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. we are ment to be your first choice for the news. >> breaking overnight, another night of violence in the st. louis area after another fatal police shooting. >> sony pictures releasing "the interview" after a hacking and cyber threat by north korea. >> a series of deadly storms roll across the south, spawning a tornado and knocking out power for thousands. >> it's been 10 years since the tsunami devastated more than a

dozen countries. we are live on the ground to check the progress and see however some countries still have to go. >> good morning, welcome to al jazeera america. >> we begin with breaking news out of missouri. there's been another fatal shooting in the st. louis area involving a police officer and teenager. >> it happened this time in berkeley, less than three miles from the ferguson neighborhood where michael brown was shot and killed in august. >> police say a suspect pulled a gun on an officer outside a gas station and the officer fired back. local reports say the suspect was 18 years old. >> afterwards, a crowd of people gathered in the scene and many rushed at the police and broke into a convenience store across the street. police fired tear gas to break up the crowd. no word on any arrests. >> meanwhile, the new york city skyline went dark in honor of the two police officers shot and killed over the weekend. >> the mayor asked protestors to honor the fallen officers and

hold off on more anti police demonstrations this week. protestors marched anyway. >> singer returned to new york city streets, protestors defying the mayor's plea to stay home. >> a lot of people felt they want to make sure it's known that this movement won't be silenced and we won't be intimidated. >> dozens marched demanding justice for unarmed black men killed by police. it is part of a movement some worry that fed the anger to led to the deaths of the two officers. >> i think quite frankly it is an insult to what we've been doing suggesting that people exercising their first amendment rights have inspired someone to kill someone. >> they were urged to wait until after the if you know release. >> we have to get everyone to move away from anger and hatred. >> after days of pain, today a brief pause. the mayor led a moment of silence at 2:47 p.m., the exact

moment the two officers were gunned down on saturday. >> it's a time of pain for our city, it's a time of mourning for two good families. >> earlier, the mayor visited the growing memorial in brooklyn, where the officers lost their lives. >> you can see how much it's touched people and what it means to them. >> flags are flying at half staff across new york as the victims' families shared their deep pain. >> this is a difficult time for both of our families but we will stand together and get through this together. >> police are trying to piece together the last hours of the gunman. he had a long criminal history and families say he was mentally troubled. >> if you have emotional issues and you're constantly going in and out of jail, you know, prison, and clearly something's wrong. he should have been offered help

in the system, right? but he wasn't. >> in his collusion, he also appeared partly driven by the recent protests against police. a cry many here denounce, while also insisting it is movement must continue. >> we just can't stop. this is not possible. >> the mother of a 12-year-old in cleveland shot and killed is calling for calm. she condemned violence h especially after the shooting deaths in new york of the police officers and asked for peace. >> first, i'm against all violence. i want to thank the people in the nation for all their support. >> for those who support peaceful protestation, as a community, i say come and join us, there is work to do.

for those who have mercenary motives, we do not support you for you are the true enemy. >> the womans son was shot and killed by police officer. he was carrying a pellet gun in the park. >> some officers are said to be partially to blame for these fatal interactions. >> sony pictures that decided to release the movie "the interview." the comedy is about two journalists asked to assassinate kim jong-un. after threats of violence, sony pulled the film. now movie goers around the country will get to see what the fuss is all about.

>> sony will now release "the interview" to some theaters. >> you want us to kill the leader of north korea? >> yes. >> whaaat? >> sony says: >> sony's decision is good news for one independent theater owner in atlanta. >> i don't think anyone in this country wants to be told what we can see. >> i'm very excited. it seems like a funny movie and i sort of want to make a statement that we can't let people push us around. >> i can't set up for free speech as well as stand up for creativity. >> last week, sony pulled the comedy about a plot to assassinate kim jong-un after theater owners reversed to show the film because of on-line threats. president obama applauds sony's decision to release the movie, because it allows people to make their own choices about the

film. the f.b.i. blames pyongyang for hacking into sony's computers. earlier this week, north korea's internet was down for hours. >> we're just not going to entertain questions one way or the other about, you know, any -- any of these questions about, you know, possible u.s. responses of any kind. >> the movie's costars are celebrating, james franco tweeting "victory witness the people and president have spoken and seth rogan tweeting freedom has prevailed. sony didn't give up. >> reuters reports that the movie will be streamed on demand starting tomorrow. sony has not confirmed. >> at least four people have been killed by powerful storms in the south. this is what it looked like in the towns in mississippi.

there are similar scenes in the region, including louisiana and florida panhandle. this morning, there are still more than 2,000 residents without power. one tornado cut a trail of destruction through an area, including a day care centered. >> approximately 30 children inside the believe when the tornado hit. it just took the tin roof off the building. >> they evacuated citizen's bank, they provided shelter for us. >> this is just a taste of what could be the beginning of a weather nightmare before christmas for millions across the country, especially those along the eastern seaboard and anyone traveling through airports in the next 48 hours. >> nicole mitchell, good morning, what storms are we facing today? >> yesterday, we talked about the risk of for severe weather which we saw. this is a very warm system for the most part, so this could be a huge snowstorm if it was

colder, but it's been more of a storm with severe weather and rain associated with it. here's where that system is right now, and the core of the rain still into the east. the storms, the severe stuff from yesterday, all these pings indicate a weather report, almost 70 of them. the biggest threat was wind, but we did have 14 reports of tornadoes as all of this moves through and even still this morning, we're looking at that risk. the areas in red are still under a tornado watch. that doesn't mean anything imminent, just means the atmosphere is ripe for it. that goes into this afternoon. you see the greens, that is widespread, because the heavy rain we've gotten flooding across the area. so now for today, there's still a lesser risk than yesterday, what we call a marginal risk but really through to corridor, we could still see the risk for severe weather, not as much as yesterday. heavy rain continues to be a risk, but now the heaviest stuff

moving through today. this would be a big snowstorm with feet of snow, but the temperatures are just too warm. 59 degrees today in new york city, that is way above average. that's why this is a rainstorm versus a snowstorm for this time in december, but there is snow. i'll have more on that coming up. >> mother nature leaving us holiday gifts we don't necessarily want. thank you so much. >> police arrested two men in an ongoing counter terrorism sweep in australia. >> that was a 20-year-old running away from reporters as he left court this morning. investigators say they seized documents from him listing several australian government entities add potential target attacks. another is facing a lesser charge. both are from sydney. >> obviously i don't want to go into too much operational detail, but there was enough

there that gave concern to us that something was being planned and that's why a person was charged. he was charged in relation to having a document that was designed to clearly facilitate and attack. >> he made headlines earlier this year when he stormed off the side of an australian talk show when talking about recruiting fighters for iraq and syria. >> to the night against isil, jordan confirms one of its pilot has been captured in syria, his plane shot down over a major stronghold for isil. he's believed to be the first coalition pilot taken since airstrikes began. >> in iraq, at least 38 allied government fighters were attacked while they lined up to collect their pay. kurdish forces are now battling for control of sinjar city, the

home to the where's religious community. >> iraq's christians are struggling to celebrate, more than half forced out of their homes as isil takes over their towns. >> they're doing their best to mark christmas not knowing what the new year will hold. >> for children, the joy of christmas comes in very small packages. these children are from ancient christian towns in the north of iraq, taken over by isil fighters. the ornaments were donated by a local charity. since the rampage began in june, more than half of iraq's 300,000 christians have been forced from their homes. the leader of the world's catholics are not sure about

going back. >> the situation has changed. there is a decision, a personal decision, a family decision to leave, we ever to speak and we don't have any right to tell them no to stay, because there is a danger for them and they don't have a secure future. >> the christian district of the kurdish capitol erbil, the shops are full of candy contains and christmas trees, but there are few people with money. hundreds live in this unfinished mall. there's a christmas tree and even a maker, but the children rely on charity for gifts and clothes, including shoes donated by kurdish peshmerga fighters. at this school in baghdad, like in most places, there is almost no support from the government. the families here are fed by the church.

every egg is precious. >> people are doing their best here to make it feel like christmas. some have written christmas wishes and put them on the tree. one man hopes for a better future for his children, another for peace across iraq but the biggest wish for the new year is they'll be able to go back to their homes. >> al jazeera, baghdad. >> due to the fighting, more than 2 million people have been displaced in iraq. >> we are getting reports this morning that a palestinian man has been killed by israeli gunfire in southern gaza. israeli army officials say a palestinian sniper aimed at one of their soldiers and both sides opened fire. we have more from gaza. >> what had happened in this area according to the palestinian sources and eyewitnesses said that a palestinian sniper has sniped an israeli soldier while he was among israeli troop on the fence

again gaza and israeli in the village in the east side of southern gaza strip. according to the palestinian sources, after this sniper operation and the israeli troops has targeted the area with an air strike which argumented a palestinian fighter from the military wing of hamas movement. the hamas movement he says holds the responsibility of this escalation and aftermath of the escalation saying israeli troops have blocked the fence inside the palestinian area, and the palestinian fighters has fired on the israeli troops after they passed the palestinian fence inside the palestinian area. it seems the situation is in the

air until now according to palestinian sources after the escalation is calm now, but they are saying that there are troops and the israeli tanks are moving and patrolling on the fence between gaza and israeli. this escalation is considered the first after the end of the israeli war on gaza four months ago, but until now, the situation is calm and wither monitoring if the coming hours will be another escalation or the situation will remain calm as it is now. >> 27 palestinians were killed after fighting in gaza this summer. 67 israeli soldiers also died. >> former president george h.w. bush is in a houston hospital. he was admitted for observation after complaining of shortness of breath. two years ago, he spent nearly two months in that same hospital

suffering from brown kite advertise and an infection. >> shinzo abe was reelected as prime minister of japan in a landslide victory. >> takata airbags con explode, connected to at least five detectives. the company's chairman will take over duties. >> coffee machines are being recalled. they can squirt hot water on that to users.

it has led to at least 90 reports of burns. the models effected have a serial number beginning with 31. if you own a keurig, contact the company for a free rare. >> coming up next, why some law enforcement officials are pointing the finger at the police for some of these incidents. >> former d.c. squad commander joins us about calls for reform. >> th one couple plucked to safy in the middle of a raging river. >> 6,400,000 is the big number of the day. >> big number it is. more americans signing up for health coverage under the affordable care act.

>> today's big number is 6,400,000. the government says that's how many people are now enrolled for

health insurance through the federal market choice. >> that's known as the website health care.gov. you had until december 15 to sign up for coverage beginning january 1. the government said 1.9 million people signed up. >> that's 30% of the total, because between 2.7 and 3 million people were reenrolled automatically based on last year's coverage. >> wall streets historic tuesday is boosted, shares up in asia and australia after the dow reached a mile stein tuesday. the index surpassed 18,000, spurred by news that the economy grew at a 5% annual rate last quarter, the fastest pace since 2003. >> jurors in the trial of james holmes will see most of the more than 200 crime scene photos. some will be withheld because

they could bias the jury, including pictures of a bloody emergency room and a slain victim's tattoos that named his children. >> a houston grand jury decided not to indict a police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man. the 26-year-old was shot by the officer at a shopping center. castro was off duty and working as a security guard. he said baker matched the description of a robbery suspect. he says baker charged him and that's why he fired. >> lawmakers in milwaukee are pushing for reforms within the city's police department. monday, the district attorney decided not to charge former officer christopher manning for the shooting death of dantre hamilton. he shot the schizophrenic hamilton 14 times after a confrontation in the city park and the officer was fired. a group of city lawmakers want to by body cameras and create a system to identify aggressive officers. a former swat commander and

police lt. from washington, d.c. joins us this morning. thank you so much for your time. you wrote in an opinion piece in the salt lake city tribune that officers are not without blame in some of these recent shooting deaths we've reported. can you explain your view for us. >> sure. what is lacking amongst law enforcement officers today and law enforcement departments is the timely transparency and training. we've pretty much adopted a win at all costs mentality where officers are not thinking of a tactical retreat until reinforcements arrive. >> what you're talking about is a training in this case, a contrast to the shooting we saw in st. louis last night in the deaths of eric garner or case of milwaukee, we're talking relatively minor offenses. does wearing a badge and

carrying a gun in some cases inflate one's sense of power that can lead to escalations. >> some officers do have that mentality. this is not to say it's all officers. weaver all heard the bad apple spoils the bunch. there are bad apples and it will come to light. when it comes time for these encounters, things like eric garner and officer madding, they are quite different aspects. manning did everything he could, i believe to deescalate that situation at the time, however in the beginning, did he do everything right? i think the police chief got it correct where he said he didn't do it right, or he shouldn't have engaged in a pat down, which inflamed the individual who had some mental issues. the officers today are failing to understand the need to deescalate and retract and look at critical thinking to say

maybe today, i need to go home, how do i do that safely. >> how much do you think racial bias play into that last minute decision-making by an officer? >> i don't believe racial bias is such a large topic that people are making it out to be. my experience with the officers around the country has been that racial bias doesn't really enter their decision factors. they are looking at how do i go home and think about well, what tools do i have available to me, but that win at all cost mentality is really where the concern lies. >> it's interesting to hear you as somebody who has patrolled the streets in a major metropolitan area talk about the fear some officers feel. in light of the killing of the two officers in new york, how do you feel the officers can keep from feeling that bunker

mentality? >> in new york, those officers could have done nothing to prevent what happened. the officers talk about this awareness they need to maintain during a siege mentality, unless they had their head on a swivel, fate wouldn't ever changed, unfortunately. >> thank you so much for your insights this morning. >> thank you. >> a colorado springs man is facing charges this morning for making on line threats against police officers. police say they were notified by google of threats made by jeremiah perez in the comments session on you tube. they tracked the i.p. address. the 33-year-old reportedly told the judge he regrets what he did. he could face up to five years in prison. >> a washington state teenager is under arrest accused of throwing a punch that killed his friend. investigators say the

18-year-old jerome thomas died after struck. witnesses say he agreed to let the man hit him after a minor fender bender. the blow knocked thomas out. he never regained consciousness. >> he is not a bad kid. i feel really sorry for this family for their loss. this is what i'm crying for is because of their loss, ok? yes, i'm sad for my son, but he's alive. i'm sad for their family. i'm really sad. it should ever never happened. >> sad story. the death has been ruled a homicide by the county medical examiner. the suspect is 18 years old and now free on bail. >> it could be a snowy christmas in some parts of the country. who's getting a white christmas this year? >> a few people with the current system, it's more with the next system coming in. maybe we're not enjoying the white christmas coming. the interstate was shut down between kansas going toward

colorado with the wintery weather. open again now and much improved, but there's still going to be problem spots. we're looking at the deeper purple, areas that have at least 75 percent and you get to areas that are less. that guarantees at least an inch on the ground. that on the great lakes, an interior system. the system has been rain, you can see that changing back behind. you get to chicago for today, 38 and rain now, but temperatures go down through the day and give them a little corridor of snow. while mostly rain, a few people will see that switch. >> ok, nicole mitchell, thank you. >> it's hard to believe it's been 10 years since that devastating tsunami swept southeast asia. >> physically, the motion scars for a lot of survivors will remain forever. we're going to have a live report on the ground in thailand.

>> you just can't imagine a dog going through that kind of trauma. >> an amazing story of survival of a family pet that stayed alive after a 15 story plunge. >> as impressive as it looks, this teenagers shot wasn't her first. >> unbelievable! >> we'll show you the rest. >> santa claus bringing one indiana woman a very special gift on behalf of her soldier boyfriend stationed in afghanistan, that's one of the stories caught in our global net. and al jazeera has really tried to talk to people, about their stories. we are not meant to be your first choice for entertainment. we are ment to be your first choice for the news.

>> protestors are gathering... >> there's an air of tension right now... >> the crowd chanting for democracy...

>> this is another significant development... >> we have an exclusive story tonight, and we go live... primetime news. >> welcome to al jazeera america. >> stories that impact the world, affect the nation and touch your life. >> i'm back. i'm not going anywhere this time. >> only on al jazeera america. >> you are looking live at christmas eve celebrations in bethlehem's maker square.

>> marcking a decade since the tsunami. the recovery is much slower than the physical. >> journalists under fire for doing their jobs. 2014 was a deadly year for reporters around the world. >> first a look at our latest headlines. in missouri, another police shooting involving an 18-year-old. an officer shot and killed a suspect who had pointed a gun at him at a gas station in berkeley, less than three miles from ferguson. the shooting sparked protest at the gas station, as well as looting nearby. we are hoping to hear from officials to bring you their news conference live. >> the president is praising sony picture's decision to release the film second base "the interview." it will be released in limited

theaters. it had been pulled after hackers for north korea threatened any theaters that filmed it. >> a tornado touched down in southern are mississippi, ripping the roof off a day care center and other buildings. more than 2,000 customers are still without power. >> the f.d.a. is considering reversing a decades old ban that kept gay and by sexual men from donating blood. there's one very controversial condition. >> in a statement released tuesday, the f.d.a. says that it carefully examined and considered the available scientific evidence and now recommends a change to the blood donor defederal period for men who have sex with men for indefinite deferral since a year from the sexual contact. in other words, it presents a choice, be celibate for a year or don't donate blood, a chase many gay rights activists say is unfair. >> that's ridiculous.

>> i did an interview of a therapist and physician and researcher in early december when a panel of experts met to consider changing the ban. >> why should i be forced to wait a year to not have sex when a heterosexual men can walk in and give blood and they'd be happy to take his blood. >> it makes sense to look at people's actual behavior in has someone had sex -- paid money, a prostitute or other things that put them more at risk. >> the f.d.a. is stand big its decision. it first implemented the restriction in 1983 during the early days of the aids crisis when the f.d.a. decided that no man could donate blood who had had sex with another man since 1977 even if it happened only once. many doctors who say the f.d.a.

hasn't taken medical ad vanses into account still believe the change is a step in the right direction. >> the year long might be too long if you think about it in terms of the data, in terms of risk, but regardless, a year long ban is still better than a lifetime ban. >> eliminating the ban altogether would mean adding over 6,000-pints to the annual blood supply whereas this one year ban would only add 300,000-pints. >> coming up later this hour, we'll explore the decision with a doctor. >> friday mark's 10 years since one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. the 2004 tsunami off the coast of thailand where more than 30,000 people were killed in 14 countries. many were tourists.

we are live just north of phuket. have the tourists returned? >> they have. you are joining me at a sea side restaurant where a party is about to take place for christmas eve evening which is the time in our time zone. it's a reunion for many, because they gathered here, the worst impacted place in thailand, to remember the 10 years and how far they ever come since the tsunami hit. i met two friends having a reunion and looking back on that bittersweet memory. >> 10 years since they first met. these are friends for life. a retired police wham from

landon is here. the asian tsunami brought two people together and it is a chance to realize how far they've come. >> we walked out and i saw horrible deaths everywhere. i was very traumatized. one whole month afterwards, i could not clothes my ice, because i only saw dead people. >> snapshots show the devastation. it was the worst affected place in thailand. of the thousands who died here, nearly as many were foreign tourists at thai people. >> it's impacted on the entire world and wasn't just local people here affected, it was international, there were people in this area from every part of the world. it needed to be an international effort. >> what we were most afraid of

back then was that if there were no more tourists here, what would we do. >> the tourists are back. when you talk to people about the role of tourism in the recovery, it turns out it's not just about dollars and cents, but also about the links between people that inspired them to help and support each other to win a recovery he. >> right afterwards, there was literally nothing but a few trees left standing. ten new hotels ever opened this year alone. tour imhas provided the means by which ordinary people and foreign government showed their support. >> we were damaged badly, but we've made so many good friends for life. the tsunami only happened once. we can firm the house, we can fix our mind so we're not stuck in the past and we keep on moving. >> i think the fact that now here we are 10 years later, people have traveled from all

over the world to be here to get together again. it's just beautiful. >> undaunt and united, they've rebuilt even better than before. >> happy ending to a horrible story. >> yeah. >> the two are celebrating behind me to mark christmas eave. for them, it must be a really bittersweet time, because if you can imagine, there was absolutely nothing here 10 years ago when they first met. there were right after the tsunami, bodies right across this area. every single brick that you see here, every single sign of activity is something that has been fought for, that is something that survivors have gone for. >> that has been driven by

resilience. what about native thai people and rural areas, how have they recovered? >> >> thailand has been really quite well off, because of tourism. as i mentioned in my report, the fact that there were people from over 50 countries affected because they were here on holiday meant that it got a lot of attention from around the world. i don't know if you remember, but 10 years ago, when the appeal went out for aid, they managed to get more money than was actually needed for the first time ever. this disaster was called the first-ever global disaster, and since then, weaver seen people coming back. we've seen tourism coming back. we've seen the economy rebuilt. it is indeed the story of resilience. >> live for us in thailand, thank you. >> more than 50 people,

including women and children have been killed by gunman in northeastern india. separatists are blamed for attacking two villages late last night. many in those villages work on tea plantations in the region. the violence comes after indian security forces launched a campaign against the rebels last month. >> the u.s. government is paying $3.2 million to alan gross, an american contractor freed by cuba after five years in prison. he was working with u.s. a.i.d. when he is detained working for internet access. the government convicted him of crimes against the state. >> since the u.s. announced plans to restore diplomatic relations with cuba, much of the focus has been on tourism. more americans will likely be able to visit havana. >> cuban farmers could see a big boost if they are allowed to purchase supplies from the united states.

>> the sun is barely risen, but the family is preparing to cultivate the land. being a farmer in cuba is difficult and rodriguez said the type of cows produce less than half the milk of cows in the united states, but he can't buy them because of the embargo on the island. le embargo has meant to no access to american made farm equipment, fertilizer or tools. >> here we have little technology to develop our farm. >> farmers continually improvising to try to make it work, something he hopes changes with the renewed economic ties between the two countries. >> now if we need pesticides, we'll have the power to ask for it, they'll ship it and we'll have more development in all the countryside. >> you can see how much it might help. you spend time on the farm and

you get a sense of how stuck in time they really are. he's cutting sugar contain but with no proper trucks or any way to transport it to the other side of the farm. they load it into this, this is the same system they've used for generations, the same system for over 100 years. >> cuba being a socialist country, sit sense cannot import private goods, including farmers who want to buy equipment. the government said it's meant to prevent anybody from having an unfair advantage. the policy now might need to be rethought. >> this agreement approximate the u.s. is significant and an important leap forward, but i should clarify, the cuban government also needs to do their part. >> for now at least, some optimism prevails like another family farmer who views the new relationship with the u.s. like this: >> you give me a piece of farm machine and i'll give you beans. we can exchange business now.

>> down the road, back at the rodriguez family farm, that's exactly what they want, expecting the benefits of the u.s. friendship to reach the countryside as fast as everywhere else. >> resuming agricultural trade could mean big business for american farmers, as well. cuba used to import 400,000 tons of rice from the u.s. before the embargo. >> a man and woman had to be lifted using a helicopter from a stuck boat on the sacramento river 100 miles south of the oregon state line. neither were hurt. >> in california, a lucky break for a dog named sammy. the 13-year-old boston terrier tumbled off a 15th floor balcony. this swan dive did not end tragically, thanks to good

fortune. he fell in just the right place. >> just a little bit to the east is a pool and a hot tub and the dog went directly into the hot tub. he hit it, started swimming to try to get out. he swam it about three times, found the stairs, pulled himself out. you just can't imagine a dog going through that. >> you suffered broken bones and is being treated at a hospital. his owner said the dog is already standing and walking. how soon until is owners change that dog's name to lucky? >> he sure is cute. >> lets look at other stories caught in our global net. uber is now in trouble in south korea. reuters said officials have indicted the company's c.e.o. and its local branch, saying it's been operating without proper permits. this is just a long line of stories pressuring this company. last week, seoul city

legislature passed a fine to fine drivers not registered. >> we try to get cabs in new york sometimes, i just had my first uber driver and i've got to say -- >> it works. >> a unique steps to get debtors to pay up taxes, seizing pets. it's happening in siberia when tax collectors arrive to recoup money, they saw nothing of value except a cat and rabbit and threatened to take it. what is the world coming to? >> i don't know, that seems messed up to me. >> let me know when the tax collector collects a boa constrictor. >> santa's gift helping a soldier propose. kimberly roberts asked santa to bring her boyfriend home safe. st. nick had a surprise, a

letter as well as a ring and apparently her parents, future in laws helped organize this whole thing. >> we should note that she said yes, which is very good news. >> the f.d.a. moves closer to lifting a ban on gay men giving blood donations. >> up next, we'll see with a doctor about the decision and what it means for blood donations going forward. >> the hubble telescope finds a new galaxy right in our very own back yard. that's one of today's discoveries. >> going from war torn syria to center stage, at carnegie haul, the teenager who found solace in a piano.

>> it is time now for one of today's discoveries, the universe just got a little more crowded, a new barf galaxy discovered. >> it's 7 million light years away. more than 50 others have already been mapped in the milky way. >> the f.d.a. is taking steps towards lifting a ban on accepting blood from gay blood donors. under the new plan, guy and bi-sexual men could give blood but only if they haven't had sex with another man in the last 10 months. associate professor at the new york school of medicine joins us, doctor, how reasonable is this recommendation? we had a person earlier say

heterosexual men can be promiscuous and yet still are allowed to donate. >> first, are these being applied consistently and do they make sense. in terms of consistency, there's some truth to that in that a person can have unprotected sex with people and still donate blood, if they're heterosexual. at the same time, if a woman has sex with a man who's had sex with a man ever in his lifetime, than that woman only has to wait one year. there was definitely some discriminatory elements to the previous rule. even after waiting for a year after having sex with someone who has used steroids or drugs that are not prescribed, that affected the bob. does it make sense, is it appropriate to wait a year, i think, you know, a year might be too long. it's still better than a lifetime, but with testing we have today, you can have an answer about h.i.v. and other

blood borne disease's within weeks. >> is the transmission really higher among gay and bi-sexual men? >> it is higher. the questioner doesn't ask if you're having protected or unprotected sex and that's a huge factor, so that's one issue. the other thing that we have to weigh this against, too is how much do we actually need that blood. how many lives can be saved. the american red cross has been pushing the lifting of the ban, saying there is a constant shortage of blood. a lot of people donate blood, but there's a couple of reasons there's a shortage. blood has an expiration date like milk or juice or other stuff. it only stays in condition for a few days after taken out of the body. it's a very limited time span. they have to use the blood or

throw it away, so they always need donors available. we have different blood types. a person with type a. cannot donate to type b. person. then the issues is do you have enough donors from different groups. also in different geographic areas, you think about people who have car accidents or other accidents, people ever surgeries or other diseases where they might need blood, you need to cover them all. one donor, whether gay or straight can donate blood every two months if they are in healthy, good condition. the thing is you are actually losing that much blood that can save so many lives by having a ban, even if it's a year, it still limits the blood they can donate. >> thank you so much for weighing in. >> a 13-year-old in virginia is the talk of the town, veronica

dance had everyone dancing when she nailed a half court shot. there it is, during half time. before she hit a layup, a free-throw and a three-pointer. >> all four shots in just 35 seconds. everyone at the game got a free pizza. i was hoping for scholarship money or something. >> she's got a pro careerner future, i think. >> absolutely. >> also present, a 16-year-old from turkey when he walked into a music store last year, he had never played piano before. >> now he's preparing to take the stage at carnegie hall. >> to hear him play, you'd think he'd been doing it for years, but this 16-year-old started playing the piano 18 months ago. after he and his family fled to turkey, he came to the academics

institute. his teachers awarded him a scholarship after his first class. >> what students learn in 10 years, he learned in one year. he needs only one day to master a musical piece that would take others three months. >> his skills ever brought him to international attention. he and his family now ever turkish citizenship, allowing him to travel and to enter several international musical competitions. >> i represent turkey. i'm quite happy, because i live here now, but i'm sad at the same time, because syria does give me such chances. >> at home, he still plays the accordion, a reminder of his earlier life in syria, but now, his sights are set on a different world. soon, he will play at the

carnegie haul in the u.s. he says he loves the music of russian composers, because he feels like he belongs to them. his teachers believe he's good enough to be in their company. >> the government has taken a special interest in him. he still needs financial aid to further his musical education. he hopes to land a scholarship when he attends a piano workshop. >> the weather outside is frightful. let's get one more look at hour national forecast. >> you might think it's delightful if you get a little snow. it's going to cause a slow go. we had a break in the west, you can see that. putting this into motion, the next system, easy to see that pushing in, wide moisture getting into some of that in the northwest. this will spread quickly with rain and snow.

look at how much territory is covered under different weather advisories, pretty much the entire region looking at something. the higher elevations, a foot of snow and it spreads into the midwest or at least into the plains for tomorrow, bringing areas a white christmas, as well. >> it's bog to be one stormy christmas eve. >> it's not affecting santa claus. his every movement is being tracked by norad. it's become a holiday tradition. the 59-year-old program now has a control center at peterson a irforce base in colorado springs. you can follow santa's progress on the website. norad reports santa right now is over russia. i wonder when president putin's getting for christmas. >> ahead, the fight over

fracking in california, directly impacting farmers with many feel they're in a battle for their livelihoods. >> the plight of the christian yazidi community.

>> a new twist in sony's comedy "the interview." the movie will be released. >> another night of rage in the st. louis area after a police shooting ends in the death of another teenager. >> another record on wall street, the dow hits 18,000 for the first time as strong economic data helps put investors in a buying mood. >> a holiday tradition for many

set to enter a new age. going from brick and mortar stations on to the worldwide web. >> good morning. welcome to al jazeera america. >> it will abmerry christmas for some movie goers who will get a chance to watch "the interview." >> sony pictures is releasing the controversial film tomorrow. it had been pulled after hackers threatened to attack any theater that showed it. >> first amendment advocates are walking it a victory for free speech. sony's move is also getting the thumbs up from the president. >> you want us to kill the leader of north korea? >> yes. >> what? >> the plot surrounding the release of the movie "the interview" is taking another twist with independent theaters from alabama to georgia declaring they'll show the comedy starting on christmas day. a texas based chain is one of the first to announce it was taking on line reservations.

within two and a half hours, two screenings were full. moviegoers began buying tickets at this virginia branch. >> i was looking for a boot leg copy but now don't have to. >> i'm going as to stand up for free speech and creativity. >> sony films confirmed the move saying we have never given up on releasing "the interview." it will be in a number of theaters christmas day. we are fraud make it available to the public and to have stood up to those who attempted to suppress free speech. the decision comes days after sony announced it would not release the movie following an on line threat of attack on theaters that would show it. that prompted broad criticism that sony wasn't standing up for free speech, coming even from president obama. >> they made a mistake. we cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing sensorship

here in the united states. >> north korea suffered internet outages. >> ask the north koreans if their internet wasn't working. >> the movie's two main stars are tweeting: >> sony may also release the movie on line. reuters said they will begin streaming it tomorrow. >> in missouri, there's been another fatal shooting involving a police officer and a teenager. >> it happened in the suburb of berkeley, less than three miles from ferguson where michael brown was shot and killed in august. >> police say the officer was conducting a routine check at a

gas station when the suspect pulled a gun on him. the officer fired his gun and the suspect was killed. >> the protests outside that gas station, the crowd can be scene rushing the police. they also broke into a convenience store across the street. police fired tear gas to break up the crowd. no word on any arrests. >> in new york, protestors defied the mayor and took to the streets tuesday. >> protestors were still angry over the death of eric garner during a police stop and the fact that the officer was not indicted. >> the demonstrations happened after the mayor called for a pause in demonstrations until two slain officers could be laid to revert. >> after days of pain, a brief pause. new york city mayor bill deblasio led a moment of silence

at 2:47 p.m., the exact moment two new york city police officers were gunned down. >> it's a time of pain for our city, a time of mourning for two good families. >> earlier, the mayor visited the growing memorial in brooklyn where the two officers lost their lives. >> you can see how much it has touched people. >> flags are flying at half staff across new york as the victims' families shared their pain. >> this is a difficult time for both of our families, but we will stand together and get through this together. >> police are trying to piece together the last hours before the gunman ambushed the officers. family members say he was mentally troubled you. >> if you ever emotional issues and you're constantly going in and out of jail, you know, prison and clearly something's wrong, he should have been

offered help in the system, right? but he wasn't. >> he appeared partly driven by the recent protests directed at police over the recent deaths of unarmed black men. >> lights in new york city were dimmed in honor of the slain officers. >> a mother is calling for peace in her city, pleading for calm in the wake of the shooting deaths of those officers in new york. >> first and fort most, i would like to say that i'm against all violence. i want to thank the people in the nation for all their support. >> for those who support peaceful protestation, as a community, i say come and join us, there is work to do.

for those who christ have mercy nary notives. >> the dow jones industrial climbed above 18,000 tuesday. that's not the reason 2014 may end on an economic high note. >> on wall street, an extra measure of christmas cheer as the dow jones index passed the

18,000 marks for the first time. what's triggered enthusiasm, a 5% annual rate jump in economic output from july until september. that is a reflection of several positive factors across the american economy. consumer sentiment is at it's highest point in eight years. >> much of the cash for the shopping spurt fueled by a steep drop in pet troll prices. >> employment gains also were a major factor. >> over the past four years, weaver put more people back to work than all other advanced economies combined. >> wage increases are outpacing inflation. the outlook for 2015 is upbeat. economists caution there is still plenty of room for improvement on the job front. >> with too many people who want jobs unable to find them, too

many who are working part time, but would prefer full time work, and too many who have given up searching for a job, but would likely do so if the labor market were stronger. >> some analysts warn the oil price benefit is unlikely to be lasting, while growth and u.s. military spending will be slowing. >> what we saw in the third quarter doesn't off set or underminor reverse the long-term depressed condition of global capitalism in general and of its leader, the united states in particular. >> as the old year rings out, the numbers give americans reason to believe that things are looking up. al jazeera, washington. >> we want to take you live to a news conference happening live in missouri, the police officer addressing a shooting. let's listen. >> approximately 12:15 in the

morning, they to conduct their investigation. we were able to partition this young man's body off so nobody could see it while we were working the scene and we were able to transport him approximately 1:30, 1:40 this morning. we did seize video from the moble on the run station. they have several cameras there. i'll show you a still photo in a minute. we also have at least witnesses that saw this incident happen, too. i talked a little about the fact that the individual had another with him. that is a person that we went to talk to. there's video footage of him that i would like you guys to show if you could, in your media, to see if we can identify this person. i think he's going to be important to talk to. again, there are two other

witnesses that were in the parking lot at the time that we have talked to. i spoke with mr. mcculloch this morning at about 3:30, appraised him of the circumstances regarding the investigation. he has assigned a prosecutor to the case. i have since talked to mr. mcculloch and briefed him further on the case at this point in time. i'll answer some questions here in a minute rewarding the investigation into the shooting. we had about 200 to 300 people, a crowd of about 300 gathered at the 6800 block of hanley. i think one of the issues that we encountered is not too unfamiliar, but i think it's relatively new. we've seen this since forego son, but i've been around these investigations a long time to

where we see crowds gather, but we don't necessarily see the assaults against the police officers and different things like this. in this case, unfortunately, we had several bricks thrown at officers, and we had three explosive devices that were used. two explosive devices were used in the parking lot. there's video of that that many of you have perhaps already seen. if you haven't, we'll release that, also. i'm guessing that these turned out to be some sort of amalgam of fireworks that were packaged up and lit. when you see the explosion, it's disturbing, as it happens directly next to a gas pump. unfortunately an officer was injured trying to get away from that explosive. he's in the emergency room now in a local hospital dealing with lower leg injuries from trying to get away from that. there was another in the parking

lot and another across the street, which i think started a small fire that we were able to or somebody was able to extinguish at some point. that's disturbing. you talk about exblowsive devices, those are felonies. we would be very interested in finding out who did that. we can't have a crowd gathering, itch is understandable, but to come armed with explosive devices is not safe for our community, businesses or safe for our police officers. we had an officer that was injured with a brick, he's opinion reds from the emergency room with facial abrasions. there were four arrests made by the berkeley police department. those arrests were for assaults against police officers. i think some of that might have been captured in one of the media here today. i'd like to underscore, because we've seen this already on social media today about the police throwing distraction

devices, flash bangs, we did not deploy tear gas or flash bangs, no officers did that. i had opportunities to talk to several young people when i was down there this morning and some of the conversation that we had was well, why don't police officers use tasers and why couldn't the officer have used a taser and why couldn't the officer use pepper mace instead of a firearm? frankly, that's. >> you are listening to coverage, police remarks from missouri talking about last night's shooting of a police officer -- he of a young 18-year-old man by a police officer. >> i paused there, i was interested in what the chief was saying there about why they don't use tasers. let me just wrap up what the police chief said. he he said there are surveillance videos that the police officers approached these two suspects, that one of the suspects had a nine-millimeter handgun with five bullets in it

that he never fired, the suspect, but the police officer then fired at that suspect, that muck cull la, you'll recall that name because of the michael brown incident assigned a special prosecutor. in the aftermath of the incident, 200 to 300 protestors, this is video, police officers were injured as protestors threw bricks at the officers and at least three explosives were thrown at officers, so we will continue to follow developments in this story in st. louis. >> now to the fight against isil, jordan is confirming were you ever its pilots has been captured by the group in syria. his plane was shot down over a major stronghold for isil fighters. he's believed to be the first coalition pilot taken since airstrikes began.

38 fighters allied with the iraqi government were killed, targeted by a suicide bomber as they lined up to collect their pay. in northern iraq, isil fighters and kurdish peshmerga forces are fighting for the home of the yazidis. >> isil has been targeting women and girls, leaving some families did he ever stated. >> whenever the family comes together, they remember they are missing daughter. the 7-year-old was kidnapped when isil fighters attacked their town years ago.

the pain is hard on their family. >> our village was the first to be attacked. we defended ourselves until we ran out of ammunition. they started killing people. we fled. my daughter was one of those taken. >> he fears his young daughter has been sexually abused by isil fighters. in another tent, we met a family. he said his daughter was abducted by isil together with her four children. the extended family has had nine members kidnapped by isil. >> we don't want anything else from the kurdish government, united nations or the international coalition. all we ask from them is to return our kidnapped relatives. >> with their towns and villages becoming battle fields, life like this has become a reality for members of the community.

at least every family here is struggling to cope with the loss of relatives who are in captivity or killed by isil fighters. >> manager of the area says people are traumatized. >> some of the women here were raped and tortured. these people watched as their loved ones were killed or taken away. huge crimes have been committed against them. >> tired of a life of prosecution, most yazidis have no desire to go home, even if their towns are retaken from isil. >> more than 2 million people have been displaced in iraq due to fighting. >> mississippi cleaning up this morning after a series of powerful storms killed four people. at least one twister touched down in the towns of ellisville and columbia. there are similar scenes in the

florida panhandle. at last check, more than 2,000 customers were still without power. >> it blue this tank over on top of our vehicle and was shaking our car, our truck. thankfully, it didn't burst the fuel. it could have been worst, but we're all right. i've been operating all my life, i'm 64 years old, i prayed like i never prayed. >> this is just a taste of what could be the beginning of a weather nightmare before christmas for millions across the country, especially along the eastern seaboard and for anyone traveling through airports. >> for more, let's bring in meteorologist nick mitch. nicole. >> the severe risk that tornadic high wind hail risk is abated a little bit. look how big the system is, from snow in the midwest to the rain, i'll put that in motion.

you can see the storms definitely as they fire up through the south. it was just two years ago on christmas day, we had a tornado outbreak in mobile. you can see the line of storms this morning. as all that went through, we had about 70 reports, which is big for the month of november, and 14 of those reported as possible tornadoes. they'll go back and survey the area. as this movers along, not as high of a risk, but could see isolated activity in the southeast and right along the atlantic court line. now with all the heavy rain, we still have that risk, but flooding concerns, and those spread north dakota wards. up the east coast, we could see one to two inches, a couple of areas isolated higher, so flooding is the big risk here. i'll talk about the snow side of this system coming up. >> it has been 10 years since one of the deadly effort natural disasters in history. more than 230,000 people in 14 countries were killed.

the 2004 tsunami was triggered by an underwater earthquake offer thailand. are there still scars use that 10 years later? >> this is a place that has bounced back better. when you look around, and you remember what the scene was 10 years ago, and there was literally just a few trees left standing, piles of debris, many, many dead bodies, it was an absolutely tragic, desperate scene, and now, it is busy. there are hotels right along the main tourist strip. as a matter of fact, 10 new hotels ever opened this year alone. you can understand the role that

tourism has played in bringing this place back from that tragedy. this area faces right on to the sea and thus was a place in thailand that saw the highest number of deaths and almost as many foreigners as thai people were killed. you saw an outpouring of grief from around the world that centered on the area and the neighboring island. behind me is a christmas party about to start on the beach. you can see the lights, hear the music. it is a bittersweet celebration. >> you are in a tourist area, and this was the peak of tourist season when this happened 10 years ago. what about other parts of the season, is the recovery still ongoing in the rural areas? >> the recovery is pretty much

over. thailand has been very lucky in the sense that because you saw that outpouring of grief from around the world, because you saw such a big concentration on this area, because there were so many foreigners, people from 50 internationalities killed in the disaster, this place has built back very quickly. another important factor to remember is that thai land provides -- for thailand, tourism presents 70% of money for the economy. at the same time that this was a horrible story, it had a happy ending, because they made so many friends and were able to reconstruct back and bring their lives back better. >> live for us in thailand,

thank you. >> sony reverses course on "the interview." the movie will be released in a limited number of theaters. starting tomorrow, we'll speak with our arts and culture contributor about the pressure on sony that led to the decision. >> an armed gas station heist caught on cam race one of the videos captured by our citizen journalists around the world.

>> time now for the videos captured by our citizen journalists. protestors in kiev demonstrating outside the parliament against imposed austerity measures. 2,000 people took part. there were reports of scuffles between police and protestors. >> a fight broke out between fans at a basketball game as the oklahoma city thunder took on the trailblazers. the fight got so intense at some points fans fell over the streets. >> in northern ireland, two people hold up a gas station. the video shows the suspects enter carrying a gun and a machete before making off with money from the register.

>> the white house is giving a thumbs up to sony for releasing "the interview." the film will be screened in 200 theaters nationwide. they had pulled the movie after hackers threatened attacks on the theaters that showed it. sony entertainment c.e.o. issued a statement on this limited release: is this a face-saving measure after the company was criticized by everyone on u up o the president? >> good morning, yes and no. one credit we have to give sony is that it was mugged big time a couple of weeks ago and you can't really fault them for making some bad decisions along

the way. they've certainly obviously made the best decision right now. i think we all agree he that even a movie made by a couple of stoner actors deserves just as much support as any other film, that's the one that columns the american free speech system. sony finally decided this was the right thing to do and found support from independent theater owners, which is a key part. >> your sympathy for sony isis what you are expressing there. there were a lot of outlets that decided to publish the hacked emails. >> that's just one of things that happens. it basically got put up on a billboard in the public square. you can't pretend that that information isn't there. journalists have to share their information with the public. the argument about media ethics

is a side show, something bad that happened to sony and that information is out there and the journalists aren't in the business of keeping information from readers if it is out there, i think. >> do you think all the publicity this film has garnered is going to make this a hilt? >> well, it's going to be very, very difficult for logistical reasons. seth rogan movies don't do that well and this was getting poor reviews. it's only going to be in about 15% of the theaters the company wanted it to be in, so it's not going to get anywhere near the box office it would have normally. this is a special case of video on demand and maybe it will help recoup some of sony's losses. >> does this speak to the influence hollywood does have oversea hes and does it have the

real world effect of studios now self sensorring. >> it's possible. we do see that a lot just in things we don't see a lot, big budget movies don't have a lot of dialogue and aren't sophisticated, because that's what plays well overseas in different languages. north korea is a special case. it is the hermit kingdom, a criminal state and gets income from counterfeit money and selling drugs and things like this and obviously the main actors there, that family that has been ruling it is not always operating in a most sensible way. we can hope that this movie gets out and they sort of understand when you try to suppress things in this day and age, it back fires on you. >> at least that's what happens in this country. arts and culture contributor, bill wyman, thank you. >> we have more on the weather.

>> this is mostly a rainstorm in the eastern half of the country. we have another in the west. you can see all the rain, but on the backside because of the warm air, it's been mostly rain, but a couple of cities like chicago will fall to the 30's, so that will transition to snow and little areas getting snow enough to make airports like chicago o'hare dealing with this. >> 60 in new york city, so much of this has stayed rain as the system moves along. a lot of it clears out for tomorrow, so at least christmas easier to get around. >> thank you very much. >> an exchange of gunfire in gaza leaves a palestinian dead and an israeli soldier hurt. we go live to gaza for the latest. >> the fight over fracking in

california, how the state's historic drought is pitting oil drillers against farmers, all for control of precious water.

>> start with one issue education... gun control... the gap between rich and poor... job creation... climate change... tax policy... the economy... iran... healthcare... ad guests on all sides of the debate. >> this is a right we should all have... >> it's just the way it is... >> there's something seriously wrong... >> there's been acrimony... >> the conservative ideal... >> it's an urgent need... and a host willing to ask the tough questions >> how do you explain it to yourself? and you'll get...

the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern only on al jazeera america >> welcome back to aljazeera america. ahead in our next half hour, a grim year for journalists around the world, dozens have lost their lives. the shifting dangers in trying to report the news. >> a holiday tradition for many in this country entering into the digital age. soon you won't be able to walk into a hess gas station to get one of their famed trucks. >> in missouri, another police shooting involving an 18-year-old, an officer shot and killed a suspect who pointed a gun at him. that happened less than three miles from ferguson. just a short while ago, police put out a surveillance video of the shooting. you can see the suspect reaching into a bag and pulling out what looks like a gun, then points it at the officer. the video ends at that point.

>> free speech advocates call it a victory and even president obama is praising sony pictures's decision to release "the interview." the film will be shown at more than 200 theaters starting tomorrow, christmas day. it had been pulled after hackers linked to north korea made threats to any theater who showed it. >> a palestinian man killed by israeli soldier fire in gaza. israel says he aimed at one of their soldiers and both opened fire. >> we have the latest live from gaza. what more do we know about the shooting? >> this happened according to sources and eyewitnesses in the area, that a palestinian sniper has snide an israel soldier. he was among an israeli troop on the fence between gaza and

israel. the israeli soldier has seriously injured according to the israel sources. according to the sources in the area, israeli troops have fired and targeted the area with several tank shells and airstrikes, which has killed a palestinian fighter from the mill wing of hamas movement. hamas holds israel-saying the troops have -- the fence and this strip, israeli invasion has caused -- >> with the christmas holiday approaching and tourists flocking to the area, should

there be extra concern for violence? >> both sides are not keen to go to a new war or escalation and hamas was clear in its statements saying that they are committed to the truce agreements with israel through the egyptian mediation, as long as israel is committed to this truce. hamas saying there was continued commitments, but saying any escalation or violation for the truce is gaza, israel will blame for that and will hold stability for that. >> live from gaza, thank you so much.

>> peace talks are reportedly underway today to try and stop the conflict in eastern ukraine. yesterday, lawmakers in kiev took a scope closer to joining nato, voting to do away with a policy that prevented the country from having military partnerships. the policy was put in place by ousted president yanukovych. >> three al jazeera journalists have been jailed in egypt and one could be freed within days. it is hoped he will be home by new year's. his parents are spending christmas in cairo and hope to share a meal with their son tomorrow during a scheduled visit. >> the middle east was the deadliest place for journalists in 2014, so says the committee to protect journalists. two journalists were killed by

isil, two of 60 killed worldwide. more than 40% were targeted because of their work. executive director of pen american center joins us. why do journalists now seem to she targeted more? >> we do see this year 40% of the cases of journalists killed were targeted, in some cases warned ahead of time that somebody was after them, oftentimes a government angry about their reporting. in paraguay, two were reported for reports critical of the government. the first journalists in myanmar to be killed in seven years was killed while in military custody. these are governments that don't like the criticism and that go after those who are critics of theirs. >> is it correct to say that journalists are less protected

now? why would that be? >> there are a number of different phenomenon. the top of the list for deadly places is syria with militias and terrorist groups. these are not governments that uphold their responsibility for press freedom. they don't reward journalists differently than others caught in the crossfire. you have horrific cases of journalists target said as part of a terrorist campaign, beheadings aimed to wreak terror and put issues on the front page headlines. you have citizen journalists, don't have security or armored cars on the front lines and putting themselves at risk just on their own. >> how often is the killers of these journalists brought to

justice? >> this is a huge problem which is that in many places, there's absolutely impunity for killing journalists and the tack turn involvement of the government. >> if journalists see this and decide it's not worth it to go into these dangerous areas, what is the followout? >> it's a real concern. we depend on them to tell us the stories and give an on the ground perspective. if they're held back, people it's unsafe, we may not hear the stories we need to hear. you do have citizen journalists cropping up everywhere. people who are there on the ground who probably won't stay away, no matter what. >> thank you so much for your time. >> thank you. >> in california, a thirst for fracking is fueling a new debate

among farmers that issue the millions of gallons of water needed to drill. it's threatening one of the state's largest cash crops. >> from here, i see my own orchard and mountains on three sides. >> just beyond the farm that's been in his family for four generation, there's something else. >> today, there is fracking going on about four miles this way, about three miles to the east over here, about seven miles to the north and about six miles to the west. >> so you're behavioral surrounded by oil fieldses where fracking is happening. >> we're surrounded and this is new. we've been invaded here. >> the county is agricultural, about 600 new wells are fracked each year, using millions of gallons of water, which farmers

need to irrigate their crops. >> these trees will die if they go two months without water. >> he is worried about spills that could contaminate the little water left. he tamed the illegal dumping of waste wear near an unlined pit near his orchard. >> i know and i have seen what's happened in this area, that whatever chemicals weaver used on the surface, a lot of those ever made their way into our ground water already. >> almond farming is an love billion dollars industry and every single almond is dependent on what is in the soil and in the water used to grow the trees. if the water and soil are contaminated, so are the almonds. >> this summer, the state shut down nine disposal wells for illegally dumping almost 3 billion gallons of industry waste water. >> jason marshall is the chief deputy director of the state agency in charge of regulating the oil and gas industry in

california. >> who is protecting the people to make sure that ground water isn't contaminated. >> there's a multitude of agencies looking out for that, because there's a multitude of jurisdictions. >> one agency is the california resources control board in sacramento. john heads ground water monitoring and assessment. >> is big oil poisoning millions of gallons of water each day? >> so you're asking me to give you a yes or no answer on something that i don't know, so i think the right answer would be that i don't know. >> do you think you should know the answer to that question? because i think a lot of people are asking that question, californians saying wait, fracking is happening and we're worried about toxic water and where that's going. >> that's a reasonable concern

that people have. as a resident of california, you should be. >> back on the farm with tom, he says when it comes to farming versus fracking, it's not a fair fight. >> do you think farmers have a friend in sacramento? who's watching out for you. >> big ag has always had friends, but against big oil, the game changes, they're more powerful. oil has always gotten their way. >> for farmers in the county, the old saying oil and water don't mix has taken on new meaning. >> one lobbying group says fracking a single oil well last year used almost as much water as a family of four consumes in a year. >> we were saying in the break it sounds like this ought to be named the band. >> the dow surging, closing above 18,000 for the first time. >> financial analysts keith bliss will weigh in. >> it's time now for our big

quote as families come together to celebrate chris. >> one famed leader saying this:

>> who once said: >> our big quote is from former u.k. prime minister winston churchill, putting perspective on the meaning of the holiday many years ago. >> many on wall street will be having a merry christmas after a historic day, the dow jones surpassing 18,000 for the first time ever, spurred by news that the economy grew at a 5% annual rate last quarter, the fastest pace since 2003. the news gave over seas markets

a boost. 5% growth sounds awfully good, but was the growth in the right places? >> that's the point. i marvel at the fact nobody is investigating this, but 5% growth on the headline is good, but it was really coming from four main components, personal consumption expenditures, government spending in defense, exports up and imports down opinion the personal consumption expenditures mostly was related to increased health care spending largely around obamacare. >> that's your point that you wanted to make this morning, that the reason we saw the big jump in growth is because people are mandated to buy insurance. >> that's right. that's right. so there was actually decreases in spending from the second quarter to the third quarter in finished goods and that's troubling. the g.d.p. report while the headline is good is not about people making more money and buying more stuff, which is what

we want to see to have a sustainable glide path for the economy. the health care spending was done out of people's savings, so the rate has declined dramatically. >> was there creative accounting behind this breath? >> perhaps. we knew the first quarter was going to be bad because of the impacts of the harsh winter. the revisions of the health care spending, the g.d.p. is revised three times before the numbers came out. >> let's look at the path the dow has taken in the last year. a few valley's there, but overall, the trend ending up. what's the message to investors? >> the message is stay invested, the path of least resistance inside this market is bullish. we're in a seasonally strong period for stock, december is the best months out of the year

for the s&p 500, always has been, the last week traditionally the best time, the so-called santa claus rally is happening right now. >> is there a bubble? >> there's always a possibility. when you have central banks around the word especially the five main, the fed being the biggest that are continuously having accommodative monetary policy, continually putting liquidity into the system there is a chance for a bubble to form. we ever weakness in europe, china, obviously the well publicized weakness in russia. at some point, the gain comes to an end, but i still think 2015 we'll see the market move higher.

>> for millions of americans, it's become a holiday tradition, a bright shiny toy truck from the herr oil company under the tree. one part of that is changing. >> having this truck under the christmas tree was always the norm. you couldn't have christmas without it. >> under the tree in millions of american homes for the 1960's to today, you could say it's just a toy truck, but for generations, it's always arrived with and get magic. >> there was nothing that really i enjoyed more than being in a dark room with the headlights on and driving this truck around the furniture on the floor, because it was real having headlights. it was the real toy that looked and behaved like a real truck. >> a real truck, one you could only get at the gas station. they'd always sell out before

santa arrived. back in the day before gift cards and downloads, the thrill of christmas morning was the discovery of blinking lights, maybe a working horn. in recent years, maybe something even more fantastic, like a space shuttle, or a jet. for 50 years, every year, an original incredible vehicle under the tree. >> that's kind of where the collection started for me. >> even a collector, like frank hasn't been able to put together a complete set. >> so you have about 40. >> that's correct. >> and now you have a little boy. >> i do. >> how many does he have? >> probably 10 or 12. >> so what you're saying here is that you, the dad, have more toy trucks than your little boy. >> absolutely, that is correct, yes. yes. he looks at them, he knows those are dad's toys and he can't play

with them. >> daddy he has toys and has he toys. >> absolutely, and i think a lot of daddy's have toys. >> the trucks were the brain child of the man who's name appeared on every one, leon hess. petroleum mogul brought his two passions together, requiring each toy be tougher enough to withstand the stomp of a 300-pound linebacker, and created in santa's magic workshop. each year, the design is a closely guarded secret. even fans can only guess at what each year's model will be. >> you're kind of obsessed. >> to a degree, yeah. this is the room, as i've leaving to go to work every day that i pass through, and i'll just stop, look at them, make

minor adjustments and i can feel my blood pressure going down. it relaxes me and then i go off to the rat race. >> a tradition he hopes to hand down to the next generation, but this season marks a sharp turn for the truck. >> it's a big year, because it is the 50th anniversary. this is the last year hess will be selling their toy trucks in their brick and mortar gas stations. >> earlier this year, the company sold off its gas stations but in a nod to collectors, many of whom have followed his rolling museum on wheels will continue to sell the trucks, though only on line. next year, frank plans to start five minutes before on line sales starts to be among the first. he admits it's a hard way to hang on to tradition. >> they realize what the collector feels about them in keeping it going. >> it's still a heartbreak. >> it's hard.

if you ever a little boy, you will by him a hess truck. if you don't, an aunt or uncle or grandparent will buy it every year. it's christmas, that's what you do. >> al jazeera, pine island, new york. >> when the trucks premiered in 1964, hess made 150,000. this year, they made more than a million and yes, the 2141 featuring a spaceship has sold out. everybody needs a hess. >> he's not the only one obsessed with the trucks. let's get another check of the forecast. a happen of white christmases to expect. >> places where you have the better chances, the deeper purples are the most. the east coast and midwest system we have is mostly a rain system, but interior northeast near the lake, parts of the midwest will get snow. the west system just coming in now, look at moisture streaming

in. this is bring ago lot of snow to the west and then even into parts of the plains into the day tomorrow. you can see the moisture moving in and a lot of that rain and snow starting to spread. by later into today, winter weather advisories, higher elevation could get a foot, lower six inches. for christmas day, travel weather much more calm, but parts of the plains could be seeing that snow on the ground. it's nice if you're dealing with a storm to ever a white christmas. >> that's what we want to hear. all right. thank you. >> coming up from doha, more on the deadly exchange of gunfire along the israeli-gaza border. >> tomorrow morning, of course, christmas, we wanted it to be a time of peace, but violence has broken out again in the st. louis area. we'll take a closer look. >> that's it for us here. with he leave you with our images of the day, perfect for christmas eve, homes decked out

with lights and in a activity scenes.

palestinian is killed by israeli fire in southern gaza. ♪ from alyaz's headquarters in doha, i'm sami zeidan. also ahead, a black teenager has been shot and killed by police in the state of missouri. iraq's kurdish fighters regain more territory, but jordan confirms one of its pilots has been captured. plus shopping the