food. >> advocates of urban farming hope that their success will help inspire more cities to join the movement. >> they were quite simply assassinated. targeted for their uniform. ambush in new york. two police officers gunned down in the line of duty, now the police department is in mourning. president obama calls for sympathy for the victims. [ chanting ] and protests against police brutality managed to disrupt holiday shopping at the biggest mall in all of america. plus, the future of cuba -

promising and doubtful. the white house opens diplomatic channelless and raul castro says don't spect too many changes. and look at this video of a monkey coming to the rescue of a friend. good morning, welcome to aljazeera.co aljazeera.com. -- al jazeera america. . >> president obama condemns the killing of two police officers gunned down, sitting in their squad car, shot execution style by a gunman that police say later killed himself. john terrett is live in brooklyn. the gunman, police say he targeted the officers. do we know yet why? > good morning. it seems as if the gold-blooded killing of two n.y.p.d. officers here in the bedside district of brooklyn, an assassination, is

lipped linked to the deaths of two african-american men, eric garner in staten island, and michael brown in ferguson, missouri. this was the chaotic scene where police say the gunman ran to, the subway station, after shooting two n.y.p.d. officers. police ordered him to step down and he turned the gun on himself. on the video a young man could be heard comforting a woman who was crying. moments earlier 28-year-old ismaaiyl brinsley ambushed two officers sitting in their patrol car. >> he took a shooting stance on the passenger side, fired the weapon, his weapon, several times through the front passenger window, striking both officers in the head. police say 40-year-old rafael ramos, and 32-year-old wenjian liu never had the chance to draw their weapons and may never have

seep their killer. >> they were, quite simply, assassinated. tart for their uniform. -- targeted for their uniform. >> ismaaiyl brinsley allegedly shot his former girlfriend before travelling to brooklyn, and made comments on social media. police sent a warning to n.y.p.d., that came in at the time of the killings. >> at the end of the day two families are missing someone for christmas, it's wrong. >> it's wrong to chushoot and ar two police officers. >> reporter: reverend sharpton spoke to the families of the two black teenagers and they are outraged: people, at a brooklyn host, more than 100 police officers saluted

their fallen brothers as their bodies were taken to the morgue. >> our city is in mourning. our hearts are heavy. we lost two good men who devoted their lives to protecting all of u us. >> and you are looking at a candlelight and flowers memorial to two slain officers. we are learning about them. wenjian liu was 32 years old, a 7-year veteran of the force and married two months ago. officer rafael ramos was 40 years old. he had been with the force two years, and he leaves behinds a wife, 13-year-old son, who is said to be devastated by his father's death, and a college-aged son. president obama condemns the deaths, saying that police officers should expect the gratitude of people

speaking of an interaction between the police and the new york city, police also - there was a rally against violence that almost shut down the mall of americas. saturday, hundreds of demonstrators took over the largest shopping center shouting no justice and no shopping. ross shimabuku is here with more. >> the large crowds took over the mall's rotunda as shoppers were trying to grab last minute presents. the message - black lives matter. >> more than 3,000 people signed up to take part in the demonstration. the turn out in the hundreds. they carried posters and chanted around the mall. some shops locked their doors, pulling down screens, fearing the crowds could get angry. putting a halt it a busy shopping day. >> they have a right to protest.

i department think it should be an inconvenience. >> it's inconvenient. we want to shop. it's christmas. we want to give gifts to the family. we can't get in. >> mall officials posted a warning on monitors and loud speakers asking the crowd to break up. security lined up, and police in riot gear surrounded the mall. a final warning was issued. 25 people were taken into custody. there were protests in baltimore, philadelphia and atlanta thank you. hundreds of cuban americans took to the streets of miami, furious over president obama's plan to restore relations with havana. raul castro, cuba's president, said on saturday that the country would not change the commubist system -- communist system >> reporter: less than a week

ago they served espionage sentences, now they are treated as heroes, releases as part of an agreement announced between the united states and cuba. everyone has been talking about what happened following the agreement, cuban president raul castro was keep to remind people what would remain the same >> translation: the economic system that prevails will be based on socialist ideals. >> reporter: castro was quick to prays president obama and the ground-breaking nature of what was accomplished. but indicated that the implementation would be left to the cuban people themselves. changes will take place at the cheap without leaving anyone behind. without shock measures and renowning -- renouncing the

ideas. >> reporter: there's enthuse m yam -- enthuse yam for the deal. most want a release to the embargo, and anything less than that is unwarranted. >> down the road the most important thing, i think, is that the cuban people will be better off. >> and i say to the people from the cuban government. either people are better off, the government is better off, so what. they are better off. >> that, too, was a message from the cuban president who ended his speech in familiar style. long live cuba, long live fidel castro. countries still figuring out a future that is upon them, and that it will take time to

realise. president obama, however, argues that restoring relations is the best chance the u.s. has for influencing the communist country. days after the u.s. pointed the finger at north korea in the attack on sony, images of kim jong un emerging in public. it shows the leader visiting a textile factory in the capital on the same day in pyongyang denied it was behind the breach. >> we propose to conduct the joint investigation with the u.s. in response to groundless slander by mobilizing public opinion. >> reporter: it was said there would be serious consequences if russia refused to agree. the u.s. is standing by the claim that pyongyang is responsible. >> four guantanamo bay detainees are back in their home country this morning as the obama administration efforts to close the detention center. the four were returned to afghanistan after they were held

for over a decade. the men are expected to be reunited with their families in the near future. six gitmo inmates this month were released. >> peshmerga forces were reclaiming more territory after breaking the siege on sinjar mountain. they are bringing in food, water and other supplies. our correspondent has more. >> reports coming from sinjar says heavy fighting it going on with peshmerga forces supported by ethnic yazidi fighters continuing to shell positions of i.s.i.l. they are meeting stiff resistance from the i.s.i.l. fighters, and the coalition that are carried on in positions of the i.s.i.l. fighters are not

helping the peshmerga forces and their allies take the tunnels. sinjar is important if taken by peshmerga forces. because it drives away i.s.i.l. forces that laid siege to the mountain where more than 11,000 sought refuge on the mountain. it's the scene of some of the worst massacre. taking sin jar back from i.s.i.l. is a big victory for them. >> most of the yazidi on the mountain have not come down fearing i.s.i.l. threats in the towns below that they escape the from air strikes in rafa claimed the lives of at least 11 citizens. dozens were injured when the government forces launched the

sites. a warning from the state department for americans travelling abroad, saying terrorist groups could pose threats in public venues. it follows the lone wolf attack last week, leaving three dead, suggesting that attacks occurred in hotels, shopping areas, places of worship. the worldwide travel alert remains in place during the middle of march a crossing between egypt and the gaza strip reopened. they closed the rafa crossing. a suicide attack killed 30 egyptian soldiers, prompting the closure. al qaeda briefly reopened it in november. rafa is the only entry way into the gaza strip which is not controlled by israel the greatest of all time is fighting a bout of pneumonia. the bombing lenned.

mohammed ali is in good condition and about to be released soon. he was last seen in his home down of louisville, kentucky. time for a check of the forecast with meteorologist nicole mitchell. >> we'll start with the west coast coast. what happens here. look at the floats tapping into the pacific. it's like someone turned into the garden hose. this is going to continue to spread the rain into the interior, so for the coastline we have gotten some of the core. the remainder, 4-6 inches, 8 to 10, if you get near some of the ranges. it means for higher elevations as it moves to the interior we have significant areas of snow. >> it could be a foot or more. not so great for the christmas travel. this system over the next couple

of days might rates interior. by the time we get into tus or wednesday, mid west, east coast, they are busy travel days. the good side of all of this increases the chances for a white christmas. it's more on what the tracks for the holiday comes up in a bit. >> immigrant families in america worry about deportation. next, why the president's recent action on immigration does not go far enough to make them feel safe. a rup off in tunisia is underway. where voting is extreme but not trouble free. lock at this, as a monkey on a train station comes to the rescue of his friend.

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

violence in the lead-up to tunisians elections, where troops killed a gunman and arrested three others after they attacked soldiers at a polling booth. the elections are crucial for tunisia, marking the full effects of democracy after the arab spring. >> reporter: at 88 years old this person is no stranger to politics, beji caid essebsi served under the president and in the regime of the ousted president and wants the job himself. he and his supporters say he's the only candidate with the skills to make the county forth. >> i'll vote for beji caid essebsi for a simply reason, he has experience. trmption honestly, i wish he was

younger. what is important is political experience. >> it was this time four years ago that tunisians gathered at this pleas. it was the modern arab world's first revolution. and largely remained on track. there's a fear among some that the outbreak could reverse political gains. that feeling is strong among supporters. of moncef marzouki, the counter president and the second of the two candidates. >> translation: i'm worried about our freedom. that's why i'm voting moncef marzouki. he can guarantee freedom and democracy. >> translation: moncef marzouki is a revolution candidate. the oug one that would fulfil the aamps it's an renowned human rights activists and enjoys support among the parties. tunisia has been the only

countries to come close to being a success story of the arab spring. egypt israel and others are in the midst of coups, tunisia is relatively safe. it will help further the march to democracy. >> the united states is one of tunisia's aid donors. violence in chicago - now touching family members of mayor ron emanuel. two men robbed his 17-year-old of his cell phone, across the street from his house. police are searching for the suspects. and the chicago "sun times", assess the mayor is disillusioned for years many in the united states lived in fear of being separated from their loved ones. we are introduced to a family struggling to stay together in time for the holidays.

>> reporter: birthdays, babies, weddings, vacations. >> translation: that's me with the pinata. >> reporter: memories shared with children through photos. for more than a decade there were no photos of all five of them together. frank line came to the u.s. first in 2002. sandra followed. this was the last photo of her taken with her sons. the decision to bring the boys who lived with their grandparents illegally was difficult. >> translation: it's a country full of crime. my oldest son, who is 15, had people looking at him to be a body guard or a gang member. it was a decision to leave my sons live in danger or have them risk their lives for two weeks and be with us here. >> they sold many of their possessions a raise the $12,000 needed to pay a smuggler.

emanuel was 10 when he made his way from mexico to texas. >> we had to memorize the password, because they worked with the narcos, if we didn't. they'd kill us. we wrote on our hand, arms and shoes. >> they were caught at the border and detained. they were released to a social worker who brought them here to new jersey. it was the first time he had met his father. this 8-year-old is the only u.s. citizens. >> when i saw my parents i didn't cry. i came with anger. when my sister hugged me, i hit her. i feel bad. she was the one sacrificed to bring us here. >> the family is fighting to be together again. this fall immigration came to the door with deportation orders against sandra. >> one of the ates wanted to hand -- agents wanted to hand

cuff me in the house. the other saw my daughter crying, so the other told them to handcuff me outside. now under the executive action taken by president obama, the government believes he has no longer a priority. after january 1st, 2010, cut-off. they'll be lucky. they worry that president obama's actions doesn't go far enough. they raise their children here together. . >> translation: for the first time we are making plans, we are excited. we'll see what happens. so so many years i waited for all of us. >> reporter: living together as a family is an uphill battle beginning in the spring undocumented immigrants will be able to apply for temporary legal status. more than 3 million are expected to qualify. to the act of heroism caught on

tape. look at this. people travelling in the train station in india watched as a monkey saved his friend from a train. look at that. after that monkey fell on the tracks after being shocked. his buddy revives him, hitting, reviving and dipping him in water. the little guy is doing okay a group of tough guys showing the softer sides. how gang members in new zealand are tackling the issue of children in poverty, and the poverty of cuba. how will president obama's decision to open diplomatic channels in havana impact the 2016 presidential election. stay tuned.

2014 was a record year. the national highway safety administration says 60 million vehicles have been recalled off the road, double what it was 10 years agos. according to the nh t.s.a. the average number from 2004 to last year was 16.1 million. it's a lot of cars. >> welcome back to al jazeera america. thank you for spending your sunday with us. let's get a look at the forecast with meteorologist nicole mitchell. >> happy first day of winter to you. i know it may not feel like winter in a lot of places.

with the tilt of the earth, today is the day for the northern hemisphere. the south is having their summer. the southern hms fear, and it -- southern hemisphere, and it means a little more daylight. we start the tilt towards spring and summer. temperatures for the we were portion of the country are on the mild side. places like seattle. it's a warm system, the next system that comes in. cooler than observing for parts of the east coast at 39 for fork. the one other system, bootses the west coast - we had moisture through the south. it will continue with a boundary across the area to have indicational showers, and some could crawl up the coast. in time for the next system to be coming across. there's a couple of things we were having to watch as we get to the holiday, and how is it looking. especially as we get to

christmas, snow on the backside. high winds. a lot of rain for the east coast. that will impact some of the travel plans. >> thank you so much a street gang in new zealand is winning prays. a fight to feed schoolkids. they are planning a big surprise for the children. wayne hay with more on the gang that is packing a different punch. >> it's the first thing in the morning. gang members are busy at work. there's nothing illicit going on here. just an operation to feed something. >> very nice. >> every night members of the tribal gang visit schools. the idea came from the leader who remembers what it was like to go without. >> if the kids grow up hungry they don't have a good start in life. straight away animosity is form.

the program is well received judging by the thank you letters on the walls. by nine in the morning he is saluted by his members. on the tour he stops at 25 schools and hand delivers lunches that will be given to children who go to school with nothing. >> new zealand's economy is doing better than most. at the same time there's a growing feeling that the gap between rich and poor is getting wider. there's greater discussion around the issue of hungry children and poverty in general. >> the government and the private sector introduced a programme providing breakfast, but will not support a proposal for parliament to provide lurge lurges. -- provide lunches. >> parents have a responsibility to make sure that the chin go to school having had breakfast and something for lunch. >> yaimie's operation is growing all the time.

dismit the fact that they were made by a gang, sandwiches were welcome. >> we look at it as a group of people committed to ensure that children are given every opportunity. >> most of the food comes from donations. the gang runs farms supplying meet and generating money to pay for ingredients. >> you are doing a good job. >> jamie says critics are used to recruit young members, that they are wrong. >> the kids smile and say thank you, you see them with a full tummy, that's enough for us. >> they want to do some good and give children something he and many members never had. stay tuned. coming up at 8 o'clock the executive director of greenpeace goes to court. the group are being charged after damaging a historical strike and the vatican getting

credit for bridging the divide between cuba and the united states. how a little nudging from the vatican helped a whole lot. >> i'm morgan radford and i'm back with you for the next hour of al jazeera america.

our city is in mourning. our hearts are heavy. we lost two good me. who devoted their lives to protecting all of us. a city in mourning, two of new york's finest gunned down in cold blood. and the suspect was not a stranger to the law and a deadly clash on the streets of west africa called

for an embattled president to step down north korea's kim jong un appears in public after his regime denies links to the cyber attack on sony. the white house stands its ground and his ultimatum liquid fire takes aim at a shopping center new york city police officers saluting their fallen brothers as their bodies are taken from the hospital to the morgue. good morning to you, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford. reaction is pouring in from police plaza to the white house after two new york city police officers were ambushed and assassinated at point blank range. the partners were sitting in the rat roll car when they were shot and killed execution style. the families are starting the holiday, planning furnitures. john terrett is live at the scene. what happened to the gun moun, what do we know about him.

>> good morning to you from bedside new york. let's take you to the latest video explaining what happened in the aftermath of the shooting. this is in a nearby subway station where a shooter ran and committed suicide to. these are chaotic scenes. they belong to police officers. if you listen to the tape, you hear a young man comforting a woman who is crying. that is the latest video from the scene. what happened before the video is the shooter, 28-year-old ismaaiyl brinsley came to the area. it's a commercial intersection in brooklyn. and he took up a shooting position, according to the police commissioner. of the two officers at point blank range in cold blood as they were sitting in their marked police vehicles.

according to the n.y.p.d. commissioner, this was an assassination. >> two of new york's finest were shot and killed with no warning, no provocation. they were quite simply assassinated. targeted for their uniform. >> according to commissioner bill bratton, it all happened quickly, likely the two officers didn't see what was coming, they had no idea that a killer was about to do what he did. >> you say he didn't see this coming. we heard the police commissioner say it was not a random act. why were the officers targeted? >> well, the story began in baltimore in maryland, yesterday morning when the shooter ismaaiyl brinsley shot his former girlfriend in the

stomach. she survived. but according to the police after that he took to her instagram account and began posting messages saying that he was going to try to kill police officers. and these messages were extremely violent and antipolice. then he came to brooklyn and carried out the murder in the afternoon, and maryland police had been aware of the instagram messages, and they faxed the n.y.p.d. a copy of his picture. it came in at the same time the shooting happened here in this district of brooklyn. one other point, the 28-year-old shooter has a long rap sheet. he has been wanted by the police in the past on robbery and weapons charges. >> it's interesting. i understand that one of those instagram messages says something to the effect they take one of ours, we'll take two

of theirs. what is the rehabilitation. -- the reaction, that the officers were targeted. how is the rest of the n.y.p.d. responding to that? >> the messages posted on instagram were extremely violent and very, very antipolice. president obama has been among the first to comment on the shooting in brooklyn, and he says that the killing - should be condemned out right, and that police officers deserve the gratitude of members of the public and called on americans everywhere to rejected violence and the use of hard words. we heard from the garner and brown families. this is michael brown in ferguson, and eric garner in staten imed. and the garner family said any linking of this killing with the

deaths of michael brown, and eric garner is reprehensible. >> thank you so much. joining us live in brooklyn. >> it doesn't stop there. one of the busiest shopping days of the year interrupted by a massive antipolice protest. hundreds of protesters took over the mall of america. what were the protesters trying to get across. i hear they said no justice, no shopping. >> protesters wanted to shut the mall and get the message across that black lives matter much on this last shopping book before christmas, that's what they did. >> reporter: some stores shut down at the mall of americas as organizers of the black lives matter say some 3,000 took part in the demonstrations, despite warnings from all officials to leave. >> we are disappointed that the

protesters chose to ignore repeated reminders and policies that protests were not allowed. >> reporter: extra security and police surrounded the mall on a busy shopping day. an hour after officials issued a warning, many demonstrators left in piece. police say 25 were escorted out and tape into custody on the last saturday before christmas, leaving many frustrated as security blocked off streets and parking lots for more than two hours. >> that's fine. they have a right to protest. it shouldn't be an inconvenience for everyone else to shut down the mall. >> it's inconvenient. we want to go in the shop. it it's christmas. we want to get gifts. we can't get in. >> that was one of a number of protests across the country on what retailers call super

saturday. demonstrators targeted shoppers in cleveland, atlanta and other places. protesters rallied for justice around ohio for 10 hours. [ chanting ] . >> they were yelling "i can't breathe", and the protesters were calling for an end to police brutality. now, one in particular is tamir rice, and if you remember, he is the 12-year-old kid shot and killed by a cleveland officer. he was playing with a bb gun. rice's father urged others to take action. >> bb guns should be stored away. it's how i remember my brother, playing outside, 14. throw them away, please. do me a favour more protests are scheduled in cleveland where a grand jury will decide whether the officer will be charmed for shooting

tamir rice images on kim jong un, on the same day north korea denied it was behind a sony attack. he was spotted visiting a textile factory. his government wants a joint investigation with the united states into the hack. officials say there'll be serious consequences if washington refuses to agree. but as reported, the u.s. is standing by its open investigation. -- it's own investigation. >> a north korean newspaper warned of grave consequences. we propose to conduct a joint investigation with the u.s. in response to groundless lander perpetrated by the u.s., by mobilizing public opinion. >> the fbi concluded that pyongyang is responsible, and that's affirmed by president obama. >> the fbi announced that - and we can confirm that north korea engaged in this attack. >> however, many cyber security experts say they are unconvinced

by what they describe as circumstantial evidence. sony was attacked with software that the fbi says was used by north korea in the past. that sort of malware is freely traded by hackers around the world. the software used to delete sony's data was commercially available and used an a saudi arabia oil company. not blamed on north korea. north korean addresses were used. hackers often hughes false addresses. some ask why some who claimed responsibility for the attack did not mention the film about the assassination. kim jong un until after media speculation was widespread about a link. it's difficult to pinpoint the source of a cyber attack, unless the hackers incriminate themselves or there's human intelligence. if they had evidence, he is not

disclosing it. u.s. are expert, pioneering state-sponsored attacks, according to whistleblower edward snowden. in 2011 u.s. agencies mounted 231 offensive cyber operations, some against north korea. sony says it's standing by the choice to keep "the interview" out of theatres for now four guantanamo detainees are back in their home town as part of efforts to chose the detention centre. they were held after being held for more than a decade over alleged ties to taliban or al qaeda. the claims could not be substantiated. they are expected to be reunited with their families in the future a tunisian man who spent 13 years locked up was released earlier. he told al jazeera that he never

doubted that he would be released. >> i learnt a lot from my experience. i was surrounded by lies much everywhere was lying, from lawyers to integrators. we later were hard wired not to believe anyone, i no longer believe anything unless i see it. i did not believe i would be coming here until i landed and left the plane. i suspect they may change their mind at any point. as a muslim, i have faith in god. that is why i'm not worried about the future. i have served 13 years in guantanamo, for better and for worse. >> earlier this month six gitmo inmate were released to uruguay it was a narrow escape tore some on the cost of italy. the migrant was under water of the it was one of many that

millions of syrians are forced to take since the beginning of their war. zeina khodr has more. this woman is prepared to start a new life. she's a refugee from syria that moved to lebanon. her husband has a heart problem and cannot work. it puts them in a vulnerable category of refugees. according to the united nations eligible for resettlement. living in lebanon is not easy, it is overwhelmed by the burden of refugees and a country caught up in the conflict. >> there are no jobs. in lebanon, we are paying the price because the political differences. we are targeted with supporters or by syrian opponents. >> many wait for hours to apply for say sil um. -- asylum. many have spent their savings, and can't find jobs.

it's not just hardship, the syrian government has allies here. >> it's diff. people are scared. in europe we will be treated as human reports. >> reporter: people lost hope. there's more than a million refugees in lebanon. 7,000 people have been resettled. it's a small percentage of those that need assistance. >> in terms. process it can be lengthy. it depends on an individual country. we have to interview, determine who the people are, go through security and medical checks. we are working to improve the processing. >> it couldn't have come sooner. moving to denmark means his children can return to school. it's a hard decision to leave the region.

>> we have a choice. we go hungry and live that security, or we'll be safe and able to eat. >> they don't have a third choice. what they'd prefer is the option to return home. >> that home mentioned is still under almost daily attack. earlier today 11 civilians were killed in government air strikes. cuba's president is sending a message to the u.s. that his country will not save the system. castro expressed gratitude to president obama for taking the first steps. we'll speak with a father, luke sweeney, about the role that pope francis played in this move. travelling is something americans will do enmass and it

could be a nightmare for folks in the north-east. nicole mitchell is tracking it for us. >> as we move, it's not just the north-east, but it may have significant travel problems. we are getting closer to christmas. we have 39% of the country covered with the white stuff, versus 42" a daying oo. the lightest -- 42% a day ago. this next system is going to help increase the chances for some of these places. you can see the funnel of moisture coming into the north-west. heavy areas of rain, and flash flooding concerns across the region. 4-6 inches on top of what we have had, and more isolated spots peer the front rapinnges along the coast. you see how the moisture spreads. warnings in the pinks, high

winds as it develops and gets into the mid section. country, developing more. so higher wind as it moves along. you see the snow and higher elevation. what it does is get into christmas eve. snow in the midwest. rain on the front side. some of our airports like new york city or chicago could have delays. back to you. the white house is taking aim at moscow, president obama set to sign a new round of economic sanctions against russia this week. russia's response - why now. >> the great grand daughter joins you after the break. a former soviet satellite caught between progress and the past. a push for sovereignty in a region considering itself an independent state a language dispute in the

classroom fills into the street.

[ gunfire ] [ explosion ] you're watching as police used tear gas to break anti-government protests. demonstrators call for the country's president to step down. three people were killed in the chaos on saturday. opposition groups say hundreds have been injured. 20 were arrested and more protests planned. there's a breakaway state on a strip of land between moldova and ukraine, it's a country with its own government, parliament, military and police. the self declared nation of transnistria has a problem. it's not recognised not each by some of its closest nations. that has had a major impact on

those that live there. >> reporter: these people from transnistria take the bus every day with their teachers. it's a journey deputy head has been making for 12 years. today is a good day. no hold-ups as they cross the boundary line of an ideological divide into territory controlled by moldova. their destination, the sky and village. the school shares its classrooms with the pupils so that they cap learn in romanian. >> translation: it's good what you can learn your mother tongue. you learn about your mother lapped. not surreally. it's better this way. >> teachers say this woman was shut down for refusing to teach. >> translation: they are obliged

to learn russian history, geography and language, recognised worldwide. it is not our language or history. >> the villages have problems of their op, they are losing the right to farm their own land. >> on 14 october farm herders came up and discovered their access to farm land has been blocked by this mud bank after a digger was brought in. now the transmysterian authorities stationed a police car permanently to stop anyone trying to cross. this woman lost access to 90% of her farm. >> i feel really bad because people are left without work, without earnings, anything to support their family with. >> landowners want to sue the russian federation in the european court of human rights. they have ground for optimism.

in 2012 russia was held liable for violating schools. the 1 million euros in damages is unpaid. like the money problems are outstanding transnistria's diplomatic dilemma is a problem for visitors to the region. tourists had to complete paperwork for three governments to get in. meanwhile russia says it will not gave to the pressure. they call the restrictions collective punishment. this associate professor joins us to discuss in this morning. >> why now, president barack obama is expected to sign a bill. why new?

>> that's my question. i don't think sanctions are necessary. it is very, very low. oil prices are low. vladimir putin explained himself. it's a good time for dip loam as which and more sangses. this process is also taking time. so it is good that the dealing with the sanctions or the immediate sangses are in place. the question is how much longer can voout nin hold out. it's largely given control oft state media. if me has to explain himself, how long does he have to continue, before he has coal. he stand up to the west, and wants to make it great.

they can sacrifice the individual to the great interests. that's what it's petting opment i'm not sure that this time around it can last for a long time around. i think it will be finished. >> if the economic situation deteriorates. what about ukraine. what is the best that kiev can hope for. i think key should speak to the russians speak to the russians. president petro porashenko has done a good job. navigating this possible international crisis. i think russia once again - it is weakened now. it would probably be more willing to negotiate. there's another side of it. maybe it will come swinging. it's a possibility. we haven't gotten there yet.

maybe a conversation with vladimir putin, give or take for ukraine as well. >> you mentioned swinging. what would that swing look like. sergey lavrov says moscow is going to respond as the actions come. what will they respond to. >> moscow will respond the foreign minister said that crimea is going to become nuclear zone, which should not have been the case. now when crimea technically goes to russia. you had a piece of transnistria. that's another opportunity, there are other marts in moldova. >> complicated. >> complicated, but an opportunity. there are other parts saying "we want to be russian", and we shouldn't forget there are other parts of ukraine and other places that vladimir putin says "you know what, you are not listening to me, you are not having conversation with me, i

have no other choice but to go and claim my russian interest." >> like in crimea. >> absolutely. >> thank you for joining us. critics wrote off president obama as a lame duck after midterm elections, then he made diplomatic history, announcing plans to normalize relations with cuba. that and a look at jed bush's bid for the oval office in "the week ahead." coming after the break. don't go anywhere.

>> i think ultimately we need to pull down the embargo which is self defeating in advancing the aims we are interested in. i don't anticipate that happens right away. i think people will want to see how to move forward before there's debate about whether or not we would make major shifts in the embargo. >> that's president obama,

announcing plans to normalize relations with cuba. what is hailed as a major doimic breakthrough with a nation we ignored. that's first up. joining me now is republican strategist tj mccormick, dominik was to join us, but he had an emergency. we send our best to him. despite being called a lame duck the president has made bold moves since the midterms. where has this obama been all along. >> this obama has been waiting for lord nose - a moment -- lord knows, are moment. >> is this it? >> he says he's not done, refusing to go away and refusing to be a lame duck. you said in the run up. for a nation ignored - there's a lot of people with their eye on cuba and on the right side of the aisle see it as an interesting turn of events.

a week ago the president obama administration there's the intelligence community under the bus, and accuses them of torture and all those things, and obama, for the most part, condones a tortuous regime, a 50 year communist. >> there are other countries that the u.s. engaged - for example with china - which is interesting, because for a lot of people who seem surprised, this move has been in the works for a long time. >> apparently the pope was involve. >> the pope has been involved since the '80s clinton put the people in gaol that had the exchange. >> this particular pope who is an activist poem, this is a boon to a lot of people. it accused the catholic church, accuse them of being knee jerk, where the catholic church shows of the left leaping, human

rights side. you had to pick odd friends and, you know, the economic might of china obviously forces the hand and for the rest of the world. there's a dynamic. >> it's about money, not about the humanitarian cause. when you say that he threw the c.i.a. under the bus, torture. he's saying no torture, but we'll condope what happened in cuba, he's in the condoning it. we are not paying tanks to humanitarian. >> god hep us if he's condoning it. tacitly it's a tiny island communist regime nation. the communist paradise. if, in fact, all of the same power structure remains, what will happen is if all the industry and american tourism comes in and the west floods. it's going to go two way, it will look, help and enrich the poem of this island, or it will

go straight to the castro brothers, and therein lies the dense. you are not talking about a massive nation like china, you are talking about an island nation with two brothers. >> 90 miles off the coast. >> right there, adjacent to us. and are we going to be enriching the two dictator thugs, is that what is going to happen. therein the tacet endorsement. there's two guys in charge. >> that's a lot of the issue with congress. newt gingrich is saying the president is more bold and we can't stop him. that boldness - will it be a problem for john boehner and mitch mcconnell. >> depend what they do, what they want to do. will they be an opposition to the president or enable the president. will they listen to the establishment who does not want to rock the boat or get along or

win again or apiece the conservatives. and, you know, the conservatives may not be the majority. they constitute the base. >> speaking of that, let's listen to what marco rubio had to say on this. >> this president is the single worst negotiator we had in the white house in my lifetime who has basically given the cuban government everything it asked for and received no assurances in return. >> they are strong words. bob menendez had similar strong words. >> democrat. >> is this personnel. a democrat and republican, children of cuban immigrants, is it because they feel they are not consulted. >> it's probably both in bob mendez's case. not being consulted, being blindsided. >> can he claim he was

blindsided. can he claim he was blindsided. >> if he was not consulted and he's there on the foreign relations, i think he was. blindsided. what marco rubio said is what a lot of people have been saying about president barack obama since he was elected in terms of being a negotiator. in this case what this version - we gave it away and you give it all away to the castro brothers, that's bad news. >> is it giving it away when the same policies - they haven't changed anything. >> this is a great little couple of days for the conspiracy theoristment the oouper conservatives out there, who would love to have everyone believe that president obama is a communist in moderate clothing. for poem who - there are people who believe that to an extent president obama agrees with a

marxist social. this is red meat. it might have been the bump marco rubio was looking to tweet. >> i got back from miami two days ago, and we were seeing a lot of older cubans coming out in protest. they were saying apparently attacks on the president. i heard racial sures, people calling him muslim, which he said he is not. with this personal attack, is it handling the younger cuban, typically a republican contingent to the democrats. >> no, no, no, no. those conservatives, cuban in miami, they'll be - they'll be conservative republicans to their grave. >> the young ones? >> i think so. no, i realise the older ones, yes.

i think you can count on the young ones understanding, because it's been a lifetime of stories. it's a cultural. part of their life, the flight from cuba. honestly, you know, this again speaks of what we were talking about at the top, that you brought up a brilliant point about. we are talking about a tiny island nation. it's the same type of personal story handed down amongst irish americans about the potato family, and ittalian americans coming across, personal stories tied to this communist revolution, and the two brothers who potentially are about to have a windfall because of president obama's unilateral decision. >> something that remains to be seen. >> fascinating to wax. >> tj mccormack, republican

strategist. thank you for joining us. it's not the attention they were hoping for. an environmental activist forced to appear in court. he was accusing greenpeace members of damaging a 1,000-year-old historic site. >> reporter: it's one of peru's famous monuments scratched into the desert more than 1,000 years ago. when activists used greenpeace as a publicity stunt. an action that was meant to draw attention to climate change, it backfired. an angry crowd hurled insult. >> people are so angry, as you can see here. the people. we want justice. >> reporter: peru accused greenpeace of causing damage to the u.n.e.s.c.o. site. 20 activists are accused of

leaving footprints in the ecologically sensitive area. it coincided with a major climate change conference that took place in geneva. >> i'm saddened that this happened in the middle of the conference. as a country we felt so proud. this is an event that fills us with shame. it shouldn't have happen. >> back at the courthouse greenpeace's director apologised for the actions. >> there was no justification to have put our foot on that sacred place at all. i'm willing to provide whatever assistance that the authorities need. i'm willing to come back. they responded positively to that. among the assurances, that grown peace's leadership got hold of the plan.

someone in the group must have had intimate knowledge of the site. >> >> translation: this was preplanned in someone's office. they said let's go in there. why the humming birds. it's known worldwide and is the icon of our pat ron im. they have not gone to damn it, but gone to attract attention. they didn't take the proper precautions. >> reporter: greenpeace says it will assist with an independent having and work to protect the lines. for many peruvians the damage to the archeological site and green peace is done. >> peruvian officials said they'd seek charges by up to six years in prison. in turkey riot police rounded up 100 teachers speaking

out for secular education. protesters wep to the streets. officers used water canon that you just saw there to disperse the crowds. they are angry over what they say is a government attempt to introduce religion into school. most countries part of the arab spring four years ago is still in turmoil. one stand out, tunisia. today people are going to the polls to freely elect a president in a run-off election. we are joined biar cronn. has the voting been peace. so far? >> it has, indeed. it's been a smooth process until now. there has p been violence at the polling stations and whilst the turn out is relatively low, it is picking up. there are a few more hours left. people we spoke to expressed

their enthusiasm and delight because this is the first time this they freely elect the president andst is something that many are cherishing regardless of views. they have a choice. >> what is tunisia doing differently? >> well, the numbers are from one perspective the the role of the army in tunisia is not like that, what we see in syria or egypt where it's dick tatterial army that controls the people. here the army chose to stay away from politics, and leave the contesting of power to the civilian section of the country to civilian countries.

tunisia is a small country and is not important. geographically or politically to there has not been that much outside influence. there has been pressure. there hasn't been the same amount of interference as we have seen. also important to note is that the islamist parties in tunisia were able to strike a deal with other parties in order to ensure there was pluralism and so they could agree to disagree. they are some of the main points. >> al jazeera's correspondent in tunisia. thank you for being with us. in the united states some torrential rains across the south-east. for that we bring in our meteorologist nicole mitchell. >> some of the heaviest rain is over. it will stick with us. in is north carolina, a little bit of snow. cool enough to support that. we continue through the day, it's a frontal boundary across

the area. you see this, and it's going to continue to crawl the moisture up the coastline. but not as much as we saw a couple of days ago. we had improvement. it will stay so as we get into the next couple of days. a little cooler in a couple of places. into the south and north easement. new york at 39, running below average, helping to support the snow in the higher elevations. most a right. into the day tomorrow, this is a region and a country that we cap see more precipitation. light at this point. the other big player is the system moving into the north west, and that will spread across the country over the next couple of days. more on that, impact on holiday travel in a few minutes we'll be weighing for -- waiting for that. now to the top story, the two

police officers killed in the line of duty, john, what is going on at the scoop of this horrific crime? >> well, good morning to you. this is a busy commercial intersection in the district of brooklyn in new york city. i'll step aside from the camera. helpeder sop, our camera man will zoom in to what is happening behind me. it's a small but growing memorial to two police officers. there are flowers and candles and someone hung a united states flag on the door as well. the two officers who were killed, assassinated according to their boss was officer wenjian liu, 32 years old, just married. rafael ramos, 40 years old leaving behind a wife and two sons. they were gunned down on the street. protecting a housing complex, close to where we are at the moment. we'll pause at this point and

play you video from last night. this is the moment that the casket contaping the officers left the hospital where they were tape, and the police force saluted them, as you will see. . >> detail. present. as you can see from the picture, it was an incredibly emotional moment with the line of officers saluting their slain colleagues. you could see in some of those shots tears closely welling up. in the eyes. in the eyes of n.y.p.d. >> emotional scenes from sunday. president obama is getting. of the credit for the possible breakthrough with cuba. there may have been a higher power at play behind the scenes. the role that pope francis played and why some call it a

miracle. we talk to father luke sweeney in our weekend conversation after the break plus, that, needless to say is not a hot spring. the plun ing and the noble plunge behind it. all that and more is next.

the lava flow on hawaii's big island is on the move. it's making its way to a shopping center. that area has been under threat since june. that's when the abbingive volcano spewed lava. several buildings have been destroyed much. >> now to the push to normize relations between cuba and the united states. the vatican has been credited to broker the deal. i spoke with some of them in

miami. [ bell tolls ] >> reporter: people asking for hope and praying for a miracle, that some say has already come. >> as a perp of faith. i went to the shrine in cuba it pay for a miracle. it's a miracle from god. much of the credit for reopen much diplomat icts negotiations has gone to pope francis. he spent 18 months facilitating talks. culminating in a prisoner swap and an ease of restrictions against cuba. the vatican pushed for a thaw between the two countries. starting with pope john paul ii. when the first waive of cuban immigrants arrived they put their money and built a shrine to the patrones of cuba, a

beacon for exiles that welcomes thousands of cuban americans. many say they support the vaticans roll and a shift in policy. that it could have been safe against politics. >> many here in miami of cuban descent had you evered so much. >> father runs a catholic radio station and says many parishioners remain hopeful. they have not forgotten political pain for the past. they are yearly of being attention advantage of. so many. they have been deceived so many teems by empty promises coming from cuba. >> the policy - it's an opportunity to test the truth. >> translation: i think it's an opportunity to see what happened.

it's been so many years with the same restrictions, i think it's good for the community. that's what i want for my cuba. >> one day freedom will come. >> reporter: a freedom that will unite families. >> it moves us to healing, reconciliation. >> which is why the people of faith say now is the time to have that. >> mother luke sweeney is the vice rector. and i want to understand something. do you think the vatican's role created tension. now the vaticans push to normize relations, which here has a democratic mandate. >> it's an emotional issue when you deal with families that came over with change in their pockets and lost everything. the church, especially in cuba,

realises the suffering going on among the people and is wanting to be an agent of dialogue and bringing people together, even our enemies. >> speaking of dialogue. pope francis had a lot to say about this. let's listen to what he said. >> today we are happy because we have seen two countries which moved away interest each other take a step closer. >> this is something your ambassador achieved with your diplomacy. >> program sis wrote to both. why did he decide to play a role in this deal? >> pope francis's parliamentary, and his vision of the church is one that is not going to take a passive role in geopolitics. the church will be involved to bring people together. he brings that the vatican diplomatic core is to make small

steps to bring peace together. >> what about his personal history. he's the first latin american pope. he lived under a dictatorship. did that play a role? >> he certainly has credibility on both sides. on the one hand he shares the views of many in latin american. that gives him credibility with cuba. what gives him credibility with the united states is he knows what it's like to live under oppression and suffering, in the late '70s, and early '80s. what happened in the '80s with pope john paul ii, that laid the broupd work. give us an understanding between the vatican and cuba. >> there was a papal thread. the church was not comfortable with cuba declaring itself an atheist state. pope john paul ii worked with world leaders, so, too, he

worked with fidel castro to begin to make slow step by step changes. cuba became not an ath yistic state. christmas was allowed as a holiday. >> he did that right before pope john paul came in preparation to welcome him. >> i remember the holy father's biographer telling us, the seminarians saying the vatican said to cuba "we'dlike you to give christmas off", they said why. and they said because of pope would like to thank fidel castro wep he lands. a bit of back and forth. >> from a human rights perspective, what kind of change will it bring about for the people of cuba. >> it's a gamble. a step worth staking. the holy father shares the sentiment of the church in cuba, that the little person is being

tread upon, bearing the bankrupt of attention. what needs to happen is the outreach to that community. yes, great strides are needed when it comes to humanitarian. we see baby steps, and that's a sign for hope. >> father luke sweepy, thank you for join us. these brave alas cans jumped into cold water. it raised money for the special olympics. it raised more than 350,000. over 1,000 people participated, including senator lisa mccows ski and senator elect dan phillips. today is the first day of winter, good luck to those that took the plunging. meteorologist nicole mitchell is here to tell us more.

>> i did a plunge once in the middle of winter. it takes your breath away. today is officially the first day of winter. this is a day in the northern hemisphere, with a tilt, that is the furthest away. so now the southern hemisphere is going. if you are not a fan of summer or winter, you can get more daylight. you get some of the moisture into the north-west. it moves into the northern tear of the country. this is the one that we are worried about just in time for christmas eve to cause a lot of trouble. >> thank you so much. >> tomorrow on al jazeera america, more on the traumatic deaths of two new york city police officers killed in the line of duty. >> we'll take a look on the killings on a city that is trying to heal a spat of incidents involving the police.

that'll do it for us here in new york city. thank you. i'm morgan radford. we'll see you here tomorrow 7am earn time when we hope you have a great rest of your sunday.

the final step in the road to democracy, tunisians vote for a president in an historic run-off. welcome to al jazeera, i'm jane dutton, live from our headquarters in doha. also ahead. >> confronting i.s.i.l. in iraq. kurdish forces set their sites on the town of sinjar. health checks overshadow elections in liberia, plus... >> i'm phil lavelle back in the