the news has become this thing where you talk to experts about people, and al jazeera has really tried to talk to people, about their stories. we are not meant to be your first choice for entertainment. choice for the news. >> new york's mayor calling for a pause in protests just days after two police officers are gunned down. why the shooter's family is saying the justice system failed him. >> federal prosecutors launch a civil rights investigation into the death of a milwaukee man. this after local officials indie officer who shot him during an altercation. >> the internet is back on line in north korea this morning. there are questions over who took it down.

>> pope francis slammed, vatican bureaucrats calling him narcisse stick hypocrite suffering from spiritual alzheimer's. the sickness he says is infecting the church and the reaction around the world. >> good morning, welcome to al jazeera america. >> this morning, new york city mayor is calling for calm following the murder two police officers. facing criticism for the police union and protestors, he he's urging both to put their differences aside until the officer are buried. there were small anti police demonstrates and in manhattan, a larger protest isette set for later today. >> we are hearing from the man who killed the officers. they say he was emotionally troubled and needed help. there seems to be a big change in tone from police and new york city hall. >> the police officers union, the spokesperson is dialing things back and the mayor is taking the high ground, refusing

to get embroiled in a row over the politics of these police deaths. >> mayor bill deblasio and the police commissioner met with the families of the slain officers for the first time. the commissioner said police unions have agreed to stop making comments against the mayor until the officers are laid to rest. investigators are carefully retracing the footsteps of the man who pulled the trigger on saturday. >> this is the video of the 28-year-old walking through a brooklyn mall hours before he he ambushed and killed two new york city police officers. police say the small container he was carrying was holding a gun. >> we're seeking the community's assistance. >> police are creating a time line to determine what he was doing before he opened fire on the officers. he he then headed to a subway and as police closed in, he turned the gun on himself. he had 19 prefers arrests, including serving two years in

prison on weapons charges. his sister said her brother needed help. >> he was an emotionally troubled young man, and he was suicidal. >> his killing spree began saturday morning in maryland when he allegedly shot his former girlfriend, then headed to new york, posting on instagram with hash tags mike brown and eric garner saying i'm putting wings on pin today. >> he put out 119 images on his act, a lot of these things are self despair, but also anti-government. >> drawing renewed attention to the already tense relationship between the police union and the mayor. >> that blood on their stands starts on the steps of city hall in the office of the mayor. >> i will simply say i think what he said was a mistake and it was wrong. >> monday, the mayor and commissioner visited the families of both fallen policemen. officer ramos was the father of

two teenagers, officer lu recently married, his wife holding back tears. >> this is a difficult time for both of our families, but we will stand together and get through this together. >> an outpouring of grief with a memorial as the family and the city mourn, the mayor is calling for calm. >> put aside protests, put aside demonstrations until these funerals are past. let's focus just on these families and what they have lost. >> protestors say plans to hold a demonstration will continue at scheduled.

that is entirely in keeping this their aims. they wish to abnuisance reminding there is an issue between police and mostly african-american men. >> of course they have a right to do that, and not heed the mayor's advice. john, thank you. >> coming up, we'll speak about police releases with communities with philadelphia police commissioner charles ramsey. he is the co chair of the president's task force on 21s 21st century policing. >> milwaukee is on alert this morning after a prosecutor declined to bring charges against a former police officer. >> that officer shot and killed an unarmed man after a struggle. john henry smith has more. the family wants justice. >> that's right. the family of 31-year-old dantre hamilton demand and investigation into his death and will get one. >> my decision today that criminal charges will not be

issued against the officer does not depreciated the concerns raised any time a law enforcement officer uses deadly force against a citizen. >> protestors in milwaukee took to the streets after district attorney john his some ruled the former officer will not face criminal charges for shooting hamilton to death last april. >> the shooting death has resulted in the district attorney adding yet another decision to the list of cases around the country with no criminal charges filed against a police officer who shot and killed an african-american male citizen. >> he he becomes the third officer to avoid charges in the eating of an unarmed black man in the last month. he had a history of mental illness. the department fired him for not following contract colin patting him down. >> he killed with hate. he killed with intent, and now

he has the mental problem. >> shots fired, officer involved, he started beating me. >> the prosecutor said witness testimony corroborates the officer's story that hamilton became violent after the officer found him sleeping in the park and started checking on him. this demonstrates how quick the 14 shots can be fired. >> according to the citizen witnesses that saw the majority of the incident, the officer stopped firing as soon as mr. hamilton went to the ground. as long as mr. hamilton was standing and armed with the officer's baton and had used that against the officer already, he would be justified using force. >> the man's brother said things to have change. >> we need to stop the violence in our community so we can get

rid of these pigs that kill us. >> a lawyer for hamilton's family came out later and tried to down play the comment, saying the family was upset and nate hamilton did not want to incite violence, the family only wants justice. >> an army general will soon be determining the fate of bowe bergdahl. the investigation into his capture by the taliban has been turned over for possible prosecution. he was held for five years in afghanistan. his disappearance has been the subject of his debate with some in his own unit claiming he went awol. >> two bombs exploded around rush hour at a busy marketplace and bus station where 27 people were killed, 60 injured in nigeria. authorities suspect boko haram. >> boko haram has grown stronger

in the last year, has more fighters, adapted to new tactics. it has been able to hold territory. for all of these reasons, the situation is getting suddenly worst than it was a year ago. >> nigeria's president pledged to root out the group after hundreds of school girls were abducted in may, but just a week ago, another town was attacked where dozens were killed and more people kidnapped. >> funerals took place in sydney, australia, both died along with the hostage taker. prime minister abbot is warning of increased chatter and the potential for more attacks. >> north korea is back on line after a suspicious internet outage. it's not clear what caused the shutdown, but it happened after major attacks were threatened on the u.s. questions asked about whether this is fall out and retaliation

for the sony pictures did the u.s. play a role in the outage? >> i may have, it may not have. it was nine hours ever have outage, tracked by companies in the united states who keep track of such things. the question of who is responsible, anybody's guess at this point. president obama said in his year end press conference that the united states would retall 80 at a time and place and manager of its choosing, but the white house has said all along that it wouldn't be announced publicly and we might not even know how it happens. the u.s. government playing very coy in the wake of this outage, saying that the national security council spokeswoman, ask the north koreans about

their internet and saying that north korea should reimburse sony for revenue loss. as to the question of who's responsible for the outage, no answers yet. >> of course, most of north korea doesn't have internet access, but the white house had been considering its options, talking about a proportional response. what could the president still do? >> well, that's a subject of much debate among experts in the foreign policy and public policy, really, the infrastructure of the internet really nothing to speak of there. economic retaliation, there's little trade between the u.s. and north korea, there's hardly an economy to speak of above the black market economy and their main patron is china and you run the risk of worsening tensions there.

the united states is not interested in doing that. if you retaliate against north korea, you expose the risk of exposing our own capabilities. the u.s. is considering reenlisting north korea as a state sponsor of terrorism but nothing in public view at this point. >> the white house is continuing to push sony pictures to release this comedy, "the interview" despite the condemnation of north korea or perhaps because of it. >> there's back and forth not so much between the white house and sony, but now independent theaters saying look, sony can have a limited release. it doesn't have to be in the big chains, but sony is still resisting. now we have a congressman from california, bradsher man saying let's screen it on capitol hill when they get back next month. the tree house theater wants to read the script this saturday night from the stage and also a limited release of the movie is

still in the offing or perhaps an on-line release is still being considered. >> some are saying they should release irfor free. mike viqueira at the white house in washington, mike, thank you. >> north korea was also on the agenda at the u.n. security council developing into the human rights record with abuses, executions and torture in prison camps. those findings are deepening the diplomatic tension with the north. >> north korea decided not to show. you that that didn't stop the u.n. security council. it rarely discusses the human rights records of countries not in conflict. >> political, religious, racial and gender grounds, people who have been forcefully transferred, who's loved ones

have been abducted or disappeared without trace. people who have been deliberately starved for long periods. >> the criticism is directed at the top levels of government, which the u.s. has criticized for funding the world's fourth largest military even as its people were starving. china objected to the meeting, saying the politiccation of human rights is wrong. the meeting comes soon after north korea threatened to attack the united states for accusing pyongyang of hacking into sony pictures entertainment, an accusation it denies. as a result of hack, sony canceled the release of "the interview," a satire showing the

assassination of kim jong-un. >> the attackers also threatened sony's employees, actors in the film, movie theaters and people who dared going to the movie, warning them to "remember the 11th of september." not content with denying freedom of expression to its own people, the north korean regime now seems on in tent of expressing the exercise of this fundamental right in our nation. >> the general assembly recommended referring pyongyang to the international criminal court, but with the threat of a chinese veto, the security council is taking no further action for now. al jazeera, the united states nations. >> this is the first time north korea's human rights record has been form ally discussed at the council. before this, they only focused on the threat from pyongyang's

nuclear program. >> changing drugs in execution of inmates, they will make use of a three drug cocktail, the same used in several other states. oklahoma had gotten the ok to execute an inmate. the judge ruled against a group offer detective row who argued that the use of the sedative amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. that drug was used in a botched execution in april. >> a federal court threw out an abortion law that required a woman to undergo an ultra sound before the procedure. the panel said it invite violate first amendment. >> coming weather could affect

your travel plans. a storm is making its way to the midwest, meaning icy roads and flight delays. >> let's go for the latest on these holiday week storms. how bad is this going to be for people? >> we'll probably start getting flight delays already today. this has been brew i go as it made its way across the country. it's now moved interior. you can see the pacific getting a little bit of a break, but this is the same storm that had a history of flooding rain for or gone. here's a look at how widespread, it's about half the country that is getting some sort of at least hit and miss weather today, anything from snow at northern midwest to areas of rain starting to move along. we also have that moist flow out of the southern tier of the country from the gulf adding into all of this. on this side, we are looking at a slight risk for severe

weather, because we have warm enough air, the frontal boundary coming in as a trigger point. that could mean wind damaging the highest risk, but this is also where we get some of the heaviest rain. atlanta today already starts and that's our biggest hub across the country three to six inches, but this core spreads into the northeast, so places like our new york airports, chicago today with rain, so today and tomorrow, very impacted. >> not good. all right, nicole, thank you. >> across the country, police are taking extra steps to keep officers safe. >> that includes philadelphia where the police commissioner is worried about protestors chanting for police to die. he joins us live next with a look at what the department is doing and the presidential task force he is heading up. >> for the third day in a row pedestrians are targeted by drivers in france. what officials fear after this series of attacks. >> amazing images of a solar

flair. how nasa said these fiery burst impact the earth. >> 144 million is the big number of the day. >> what advocates say needs to change to ensure children do not have to work.

>> today's big number, 144 million. in spite of child labor laws, that's how many children in the international labor organization says work every day. >> one example of that, honduras, where 500,000 kids work, 15% of the young people in that country. advocates are calling for better education and more financial support for families so their children don't have to go out and earn a living. >> federal officials uncovered a gun running operation involving delta airlines. four men have been arrested and charged in the alleged ring. officials say they were smuggling weapons between new york and atlanta, using carry-on luggage on flights. one man arrested is a current baggage handler, another a former employee. >> police departments are reacting to the deadly ambush of

two new york city police officers, beavering up patrols and scouring the internet for that's threats. officers are add invites against making controversial statements on line. the new york mayor was blamed for the shooting, but officers are holding off on further comments until the funerals are over. that's fine with the mayor. >> regardless of people's viewpoints, it's important that everyone recognize it's a time to step back and just focus on these families. i think it's a time for everyone to put aside political debates, put aside protests, put aside all of the things that we will talk about in due time. >> we're happy to have with us now from philadelphia police commissioner charles ramsey. he is co chair of the president's task force on 21s 21st century policing.

commissioner ramsey, thanks so much for your time. i want you to talk about the big picture issues. four days after the murder of these police officers, what conversation should web having? is it one about race? is it about inequality? should web talking about mental illness? >> it's all of the above, but needs to be thoughtful discussion. part of our charge would be task force that the president has appointed me to co chair is to take a look at a variety of issues, among those issues, building trust within communities, particularly communities of color and communities that are really overwhelmed with crime and disorder, where there can sometimes be tension between police and community. we also want to take a look at policy, look at oversight, look at training issues, leadership issues, all those kinds of things, so it's good to have the discussion, but i think that the discussion needs to be less emotionallal than it has been where people, some people are over the top.

>> which of those issues that you just listed do you think led to the ambush and murder of these two officers? >> i don't know if any of the above led to that particular incident. i mean, this guy shot his girlfriend before he shot the cop so obviously he wasn't motivated solely based on recent events that took place. mental illness could be part of it, but we do have people that are just violent and don't have any hesitation to carry out violence. >> you spoke to president obama after the incident by phone. what was your message to the president? >> well, it was actually the other way around. i mean, the president wanted to, again, express his outrage over the slaying of two new york city police officers, but also just he has a sense of urgency around this task force and coming up with concrete recommendations that will lead to better relationships. it wasn't so much about what

took place in new york, but just a broader picture of protests that we're seeing around the country, around police and community tensions. >> that is a connection that's been drawn. some think the murder of these officers were the work of a mentally disturbed person, others think a climate of hate and protest against police from ferguson, missouri to new york city led to their killings. what do you think? >> i don't know if we'll ever really know what was in his mind, obviously he's no longer with us, but from postings on the instagram, apparently the deaths of brown and gardner did play somewhat of a role, but he shot his girlfriend and she had absolutely no connection to this. this is i think a person with a deranged mind who is kind of all over the place. it's hard to draw that

connection, i think. >> philadelphia police commissioner charles ramsey, thank you for your time. >> cuba is signaling it will not return a final active to the u.s. a top official is rejects calls to extradite the woman. the official says cuba has every right to grant political asylum. she killed a new jersey state trooper in 1973 and has been living in cuba since 1984. new jersey governor said her return should be a deal of any deal with the cuban government. >> the south is facing the threats of severe weather. we have more on that. >> good morning, a widespread system as we move across the country, you can see how much territory, from the rockies eastward, we have a chance for rain and snow, the out toern tier seeing snow firing up. the biggest threat would be high winds, wind damage as the storms fire up, tornadoes and hail not

out of the question. this is fueled by temperatures along the gulf coast in the 60s. we have enough warmth with the boundary coming in and all that warm air. the good side of this warm air is this is more of a rainstorm than the snowstorm. the few places that we have it are in the midwest, but much more widespread that we are going to be seeing and those places, you know, four to six inches in a couple place much more of a rainstorm than snowstorm. at this time of year, that could have been much worse. >> nicole mitchell, we'll take the silver lining. >> the u.s. launches another round of airstrikes in iraq. we'll take you inside the training camp where police officers are learning to fight on the front lines and look at the problems facing the iraq forces. >> russia overnight testing a new eco friendly rocket. how the country is hoping this will relaunch it into the space race. >> go to the officer.

ok. ok. please. make sure he helps us, please. >> a road rage incident caught on camera. see what happened when a fake officer tried to run them off the road. >> a not so tasty protest against the belgian prime minister, bombarded with fries and mayo. that's one of the stories caught in our global net.

>> you're looking live at kobane, jair where the battle against isil continues. we're going to look at how iraqi fores are training for the fight. >> a hospital trying to lower the cost of health care but using manure to power everything. >> reaction to what pope francis said in his christmas address, blasting vatican bureaucrats calling them narcissistic and power hungry. le illnesses he wants cured in

the new year. >> a special aljazeera america series looks at how the california drought is playing a role in the fracking debate. >> first a look at our latest headlines this morning. more fallout from the murder of 2nypd officers, a protest set for later today. bill deplays yo said the city should focus on the family of the two slain officers and put politics aside. the police union agreed to stop criticizing the mayor's handling of police at least for now. >> the justice department opened an vehicles into a controversial police shooting in milwaukee. monday, prosecutors cleared former officer christopher mani in the april shooting death of dan tray hamilton, shot 14 times after struggling with the officer. the prosecutors called the shooting self defense. >> north korea is back on line this morning opinion the country experienced widespread internet outages monday, just a day after pyongyang threatened to attack

the u.s. over allegations it hacked sony pictures. >> more coalition airstrikes are hitting isil targets in iraq and syria. the u.s. military said 22 strikes hit the group monday, 12 in syria, 10 in iraq. authorities eye an isil weapons factory was among those hit. u.s.-backed kurdish forces are continuing their offense against the group. we have a report on a training camp for peshmerga fighters. >> preparing for battle, these men are the heart of the effort to revive mosul's police force. they are made up of former police officers and new volunteers. the camp is away from mosul, training to take the city from isil. only a handful of rifles is all

thief got. >> we are ready. we are just waiting for the orders to move on mosul. we are ready for the fighting. we want to free our town from these people. >> more than 4,000 men have been trained in this camp. these men are a key part of the plan to retake iraq's second-biggest city from isil. they know it wasn't be easy to take mosul and will require street to street fighting. in this camp, they are acquiring those skills. those experienced in front line fighting have been formed into a swot team, but there are problems. shortly after isil seized mosul in june, the iraqi government caught offer the officer's salaries. >> we have not been paid for seven months. most of the families are

displaced. >> complicating the revival of the force is the conflict between officials and baghdad. the governor of mosul says baghdad plans to use shia am bushes in the battle for mosul and that would backfire. >> i need weapons first, the training, and financing these fighters and also i need the air force attacks or air force support when we enter mosul, especially to cut the supply of isis from outside the city. >> for now, the men train on. their plight is one example of how bridging the differences between the central government and local leaders affects the

fight. >> as the kurds fight isil, hundreds of young kurdish men have joined isil influenced by propaganda or receiving encouragement from local fighters. >> the world health organization said more than 7500 people have died from ebola, more than 19,000 infected after returning from a week in west africa. dr. thomas frieden said there is a long hard fight ahead before the outbreak will be stopped. sierra leone has the large effort number of infections. some health care workers have walked out of a treatment center, worried that patients are being given an untested heart drug as part of treatment. >> france is urging calm after another attack on pedestrians by a driver. a man plowed his van into shoppers are at a christmas market in western france. ten were injured. there were similar attacks over the weekend.

witnesses say all drivers shouted god is great in arabic. french officials are trying to figure out if this was a copy cat attack. >> police in scotland are investigating a deadly crash, a garbage truck slammed into a crowd of shoppers, six people were killed. a group of people were hit waiting to cross the street. the truck came to a stop inside a hotel. seven people were seriously injured. >> nicaragua has broken ground on a historic water way projected to rival the panama canal. work began monday on the canal, probabled to be longer, deeper and wider than the panama canal. they say it will be operational by 2020. it has sparked protest over the government seizing land for the project. >> russia taking its first step toward reviving its space industry. the country launched a powerful new booster rocket. >> it comes amid russia's mr.

and mrs. to pull out of the international space station and build its own outpost. >> a little christmas newer cheer for the people of russia ending a pretty horrible year, with the maiden launch for the countriecountry's rocket. ever since the first man orbited the earth in 1961, success in the space race and achievements in space technology were very much part of the old soviet cold war com peltive mindset. now in this new era of confrontation with the west, the kremlin is anxious to demonstrate it is still very much in the race. with russia launching it's own rifle to the space station at some point in the future, russia needs to stay in space and money in this venture is of secondary importance, say space experts.

>> this was a project of the minister of defense. it is strategically very important. if they want to keep russia as a country, this is a priority. >> not here at the usual launch pad inside kazakhstan, former soviet states no longer reliable partners in new space ventures. there will be a political dividend from these new space initiatives. >> these show we will have an impact on the people of russia because of symbols, because from the soviet time russia was famous for space technologies. >> ordinary people say let's sort out what's going on on the ground and sort out this

horrible economy. >> obviously spending money in country, not to have -- plans. from another point of view, can help to improve economy. >> you see these old monuments to the satisfactory jet space race across moscow, are you russia's long term plans to reach the stars were set to be grounded for sometime. designs or its space station look impressive, but in the current economic climate, observers say the kremlin would have trouble finding the money to even put the designs on paper. al jazeera in moscow. >> russian officials say this rocket is an environmental safe alternative to the proton rocket. >> new york's congressman michael grimm is expected to

plead guilty today to tax fraud, failing to report more than a million dollars in sales when he owned a restaurant. he was reelected last month. it is not clear fell give up his congressional seat. >> bernie madoff's victims may get another $322 million in payments, that means more than a thousand of his victims would be made whole. as for madoff, he is serving a 153 year prison term. >> a frightening road rage incident in california was caught on camera. >> he just hit our car. he's pushing us off the road. >> the women in the car say that truck ahead of them tried to cut them off. it started swerving before forcing the car to stop. the driver banged on the windows of the car, claiming to be a police officer. >> she got out of her car, started waiving her arms at us saying i'm a sheriff, i'm a sheriff, you're under arrest,

you're going to jail. >> i reversed and pulled back out into the fast lane. >> she is weaving in between the lanes so that nobody can go around. >> the truck driver is now in jail, facing several charges, including assault with a deadly weapon and reckless driving. officials say she was lying about being an officer. >> employees at a washington state business fell victim to a pair of real live grinches. as her veils video shows the thieves breaking in. you can see one gets into the office, busts open that safe he's holding and made off with thousands of dollars in cash. the money was supposed to be given out this week as holiday bonuses. >> just the fact that somebody breaks into your building and takes something that he didn't work for, he, you know, basically comes in and takes something that you've worked your tail off for. >> police put out the video hoping someone will recognize the feed that. they hope to get the money back before christmas.

>> a goal to get entirely off the grid. >> we visited wisconsin and the hospital at the cutting edge of generating its own energy. >> i'm going to grab your temperature. >> medical workers at gunderson health system rely on sophisticated technology from cat scan machines to heart rate monitors to diagnose and treat patients, but rely on something decidedly low tech to help power it all. that's right, dairy cows. besides milk, these animals produce about 35,000 gallons of manure a day. all of that waste goes into these three huge divesters that convert methane gas from manure into electricity. gunderson calls this homegrown energy. >> we said we're going to make this so we'll improve the health of the community and it will be good for gunderson's finances, meaning we lower the cost of health care. >> the hospital taps wind, sun

and trees for power sources. >> we have hardwood chips from western wisconsin and southeast minnesota. >> they feed 100 tons of wood chips into this bio mass boiler per day. the unit burns the wood, creating steam which produces heat and electricity. jeffery rich developed the green energy program, called envision. >> this project feeds the energy back into our clinic for this project. our other projects sell the electricity back on the grid. >> forward million dollars has been invested in green energy projects, still, energy comprises a very small percentage of the hospitals overall budget. less than 1% is used to keep the lights on and the facilities heated. are these sustainability projects really worth the investment? >> gunderson thinks so. it uses a lot of power in areas

like the kitchen and laundry. in 2008, it spent more than $5 million on energy, last year it spent about a million dollars less. >> if we lower the cost of our operations, that helps our region, because it lowers the cost of care. >> so far, the energy savings haven't lowered patient's bills but gunderson hopes one day it might. al jazeera, lacrosse, wisconsin. >> hospitals are big users of energy. it costs roughly $6.5 billion to power them every year nationwide. >> get ready to pay more for eggs from california. new regulations take effect in the golden state next month, requiring farmers to law their hens to roam freely. farmers say that is driving up costs. >> lets look at other stories caught in our global net. rolling stone magazine is enlisting the help of columbia's

school of journalist to investigate that disputed story. "the new york times" says the magazine wants a review in the report of of an alleged gang rape at the university of virginia. that story undermind the credibility of the magazine. they are trying to come clean with this investigation. the report rolling stone said will be published in its entirety on the magazines weapon site. >> columbia school of journalism say they are getting full access to whatever they need. they want to be at transparent as possible to get to the bottom of it. >> to a town in argentina that is banning beauty pageants and awarding the crown to community service. a ruling was passed to nix a beauty contest. politicians describe them at discriminatory saying they encourage eating disorders. now these girls are going to competitions to get awards for

their contributions to their own communities. >> i didn't realize that, but it is one of the highest rates of eating disorders in argentina. >> this is a good is to be. >> yeah. >> the belgian prime minister got a not so tasty surprise. >> monday, three anti austerity protestors bombarded him with soggy fries and a side of mayo. >> the prime minister took it in stride and brushed off the food fight. a lot of austerity measures in greece. that is the national dish of belgium. they didn't three beer at him. >> he was smiling, so he had a sense of humor about it, but what they were protesting was not funny to them. >> pope francis sharply criticizing vatican bureaucrats. >> he warns they are suffering from spiritual alzheimer's and called their gossip a form of

satanic assassination. >> a silver lining to the heavy rain that's inundated california, it's uncovering many long-hidden foss sills. that's one of today's discoveries. >> remembering the life and music of the late joe cochran.

>> new fossils coming to the surface in san francisco thanks to this months storms. coastal bluffs shade a shark tooth that could be 10 million years old. bones have been collected belonging to sea lions, a type of hippo and a sabre toothed

cat. >> pope francis took aim at vatican officials at his annual christmas speech. the pope had blunt criticism for church leaders, suggesting some suffer from what he calls a love the for power. >> it's a colorful christmas tradition, hundreds of the most senior priests, cardinals and bishops gathering together to hear from the pope at the end of the year. they quickly learned this would be anything but a happy occasion as the pope launched into a laundry list of their failures and shortcomings, saying top church officials are sick with greed and self-love. >> this comes usually from the pathology of power, from the complex of the chosen, from nash six of those who look at their own image and don't see the imprint of god on the faces of others especially the most needy. >> francis cataloged no fewer

than 156nesss and temptations afflicts his audience, including what he called spiritual alzheimer's. >> there's also the illness of the mental and spiritual petrifying, of those along the way lose their sense of interior veinty and hide behind papers, becoming a machine of technology. >> it was a blistering message from the groundbreaking pope, the first jesuit from latin american and first european in 1,000 years. he has refused many of the trappings of his office, living in simple quarters rather than the lavish papal apartments. last week, he he ordered 400 sleeping bags be given out to homeless people in rome. this year's stern holiday speech isn't the first time pope francis has criticized careerism and intrigue among the princes of the church, but by calling for true self examination just days before christmas, he made

it clear that overhauling the powerful and scandal playing church will be a top priority in the new year. >> let's talk about the pope's comments, good morning and thanks for joining us. the pope called out the vatican saying the group is full of illnesses and diseases, and he he's really saying that this is something that these vatican bureaucrats need to step away and sort of reconnect themselves. what do you think about this? is this unprecedented and how do you think the vatican will respond? >> there is a level of on city from the pope, a level of directness that has rarely been talked about on the part of leaders in the catholic church. in the pope's own jess with it order, jess with it's are supposed to spend two times a day doing an examination of son sheens, go over what's happened in the day and see where did i go right, where did i go wrong.

what we're seeing is this pope taking that very humble jesuit thing and making it part of the world church. >> >> saying a sickness affects those abandoning pastoral service. is he really telling the vatican bureaucrats here that they need to get out and become everyday priests again? >> that's part of it. there's a catalog of 15 different errors oris that he has in the clergy. one is he he says people become like machines, no longer able to love from their hearts, just going through the motions like machines. he said people live double lives, have standards, but don't uphold them in their own life. he said people have a spiritual alzheimer's where they forget

the love they have towards god and replace it with the pursuit of academic ors. it's unprecedented that a pope is willing to stand in front of the leaders and speak directly about what he sees at their faults. it's not a good christmas president from the pope to the cureia. >> he talked about at the end how every day when he prays to god, he asks for a sense of humor. >> this pope does not take himself overly seriously. we've seen him with a clown nose on, a sheep over his showed. he has this incredible love for god and wants to share it with people. one thing that stood out is he said people shouldn't have stoney faces. they shouldn't be serious all the time. there's just a. >> smile more. >> there's a spiritual value in humor and that's something he's trying to articulate. >> this seems in line with so

many unprecedented moves in 2014. we know that he took on the mafia, asked for forgiveness for sexual abuse in the church, nominated for a nobel peace prize, assessed in restoring u.s.-cuban releases. >> it's been a great year for the pope in general. this has been a year in which he's taken his message of love of god and neighbor out into the world. i think the cuban story was unexpected for many of us, that the pope would play such a leading role in bringing together these two nations. back in october, he had a meeting called the synod on the family, when leaders talked about matters like divorce and homosexuality and hot button issues. >> you think in 2015, he's going to make more big moves in terms

of those issues? >> he he may well do. i don't think we're going to see any massive changes in church doctrine, but this is a pope of surprises. >> thank you very much. >> an incredible light show on the surface of the sun, take a look at this. last friday, our closest star supplied out a massive solar flare and nasa released this video showing the wave of radiation. they can impact communications like cell phones, but otherwise, don't pose a threat. >> fans around the world are mourning the death of joe cocker, the 70-year-old singer died monday after a battle with lung cancer. ♪ you are so beautiful to me >> he got his big break when he performed with his band at woodstock, known for his powerful performances, his career was derailed in the 1970's by alcoholism. he mounted a comeback in the

1980's and continued performing and recording until just a few years ago. >> let's get another check of the forecast with nicole mitchell. what can we expect for holiday travelers? >> a big problem so i've been looking for a few silver linings, one, this could be a rainstorm rather than a snowstorm at that 20% of the country has snow on the ground right now, a reduction from 40% over the weekend. this storm across the midwest will bring you better chances. we're already getting that today. wisconsin, three to four inches, a little more and blizzard warnings because the high winds in nebraska, but everything ahead of this is more rain and that includes the major hubs, so if it was snow, that would be even a bigger problem. >> nicole, thank you. >> california is suffering through a historic drought. >> some wonder if tracking, which requires millions of gallons of water should be banned. we'll look at the issue in the first part of an al jazeera

series. >> there has been rise in infectious diseases and not enough health care supplies to go around. we'll have a live report from beirut, coming up. >> it looks nothing like him... >> pan am flight 103 explodes december 21st, 1988 was the right man convicted? >> so many people, at such a high level, had the stake in al-megrahi's guilt >> the most definitive look at this shocking crime >> the major difficulty for the prosecution that there was no evidence >> al jazeera america presents lockerbie part two: case closed

>> we were talking to a young lady saying she just wanted her voice to get out there. >> by the thousands, they're sending their government a message. >> ahead of 'em is a humanitarian crisis where tens of thousands of people are

without food, water, shelter. >> a special one hour look at global attacks on free press. monday 9:00 eastern. on al jazeera america. >> back on line, internet service resumes in north korea after a suspicious nine hour outage opinion the shut down some say is retaliation for hacking sony pictures. >> calling for calm, new york mayor bill deblasio looks to ease anger in the streets and among city police as the family of a man who killed two officers speaks out. >> twin bomb blasts rock nigeria and officials blame boko haram. the steps the group is take to go wreak havoc.

>> pulling off a high flying stunt, the daredevil racking up the views with this feat inspired by a hit film. >> welcome to al jazeera america. the internet is back up and running in north korea, but questions about why it went down are mounting. >> it comes days after pyongyang threatened an attack on the u.s. the government there is angry over allegations it was behind the cyber hacking of cone. >> i pictures. what is the white house saying? >> they are not confirming or denying any potential role of the united states, saying ask north korea about their internet problems. the state department isn't saying much. given everything president obama said friday and over the weekend and signs from the u.s. government, it's hard not to

come to the conclusion that the u.s. government was behind the outage. >> the government of north korea has a long history of denying responsibility for destructive and provocative actions and if they want to help, they can admit culpability and compensate sony for damages they cause. >> the state department playing coy in response to questions about a nationwide internet outage in north korea. >> as we implement responses, some may be seen, some may not. >> it started as a severe slow down late sunday reported by a new hampshire company that traction internet traffic. by late monday, it had been completely dark for nine hours. experts say it could have been anonymous or that pyongyang could have pulled the plug themselves. some say the timing is a little too coincidental coming days after this warning from president obama:

>> we will respond proportion anotherly and we'll respond in a place and time and manager that we choose. >> last week, the f.b.i. confirmed north korea was behind the sony cyber attack, leaking thousands of corporate documents, retaliation for the comedy "the interview." in the movie two journalists are sent by the c.i.a. to assassinate north korean leader kim jong-un. >> silence will not make the north korean government end its abuses. silence will not make the international community safer. >> sony is asked to screen the film on capitol hill. >> we are not going to be deprived of seeing what is either a good or bad movie just because of threats from north korea. >> with internet service restored, the recluesive government may already be back on the net offensive, now accused of hacking a south

screen nuclear plant leaking dozens of non-critical documents. >> on this potential attack on south korea's nuclear plant, two days of preparedness is ordered, though the south korean nuclear plant is said to be secured. >> this is a symbol of free speech now. what is happening to the movie? >> the president calls out a private company sony corporation saying it was a mistake and sony firing back, what an extraordinary circumstance, laying it at the feet of the chains. there are independent movie houses around the country who now want to play the movie and

art house theater in nashville being one of them. the tree house theater in new york city is going to stage a live reading of the script on saturday in the city. others are calling for a limited release around the country or perhaps an on line release and so far, sony has not revealed what plans it may have for any release of the movie. >> in new york city, the mayor is asking protestors to call off anti police demonstrations, saying politics should wait until after funeral services are held for the two slain nypd officers. >> despite the plea, protestors say a planned demonstration set tonight in the heart of manhattan, on at scheduled. john, what is the message coming out of city hall? >> the mayor is in a very difficult position. his job is a national political job. it just is. he he's taken the high moral ground on this one. the mayor did that by going into

the very heart of nypd territory monday speaking at a luncheon hosted by the police athletic league. he refused to get dragged into a political row over the fatal shootings of two police officers saying only at a later news conference after the luncheon that the police union president was incorrect when he said there's blood on the steps of city hall. >> i will simply say i think what he said was a mistake and it was wrong. >> also monday, the mayor and the police commissioner visited the families of both fallen policeman for the first time. officer ramos was the father of two teenage boys, officer lew had only been married for two months, his wife struggling to hold back tears. >> we would also like to express our condolence to the officer's family. this is a difficult time for both of our families but we will stand together and get through this together.

>> now, there's been an outpouring of support for the police in the brooklyn neighborhood where the officers died, makeshift memorials have been set up. mayor deblasio and the commissioner are calling for an end to protests until both officers are laid to rest, but the colation has condemned the request, saying plans for a large scaled demonstration this evening in manhattan will go on as planned. that is in keeping with what the demonstrators want to achieve. they want to be a thorn in the side of society, pointing out there is an issue nationwide between the police and mainly african-american males. >> they want reforms in the police departments across the country. thank you very much. >> thanks, john. >> in milwaukee, the justice democratic will open investigation into a controversial police shooting there. >> now a former officer killed an unarmed man in what he says was self defense. the prosecutor agreed. we have more. >> news of the civil rights

investigation came just hours after that former officer was cleared of charges. demonstrators took to the streets monday, anger simmering in the city after the prosecutor announced his decision. he says he was defending himself when he thought the 31-year-old 14 times last april. the prosecutor says witness testimony corroborates his story that the man became violent after the officer found him sleeping in a park and tried to check on him. he is the third officer to avoid charges in the death of an unarmed black man in the last month. >> it is a tragedy for everyone involved. my decision today, the criminal charges will not be issued against the officer does not depreciate the very legitimate concerns raised anytime a law enforcement officer uses deadly force against a citizen. >> we need to stop the violence in our community, so we can get rid of these pigs that kill us. >> a lawyer for hamilton's

family tried to down play that comment, saying the family was upset and that nate hamilton, the brother of the deceased did not want to incite violence, he and the family only want justice. hamilton's family that he was being treated for schizophrenia at the time of his death, leading to him ultimately being fired. he patted down a mentally ill man, which is against the democratic's brought calendar. >> in france, police are looking into another attack on pedestrians, this time a plan plowed into a crowd of shoppers with his van at a christmas market. ten were hurt. it comes after two similar incidents over the weekend. witnesses say all of the drivers shouted god is great in arabic. >> mourners today bidding farewell to two victims of the cafe siege in sydney, australia. they were laid to rest. both died along with the hostage taker when police stormed the

chocolate shop last week. the prime minister warns of the potential for more attacks. >> in nigeria, authorities say boko haram is likely behind two fresh attacks in the country's north. >> the bombs exploded around rush hour, causing heavy casualties. >> this is the aftermath of the explosion that happened at a busy market without warning, killing or wounding dozens of people. around 150 kilometers away, another device was detonated, this time at a bus station. at the time, the place was packed with travelers. the authorities say that many of those who died were burned beyond recognition. dozens of people were seriously wounded. >> there is degrees of injuries.

>> this is the second such attack in nigeria in the last two months. local officials say they are similar to other attacks carried out by boko haram. >> boko haram has grown stronger in the last one year, it's got more fighters. it has adopted to new tactics. it has been able to hold territory, and for all of these reasons, the situation is getting certainly worse than it was a year ago. >> some estimates suggest more than 10,000 people have been killed by acts liable in nigeria this year. a wave of violence that the government appears to be struggling to stop. >> this has been an especially violent year for nigeria, 10,000 civilians killed in the northeast.

>> and those girls still missing. >> the fate of army sergeant bowe bergdahl is in the hands of an army general. a report of his capture by the taliban has been turned over for possible pros accusation. he was held for five years in afghanistan. his disappearance had been the subject of debate with some in his unit claiming he went awol. >> cuba is rejecting calls to extradite a woman back total u.s. she killed a new jersey state trooper in 1983. new york governor chris christie asked to make her return a condition of any diplomatic deal with cuba. >> the state's top envoy for guantanamo bay has quit. he was working to negotiate transfers but said he was frustrated by the pentagon dragging its feet.

132 prisoners are believe still held at guantanamo. >> the holiday season kicks offer today. saaings expects 99 million americans to hilt the road, making this the busiest travel season since they started keeping track. analysts say low gas prices and the improving economy have helped the trend. there's been a slight uptick in air travel, up 1% from last year. >> a large number of travelers may face problems thanks to a major storm system getting underway. >> 99 million travelers, how many of them are going to run into weather? >> if it's rain, it's going to slow you down, but you'll still get there. i'm more worried about the air travels, because they have to space out the flights more. the flights are packed, so it's a widespread system. look at how much territory this covers, snow on the backside, a marinaro corridor, most of this, temperatures running above average, so the majority of this is a rainstorm versus a

snowstorm, but you can see storms in the south. between new york and philadelphia, starting to see delays. we can see storms firing up in the southern tear. as the front comes in, that's a triggering point, plenty of gulf moisture helping to feed into this and this already had major moving in from the northwest. that will be a fire line for possible strong storms today. that means high winds would be the primary threat, but hail and isolated tornadoes not out of the question for the gulf coast. this is going to be the core of the moisture, as well, some places getting three to six inches, this strip that runs up the east court, that's two or three with some getting more. this is impacting atlanta, new york, chicago, today rain, switching to snow tomorrow and a lot of places, two days being wet, so impacting two days of

travel. >> new york city mayor calling for calm as he looks to ease strained tensions with the nypd following the murder of two officers. major decisions handed down surrounding executions in america, the ramifications for two states. >> a cause so worthy it attracted demonstrators from beyond the grave, kind of.

>> time now for the videos captured by our citizen journalists. the prime minister of belgium getting a surprise during an appearance monday, members of a feminist protest group hit him with tries and mayonnaise, he takes the incident in stride, smiling throughout. >> a cyclis cyclist in sydney or

knocked from his bike by a tree branch. he was shaken and bruised, but is otherwise fine. >> prosecutor testers in ukraine calling on the undead to get their message across. they dreads as zombies, held a demonstration against a local television channel showing russian programs. >> authorities say 850 syrians packed a boat on the mediterranean sea. italy has been bearing the brunt of mike grants making the dangerous journey from the middle east and north africa trying to escape wars in their home countries, the syrian government will allow the world health organization to deliver medical supplies to rebel-held areas in the country, the decision coming as health officials say disease is spreading there. we are following the latest from bay rate. what prompted the syrian president to give the u.n. the

go ahead finally for delivering that much-needed much-needed ai? >> well, the world health organization has been demanding greater access to reach besieged areas and rebel-held areas. they have delivered three times more aid in 2014 than they did in 2013, but they want more regular access. now they've got the written approval from the syrian government, but aid will not start arriving tomorrow morning. it's going to take time, because there are logistics that they need to prepare. the world health organization has been warning about the possibility of diseases spreading because of the lack of clean water, there's contaminated water in besieged areas, so this is a thorny subject. over a year ago, the security council passed a resolution demanding that the government allow aid to cross borders and

to cross front lines. while the press illusion was unprecedented, on the ground, really, there has been disappointing results. >> now that aid workers are going to be able to gain access they need, what's their biggest priority in terms of getting the aid to the people has need it? >> well, logistics and security, because at the end of the day, there was a need to coordinate with the forces on the ground, not just the government, but the organizations themselves. aid workers have been killed, but the health care system as a whole has almost collapsed in syria. more than half of the public hospitals are not operational anymore. there's a lack of doctors, and people don't just need emergency supplies, a lot of syrians suffer from chronic illnesses and they need medicines, too. >> back in this country, investigators are now retracing

the actions of the man who killed two new york city police officers over the weekend. his family said he was troubled, that he needed help. the new york city mayor is calling on demonstrators to hold off on protests until funerals are held for the two officers. organizers say a planned rush hour protest in the heart of manhattan will take place as scheduled this evening. joining us now, journalist dominic carter joins us. good morning. >> good morning, ladies. >> i've read comparisons between the tensions between police and communities today in new york city and the tensions in the 1970's, which led to coordinated assassinations of new york city police officers. give us some context. are things that bad today? >> things are bad right now, no one wants to go back to that. no one wants to even think about the possibility of assassinated police officers who put their

lives on the line for all of us each and every day, but that's what happened in the city just this past weekend. this is a very bad and difficult situation. i've been covering new york city, leaders bill deblasio for about 30 years and i have never seen tensions this bad in new york city. >> what do you think the reason is? i mean is it truly, you know, comments from bill deblasio himself? do you think he's putting out there this anti police sentiment that of course the police union leader would like for us all to believe here, or what exactly is this coming from? >> excellent question and to understand the scenario, you have to go back to about two years ago. the race for mayor. at that time, and i have to say, i sat down with the police union leaders just last week, the president of the p.b.a., also the penalty of the benevolent

association. just two weeks ago, there was high ratings, in new york 66 pee, unheard of numbers under ray kelly. the campaign for mayor, bill deblasio is in a distant third place. to understand the problem, you have to understand the history, he's in a distant third place, not expected to win. deblasio makes a commercial with his bi-racial son, dante and sky rockets over the african-american candidate and wins the primary. his platform was he was going to stop stop and frisk. that was perceived. he also criticized ray kelly, the police commissioner amounted said he was going to get rid of ray kelly. that was perceived as anti police. then he becomes mayor and the rhetoric continues, and so whether it's fair or not, the unions perceive that this mayor

has thrown them under the bus and created this climate. >> the last time there was a democratic mayor in new york city, david dinkins, he ran up against resistance by the police unions. police don't want as much accountability to the mayor's office perhaps. how surprised should web that there's tension between the two. >> i'm glad you asked that question because i forget to mention a big thorn in this entire process. the police unions, other unions have contracts, the police unions do not. they are not happy. they are used to a mayor like a rudy giuliani, that whether right or wrong, always differs the police officer the benefit of the doubt. the mayor when he came forward and said we have sat down and talked to our son dante about being very careful with the police, some of the police unions were very unhappy with that comment. >> let's talk about moving

forward. how can the mayor rebuild trust here? he spoke yesterday at the news conference and said look, i'm not going to focus on the rhetoric here, i'm going to move forward. being a good leader means just looking ahead and then he said let's pause on the protests until the if you know release of these two officers, what more does he need to do to sort of bridge this gap? >> i don't think anyone that follows politics can honestly answer that question. the relationship is that bad between the police unions and the mayor. he's right, the rhetoric has to stop. the unions are not happy with his alliance with the reverend al sharpton. maybe he has to put distance in that relationship, but he's got a send a signal. think about this, christmas is right around the corner and the funeral for officer ray mows will be 48 hours after christmas. christmas will never be the same for those families. this mayor is under a major test

only a year into his term. there are rum blinks by some that may be a one term mayor. >> police commissioner said can you name one mayor in the history of this city that has not had a battle with the police union? can you, in your 30 years? >> the commissioner was 1000% correct making that comment, but keep in mind, he's employed by this mayor, this mayor could fire him, so the mayor is in a very tough position, and i don't know how he's going to fix this situation, so the first question becomes what happens with the demonstrations? i don't think most good will new yorkers are going to be taking part in demonstrations when we're about to have if you know release for police officers. >> thank you. >> arizona is revising its protocol for executing death row inmates, dropping a two drug cocktail used in a botched execution in july. it took ma inmate more than two hours oh to die.

they'll now make use of a three drug cocktail, the same used in several other states. >> in oklahoma aba judge gave permission to go ahead with more executions, disagreeing with death row inmates who argued the use of the sedative amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. it was used in another botched execution in april. oklahoma has four executions planned for next year. >> we are tracking that major storm system set to bring a wintery mess over the next days, not looking very good for holiday travelers. let's bring in nicole mitchell. >> there's nuggets of good news, some places will have a white christmas because of this. look at these temperatures, an important part of the story. up and down the east coastline, 40's and 50s, even chicago 46. the average temperatures for this time of year of a low of 19, high of 33. you'd spend most of the day in the 20's, but 46 today means the

precipitation will be rain versus snow. could be cool enough to be snow tomorrow, but because of the temperatures, this is more rain system than a snow system. where we do have the snow, 20's and 30's back in parts of the northern plains, so we have snow coming down here and wind gusts, 30-40-mile per hour range in member number or colorado blowing that out here. this continues along with wisconsin, three or four inches of rain. all of that ahead of this today is rain. there's just a few places we have the wintery advisories. the eastern corridor two or three inches of rain expected. that's a lot. if that was snow, that would be two or three feet, so dodging a bullet that only a little of this is turning to snow. >> thank you. >> california reeling from its record setting drought despite recent rains. a new fight is brewing over using energy to extract energy

from the grounds. were millions of gallons wastes for the sake of fracking. >> a project vialing the panama canal. ♪ >> remembering one of the greats. we look back in the life and music of joe cocker.

>> going to great heights to

create a scene drop the movie "up." >> boko haram is being blamed for twin bombings in the northern part of nigeria. the attacks took place at a busy market and bus station. >> north korea is back on line this morning after a suspicious internet outage. it's not clear what caused the shut down a day after pyongyang threatened major attacks on the u.s. the white house is not saying if the u.s. had any role. >> in new york city, officials are readying for a major anti police protest this evening despite a call from the mayor to hold off on demonstrations until two slain officers are laid to rest. the police union agreed to stop criticizing the mayor's handles of the lease for now. >> the new york commissioner is

saying the mayor has not supported officers. >> at a makeshift memorial, hundreds paid respects to the two officers shot while sitting in their patrol cars on saturday. the killer, a black gunman with a long criminal record who posted social media threats to avenge the deaths of michael brown and eric garner, those two unarmed black hen have become symbols of injustice for protestors across the u.s. the new york mayor's statements in support of the protests aroused the anger of his own police force, accusing him of endangering their safety by stoking hostility against them. after visiting the families of the slain officers, deblasio said their grief should be the focus. >> how do we support them? i would ask that any organizations that were planning events or carrying that are about hole picks and protests, that could be for another day. >> the city's police

commissioner said racial tensions have grown, spiked by the social media's attention to alleged police brutality. >> one concern is this issue is really starting to go down partisan lines, represent-democratic. this is something that should be bringing us together, not taking us apart. >> the obama administration responded. >> we need to make sure we can ever conversations about how policing can be done effectively, how we can have community policing going forward. we also need to protect our law enforcement personnel. >> more protests were planned in milwaukee, after prosecutors there decided not to seek charges against a policeman fired after shooting to death another young black man with a history of mental illness. other u.s. police departments are on heightened alert after receiving numerous violent threats. none seem to be cell.

the latest tensions overshadow the fact that the u.s. has seen a sharp decline in police fatalities committed by criminals over the past decade. >> new york police commissioner william bratton said mayor dehe brass yo is not the first to clash with police unions, that it's all politics in new york city. >> michael grimm is charged with sample fraud from unpaid taxes. voters reelected him to congress last month. >> rolling stone magazine asked colombia university journalism school to investigate its covering of a university of virginia story about sexual assault. >> federal charges for four men accused of smuggling guns on

delta airlines flights. officials say they were moving weapons between new york and atlanta. one arrested is a current baggage handler, another a former employee. >> fracking is playing out over a historic drought in california. >> frackers are up against homeowners, both trying to get their hands on fresh water. >> they're destroying our land, our water, they're using up our water. >> this homeowner is fed up. >> we feel like punks. >> those living in the neighborhood west of los angeles face fines this f. they vital water restrictions while the oil connect door is free to use millions of gallons of water for fracking. >> they use quite a bit of drinking water to do this work when we have no water in our

reserves. there's no water in aquifers at this moment. >> the oil and gas industry is knowing for being secretive. getting on the property to see the process up close is next to impossible. to frack one well takes 100,000 glance up to a million gallons of water. in 2013 and 2014, approximately 1600 wells were fracked in california. according to the division of gas and gee joe thermal resources known at doggr, the state agency in charge of regular blading the industry. >> is doggr monitoring how much water is being used for every frack job? >> it's not regulate by the state. >> shouldn't have regulatory agency be regulating and have oversight over that? >> the legislature gives us the authority to look at that, we surely would. >> you can't act without the legislature? >> we can't tell somebody that they can't purchase water

without some form of statute. >> the center for biological diversity, a nonprofit working to ban fracking in california spoke to us. >> water is such a scarce commodity right now that many communities are struggling to find ways to keep their facets going, keep farms irrigated and in these times, we can't really afford to be wasting water on such a dangerous practice like fracking. >> you think it's ok that they're using so much water in a time of drought, when everyone else is asked to conserve. >> from my point of view, you don't have the authority to tell them how much water they can use. >> then you're not regulating. >> that's not true. >> in california's legislative session, 11 fracking bills were proposed, eight calling for a moratorium or ban. one was passed, sb4. it goes into effect in 2015 and although calls for some increased oversight, it will not

limit the amount of water oil companies can use, even as californiaens struggle to survive the worst drought on record. >> who is looking out for us? it's just us. we have to get like boots on the ground. we have to start as citizens and stand up for our rights and say it's enough already. it's enough. >> al jazeera, los angeles. >> the california state coordinator with the frack tracker alliance joins us via skype from oakland, california. good morning with you, kyle, thanks for joining us. oil and water are the most important elements in the tracking debate. is water preservation more important? >> for the central valley, agriculture is the most important industry for california and with the current drought, there's 1.5 million-acre shortage, according to the recent u.c. davis drought report.

service water going up for other industries that are very important to california besides oil, specifically agriculture is going to be hardest felt for farms in the central valley. >> how much does fracking take away from places like farming? >> well, with with the current drought, we're going to have to supplement surface water by pumping water and that pumping cost is going to increase. as you pump more, it takes more energy to pump it. you pump the water to the surface, because we lower the water table. the table lowers and the drought gets worse and we use more water, water becomes more expensive. any water taken a were from the agricultural industry is going to cause more fields to go to follow, which means they die and is going to increase the number of jobs lost, because there are real jobs being lost in the

central valley. >> what do you think about suing to stop fracking? >> there are definite impacts to air quality and we're seeing regional impacts to ground water quality as a result of fracking in pennsylvania and wyoming, and it's not clear that regulation can address these issues, so groups like these environmental groups are looking to sue to stop fracking, because they don't think regulations can address these issues, and from the research, i don't think it's clear that regulation can address these issues. >> what do you think can address the issues? >> we haven't seen the technology that can address these issues yet, so we'll have to see what happens in the future. i'm not an engineer, so not sure if these issues can be addressed with water quality and air

quality and things common at every single drill site, particularly fracking sites. i don't know what will take care of these issues. >> all right, we'll keep following you, thank you. >> a grim report from the committee no protect journalists says at least 60 have been killed this year, including the murders of james foley and steven sotloff by isil. more than that 40% killed were targeted because of their work and the number of deaths is down from 70 in 2013. >> it has now been 360 days in jail for three of our al jazeera colleagues. the three were sentenced in june to seven years in prison, one given a 10 year sentence. they were accused of helping the muslim brotherhood and spreading false news. al jazeera continues to demand their immediate release. >> an official groundbreaking on a new transocean canal expected

to span 173 miles, creating a new pass between the caribbean and pacific and a new rival to the panama canal. the project is stirring up mixed feelings. >> for decades, shoemakers in this market in nick wag gay have sold their products. this man inherited his shop from his father and plans to give it to his sons but says he doesn't have the skills or resources to expand his business. >> i think the development of the canal will create jobs and perhaps bring better technology, allows me to make better shoes faster. >> the world food program says 42% of the population live under the poverty line. francisco says the canal may offer a life line. >> the canal may not directly benefit small businesses like these but store owners hope it will bring more tourists. >> there are plans to develop a

free trade zone and new infrastructure. economists say the current growth rate of 4.5% could double. the government says the country's large-scale exports like coffer fee will make good use of the water way, which is do to be ready in five years. the owner of a coffee farm has mixed feelings. >> if the canal is built, this will mean an injection of capital the country has never seen, great economic opportunity. we must look at the environmental studies that make sure it's properly managed. >> reports of the overall impact on the environment are not delivered. some say the lake will be con nominate by sediment dredged from its bottom. >> the lake is a source of drinking water for 17 regions, 2500 finisherman who feed their families and support the local

economy will be directly affected. there are five species of fish crucial to the countries foot security. >> many don't know if protecting the environment is more important than nicaragua's development but francisco does know that he'd like the chance for his business and his country to reach its potential. >> the project is expected to cost 40 billions, motor funding coming from china. >> an incredible picture of the sun spitting out a powerful solar flare, the cosmic event happened friday. the solar flares are bursts are radiation that cannot pass to earth's atmosphere, but when intense enough can disturb the atmosphere where g.p.s. and communication signals travel. >> sony changing its tune over the release of "the interview" and weighing how it can still release it.

actor jay thomas joins us with whether that move should be the company's next one. >> remembering legendary singer joe cocker. a look back at his musical legacy. >> our big quote: who's behind that next. stay with us.

♪ >> that's exactly what joe cocker did in his rendition of "with a little help from my friends." he catapulted the 25-year-old british singer to fame. >> a pipefitter who began his career in pubs rocket to stardom overnight. one steeped in american bruise, his voice was unmistakable. this song was his biggest hit. ♪ you are so beautiful to me

>> with his success came excess and addiction. i was living on a liquid diet, start drinking at 11:00 in the morning and be pretty wasted by the evening. his struggles with drugs and alcohol took its toll in the 1970's, but by the next decade, he was on his road to recovery and recharged with a duet that would win the academy award. cocker recorded dozens of albums, but his live performances may most be remembered by his fans and fellow few significances, like ringo starr, goodbye and god bless. from one of his friends, peace and love. >> appeal mccartney released a statement saying how thrilled he was the first time he heard joe

cocker's version of "with a little help from my friends." >> i can't think of a bigger compliment coming from the beatles. >> fans of "miami vice 88 can hit the streets like got detectives, the car is up for sale on ebay, the price tag, $1.75 million. the car was one of two ferraris used on the show and only has 16,000 miles on it. >> one old chair, 90 helium balloons and a shotgun is all a daredevil needed to pull off an epic stunted. he recreated a scene from "up" floating into the air strapped to a lawn chair and then shoots balloons to begin his free-fall to the ground. he had a par chute, just to make sure he made it down safely. there he goes.

he called it one of his favorite stunts ever. >> wow. ok. let's get another check of the forecast. nicole mitchell that got a little bit of a silver lining here. >> i am trying to find it. it's a travel mess. we've got delays in philadelphia this morning, some of our big hubs all going to get impacted, so definitely check at your airports, but the northern tear of the country, look at how much territory this storm is covering as it continues along. this is warm enough that a lot of this is rain versus now, but it is heavy rain. even southward, the risk for strong storms and severe weather today, so pretty messy out there. >> nicole mitchell, thank you. >> coming up in two minutes from doha, more on the crisis in syria and the decision by the government to let health officials bring supplies into the country. >> tomorrow morning, tracking the big storm that could mess up a lot of travel plans. what you need to know to get

home for the holidays. >> that's it for us here in new york. >> here now the images of the day and christmas culls early at the zoo in germany.

>> consider this: the news of the day plus so much more. >> we begin with the growing controversy. >> answers to the questions no one else will ask.

>> real perspective, consider this on al jazeera america >> schools and a bus carrying children are hit by government air strikes in syria - more than two dozen were killed. hello from al jazeera's headquarters in doha, i'm jane dutton, also ahead - ukraine's parliament votes towards an n.a.t.o. membership from penthouse to prison, the hong kong billionaire sent to gaol for corruption. plus... ..lift off.