>> serious national security matter, the white house saying that cyber attack on sony is a threat to u.s. national security. >> taking the fight to isil, coalition airstrikes take out 100 isil militants and free hundreds of people trapped on sinjar mountain. >> eight children found stabbed to death in australia as the country is mourning people who died in the hostage crisis early

in the week. >> this is you achieve with your diplomas. >> humble words. the new role the vatican is playing on the global diplomatic state. >> this morning, the white house is debating response no that north korea is identified as the source of the hack attack on sony pictures. >> it is a national security issue, and the administration is considering options if it is proven that kim jong-un's government was involved. coney was canceled to release the film "the interview." there are script six that north korea is the only source behind this cyber attack. >> experts say the sophistication of this attack suggests that if north korea is the source, they had help from our donaries much more internet

savvy, whom ever is responsible, evidence shows the hack was carried out with malicious in tent. >> as the movie posters come down, many from holy to washington are reeling from the attack that led to the cancellation of a major motion picture. >> this has never happened in the history of cinema. >> the north koreans are unhappy about the film. sony decided to cancel the release after hackers threatened violence against american movie goers. with such primitive internet exhibits, cyber security experts don't know that they did it on their own. >> just abruptly out of nowhere. how did they suddenly acquire that capability? it's hard to believe they could without outside help. >> reports say north korea's

possible outside help could have come from china, russia or iran. president obama is weighing options for a response to what the administration considers a serious national security threat. >> sophisticated actors when they carry out actions like this are oftentimes, not always, but often seeking to provoke a response from the united states of america. >> senator john mccain is speaking out against sonys decision saying in a statement that it sets a troubling precedent that will only empower and embolden bad actors. with thousands of theaters planning to start showing "the interview" next week, they are scrambling to replace it. some considered "team america." >> hey terrorists, terrorize this! >> paramount has now scrapped all veinings. >> anything that impacts north korea as a movie automatically

becomes radioactive. >> one of the biggest stars in hollywood is speaking out about the scandal, george clooney calling for the movie to be released on line. he told sony of the deadline, do whatever you can to get it out, because i'm not going to be told we can't see the movie. he circulated a petition to support sony, but the other studios would not sign it, because he said they were afraid. >> thank you very much. >> pakistan's military is claiming success in its fight against the pakistannive taliban. 59 fighter ares have been killed in a northern border region, just days after the pakistani taliban killed 140 people, mostly children at a school. today is the third day of mourning for those victims. >> in the fight against isil. kurdish forces broke a siege in northern iraq. thousands of people from the i can't decidedee community were trapped. >> the u.s. announced that u.s. airstrikes killed three isil

leaders in the past two months. we have the details. what more do we know about these senior level commanders? >> they were working closely with isil's leader, abu bakr al-baghdadi. one was his deputy in iraq. he worked directly with him. he was killed in u.s. airstrikes between december 3 to the ninth. another was killed, head of isil's military operations in iraq. he was also killed and in late november, another strike killed a mid level commander known to be abu bakr al-baghdadi point man. between november and december, u.s. airstrikes killed seven important isil figures. lt. james terry who heads the new joint task force overseeing military operations in iraq and

syria said iraq continues to be america's priority for targeting isil. >> we've made significant process in halt be that offensive i talked for them to continue to expand in terms of terrain and geography out there. what we must do especially inside iraq is building exhibits. i think you're at least talking a minimum of three years. >> that is the first we've heard of a definitive estimate of how long it will take to bring down-ice as i will, much longer than many originally anticipated. it's important to caution here what many analysts warning, that when it comes to fighting the taliban, and isil. it's unlikely killing senior figures will end their organization. >> isil in that hacking attack against sony are two that would be on the white house agenda this afternoon. he'll address failures at the secret service.

a report finds it's overstretched and understaffed and in need of leadership. libby casey joins us from washington. what can we expect from the penalty's news conference today? >> it's a year ender before the president goes to hawaii for the christmas holiday. it will be wide ranging with questions from reporters, in addition to talking about the sony attack and what the u.s. should do, efforts against isil, there's other major international news that could come up like russia's financial crisis. a lot of people speculated that president obama would be a lame duck at this point. he is showing that's not the case by two major moves in recent weeks, the change in cuba policy, which will get a lot of attention today, just what can the white house do on its own as well as executive action on immigration. it may all come up at this afternoon's briefing. >> some say he is following in

the footsteps of eisenhower and is anything but lame. on the secret service report, describe to us what the panel uncovered. >> it is a tough report raising concerns, but acknowledging that secret service agents are working hard, so much so that they are overworked, overtaxed and need more support financially and from leadership. >> the report is scathing, a summary is how alarming secret service failures have been in recent months, saying a single miscue or split second delay could have disastrous consequences for the nation and world. >> this is not something in my judgment, based on the recommendations i've seen that can change overnight approximate the four member panel was appointed by the department of home land security after omar gonzalez scaled white house fence in september and ran deep into the executive mansion. the top to bottom changes include hiring 85 more agents

and 200 additional union formed officers, plus raising the fence that rounds the white house by four feet and bringing in an outsider as director, someone better equipped to make the changes who's not tied agency traditions and personal relationships. interim director joe receiver clancy replaced julia pearson after breaches said this week that would be a mistake. >> we don't have time to train someone in this role. you've got to ever someone who has some history and knows where we need to go in the future. >> the summary concludes the agencies next director needs to find and define its mission and ask for a bigger budget, even during a time of cuts and sequestration. this 30 year veteran hopes to win back america's trust. >> with he know we've lost that trust because of the events over the past several years, but we've got a good model, a good foundation. give us some time to earn that trust back and prove ourselves.

>> while the report is critical, it talks about how agents could be better supported by working fewer hours, getting more training and of course, having more colleagues on staff, so they can share the burden of what is an incredibly intense and important job in certain moments. it says the budget should be decided not by dollars and cents, but really by the need and then the accounting should come after the fact. jay johnson acknowledge that is some recommendations have been made before, but he said this time will be different. they will be followed through on. >> libby, thank you very much. >> we'll carry the coverage of the president's news conference a begins at 1:30 eastern time right here on al jazeera. >> many in latin america are praising the president's decision to restore relationships with cuba. >> that policy change may benefit washington as much as havana.

>> a photo op sums it up, cuba's president raul castro welcomes with open arms a reunionification of every country exempt the united states and canada. more than 50 years after washington called for the expulsion of communist cuba from the organization of american states, it is the united states that has become isolated from its neighbors. the highly unpopular u.s. economic embargo against cuba, has diminished washington's leadership in the americas. >> south american leaders gathered for an economic summit in argentina applauded the announcement and some described as the audacious move by president obama. while it will not iron out all the differences, it could signal a new beginning.

>> i want to recognize president obama for his brave gesture, one that is necessary. he has taken what may be the most important step of his presidency. >> for ordinary cubans, renewing diplomatic ties signals the end of a cold war that has marked their lives for generations. while the economic embargo won't be lifted just yet, the easing of restrictions will have a major impact on a country struggling to survive. >> it will be an economic shock treatment in the positive sense. it will mean more trade, more tourism and investments from the united states, which will help the people of cuba who suffered an embargo for more than 52 years. >> the next summit of the americas will be held in april and thanks to the significant announcement, for the first time in more than half a century, leaders from every nation in the americas, without exception, will be able to silt at the same

table. >> joining us now to discuss the policy change is soledad o'brien, award winning journalist. it's a pleasure to have you on the set with us. >> thank you for having me. >> your mother was cuban, came over in the late 1950's. >> she was a student, a high school student if the united states and back in the 1950's, gag back and forth from cuba to the united states was actually quite easy. what she found was toward the later 1950's, it got more and more difficult as what was happening in cuba made it increasingly more difficult. by 1957, she had really stayed in the united states and stopped going back to cuba. >> did she ever suffer oppression under the castro regime? >> under the bautista regime, she left before castro got in power and the bautista regime

was awful. my mother as a black cuban was very poor and not of the cubans who quickly -- >> that's what people don't realize is there is that divide between afro cubans and other cubans. describe. >> there's lots of discussion about race and racism in cuba and every time i've gone, i've ended up in these very intense conversations. people are very, very poor under bautista for whom having castro come into power in some ways changed things for them in positive ways, and obviously exactly the reverse. my mom's family was very, very poor and what ended up happening was under castro, her family ended up having some opportunities that under bautista they never had. there were lots of people who clearly when castro came into power fled because it was a dictatorship, but those were often people who were wealthier and having their possessions taken over by the government. i think my mom started coming to the united states as a student

and by the time she had been in the united states, it actually turned out that castro then after that came into power. >> you covered john powell ii. >> right, for 1998. >> fast forward 15 years, you have pope francis playing a key role. >> and pope john paul ii played a role. he talked about self determination and how people should make their own decisions, which was not very subtle, and kind of revolutionary to be saying that to 80,000 cubans who were assembled. i think it was really many years of sort of the church trying to crack open opportunities for the church to grow, which i think has really led to the opportunities you see today. >> before we let you go, because i've had the same conversation with my neighbor who also fled cuba, how do you marry the older

generation who suffered and now the younger generation who said enough is enough. >> i went back to cuba with my mom years ago and she said the country is ruined, i will never go back. she never felt that a dictatorship in an island nation was a good thing. the people have suffered tremendously, so people who are angry are very ratio ration ally angeli. people were executed. others say 50 years plus of isolating that nation to try to bring about human rights changes and see if you could isolate the country hasn't worked. the question is could opening diplomatic relations help the actual cubans. what do you do with the people so far, isolating has not been successful.

>> critics wonder whether this will lead to greater freedoms and rights for the cuban people. thanks for your time. >> we are going to get more into the vatican's role in this break through, exploring his role in bringing about this policy change. >> australia grappling with another horrific event. police found eight children dead inside a home, just days after a deadly siege at a cafe in sydney. these are especially trying times for australia. >> they are indeed, del, coming days after that 16 hour siege in sydney you referenced which left two dead and a hostage taker, as well. the youngest victim was just 18 months old. >> this is certainly a tragic

event. >> police found a 34-year-old woman stand but alive in greensland australia, and children ranging from 15 years to 18 months dead. police are not yet confirming the causes of death, pending autopsies, relatives rushed to the scene when they heard the news. >> in my family, at home, they are sitting there waiting. they fell on their knees. >> she said the kids are all related and that the stabbed woman is the mother of seven of them. >> i'm really shocked, too, yeah, because, you know, i just saw her this morning on the veranda with the kids. >> police say the public shouldn't feel threatened. >> there's no need for the public to be concerned about this, other than the fact that it's a tragic, tragic event. the situation is well controlled. >> this latest incident is the

latest shock to a nation already reeling from the 16 hour hostage standoff last week in sydney that ended in the loss of three lives. acknowledging that the last week had been "trying days" for australia, prime minister tony abbot released this statement about the family tragedy: >> the woman found at the scene is reportedly in stable condition, suffering stab wounds to the chest. police say she is cooperating with the investigation but won't say if she is or is not a suspect. police are saying there aren't yet any formal suspects. >> in madrid, streets surround spain's ruling party headquarters are blocked after a man drove his car into the building. they found two gas canisters and unidentified substance in that car. no one was hurt and the driver

arrested. he is reported to be a failed businessman who blames the prime minister for his financial problems. >> we're going to dig deeper into the major blow to isil, three top group members killed, now kurdish iraqi forces recovering an important mountain. >> we'll talk about whether isil is showing signs of weakening. >> right now, a family demanding answers in a death ruled a suicide. it is called a possible lynching. >> a setback for the redskins name. >> our big number of the day, a holdover from the financial crisis finally comes to an end.

>> trades big number is $1,250,000,000. that's how much money the government students make selling its remaining shares of allied financial. >> the treasury bailed allied

out when it was gmac, the financial arm of general motors. >> it sold most shares in april when allied went public. >> kurdish forces claim their biggest victory yet over isil, saying they've broken a siege that left thousands from the yazidi community trapped on the sinjar mountains. >> the battle with isil took place in erbil. >> the head of the national security forces in northern iraq announced that the peshmerga kurdish fighters have taken 700 square meters of land from zuma south of the mosul dam to the mountains that straddle the border. this land is made up of villages and towns isil has been holding.

the question is where those isil fighters ever gone. these areas are sunni and they could disappear into those communities or could have retreated into mosul. the question is whether there will be a backlash. we've seen their tactics switching from front line fighting to insurgency fighting. when the peshmerga took the town, they thought they could relax. thought they'd held that town and then suicide bombers came in dressed up as peshmerga and killed many of those peshmerga forces. at the moment, the main fighting is north of the sinjar mountains in a town 400 kilometers to the north, a town with he passed a week ago, which was very much held by the isil fighters. that is really turning into a very big fight. the lt. we've spoken to on the top of the sinjar mountains said even though they managed to push through into that mountainous area, they are not in a position to be able to hold it and to let

many of the 10,000 yazidi leave if they want to, but the battle is on going and they hope that will happen in the coming hours and days. >> let's go now to retired former member of the joint chiefs of staff. the three senior isil leaders are dead. what's your take on the strike? >> it is a big deal. it's always important to really capture or kill part of the degrading strategy of the leader ship of a group like isil. this means that ice i will is in essence having to replace these leaders. we are talking about the head of military operations in iraq, the government of mosul and abu bakr al-baghdadi, the leader of isil. it took several airstrikes to do it, but it is a very important part of the campaign and it does

meet with u.s. goals and policies, but it also means that they're going to be replaced and that isis could very much come back in a different form after these deaths are basically avenged. >> take me independence the mind of a soldier. what does it do to morale on the front line when the leader falls? >> the leader is such a key component, especially if it's a charismatic leader. we often give short solicit to charisma in military forces, especially foreign military forces, but is an essential ingredient to isil's success and it makes a huge difference not only for their forward progress, but it also makes a difference in terms of how willing they are to die for their cause. they believe in the cause as being greater than themselves or greater than any one individual, but isil is an inspirational organization and it really, you know, rests on the idea of

inspiring its subordinates and if they can't inspire them or have difficulty doing that, then the organization risks really having some difficulties and in the extreme case falling apart. >> we have come very close to abu bakr al-baghdadi. what is going through his mind? what happens to a commander when those bombs start to fall, what happens to his thought process? >> his thought process can be hurt by this. usually commanders have a very logical line of thought they go through, so will decide on an objective and execute to capture that object ohive, but in the case where the enemy is responding, in this case, the u.s. and coalition, that alters that decision cycle. the minute that the decision cycle is and would erred, the real effect is on that leader's thought process and whether or not he can keep his organization in the same fighting mode that they had before. basically, isil was uncontested before these airstrikes.

now that they are being contested and that these airstrikes are having an effect, it could very well effect the thought process. it doesn't mean that it will completely alter it, change it or make it impossible to execute command, but it makes it much more difficult and the key is going to be for him how -- al baghdadi, how he responds to this effort. >> heavy rain moving across the south. let's bring in meteorologist nicole mitchell. good morning. >> good morning, happy friday to everyone. moving across the south, the west has gotten so much attention for the system and impact on the drought, but we have a little drought area that's been expanding, a severe drought from louisiana to the panhandle of florida. this has heavy rain developing along with it. this is very good news, although making the commute not as pleasant as it could be. as this continues, mostly today into tomorrow, we are looking at a widespread area that could see

two to four inches. you can see it continue to move its way along and clear out pretty well already by tomorrow and definitely for the second half of the weekend. the core of this centered around louisiana and that would be that two to four inches, but beneficial, a lot of this area along the coastline into severe drought. temperatures today in this corridor, 50's and 60's, 30's as you head to the north. >> nicole, thank you very much. >> cuban american families finding themselves at ads over the u.s. decision to normalize relations with cuba. >> the older generation denouncing it, the younger embracing it. >> building a bridge to future investments, china celebrating a construction project thousands of miles from beijing. >> whether north korea had a hand in that sony hacking attack. how the white house could respond. >> if you want to know if there's a tornado coming your way, watch the birds.

that's one of the stories caught in our global net.

>> you're looking live at washington, d.c. this morning as the nation's capitol clears out for the holiday recess. president obama holding his final news conference of the year there later today and we will bring that to you live at 1:30 p.m. eastern time. >> good morning, welcome to al jazeera america. ahead in this half hour, why china is celebrating a bridge built thousands of miles away in serbia. >> we'll hear from the family of a young african-american man who's death in north carolina was ruled a suicide, the f.b.i. looking into whether he was lunched. >> a culture of violence at new york city's largest jail. the federal government wants changes to come to riker's island. >> the u.s. military is calling is a major blow to isil, three seen year leaders have been killed in u.s. airstrikes, all close with the leader, abu bakr

al-baghdadi. >> the white house is accuratelying options for responding to the hack attack on sony pictures. evidence points the finger at north korea. there are concerns that iran, russia or china may also have been involved. north korea has denied playing any role. >> president obama is moving ahead with his plans to restore diplomatic relations with cuba. there are reports he could take executive action as soon as next month, that would loosen travel and economic restrictions. as morgan rat ford shows us, the policy change is causing big divisions within many cuban american families. >> little havana is the cultural hub for cuban americans. the reaction here is hardly universal. take this family, like so many others here, the generation clyde when it comes to talking about u.s. policy towards cuba. >> my parents are very, very

upset. they feel hurt that the cuban community, the cuban-american community and the united states was not consulted. >> my parents like many here feel very betrayed by the american government, because their sentiments, everything that they've gone through, and everything that has happened was not taken into consideration. fidel castro caused the deaths of many, many lives. it's just a stab in the back to them from the american government. >> exiles who fled the island as children really had no intention of going back, but their daughters saw things differently. they wanted to explore the country for themselves, despite the country's history and its politics. we first met them last year on the 60th anniversary of the cuban reflation. the sisters, along with their dad had just returned from cuba,

javier's first time back in 43 years. >> you're paying a lot to go back, that money is going right to the government. they want to see -- >> going back is not in his perspective. i believe there are certain things about this move that can really help the cuban people if we react responsibly. >> this was her father last year. her mother still refuses to set foot in cuba. she grew up hating the castro regime and communism and the revolution destroyed her family. regina is cautious, yet optimistic. her trip to cuba left an indelible image of what an open cuba can do for her and her pierce living inside cuba. >> the white house left open the possibility of president obama visiting cuba before his term is over. they've also not ruled out having president raul castro

visit washington. >> no apology from russian president vladimir putin for an embarrassing moment at his news conference thursday. a reporter stumbled speaking slowly asking about a drink sold in super markets. that led putin to reply sounds like you've had some already. the reporter was a survivor of a stroke. >> china is trying to exert more influence in the region, building a new bridge in as her i can't. >> belgrade's new chinese built bridge spans the danube river. a chinese leader visit to serbia was the first in 30 years. this scale of construction hasn't been seen since communist times.

>> this bridge will shorten travel distances by more than an hour. we think both the chinese and serbian nations have given their best for its successful completion. >> the bridge is a sign of a strengthening ties between serbia and china, the first of many large-scale jointly projects in the coming years, said also to challenge the traditional influence that brussels has here in the balkans. >> over the course of the week, china's 300 strong delegation met with leaders from 16 central and eastern european countries. among a series that new deals is an agreement to replace serbia's aging railway with a new high speed link between budapest and the greek port, bringing chinese goods to european markets. as by thissing forges ahead with new roads into europe, some e.u. nations are wary of chinese

competition. >> they were sort of concerned that china could give them another option and in a way, take them away from that road towards european union, but we could say that it's thinking filled with prejudice. >> the serbian economy's in desperate need of investment. belgrade's road to e.u. membership remains uncertain, china offers an attractive alternative lifeline. >> chinese construction on that new railroad is expected to begin in mid 2015. >> the white house is promising a proportional response to the hack attack on sony pictures. officials say evidence points to north korea as the culprit and the obama administration is considering a range of options, if jim jong un's government is proven to be connected. it may not have acted alone. experts say it could have gotten help from iran, russia and

china. >> peter is a allow and ethics professor at georgia tech, a former member of obama's n.s.a. review group with a focus on cyber security. he joins us from atlanta this morning. thanks for being with us. >> glad to be here. >> a representative said: this is not just a corporate security issue, it is an act of aggression against the united states by a foreign government. what would a proportional response to a cyber attack like this look like? >> well, first thing to notice is that it's a cyber attack and not a nuclear attack or a bomb or explosion. nobody has died in this, fortunately, so far. when you're looking at a proportionate response, if it was a threat to tokyo with a nuclear, you'd be looking at a major war concern. when you're seeing this, it's more like a significant incident with hostile intent. you think about scaled up sanctions. if it was another economy, china or russia, we could be duke the

step-by-step sanctions the way we have seen with russia and ukraine. with north korea, there's so many sanctions, it's hard to ramp chet those up. >> that is one of the things senator royce is calling for, increased sanctions. this was more of a hyper boletic threat, this is a successful attack costing a major hollywood studio untold millions in losses. is it going to embolden more countries and criminals to target the u.s.? >> this is unusual. usually when you make a movie, you are not specifically going after the head of a state who has hostile intent toward your country. i don't think we should assume every other movie is going to have a state launching a cyber tack on it. cyber criminals knew they could go after banks, electric grids and other things, but i don't think this -- this shows the possibility of huge harm, but i don't think it's a sudden wakeup call that new attacks were going to happen. we knew the attacks were coming

all along. >> speaking of banks and the electric grid, how confident are you that major companies have adequately protected themselves against act the of cyber warfare? >> there's going to be attacks in life, just like there's crime in city streets. you try to contain it and mitigate it and try to make it so it's not a huge deal. we've taken new measures for critical infrastructure, the president has an executive order to stepped up electric power in other areas for re extra protections. i don't think we should exaggerate the vulnerabilities. attacks happen, but the world is not coming to an end. >> there are state run schools for training hackers in north korea. what does the u.s. have by way of a hacker army. >> that's a provocative term. we have training for people on defense and on offense. there's the u.s. cyber command and part of the military going forward is to have a military

capability in cyberspace. you don't want your internet and signals intercepted, you want to take out problems if they happen from the other side. it's part of the military future to have a cyber capability. we should make is that your-- >> under heavy guard, a marine is charged with killing a transgender woman. he heard are the charges against him, and did not enter a plea. >> the prime suspect in the boston marathon bombings dzhokar tsarnaev appeared in court, telling a federal judge he is happy with his legal team. he faces death for the bombings that left three dead and hundreds hurt. that trial i also scheduled to begin next month. >> in north carolina, people are asking who or what really killed lennon lacy.

he was found hanged over the summer. >> police ruled it a suicide. his family not buying it. >> it isn't much different here than a lot of our small southern towns, integrated but with a sharp divide between black and white. it bears and undercurrent of suspicion between the black community and the all white police force, a distrust which may be investigation or lack of it into the death of lennon lacy. >> my son did not deserve to be taken from me this way. >> his mother, claudia, addressed a support rally. >> there are things that happened that has not been explained to me and to the community. we deserve that. >> the night before his very first game as a varsity linebacker, lacy went out for a

late night walk. early the next morning, someone made a grizzly discovery in a nearby trailer park. >> i need e.m.s., i ever a man hanging from a swing set. play to know reynolds properties, highway 211. >> the 911 call reported a suicide. >> he's a black victim hanging from the swing. >> to his family, the facts didn't add up. his mother insists he he wasn't depressed. >> his demeanor would have changed, his personalities his attitude, eating habits, routine would have been off altogether. i would have knew something was wrong. >> an independent report found there was no suicide note, and there were other details that didn't make sense. the report says lacy was found with someone else's size 10 and a half shoes on his size 12 feet. the belt around his neck wasn't

his, and no one could explain how the 5'9" teen could tie a news and hang himself from a swing set seven and a half feet high, in clear view of several trailer homes. >> i asked him time and time again to prove to me how he would have done this, if he didn't have anything to stand on. i didn't see how he could have possibly done it. >> in some ways, suicide would be easier for the family to accept than their worst suspicions. >> right now, the way i feel, it's a lynching, because of this public display of where his body was found. >> there was another reason for his mother's suspicion. before his death, lennon had been seeing and older white woman, which claudia lacy warned him could mean trouble. the whole police didn't hear any of that, because they ruled the case a suicide. >> we want justice! >> no one accused the police of

wrongdoing, but in an echo, the protests at ferguson and after the death of eric garner in stanton island, hundreds marched in this small town last weekend to show that lennon lacy's life mattered. >> we know it was a hanging, but the question is was itself-inflicted, was it a staged hanging, or was it a hanging or lynching homicide. >> the f.b.i. announced it would reexamine the local police departments preliminary investigation. >> there's just a lot of questions i would like acknowledged and why they weren't answered to me was because of my race and social status. i just wanted those questions answered, you know. it would be a lot easier for me to have closure and start grieving. >> his girlfriend is 31 and she has now moved to illinois, saying she doesn't feel safe in that north carolina town

anymore. >> the f.c.c. saying it is not obscene to say the name of washington's nfl football team, ruling on a petition over the word of redskins. several broadcasters refers to use the term because native americans and others find it offensive. there's been a push to force the team to change its name. the owner said he will not. >> a new study suggests tiny song birds could impact weather predictions. the l.a. times said the birds left their nesting site days before a massive storm spawned several deadly tornadoes. this is in the central and southern united states. it's the first time researchers documented this type of storm and avoidance behavior by birds during their breeding season. it might be low frequency sounded waves -- >> they said the birds fled before the meteorologist announced there was a tornado on the way. nicole mitchell taking exception to that.

>> thursday, amazon unveiling one hour delivery service. it is only for amazon prime users in manhattan. it will be rolled out in other cities in 2015. it costs $8 for one hour delivery, things like toilet paper and other things arriving an hour after you order them, too soon for to you change your mind. >> here's another example of technology improving our lives and our pets lives. derby the dog was born with deformed front legs and now is running because he has 3-d printed leg prosthetics. the woman who fosters derby works in 3-d printing, look at those, they work and he's not able not only to walk, but he can run. >> the blade dog. >> pope francis winning praise for a diplomat i can break through between the u.s. and cuba. >> it has been long in the

waking by several of his predecessors. >> a new creature of the deep found at the bottom of the pacific ocean is one of today's discoveries today.

>> time now for one of today's discoveries, this coming from deep below the surface of the pacific ocean. it is a fish we have never seen before and it was caught on camera. the ghostly looking species is called the snail fish. its tail resembles an eel. that is the lowest any fish has been located. >> this morning, high praise continues to pour in for the leader of the catholic church, pope francis helped broker the deal between the u.s. and cuba. there were secret meetings at

the vatican. the pope was humble on thursday talking about his role. >> today we are all happy because we have seen two countries which have moved away from each other for many years take a step closer yesterday. this is something your ambassadors achieved with your diplomacy. >> the pope first raised the issue of releasing the american from jail. father luke sweeney is the location director for the archdiocese and joins us in studio. pope francis writing letters to president obama and castro. is this the time of change predicted when the vatican announced its first latin america pope? >> i think so. the holy father believes where

there are problems and issues, people need to speak. if we're in the business of striving to love our neighbor and also our enemies, we first need to learn to speak to our enemies. >> pope francis is the first latin american pontiff. what role did his background play in getting the u.s. and cuba to the table. >> he brings a lot of credibility to the table, because on the one hand, he shares the perspective of so many from latin america vis a vis the united states and its dominance in the hemisphere and in the area. he also knows of life under a totalitarian regime in the late 1970's and 1980's, as well. he knows the suffering that that kind of oppression can wreak, so brings that to the table. >> in 2012, pope den detect visited the island. have there been other attempts

to get the two side to say reconcile and if so, how close did they come? >> there's definitely a papal thread. pope francis is his own man but also in the continue newt of his predecessors. pope january powell the second had a great line in havana where he said may the magnify sense of cuba, may you open yourself up to the world and may the world open itself up to you, as well. he kind of clicked with fidel castro. >> there are knows on both sides who say that this is either a great deal or the worst thing ever to happen. from a human rights standpoint, will cuba, the people of cuba be better off now that relations between two countries have been normalized. >> it's certainly understandable that people have issues with what's going on, but, you know, dialogue is a good thing. obviously, opening people up to the world, opening people up to others and to better economic

possibilities is a good thing. what the pope is focusing on is the suffering of individuals, so beyond ideology is trying to help those oppressed in poverty, whether they happen to be in prisons, whether they happen to be in boats coming in from poverty in africa or whether it happens to be in havana. >> think about it, we're already talking about his legacy and he is so early into his papacy, is he one of the greats? >> certainly he is not passive when it comes to the word stage. when it comes to his legacy, that's certainly for historians to decide years later, there's never been a pope to win the nobel peace prize. >> thanks for being with us this morning. >> nebraska and oklahoma want colorado to stop allowing marijuana so be sold legally. both states are suing. they say the legal pot has been crossing the border, put ago

strain on their police and claim colorado is breaking federal law by not tracking who buys cannabis. colorado calls the lawsuit without merit. >> so long, steven colbert, the colbert report ended its run last night, more than 400 episodes and it was a star-studded finale. george looks was on, so was big bird, then colbert rode off into the sunset. >> steven, wake up. >> charlene? >> no, steven! you've got to wake up. it's time. >> yes, that's alex trebeck, taking over the late show. >> storms continue to pound the west coast. we turn to nicole mitchell. >> it's going to be another messy week and as we continue toward the holiday, we're

watching for moisture starting to move in, but this will funnel in over the next couple days. some of the amounts, you can see how widespread this is, the initial band kind of becoming very thick and that moisture flow tapping in from the pacific. as we get through the rest of the weekend, we're going to see winter storm possibilities of an effect for the higher elevations, especially near the mountain ranges. all that moisture is going to be our biggest problem, some places isolated 10 inches abothers four to eight. as we continue through the next couple days, we've had the initial band, but more of this becoming thicker over the weekend or heavier rain. places are concerned about flooding. exempt for the northwestern corner of washington, all of these areas are in try or drought conditions, so still beneficial, no one likes it over the weekend, though. >> nicole mitchell, thank you. >> ahead in our next hour, the e.p.a. set to release guidelines

on coal companies. >> malaysia known for its cuisine, but certain people may be band by the government from preparing food. we'll be right back. >> start with one issue education... gun control... the gap between rich and poor... job creation... climate change... tax policy... the economy... iran... healthcare... ad guests on all sides of the debate. >> this is a right we should all have... >> it's just the way it is... >> there's something seriously wrong... >> there's been acrimony... >> the conservative ideal... >> it's an urgent need... and a host willing to ask the tough questions >> how do you explain it to yourself? and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern only on al jazeera america >> protestors are gathering... >> there's an air of tension right now... >> the crowd chanting for democracy...

>> this is another significant development... >> we have an exclusive story tonight, and we go live...

>> gaining ground in the fight against isil, coalition forces taking out dozens of isil fighters as they free hundreds trapped on a mountain. >> a new report out about the secret service, failures and missteps under the microscope as the agency is stretched beyond its limits. >> violence in haiti, protestors and police clash as citizens remain defiant, calling for the president's exit from office. >> a culture of violence, new york city has a lawsuit over

riker's island, as guards are accused of staging fights between inmates. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. >> i'm stephanie sy. their called major victories in the fight against isil, three top officials have been killed in coalition airstrikes, all worked closely with the group's leader, abu bakr al-baghdadi. >> they have broken the siege on a key mountain of northern iraq, thousands of minority yazidi trapped there. >> how significant are these developments in sort of the grand scheme of the fight against isil? >> according to the pentagon press secretary rear admiral jon kirby, all of this is going to downgrade isil's ability to command operations against iraq and kurdish security forces. >> kurdish peshmerga forces recaptured a significant area from isil fighters, clearing a

route to mount sinjar where thousand us have been stranded for months. >> our hope is that all these people will eventually be able to go back to their own homes and villages and towns, but those in need of evacuation now a corridor is open to evacuate them. >> in august, the yazidis were trapped on the mountain and risk of being killed. that prompted the obama administration to begin airstrikes, hoping to help them escape. >> this week's campaign was an effort to free those still stranded on the mountain. >> it was a very big operation and thankfully was concluded very successfully. >> 50 airstrikes over 24 hours is nothing to sneeze at. that's a lot of fire power put down on that area. it is a big operation. >> the rear admiral jon kirby said the u.s. effort is impacting fighting the militants. >> the more you do, the more you're going to degrade and damage this organization's ability to operate, communicate,

to lead itself. >> while the campaign appears to be working, the top military commander in charge of the anti isil campaign announce add new time line for how long u.s. troops will be needed in the region. >> we've made significant progress, in halting that offensive that i talked about. what we must do especially inside iraq is continue building those exhibits. i think you're at least talking a minimum of three years. >> a minimum of three years, and that the first definitive time frame that we've received of how long the fight against isil might take. >> this morning, president obama says he is moving ahead with plans to diplomatic ties with cuba. we'll go live to miami, little

havana and one prominent politician and what he is saying about the move. >> the president will likely address the secret service in a news conference. all of this amid a series of embarrassing security breaches. libby casey joins us live. what else can we expect to hear from the president this afternoon? >> he'll address reporters today before departing for hawaii for a family vacation. it will be wide ranging and reporters will largely dictate the direction of things. expect questions to come up about international headlines right now. everything from isil to the recent attack on sony and just what the u.s. government role should be in combating and pushing back against that. russia's financial crisis, and oil prices could come up. on the domestic front, the

budget canning passed and the white house supported over the concerns of some liberal members of the democratic party. now, a lot of people have been speculating that president obama is essentially a lame duck at this point. well, he has been moving on executive actions, immigration, and now declaring normalization of relationships with cuba, that will likely also come up as everyone speculates on just what the white house will do with its own power to reestablish ties with cuba. >> what type of changes are being recommended for the secret service? >> that will come up today at the press conference the president's doing. the report recommend hiring 85 agents, 200 more uniformed officers, allowing for less overtime officers that aren't stretched quite so thin, and give them the chance to do more important training, which the report said they are certainly not getting nearly enough of.

it makes recommendations for the fence around the white house. it's seven and a half feet tall, the report said it needs to go up four or five more feet and change the bars so it is hard tore climb and scale. which is what's happened in the last couple months. there's a lot of work to be done to regain the public's trust. >> we know we've lost that trust, because of the events over the past several years, but we've got to good model, a good foundation, give us some time to earn that trust back and prove ourselves. >> clancy is pushing back on one recommendations, changing leadership to bring in someone from outside. the 30 year veteran said that is not a recommendation he supports. >> those bars are so low people hang knapsacked as purses on it to take pictures. >> we are going to carry the president's news conference right here on aljazeera america.

>> the white house is considering options to respond to the cyber hacking on sony pictures, officials calling it a national security matter. >> that could be a very serious response if north carolina i go behind the breach, north carolina denying involvement. what more do we know about the hackers? >> this is such a sophisticated cyber attack, it has some saying north korea must have had help from other more web savvy countries. president obama is weighing options for a response. experts say the malware used in the attack was too high tech for north korea to handle on its own. >> they've done something quite sophisticated abruptly out of nowhere. how did they suddenly acquire that capability? it's hard to imagine they could do it without outside help. >> reports say north korea's possible outside help could have come from china, russia and iran. the assault was routed through a

number of infected computers as various locations overseas, including singapore, thailand, poland, sign press and bo boliv. the objective was to stop the movie "the interview" from being shown because it shows a fictional assassination of their leader kim jong-un. sony canceled the film's release after a threat of violence against movie goers. theaters replacing it with another movie, some thought of screening team america, a comedy poking fun at north koreas former leader kim jong-il. that has now been blocked from happening. >> pakistan's military said it killed dozens of taliban near the borders with afghanistan as it carries out a major operation in the aftermath for an attack on a military-run school. more than 140 people, most of them children were killed.

we have more. >> one of the biggest attacks since the attack on the school by the taliban happened this morning. the military issued a statement saying they killed 32 suspects when they saw them near the pass along the border with pakistan proving from one place to another, so confirmed the killing of those 33. americans have been active today in that same area and said they killed eight suspects in an attack. we see movement and situation of alert around the country. the taliban have today in a new video, have threatened to kill more people inside the military public schools and they accuse the pakistanis of not having enough feelings for the killing of civilians in north waziristan where the government launched an offensive against the taliban. they said if you kill our women and children, we'll continue to kill your women and children.

this is happening three days after the tragedy that happened here. people here are still mourning their dead. >> we are only 60 kilometers from the border where a lot of these operations are taking place. after the beginning of the new operation by the military against the taliban, we see the first strike back by the taliban. the government has suddenly woken up to the reality that they are in a serious war with the taliban and they have to brace up for the worst. >> pakistan said its military killed 1700 pakistani militant fighters. >> in australia, eight children were found dead with their mother who had been stabbed. >> we have been following this story. do we have new information on what might have happened to these kids? >> it's still early in the investigation, but police are

hoping they can get information from the 34-year-old woman found at the scene. she's in stable condition at a hospital suffering from at least one stab wound to her chest. police say she's not under arrest and that she is helping them with their investigation. the eight children, aged 18 months to 15 years old were found earlier this morning at a home in the northern queensland town. it's a suburb of a popular tourist destination near the great barrier reef. police say there is no wider danger to the public. >> there's no need for the public to be concerned about this other than the fact that it's a tragic, tragic event. the situation is well controlled at the moment. there shouldn't be concern for anyone else. >> police have confirmed the injured woman is the mother of seven of the children found, but at this point, they have no suspects and police have made no arrests. prime minister tony abbot describes the incident as an unspeakable crime.

>> thank you very much. >> protests have turned violent once again in haiti, demonstrations demanding the president resign. >> police blocked off the presidential ball lass, trying to stop a marsh on the building. >> riot police lead the escape after a demonstration. demonstrators followed before security reinforcements arrived. undeterred by the violence, anti-government protestors regrouped and marched through the capitol. the song sounds upbeat but carries a message for the president. >> the administration of the president is defending the corrupt interests. they don't care about the who are haitians. we are asking for his departure and prosecution. >> opposition leaders having met

with the president to try and agree on a new prime minister say the time for talk is over. >> we are not going to enter into negotiations with the president. we want his resignificant nation. today we have a rope and if we find him, we will tie him up. >> protestors have held daily rallies in the capitol. there hasn't been an election in haiti in three years. they are trying to take that message to the presidential palace. their calls for the most part falling on deaf ears. the president blames ledge later for the delayed elections, accusing them of blocking the vote to approve electoral. the president is trying to hoed power as without new elections come january, parliament will be dissolved and he could rule by decree. the protestors say he cannot ignore their demand and say the

writing is already on the wall. the resignation will stabilize this country. >> some of the protestors have been waving posters of the former president. he was twice ousted by the military. he is now back in haiti under house arrest. >> southern parts of the u.s. will deal with a soak to go start the weekend. for more, let's bring in anymore mitch. >> people get the jump start this weekend over hall day travel, we have the widespread area moving through the south. heavy rain this morning, places like new orleans pushing into the area now. this is an area especially from the eastern edge of louisiana all the way to the florida panhandle that were in a severe drought. that's been expanding, so the

rain is needed, but as i said, a very slow start to this friday morning. tracking moving through today, some lingering tomorrow, most of the region starts to dry out, at least by if not tomorrow, later tomorrow and then the second half of the weekend looking pretty decent with more sunshine in that forecast. in the meantime, some rain will be heavy, beneficial for the drought, causes pounding on the roads. two to four inches center's around louisiana is what we're looking at. temperatures on the cool side for this region. under all that rain, new orleans at 63 today and not until you get northward that we get into the 30's. >> kind of like a christmas gift for the region. >> boko haram carrying out a new attack, taking nearly 200 people captive. in just two minutes, the former u.s. ambassador to nigeria on what's at stake if leaders can't stop the group. >> shifting territorial control out of the government's hands hasn't kept syrian president

assad from holding power. >> a surprise for president vladimir putin as tensions flare during his annual address. that video and others captured by our citizen journalists.

>> time for our videos captured by citizen journalists around the world. firefighters in brooklyn battling a blaze one block from the boarding walk. >> activists in france protest a security france to keep migrant from entering the country. protests call it the wall of shame. >> protests took place while vladimir putin was giving his news conference. organizers used social media oh to coordinate the event. he touched on russia's economic problems. >> the war in syria, the government lost control of large areas of the country, the chaos is changing the syrian map every day. >> the small amounts of territory the government still

controls allows it to maintain its grip on power. >> more often than not, this is how the government fights back. it attacks rebel-held areas from the skies. it hasn't won back all the territory it lost to the opposition. it doesn't have enough soldiers for every front line. it chooses battles and fights on one front at a time. >> in my opinion, doesn't give -- doesn't take any -- doesn't present any importance, vital importance for the syrian regime. an airport is important, but isn't the first priority, he made military suctio success one field. >> strategic areas were captured

to survive, even though experts say it controls a mere 30% of syria. the amount of territory is not as important as which territory. it is still in charge of its seat of power and damascus is not isolated from other major urban centers under state authority. it is connected to lebanon and jordan, further north and to the divided city of allepo as well as the coastal region in the west. it has a presence in other contested provinces, a stronghold of the islamic state of iraq and the levant. >> the remaining areas are under the control of other opposition groups, but a lot of it is desert and countrysides. now it is more complicated, because rebels are at war with each other. >> al-nusra front, syria's al-qaeda branch has just taken over government bases in the

southern outskirts, consolidating its group after it pushed the so-called rebels out last month. >> neither side is winning because of the presence of isil and al-nusra. there are only losers in this war, the people. >> battle lines continue to shift. neither side is likely to win an outright victory, but the government is likely to stay in power if it is able to hold the one third of syria it currently holds. >> the world health organization saying more than 200,000 people have died as a result of the conflict, a million more wounded. disease is spreading because of the lack of things like food and medicine. >> new questions this morning over nigeria's ability to stop boko haram, as this week saw renewed killings and kidnappings, government opening fire, can i go more than 30 people and about 170 women and children were reportedly

abducted during that raid. robin sanders is the former u.n. ambassador to nigeria and joins us this morning. thanks for being with us. nigerian soldiers complained about not having enough food and not enough ammunition. should the u.s. be providing more supplies to the nigerian military at this point to fight boko haram? >> the nigerians and u.s. government are in discussions about their relative priorities and the needs. the nigerians are looking for having more special forces training, looking for equipment and material, some things we are not able to provide because our laws and human rights issues, but those on going discussions need to continue so what we can supply, we do, and wit what the nigerians need, we can provide as much as possible. >> you talk about hurdles that provide certain types of

assistance granted to nigeria. what happened to all that outrage from everyone from the first lady to malala yousafzai about bringing back those girls that were kidnapped back in april? >> i think that outrage is still there. i came back from nigeria this week. that outrange is still there and amongst various activist communities here in the united states. i think there is a bit of reality setting in as unfortunately that might be that probably many of those girls are not being held in groups anymore and they've either been married off or taken across the border. i think that that realization is setting in in nigeria and activist community that's been following this for sometime. >> how would you compare nigeria's strategic importance to places where the u.s. is more actively involved in conflict now, say iraq and syria, where u.s. fighter jets are targeting

isil? >> i think that we have to look at sort of the degree of things, certainly what's happening in nigeria is extremely serious, it's worrisome, it's got cross border implications that we've already seen. i think that even if you look at our trajectory from the iraq war and afghanistan, we had a build up in terms of being in our response to various issues. i think with nigeria, we're trying to match up what we can do with what their priorities are. there's a view in nigeria anyway from my recent trip that they feel they need more special forces training, they need certain equipment that our laws in some cases and our licensing processes make it difficult to do in an immediate kind of way. >> much of these attacks and kidnappings by boko haram are happening in the northern part of nigeria with that when you were there, is there a concern

among the general civilian population that the threat of boko haram is spreading? >> >> i think that concern has also been there. ever since the bombing of the u.n. headquarters about three years ago, so the reach of boko haram everybody realizes is there. you have sleeper cells. everyone is aware of that. two weeks ago, you had the devastating of the main mosque. i arrived the day after that bombing took place, and sent my condolences to the emir and people of kono. nobody is estimatedding that they have sleeper cells. when they activate them, who knows. they have reach. they've shown that. 11 kilometers outside there and they've been there before. >> this is the biggest economy and top oil producer in africa. thank you so much.

>> thank you very much. >> everywhere i go, people still ask me what is going on with those missing school girls. >> yeah. >> switching gears, parts of the northwest, we're going to talk about weather and dealing with a 1-2 punch of rain and snow. nicole mitchell joins is with more on that, good morning nicole. >> good morning. it's a messy weekend, we are seeing initial rain and we'll have more coming in getting into the course of the weekend. stevens pass going to be a tricky one getting through there once we get into the day on saturday. pretty widespread area of moisture if we look at satellite. here's the system, but taking up a nice chunk of real estate, you can see how that moisture is continuing to funnel in. this isn't winding down quickly. we have advisories of the hot purples that we are looking at down there, those are the areas that we're concerned about with the snow, front ranges is going to be where we have flood concerns building up. we already have just advisories for are that, but some rain

could equal 10 inches or more in isolated spots and widespread across the region, four to eight inches not out of the question. the snow areas i was looking at, some places could easily get over a foot of snow, although a lot of the snow sports that people might be doing for the holiday that started up early. that's the good side of this. it's keeping temperatures mild, hanoi off the water, seattle at 53. we will clear this system out by the time we get to the holiday, but that's going to bring temperatures more back to reality. >> there's always another system, right? >> there's always another in the pipeline. >> nicole mitchell, thank you. >> president obama looking to go it alone in an effort to overhaul the ties that the united states has with cuba. live in miami, but republicans planning to wage a fight against the president's plans. >> the e.p.a. and the coal ash industry, in north carolina, residents are reeling from a

massive spill. >> the ongoing battle over the redskins name. why a federal agency says the name is not offensive.

>> welcome to al jazeera america. you are taking a live look at karachi pakistan where huge crowds are protesting the school attack. government officials ever killed 59 taliban fighters in the north of pakistan. >> welcome to al jazeera america. ahead in our next half hour, the federal government slapping new york city with a lawsuit over its largest prison amid allegations riker' island. >> age blow to isil, three cop commanders killed in u.s.

airstrikes, the announcement coming as kurdish forces claim a win. the peshmerga have broken a siege in sinjar mountains in northern iraq. >> the white house evaluating options on responding to the haik attack against sony pictures. there is evidence pointing a finger at north korea, but there are concerns others may have been involved. north korea denying any role. >> the president moving ahead with plans to restore diplomatic relations with cuba. he could take economic actions next month. the actions are controversial especially in south florida. morgan radford is standing by live. the president said he will use that executive action perhaps next month. how is that playing in little havana? >> it's very interesting, because there is a strong reaction from the cuban american community, specifically among the older generation and

specifically among the republicans. marco rubio had strong words on obama's decision. take a listen. >> the implications of this decision extend far i couldn't understand cuba. it has a chilling effect on democracy and freedom in the region and on those bravely fighting for it especially those in cuba. >> marco rubio is echo be the sentiments from miami who say they were not considered when the obama administration developed this decision. rand paul came out in support of the move and there are democrats in support of the president's decision. >> safer to say that this policy change is going to be a hot topic at christmas dinners next week between families divided among generational lines. what are people telling you? >> here, families are completely divided, and a lot of the ones i spoke to, the older generation said i feel betrayed twice,

first by fidel castro and now by my own president, president obama. the older generation remember when hopes and businesses were taken and fidel castro's efforts to socialize the country. times ever changed. they say our president is doing this in the best interests for us and best interests of people in cuba. in cuba, a lot of families are excited, this means more internet access, freedom to move about. i was living in cuba in 2007, the year before obama was elected and fidel castro's last year of presidency. people said this wasn't going to happen under any other president. if you remember, fidel came to america may be times, and in fact, would stay in harlem. he had a strong connection at the african-american community. they felt obama would understand, especially coming from a behind the contempt racially that he was in some sense one of them. they think it was going to

happen under this president specifically. >> morgan, thank you very much. >> that cuba decision likely to be a hot topic at the president's news conference this afternoon beginning at 1:30 p.m. eastern time, right here on aljazeera america. >> two neighboring states say colorado needs to stop offering legal marijuana. nebraska and oklahoma are suing, they say people crossed the border to buy pot and bring it back to their states, put ago strain on police. colorado calls the lawsuit without merit. >> the environmental protection agency releases guidelines on coal ash following a deadly spill in north korea. what can we expect from these new regulations? >> they are supposed to come out later today and they are long awaited. these e.p.a. regulations are going to tell big coal companies how to dispose of the toxic coal

ash that has been around for nearly nine decades because of the coal mining or coal energy situation. this has been going on for quite a long time in north carolina. just this last february, there was a lot of attention brought to it. let's have a look. >> tons of waste from coal-fired power plants. >> arsonic, chromium, lead in a lot of cases. >> poured out of a cracked drainage pipe into a major north carolina river last february. >> duke energy cannot fail. we take this responsibility very, very seriously. we do feel like we failed a bit. >> duke energy is the largest electric economy in the u.s. of a the spill, a federal grand jury began looking into its rely ship with north carolina regular later. miles away from the river spill, a shuttered coal plant overlooks the river basin as toxic ash

seems into the ground water. residents call this area dukeville. >> you guys are not drinking your water, because you're afraid this is coal ash in it. you have jun of water you have to drive to get to? >> yes. >> how about bathing the kids? >> we don't bathe the children in the water. the pediatrician feels it's not in the best interests of the children to do that right now. >> joanne and ron thomas live just down the road. >> you and your husband created this map and it shows 72 people in your area that have had some sort of deadly disease. here are the coal ash ponds, right across the street, cancer? >> right. >> right over there? >> right. >> cancer? >> three brain tumors, brain tumor, cross the street, had another brain tumor. >> we have heard questions and concerns from residents near the plants who are hearing so much

hype about coal ash and we take very seriously their concerns. we are not finding evidence that comb ash has affected ground water. the company has been very proactive. >> i don't call that hype. i call that very serious. there are a lot of people nearby that have had cancer and died, lots of brain tumors. >> duke energy with the department of natural resources sampled the water. residents say they watch duke take samples in areas that would not show high levels of toxicity. >> how are the test results so different between the river keepers and duke on the water way? >> it's really about the collection method. one of the things that we're finding is sometimes these groups are taking very turbid samples that has settlement in them. >> that allows the levels to read at higher levels according

to duke. >> we don't filter out the very contaminants we are supposed to test for. duke is doing what makes the samples look better for them. >> duke spends millions of dollars on political contributions. the state's governor worked for the company for 29 years. this year, his budget cut funding for workers who inspect coal ash ponds. >> part of what we want is for the management of duke to fully understand the dangers that their company's practices are foisting on the people of the state and our rivers and we think they're begin to go realize it. >> duke says it will have all 32 coal ash ponds in the state cleaned up by 2029, a cost of between two and $8 billion. fortress dents living near the ponds, daily life is a struggle, as many will still not use the water supply and worry about their future.

>> stephanie, we reached out to governor pat mccrory of north carolina, and his people deferred us to the department of environment and natural resources, because they didn't want to make a comment. the deaner would not make a comment, either. so interesting, you can see a lot of people are on the hot seat here and the a reminder that the governor of north carolina worked for duke energy for 29 years. >> speaking of duke energy, that company announced they will be transferring more than 3 million tons of coal ash away from a river in south carolina. what else can you tell us about that move? >> well, environmentalists are putting pressure on duke to clean up those ponds in south carolina. some of shuttered, some coal ponds still active because they're near active coal mining station, but we do know that

some of this coal ash is going to be moved to a landfill in homer, georgia, which is right off interstate 85 just across the border in south carolina. they're going to truck that coal ash that's been there for decades over there and dispose of it. >> you have to wonder if they can put it in a landfill, why would they have put i did near rivers where people get their water in the first place? i mean, is there a safe place where coal ash can be stored in which it won't make people sick? >> the answer is that really, there's no 100% safe place for this. it's full of carcinogens, and the question about why would they put it near a river, you know, we've asked that. we asked that to duke energy yesterday. they said well, nine decades ago, this was a new experiment, a new way to create energy and no one really quite understood it, so they didn't put linings on the bottoms of these pits and of course the coal ash sad for

decades and the weight i wait went into the ground water and spewed into the rivers and wells into neighborhoods surrounding. they claim that the best way to go is to take this coal ash and put them in landfills, you know, put concrete over them, put concrete under it, and just call it a day. the thing is, that costs billions of dollars and that's not money that a lot of these energy companies want to spend. >> live in charlotte, north norh carolina, thanks for that report. >> the prime suspect in the boston marathon bombing case made an appearance, dzhokar tsarnaev telling a federal judge he is happy with his legal team. he faces the death penalty. his trial begins next month. >> a u.s. marine accused of murder in the philippines in court, joseph scott pender toton was brought into court. he is charged with killing a

transgender woman. he did not enter a plea. >> the justice department is suing new york city over a culture of violence at reichers island jail. >> federal prosecutors aren't satisfied. >> rikers island, home to new york city's main jail complex and according to federal investigators, the widespread and systemic abuse of prisoners. the jailhouses about 14,000 inmates on any given day, some as young as 16. many have yet to be found guilty of a crime but are here for months before going to trial because they can't afford bail. more than half have a mental illness. >> the environment is very prosecutorsive, the guards abusive, but we have no accountability for them. >> this man spent a year at rikers. he said the guards orchestrated

fights between inmates for their own hughesment and threw teenagers into solitaire confinement. >> they're trying to make them be men and they're children. if you did that two feet away from rikers, you'd be charged with child abuse and other charges. >> his claims are backed by a two year study. a civil suit is against new york seeking reforms and independent oversight. >> rikers island is fundamentally broken and that brute force, verbal insults, beatings and a culture of violence persists. something is very wrong at rikers and reform is long overdue. >> in addition to joining the lawsuit against the city, the u.s. attorney has also stepped up criminal prosecutions of guards in recent months, including finding two of them guilty for charges related to session drugs to inmates, and another guard was found guilty of civil rights violations, after he ignored an inmate's

pleas for medical help, which ultimately led to his death. >> any systemic change is difficult and takes time. >> the mayor of new york has promised reforms, including getting rid of solitaire confinement for 16 and 17-year-olds, a practice the united nations likened to torture. >> new york's use of solitaire confinement against youth constitutes a violation of their civil rights. >> critics say it isn't happening enough. this man wants a more therapeutic environment for the inmates and for the society to which they will one day return. >> at least 40 18-year-old's were still held in solitaire confinement as of last month. >> uber says it plans to sit down with boston's police commissioner next month. on the agenda, a rape charge against a driver. the company wants to work with police to ensure the safety of

passengers. >> uber is stopping operations in portland, oregon after slapped with a lawsuit by that the city. the company will use the time to make sure it follows city regulations for private transportation. it plans to stop pickups on sunday evening. >> a lot of people calling the term redskins offensive, but the f.c.c. ruled over the name of the team. several broadcasters have refused to use the material. there's been a push to force the team to change. the team owner is not going to change it, but the movement has been gaining so much steam in recent months, a lot of people believe if not this year, sooner or later something will have to change. >> president obama looking to go it alone with efforts to restore relations with cuba as republican lawmakers promise a fight. >> we weigh in on the hurdles congress could facing if the president pushes his plan forward. >> a life-changing break through for one amputee.

>> fighting isil on mount sinjar. >> an iraq leader offers this take: >> who had that to say, coming up next. real characters... >> creator of "all in the family" "the jeffersons" and "good times" talks race, comedy and american culture today... >> you're taking me to a place in this interview, i haven't been before... >> i told you this would be your best interview >> ...and it is... it's the current one... >> every monday, join us for exclusive... revealing... and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time... talk to al jazeera, only on al jazeera america

>> who said the following: >> our big quote is from iraq's foreign minister al abadi, writing about the new government

welcoming the forces in the fight against isil. >> president obama putting in motion plans to restore diplomatic ties with cuba. he is said to be thinking about executive actions next month. some cheer the move, others say he is doing the wrong thing. we are joined now by a professor of campaign management at n.y.u. a risky move for the president, heading into a republican controlled congress. good move, bad move? >> i think it's a good move for the president, i have to say. think back a few weeks of the election where he took such major losses, and everybody thought he was a lame duck, nothing was going to happen. in the last five or six weeks, he's done an enormous number of things on immigration, on cuba, in terms of the iran nuclear talks. he's really gone out and done some things he wasn't doing and some people have said he's done more in the last five weeks than -- >> some saying he has cemented

his legacy in history as a president who has done something. >> done something important. this is something he's been wanting to do. in the western hemisphere, a place people thought he wouldn't make an impact, this could well be a big legacy for him. i think it's important for the americanant cuban people and congress is going to try, we know when they coming in, in january, they have to form ally remove the embargo, because it's legislative, but the president has room to maneuver. we see a reinvigorated, reenergized president obama. >> what's fascinating about this is this by partisan on both sides. is it surprising that democrats are speaking out? >> we've seen some democrats speaking out against him and some republicans --

>> rand paul. >> rand paul in particular speaking out in favor of the president. they are creating some strange bed fellows here. bob menendez was very, very strong for his distaste of what the president has done. it's going to be interesting to see how this comes down. mcconnell and boehner both said that they stand with marco rubio on this. i think we'll see congress going forward strongly against the president, but they don't have as many kind of things that they can do as they might think that they want to do. >> many say this is a generational issues, older cuban americans say it was abode move, younger say it's a good move. will this affect how much elections? >> the polls show strongly that younger people, younger cuban americans feel they want to see this happen, older generations

don't. this is going to play out into 2016 and beyond and democrats bet that they're going to be the beneficiaries of this. we know the hispanic vote more broadly is very, very important going into 2016. >> tell me about the strategy here. this was a president that involved a pope or pope that involved a president, not bad cover if you're somebody tackling a human rights issue. >> absolutely, for pope francis to get involved and try to persuade castro and president obama to take this step, it really is great cover for the president trying to do something that we should remember he promised to do in 2007. it's been a long time coming. he really has worked hard on it, obviously and when the american was first kidnapped, that put the brakes on it as secretary of state clinton was working on it. secretary of state kerry made headway on this. having pope francis, even

senator rubio said he understood and supported -- >> hard to argue. >> hard to argue with the pope. >> thank you for being with us. >> in malaysia, a political fight is brewing over food. the region is renowned for its cuisine. the government there wants to keep outsiders out of some kitchens. >> food, it's something of an obsession among malaysians. it's common to hear people ask one another, have you eaten, instead of how are you. even among many, there's a general agreement to street food in the northern state is the best. starting as an prentice to his father, to this day, he uses the same family recipe handed down through generations. >> sauce is very nice for you. >> he trained his son to cook

exactly the same thing. >> it is described as one of the foot capitals of the world. people here take their food seriously. the state government wants to ban foreigners from cooking. >> the chief minister said its to preserve the authenticity and flavor of the street food and would only apply to those who work in roadside stalls. >> if you just employ a worker who just has a routine job, i think you are losing the very essence, the magic that makes the food so incredible. >> as to what exactly that magic is, one foot writer writes her opinion. >> it's so closely related to the strong sense of identity that the people have. they feel really strongly about their food. passion and love goes into the creation of all their dishes. >> malaysia's food ambassador

said the ban is short-sighted. >> we should train them properly so they in the future will go everywhere around the world and spread the cuisine. >> the state government is adequate, believing the ban will help preserve the brand and taste of the true food. al jazeera, georgetown, malaysia. >> malaysia draws 30 million foreign tourists every year, six mill go for the beaches and of course the food. >> a step forward for helping amputees. this is video from a man who had both arms amputated 40 years ago. now he is using his mind to operate the arms. scientists built them. for the first time in decades, he can do every day things most of us take for granted. >> let's get a check of the forecast now. >> a couple systems that will

impact us getting into the weekend, we are looking at a system to the south, another to the northwest. a lot of the country is pretty quiet, so much real estate that will be decent for today. here's the developing system in the south, already bringing heavy rain as far to the east as mississippi, and this is needed rain, this is a dry area, somebody places even in drought conditions and we're going to continue to see relief out of this. a lot of places two to four inches through today, this moves into the region, a little more to the east tomorrow and definitely out by sunday. you can see this, this is tomorrow's forecast but a lot of this is early in the day and clearing and improving. another system, you can see into the day saturday, we are seeing rain with that, but this will continue to push in and a nice moisture flow is going to funnel in a lot of moisture, more than we're seeing in the south, areas along the coastal front or the ranges, we could see up to 10 inches of rain, a lot of places four to eight inches outside that have and snow in some of the mountainous terrains

easily over a foot, places like the cascades, we're going to watch for that, sue decent temperatures in the meantime, not a bad weekend overall. >> ok, nicole mitchell, thank you. >> aljazeera america is going to carry the president's news conference this afternoon beginning at 1:30 p.m. eastern time. >> there are a lot of topics on his jen did, cuba to isil to the sony hacking. tomorrow morning, we'll bring you completely analysis of what the president said. >> that is it for us in new york. here now are images of the day, locals enjoying an evening out in scotland. >> residents got to swing on a giant wing called the star flyer with downtown views. >> we'll see you back here tomorrow at 7:30.

>> a crisis on the border... >> thery're vulnarable... these are refugees... >> migrent kids flooding into the u.s. >> we're gonna go and see josue who's just been deported... >> why are so many children fleeing? >> your children will be a part of my group or killed... >> fault lines, al jazeera america's hard hitting... >> today they will be arrested... >> ground breaking... they're firing canisters of gas at us... emmy award winning investigative series... fault lines no refuge: children at the border only on al jazeera america

kurdish forces claim their biggest victory over isil fighters in iraq. breaking the siege, they say of sinjar mountains. ♪ i'm david shuster these are the top stories we're covering in the next 30 minutes. rallies across pakistan to remember the victims of the school siege. political turmoil in haiti, protesters take their demands back to the street. and football's governing body, fifa says it