very sunday, join us for exclusive... revealing... and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time... talk to al jazeera part of our special black history month coverage on al jazeera america >> this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm tony harris. authorizing force after months of airstrikes the president formerly asks congress for the right to go after isil. >> we're going to degrade and ultimately destroy this terrorist group. >> his request comes with limits and is already meeting resistence on capitol capitol hill. >> i don't know if this will help the president accomplish the mission he must accomplish.

>> this evening we're taking a look at the president's war power proposal and the concerns. mr. obama's plan calls for three years of fighting, but after two long wars lawmakers of the american public may be skeptical. mike? >> tony, the president has said since last august he has all the authorization he needs to carry out rare strikes against isil in iraq and syria but the day after the election, you remember, he said he would go to congress and ask for their debate and its promising to be an historic one over the next few weeks. six months after he ordered the air campaign against isil, president obama is asking congress for authorization to fight. >> this represents our core objective to destroy isil. >> the president insisted no american ground combat troops would be deployed as part of his plan. >> they know their countries best and our best position to take the ground fight to isil,

and that's what they're doing. >> you about but the report was of immediate focus. it says, quote: "enduring operations" raised alarms for those worried about mission creep. and there would be no combat role for americans. >> i want to be clear the americans forces deployed to iraq do not and will not have a combat mission. >> wednesday some democrats say they want stronger language barring american ground forces. >> none of us really know what enduring offensive combat offenses mean, and deliberately i think drafted to be am ambiguous. >> the white house concedes that point. >> for example if we had actionable intelligence about a gathering of isil leaders and our partners did not have the capacity to get them, i would be

prepared to order our special forces to take action. >> the authorization would last three years. not be limited to iraq and sir and leave in talk the 2001 authorization passed in the wake of the '9 attacks 9/11 attacks. the white house insists despite the request for congressional consent the administration has all the authority it already needs. this is simply the right thing to do. >> the president means as a matter of principle that it's important for congress to make its voice heard and to pass an authorization to use military force that is more tailored to the specific threats that the united states faces today. >> the president has a balancing act here tony between democrats on one side who are fearful of mission creep. they don't want ground combat troops to be asserted in that theater ever. and republicans who want a

robust military action perhaps putting combat ground troops on the ground in iraq or even syria. whatever the case, tony, it's going to be a very contentious debate in congress that could last through the spring. >> can't wait to hear. it despite the coalition efforts isil has held on to much of the territory captured in the past year. peshmerga fighters drove the group out of the villages near mosul and the syrian-border down of kobane. that brought airstrikes from both countries. congressmen jim mcdermott voted against the expanding of deployment to fight isil. he joins us now. thank you for your time. the president is submitting this resolution right authorizing the use of force against isil. do you support that move by the

president, that move issuing the resolution and i'll ask you in a moment whether or not you support it. >> i've been advocating from way back that before he did anything there he should come and get authorization from the congress. the president should not go to war without authorization from congress. >> are you frustrated, congressman, that here we have another u.s. president asking congress for yet another resolution for iraq? >> absolutely. i've been in congress. i watched the gulf war i watched the ininvasion of iraq. i watched all of this--i've been here since 1988, so i've seen an awful lot of us going to war and it's very frustrating to have people come and ask us have the president coming and asking for approval to do it again.

>> what concerns you most about the strategy? what is the discussion you want to have? >> i went to iraq in 2001 before we went to war and went around on the ground and talked to people, and i realized when i came back to washington that people didn't know what people were thinking on the ground in iraq. i think we're in that same situation today. i don't think that most people have any idea what's going on there or why it's going on or what's the way to fix it. when i look at the resolution that the president gave us there is no end point? when will we know that we've won and we can come home. what is the goal that we know we can achieve and then we can come home. >> i think you're so on to something. what is it that you think that is really going on on the ground in iraq, and are we once again talking about the sunni-shia conflict?

we just won't say it out loud, and we won't talk about it in those terms? >> well, i think its more complicated than that. when i first got involved back in the early part of the the 2002-2001, the question is was it iraq versus persia or was it sunni versus shia? every iraqi i said, this is a secular country. we're not a country in which we worry about you're curd or shia or you're sunni. what we don't like are those persians. they have been angry about us giving control to persians, putting maliki in there who is getting his orders straight out of tehran. they said you got to get rid of him. you'll never have peace if you don't do that. the person we put in is

now--he's always a member of the same party. so we still have too much connection to persia for most iraqis whether sunni or shia. and i think that what's going on in isis is simply a war of convenience. >> i love that we're talking in these terms. isn't it ultimately going to take a true government of reconciliation in iran to bring about in essence a new awakening. you can call it a sunni awakening, but an awakening in iraq to stamp out the isil threat? >> that's my view. it will be a non-sectarian government. it will be a secular government that comes in and says we're not going to make decisions on whether you're sunni or shia. we're going to make decisions on how we can make this country work together for all iraqis. the iraqis think of themselves

as when people in those people who talk about splitting it up in three pieces and making one part shia and one part curd and one part sunni don't understand what iraqis think about this situation. >> that's the vice president. the vice president is in that camp. >> i'm sorry, i wasn't going to name any names but there are people in my government who are of asserting things that i don't think in the long run are going to work. even if we were to succeed, i don't think it would work very long. i think that there has to be a change in the baghdad government that allows everybody to get back into the game. because as long as the people who are behind isis can do it by stimulating sunnies to come with them in could go on forever. what happens to happen is baghdad has to say come on.

>> congressman, i have to ask you then, based on what you just said how do airstrikes, u.s.-led airstrikes facility the kind of government you just articulated? >> i have a hard time answering that question. i don't see who we're shooting, or who we're doing an airstrike against that is going to make this better tomorrow. i really--i have a hard time seeing how the grown strikes are going to work. >> congressman mcdermot. a pleasure to talk with you. i hope we can speak again soon. >> another day. >> tarting next month the training of ukrainian soldiers. three battalions will be trained near a western city where they'll learn to defend against

rebels. leaders are leaning on russia to help broker a peace deal. all sides were speaking today in minsk. rory challands was there. >> the leaders have arrived several hours ago. they had photo opportunities and then they would begin what was a very difficult round of talks. they've been talking now for two hours. recently in the last few minutes they did come out of a break and came out of those discussions for another photo opportunity. we've heard through various sources that they're preparing for some sort of joint declaration but there is more talking before that happens and this could go on well into the night. there are many many issues that they have to discuss here. they have to talk about things like the lines of demarcation between the separatists and the ukrainian army. they have to talk about things

like federalization versus decentralization. petro poroshenko said that he will absolutely not count federalization. he said that would be some sort of break up of the ukrainian nation, and he wants to see ukraine remain sovereign and remain hole. they have to talk about the border. what happens there between russia and ukraine. how, according to the ukrainians, how could they stop the flow of russian weaponry and men across that border? is it going to be monitored? these are all difficult issues. there are issues between the various parties and these talks could go on. >> the italian coast guard is searching for another migrant boat lost at sea. hundreds of migrants likely drowned, and others have disappeared in recent days. the victims are believed to be traveling from libya to italy. only nine survivors have been rescued so far.

an italian court has sentenced the captain of the coast can concordia. >> the prosecutors have asked for the maximum sentence of 26 years. so 16 years is not as bad for the captain, especially in the view that he's not going to prison immediately. he's not going to serve a day in prison. as a matter of fact, until an appeal court upholds the sentence. for that in the italian justice system, which is particularly slow will take a few months, if not years from now. this is a disappoint to the families of passengers of the

costa concordia cruise ship. the captain was given five years of the prison sentence for causing a maritime disaster when he caused a cruise liner to hit a rock off the island. and causing it to capsize. he was given ten years prison sentence for multiple counts of manslaughter after 32 passengers and crew died during the chaotic evacuation that followed that crash. he was also given one-year prison sentence for abandoning miners and disabled on the ship before they were safely evacuated. that was a very specific sentence thanked down by the judge. the captain and costa cruises which owned the concordia were sentenced and ordered to pay

millions in compensation to the passengers and the island and the ministry of environment. >> vigils are being held this teen at the university of north carolina remembering three muslim students shot and killed in their off-campus apartment. it started over a parking space. but the relatives of the victims are calling it a hate crime. this triple murder has shocked the u this, c community. >> it certainly has. i'm going to speak softly because behind me you can see thousands of people gathers in the center of the chapel hill campus. it's called the pit. it's just outside of the student center and bookstore. they're here honoring the memory of those three victims. they were shot in their argument. they're off campus argument yesterday afternoon over what police are saying was some kind of parking dispute.

tonight we heard from one of the victim's brothers. we heard from the mayor of chapel hill, an outpouring of grief and confusion over what when you look at the outline certainly has the implication and it's understandable why this crime raised international questions about the motivation but as police say may have stemmed from some kind of longstanding parking dispute between neighbors. hold on, i am think they're about to--there was music--there is the bell tower ringing. let's listen to the sister of one of the victims. >> we're still in a state of shock and we'll never be able to make sense of this horrendous strategy. we appreciate your concern and love and support from neighbors student community and community at large. we ask that the authorities

investigate these senseless and heinous murders as a hate crime. >> tony, you hear the the sister of one of the victims calling for the investigation as a hate crime. all three victims muslim the now the shooter it's look lying some kind of hate crime but it may have stemmed from a parking dispute. that's what the alleged shooter's wife says. let's listen to what she had to say. >> i can't say with my absolute belief that this i want had nothing to do with religion or victims' faith but, in fact, was related to the longstanding parking disputes that my husband had with the neighbors. >> now tony, on craig hicks' facebook page there are a lot of

posts will atheism and his distaste of religion of all flavors, and human rights, gay rights, there are a lot that may have led to this senseless tragedy. >> coming up in our next half hour more on muslim-american reaction to the shooting. i'll speak with a spokeswoman for the the victims' family. and can support help create support the aid against the outbreak. where does the money go now?

>> president obama said it is time for american troops fighting ebola in west africa to come home. the president announced he's pulling all 100 service members fighting the virus out of the region. he said that they helped to curve the spread of ebola and said its time for a new chapter. >> we're shifting our focus from fighting the epidemic to

extinguish it. the reason request we can do that is because of bipartisan majority in congress who approved funding to power this next phase of the response. >> the next phase will cost billions of dollars, but where does it request and does it get to where it needs to go. >> spending billions to fight ebola, but critics say the disease was already fading by the time american help began to arrive. that leads many to worry that response was too little, too late. >> not to declare mission accomplished, but to mark a transition. >> so far nearly $1 billion has been spent in west africa. $750million was earmarked for the military as it would deploy

troops, a recent u.n. study found only 40% of international donations actually made it to the worst-hit zones last year. watchdogs are concerned. >> there are a few billion dollars appropriated over time, that's what we need to see where that money went. >> the outbreak appears to be easing in west africa. the number of cases are way down so the white house says the mission has changed. the three worse-hit countries all saw a spike in cases. troubling health officials who openly worry they'll soon run out of money. >> one thing we can be sure off there will be ebola in two or three weeks. we cannot be sure we'll have the money that we need to make sure that we stop that ebola. >> the u.s. has spent more than any other country and will continue to support the civilians on the ground. troops will remain to maintain ten treatment centers they build, and the u.s. will work on

other projects like working on vaccines better preparing hospitals and beefing up the screening of the airports. >> our goal now is to working towards zero. risk still exists. make no mistake america is as committed as ever, and i'm committed as ever getting to desire and i know we can. >> some u.s. clinics never saw a single patient. but health officials say that work was not wasted. the work is still needed. the disease is not gone and it could flare-up at any moment. >> joining me now on this is an infections disease physician. good to see you again: i've got an update from you. what is happening on the ground. i know you're heading back soon. but what are the reports you're getting ahead of your trip. >> in guinea we're seeing a

resurgence of cases. half of the cases are in the capitol of g use iuinea, and the reason is because ebola was being transmitted in urban areas. if that happens in guinea, we could see a new spike in cases there. >> how about sierra leone and liberia. >> library i can'tliberia is doing well, but in sierra leone it's still early to declare the war on ebola. >> the trendline recently has been a series of reports suggesting that the head winds have past. the concern is that people will look in other directions. they'll take the focus of attention off ebola and move on to other things. >> i think people are becoming come play september. people living in sierra leone,

guinea going back to school, closing down some of the clinics that had been established for the treatment of ebola. other things that are threatening is control of ebola in and resistence in guinea. they don't want to follow the recommendations around safe burials, and following everybody who has been in contact with a case and what we're seeing is some of the new cases are among people we didn't know had an exposure. >> monsoon season. that's coming. >> that's april or may when that hits. that makes roads impassable, very difficult to track down cases. my hope is that we really to squash down cases in the next month or so before the monsoon season. >> bringing back the troops all by 100. make sense? >> it does. their commit was not to treat patients. it was to build the ebola treatment center it's. they made that contribution, and there are others who are taking

over the fight. >> you're going to guinea. >> yes. >> your' leavingyour' leaving soon. >> part of what i'll be doing helping to develop local capacity i'll be part of a rapid response team. >> what does that mean? >> as cases pop up they'll need team to treat those cases. i'll be part of the team that is ready to be called forward to do that. >> you have to be careful because we have also seen the stories of attacks on healthcare workers, how concerned are you about that event and it is an jog going event. >> frankly i'm more concerned about that-- >> than your safety? >> in terms of safety, i'm more concerned about the community and those kinds of attacks as opposed to becoming infected from ebola. >> you know how to protect yourself from an infection. what is leading on the attack to healthcare workers?

what is behind that? >> conspiracy theories. there are many who think this is a department of defense conspiracy. that we as healthcare workers are there to infect people with ebola, harvest organs, harvest blood. >> be careful. infectious disease specialist on her way to guinea. thanks. >> a controversial way to combat childhood obesity. they have proposed a fat tax that's right. they're calling it a fat tax to fine parents of overweighed children. it would identify obese children and schools and recommend diet and exercise programs. if their children don't lose weight their parents could be slapped with a fine of $800. up in the program the first testimony of the american sniper trial. the wife of the deadly sharpshooter talks about the day

her husband died. >> house speaker john boehner's anger and the president's immigration policy.

>> this evening there are more questions than answers about violence that has shattered the quiet of a college town. a bride and husband and sister shot in their apartment. craig hicks, there he is. they say that it started over a parking space. >> they were gems of their communities and left a lasting impression on those around them. they inspired us and served as role models to the youth. we ask you that you celebrate the memories of our family members. we ask that the authorities investigate these senseless and

heinous murders as a hate crime. >> linda is director of the arab american association in new york and the senior strategist for the campaign to take on hate. she's working with the family of the victims of the shooting, and she is in madison wisconsin this evening. good to talk to you. we appreciate your time. >> having for having me. >> a pleasure. can you give me an update on what you're learning about this case? >> this case has send shockwaves around the arab, muslim communities across the nation. we only have conversations that the daughter--the bride had with her father about the hateful neighbor who made her feel uncomfortable, and carried a gun in her holster. the incident was a horrific execution style bullets to the head. law enforcement has not yet been in touch with the family as of yet. we don't know if they're

investigating this as a hate crime, but there is a call from the family and american-muslim community that this case be treated as a hate crime. >> what is i couldn't view of this? this is certainly a horrible crime. you know the high standard of prosecuting this as a hate crime. in your view is this a hate crime. >> in my view looking at the facebook posts of mr. hicks understanding that he is an extremist anti--theestthee- thiest. this is not something that you do when you're arguing over a parking spot. you must have hatred in your heart to kill three students under the age of 23-to-stand there and shoot bullets in their head. if that's not a hate crime, i don't know what a hate crime is. >> did stephen hicks have, did he have any affiliation that you're aware of with hate

groups? here why i ask. there are 900 hate groups in the country. was he affiliated, connected to any of them, was he, for example, a subscriber to storm front, which as you know is an online hate site? >> we're hoping that the authorities are taking this case very seriously that they're investigating every aspect of mr. hicks' life as they do with any other case for them to make those connections. it is not our job as a family of these slain young people to make that connection. we're calling on the fbi to make sure that they do their job and do their job right. >> agreed. the attorney of the accused is saying this is a mental health issue, and the accused tried to

resolve this issue on multiple occasions. have you taken up any of those questions with the family of the victims? is there any documentation that you are aware of at this point that would in any way support what hicks' wife is suggesting to everyone this evening? >> the family again has had multiple conversations with the daughter including with her own father. and multiple times she told her father that we have a very hateful number, and i think he's specifically hateful towards me for who i am and the way i dress. the argument was about a parking spot at that moment but let's take it back to mental health illness. we're always laboring these shootings--labeling these shootings as a mental health illness. why was he carrying a gun? i hope it wakes up the american people that we have mental

health issues in our country. we have begun law issues in our country and we have hate. it's real and people need to wake up and say it's real and say we will not accept it as american people. >> as someone who has led to ensure that muslims are safe in this country i wonder what is going through your mind. what are you thinking on a day like today? >> you know, i didn't really do media today because i wasn't feeling up to it. the fear is real today. i see young people who say they're afraid to walk in the streets in their own country where they were born. i was born and raised in new york city. do i feel safe right now? i don't feel safe. i'm a mother of a 16-year-old boy, 14-year-old daughter, 10-year-old daughter and i feel hurt that my children's safety are endangered in the united states of america. my thoughts are with the families who have had to enduring this extreme devastation pay by losing these

three beautiful people. >> working with the family of the victims of the shooting. linda, thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> house speaker john boehner is putting the blame on the democrats for a funding stand off for money for dhs that runs out at the end of the month. boehner said that could be solved if democrats just say yes to a republican bill. the catch is that the bill undoes the president's executive actions on immigration. boehner says enough is enough. >> the house why don't you ask the senate democrats when they're going to get off their [bleep] and do something other than to vote no. >> libby casey is live on capitol hill. libby, i've got thoughts i'll keep them to myself because they'll only get me in trouble. is this back and forth squabbling going to get anything done? >> no, it won't tony.

it doesn't look like there will be a breakthrough any time soon. now squabbling is nothing new here on capitol hill. what's different about this bill, it's creating a bit of a stand off among republican ranks specifically between house republicans and senate republicans. now speaker boehner said that the house has done its job by passing a funding bill for the department of homeland security. it has that catch it rolls back president obama's action on immigration. it's not going to get anywhere in the senate without democrats on board. but republicans who run the senate now say that the house is going to have to come up with something new. now speaker painer today insisted to reporters that this is working out exactly as planned, that this is going according to what he envisioned, but this is definitely something that democrats are pushing republicans on. and republicans can say that democrats are being obstructionist all they want. but until republicans come up with a new game plan, it's

really their issue to sort out. >> yes what's been the response from senate democrats? >> they feel like they're pretty safe politically on this one. we spoke with chuck schumer he's placing the blame on republicans. >> we democrats have pushed for a clean dhs funding bill followed by a robust debate on immigration reform. we welcome that debate. but the republicans have insisted on sticking to their hostage-taking tactics. >> now, note the use of that word clean funding bill, clean is something that democrats want to push. they like the symbolism of that, and they're not going to give ground on the president's executive actions on immigration. there is growing certain on capitol hill that there is a looming deadline. if they don't come up with the funding plan for the department of homeland security by the end of the month there could be security concerns.

despite the political bickering growing pressure here for congress to get something figured out. >> libby casey for us. libby, thank you. the republican-controlled congress has approved a bill to kick start construction on the keystone xl pipeline. it comes just weeks after it sailed through the senate. the bill now heads to president obama's desk. he has promised to veto. a top official is living jeb bush's political action committee. his chief technology officer resigned after a string of controversial postings on social media. david shuster joins us now with more. >> he announced his resignation from governor bush's that wrote abouts"" and "gays."

they wrote: >> on monday when first informed by controversy bush describe the tweets inappropriate but that the pac was very excited to have him on board. what a difference a day makes. leading a laughic fundraiser fundraiser the cost for admission is $100,000. the figure is huge even by wall street standard. the fundraiser is hosted by this man, a private equity mogul. there is a significant foreign policy debate that has broken out among some of the republicans planning a 2016 presidential campaign. south carolina line incampaign. south carolina representative said in the fight against isil said that it's time for the obama administration to deploy

10,000 ground troops. >> the strategy needs a ground component the fast majority will be from the region, but the american ground component is the difference between success and failure. >> graham says that u.s. ground troops would boost the fighting capacity and the intelligence against isil. they say putting u.s. soldiers in iraq in syria right now would be a mistake. >> i don't believe right now we need american boots on the ground. the reason is we have boots on the ground already with the kurds. the peshmerga are trained effective fighters. they're close allies for us. >> look at the split on the republican right to continue. meanwhile govern scott walker who is also preparing a 2016 campaign, is on a trip this week to london. this average the british moderateor asked walker if he believes in evolution.

here is the exchange. >> are you comfortable with the idea of evolution? do you believe in it? do you accept it? >> for me, i'll punt on that one as well. >> no, really? >> that's a question that politician should not be involved in one way or another. >> any british politician right or left wing would say yes evolution is true. >> i'm here to talk about trade and not pontificate on evolution. i love the evolution of trade. >> another reason why the brits love u.s. politics. maybe love is not the word. intrigued by it. on the democratic side of u.s. political politics supporters of hillary clinton say they are fundraising effort is not going well, at least compared to expectations. they say the main political action committee supporting clinton is trying, before she gets into the race, to security $1 million pledges from 30 people.

but rather than visitation 30 pledges they have received 10 commitments. and the pac is encountering resistence from several top democratic donaries. one of clinton's potential rivals for the nomination is declaring he will not run a negative campaign. vermont senator berni sanders. >> it is not my style to trash people. never have, never will. >> sanders clinton former virginia senator jim webb are all expected to formerly announce their presidential campaigns later this spring. that's today's power politics. >> thank you. opening statements today in the "american sniper" murder trial is accused of killing

sharpshooter. we're in stephenville, texas heidi let's start with what the prosecution had to today say today. >> whatever memory illness that ralph had or did not have, he knew right from wrong. this happened two years ago at a texas gun range. the three men had gone there to shoot targets but ralph had turned his gun against the other two men. that's not a fact disputed in this case. not even by the defense. but what is disputed whether was he was sane that day. he had taken formaldehyde laced marijuana that morning and that he should be held responsible for the murders. >> ralph was an iraq war veteran. he's pleading not guilty by

insanity. >> that is right. he was hospitalized five times by the v.a. leading up to the killing. the last hospitalization had ended just eight days before the crime. he suffered from psychosis, and his mother had begged the v.a. to hold her son longer. they pointed to a text message exchange between the two victims. they had been in the truck on the way to the gun range with routh in the backseat when chris kyle text chad little field saying this dude is straight up nuts. they're using that as evidence to show that he was mentally ill at the time. >> kyle's christopher kyle's widow, what does he tell the jury about her husband's death? >> it was a very emotional testimony. she was the state's first witness and she told the jury about her husband and his legacy. she told him quote, he was such

an unique person because he was so humble, kind, easy been and charismatic. he had this skill. doing sniper work is an extension of your heart because you're willing to take within and something in order to save someone else. it's not an easy job but if you're willing to pay the price of what that might do to you you can save other people. this is the suspect of that box office breaking hit "american sniper," and it looks to be this trial that will be the movies' real-life ending. >> heidi zhou castro for us in texas. >> tonight on "real money" ali velshi is asking an uncomfortable question. what is the value of a life? that sounds pretty provocative right? but when tragedy hits there are people whose job it is to put a monetary value on every life lost. ali is here now with more.

>> tony, it is an uncomfortable question. i'm talking with kevin feinberg, he answers these questions all the time. general motors has retained him to compensate families of car crashes. massachusetts brought him in to help with victims of the boston marathon bombing. he was the master of the 9/11 compensation fund. in the case of 9/11, the families of victims received an average of $721 million. but that is an average. families of victims with low salaries got as little as $250,000. while families of highly-paid victims got $1.7 million. in the case of marathon bombing people who lost two limbs got $2.2 million. those who lost one limb, got $1 million less. we'll look at how these calculations are made. listen to what he tells me. >> one, what would the victim

have earned over a lifetime of work? but for the tragedy? second add to that number some amount for pain and suffering of the victim, the emotional distress on the survivors equals a net number. that is the number that calculated. >> ali on tonight's show you're also asking the same question about people who aren't dead at all. what are you talking about there? >> this is where it gets interesting. we'll introduce to a louisiana man who spent five years on death row for a crime he didn't commit. he was the youngest inmate on death row in the country. once he got released he was entitled to appeal for compensation for the years that were taken to him during his wrongful imprisonment. he didn't bother. he found out his lost time was worth 15,000 a year or $7 an

hour that's after a very lengthy and complicated application process in which he would have had to engage lawyers filings and ten years of litigation. he said that his life should have been worth much more than that. he preferred to use that time to work to restart the life he lost. we'll be hearing from him and i'll talk to ken feinberg about things like that. how do you deal with wrongful fictions and what your live is worth behind bars. >> you can watch ali velshi every weeknight at 9:30 eastern and 7:30at 10:30 eastern and 7:30 pacific. the sea ports are experiencing bad congestion companies complain of slow downs. and why the soilly celebrated little league champions were

stripped of their title and remembering a basketball legend. >> black history comes up, everyones looking to hear what you have to say, because you're the spokesperson... >> how can we learn from the past? and create a better future? an al jazeera america special report race in america all next week part of our special black history month coverage on al jazeera america

>> hall of fame college basketball coach jerry tarkanian has died. he was 84 years old. darktark the shark where is that towel. you'll see him chewing on it soon. there you go. he ran to a national championship in 1990. he was known for recruiting players other coaches would not touch. and he battled the ncaa battle for years. and they paid him a $2.5 million settlement. and there's the towel. a little league baseball is dealing with the fall out of cheating. officials say jackie robinson west from chicago used

ineligible players to help create a dream team. ash har quaraishi in chicago. this is devastating news. how is the city reacting to it? >> well, it's what everybody is talking about. it's the big story here in town. people are still trying to digest it. this was the classic underdog story of a little league team that beat the odds to beat the national championships but today their cinderella story took an unfortunate turn. >> last august jackie robinson west beat a las vegas team to capture the little league world series national championship. but after several months of investigating, they concluded that the team violated residency rules and falsified boundary maps to involve players outside of the eligible district. >> the boys had no inside dealings on the boundaries. i as a mother had no idea that

there were boundaries and rules beyond living in the city of chicago. >> the team has been stripped of its national title and the coach suspended. today the coach's father came to his defense. >> my son is doing fine. he's doing fine. i mean, he's not guilty of anything. >> suspicion that the team had violated league rules were first raised on chicago's south side. >> we continue to dig privately because the last thing we want to do is make an accusays and feel like we didn't have the facts and possibly be wrong. this is a tough accuindication. >> some say that the punishment is too severe questioning the motivation for the investigation of the all-black team. >> why is it that african-american children rise ahead somebody has to question it. something has to try to pull it back. i'm speaking only for myself by

i definitely believe racism is part of this. >> little league international said that it's about integrity. and it's unfortunate that the actions of adult have led to this outcome. the team's success was a source of pride not only for the players but the entire city of chicago. ramie manual said that the city remains supportive of these great children and in our hearts they're always champions in chicago. . >> we weren't involves in anything that could have caused us to be stripped of our championship. we know that we're champions. our families know that we're champions. >> the jackie robinson little league has been suspended until it's leadership has been

replaced. >> and tony, president obama hosted this team after their win today. the white house spokesperson said some dirty dealings by adults does not take away were these kids accomplished. >> ash har quaraishi for news chicago. and a look at what is coming up at the top of the hour. john seigenthaler. >> we're covering in the broadcast the murders of three muslim students in chapel hill, north carolina. we'll hear from the accused killer's wife and the victim's family plus questions about the motive. also our special report on race in america continues. and what some see as the civil rights movement and why some say there needs to be a change in leadership. >> there is a reason why people like al sharpton and jesse jackson get booed because they become the representation of blackness but not the spirit and the movement right now. >> we knee new ideas we need fresh thinking.

we need new approaches. >> a recent al jazeera poll found that 50% of african-americans believe it is time for new leadership in their community. plus george clooney's "monuments men" put a spotlight on helping to save culture in world war ii. now something similar is being done in syria and iraq. putting artwork from ancient sites in the middle of the war. talking about the battleground of soldiers, poachers and park rangers on the last line of defense to protect the heart and soul of eastern congo. we've got a lot coming up at the top of the hour. >> thank you. the falcon has finally taken flight. >> lift off. the space ex-rocket lifted off an our ago. it was the third attempt to get that craft into space. it's carrying a satellite that will provide scientists more

information about solar storms. thanks for watching. john will be back in just a couple of minutes and we'll seeing back here.

>> hi everyone. this is al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler. war powers, the president asks congress to authorize a three year war on i.s.i.l. >> my administration has submitted a draft resolution to congress to authorize a action against i.s.i.l. >> three college students all muslim shot to debt. syria's monuments