going to be questionable in this case.

just by investigating and announcing it, doesn't that really make a statement to the community? >> well, you know, i think this prosecutor, this investigatory agency finds itself in a quandary. clearly they can't take the position that what happened on that night particularly as it relates to those fires, and there's allegedly someone car jacked, those are crimes, so they have an obligation to those property owners in that community and residents of those communities to find those that committed crimes. at the same time, they have this emotional charged community that's been emotionally charged not just on that night, but since the shooting occurred. i do think they are taking a big risk in talking about charging the stepfather with a crime. >> hold on a second. a florida supreme court case may change the state's controversial

stand your ground law. the court is considering an appeal from a man who pointed a gun at the driver of a car that cut him off. he claimed self defense. the judge ruled that the other driver was not a threat. currently defendants must prove they acted in self defense to avoid prosecution. if he wins his appeal, that burden would shift to the prosecutor. explain it to us. if the court rules or how would a decision from the supreme court in florida change the stand your ground rules? >> it would change the law substantially. currently if you are a defendant and asserting stand your ground, you are saying that i felt lie life was in eminent harm or danger and had to use this level of force to protect myself. if the supreme court rules in favor of this defendant, that burden shifts to the prosecutor. now the prosecutor has to prove that you were not acting in self defense. there be, i could see a great expansion of stand your ground

allow, more defendants asserting it and prosecutors having a more difficult time of disproving it or proving that you committed a crime and weren't actually using self defense, so it could make a substantial change in the use of stand your ground as immunity and a defense. >> is florida's treatment surprising given the protests that followed trayvon martin's case? >> after trayvon was killed, there was tremendous protest and a movement around this country to appeal the stand your ground law in florida and other states that have similar laws. it's ironic to the florida supreme court is looking at expanding that law, going the opposite direction, so a very interesting development as it receipts to the youth of justifiable homicide and self defense in cases, particularly like trayvon martin and michael

brown where you have unarmed teens being shot. >> there is a story out of new york about an african-american killed when police put him in a chokehold. there have been a lot of questions about that and there's supposed to be a ruling on i did. in fact, the new york medical examiner ruled the death was a homicide as part of a chokehold used during his arrest. what kind of verdict could we get out of this case, do you think and what would it mean? >> eric gardner, the death happened before mike brown, so it's another case we've been watching to see what would happen. some similarities but differences. gardner unarmed, like the case of mike brown, but one key difference was a videotape. what happened with respect to eric gardner is on videotape. the medical examiner for the state ruled that it was a homicide. also this controversial chokehold no longer used by the

new york police department is allegedly what killed eric gardner. a lot of differences, i think because of that determination by the medical examiner, because of the videotape, because of the stance that the mayor of new york has taken, likely to see a different outcome than what we saw in mike brown. >> meaning? >> an indictment. this case is before the grand jury, just like the ferguson case, deciding whether to indict the officers involved in the death of eric gardner. i think the climate is different in new york. >> with the individuals involved and the individuals, they watch ferguson play out, so oh we know that they're going to make the decision about what happened with these police officers, with the framework of what happened across the country in ferguson,

missouri. >> in washington, congress taking on domestic violence in sports. top executives testified on capitol hill today. michael reports. >> in opening today's senate commerce committee hearing. chairman jay rockefeller not only pointed out how the league has mishandled domestic violence, and disappointed that no commissioner from the major sports attended today's hearing, citing tear commitments. the league sent high level executives in their place. destroy vincent told a personal story of watching his mother die as he was a child. >> i've committed my life, worked as an advocate against domestic violence in an effort to keep others from experiencing this pain. i relate to the 20 million

victims, survivors of domestic violence. >> later in the hearing during questions, vincent was grilled about the ray rice incident, specifically on the league's inability to acquire video evidence showing him strike his future wife. >> the question is whether or not the second video. how do you not know he that? it was there. ray rice had it. >> 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 particular area. with he made a critical mistake that. >> it's going to be a busy week for vincent. while he was answers questions, the officer overseeing adrian peterson's appeal testifying he

must testify. he is scheduled to testify thursday here in new york. >> several automakers are teaming up to investigate the cause behind faulty airbags. toyota, ford and honda will hire an independent engineering company to look into the program. the airbags made by takata can inflate with too much force. 14 million vehicles have been recalled worldwide. >> more than a dozen states and cities have raised the minimum wage this year. today, the station's 30 largest businesses will comply. many say costs go up.

supporters say it is good for the economy. >> costes go up and you have to either do one of two things, raise prices, or reduce hours to compensate for that increase. >> it gives people at the bottom of the economic scale more money in their pocket. we know if you put money in the hands of folks at the bottom of the economic scale, they spend it. they consume, because they need it. that helps small businesses. >> mayor rahm emanuel is running for reelection and some accuse him of making this move now to gain favor with minimum wage voters. >> the cost of living is so high in san francisco, many find it cheaper to live on boats than apartments. >> it's a beautiful city, but one that has become exorbitantly expensive to live in. last month, rent just under $3,000 for a one bedroom apartment, according to one real

estate tracker. there is an alternative. >> we're seeing many, many, many more people seeing the bolt as an opportunity for lower cost rent. >> you can get a waterfront view in an exclusive safe and quiet neighborhood. supply, tent meet demand. they moved on to this 42-foot troweler. >> when we were looking, it was hard, because there were noun r. none available and each marina has a quota. >> his father works as a vice president of a software company and this is all he really needs, one main bedroom and a smaller bunk for visitors. >> his home doubled as a way to great vacations. >> we plan to taking it down to california, to mexico. >> space comes up for newcomers.

and waiting lists are long. >> there are draw backs. some people live here at san francisco's peer 39. they have to tend with a lot of ferries, and these creditors. sea lions do not make complete neighbors, but it's a price some are willing to pay. we have to adjust to cramped quarters. it is clearly not for everybody. >> this is so romantic. so great. it's like three weeks later, they're gone. they're gone. something to consider for anyone thinking about making a move. the most successful newcomers remain those with experience and background in boating. >> it's definitely worth the

trade-off. >> this has become the only way to live in the bay. >> an american couple detained in qatar could headed home to california within hours. a travel ban for matthew and grace wong was lifted. they were accused of adopting and starving their daughter and sentenced to three years in prison in qatar. the couple was prevented from leaving the country. michael brown's parent company is funded by the qatar government. >> how the administration has tack would the ebola cries at home and abroad. morgan radford has more. >> president obama is asking congress to approve billions of dollars in emergency ebola funding. we have a clearer picture of where the u.s. stands in the global fight. >> during a tour of the national institutes of health, president obama urged more than $6 billion to be improved tonight ebola. >> much of the progress we've

made and still need he to make, depends on funding. this is an expensive enterprise. that money's running out. we he cannot beat ebola without more funding. >> at the same time, the administration said 35 u.s. hospitals are now equipped to treat patients with ebola and 42 labs in 36 states are now appearing to test for ebola. the white house is adding civilians and troops to help fight ebola in west africa. the u.s. has already opened three treatment units and a hospital. this all on the heels of a study published just last week which found an experimental ebola vaccine appears to be safe with no major side effect for those who tried it. battling ebola, the groupwithout

borders is less optimistic. it the the international response has been slow and international bodies more concerned with managing the ebola crisis, leaving it to local people. in a report to the president, the ebola response coordinator said efforts to stop the liberia in guinea and sierra leone have improved in the last two months. still, better is relative. it's been 51 weeks since the first casualty in the current outbreak reported in guinea, the world health organization said more than 15,000 cases have been reported, almost all of which has occurred in guinea, sierra alone and liberia. >> the world bank estimates the outbreak will cost the west

african economy billions of dollars. >> our picture of the day, next, plus a bipartisan moment in washington for the lighting of the capitol christmas tree. we'll bring you the history.

>> we are looking at dangerous conditions on the road this evening across parts of

pennsylvania, as well as into western new york. we're looking at freezing rain and frozen precip talking about pushing across the area. we have warnings and advisories in effect until after midnight. for the rest of new england, winter weather advisories extend through tomorrow morning. some locations across new york, whether it be upstate new hampshire could see 6-8 inches of snow when all is said and done. down towards parts of massachusetts, you can see an inch or know there, so could be tricky on the roads. wednesday, we do expect rain to end. going towards the revert of the week, things are improving with temperatures mid 40s to the upper 40s by the weekend. to the west, we are talking about the rain across california. it's not just california seeing the rain. cross arizona, much-needed rain is falling there, as well. over the next day or so, phoenix

to tucson we could see an inch or two, and they are looking at a drought situation across the state.

>> going on a six year mission to hunt as trades, the $260 million spacecraft expected to catch up with its first asteroid in two and a half years. >> about the size of a fridge, it is sitting on a six year asteroid hunt in deep space. the $260 million spacecraft uses novel eye i don't know engines, using electricity to accelerate gas particles. >> that makes a jet which goes extremely fast, 30-40 kilometers per second. a little push in a very efficient way is enough to really steer the spacecraft

along orbit. >> it has a long way to go, more than 5 billion kilometers. two and a half years into the mission, the craft is expected to catch up with asteroid 99ju3 he. it will spend 18 months studying the asteroid. experiments include dropping tiny robots on to the surface. the most ambitious part is firing a high speed bullet into the asteroids crust. >> it is going to release a puff of material, ejecting material out into space whereby which is going to be collected by this instrument. >> scientists say the rock from inside the asteroid will be less weathered by the space environment and by heat and more likely to answer fundamental

questions about the universe. rock fragments from another asteroid back to earth in 2010. that mission had problems, but if it works as planned, it will return pristine asteroid samples to earth in 2020. aljazeera. >> nasa has a new state-of-the-art countdown clock. the old clock used since 1969 was replaced with this modern flat screen version. the new display is now counting down the hours, minutes and seconds until thursday morning's liftoff. the goal of orion will eventually take humans to mars. nasa will look a capsule like the days of mercury, jenna, apollo. the first will be a test with no astronauts onboard. 3,000 miles from earth is much

farther than the shuttle systems. nasa said today all systems are go. >> we want to study things that are beyond our expertise, so they can learn it and fix it before people get onboard. >> the first manned mission is planned in six years. >> the holiday season began with the lighting of the capitol christmas three. we he look at the history behind the big ceremony and the big tree. 5-4-3-2-1! >> congress finally gets something done, the light of the capitol christmas tree. >> how is this tree different? >> this one is tall and the trees have kind of grown over the years, they've gotten larger and larger, and this is 80 feet tall. >> a former congressman from connecticut, now head of the

u.s. capitol historical society. we met up with him before the tree light ceremony. >> i'll present the marble ornament, made from marble taken from the steps of the east front of the capitol. >> this year, the tree comes from the national farrest in northern minnesota. a white produce decorated with 4,000 ornaments, representing each of minnesota's 10,000 lakes. >> that will end up on the tree. 10,000 ornaments on that tree. >> you have to look very hard to find that one. me being part of the pros and presenting an ornament for the capitol tree lighting, it's kind of neat for us. >> this tradition is actually new. fifty years ago, the speaker of the house di'd that he wanted a christmas trough. he had a live tree transplanted

on the capitol grounds. after a wind storm, that tree eventually died, but gave birth. >> they changed the name from credits mass tree he to holiday tree. the speaker changed it back to christmas tree. >> still a christmas tree. >> the capital christmas tree is the event being cell braided. >> every side faces the public, unlike some politicians, there's no way to hide a bad side in some corner. it's not the only tree in town. just like our branches of government, there's division. >> we've had trees from the beginning. the white house does a tree, the capitol, there are trees all over the city. it's not that kind of a competition. if it was, i think with an

88-foot tree, we would probably have the tallest. >> isn't that how you like it, the bigger, the bigger. >> that's what happens in this city, no matter what it is, it grows. >> like the capitol believe wimp expanded numerous times over its history. this year, scaffolding sits in the backdrop of the capitol tree, the capitol dome getting a much-needed face lift. >> everybody moved into it, john adams opened the first session of congress and it's been under construction and built and rebuilt and burned and remodeled and changed over the years. >> has it served our democracy well? >> i think so. i think so. it really is the symbol of our government. >> a as i am bog that has more and more americans trust rated. for now, it's shiny and bright for the next few weeks, anyway. >> now to tonight's picture. it's a picture of bobby keys.

you probably know his sound. keys was the long time sacks phone player for the rolling stones. it is his solo that helped turn brown sugar to a classic. he passed away today. he was 70 years old. that's our broadcast, thanks for watching. see you back here tomorrow.

on america tonight, shocking evidence that america veterans who risked all for our defense were sickened by poisons as they serve their country. >> a lot of people are saying orange. >> reporter: shiela mc-victor has an exclusive in depth look at the illnesses facing veterans of iraq and afghanistan and the fiery pits that may have poisoned them. also tonight a big health warning from the fda about one of the most common medical procedures facing millions of