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. we are ment to be your first choice for the news. >> because of the extraordinary service of the men and women in the armed forces, ago has a chance to rebuild its own country. >> kudos, president obama thanking american service men and women as he announces the end of the afghanistan war. >> 10 years later and the scars are still visible in more than a dozen countries, a look back a decade since one of the worst natural disasters in history.

>> critical condition, the attack on a young israeli girl that could push a fragile situation over the edge. >> the cyber war rages on, just when you thought it was safe to watch ginseng on line, hackers hit your living room. >> welcome to aljazeera america. >> on christmas day, the president marked the end of america's longest war. >> it is still one week before the end of the year when the u.s. officially ends its 13 year combat mission in afghanistan. yesterday, president obama thanked service members for their sacrifices and said afghanistan is not going to be a source of terrorist attacks again. >> the u.s. military effort to out of the the taliban began in 2001 following the september 11 attacks and even though the combat mission is about to end, some troops will remain into the new year. >> john henry smith joining us now. it has taken six years of his

presidency, but president obama appears to be on the verge of fulfilling a campaign promise. >> the president and first lady brought christmas greetings to servicemen stationed in hawaii and talked about the end of the afghanistan war. >> we've been in this war for over 13 years, and next week, we will be ending our combat mission in afghanistan. obviously. [ applause ] >> as the conflict winds down, so, too, have american casualties, christmas day, 38 u.s. soldiers by that time had been killed. that is half the previous years' total. 1300 troops have been killed. >> because of the extraordinary service of the men and women in

the armed forces, afghans have a chance to rebuild their own country. we are safer. it is not going to be a source of u.s. terrorist attacks again. >> there is no shortage of terrorist attacks inside afghanistan. two weeks ago before christmas, a high school play had a suicide bombing. it has been the deadliest year of the war for them. the taliban claimed responsibility for much of the violence and pledged to step up attacks on foreign and afghan forces. so, the nearly 11,000 troops the obama administration i leaving in the region for support will have plenty of work to do, and as the president points out, so will american forces elsewhere. >> we still have some very difficult missions around the world, including in iraq. we still ever folks in afghanistan helping afghan security forces. we have people who are helping

deal with ebola in west africa. we've got folks stationed all around the world. >> in afghanistan, those nearly 11,000 american troops staying there after the new year will drop to 5500 in 2016. the plan is to have american troops out altogether by 2017. >> jordan's prime minister said negotiations are underway to save a pilot headlight hostage by isil. he was flying as part of the u.s. coalition when his fighter jet went down near raqqa, syria three days ago. his father called on the goop to show mercy. >> i ask them not to be ungenerous towards my son. in ask god to fill their hearts with love and ask for him to be rushed to his family, wife and mother, to return in safety. >> he is the first known pilot

to be captured by isil during the battle. >> this week, dozens of children were killed after military jets hit schools in damascus and several other city, as the death toll continues to climb, so does the emotional toll of war. we have more. >> the syrian air force targeted this commercial area in aleppo in the north of the country. it's been almost four years since the violence began in syria. what started as a protest movement against the government descended into a war that has now claimed the lives of 200,000 people. civilians, including children, die in fighting across the country every day. the jets have been bombing the shopping area in order to kill and injury the greatest number of people. we came to tree and rescue the wounded. >> united nations estimates that at least 3,000 people have been killed by barrel bombs in aleppo since last december alone. it says there is evidence that

civilian gatherings have often been specifically targeted. there are thousands taken prisoner, or simply disappeared. she looks after her brothers on the family farm in southern syria. >> i left school to care for my brothers. my mother was captured two years ago. we love her very much. we hope she'll be reds soon. my father was killed in the first year of the war. security forces burned our home. >> activists say more than 170 people have been killed while in government prisons since june. what began as a so-called arab spring uprising in 2011 spiraled into a deeply sectarian war, giving birth to isil fighting for control across international borders. more than 3 million people have fled the conflict in syria.

an estimated 6.5 million people are internally displaced. repeated peace efforts have failed. the longer the war goes on, the more complex it gets, the more difficult ending the violence becomes. >> some 200,000 syrians have been killed in the past three years. that is nearly double the total of american troops killed in every conflict since world war ii. >> in somalia, nine people are dead after al shabab attacked a military base during a christmas party about that two men detonated themselves on the mogadishu base. troops were able to kill three other attackers. officials say the rebels stormed the base disguised in somali army uniforms. >> an 11-year-old israeli girl is in critical condition after a fire bomb struck her family's

car. the attack left the car engulfed in flames. the girl and her father did manage to escape, but medical officials say the girl suffered burns over 40% of her body. police are looking for attackers in the area believed to be palestinians. >> 10 years ago today, an earthquake beneath the indian ocean spawned a massive tsunami that killed 230,000 people in four countries. at the time, there was no tsunami warning system in place.

plan

we still have 50s in tulsa, versus teens behind. for the rest of the day, 26 in billings versus 47 in chicago, so you can really see how that front is cooling temperatures down. >> absolutely, some tough shletting this weekend. >> sony can't seem to catch a break, hackers launch ago fresh attack today on the company's on line gaming networks, interrupting service for fans of play station and microsoft x box. the lizard squad is claiming responsibility. the attack comes after sony lets consumers download the controversial film, ginseng. >> it was a relatively peaceful night in the town of berkeley, missouri. >> peaceful compared to the passionate protests the previous two nights. demonstrators took to the streets after a police officer shot and killed a teenager after he brand issued a gun.

>> the shooting death contributing to another rowdy night in oakland, california. the protests led to road blocks, rioting an a ransacked liquor store. >> water at the height of the tracking fight in california. pitting homeowners against the oil business. >> today's big number, what it has to do with holiday shopping after the holidays.

>> today's big number is $60 billion, the total amount of holiday gifts expected to be returned this year. >> that's a lot of returns. that's according to the retail watchdog group, saying this is the busiest time of the year for handling exchanges. annually, retailers see 5% to 10% of purchases returned. >> the highest is on line at 10%

to 15%. retailers have to restock that merchandise. >> in oakland, california, anti police protestors took to the streets on christmas night. several hundred demonstrators who marched said they weren't taking a break for the holidays and neither should police. >> no time off for the police in the context of racial profiling happening every day. >> demonstrations began when grand jury's cleared white police officers in the deaths of unarmed black men. >> in missouri, two nights of arrest after the shooting of an 18-year-old man. parallels were drawn between the death of michael brown in neighboring ferguson, but in this case, police released video showing martin pointing a gun at the officer. joining us this morning is president and founder of the

advocacy group just leadership u.s.a., a group that wants to see the u.s. prison population cut in half by 2030 and reducing time. you have no relation to antonio martin. you have a unique lens on these cases, because you, yourself were convicted of armed robbery. you clearly turned your life around. tell us how do you see these incidents as a whole? >> i see them as very related, even though in this particular incident, if you look at the details, one might question whether or not the police officer was legitimate in the shooting of the young man, however, this is about united states policy over the last 40 years and the fact that we have decided instead of paying attention to mental health, drug and alcohol treatment and poverty that law enforcement is the answer to our problems. when you see millions of americans rise up and say this is wrong, whether the details of a particular interested are wrong or not, what americans are responding to is heavy handed law enforcement treatment of

people who grow up in communities of color and poor communities. >> you raise good points about national issues that need to be addressed to be sure. on at a case by case basis, we are talking about amon with a gun confronted by the police officer. let's hear with the mayor has to say. >> we have a majority of black officers in our city, ok? the mayor's black. the city manager's black. the finance director is black. the police chief is black in a city that's 85% black, we have the majority of the police department. >> this is obviously a city with much different demographics than ferguson and a much-different situation. have we gotten to the point where every officer-involved shooting is going to raise questions of raise. >> every officer involved shootings is going to raise the questions of we have given law enforcement heavy-handed

authority to respond to crime. we have criminalized all sorts of behavior. the mayor misses the point when he suggests everything is ok here, some of my best officers are black, the majority are black. that's not the response to what's happening in america. we should take a step back and ask currently does law enforcement represent our values at americans. i was in the car on my way here this morning and the cab driver saw a please incident. before i said anything, he said police officers don't seem to have compassion anymore. i agree. there is no compassion and that is what americans are respond to go. >> there were two new york city police officers killed saturday, seemingly in cold blood. compassion should work both ways. couldn't the same be asked if some of the protestors that were calling for police to be killed. >> i agree. i also believe that those police officers were out there on the street protecting first amend rights, protecting the right of people to be out there pushing for justice and fairness, so

protestorses, first of all, all the protestors are not violent, it's a small number of people engaged in violence. you had a protest with 50,000 people, the entire route, police officers alongside peaceful. the majority of people are exercising they are rights and not breaking the law. >> there are protests against police saying this isn't about race, it's about issues you brought up, parenting and other societal issues that have afflicted african-american communities. how do you respond to that. how do you prioritize issues? >> if you look at antonio martin, you have to ask what are our values as americans opinion the fact that this is all summed up in terms of whether or not he had a gun. why would an 18-year-old child have a weapon and why does the story end on whether or not he did? i think if we're going to solve this problem, take a step back, realize that millions of americans want a solution and ask ourselves what our values are in place. >> thank you for your

perspective this morning. >> tougher questions the whole country is grappling with. >> dozens gathered in cleveland to remember those killed in encounters with police. the group walked through downtown, stop to go read names, including that of tamir rice, a 12-year-old boy playing with a pellet gun when he was shot and killed by police officer. a youth minister organized the event to draw attention to what she says is a culture of violence. >> this is a human rights issue in that everyone should be a part of some type of action to raise awareness and to say that we want to recognize the value of all human life. >> middleton said she knew the crowd would be small, but said she was prepared to walk the route herself. >> there is a round of torrential rain headed for the southeast. nicole mitchell is back with that. >> good morning. we have the broader system moving now into the midwest. if you look southward, you can start to see a little bit of a flow, a little bit more cloud cover, so today, more into

tomorrow is when this builds up. over the next couple of days, you could have widespread areas, louisiana into mississippi, for example, widespread two to four-inch, but isolated amounts sticks to eight inches. we already have flash flood watches, that means the potential in effect. this really doesn't start until tomorrow when the rain gets going. a wet saturday, lingering into sunday, as well. this is also in the core of it, because of the heat. you can see that where the red is, that's warmer temperatures, some places into the northeast as much as 20 degrees above average, but because this is a warm system still on this side of it, just some isolated chances for stronger storms. you can definitely see the blues on the backside, that is that next weather system, the current one and being rein ford by the next one, so definite cold air for the western half of the country. back to you guys. >> nicole, thank you. >> in california, the debate over fracking is playing out

amidst a historic drought, leading to a debate over who should get water and who shouldn't. >> that is pitting homeowners against fracking companies. >> they're destroying our land, water, ustion up our water. >> this homeowner is fed up. >> it makes us feel lining punks. >> she and others living in the neighborhood just west of los angeles face fines if they vital water restrictions, while the oil connect door is free to use millions of gallon was 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 the los angeles basin aquifers at this moment. >> the oil and gas city is secretive. getting on the property for seeing fracking up close is next to impossible. we know to frack one well takes

100,000 gallons 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 geothermal resources known as dogger, the state agency in charge of regulating the oil and gas industry. >> is it regulating and watching how much water is being used for every frack job? >> water rights in the state of california and that, it's not regulated. >> shouldn't the regulatory agency be regulating and have oversight over that? >> if the legislature gives us the authority to look at that, we would. >> you can't act without the legislature? >> we can't tell somebody that they can't purchase water without statutory construct. >> it's inexcusable that the state allows this practice to continue. >> this man is with the center for biological diversity, working to ban fracking in

california. >> water is so scarce now that many communities are struggling to keep their faucets going, keep farms irrigated and we can't afford to be wasting water on such a dangerous practice like fracking. >> you think it's ok they're using so much water in a time of drought? >> as a regulator, we don't have the authority to tell them how much water they can use. >> then you're not regulating. >> that's not true. >> in 2013-2014 legislative session, 11 fracking bills were proposed, eight calling for a moratorium or ban on the practice, one passed. s.b.4 goes into effect in 2015, and although it calls for some increased oversight, it will not limit the amount of water oil companies can use, even as californians struggle to survive the worst drought on record. >> who is looking out for us? it's just us. we ever 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. >> jennifer london, al jazeera, los angeles. >> coming up, the part of the fracking process in california that has parents somewhat concerned. >> problems with the centers for disease control. >> dealing with a dead president obama 10 shelly deadly mistake leaving a lab tech exposed to ebola. we'll talk about the mix up after the break. >> dozens sterilized without their consent. why health officials may have done to it stop the spread of a deadly disease. >> an african-american community that is a time bomb, weapons buried behind quiet cul-de-sacs. >> one airline passenger loses his cool. that's one of the stories caught in our global net.

>> you're looking live at washington, d.c., a beautiful sunrise over a scaffolding covered capitol building, congress is done for the year. >> welcome to al jazeera america. ahead, what may be the oldest christmas tree in history and no, it is not plastic. plus a special delivery on christmas. santa's sleigh looking like a subway car in the city of brotherly love. >> coming up in our next hour, he may be the most important light bulb changer in the world. behind the scenes with the man who tops off the empire state building. >> first a look at our headlines. the u.s. is one week away from ending its 13 year combat mission in afghanistan. the penalty touted the event we'll meeting with troops in hawaii. some 10,000 u.s. troops will

remain to support afghan forces. >> it was 10 years ago today that a powerful tsunami tore across the indian ocean, killing more than 230,000 people in 14 countries. memorial services were held in thailand, indonesia and sri lanka. more than 167,000 people were dead in indonesia. >> fans of play station and x box had service interrupted. a group named the lizard squad is claiming responsibility. sony decided to let consumers download ginseng. x box was a platform being used to view the film. >> c.d.c. officials are now checking as many as a dozen lab workers for ebola after a technician in atlanta may have exposed, may have been exposed to the deadly virus. this began monday when researchers mistakenly transfer add sample of the virus to a

less secure lab in the same building. the technician who handled that sample is being monitored for 21 days. joining us now is dr. debbie, in atlanta this morning. thanks for being with us. >> good to see you, good morning. >> thank you. what was your first reaction when you heard about this incident? >> when i first heard about it, i thought about the lab technician exposed. it's horrible if you're work to go try to find a cure for the disease or save lives and suddenly, you yourself might be in a position of being infected. after wards, i thought about the larger picture. for the c.d.c. itself, this is arguably the place where the best infectious disease specialists in the world are working. for this to happen, especially since there's ban series of incidents, it makes people lose confidence in the c.d.c.'s boots. on a larger level, for scientists risking their lives and putting themselves in this position. it might raise more concerns,

like a couple of months ago, we had concerns about health care workers, would they want to risk their lives, would they be stigmatized, be in the controversial quarantine period and would they risk their safety for others. >> we see these mistakes happening, this is supposed to be the varsity squad of diaz researchers. human errors do happen. these are the top experts and they're still making potentially deadly errors. how is it happening? how are there not protocols to make sure these things never happen. >> in medicine, if you go in for a surgery. you'll of multiple people ask you your name, your social security number, your date of birth, it's a redundant practice, but saves lives, you don't operate on the wrong person. those numbers, we don't hear about those types of cases. in the airline industry, you have your pilot, co pilot, your

whole team checking to see what happens. you wonder by the c.d.c. doesn't have something similar or if they do, something going wrong in the pros. i wonder if it's not just these protocols just on a basic human level, there are things you can do to prevent mistakes. each of us before we do something complicated, you have to plan out what you're doing before you start. you think about what would happen if i didn't have this supply, if i didn't have the right support in terms of the staffing. you think about everything that could go wrong, then come up with a plan and that avoids mistakes. we think about the secondary levels. let's say you make a mistake. if somebody else notice as mistake,ed you tell right away and be forthcoming. this has to do with the culture. we all make mistakes, that's normal human nature. you ever to work in an environment where you make a mistake, if you come forward, you are not going to be punished, people are going to be

like ok, good thing you came forward, let's take care of that. >> this is not the first time this year the c.d.c. had a similar problem, there was a bird flu case, anthrax case. safety experts are kind of blown away by this. what is the c.d.c. doing to firm it? >> in july, they said they were going to review safety protocols. if the ebola situation came up after that, i'm not sure if maybe that affected it, if they were too busy to check the protocols further. it's holiday time, perhaps they're short staffed. when you have a series of incidents, that's different than one mistake. it makes you wonder what's going on and how many mistakes we haven't heard of because they

are caught. there could be mistakes taking place that we haven't seen the consequences. >> how long. >> a nurse in chicago claims he was suspend ford refusing to get a flu shot. he took his employer to court this week to fight the notice of a mandatory vaccine. he says that he agrees steps should be taken to prevent the flu, forcing caregivers to get flu shots is a bad idea. >> you're practically being blackmail, you comply or you get fired. >> across the country, health care worker ares are mobilizing against mandatory flu vaccinations. some have lost their jobs and filed sued. >> in namibia, women came forward saying they were sterilized without their consented. we have the story.

>> most people inna might be i can't rely on health care. >> when i went for a checkup, they asked me if i knew the meaning of letters in my medical book. i said no. the doctor explained i'd been sterilized. i asked why. he said because i'm h.i.v. positive, so i couldn't have anymore babies. >> her story isn't unique. >> the namibia supreme court said women were sterilized without their consent. the court doesn't agree it happened because of the h.i.v.

status. a dozen women are preparing to launch their case next year. >> she receivers emotional and psychological support from the women's health network. she can't work because her menstruation often lasts week. the procedure wasn't done properly. she doesn't marry. men don't want a wife who can't have children. on this day, she's celebrate. these graduates have been taught their rights by the organization driving efforts to hold the government to account. >> the women we are educating are the only ones who understand the violations happening. >> the ministry of health refused our request for interviews. before he was elected president, we asked how it reflected on the country's human rights record. >> we fought and died for human

rights. nobody can teach us about human rights. >> those rights are being taught to people here by the women who were victims and their supporters. if they don't, they're afraid no one will. >> the national women's health network began documenting cases of forced sterilization in 2007. since then, dozens of h.i.v. positive women in africa have come forward with similar stories. >> demonstrations for missing students in mexico reached the steps of the german embassy. a germans weapons manufacture provided weapons to police officers. german government told the weapons company to stop sending guns to mexico due to human rights issue. >> a potentially deadly secret, houses built on dumping grounds for chemical weapons. the sites was discovered 20

years ago, but cleanup continues to this day. >> inside this gate, the hunt is on for the remnants are deadly chemical weapons. >> we're standing right about here. >> standing in d.c.'s spring valley neighborhood, filled with expensive homes. ambassadors residents and american university. back in 197, part of the campus and what was then farmland was leased by the army, 660 acres. here the military developed and tested poison gas, for world war i trench warfare. >> that history was virtually forgotten until it was literally unearthed on this street. in 1993, they were building new homes and workers dug up rusted bombs. >> that was just the beginning. >> we found four disposal pits. we found a major surface

disposal area, and then we have found pieces of munitions around the site. >> it turns out when the war ended, the army closed shop and simply buried all its materials. the cleanup led by the army corps of engineers has now been underway for two decades, costing hundreds of millions of dollars. tom smith is a long time resident and represents the neighborhood on a city advisory council. >> it's been a lot of foot dragging and it's actually been because of the aggressive efforts of the community that we are where we are today. >> this is ground zero. >> that's the former driveway area to the property and this was the garage they entered the home. >> oh, wow. >> the home on this property was demolished after the site was linked to this 1918 photo, inscribed on the back, these bottles are full of mustard, to be destroyed here.

the hole called hades. >> we have confirmation that there is contamination in the soil. >> that's mustard gas, along with a blistering agent. >> she is the project manager for the cleanup. >> if we encounter debris, it becomes like an archeological dig using small trowels and brushes to dig through the soil. >> it's done under a tent nearly three stories tall to help contain what's found here. a break in the work allows us to rare behind the scenes look. we're told it's safe because nothing is disturbed. before dig teams come in. >> this is the suit they would wear. >> they cover themselves head to toe. inside the tent, workers are hooked up to oxygen for safety. when they unearth something, an

explosive team takes over. with all these safety measures, neighbors worry about their own health. some are convinced the environment has made them sick. two studies found community health is very good, but tom smith says the studies did not stop there. >> it says other health conditions of concern to the community including blood disorders, kidney diseases and neurological conditions also warrant further attention. >> was there further attention paid? >> no. no. there's never been any kind of comprehensive follow-up study. >> the corps insists the area is safe. air goes through a filtration system before reds. if there is an accidental discharge. [ sirens ] >> an alarm warns nearby resident to say shelter in place. so far, there's been no such emergency.

the army estimates it has two years of work left to go. >> we can't guarantee that we're going to find everything, and so there will be this ongoing engagement between the army acknowledge community for a long time. >> what is your biggest concern now? >> that the army will leave, will leave earlier than it should, because of the limits of financial resources. >> the core says when it leaves, it will be because the job is done. residents can only hope so. lisa stark, al jazeera, washington. >> it was just over a year ago that workers started combing through high possibility areas in spring valley. those are locations where they believe they have the greatest chance of scoring that contaminated soil and debris. >> other stories caught caught, it happens every year, a passenger this time thrown off an american ire lines flight tuesday. the new york post saying it all

started when a gate agent wished him a merry christmas. he snapped. he said you shouldn't say that, because not everyone celebrates christmas. this is where it got out of hand. a flight attendant on the plane also said mer arery christmas and sent him into a rage. >> happy holidays, happy now? >> they had to kick him off the flight because he got unhappy about it. >> a load of lighten up in your stocking. >> a wisconsin man, record for the longest standing christmas tree. neil put this up in 1974 when two of his six sons went off to vietnam. look at that. he tells the daily herald he's keeping it up until they're all together again for christmas. his oldest son lives in washington and can't travel due to injuries suffered in vietnam.

>> the panda cub climbed down from a tree. the reason he went up the tree, because he had touched the electric fence that's adesigned to keep them in the containment area, totally freaked him out. the zoo allowed the scared panda's mother to stay in the yard overnight to coax the baby bear down. the vets say she didn't suffer any injuries. >> i might a tree too if i'm shocked. that's frightening. >> a middle east country hailed for being progressive, yet still censoring the books people can read. >> how the government determine which books get sold and concerns about freedom of expression. >> how designers are getting their products out from some of the most dangerous areas in the world. >> there may be truth to the

nickname lazy bones. that's one of today's discoveries.

>> time now for one of today's discoveries. it turns out the evolution of agriculture has weakened our bonce. >> two new studies found that hunter-gatherers had bones as strong as orangutans. farmers from the modern era ever lighter and weaker bones, blamed on our sedentary life style from foraging for food to farming. >> a lot of countries involved in the arab spring are still restricting media and jail journalist. the jordan fared better than its

neighbors. one thing that hasn't changed is censorship of books. >> most books are welcomed, the government has banned books it deems proppatic. religion and sex are among the most sensitive topics. 52 books were banned. >> if you can decide the peace process or criticize anything that the royal family, they say don't read this. >> the authorities took a publisher are to court over a novel but weren't able to stop tens of thousands from reading it on line. it talks the 1986 university protests, we understanding with

jordanian security forces killing three students. >> the old generation kept quiet about this incident for more than 28 years. that my book unearthed buried history, irritating the authorities. sometimes the truth hurts, if you don't present it in the way that is acceptable for the authorities, it is targeted for oppression. >> certain books about the israeli-palestinian conflict, the jordan government is in a light not approved by the authorities. >> the law was amended to stop the prior review of books, although meaning an improvement in freedom of expression, publishers say books can be band if they deal with issues the government considers sensitive. >> our request for statistics was ignored, but a researcher

said the government bans 50-100 books a year. >> since 1955, over 2,000 books that with he know of were banned. so many others were banned that we don't know about. the authorities document like to document this. if you ask, they will say no books are banned in jordan. >> no matter how often the issue is raised, it looks like jordan will continue to control what people can and can't read as part of a measure to maintain security and the status quo. >> just for comparison, here in the u.s., one book did come close to a complete ban. in 2004, the author of the federal mafia was told he could not sell his book which said the income tax was illegal. >> the eight inches of snow in moscow, caused major chaos,

1,000 traffic accidents reported in two hours yesterday afternoon. a traffic jam stretched over 37 miles. 200 flights were either canceled or delayed. >> a white christmas for some in the automatic, as well. >> remember the system that we just had mostly rain, i kept saying even though causing problems, if colder, it would have been a snowstorm looking like that. we dodged a bullet. we had snow that's moved from the rockies more into the midwest. you can see moisture coming into the northwest, more of that zoo the day tomorrow. we'll start to see our next round coming in, so it's not quite over yet. continuing across the country, really cold air, some of that last system has brought in snow to places like the sierra, where even versus the early part of the month, this snow pack has been so impressive, you can see there, people out enjoying that. that is one of my favorite activities, the cross country skiing, but because we've had

system after system and in this part of the country, the cold enough air to support the snow, unlike the other side, where that was a warm system and we're still above average in the eastern half of the country. it's kind of the dividing line between the two places over the course of the weekend. it's keeping that pattern, but later into next week, even colder air starts to move in, so january, you're really going to feel winter coming back. >> all right, thanks nicole. >> the fashion industry in africa is enjoying a renaissance thanks to a growing population of young professionals looking to spend more on clothing and accessories. as erika wood reports, it's for the benefit of african designers. >> a savvy young professional has a growing he following among the fashion conscious. >> very simple dresses. >> her operation is small, but she has big hopes to one day

sell in the large retail stores. she says her clients are a growing number of young african professionals. >> i keep it simple, modern mix dresses with an african print. >> to the runway, slowly but surely, african fashion is growing from the inside-out. >> the founder of the somewhat he'll lee fashion world said there's been a boom, because there is a following on the internet and increasing fashion shows to showcase their garment. >> fashion is a business and we have to grow the industry. >> african's economy is expanding at an average of 4%

each year and has the world's biggest youth population. according to the world bank, there are 200 million people between the ages of 15-25 in sub saharan africa, set to double in the next 30 years. that means a big available workforce for a domestic textile industry and hopefully for these fashion designers, a big middle class to buy their clothes. >> it's time the world stop seeing africa as stereo types and as a legitimate place of business and design. >> some ebola or something, we are more than that. we have huge resources. we have the richness of the culture. we have the richness of our clothing. >> he says it will be a long road to get on par with other bigger fashion hubs like new york or paris, but designers are already on their way, making a

name for themselves one stitch at a time. >> beautiful stuff and growing industry. >> absolutely. interesting to see how the african designers are affected by the west. western designers have been affected by africa for years. >> a very special gift: >> after that call, the officers jumped into action and so did a subway rider who captured a video of the police at work. mother nature did not wait for the paramedics. >> the officer delivered a baby boy on the train in philly. it's an experience they won't soon forget. >> i was like get your gloves ready, it was just coming out and we just went right into having labor, taking the baby out. >> mom and baby doing just fine.

>> who knew they had gloves? that's great. that's great. >> just ahead, from health care to immigration, we look back at the year in politics and ahead to the 2016 race for president. we are back in two minutes with more. >> don't try this at home. >> tech know, where technology meets humanity. tomorrow at 7:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america.

>> these people have decided that today they will be arrested >> i know that i'm being surveilled >> people are not getting the care that they need >> this is a crime against humanity >> hands up! >> don't shoot! >> hands up! >> don't shoot!

>> what do we want? justice! >> when do we want it? >> now! >> they are running towards base... >>...explosions going off we're not quite sure... >> fault lines al jazeera america's emmy winning, investigative, documentary, series... >> a decade after the destruction, the road to recovery 10 years after one of the deadly effort natural disasters in recorded history. >> a show of support from the leader of the free world, president obama's nod to the troops as the combat mission in afghanistan comes to a close. >> chaos in california, what led to a destructive night of looting and vandalism in oakland. >> it wasn't the most christmas

thing we he he did, but the most american thing wetted. we did. standing up for rights by seeing a movie. what happened in l.a. >> it was 10 years ago today that a magnitude 9.1 earthquake sent a massive tsunami rolling across it is indian ocean. there was no early warning system in place at the time and 230,000 people were killed across 14 countries. >> memorial services are held across the region to honor those who died. we report from a service in thailand. >> there have been commemorations all day continuing into the evening. right now, we are at the memorial site. there is actually a police boat that was two kilometers offshore

when the tsunami hit, but it ended up all the way here. we're about a kilometer in land and it stayed here as a way for people tomorrow what happened that day. now, the prime minister of thailand is here, surrounded by united nations officials and also the diplomatic core from thailand. this is the big main government official event. you may have heard music playing just then. that was music by the bangkok symphony orchestra. this is a big, public event. there have been very private, personal and very painful memorials going on right across this area. we've seen families just quietly holding hands, looking out to see, and remembering the people that they lost 10 years ago. what they all say is that the memory of what happened that day is as sharp as if it happened yesterday, even if we are a

decade on now and there is a lot of political attention and worldwide attention on what's happened. on one hand, they're calling it the world's first global disaster, because people from 50 nationalities were affected but on the other hand, a very personal and private grief, too. >> veronica in thailand. >> an international effort raised more than $14 billion in humanitarian aid following the tsunami. >> the impact was also felt in india where 6,000 people were killed. a memorial service was held there today, as well. survivors who attended the service say they have moved their families away from the ocean over the last 10 years, so they won't have to worry about another tsunami. >> relatives of european victims of the tsunami held a memorial service today on the beach in thailand. the families laid flowers in a solemn ceremony and people from 38 countries were killed when

the thai coastline were killed, including tourists from germany and sweden. >> if it tsunami were to happen again, there is question about whether communities would have time to move to safety. we look at early warning systems. >> tsunami science has advanced and new warning systems are on line. the 28 country $400 million indian ocean tsunami warning system can send an alarm to member nations within 10 minutes of an earthquake. the trouble is then getting that warning to individuals in time for them to escape. in indonesia, which was most devastated by the 2004 tsunami, a 2012 earthquake at sea did not set or systems. in india, it cannot reach

citizens, it must rely on faxing the news in some cases. >> what truly determines the safety of any city is how and where it's built. here in san francisco, we're under the watchful gaze of the pacific tsunami warning center run by the government. experts are most worried about an earthquake that would originate in alaska. even with a clear, early warning, this waterfront is not prepared for big flood waters and that is true everywhere. >> some work has gone into developing survive capsules, such as this one in the united states, but few countries, including the u.s. have been willing to make the massive investment required to build lasting preparations for a deluge. >> forecasters predicted hurricane candy days ahead of time in 2012 and expected a massive storm surge on the coast and when waters arrived, they revealed a total lack of infrastructure for handling the sea. as japan learned, the answer is

not sea walls or hard barriers but what the dutch call sort of engineering, reshaping the coastline to manage flooding. that calls for something even harder, denying our deep-rooted humanitarian desire to live right on the water. >> that new system is a smaller system of the existing system. >> the u.s. is one week away from pulling a majority of combat troops out of afghanistan. since it began 13 years ago, 1800 american troops have died there. speaking to marines in hawaii, president obama said the sacrificing made a difference. he said the mission prevents afghanistan from becoming a source of terrorist attacks

again. troops will remain to aid its security forces. >> the president sounded optimistic about afghanistan, but afghans may feel differently. >> you're absolutely right there, paul, because there's been a steady ramp up of violent attacks this year. increasingly, victims have been afghans, things have gotten safer for american troops in the region. as of christmas day, 38 u.s. soldiers had died in the afghanistan conflict during 2014, less than half of the previous year's total, but there has been no shortage of terrorist attacks against others in afghanistan. two weeks before christmas, a suicide bomber launched a fatal attack during a high school play. 4,000 afghan soldiers and police have been killed in 2014, making it the deadliest year of the war for them. the taliban claimed responsibility for much of the violence and pledged to step up attacks on foreign and afghan forces. regardless, the president struck a confident and thankful tone

about conditions in afghanistan. >> next week, we will be ending our combat mission in afghanistan. obviously. [ applause ] >> because of the extraordinary service of the men and women in the american armed forces, afghanistan has a chance to rebuild its own country. we are safer. it's not going to be a source of terrorist attacks again. >> as you mentioned, nearly 11,000 american troops will be staying there after the new year, but that number will drop to 5500 in 2016. the plan is to have american troops out altogether by 2017. >> thank you. >> jordan is warning isil this morning not to harm a captured jordanian pilot. jordan's parliament said if anything happens to him, there will be grave consequence. the pilot was flying as part of the u.s. led coalition when his fighter jet went down near

raqqa, syria. his father called on the group to show mercy. >> i ask them not to be ungenerous towards my son. i ask god to fill their hearts with love and i ask for him to be returned to his family, wife and mother, to return in safety. >> he is the first known military member to be captured by isil in the u.s. led battle. jordan's prime minister says they are negotiates his release. >> 1 million syrian refugees has weighted on the economy and infrastructure. the country is considering restrictions on who enters from syria. border guards have been turning a lot of folks crown. >> they wait for hours and sometimes their relatives don't arrive. it's harder now for syrian to say enter lebanon. this is the main border checkpoint between the two opportunity tories. just a few weeks ago, 15,000 people used to cross back and

forth every day. the number dropped. the government in lebanon imposed stricter conditions, because it can no longer cope. it says only those with a humanitarian reason or those escaping fighting can enter, but there doesn't seem to be a clear policy. >> in practice, at the time what we are hearing was arbitrary policies by general security, the security agency in charge of the borders and ironically letting in those who looked like they were just coming for the weekend and not desperate or humanitarian cases. >> it is hard to independently confirm this when we are denied access to the immigration office. privately, they tell you about the difficulties and what some call discriminatory treatment. this family wanted to go to syria for a visit, but if they did, the lebanese authorities totaled them they would never be able to come back, so they didn't go. officials say a person who goes back and forth won't be considered a displaced person. >> a local official justified

these measures, particularly after some syrians were involved in attacks and bombings in lebanon. >> lebanon is under a lot of pressure. we can't absorb more people. it has been four years. now for example, men in their 20s are not allowed in because of the security problems. >> the refugees don't just pose an internal threat. there are those who come to find work and work for less, leaving many lebanese without jobs. >> not all of the more than 1 million refugees entered lebanon from here opinion in the first years of the conflict, many used illegal smuggling routes, to avoid syrian army check points. that has changed. the lebanese and syrian armies ever managed to close most of those illegal routes. >> this crossing is a life line for syrians, who were for decades able to come and go freely, but now you a defense line for lebanon to protect who

is coming in to the country. >> only 62,000 refugees have been allowed into western countries. >> back in this country, it's been snowing for days in the west, and there is no end in sight. good news if you're a skier. let's bring in meteorologist nicole mitchell. >> in the sierra, this is a look out yesterday from denver, winds gusting 20 miles an hour range, about 3.5 inches of snow. look for another inch today. as we continue out, this is one area that the temperatures have dropped, as well, as the system has come in. you can see how wide fred as we get back to the radar that this system is moving across the country and back to the midwest. the radar, there we go, all the way into the midwest is where we're dealing with that storm and that is consistent. places like minnesota could see three to five-inches with that.

there's another storm back to the west that will bring more snow across the region. temperatures have taken a nose dive, here in the pride purple are areas we'll see snow. three to five inches northern and two to five inches on the southern end except for high elevations. the cold air has moved in. on the front side of this, there is definitely a warm flow, so a big contrast today because of that, where you have seen the change and where you haven't yet. some places ahead of this, like chicago, 20 degrees above average at 47, but denver yesterday, we were just looking at the snow. started off at 46 degrees, our high in the morning hours, fell through the day, and from 46 yesterday, we will be lucky if with he make it up to 20 degrees today, so the cold air is coming back, especially for the western half of the country this weekend. >> ok, nicole mitchell, thank you. >> sony's year of cyber warfare didn't take a break for christmas. hacker's launched a fresh attack on the company's on line gaming

ned works, interrupting may station and microsoft x box. a group called the lizard squad takes responsibility for this after ginseng was allowed to be downloaded on these platforms. >> movie buffs opted to see the movie, at one sold out screening in california got a surprise. >> if it wasn't for theaters like this and people like you guys, this literally would not be happening right now. >> with a beer. >> of course. >> seth rogan offering appreciation fans in l.a. just a week ago, sony decided to shelf the comedy, but fans got the christmas gift they were originally promised. >> entertaining i think would be the best thing to say, smart, witty, comb cool, worth a watch. >> i probably wouldn't have gone to do so it, but the controversy

got they interested. there is a larger principle here, that we shouldn't be cowed by these actions. >> north korea called it an unpardonable indignity to our scream leader. >> some say fracking can lead to earthquakes and parents are worried about the health impacts on their children. >> mapping climate change, how video game technology is allowing scientists to keep an eye on the eroding shorelines. >> the fire bombing of a mosque caught on camera is a video from one of our citizen journalists around the world.

>> arson at mosque, just one of the clips captured by our citizen journalists around the world. a crowd of worshipers fled

raging flames. witnesses saw someone throw something through a window. right now, sweden is engaged in a fierce debate over immigration policy. >> another fire gutting two popular restaurants in toronto, ripping through a 100-year-old building that housed a pair of hot restaurants. it took 75 firefighters more than three and a half hours to get that blaze under control. >> for me, the life of jesus christ, the prince of peace, who's birth we celebrate today is an inspiration and anchor in my life. >> queen elizabeth focused on reconciliation and forgiveness 100 years after world war i's truce. >> the nypd has arrested a man overheard talking about killing officers. once they he searched his home, police say this is what they found, a stash of weapons, two

firearms, bulletproof vests, brack knuckles and a hosier. the man was arrested after a traffic stop. he was heard at a bank talking on his phone about killing police officers. >> a prayer vigil took place christmas day at the site where those new york city police officers were ambushed. dozens of religious leaders prayed in spanish for the sows of the officers. they also prayed for unity. >> in oakland, california, anti police demonstrators took to the streets christmas night. several hundred demonstrators who marched said they weren't taking a break for the holiday and neither should police. >> there is no night off with

the violence that is happening every single day. >> demonstrations in several u.s. cities began when grand juries cleared white police officers in the deaths of unarmed black men. >> california may have the biggest population of any state in the nation, but also has the biggest deposits of shale oil. energy firms can't wait to start fracking there. some parents are worried about the health impact on their children. >> in the small farming town in california, students at sequoia elementary school play in the shadow of big oil. >> my first concern is about my daughter, because, you know, many things happen in my area. first thing is fracking. >> fracking is a controversial oil and gas extraction method where water and chemicals are pumped into the ground to break apart rocks, allowing oil and

gas to escape. long time resident believes it is making his 13-year-old daughter sick. according to well records, three wells less than half a mile from joanna's old elementary school were tracked in the last three years. in august, she began suffering seizures. when i still went to school, and i went outside, i was very hot, and my head started to hurt a lot. >> joanna now takes half a dozen pill as day. she no longer place soft ball or hangs out with friends. >> i want to see my daughter laughing and jumping and running again. i love my dear. very much. the government don't hear any poor people. >> a new report released by frack tracker alliance finds more than 350,000 children

attend cool within one mile of oil and gas wells. hispanic populations are more likely to be close to fracking. 82% of the population are hispanic here. >> communities are predominantly hispanic and non-white. >> you'll see the play ground and just beyond, less than half a mile away, three oil wells have been fracked. this one has a fence around it. residents say the fence will not protect them and their children from toxic chemicals that are reds during the fracking process. >> while other states ever set back limits on how close an oil well can be to a school, california does not. the state's regulatory agency in charge of the oil and gas industry said it doesn't ever oversight over the location of wells. >> that's just a really easy way

for the state to turn a blind eye and say we don't ever responsibility. >> that's absolute not what's happening. we are regulating the oil and gas operations themselves, however, where the oil and gas operations are placed, that's all determined locally. >> if dogger was inclined to issue set back rules or regulate more heavily. >> i don't know that dogger has the authority to issue a setback rule. >> not having setbacks in local communities, it is a huge problem. why? because you are allowing them just to come into any community anywhere they want. >> what makes people sick from fracking? >> the everyday we have is the same evidence that we have, that fracking doesn't make anyone sick, because we don't really have the good science to back up anything. >> although tracking has been linked to a number of toxic chemicals. doctors treating joanna can't say for about what's caused her

seizures. they know the small town they call home isn't just for farming anymore. >> there is option a fracking outside the united states, as well. france and bulgaria already banned the procedure and protestors are blocking potential drill sites in poland and england. >> from california to the southeast, they are bracing for torrential rain. >> we'll get more from meteorologist nicole mitchell on this. >> as we look at the broad picture, obviously the bigger storm system from the rockies moving to the midwest, you can start to see a little flow coming out of the south. we've got high pressure, well off the coastline, bricking a southerly flow. that means gulf moisture is being tapped into, so warm air through the eastern half of the country because of that southerly flow. we'll get more showers and storms over the next couple of days, as we put this into motion, drier by today, tomorrow, this spreads,

especially the core, two to four inches widespread, but six to eight-inches in isolated locations, so we lard have flood watches up, just for that potential, because there will definitely be ponding in heavy rain areas. >> wow, rain, snow, tigers lions and bears, oh my. >> a new computer program is helping climate change researchers in eastern canada. it works like a video game highlighting the serious problem of coastal erosion. scientists paint a bleak forecast. >> brash and he will met mckenna know coastal erosion well. where their modest home once stood is now underwater. when they visit, they remember what they lost to the surging sea. >> we've sort of got used to it, i guess, the fact that it's not here anymore. it didn't happen bang, overnight. it grew on us gradually, and it's just one of those things

you have to accept. >> prince edward island has some of canada's most south after shore front property, but icing seas and worsening storm surges are washing it away a little more each year. >> you're not only losing man, you're losing main, because you paid up to $7 a square foot, for every square foot that drops off, it's hutting the money belt. >> this light house will soon be moved inland by volunteers. sewage treatment plans, bridge, roads, even wind turbines menaced by the waivers and weather. the sand stone cliffs and beach that is surround this island so crumbly you can crush them in your bare hand, a dramatic new computer program is showing residents what climate change is doing. >> you can see the cliffs

nicely. >> it combines data with game controllers. you swoop over the island seeing vulnerable areas, as coastal people were shown on a tour of the technology last summer. >> some people were brought to tears, actually, from it. their concern about their own property made them feel very anxious, and i was surprised, as well, that motor people suggested that we were underplaying the vulnerability, underplaying the risk. >> the government said people need to factor erosion into their plans, build homes further from the shore. as for climate change, that's a global issue, rising seas and worsening storm surges are far beyond what a canadian jurisdiction could deal with on their own. what emmet and barbara experienced is just a fact of life. savage harbor, prince edward island. >> it is shrinking at a rate of

11 inches a year. >> wow. >> a teenager in turkey facing time in jail for insulting the countries president. >> raising the issues of free speech in a country with diplomatic ties with the u.s. >> inside an iraqi town liberated from isil as people look to get their lives back to normal. >> girl power in the world of science. latin and south america, at least. why that part of the world has the highest number of women scientists.

>> welcome to al jazeera america. ahead, former florida governor jeb barb his eyes set on the white house. he's releasing all his emails from his day at governor of florida. >> meet the man behind the imaginative light shows on top of the empire state building in new york city. >> first a look at our latest headlines. the u.s. is now one week away from ending its 13-year combat

mission in afghanistan. the president talked about the event while meeting with troops in hawaii. the u.s. helped afghan forces out of the the taliban after the september 11 attacks. 10,000 troops will remain to support afghan forces. >> it was 10 years ago today that a powerful tsunami rolled across the indian ocean, killing more than 230,000 people in 14 countries. memorial services were held today. indonesia was hit the hardest with more than 167,000 people dead or missing. >> hackers on christmas launching a new attack on sony, this time interrupting service for fan was play station and microsofts x box. a group called the lizard squad is claiming responsibility for this attack. x box video was one platform being used to view ginseng.

>> a teen who insulted turkeys president has been released. he still faces trial and a possible four year president if found guilty. insulting the president is considered a crime in turkey. help us understand whether is happening in turkey. how are we to understand it? is it moving away from the secularism which has defined its government for so many decades? >> when the prime minister was elect and his party elected in 2002, he came prime minister in 2003, and he actually became prime minister on his platform of reform, promising to extend more minority rights. he promised to extend more civil rights and really boaster turkey's civil society

component. in the 12 years he he has been in power and in august, he just got elected as the president of the country, he's rolled back on a lot of those promises. a lot of what he has done has not been in the interests of the turkish people, it has been in the interest of self preservation and power. >> the u.s. has an important air base, as you know in turkey. turkey's a nato ally, as well, but has not been fully committed to the fight against isil, which the use is leading. is turkey today a reliable ally for the united states? >> turkey has been a very close and reliable ally of nato for many years. unfortunately, with the middle east turmoil going on for the past 10 years, there has been challenges. there are more than a million

and a half refugees that have gone into turkey. there is tension with the nato members in washington and brussels. there are a lot of issues to be addressed about turkey's own security and how turkey can handle security on its own borders. at the same time, i think that washington needs to sort out what its syria and iraq policies are. >> media outlets were raided, a u.s. based muslim cleric has accused the turkish president of trying to topping him. he wrote: is he losing

international legitimacy at this point? >> he is losing international legitimacy. i think that's part of his strategy. >> part of strategy. >> it is. a lot of reason he has gained so much power is that there's a core constituency in the hard land. these are mainly conservative religious people, islamists that see the world in this polar, anti western, pro-turkey prism and he is playing to those constituents. the arrest warrant he issued was part that have, to feed into that. i think he niece that it's highly unlikely that the united states would actually hand him over, but that actually feeds into his narrative, where then he can go oh the public and say

look at all these anti turkish people, look at all these foreign forces coming against and making life difficult. >> that is his power base. it's a very pollarrized society side. he is feeding into that, polarizing it further. >> thank you so much this morning. >> thanks for having me. >> iraq's prime minister has been meeting with his turkish counterpart, saying it's final tort two country to, together to fight off isil. >> i ask this not only as a threat to iraq and turkey, but the whole region and there is a need for cooperation. that is what we expect from turkey. the turkish prime minister said they would provide the support. >> the meeting between iraqi and turkish leaders comes as occurred issue r.ish fighters

appear to be regaining ground near syria. they are currently fight to go retake the city of sinjar, which has been under isil control since august. >> kurdish peshmerga fighters raise their flags in one of the villages they recently recaptured from isil. they want to make clear who is in charge here. the peshmerga engage said in oppression to gets back swaths of land from isil. the general says their too far has been a success. >> we ever gotten strategic territory back from ice ail and seized major roads, but particularly one that runs along the iraq-syrian border. whoever controls these areas has the upper hand. >> the towns and villages remain deserted. most of the residents of these towns now live in camps or have crossed the nearby syrian

border. >> this newly retaken town shows where isil protected them receivers from airstrikes. here they burned tires to create a smoke screen to hide them. to my left are a network of panels used to navigate their way around town. >> they used doors of abandoned house to say cover the tunnels. as the fighting hit the town, so did the airstrikes. the base lice in ruins, hit by coalition gets supporting the peshmerga offenses. >> the airstrikes have been very helpful to our offensive. we've been guiding the coalition jets on where to target and that really helped increasen their accuracy. >> the peshmerga also broke a mountain siege.

yazidis have been trapped on the mountain since september. four days ago, this road was under the control of isil. it's now an escape route for the thousands of yazidi's who have been trapped on the mountain. >> most of our houses were destroyed in the fighting says this man. we are advised to leave, he says. isil left behind i.e.d.'s in motor villages and towns they've lost. just one more thing holding people from returning to their homes. al jazeera, in northern iraq. >> a peshmerga commander expects his forces to take full control of sinjar before the end of the year. >> an attack on libya's oil facility, an attack was launched thursday by rockets fired from sea boats.

the facility was shut down weeks ago during ongoing clashes from libya's two governments. >> in mexico, demonstrations for missing students reached the steps of the german embassy thursday. protestors say a german weapons manufacture supplied rifles to corrupt police officers implicated in the students' disappearance. germany's government told the weapons company four years ago to stop sending arms to mexico due to human rights issues. >> science may be generally rewarded as male-dominated, but efforts to close the gender gap has paid off, women now even surpassing their male pierce. >> achieving gender parity in the fields of science and technology has not been easy. for countries in latin america and the caribbean, women are making tremendous strides.

>> nowadays, 46% ever scientists in latin america are women, this is a relatively high rate, the high effort in the world. >> bo olivia has the high effort concentration, making up 63% of the countries scientists. that's higher than the u.s., where women account for only under a quarter of science workers. in brass still, science without borders funds science at home and abroad for more than 100,000 high school students next year. brazilian physics professor said cultural stereo types often get in the way so it's important to get the message out to younger girls. >> when you think of the scientist, the image tends to be of men. women must not feel intimidated for being women or for whatever other type of discrimination may come their way. it is unjust and should not hold

anyone back. >> argentina scientist won an award for women in science for research in clean energy. she said 60% of her team are women. she plans to use her success to campaign for more women scientists in leadership roles. >> i feel a great responsibility to try to promote things i am passionate about and encourage people, especially women to continue working in areas related to technology. >> while the growth of women scientists has been significant, it's not enough. the next step would be creating executive level opportunities for women. al jazeera. >> according to the united nation, a lot of women opt out of a career in science to focus on their families. >> i think we'll probably see that change as time goes on. >> a benchmark year, we're at the halfway point of president obama's second term. >> he's made friends and enemies and is ushering in a shift of

power on capitol hill. we look back at the politics of 2014. >> they may be the most talked about light bulbs in the world, climbing to the top of the empire building with the man who lights up the new york city night. >> time for our big quote: >> who said that and who was he talking to, after the break.

>> to get air in our

>> who said: >> that big quote comes from the commander-in-chief himself, president obama addressing members of america's armed forces stationed in hawaii. he was thanking them for their service as the 13or combat

mission in afghanistan comes to an end. >> there has been no shortage of issues facing president obama in 2014, immigration reform, health care, to the fight with isil. >> mike viqueira looks back at the highs and lows of the president's sixth year in offers. >> as a rocky year came to a close, president obama was accentuating the positive. >> i said that 2014 would be a year of action, and would be a breakthrough year for america, and it has been. >> there are reasons for optimism. the economy is heading up, while the jobless rate dips down. along with another encouraging sign, the price at the pump plummeting. >> i'm glad to pull together my cabinet. >> mr. obama began with a view to go around congress in 2014. that's what it duke to enact his agenda. >> i've got a pen and i've got a

phone, and i can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions, administrative actions that move the ball forward. >> and he did, ordering the minimum wage to be raised for outside contractors. on immigration, he reversed course, giving a three year reprieve from dehe portation. critics called him an emperor and worse. >> i think it's the height of organs for this president to go around the constitution and laws. >> there have been setbacks in issues where he struggled to find the right response, ferguson, missouri, as outrage and riots shook the streets from the white house, the president appears in a split screen paradox, calling for a measured response as the community burns. >> when mr. obama found his footing, he vowed to change tuesday between police and minorities. >> part of the reason this time will be different is because the

president of the united states is deeply invested in making sure that this time is different. >> in february, the crimea area was seized. millions in syria were forced to leave their homes. the president reacted angrily. >> why is it that everybody is so eager to use military force after we've just gone through a decade of war at enormous costs? >> the stunning advantage of isil changed all that. three years after keeping his promise to get american troops out of iraq, mr. obama sent them back in. some 3,000 advisors there to train and assist the iraqi army,

now in a spam bells as they try to turn back isil. by the end of the summer, the president changed his tune on military force. >> last night on my orders, america's armed forces began strikes against isil targets in syria. >> mr. obama saw his biggest political setback yet, in november, when his party as you haved an election wipeout, giving the gop control of congress for the last two years of his presidency. the president and his family are now on vacation in hawaii, a brief rest before returning to washington and a new political reality. >> mike viqueira, al jazeera, washington. >> it's not even 2015, but there is all right plenty of talk about the 2016 presidential race and a lot of eyes on jeb bush. he's formed a committee for a possible run and has released all of his emails from his days as florida governor from 1998-2007.

>> he's publishing the 250,000 emails on his own website. what's been revealed so far shows the younger bush is a driven man. there he is, trying to reign in state government and push a conservative agenda. >> we're joined now by political journalist dom knack carter. the deal is, florida law requires these things to be reds anyway. >> good point. >> what do you think he's up to getting out ahead of this? >> the governor clearly was trying to score some political points, trying to get ahead of the curve on this by beating news organizations like the washington post and the new york times to releasing these emails with the public laws in florida, and so he's trying to present what actually happened during his tenure. for people like us in the news business that really care about this stuff, it was a fascinating

look. nothing stood out, but a fascinating look to a possible 2016 campaign in terms of republican issues like cutting government and so on, but also, we got a glimpse at governor bush in terms of it's nice to see a governor that was hands-on responding to constituent emails himself. can you imagine that? >> he did a lot of that. >> he did. governor bush actually responding before he took office, and while he was in office to constituent emails, to emails that said that he wasn't conservative enough. those are issues right around the corner. this guy is not some fringe candidate for president, he has a real shot at the nomination and in my contention, a real shot at becoming the next president of the united states. >> he releases these emails. it doesn't seem like there's anything surprising that comes out of them. how does it sort of distance him from other potential candidates

who may have had scandals in their careers? >> well, i think what he's simply trying to say, i don't think he's going to stand out or separate himself from core candidates, but i think he's trying to say look, here's what i did, here's the picture, and take it for what it may be. it's a fascinating look, you know, who would have thought that, you know, he was locked to his blackberry device. he was apparently very fond of blackberry, and it's just, again, just nice to see a governor of a state respond to go constituents in dealing with other issues. i should found out, the gather was very clear that these emails would one day be released. he he refers to that when there's an argument over staffers over vacation time and warns them they should have a conversation rather than exchange emails.

>> he was being smart. >> he was being smart. he knew he was looking ahead. let's be honest about this. when you have the last name bush, there's a lot of talk that you're going to go ahead in politics and he knew his future before he became governor. >> that raises, one thing that struck me, 250,000 of anybody's emails, there's going to be something embarrassing, a gaffe, salty language. we haven't even anything like that. people who care about this, political journalists are digging into it and it's not there. does that tell us that this guy very smart, playing the long game? >> it says that he's very smart. it says that when you look ahead for governor bush, the issue of what's going to be the problem for him during the campaign in terms of getting the nomination should he run, that he's not as we all know, that he's not conservative enough. he even deals with that in those emails. he got a daily briefing on immigration, so we -- if you look at the emails, i guess what

we could take fro from all of ts is that he saw higher offers in his future a long time ago. >> great in sights this morning. >> thank you and good morning, happy holidays. >> you, too. >> it is the centerpiece of the new york city skyline, the empire state building lit up for special he lengths since 1976. >> in recent years, it's gone digital, offering up a dazzling light show like the one throughout the holiday season. we see how it all works. >> growing up, my parents used to take me to new york all the time. the empire state building was always very special. i'm honored to be able to light the building. >> we do holiday shows. it's always base said around the music, the music is really always the inspiration, so we received the music and from there, we start planning the

individual cues. >> well, i paint with light, and so, you know, like anything else, you could always choose really bad colors. we try -- i guess i ever a good sense of color, and i really -- it's more intuitive. we have 4,000 channels of l.e.d.'s, 18,000s of d.m.x., which is a language to lights speak. we ever 210,000 individual l.e.d.'s. the biggest challenge, believe it or not, would be actually being able to stay in synch. ♪ >> with the music, because typically you have some sort of time code that keeps you on, you know, on time, and in synch. here, we actually listen to an f.m. raid dough, a pretty analog way of doing things, but we're not allowed to practice, because

obviously the building is such a couple of building and it's out there in the open, we can't just turn on the lights and go crazy whenever we feel like it. it really is the largest scale performance, because millions of people see this in the moment. ♪ >> i just love that kind of stuff. i love finding out who's responsible. >> it's really cool. it doesn't get a dress rehearsal. >> let's get another check of the weather. >> speaking of the empire state building, you could finally see it last night. the night before, it was object secured with clouds. it's nice that there was a break in the action. we're getting little breaks in the northwest right now, one system moving out, another moving in. that becomes much more widespread into the day tomorrow. you can see the big system now is going to pull more into the midwest.

here's that tomorrow forecast. you can see how much more acreage this covers. not quite making it as far as the last system where we got snow in the sierra. a lot of people enjoying that, the snow pack has gone up from the start of the month and much more than last winter, so people getting out to enjoy it while you've got it. that would be beneficial water for the spring in the agriculture. >> coming up, pakistan has killed the taliban mastermind behind last week's attack on the school. for now, that's it for us here in new york. a live look at the washington bridge. >> a look now at hour images of the day, 10 years to the day since the indian ocean tsunami, december 26, 2004, a wall of water triggered by an underwater earth quake. >> memorial services are taking place as more than a dozen countries mark the years of recovery. we'll see you right back here

again tomorrow at 7:30 eastern time. have a great morning. >> al jazeera america presents >> somebody's telling lies... >> 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

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time. >> only on al jazeera america. paying tribute to the dead. memorial services are held across asia on the tenth anniversary of the tsunami. ♪ hello there, welcome to al jazeera, i'm shiulie ghosh live from doha. also on the program, pakistan police say they killed the mastermind of last week's school attack. we report from albania on the ache-old blood feud sending frightened families into hiding nflt i'm daniel lak on prince edward island i