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. >> remembering three term new york governor mario he cuomo his words that helped change the nation and the political debate. >> more bodies and large pieces of debris pulled from the water in the search for airasia flight 8501. officials say some of the latest victims found were still belted into their seats. what that may tell us about what happened to that jet. >> massive floods in malaysia,

the efforts they now face to replace homes to basic infrastructure. [ screaming ] >> check out this new year's tradition as people across the country take the polar plunge. extreme temperatures in some places nearly brought the activities to a complete halt. >> good morning, welcome to al jazeera america. >> this morning the political world mourns the passing of former new york governor mario cuomo. he was 82. he burst on to the political scene in the 1970's, rising to become a three term governor in new york and a shining star in the democratic party. >> he dazzled an office during the democratic national convention. he became a front runner for the presidency but twice turned down offers to run. let's go to libby casey in

washington. cuomo's influence transcended state politics. >> he was known nationally for his passion for liberal values and pragmatism in politics. he was first and foremost a new yorker. >> he was a democratic superstar, a three term new york governor and unabashed liberal. he was pro choice, supporting civil rights, vetoing the death penalty and putting others ahead of his own presidential aspirations. >> the republicans believe that the wagon train will not make it to the frontier unless some of the old, some of the young, some of the weak are left behind by the side of the trail. >> it was perhaps cuomo's electricry filing key note address at the 1984 democratic national convention that will forever cement his legacy as one of the most gifted orators of his generation. he took on ronald reagan at a time liberals felt marginalized.

>> there is despair mr. president, in the faces that you don't see, if the places that you don't visit in your shining city. >> when he catapulted to national stardom mario cuomo already had a deep new york political career, running for new york city mayor in 1977, but losing to then congressman ed koch. he would because secretary of state and will the governor. he was elected governor for the first time in 1972. >> we won partly cloudy the people the people and passion of belief are still more important than money. >> it was the 1984 speech that propelled him to become a top pick for presidential runs in 1988 and 1992. his reluctance earned him the nickname hamlet on the hudson. he ran for a third term at

governor losing to george petacchi. >> i've surely made mistakes at governor but i'm as proud as i can be of what we accomplished together. >> new york's and drew cuomo was recently reelected with his father stand big his side, mario's last public appearance. just hours before his father's death, the current governor was sworn in for a second term and spoke about his dad. >> my father is in this room. he's in the heart and mind of every person who is here. he's here and he's here, and his inspiration and his legacy and his experience is what has brought this state to this point. >> mario cuomo remembered as a progressive giant but also someone who was able to governor

from the center especially during tight budget times. >> a lot of prominent people reacting to mr. cuomo's death this morning. >> president obama from his vacation in hawaii pointing out that he was a determined champion of progressive values, and also citing his personal story of a child of immigrant parents. it was his great gift and good fortune that he was both a sterling orator and passionate. servant. his life was a blessing. clinton calling him the embodiment of the american dream. >> speaking of bill clinton cuomo sort of ended up paving the way for him to become president. >> back in the early 1990's, cuomo was considered the leading progressive, someone you who could steer the democratic

party. at the last minute he decided not to run pour president. there's an iconic moment of his plane sitting just before he was to get on it and file. he decided not to. that opened the door for bill clinton. two were friends and sparring partners over the years but it certainly did change the course of national politics. >> libby casey for us, libby thank you. >> coming up at 7:50, we'll speak with political scientist jeannie zano. >> more ships and planes have arrived in indonesia to help search for the wreckage and black boxes of airasia flight 8501. many gathered for friday prayers for the victims as well as their families. >> we go to john for more. we did just get word has more bodies have been found. >> we did.

this is a very fluid story literally changing by the minute but we have just learned that the number of victims recovered has jumped dramatically. thirty bodies have been recovered. they reportedly say some victims were still belted into their seats. they've not definitively located the fuselage of the jet. some aviation experts believe all this news means that the plane may have hit the water mostly intact. if that's the case, many bodies could be inside the plane. 132 bodies are still missing big pieces of debris were also found. they are parts of the air asia plane. more ships and plane with sensitive equipment onboard arrived in the area to search for the jet's crucial black boxes, which are still missing.

that four bodies have now been identified and returned to their families including the first passenger i.d.'d. a somber funeral tack place. they are still waiting for word approximate the bodies of her husband, daughter and mortgage, who were also on the flight. with so many bodies still missing, families are growing desperate. officials will step up search efforts as long as the weather permits. the weather is very bad in the region and unfortunately strong winds and high waves are forecast through the weekend. we've just heard that there's possibly a break in the weather on sunday. >> it does sound like in the last hour, we've heard of a pickup. ok john, thank you. >> we'll speak he with an air safety expert about what's keeping them from finding those black boxes.

>> in shanghai, the death toll is 36 with 47 injured in a stampede. it's not clear what sparked the stampede. there is a theory one person was tossing fake money into the crowd. they say that happened after the stampede started. >> a deadly bombing killed 17 people at a wedding in afghanistan. officials say the strikes were a mistake. more rounds were fired on the wedding party while they were under attack by taliban in the same area. afghan forces officially took control of security from nato forces. >> 2014 has been one of the deadliest years in iraq since the u.s. war in 2003. the latest death toll is at more than 15,000. of those deaths, 12,000 of civilians. the u.k. based organization gives a higher toll, saying 7,000 civilians were killed just

last year. iraq and kurdish forces are continuing their operations against isil. we are joined live from erbil this morning. the kurds have been engaged in pretty heavy fighting not far from where you are now. what do you know? >> there's been heavy fighting around front lines in the countryside -- north region of kurdistan around here. the isil fighters seem to be engaging the peshmerga forces in a war of attrition. they're trying to wear them down knowing very well that they have better arsenals, all the arms they he took from the fleeing iraq armed forces seven months ago a understand they are engaging them in heavy

fighting. we saw the scale of the challenge that is facing peshmerga in the village. heavy fighting and you said the kurdish region. it's one village recently recaptured from isil. isil fighters of battled to recapture it. as the fighting intensifies the peshmerga zero in on one of the houses. >> there are some isil fighters behind in that house. they have remained behind after the others retreated. >> more kurdish fighters move closer to the house. they spray i had with bullets. there is nothing to confirm their bullets have hit their

targets, so some of them move even closer. it's a mistake. bullets come in from the house. one of the peshmerga fighters has been shot. he is dead. his colleagues carry his body away. overcome by grief, one of them weeps over the body. in another part of the village a huge explosion rips through the village. it's a car bomb targeting the peshmerga. more peshmerga reinforcements arrive as panic gross. they decide it's time to bring the fighting to an end. rocket propelled grenades are their weapons of choice. detecting no movement inside, they set what remains of the house on fire.

for now the village is back in kurdish hands. >> this is a very important village, it is on the banks of the river. the highway to mosul also passes here. it means we can stop isil supplies from this direction. >> these men know too well that it's skitch issues like the one here that will decide who eventually wins the war. the isil fighters are using both conventional and unconventional warfare against peshmerga kurdish forces and the kurdish fighters say they need more help they need more arms, more guns more ammunition from the coalition forces and they say the airstrikes by the u.s.-led coalition is helping but they will need much more help than they actually get right now. back to you. >> a powerful story this morning, live for us this morning, muhammed thank you so

much. >> this past year was one of the deadly effort in syria. more than 76,000 people died last year. many of them were civilians caught in the fight between rebels and government forces. president bashar al assad spent part of new year's with soldiers on the front line. he's rarely been seen in public since the civil war began in 2011. a new video surfaced that allegedly shows two italian hostages held in syria. the women plead for help, warning their captors will kill them. it's not clear which group is holding them. >> the f.b.i. is now reportedly looking into the case of those missing students in mexico. a government official told nbc news the assistance comes at the request of the american government. american scientists are analyzion evidence in that case. the incident sparked nationwide outrage across mexico where many believe corrupt police and gang

members were involved. >> the government in malaysia is assessing the damage from the worst floods in decades. >> thousands of people were left homeless and prospects are grim for a quick recovery. >> she has been wading through the sludge, trying to salvage anything she can. her home is bushed in mud and her father is struggling to dig through it. the neighborhood was one of the worst hit when floodwaters gushed through malaysia's northeast last week. her family escaped to an evacuation center, but nothing could prepare them for their return home. >> i'm worried because i'm afraid my family won't eat comfortably as before or eat as much as before, because we have to spend lots of money to fix everything. >> the aftermath of the floods is as did he ever straight as

the disaster. many simply don't know where to begin. >> people in this neighborhood have been cleaning up for the past three days, but as you can see, it has made little difference. with no running water or electricity, it could be weeks before they can live in their homes again. >> assessing the damage is still difficult for the government. the areas affected are extensive, and basic infrastructure like power lines and roads have been destroyed. officials say rehabilitation could run into millions of dollars. >> getting there is a challenge there's break down in communications in some it is parts. we're now at 70% electricity is available to 70%. water is 70%. >> some critical institutions like this hospital are racing to reopen their doors. staff here continue to look after around 400 patients, even

when they were surrounded by a sea of water. >> we are running about 50% capacity. most of the stuff that -- because the roads leading to the hospital of flooded. >> recovery will be painstaking and slow. they live in a community that already had little, now they are left with nothing. >> staggering numbers here, more than 100,000 people are staying in evacuation centers and makes forecasters predict more rain in coming days. >> here, the south is already dealing with snow and now faces dangerous driving conditions. >> let's bring in kevin. what's going on down there? >> weaver had a major system push to the southwest. it's pretty down towards parts of new mexico, but i'm going to show you what's been happening in parts of oklahoma. this is flagstaff, new mexico here. they are enjoying the snow. of course, this is helping the

ski resorts in the higher elevations there. of course, it caused a few problems on the roads but that system moved out. we're still getting snow down here towards central and southern new mexico. the big problem is what is happening across texas, as well as oklahoma. we are looking at freezing rain on the highways. we're talking about highway 10, highway 20 highway 44. this is going all the way from the panhandle of texas all the way over towards oklahoma. it's going to continue all the way to tomorrow morning. now temperatures are just at freezing or right below freezing in that area. we don't expect much of a change, but look at this. where did you see this dark purple is an ice storm warning. that is what is in effect for that region. has half inch of ice is extremely dangerous on the overpasses and roads. >> more victims and large pieces of debris were found today from

airasia flight 8501. >> without the black boxes we still don't know what caused that crash. air safety joins us live to talk about air asia safety standards and how they differ from the united states. >> a burned out ferry finally towed into port five days after it caught fire. what investigators are searching for on the ship. >> a traffic stop in west virginia turned into a wild shootout and chase. how it unfolded and what police found inside the vehicle. >> 1 million is the big number of the day. cleaning up after the world's most famous new year's eve party. touch your life. >> i'm back. i'm not going anywhere this time. >> only on al jazeera america.

>> today's big number is 1 million and that's how many people crammed into times square to ring in the new year. >> almost as soon as the ball dropped, the clean up crews hard at work. that's a lot of confetti. they spent the night returning the square to how it looked before the party including

picking up 2,000 pounds of confetti. >> not to mention about 178 annotation workers on the job. >> authorities are searching through a burned ferry in italy. it arrived in port a few hours ago. officials believe there could be bodies still onboard, so far 11 confirmed dead in the fire. 477 people were rescued. authorities say there were undocumented passengers onboard many believe to be illegal migrants. >> this morning there was a rescue mission off the coast of italy, the coast guard being lowered on to the cargo ship. it was stranded with hundreds of people onboard. most are believed to be syrian, trying to escape the civil war. smugglers operating the ship fled when it lost power. >> 30 bodies, you are looking right now at live pictures in

indonesia with r. as many as 10 victims remains are currently arriving. thirty bodies have now been recovered from the crash of airasia flight 8501. officials say that passengers were belted into their seats. remains have been handed over to the families there. dozens of ships and planes have now joined that search. joining us now is shane air safety expert and former accident investigator. he teaches aviation studies at ohio state university. sean, good morning to you and thank you so much for joining us. i want to jump right into this. a lot of questions surrounding the disappearance of this flight. the wall street journal reports that indonesian airlines hired overseas pilots because the country's aviation industry has received such poor grades. is there an issue with these

pilots? >> it's yet to be determined if these individual pilots of this flight potentially contributed to inexperience in a training role. this area has a pilot shortage. this problem where the country's expansion, the airline's expanse i guess so great it overwhelms the natural capacity of pilots in that area, so they're forced to go to other places. they're forced to some call it pilot poaching, pull from other regions, possibly less experienced pilots to maintain this growth. >> when you mention this pilot poaching, you mentioned experience and training. when you consider the pilots, there is that training practice, also that experience. what sets apart a pilot who responds the right way just the once who respond the wrong way

in moments of emergency with there's two components of this. one becomes the experience level, of course and those out flying long enough that have 5,000 hours or more bring a lot more experience to the table. as far as the training goes, we have to look at and i'm sure what will be part of this investigation is looking at the training standards, in other words, what are the basic minimums. what type of tool are we giving these crew members -- >> basic minimums that you're describing? >> i'm sorry the first part again? >> are there gaps between those basic minimums that you're describing? >> there's not necessarily gaps, but the problem is what is being trained is so specific for maneuvers that are outdated and no longer really play a role in trying to operate these highly automated aircraft. we are not teaching resilience, the capability of managing a garden variety of events, but

rather very specific events that are rarely seen. >> i want to take you back to the search effort. the heavy flooding has been hampering these searches and with time running out what do we know from the debris and bodies already recovered? >> we have a couple of clues that will help corroborate what we find when we find the black boxes. there's no indication at this point of an in-flight breakup because of the concentration of debris and victims found in a very fightly knit area, relatively speaking of course as opposed to being spread out many many miles. it's important to understand the forensic value that remains for us as far as the bodies being intact, not burned. they're going to look closer and

there are more details they can find when they examine the bodies. they hope to provide forensic evidence to understand what was going on with the airplane, not only those individuals. >> a lot of details still to uncover. thanks for joining us this morning, live from columbus, ohio. >> a man accused of shooting at police in san francisco is now in custody. police had been looking for the 23-year-old since they say he opened fire on officers early thursday morning. neither officer was hit. gomez was found seven hours later in the same neighborhood, where the shooting took place. >> a fifth person has been charged in the attack on two new york city police officers during a protest last month. a 29-year-old was arrested. he was part of the group that assaulted two officers on the brooklyn bridge. demonstrators marched there to protest a grand jury's decision not to indict a police officer in the death of eric garner are. >> it is far from hot in

southern, california where they could be in for a freeze. our meteorologist has more. >> temperatures definitely well below average for california. we have snow in california. people are enjoying it. led me tell you what's happening here besides the snow angels. we are seeing snow that is greater than what we saw last time of year. that means it's good for the snow pack and good for the reserve of water that we need. of course the drought situation has been devastate to go california, but we are getting better. it's going to take quite a while in that air. palm springs 37, los angeles 40, that is seven to eight degrees low are than what you would normally see this time of year. speaking of those temperature, we are looking at hard freeze warnings for the las vegas area, as well as into parts of california. for los angeles, we are talking about freeze warnings. a lot of people's plants are going to take a hit because of these temperatures. >> did you play plans or plants?

>> plants, plants are going to take a hilt. >> in egypt after a retrial is ordered for al jazeera journalists, renewed calls for the egyptian president to intervene. >> we'll hear from family members, plus talk a an egyptian correspondent, who's been following the plight of the three journalists. >> a suburban atlanta police chief could be in trouble with the law. he's being investigated for shooting his own wife. >> while drinking and smoking may increase your risk of certain cancers a new study shows getting other cancers it may just come down to chance. >> how one woman's fashion choice may have saved her life. that's one of the stories caught in our global net.

>> you are taking a live look right now at indonesia where newly recovered bodies from the airasia flight 8501 have just arrived. you can see they are carrying two coffins there.

we have seen a steady stream of that within the last couple hours. weather conditions seem to have improved and it seems the recovery effort has picked up pace. >> new calls this morning for hour three jailed al jazeeraing colleagues to be released from an egyptian prison. we will get reaction from a correspondent who's closely followed that case. >> how one country is trying to reduce smoking by dramatically increasing the cost of cigarettes. >> we'll focus on what's behind the fast spread of this year's flu bug. >> let's look at our latest headlines this morning. assessing the impact of a political icon, mario cuomo has died. he was 82. he served three terms as new york governor, elevating him to the national stage. he was one of the loudest and most eloquent defenders of the democratic party. cuomo flirted twice with presidential runs, but never threw his hat into the ring. >> 30 bodies have now been recovered in indonesia as the search continues for more victims of airasia flight 8501.

you are looking at live pictures from indonesia as that search mission continues. some of those bodies were reportedly still belted into their seats. more planes and ships arrived today to help in the search for the fuselage and black boxes. >> it has been one of the deadly effort years in record on iraq and syria. the iraqi government said more than 15,000 people died there last year, the most since 2007. the observatory for how many rights said 6,000 people were killed in syria in 2014, nearly half civilians. >> there's a new bed to release the al jazeera journalists imprisoned in egypt. >> the family seems to be homeful home run peter's release. >> that's based on a recent egyptian decree issued in november that allows the government to deport foreigners

on trial. they say deportation is his best option to get home. >> from australia the brother of jailed al jazeera journalist peter greste reacting to news. >> i was expecting yes a retrial, but with that, a release. >> it's hard to see he a loved one in prison, behind bars for just doing his job. >> the three journalists have been behind bars for 370 days. an egyptian court convicted them of spreading false news and supporting the outlawed muslim brotherhood. al jazeera has called the accusations absurd and repeatedly demand understand their release. the family is hoping egypt's president will use his powers to

set them free he. >> he he has made numerous comments that he wished they'd been deported, he wished they'd been deported if he was in power. we wait for act on his behalf. >> the u.s. and u.k. ever called for the journalists to be freed. as the hash tag trends around the world press freedom organizations are reacting to the retrial order, as well. >> we would have likes to see the journalists complete freed but at the same time, we see this retrial as an opportunity for the court, for the egyptians to find them innocent. >> that sentiment was taken further, by saying these men should not have been jailed in the first place and should not spend one more day in prison. they must be freed immediately. >> the family agrees and will keep pushing for justice. >> we strongly believe that

peter's an innocent man and we won't give up until justice is served until he's released. >> his deportation application if failed, his brother would apply for bail at the retrial. trial could happen withen the next month but no word on how long it would take. >> thank you. we go now to a journalist based in cairo joining us via skype. thanks for your time. what are you hearing from your sources about a prospect for a new trial actually delivering justice to these men. >> it's very hard to tell. we have to view this trial in the context of a larger geopolitical consideration and those have to do with relations between qatar and egypt where of course, al jazeera is based in qatar and relations between two countries became very strained following the overthrow of president morsi by then army

chief al sisi in july of 2013 and followed with his imprisonment, the crack down on morsi's group the muslim brotherhood and the killing of thousands of his supporters. in recent weeks, there have been signs of reconciliation efforts and warming of relations between two countries largely brokered by saudi arabia. we saw now president al sisi meets for the first time with a qatari envoy last month followed by an announcement several days later by the closing of al jazeera's egyptian affiliate, a channel which had infuriated local authorities here. these signs are positive in that sense and many hope that will have an effect on the polite of these three journalists and on the upcoming trial. >> you are saying that these three journalists have become pounce in geopolitics. how has the egyptian press been

covering this trial? >> it's been very varied, but in one sense the egyptian media here especially since the overthrow of muhammed marcy all opposition channels have been closed. any public opposition or dissent has been silenced on the air waivers, so you really have one tone and one kind of coverage which is very support i have of the government. we repeatedly see this trial being referred to by what prosecutors called it, the marriott cell, referring to the hotel where they were arrested on december 29. >> which seems so ridiculous that they called it the moreout cell. the evidence from the hotel room is basically a laptop computer and tracking microphone. you touched on the fact that this al jazeera affiliate is viewed negatively by egyptian authorities. how is al jazeera english

viewed? do they get that these journalists were just doing their jobs. >> you touched on an important point. i covered almost every session of the trial. it was very clear that prosecutors and the judge himself were making very little distinction between al jazeera english and al jazeera egyptian affiliate. media analysts have pointed that that local egyptian affiliate had problematic coverage that may be viewed as being heavily in favor of the muslim brotherhood, but they made no distinction between two channels whatsoever and during the trial they showed footage as evidence from al jazeera english. some of it had nothing to do with egypt peter's reporting from kenya and somalia and footage they showed was uncontroversial reports -- >> on bbc or cnn i've seen the footage. as a journalist that covers egypt, do you feel personally

concerned about how your coverage since their conviction? >> certainly it dealt a blow to press freedom in egypt. it's the first time, you know, many journalists have been picked up in protests, their offices raided, but this is the first time they were really surveilled monitored and brought on terrorism charges and have been in prison for a year now, especially to imprison foreign journalists, as well, this is a new step in egypt. certainly it caused a chill amongst the press corps here. people are continuing to do their jobs, but it is a very constrictive environment and resurgent authoritarianism that has taken hold in egypt. >> the world needs you and other journalists like you to continue doing your jobs. thank you so much for your insights, really appreciate it.

>> a traffic stop turned violent. officials say a truck pulled over during the stop and then the driver shot at them. one officer returned fire, wounding the suspect in the leg. both the driver of the stolen s.u.v. and the truck fled, but eventually they did turn themselves in. >> the wife of a police chief in georgia is fighting for her life after police say she first shot by her husband. the chief in peach tree city phoned authorities on thursday. they say maccallum told them he accidentally shot his wife while cleaning his service weapon. members of the police department say it is a tough time for them. >> we're very concerned for obviously his wife, concerned for the chief. >> we're cooperating in every way that we can. as soon as all the facts are known, they'll turn over a file to our office and we'll review to see if in fact there's been any criminal activity. >> maccallum has been placed on administrative leave while out

that's investigate the shooting. >> same sex marriage will be coming to the sunshine state. a federal judge on thursday cleared the way for florida to begin issuing licenses next week. the judge said that his decision to throw out florida's gay marriage ban will go into effect throughout the entire state. >> scientists say your chances of getting cancer may boil down to bad luck. a new study reveals that two thirds of cancers are the result of random mistakes in the division of our cells. the study looked at 31 types of cancer. it found most, including pancreatic bone, owe veryian and brain cancers could be explained by random mutations. however, skin and lung canner are attributed to lifestyle choices. >> one of those choices is smoking. its connection to cancer is well documented. that's why many u.s. states ever increased the price for a pack of cigarettes. >> a new tax is raising the

price in south korea. the goal is to reduce the number of men smoking. health experts are skeptical. >> outside any office building in seoul at just about any time of day sizeable groups on daily cigarette breaks. south korea has the miest male smoking rate of any developed nation at 44%. a quarter of adults male and female smoke. this year they have an 80% tax rise taking the price from $2.50 to $4.50 per pack. >> it would have been better if the price had been increased gradually, like 5%, 10%. without warning the government just announce add couple of months ago that the price would be nearly doubling. >> the announcement in september led to panic buying among those who wanted to stock up. in the run up to new year, shops limited customers to one pack per person. that cigarette packets in south

korea carry warnings, but they're text based and the language relatively mild. some anti smoker campaigners said if the government wanted to do more than just raising extra tax revenue they'd put pictures on boxes like this. such a move is under consideration. campaigners say price rises aren't enough to cut the sky high smoking rate. >> if people can see the impact of smoking on health, causing various diseases such as cancer, i think it could reduce smoking by 20% to 30%. >> the government is bringing in other measures, smoking in restaurants and cafes is now illegal. special smoking areas a few days ago an every day feature now stand empty. there's ban surge in the numbers visiting quit-smoking clinics looking for alternatives, like e cigarettes. some are yet to be convinced. >> the effect is a bit limited compared to regular cigarettes.

i've started to get withdrawal symptoms. e cigarette is better than quitting entirely, but there are still some withdrawal symptoms. >> if the government has its way, plenty more will be feeling the same thing. it's target is a 50% reduction in the smoking rate over the next five years. >> the last time cigarette prices went up in south korea was back in 2004. >> let's look at some of the other stories caught in our global net. researcher ares in the national institutes of health are using an unorthodox way to find curious for alcoholism, building a realistic looking bar inside its hospital in maryland, trying to stimulate alcohol cravings so they can test drugs to cure alcoholism, which affects a heck of a lot of people. >> 17 million people in this country. while the bar tabs real, there is no alcohol. they are trying to see if the

hormones have the cravings. >> a little red dress can save your life. a 21-year-old in the u.k. was coming home from a holiday party when the taxi she first riding in was hit by a cement mixer. she could ever tight if her tight dress did not keep her bones in place. apparently the dress was so tight, it kept her bones from popping out and puncturing one of her vital organs. >> a lot of hospitals publicize the first baby of the year, the one born right after midnight. not so for a major hospital chain. the associated press said community health systems has band its facilities from releasing the name at all. they say it risks identity theft and of course the security of newborn babies. >> the story made headlines because journalists were looking for something to report on on a slow day and were told look -- >> coming up, more on the man

that some call the countries last great liberal. >> the life and legacy of former new york governor mario cuomo. >> beijing has some of the most polluted air in the world but china may be turning over a new environmental leaf in 2015. >> new evidence of what wiped out the mayen thats comes from an underwater cave. that's one of today's discoveries.

>> vice president joe biden is working to mend u.s. ties with brazil. he he marked the new year in brazilia. >> pledging closer cooperation and regional and global issues.

>> the american political world is remembering a giant this morning. >> here to talk about mario cuomo's legacy is jeannie zano. how did you meet him and what do you remember most about him? >> it was really an honor to meet him. i met him at an italian american gathering. he was a proud italian american, son of immigrants. it was such an honor to meet him and so shocking yesterday just hours after our own governor cuomo was inaugurated his son that he would pass like this, but he did live to see his son

inaugurated, second term in governor. >> he made a famous speech at the 1984 democratic convention blasting president reagan's promise. let's take a listen to part of that. >> a shining city is perhaps all the presidency the from the portico of the white house and the veranda of his ranch where everyone seems to be dueling well but there's another city, there's another part to the shining city, the part where some people can't pay their mortgages and most young people can't offered one. >> what blowback did that speech create at the time reagan was wildly popular went on to win a landslide election just a few months later? >> that is known now as one of the greatest convention speeches ever and he followed it up a few months later with an equally spell binding speech at notre

dame where he explained how somebody who's click and himself anti abortion could govern a state. that speech had huge ramty occasions. that we are just seeing it now. it is fascinating. in new york city, in massachusetts where elizabeth warren is serving at senator you have this progressive movement in the democratic party. much of it is owed to mario cuomo and much of it found in that speech. that is borrowed from that convention speech where mario cuomo famously said that is a tale of two cities and has reaganomics was blinding the president to the despair that was felt. he said it at a time when reagan was wildly popular. it was a very difficult speech to make and i made it.

again, it's really a historic speech at this point. >> where does cuomo stand with other great liberal lions of the party, ted kenley, gorge mcgovern. >> his son said it best in november when he first elected. he pulled his father up on stage and said his father is the father of the modern democratic party. i think that's absolutely true. if you look at the way the democratic party is headed, he was the father, he was somebody who was thoughtful, amazing speaker and thinker. he was a man of ideas and those ideas are right fielded in liberalism and progressism today. he will have impact for a long time through his son and through other progressives in the democratic party. >> let's talk about the current governor of new york. we haven't talked him lately, about a potential 2016 run. do you think that may change in

coming months? >> it very well may. he has been, obviously hillary clinton is far above other contenders, but he is on the short list of four or five people. he may decide to run. his father twice, 1988 and 1992 declined to run. in 1992, the image is that there was a plane wait to go sweep him to new hampshire and he does heed not to go and instead to govern the state that he was elected to govern. >> all that led to an entire history course change with bill clinton ending up in the white house. thanks for your insights this morning. >> a breath of fresh air is hard to come by in china on the list of places with the worst air pollution. beijing says it is taking aggressive steps to change that. the move could be a way to compete with the united states. >> it's rare that you get to see a clear blue sky in beijing. more often the city is

enveloped in smog, the major parts of collusion being factory emissions, as well as colburning. most people start their day checking the air quality index. starting this year, more than 330 cities across china will be required to release realtime data on air quality. of course, the public may choose to view these readings scentically, as they do in beijing. most people refer to rely on readings taken by the u.s. embassy. there's usually discrepancy between the two the chinese data showing lower levels of pollution. the latest move to introduce realtime readings on air quality is part of the chinese leadership attempt to show it's serious and transparent battling pollution. it comes as a revised law takes effect. the no laws allow courts to

impose stiffer penalties as well as prosecutors to bring criminal charges. perhaps an indication that chinese officials are indeed serious about getting tougher on polluters, a recent company fines companies $26 million for plotting the environment. >> china pledged to cap emission of gases and the u.s. promised in return reductions. >> it is time for one of today's discoveries. scientists believe they know why the mayian civilization collapse. the answer they say lice deep in this underwater cave known os the blue hole. >> researchers analyze sediment and say it indicates that there was a series of extreme droughts around the same time the mayan civilization per issued. >> let's get a check of our forecast. >> we are looking at a big travel weekend this weekend as

people leave to go back to their homes after new year's eve. what's going to be the problem is the system down here towards the south. that's going to start to move towards the north. take a look at saturday and you can see across the mississippi river valley, we're dealing with very, very heavy rain, affecting chicago, nashville to dallas. sunday, the system makes its way towards the northeast. we're going to be seeing snow and icing across much of new england, and then all the way down the eastern seaboard, it is going to be very heavy rain for you. >> all right kevin thanks so much. >> thousands of brave souls across the country marked the new year with a polar plunge. >> 3-2-1! >> in boston, they dove in with costumes of all sorts. the air temperature hovered around 25 degrees. >> in minnesota, it was so cold, they had to cut holes in the ice. hundreds strapped on their bathing suits and with nerves of

steel dove into the icy water. >> look at that. >> the city of detroit trying to come back from bankruptcy. >> residents who can no longer afford their homes wonder when the financial help is coming for them. >> the true cost of energy hits home... >> my yard is gone... >> are we destroying our way of life? >> contaminated water from the fracking activities come here >> they stick it to the core of the earth >> but this cutting edge technology could be the answer >> the future of fracking is about the water >> protecting the planet saving lives... >> how do you convince a big oil company to use this? techknow only on al jazeera america

[[vo]] an america tonight in-depth series. >>my first column was, “hey, where are the weed-smoking moms at?” [[vo]] one year legal. >>i'd try chem 4, alien dog, and girl scout cookies. [[vo]] and it's become big business. >>the state of colorado is profiting immensely off of this. [[vo]] now, we cut through the smoke and find out

what's really going on. >>we can show marijuana is leaving colorado. [[vo]] the highs and lows of a year on pot. >> a grim discovery from the jar have a sea more are bodies pulled from the water where search crews are looking for airasia flight 8501. the new technology looking to find the plane. >> another cargo shipped packed with migrant across the seas. smugglers abandoned the boat and hundreds of people onboard. >> the life and career of new york governor mario cuomo how he helped shape the debate between liberal and conservative

we still see today. >> i really was upset about losing it big time. there's nothing i can do about it now. >> looking for a second chance in detroit people who lost their homes to foreclosure now want the same opportunity that their city jeffed welcome to aljazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> i'm morgan radford. >> new developments in the search for airasia flight 8501. officials report finding more bodies today. they are now looking underwater to try and find the plane that disappeared from radar six days ago. >> more bodies were returned this morning where officials are trying to identify those remains and return them to their families. earlier, the remains of three more victims were handed over to loved ones. air asia c.e.o. is accompanying the body of one victim. >> we have been watching these scenes this morning as victims are brought back. >> good morning. i'm afraid the scenes are pretty

grim this morning. they are in no uncertain way absolutely heartbreaking. that good morning to you. we're going to show you these scenes. this is new video just coming up into the studios now. we're seeing them for the first time as you are. as you can see this is more remains arriving. look at that, each temporary coffin is numbered. each one of those numbers references an unidentified victim. the ones that are filmed web showing you now are numbered 11-18. what we don't know is if this includes any of the latest victims found. you can see that these temporary coffins have been brought into the area which has been set aside for the identification process to begin. they will bring some relief to family members though there are still more than 100 bodies

missing. thirty bodies ever now been recovered, a big jump in the last few hours. some were reportedly strapped into their seats. the u.s. is playing a major role in this effort and effort overall is still being delayed by bad weather. >> a helicopter brought book more victims from the java sea. the american navy destroying pulled bodies from the frigid water as part of an air mission to assist with the recovery of airasia flight 8501. >>. teams continue looking for the fuse luge and black boxes which could provide keys to what happened. >> we are conducting special searches today with helicopters to look for bodies, floating objects, debris and passenger belongings. >> today indonesian officials

showed off big pieces of debris. meanwhile, friday prayer services were held at a mosque for the 162 passengers and crew members the majority of them indonesian. >> i pray for all the passengers involved in the air asia tragedy. >> on thursday, more than 100 mourners gathered in the rain for a furan rely service for the first victim of the air crash. the 49-year-old was identified by her fingerprints. her grieving family is bracing for more devastating news. >> we've been fraught with worry because three of our family members are still missing. this is why we pray together every night that they will be found soon. >> planes and ships with special sonar equipment arrived today. in total officials say 55 ships, 14 planes and 19 helicopters from all over the world are now helping with the

search. >> it does seem like it's been very well coordinated and dignified, as well. >> the only major hurdle at the moment is this terrible weather. it is monsoon season, but forecasters hope for a little break on sunday, enough of an envelope to begin early and finish late. >> thank you. >> grieving relatives are searching the hospital in shanghai trying to find loved ones caught in a new year's eve stampede. the death toll stands at 36 with yet another 47 injured. it's not clear what sparked that chaos. investigators have ruled out one theory and that was that somebody was tossing fake money into the crowd. they say that happened after the stampede started. >> the political world reacting this morning to the passing of former new york governor mario cuomo. the liberal icon died thursday at the age of 82. he had been hospitalized recently to treat a heart condition. libby casey joins us from

washington. that good morning. what is mr. cuomo being most remembered for this morning? >> he was a three term governor first elected in 1982. a proud progressive at a time when ronald reagan was president and trickle down economics was the theory of the day the idea if you gave tax breaks to the wealthy and big businesses that the entire economy would benefit. cuomo pushed back at that and jumped on to the national stage in 1984 at the democratic national convention, electrifying and audience that at the time was really looking for a leader. >> a shining city is perhaps all the presidencies from the portico of the white house and veranda of his ranch where everyone seems to be doing well, but there's another city. there's another part to the shining city, the part where some people can't pay their

mortgages, and most young people can't afford one. >> cuomo supported civil rights. he was pro-choice, despite his strong catholic faith a faith that led him to be against the death penalty something also very significant especially in the big state of new york. >> the highest office he ever held was governor in new york state, but he had a huge influence on national politics. >> absolutely. and despite that, he never ran for president. he was pushed to do so twice and there's a legendary moment of decision, when his plane was sitting in the tarmac in albany, he had the flight in new hampshire to hit a filing deadline to run for president. in the 1990's, he chose not to. he really focused on new york state and the battle there. he fought a lot of very pragmatic fights to try to keep the state government running and in the black in terms of its

budget and he left another type of legacy, his son andrew cuomo was sworn in yesterday for his second term at governor. mario cuomos last public appearance was when he won reelection just a few months ago. >> we have heard reaction from both sides of the aisle to miss passing. >> also from across the border in the state of new jersey, governor chris christie putting out this statement: >> libby casey for us in washington this morning, thank

you. >> a new security law was intended to give authority sweeping furious track down on terror suspects. parliament passed a bill last month enkenya. it had a provision to hold terror suspects for a year without charges. >> 2014 was the deadliest year yet in the syrian civil war. more than 76,000 people died last year, many of them civilians. meanwhile, president bashar al assad made a rare public appearance on new year's. he spent the holiday with the soldiers on the front lines. >> a new video has surfaced allegedly showing two italian hostages held in syria. the women plead for help, saying their captors will kill them. in it, the women plead for help, warning their captors -- well i just said that. they do say -- we are not showing that video.

it's not clear who the captors are. >> in 2014, it was one of the deadliest years in recent memory in iraq. more than 15,000 were killed, most civilians. a u.k. based organization said 7,000 were killed just last year. kurdish forces are continuing their operations against isil. muhammed joins us now live from erbil this morning. the kurds are working to recapture a village not far from where you are standing now. why is that village so important in this fight? >> well, this village is very important, because it is the source of water for some of the victims that are between -- about 80 kilometers away from erbil, the capitol of the

region. it's on the road, the highway actually that leads to the city of mosul which remains an isil stronghold up to now. simple issues and clashes like we witnessed yesterday are very common on the countryside of erbil and isil fighters seem to be engaging kurdish forces in a war of attrition, trying to wear them down, knowing very well sheer spread very thin over the 1,000-kilometer long front line, that they are engaging them and also they have a better and far more bigger arsenal than the kurdish forces. >> you mentioned that those clashes are quite common on the hills. strategically, how are those u.s. led airstrikes helping the peshmerga reach their goals?

>> any peshmerga commander or fighter on the front lines will tell you that the only thing doing a difference for them is the coalition airstrikes. that coalition led by the united states is helping them gain ground from isil. in some of the towns and villages that they have so far retaken, we've found very ingenius ways that they were trying to avoid the airstrikes. they have tunnels and covered them with doors they got from the homes in the town that had been deserted and people have fled their homes and they're using those doors. they've been lighting fires to create a smoke screen to hide them from the coalition jet fighters. they still continue to use some ingenius tricks, but the

airstrikes are helping the peshmerga. >> a burnt out ferry is docking this morning along the italian coast. in fact, you are looking at a life picture. there were people traveling who were not on the official passenger manifest. >> the italian coast guard has taken control of yet another ship with stranded migrants onboard. this video shows the rescue crew being lowered in. smugglers abandoned the boat when the ship lost power. there were more than 450 migrants onboard. >> the flu is spreading fast. this is shaping up to be one of the worst flu seasons in years. why? >> it certainly is. cases are surging so much so,

the c.d.c. is now daring it an epidemic. 15 children have died, including a 17-year-old girl in minute sold he at a and 4-year-old boy in texas. more than 500 people have been hospitalized and now doctors say these flu cases putting a strain on health care centers. >> surely those people who feel they're very sick we want to help and will try to help, but we are experiencing long wait times. it's not unusual for an hour or two hour wait at our urgent care. >> there are a series of factors contributing to the problem. this year, the bug is making people sicker than recent years. there is also a low vaccination rate and for those who did get their flu shot, the strain going around is not one of the strains covered by the vaccine. even still doctors say the best way to fend off the flu is by getting the shot, because it protects you from other strains and if you do catch the flu it may make the illness milder, so

it's easier to fight it. >> speaking of sickness, getting cancer may really come down to bad luck. at least so says a study in the science journal where researchers say two thirds of cancers are the result of random mistakes in the division of our cells. most cancers like pancreas, bone ovary and brain can be explained by random mutations. skin and lung cancer are attributed to lifestyle choices. >> a cold snap across the great plains, for more, let's go to our meteorologist. >> major problems we're talking about, not only rain, we're talking about snow in some places, but it is the icing that its going to be the major problem. take a look at these pictures here. this is actually from oklahoma. this happened last evening, and you can see all these trucks off the roads. the icing is still going on across that region overnight. let's look at radar. you can see where these areas of pink are. that is freezing rain.

we expect over the next 24 hours especially the dark purple areas, those are ice warnings, up to a half inch of ice on the roads is expect. the bridges and overpasses going to freeze first then the roads. if you're traveling on i-10, i-20 i-24, that is a problem. the system we see on saturday, this is going to cause a major problem in terms of traveling. a lot of people are going to go back home. we are going to take a broader look at this later in the show. we can expect severe weather meaning thunderstorms are going to be an issue high winds hail could be a problem across parts of louisiana. >> wet start to the new year. thank you very much. >> new details about the deadly shelling of a wedding party in afghanistan. >> afghanistan's military may have mistakenly targeted the wrong house. we'll speak he with colonel

cedric layton about whether it's a troubling sign of afghanistan to handle its own security. >> a shootout during a traffic stop. what was found in the car that turned it into a murder investigation. >> thousands of ukrainians marsh through kiev, their annual event, one of the stories captured by our citizen journalists around the world.

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get the fastest wifi hotspots and more coverage on the go than any other provider. xfinity, the future of awesome. >> thousands hit the streets of kiev for an annual marsh for nationalists carrying torches marking the 106th birthday of a controversial independence leader. >> frustration turns to anger in mumbai for commuters. after three he days of train disruptions, hundreds of protesting in the streets. people threw stones at officers and damaged property there. >> protestors in the streets of bahrain, angry over the jail of an opposition leader. he was arrested this week for taking part in protests against the country's november elections. >> in afghanistan, business

owners are hopeful and concerned about their futures saying political changes in their country are opening doors. >> they also worry the economic situation could slam those doors shut. jennifer glasse spoke with some who are willing to take risks at least for now. >> the factory in kabul can produce 150,000 juice packs a day. the owner is proud his product is homegrown. >> we are the only company in afghanistan that use afghan fruit pulp. >> we met him two years ago right after a truck bombing destroyed the factory. he wasn't sure if he would rebuilt. he is and he's expanding. >> it is high risk to invest,

but as being inhabitant of this country, i think it's a smart move. if i don't do it, who will? >> he employs 350 people now. he buys and produces the juice. he buys the crops of 20,000 farmers. he plans to hire 200 more workers and buy from more farmers to produce three times as much juice. >> he says the government has made no changes and the economy remains at a standstill. >> wholesaler knows that, as he pounds the pavements trying to sell energy drink. >> shop keepers don't buy anything from us. many shop keepers ever closed their shops or gone out of business because of the uncertain situation. they don't want to invest anything. >> this man said investment is out of the question. his store used to be three times as big.

now, he's just struggling to survive. >> 11 people depend on this shop to live and we are traiting at a loss. we are living off savings and instead of expanding our business, we're going backwards. >> he hopes the new government will do something to help turn the economy around, but he's not sure what they can do and whether it will be in time to save his business. al jazeera kabul. >> four afghan soldiers have been handed over to authorities in connection to the deadly bomb that go killed 17 people at a wedding. most of the victims were women and children. officials say the strike was a mistake. the troops apparently fired on oh the wedding party during a fight with taliban soldiers in the same area. the attack comes days after afghan forces officially took over the country's security from the u.s. and nato troops. i want to bring in from san antonio this morning retired air force colonel cedric layton, a

former head of the joint chiefs of staff. when you hear about a tragedy like this wedding party being hit, does it shake your confidence in the ability of afghan forces to take over after nato troops leave? >> it certainly does. this is a very big issue, when it comes to their ability to say secure the country their ability to actually handle security issues of this type. i would caution against one particular incident as being a harbinger of things to come, but there have been many of these instances, and there are many issues where we have to be very careful to watch for divisions within the afghan army and the afghan police forces. we have to also understand that because afghanistan is such an ethnically diverse country there are going to be issues as far as organization is concerned, as far as corruption is concerned among many other issues related to this. i think there is going to be

some significant problems with them really taking over security responsibility after the u.s. forces have left. >> the 11,000 troops remaining is that enough of a residual force to continue to support afghan troops? >> i don't think so. i think there has to be a larger number there. that doesn't mean we get directly involved in the fighting but 11,000 troops in a country that is as large as afghanistan with so many people and so many issues, that's going to really stretch the limits of our capability to train them and it's also going to make it very difficult for us to influence afghan military and afghan security forces. >> does the u.s. need to worry that the taliban gains enough power in afghanistan that they take over kabul create a foot hold to create major problems in pakistan? >> absolutely.

i think there are going to be significant issues with the future dynamic of the central government in kabul vis a vis the taliban and actually other groups out there, as well. there are a lot of competing factions out there. we also can't forgot the drug dealers, the opium producers in afghanistan, which form a large part of the speak and form a basis for the taliban to actually continue its operations. so, there is a real risk that kabul is very vulnerable. the security situation in that capitol is better than it is in the provinces, but it is not 100% and there is some significant, significant issues with security in that nation's capitol, so i see 2015 as being a very crucial year for the afghan government, as well as for the future of that country. >> we will continue this conversation. colonel, thank you so much. >> you bet my pleasure, thank you so much and happy new year. >> in malaysia, floodwaters are

receding and victims returning to see what's left of their homes. the government is start to go assess the damage from the worst flood the country has seen in decades. 100,000 people remain in evacuation shelters and recovery could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. let's get another look at the weather with our meteorologist kevin, who joins us now. >> just because the floodwaters are receding, that doesn't mean that we're not going to be seeing more rain. of course, this is the rainy season. we're just not going to see them as heavy as we did the last two weeks. for much of the southwest we're talking if we look at the radar and clouds, not as much in terms of rain, snow. what we do have is a lot of cold air in place across the region. right now, good morning, las vegas, waking up at 30 degrees, palm springs at 35, los angeles you are down to 39 degrees. with those colder temperatures in some areas, we are seeing

freeze warnings, as well as front of the in some regions. that for example where you see these dark purples that is hard freeze warnings in effect right now. people are looking at very cold temperatures across the region, as well as southern arizona, as well as southern california. but it is not going to last. we are going to see those temperatures start to rise over the next couple of days. today, las vegas the temperature goes back up to 46 degrees. after that, notice these overnight lows, they start to rise. we finally start to go back to normal. >> thank you so much. >> thousands of people in detroit are being forced from their homes. >> in most cases, they are foreclose said on because they can't pay their taxes. but much like the city itself, there is hope. we have a live report from bisi onile-ere straight ahead. >> seek ago new way to get out of prison, our al jazeera

journalists hope the president will deport them. >> farmers facing off against armed riot police.

>> taking a live look in italy where the ferry that caught fire en route from greece is being towed this morning. welcome to al jazeera america. ahead in our next half hour, a number of americans are beginning the new year with a raise, thanks to increasing minimum wages. a look at whether the extra money will really add up. >> cubans say race. >> is still alive on the island. they are still struggling after the revolution to bring equality to all. >> more bodies found in the search for airasia flight 8501. coffins have been arriving the last few hours where so far 30 bodies have been recovered of the 162 people onboard. the search for the jet has moved underwater with the arrival of

specialized edecks equipment. >> breakout the hand sanitizer and tissues, because the flu is now reported in 36 states. the c.d.c. has declared it an epidemic. hundreds have been hospitalized and so far, 15 children died. the flu vaccine isn't a good match for this year's strain of the virus. >> the political world is remembering a political icon this morning. mario cuomo has died at the age of 82. he spent three terms at governor of new york and spent longer promoting democratic causes and really talking about liberal edeals. he considered running for president twice but never we understand ahead with that campaign. >> detroit crossed a major hurdle in 2014 emerging from bankruptcy but there are fears of another crisis now. an estimated 62,000 homes in the city could go into foreclosure soon. let's go to bisi onile-ere live in detroit this morning. residents still living in these houses.

what's prompting these potential foreclosures? >> good morning, stephanie. well, there are a number of factors. first of all, there are thousands of residents here in detroit who have fallen behind on their bills. this is also the first time that wayne county has foreclosed on every single property eligible for tax foreclosure. drive through parts of detroit and you'll see rundown homes and foreclosure notices. look more closely and you'll see thriving neighborhoods of squatters. some like rosalyn johnson are living in homes they once owned. >> what were the emotions you felt buying your first home? >> i was excited. that i mean, you know, excited felt that sense of pride. >> johnson is 47, and unemployed. her house was sold at auction in october, because she was more than $15,000 behind on property

taxes. >> it's hard. it's not easy. i really was upset about losing this big time, but there's nothing i can do about it now so... >> it's the same stair for thousands of other detroiters in a city hit hard by poverty blight and bankruptcy. >> detroit is part of wayne county which has launched an aggressive campaign to foreclosure on 62,000 properties. more than $300 million is owed in taxes. it's estimated that one in seven residents could be affected. >> it is absolutely a crisis. i think it's a crisis that 10 years ago we saw coming. >> michigan state representative rashieda says detroit can't afford to lose anymore residents. >> to me, it's so valuable to keep those families in those homes and trying to figure out a

way that is not this whole one shoe fits all approach, but looking at individual families. >> this is the future of all these foreclosed homes. >> that's what michelle did after serving tax foreclosed properties, the young writer launched a fundraiser to help a dozen families save their homes. donations helped families buy back their homes for as little as $500, with no obligation to pay black taxes. >> truly represent as huge opportunity to have a clean slate, just like the city has gotten in many respects with this bankruptcy. >> they nearly turned their backs on detroit. >> i am so grateful. i look at everything different now. i went from i should stop caring make myself stop caring and being involved to now i'm ready to be -- ready to invest myself back into the community because i'm here and i'm here to stay and i know i am.

>> they say the problem is that many residents don't have access to information that could help them. johnson is one of them. she says the new owners of her home around forcing her out yet but she knows her days here are numbered. >> i know god got me. i'll be blessed with something else if not this here, something better so i ain't going to worry about it. >> michigan lawmakers have approved legislation giving people more time to pay off property taxes and lower the interest rate on presidents. the governor is expected to sign the bills into law. the move is too late to help johnson, but it could help keep tens of thousands of detroit families in their homes. >> detroit mayor mike dugan played an instrumental part convincing lawmakers to pass legislation that will help residents save their homes. it's all part of his plan to eliminate blight and collect lost revenue.

>> in your piece some residents said they didn't have access to information that could have helped them through this. are wane county officials doing anything to fix that? >> as one resident put it, detroit is an information desert. it's hard to come by. yes, the county plans to hold some town hall meetings for residents who's holes are going through this foreclosure process. a lot of people hope this will help the city of detroit avert a foreclosure crisis. >> bisi onile-ere in detroit thank you. >> also in detroit, general motors is out with another recall. this involved 92,000 full sized trucks and s.u.v.s for a defect in the ignition lock system. on the list, the chef silverado tahoe, and cadillac escalade.

>> two police officers in west virginia are recovering this morning from gunshot wounds after a shootout during a traffic stop. officials say the officers were investigating a stolen s.u.v. when a truck pulled over and opened fire. one officer returned fire, wounding the suspect in the leg. both the driver of the stolen s.u.v. and the truck fled. they did eventually turn themselves in. police also discovered two bodies in the back of the s.u.v. under a mattress. that makes this a murder investigation now. >> florida will be the latest state to allow same sex marriages and clerks will begin issuing licenses next. thursday, a federal judge said his ruling to throw out florida's marriage ban now applies statewide. the state attorney general is appealing, but that will not stop clerks from issuing the licenses. >> there are calls for egypt's president to intervene in the case of our three colleagues still detained in egypt. the three have been behind bars now for more than a year simply for doing their jobs.

>> on thursday, an egyptian court order add retrial. now there's an effort to have the journalists deported. we have more. >> they spent all of last year behind bars and they remain in jail despite an appeals court granding a retile. the three journalists still do not have their freedom. the judge said it was not in his power to grant bail. >> we welcome the court's decision to accept the appeal of our journalists, but at the same time, we demand that they are immediately released. they are unjustly imprisoned. everything is politicized their arrests and verdict against them were also applied sides. >> after the arrests of the three al jazeera staff on december 29, 2013, it was initially assume that had there had been a mix up over aaccreditations. it soon became clear that the egyptian authorities had other

intentions. a veteran correspondent who was an africa specialist, but by his own admission new little about egypt was shocked by the accusation that he was linked in some way to what the government described as terrorists. the same could be said of his team. by mid january much of the international media was demanding their release, as well as the hash tag #free aj staff went crime. viral. the trial failed to come up with anything against the three men which could even vaguely have been said to incriminate them. a video of sheep herding some work from kenya footage from a different channel entirely were found on their lap taps.

adjournment after adjournment followed until they were jailed. today's court ruling order ago retrial doesn't mean the men will be leaving jail soon. >> i was disappointed. i was expecting something better today. i was expecting yes a retrial but expect, that a release today. we really really hoping for that. >> the first trial was most unfair and unjust, and there is nothing that can be guaranteed even for a retrial. our hope and expectation is that that will get peter home sooner. it is not just a single track process in that we understand that that is not going to cross the progression of the other legal stream and that is his case being taken to a retrial.

>> in the past 12 months, world leaders, including president obama denounced the men's imprisonment. hearing news of a retrial a human rights lawyer said world leaders could do more. >> the most useful thing we could do is to get president obama, our friends in the white house to speak out against egypt, because they've been for all their free speech beliefs they've been very quiet on this one, perhaps because there's no american journalists, but we can do a lot more now and i think we've got to. >> the egyptian government has always said the journalists imprisonment was not a political decision and it was now up to the appeals process to determine what should happen next. now that a retrial has been ordered, there is hope that this ordeal will be over soon. until then, al jazeera and journalists around the world continue to campaign for the freedom of three men who remain behind bars for simply doing

their job. al jazeera. >> criminal defense attorney theodore simon joins us from philadelphia this morning. theodore, good morning to you. you have had a lot of experience in some pretty high profile cases representing americans abroad charged with crimes. two of our journalists are native egyptians. does that work in their favor or against it? >> it's an interesting question. i think in this particular case, it probably will work in their favor that they're not egyptian, because there's a greater international outcry. we can see that the charges that were brought really were not substantiated in any way by the proof. you have to start asking

yourself were they prosecuted for not what was alleged to have been done, but who they are. we know they work for al jazeera. we know that al jazeera is owned by the qatar government and the qatar governments in a feud with the egyptian government because it's alleged that the qatar government supported the now ousted muslim brotherhood. i think that may be at its base. when we look at the proof in the case the only way you could characterize it as irrelevant, incomprehensive, no one discernible -- >> i wanted to interrupt you to go back to something you said. you said it wasn't about what they he did but who they are. in short, do you think the egyptian government is using these journalists to really send a message and set an example for their own people? >> well, i think that's a good question, because it appears that they are in fact collateral

damage in an effort to quell any kind of dissent any kind of free expression, even though what these individuals did can't even be said to be in the nature of any kind of true dissent. the proof was little more than footage of sheep a press conference family photos of of mr. greste, other news network production. there was really a shocking absence of any kind of evidence to support the charge. >> what's also shocking -- what's also shocking for a lot of people yesterday after being granted an appeal, they applied for a deportation frome egypt. was that a good move strategically? >> a good move in this case is to try to get out of the country lawfully as quickly as possible and the president the new president of the country pass add decree after this case that

permitted foreign nationals to ask for a deportation rather than go through the criminal process and either have their sentence sent to the foreign country or have a retrial in the home country. deportation has always been an available remedy in these types of cases. i think what we come down to in the very end, in this case, there has been some shocking problems, including that the lawyers in the case on appeal were only permitted two minutes to argue. at the trial the actual evidence and much of the video was not permitted to be seen by the lawyers and this is like any other case, we are left with criminal defense lawyers to protect these rights, to check to ensure the freedoms of everyone and in fact are the champions and our liberty's last champions, it was left to the lawyers to make the best arguments they could. >> before we lecturing i want to get into some details of that argument. just quickly now that the appeals court has called for that retrial how likely does it seem that these journalists will

in fact get released? >> i think the most likely prospect here is that the request for deportation there's a substantial chance of that being granted, because that would permit those folks to leave the country and it would not subject the government there to what appears to be an in substantial case and one that does not have any evidence. >> so it's a step in the right direction -- for the government to simply let them go. >> thanks so much for being with us. a lot of states have taken action on the minimum wage. we have more. >> give america a raise! >> a command from the commander-in-chief to help relieve the working poor. as the new year began, more than 3 million americans who earn minimum wage are getting a raise.

minimum wage increases have gone into effect in 20 states as well as in the district of columbia. in total, 29 states now have minimum wages above the federal rate of $7.25. washington, d.c. has the highest minimum wage, at $9.50. analysts estimate that the initial increases in these states add as many as a few pennies to a paycheck, but not much more than a dollar. >> you have to imagine if you're relying on minimum wage as your earnings, $6 is another quarter tank of gas. that might be enough to get you through the week. >> the federal minimum wage has been stuck since 2007. congress has not agreed on increasing it, calling president obama to raise the minimum wage of all federal contractors to $10.10 an hour. >> if you cook our troops meals or wash their dishes, you should not have to live in poverty. >> those wages are in effect in

washington where government contractors restoring the capitol dome. as minimum wages are raised, 45 million americans still live below the poverty line. that's less than $20,000 for a family of four. those americans include albina. >> it's really hard. really hard. sometimes you don't have money. sometimes i've tried to give them a lot of things, but that's hard. >> many say closing the gap between the rich and poor means increasing the federal minimum wage. >> we'd like to see that happen at a national level creating more good jobs by investing in infrastructure to rebuild our roads and bridges is another step that would raise wages. >> critics worry about the cost of businesses who are about to feel the effect of having that pay higher wages. that includes wal-mart. the company employs 1.3 million workers and is now adjusting the salaries of workers at nearly

one third of it's 1400 stores. >> from an employer standpoint, if you have 100 employees getting minimum wage, that's a big increase in pay. you're going to have to now add that to your bottom line. something has to change, whether it's more profitability or less man power. >> more states will see wage increases throughout the year. in july, the minimum wage in washington d.c. will climb to $10.50. >> cuba's revolution 50 years ago promised equality. >> some say racism is still prevalent. the argument, it's only gotten worse. >> the college football national championship matchup is set. the first ever playoff sending ohio state and oregon to the state game. stay tuned.

>> protests in myanmar continue where demonstrators are demanding a controversial copper mining project be shut down. >> there is a violent crackdown on protestors at the mine site. >> pro testers turned a stretch of road into a show of defiance against a mine and the government. >> we will give the people fewer fight the government. >> the marsh was an act of solidarity for villagers more than 160 kilometers away. farmers here in the province have been fighting the expansion of a copper mine. they face add wall of police and bullets. almost two weeks ago police kill would a woman in her 50s as she and protestors tried to stop workers from building a fence around the mine. >> instead of protecting the country's citizens, the government has always resorted

to violence in handle any public disputes. >> the mine is a joint venture between a chinese company and a conglomerate owned by the myanmar military. villagers say the mine is snatching farmland and destroying the environment. >> we want to demand the government maintain the rule of law in this country. >> the chinese company says it's expand to go comply with permit requirements. it promise to say pour 2% have the mine's profit into community development, but given the long standing anger and the violence, it's hard to imagine the mine's presence will ever be welcome in this farming community. al jazeera. >> protestors say the project raises questions about myanmar's reliance on investment from china. >> vice president joe biden is working to restrengthen diplomatic relations with brazil. he marked the new year there attending the president's

inauguration for her second term. both are pledging closer cooperation on regional as well as global issues. the relationship frayed amid revelations that the u.s. had spied on her private communications. >> encuba, the promise of a new diplomatic era with the u.s. is raising hopes for a brighter future. some say it's racism really holding the country back. >> the revolution patrolsed an end to discrimination. deep rooted prejudice remains. >> he is proud of his african heritage. 1 million african that slaves were brought to the island mostly to work on sugar sugar contain cane plantations. >> we are all the same. whites are even practicing our

african religion. >> the official line in the constitution is that all cubans, men and women black and white are equal. there's no doubt that many african cubans have thrived however manual labor is still mostly done by black cubans, while there are a few afro cuban managers in the new industry or new foreign enterprises in the islands. this woman is optimistic about their future. >> it's a social process that needs time and pace. i feel this is not just a black person's fight. it's society's fight the fight for a group that's been denied its rights to be full citizens. >> more than 50 years after the triumph of the revolution a promised equality for all the

wealthier neighborhoods here are still predominantly white while neighborhoods such as this one are still predominantly afro cuban. fundamental change it seems can be a long time coming. >> it was only when this afro cuban housing project was renovated that barbara felt she and her neighbors began to be accepted by the rest of society. >> it's because we are black. the problem was because we are black. they saw us as uncultured, but not now. >> the problem is also exacerbated by the aftermath of the very revolution that sought you to liberate cuba's black population. it was wealthier white cubans who fled to the united states and now send money to family members who stayed behind. >> one of the mistakes at the beginning of the revolution was to say that we're all equal. if we'd recognized the situation, we could have done

something about it. we are equal but some of more equal than others. >> the cube that revolution promised an end to racism and discrimination a promise some feel has only been partially fulfilled. al jazeera havana. >> some activists say racism in cuba thrives because it isn't openly talked about. the cuban government doesn't allow prejudice to be debated politically or culturally. >> four teams entered new year's ready to vy for the national championship. >> florida state was crushed the ducks overwhelmed last year's national champ with a blazing fast offense racking up 636 total yards. >> the buckeyes pulled off a shocking win upsetting alabama 42-35. the running back ripped off an

85-yard touchdown. that's it for us here in new york. >> have a great morning. we'll see you back here tomorrow at 7:30. >> on techknow >> we should not be having earthquakes in texas >> the true cost of energy hits home... >> my yard is gone... >> are we destroying our way of life? >> contaminated water from the fracking activities come here >> they stick it to the core of the earth >> but this cutting edge technology could be the answer >> the future of fracking is about the water >> protecting the planet saving lives... >> how do you convince a big oil company to use this? techknow only on al jazeera america

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. coast guards scramble to rescue another migrant ship found off of the coast of italy without a crew. ♪ i'm shiulie ghosh with the world news from al jazeera, also coming up. [ explosion ] the battle for northern iraq kurdish forces fight to hold off isil. kenya's high court suspends a controversial new security