ng to happen no way. >> watch more "faultlines" on demand or visit aljazeera.com/faultlines. ♪ hostage exchange on hold jordan still willing to deal but demands i.s.i.l. proved a kidnapped pilot is still alive. more changes for cuba a push to end the travel band and the boom to business along the gulf. tracking ebola, far fewer cases reported but fears the deadly virus is mutating and the measles outbreak spreads and hundreds at risk and some becoming ill because others refuse to vaccinate.

this is al jazeera america live from new york city i'm tony harris the latest i.s.i.l. deadline for prisoner swap has come and gone. there is still no word on the fate of a kidnapped jordanian pilot and japanese journalist and i.s.i.l. said it would free the japanese man and spare his life if jordan releases a would be suicide bomber but says no deal without profit the pilot is still alive and andrew simmons is in the pilot's hometown. >> reporter: a prayer as the sun goes down and somber moment in jordan and a deadline set for the hostage takers over the fate of pilots muath al-kaseasbeh, i.s.i.l. said if this woman would be suicide bomber sajida al-rishawa wasn't take ever off death row and handed over it would kill the jordanian pilot but jordan government announced

it needed proof that i.s.i.l. known in aerobic as dash that the lieutenant was still alive. >> jordan is ready to exchange with the jordanian pilot muath al-kaseasbeh. at this point we want to emphasize that we have asked for a proof of life from dash and we have not received anything as of yet. >> reporter: i.s.i.l. had wanted to exchange sajida al-rishawa for japanese film maker and japan's government had a special enjoyvenvoy trying to make it work. >> translator: we continue to get information and share it we and the government are working as one for the early release. >> reporter: it's unclear there there was hope of a three-way deal and muath al-kaseasbeh family belonged to a big influential tribe here in

southern jordan. this is the gathering point for friends and family. waiting to hear some form of news. there is an anger here that jordan became involved with the alliance against i.s.i.l. the pilot's brother had this to say. >> translator: this war is not our war here. and all jordanian citizens say this statement and now i'm very sad about my brother in this situation but i believe god will bliss muath and hope he comes back here to his parents, to his home. >> reporter: and so the lives of a jordanian pilot, a japanese film maker and a would-be suicide bomber are at at stake, jordan and japan have competing interests in getting their citizens released and i.s.i.l. will play the next hand. andrew simmons, al jazeera in

southern jordan. >> reporter: at the part of this is sajida al-rishawa a failed suicide bomber and largely forgotten and who is this woman? randall helps us with the question and sajida al-rishawa was 36 years old when she helped launch an attack on innocent civilians in jordan and reportedly married another suicide bomber in order to help him gain access to a wedding. for more than nine years this woman has been on death row in a jordanian prison. suddenly she is front and center in a possible prisoner swap with i.s.i.l. in 2005 sajida al-rishawa and her husband attacked a muslim wedding party in jordan both of them were wearing explosive belts like this one. his detonated, killing 60 people. hers didn't. she escaped but was captured convicted and sentenced.

analysts say sajida al-rishawa showed no remorse. >> she had absolutely no qualms going into a wedding which there were sunni muslim women and children. >> reporter: "new york times" reports that sajida al-rishawa has ties to al-qaeda and iraq that gave rise to i.s.i.l. one of her brothers was an aide to al-qaeda leader who was killed by u.s. forces. her brothers were also killed by american forces. so she reportedly became a suicide bomber to avenge her brothers deaths and until now no one considered her an important player but she may be seen as inspiration to i.s.i.l. followers as one of the first female suicide bombers. >> may lead women who are inspired by her not emulate being a wife or caregiver but being an martar. >> reporter: friends spoke out online against the prisoner swap no one should give in to the demand of i.s.i.s. or all

al-quida and reopens a wound that has never healed for myself and the surviving members of the family. others including the groom at the wedding disagree. i don't think she is very important. if it's 100% sure to get the pilot back we support this. the groom the father was killed in the 2005 attack and told the "new york times" that if sajida al-rishawa is released he expects her to attempt another suicide bombing. >> reporter: randall thank you, a series of attacks in egypt have left dozens dead and many more injured, car bombs and mortars hit police and military facilities in three towns in sanaa and a wing of i.s.i.l. claimed responsibility for attacks. lebanon border with israel was calm after fighting but israelis

in the area are very much on alert and nick is in the golan heights with more nick? >> reporter: yeah tony good afternoon, very much on alert because we are so close in golan to lebanon you can hear my voice, apologize, i'm losing it. you see the lights over my left shoulder that is lebanon and the space between here and lebanon, obviously it's filled with a mine field. this afternoon israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu specified that the attack we saw yesterday only half-a-mile from here was caused by iran but as you said this border area was calm today to the relief of all the people who live here. but also allowing israel to grieve. jerusalem military cemetery in front of a crowd of thousands,

israel buried a beloved company commander, draped in the flag for which he fought was killed yesterday by a hezbollah missile and called him a father figure behind their purple his father bereaved and shattered and leaves a pregnant wife and one-year-old baby and his death leaves a border on high alert. the dust from this attack has not yet settled. israeli soldiers working on the same border where he was killed think they might have found something. they are searching for tunnels. they are worried that hezbollah fighters are preparing to sneak under ground into israel communities and drills dig holes in the spots where soldiers suspect hezbollah fighters may be working and cables with cameras deep under ground. they can see what they dig up. that is a screen right there. for now these are just precautions.

they and local security officials hope the border stays quiet. >> translator: we do not want an escalation at all, we want a routine. >> reporter: throughout the area israeli soldiers try to maintain that routine, right outside the attack site they block the road. and israel's northern most point they stand guard. beyond those mountains is syria. at their base is israel's only ski slope. it might seem a strange location for a resort the attack was only a few miles from here but the families who came today play in a form of defiance. >> translator: it's safe here and if it's not safe here it's not safe in all israel. >> reporter: he is teaching his four-year-old son how to ski. there was an attack as you know a couple miles from here yesterday. why are you here today? >> translator: educational for my children and need to learn the lesson that hezbollah might be able to scare us but life

must continue. >> reporter: he hopes this troubled border stays quiet so he can teach his sons how to ski and how to be useful. indirectly hezbollah and israeli government actually traded messages saying that neither one wanted to escalate so tony it is expected to remain calm here but that will be challenged by a speech tomorrow a rare speech by the head of hezbollah of course he is expected to speak in beirut tomorrow and criticize the attack that started this violence or this round of violence almost two weeks ago and israeli drone killing six hezbollah fighters and a general. >> okay rest that voice, please. three american contractors have been killed in kabul afghanistan in what appears to have been an insider attack an afghan was also killed in the shooting.

the kabul airport according to reports he may have been a member of afghanistan security forces. in recents years there have been dozens of attacks against the u.s. led coalition in afghanistan, homeland security cheech is warning threat on attack on u.s. soil remains ever present and telling americans to be on the look out for threats and jamie mcintyre has more from washington jamie. >> jay johnson's message is that in the more than a decade since september 11 attacks the threat against the u.s. evolved into something that is more decentralized, more diffuse and more complex. in glendale arizona tight security is being put in pleas for sunday's superbowl the sporting event and a giant headache for u.s. officials for detecting and preventing attacks. >> concerned about the domestic based threat lurking in our midst, the so called lone wolf

who may be inspired by this extremist propaganda on the internet and can strike with little or no notice. >> reporter: johnson inspected the super bowl site this week and after a small recreational drone went down on the white house grounds monday the faa issued a warning to football fans via youtube the stadium is a no drone zone. >> leave your drone at home. >> reporter: in his state of homeland security address they said the attacks in paris as well as ottawa and sidney prompted him to order increased police presence at federal buildings in major cities in the united states and he chastised republicans in one of the building, the u.s. capitol for trying to link funding for homeland security to a move to reverse some of president obama executive actions. >> in these times the homeland security budget of this government should not be a political football. i urge congress to pass and appropriation bill for dhs free

and clear of politically charged amendments. >> reporter: as if to drive home the point johnson shared a photo from 1966 of an 8-year-old johnson and his sister. >> recently as 1966 a private everyday family of tourists like ours could drive our car on to the grounds of the u.s. capitol and park it with no inspection or prior notice just a few feet from the building. this is the same spot today. the public parking lot is gone replaced by a few black suburbs police vehicle and heavily armed members of the capitol police. >> reporter: johnson says the counter terrorist effort now is focused and taking the fight to groups of threatening the united states in places like iraq and syria and yemen and increaseing security at home and urging

hyper vigilant and say something, see something campaign which has to be more than a slogan. >> times have changed and at the white house thank you. the republican controlled senate has approved the keystone excel pipeline and the bill passed with a simple majority this afternoon and authorizes construction of a nearly 1200 mile pipeline from canada to the gulf coast and president obama promised to veto the bill and promising an end to cuts known as sequestration and said it would help the middle class and boost spending on defense and we are in washington d.c. for us and lisa what else do we know about the proposed budget? >> reporter: tony the white house and president calling the budget middle class economics. as you mentioned a key part of this in something they announced today is that the budget would try to end those across the board budget cuts that went this effect in 2013 so the president is proposing an increase in spending over the current budget

limits of 7 p%, $74 billion increase half go to defense, half to domestic programs. now in a piece the president wrote if congress rejects my plan and refuses to undo these arbitrary cuts it will threaten our economy and our military. so how are they going to pay for the increased spending? the white house says cutting waste and closing tax holes on the wealthy. and to help the middle class the president proposed a number of things and outlined many of them in the state of the union speech including tax credits for child care paid sick leave and free community college. speaking about the budget today at the white house spokesman josh artist. >> this is an important announcement because it codifies the president's values and vision for the country and republicans in congress will certainly have their say and we look forward to seeing what they put forward. >> reporter: and, in fact they will have their say starting monday particularly when they

actually get the formal budget from the white house and start no doubt reading all of the thousands of pages, tony carefully >> exactly, exactly, now that lisa republicans control both the house and senate should we expect a bit of backlash here? >> reporter: i would say that is a given. there is plenty in this budget for republicans to hate. you know the white house is talking about closing tax loopholes on the wealthy and republicans see that as a tax cut. or a tax hike excuse me and oppose and lots of others who don't want increase spending on sequestration and people hate the across the board budget cuts but republicans made it clear they will not do away with them by approving tax hikes so, in fact let the budget battles begin. >> lisa in washington and thank you. oil prices hit their lowest level in nearly five years and while the drop in prices is good news for consumers oil giants are feeling the squeeze.

and new video of a controversial police killing in texas raising more questions about police use of lethal force.

♪ leme take you to mexico city and live pictures at least two people were killed when a fuel truck exploded at a maternity hospital and the blast levelled much of that building there mexico city mayor said it happened when a hose burst during a delivery of natural gas and unclear how many people were injured. nearly a year after it went missing disappearance of malaysia 370 has been declared an accident 239 people on board to the flight to beijing when it vanished and means the families can begin to receive compensation and we have more. >> reporter: statements have

been made by the civil aviation authority of malaysia and today on thursday was no different. we were expecting a technical statement to be made by the caa, an update on what they knew about the technical information that they managed to gather from the search scenario. but this unprecedented statement being made by the caa and the dean here really did come out of the blue stating now that the malaysia government and caa agree that the flight mh-370 with 239 passengers on board, passengers and crew, is now officially missing. it leaves the door open for negotiations between the airline and the families who have lost their loved ones to start compensation deals will be negotiated on a case by case scenario but it allows the families to be able to gain a

death certificate or paperwork that will allow them to get a death certificate in their respective countries and try to progress with their lives so the families in malaysia have been silent and quiet about what has gone on and some may not want to recognize or admit the loved ones are dead and we will wait for the coming days to what their reaction will be made to the statement being made and malaysia airlines and government says the search continues for the plane, 18,000 square kilometers of indian ocean have been searched and at a depth of 6,000 meters and authorities here are saying they will not give up the search to try and find the missing malaysia airlines plane. ♪ the price of oil continued its slide, at one point crude was trading before $44 a barrel prices have not been that low since 2009 "real money" is here and good to see you, look in this supply and demand equation what is happening with oil, too

much supply? has demand dried up? what is going on here? >> it's a mixture of both. for one thing we have a slow down in much of the global economy especially from china. now while this slow down is going on of course the economy slow down and don't need as much energy to build out with the business activity. at the same time we have this glut of supply in the market partly from shale and we talked about it before opec is keeping the taps open and saudi arabia says it's going to continue to keep the taps open and not going to cut production to prices and saudi arabia says that it's doing this to defend its market share against u.s. shale fractures. >> energy producers just taking a hit here? >> energy producers are definitely taking a hit and phillips the third largest energy producer posted the first loss since 2008 and said they will cut $2 billion of spending and royal dutch will cut $15 billion of spending over three

years and that is because if they are going to green light projects it has to be profitable and oil which is trading about 60% off of its june highs is simply not as profitable for them to be green lighting these projects. >> maybe not great news for the energy producers but for consumers this has to be good news. >> consumers this is fantastic news because it puts change in their pocket for the u.s. economy 70% of the u.s. economy as you well know is down to consumer spending so the more money the consumers and middle class get the extra money and spend that right away. so that is fantastic and economists are pretty bullish on the impact of that extra boom in consumer spending on u.s. economy but bear in mind the other big buzz word in economic circles is diversence and caterpillar makes big earth

moving commitment and they posted disappointing earnings and said sales are down about 9% this year and again this is because energy and mining, companies, they are not green lighting the new blodgettprojects and big orders if you will for earth moving equipment. >> help me with this consumer spending, is it enough to offset decline in oil prices? >> many feel in the u.s. it is because the economy is driven by consumer spending and that is what is keeping it boyant but the you live in a state that had a big boom from fracking and in those states you will see job losses. >> north dakota. >> north dakota texas. >> right. >> you will see job losses and also going to see lower tax revenue because the operations are not as profitable. >> terrific. divergence the word of the day and patty from "real money," dropping oil prices are good for consumers they are hitting the industry hard and you can see it in places like aberdeen

scotland and we have the report. >> reporter: on the eastern coast of scotland the success story thanks largely to oil and gas and 30,000 people work in the off shore industry 10 times as many are employed in related sectors like engineering but bp and shell announcing hundreds of north sea cuts and focused people's attention on the impact of low oil prices and this is the original fishing village from a time when that industry provided jobs for much of the local workforce. now in the 1970s the oil exploration took off and made it an extremely prosperous city and some people are wondering whether that prosperity could be at risk and i caught up with a woman who used to work in the oil and gas industry and her husband still does as an engineer and confident it will be thriving when her son grows

up. >> if the off shore oil and gas is there then there is always work coming from overseas and we have skills in the city so work will come from i'm sure foreign waste. >> reporter: warning the future of the industry could be in danger unless the government steps in with tax breaks for oil producers. >> oil producers are high government saw fit to increase oil and taxes. so the oil price drops and should have this stopped. it's about not sustaining jobs but production of oil and sustaining of the revenue stream from the economy as a hole. >> reporter: they certainly feels like it's thriving and unemployment is 2% and city center full of businesses catering for people urging above uk salaries and at this bar they are not worried about oil

prices, i asked the assistant manager why. >> a lot of people say oil and being an oil and gas city and driven by oil, there is and it's not 100% driven by oil, we have services and a lot of different services here and not just dedicated to oil and gas. >> reporter: if it doesn't rise in the next few months confidence in major investors and jobs could take a further dip, al jazeera, aberdeen. ebola in west africa on the decline but researchers fear the virus may survive by mutating and as relacings with cuba begin to thaw farmers in louisiana look to expand their business into the island nation.

♪ there are new developments in the global battle against ebola,

the number of new cases in west africa is down but researchers warn the virus is mutating and roxanne has more on the story for us. >> the world health organization is shifting efforts from slowing the spread of the disease to stopping the outbreak, at the same time scientists in paris say the virus has evolved. >> reporter: good news in the fight against ebola, the number of new cases is dropping in the hardest hit countries to below 100 for the first time in seven moves. >> the countries know what to do now and have the capacities they need this could be driven to 0. >> reporter: the world health organization says last week sierra leone had 65 new cases and new guinea and leaving 9,000 people dead. to end the out break the world health organization is shifting efforts to what it calls

contract tracing. >> fewer cases but for every case you want to identify everybody that has come in contact with them monitor them and make sure that they don't come down with the disease. >> reporter: but just as the focus is shifting scientists say the virus is evolving. >> so the ebola virus is similar to hiv or the flu virus and viruses that are sloppy when they replicate which means that they mutate at a high rate. >> reporter: researches in paris want to find out if ebola has become less deadly but more contagious. they are analyzing blood in guinea and found in many cases infected people had no symptoms at all, making it harder to track victims and harder to test new vaccines. >> the ebola virus mutates the drugs, treatments vaccines we have in the pipeline may not work against the new strain so we are very concerned that this could stall our efforts to have

new drugs and vaccines for ebola. >> reporter: the virus has shattered the economies of liberia, sierra leone and the governments plan to meet in march to rebuild the economy. >> a lot of dollars will be needed roxanne appreciate it thank you. katie is with us the founder of more than me it's a charity that helps disadvantage advance of school children and four cases confirmed in liberia last week when you left the country a few weeks ago was there a real sense of hope that the country had actually turned the corner on the outbreak? >> yes, when i left we had just got the announcement that schools and the president announced that schools would be reopening and, yeah the numbers were significantly dropping and definitely people were hopeful. >> are you concerned about complacency? >> yeah i think that ebola

started with one person. so obviously even with a handful of cases it could come back if people don't pay attention and a lot of attention and extra attention right now. >> where does the credit go for the level of containment that we see today? >> i mean i worked in the community. i would say that it was -- no one will fight harder to save their lives than the actual person who is trying to save their life so community members who fought and the people active case findings going door to door and lots of great organizations as well that played their part >> you clearly love that country. you were there, what was it 2006 with an adult literacy program. so what impact do you think then demeanoricre doing before or more.

>> reporter: with louisiana's

ports straddling the mississippi river and just 700 miles from cuba louisiana's agriculture commissioner says it's in a prime spot to trade with cuba and with rice he expects poultry, beef and chemicals to be exported. >> what it means is we expect in the first year 15-20% increase in sales of louisiana products going into cuba. >> reporter: opening trade with cuba could add millions to the state's economy and create jobs but critics say the excitement is premature. >> goodness sakes the embargo cannot be lifted absent. >> reporter: he fled cuba in 1960 when he was nine years old and now an attorney for the cue cuban american foundation and says opening trade does nothing for the people still struggling in cuba. >> the only one that benefits is

fidel. >> reporter: what about vietnam and china that we do business with communist countries? >> the chinese and japanese can make money and become millionaires or billionaires or well to do. >> reporter: he is sensitive to the needs in cuba but says current trade restrictions put u.s. farmers at a disadvantage. >> we are the ones in my opinion that are getting hurt from not being able to trade with cuba. rice farmers i mean they get their rice from somewhere else. >> reporter: and another big reason a lot of leaders in louisiana tony feel they are in a good position to trade with cuba is because they kept a good relationship with the country over the years and former governor visited cuba former new orleans ray visited cuba over the years and tried to keep the relationship intact despite

the embargo placed on the country and some of the current leadership including the governor right now is opposed to really resuming relations with cuba under some of the current conditions. >> jonathan for us in new orleans a new law in russia driving the gay population to seek asylum in the united states a first look at america tonight investigation then it's "real money" with ali velshi. >> high anxiety over low prices and fear of job losses from scotland to new orleans and plus a new report that says pushing bio fuels to protect the environment could come at the cost of something else the world's food supply all that and more on "real money." there's more to finical news than the ups and downs of the dow. for instance, could striking workers in greece delay your retirement? i'm here to make the connections to your money real.

in russia a controversial law has gay men leaving the country and many of them now seeking asylum in the united states and lori is working on this story

for us lori jay? >> reporter: we heard from immigration attorneys with clients who are russian and gay sky rocketed and not surprising talking to clients who told us life in russia is a nightmare if you are gay. >> not now. >> reporter: videos like these are easy to find on russian social media sites. many posted with hateful slogans. what does this mean again? >> faggots like faggots should go away. >> reporter: they know them well the two friends now living in washington d.c. cringe at the thought the gay men being harassed and doused in urine in the videos could have been one of them. >> when i see this movie i'm so scared. >> reporter: he was once attacked by a group of men as he left a gay club with his friends. >> they just start to beat us up

and yet just for fun. >> reporter: and the story is similar, he was also beaten outside a gay club. what did you think was going to happen? >> it feels like i can be killed. >> reporter: according to a resent report by human rights watch, violence against gays intensified in russia after a 2013 law went into effect the law bans gays from public displays of affection and talking about sexuality in the presence of minors calling it propaganda. >> to be gay in russia i would characterize like it's like a nightmare. >> reporter: and they are part of a growing population leaving everything behind in russia to seek asylum and start a new life in the united states. >> i think we got maybe 50 60 requests for assistance in 2011 2012 and 2014 we got 180 requests. he specializes in gay

immigration rights. he says his russian client load sky rocketed in the last year. >> once these laws began to pass for a lot of them it was the last straw. >> i question almost all of it. >> reporter: austin is the president of the conservative group see fam center for family and human rights. he says the media accelerates the persecution of gays in russia and he doesn't believe the 2013 law increased violence there. >> it's not like this is an under ground community afraid for its lives, they live openly asylum is a very serious thing for people who are being killed and this is not happening in russia. this is not happening in russia. >> what will you do if you don't get asylum? >> i will get it. >> reporter: and tony it's not just men coming here tonight we profile a woman who says she was beaten in the head with a

baseball bat because she was a lesbian and why she couldn't just move somewhere else in russia so make sure to tune in on american tonight on 9:00 eastern. >> appropriate it thank you boy scotts of america settled a lawsuit by a california man who says he was molested by a scout volunteer eight years ago. the settlement end the trial in the third day, lawyers for alleged victim said they would introduced vials details sex abuse in the organization and it's unclear if the settlement will prevent those records from being public. pilots trying to break a record are having a change of course and american and russian pilot took off from tokyo and supposed to go to canada but a change in the weather is forcing them to travel through mexico now. they expect to land in california on saturday. and that is all of our time for the news hour i'm tony harris and if you want the latest on

the stories from this news hour as always head to our website al jazeera.com, al jazeera.com and "real money" with ali velshi is next.

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.

♪ just when you thought america's cold war with cuba may be over the castro regime takes a hard line and lifting the embargo could be tough sell in congress a new report turning plants into bio fuel is not the way to fight climate change and could put the food supply in jeopardy people who lost their houses when the market collapsed and looking to get back in again, i'm ali velshi