this is al jazeera america, live from new york city. i'm tony harris. egypt entering the fight against isil launching air strikes against the group in libya, cairo says it's in retaliation for the beheading of egyptian christians. and isil may turn its sights on europe next. ♪ we will have much more on

the situation in libya in just a moment. but first you are looking at pictures at a freight train derailment in west virginia. the train has been burning for over six hours now. several cars carrying crude oil slipped off of the tracks. at least one of the cars is leaking oil. the government has issued a state of emergency, and residents near the crash have been told to evacuate. so far we are told there are no injuries but a house was completely destroyed. egypt is pushing back with the coalition against isil. john terrett is here with the very latest on the story. >> that's right. good evening. since 2011 when libya's long-time leader was ousted from power, instability in that vast

country has grown. today rival governments battle for control, and with isil now in the mix, egypt's president says it is a threat to world peace and security, and so he sent in the war planes. with a dramatic musical score playing in the background egypt's state television showed strikes against an armed group linked to isil. it released a video showing the beheadings of 21 egyptian coppic christians on a beach. the men had been captured late last year after crossing into libya from egypt, seeking work. families of the victims were inconsolable and filled with rage when they learned of their deaths. the egyptian president vowed to avenge the attacks. >> translator: egypt reserves

the right of retaliation, and it sees fit for retribution from those murders and criminals who are without the slightest humanity. >> reporter: hours after the video merged the air campaign began. egypt claiming to destroy storage weapons. this came not only after jordan launched similar attacks. and two rival governments continue to fight for control of the country. the underrecognized government in libya, supported and helped coordination egypt's action while the national congress in triply denounced the air strikes. >> translator: we strongly condemn the egyptian aggression and consider it to be an assault against libyan sovereignty. >> reporter: should isil confirm its involvement with the group, it would mark the deadliest

attack committed against foreigns outside of isil strong hold in syria and iraq. the group mentioning actions against italy in the same video that showed the murders of the egyptian christians. the obama administration hasn't said anything about the air strikes yet, but there are reports that egypt didn't consult the group before it began. egypt is a member of the coalition. >> john appreciate it. let's bring in an political analyst who advised the libyan transitional council. good to see you. i think we can all agree that the power vacuum that is libya is a perfect breeding ground for i.s. to grow. is there anything the west or for that matter the neighborhoods can do including

egypt about all of this? >> meetings dialogue discussion that everyone has been calling for over nine months maybe a year between the factions in libya, actually have run their course. >> hum. >> international military intervention is inevitable but not in the course that egypt has taken. egypt doesn't have the exact targets i don't believe from the people i talked to. probably get their information, who knows if they get their correct information and who to hit. isis or isil is not a military target. it doesn't have barracks and it's not a place where you can say, here is where they are, let's go hit them. >> yeah. >> there's no such thing as isises. so egypt is probably doing this for its own internal

satisfaction. it's much appreciated that egypt is trying to intervene and help the libyan people but the timing and method is wrong. >> you are telling me talk talk talk talk talk and that window has opened and closed that international military intervention is inevitable. tell me why you see that action as being next and inevitable. >> the united states france britain britain, and then most recently italy is trying to be more vocal, indicates clearly that the world community especially the senior members of the u.n. city council feel like something has to happen. it has been calling for it now for a while. anything and everything that has anything to do with military intervention has to be lead and driven by the united nations. >> right. >> we don't have a problem having nato getting involved

again. we dislarged gaudify back in 2011, by rallying the international community to intervene. there are many civilians that are fleeing the country in libya. there are many civilians that are subject to -- to violations of their rights -- >> right. >> -- being in the cross fire, so in my opinion there has to be international intervention now. >> so if the call is for an international military intervention, aren't you necessarily picking a side? you have two governments there operating. one in triply and one in the east of the country. which side -- can you give me some analysis on each side and which side benefits you think from military action? >> neither side is actually taking the proper steps to resolve their problems. i'm not suggesting that the hor,

which was elected back in june is doing everything right. i'm not saying that the the -- former gnc members that are claiming power -- i just -- i believe what needs to be done is first of all, name the terrorist by name. whoever is involved in this whole matter and the u.n. has to classify them as terrorists bring them to justice at the hague or someplace. shut the ports in libya where weapons are getting in whether it be benghazi or tripoli. and the threat of using force and standing to possibly use force is going to get the -- the -- the people that are in conflict with one another to think that they have to do something now, and have to actually sit down and move a

process forward. i do -- i'm prothe id of moving the hor to tripoli and having an international force protect them. >> you are? >> yes, i am. >> one more before i lose you. so isis as you know in libya is threatening to enter italy through the island of lampedusa. the people smugglers are turning automatic weapons on the coast guard ships attempting to turn those ships around. right? and the smugglers are saying take the people leave the ships. how worrying is this new tactic? >> well i don't know. i mean there has been many tactics that have been employed and deployed for the last 15 years. this problem has been going on for a long time. >> right. what about the isis component now? threatening to go through lampedusa on one of these boats

and entering europe through lampedusa? >> this isis component is one of many different difficulties that libya is dealing with. so it can't be dealt singlehandedly by themselves. you can't put a finger on them and say i have gotten them cleared out, no. you have to support a local government work on some mechanisms to protect the borders. you have to take the legitimate governments and place them in tripoli and give them protection so they can be close to the important organs of the libyan government meaning the banks, the institutions and not have them be afraid of the former gnc. i'm not proone side or another. there was an idea floating

around sometime last week or so creating a commit that would be the custodian of revenues from oil revenues into and also take care of the libyan assets around the world. >> right. >> because now most libyan assets are starting to get depleted. they are going into their reserved. >> okay. i have got to go. but thank you. and we should mention the government in tobruk is western supported and western backed. this evening a solemn memorial for the victims of this weekend's deadly shootings in cope hagan. a gunman opened fire at a free speech conference. the gunman died in a shootout with police nike spicer with

more. >> reporter: this is where the man was shot dead by police. some danes are laying flowers for the man who authorities say was likely not part of a cell but was part of a community now struggling to fend off fears that muslims will come under more suspicions. >> [ inaudible ] i saw him from time to time and said hello, and he was a regular guy, so for me it's just a tragedy to see what has happened. >> reporter: buzz he religion in any way? >> no not at all. if i looked at something like this i would expect it from other people. >> reporter: after a while young men who didn't want to talk to the media, came to take the flowers away. one saying they weren't appropriate. the jewish community, since a synagogue guard was shot dead in the second of the attacks.

on sundays benjamin netenyahu reacted to the news by saying that danish jews should move to israel. a top rabbi said that was don't being to happen. >> i wanted to use the opportunity to send a message from here to around the world. we will not letter terror dictate our life. we will not. we will continue living as jews here in denmark and everywhere else in the world. the -- their goal is that we go around and be afraid. >> reporter: that message was repeated by the prime minister. >> this was a young man of 22. he was known by the police for several criminal acts including a severe violence. and he was also known to be

linked to a criminal gang in copenhagen. but i want too also say -- make very clear that we have no indication at this stage that he was part of a cell or a -- that -- that took him to what -- where he is now. >> reporter: where the country is now is a moment of grief and reflection about the way forward. the ceremony was held at the site of the first attack where a discussion on free speech was taking place. it was a ceremony of remembrance, and a ceremony for danes to stand together so they are to come out stronger. a police in eastern france are holding five teenage boys after tombstones at a jewish cemetery were desecrated. the suspects are all between the ages of 15 and 17. one boy turned himself in.

this evening it appears a ceasefire deal in eastern ukraine may be unravelling. fighting between ukrainian forces and pro-russian separatists is raging near donetsk. the separatists there have publicly denounced the ceasefire and are closing in on government troops. the u.s. is joining the european nations calling on russia to halt the attacks. the european union imposed more sanctions on moscow. charles stratford has more from donetsk. >> reporter: ukrainian military spokesperson saying there was no way at this stage that they would withdraw their heavy weapons from the front line blaming the separatists for what they say are hotly debated attacks. the separatists were to take full control of the region it would give them a direct rail link to russia.

we spoke to separatists, and they said they had no intention either of withdrawing their troops. we heard both in coming and out going shelling in the area, and fighting is going on today. this announcement from that ukrainian military that it will not withdraw his heavy weapons from the area has huge implications. the crisis in ukraine comes at a cost that goes beyond regional sanctions and politics nchlg more than 5,000 have been killed 13,000 have been wounded, and about 5 million are said to be living in the center of the conflict. the faa is proposing new rules to govern the use of drone

aircraft. they would ban drones that fly at long distances. libby what happens now. >> reporter: it's getting easier and cheaper to get your hands on a drone, and a growing number of companies are eager to explore how they can be used commercially to do everything from deliver a pizza to photograph your home from the air to help it sell. but with the growing use of drones came more concerns about safety and privacy. regulators have been working on these proposed rules for years. and business and privacy advocates have waited just as long: the rules would affect commercially operated drones

weighing up to 55 pounds. users would have to earn a certificate, a type of drone pilot license. the rules would ban flying at night or near airports. drones would have to stay below 500 feet and under 10 -- 100 miles per hour. the proposals pose a challenge to companies like amazon who want to use drones to deliver packages away from the direct line of site of the remote pilot. >> so this isn't good enough for them to actually use this business model of theirs. >> reporter: todd curtis says government regulators are trying to catch up to a field that is quickly evolving. >> the capabilities of modern drones are so far beyond what the faa or everyone else could have anticipated four or five years ago, time not surprised that policy hasn't caught up with technology. >> reporter: president obama

issued a directive he is giving federal agencies one year to publicly explain their policies on drones revealing where they fly them and what they do with the information collected. the clock starts ticking on that now, but the changes to faa guidelines are open to public comment for 60 days and then experts say they will probably take at least a year or two to become final. and tony until those rules are completed, the current practice of companies applying for waivers and getting them will still be in place. now these new proposals just apply to commercial drone use. it doesn't touch personal use, hobby use, which is its own increasingly complicated field, tony is. >> yeah that's next. libby thank you. coming up next a big problem for business owners on the west coast, a backlog of

shipments. plus bone chilling temperatures hit the northeast,.

to a backlog of ships is growing in this evening at ports along the west coast. a labor dispute left 29 terminals shut down again today. melly sa chan is lye for us. and this is making it nearly impossible for some businesses to ship goods oversees. >> reporter: it's incredible. because i remember standing in oakland talking about how we're going to resolve the situation soon. that was months ago. the situation is so bad, that president obama has decided to send his labor secretary here so try to come up with a deal. the annex, a national distributor of organic coffee

usually receives 20 shipping containers a day. but now this warehouse only sees four. it's shipments from around the world, stuck at the port. >> it is affecting our business dramatically. truthfully we're about 75 to 80% down on our production of in bound and outbound coffee. >> across san francisco bay, three twins ice cream has two containers waiting to ship to south korea, accept neil can't deliver his pints. >> we're an organic business and we're relatively small. and this really hurts. >> reporter: across the state and country, businesses both big and small have tough decisions to make, whether to air lift goods to overseas customers or wait for a break through in labor negotiations that might finally pave the way for the smooth entry and exit of goods.

>> the ports are such a crucial part of that global and local economy. >> reporter: meanwhile long lines of trucks simply wait outside of ports for hours every day. the drivers wasting time and losing money. >> they are waiting three hours four hours for one load that only pays about 120 bucks. and these guys have families they want to get home to. they are just frustrated sitting there. >> reporter: perishable items usually ship this time of the year to china, south korea, and japan, the citrus business worries, even claiming that fruit may be rotting on docks as the impasse continues. the national retail federation has also stepped in saying quote:

in january, washington sent a federal mediator to work with the two sides. that did not help with the union accusing the port operators of not even showing up to the table to walk. meanwhile fewer shifts mean less pay. just to add a number more to that the two sides are putting pressure on each other. the union workers show up to work yet they are being accused of not working as hard. and it's a public holiday, and the port operators are not bringing on board the usual number of port workers, and that means fewer people are getting paid. tony is. >> all right. melissa thank you. the north, east and south are bracing for one of the worst winter storms yet. >> tony some 50 million people will be impacted by this storm

system. several southern states are facing the threat of ice, sleet, and snow. and the northeast dealing with bone-chilling temperatures including boston that is about to get its fourth winter storm in less than a month. several states are getting slammed by snow and ice. steady snow has been falling on kentucky. parts of tennessee are already an ice-storm warning, and in north carolina the government declared a state of emergency. >> our goal again, like last year is to be over prepared and hopefully underwhelmed by this storm. >> reporter: a seen of ice while firefighters battled burning walls. when the fire broke out the temperature was 3 degrees. >> it took firefighters about two hours to get these flames under control, but that was enough time to ice over the

house, the firetrucks the streets below. the bittle colder temperatures making the main pond in new york's central park walkable. winter has been unrelending for new england, and this latest storm does not help. boston has had no chance to get out from under the snow. >> i think record is 105 inches in a winter. so i think we should try to set the record. >> reporter: the city has seen around 95 inches so the likelihood of surpeszing that record this winter is pretty high. more than 2200 flights canceled tony at last check. >> wicked cold. erica, appreciate it. are we talking about some of the

coldest of the season so far. >> yeah we started out mild and the temperatures plummeted in the northeast. >> yeah. >> when we look at today's lows they were still -- we look at records, they were below zero. >> wait a minute. wait a minute. wait a minute. we got a snow storm coming right? >> we do. we have snow pushing into washington, d.c. right now, and parts of baltimore d.c. are talking about 5 to 9 inches of snow. so ice now across the tennessee valley and atlantic further north we're getting more snow. but the for cast actually for boston is somewhat of a relief the bulk of the storm will be hitting dc. >> can i ask you about the west coast? for friends out there, is this going to be particularly cold for them? >> no we're past the shortest

days and we're seeing a trend of very warm above average temperatures for the west coast. so while they are about 15 degrees above normal this is a 2014, so this is last year so last year we were colder in the east coast than this year. this is january, so when we see february it will be a little slap because we have a sting of the cold in right now. >> how about some rainfall in the west? any predictions on that? >> they are staying above normal, and we are just going to stay cold. >> thank you. it could be the biggest bank breach ever. and it has been happening since 2013. plus the high stakes political showdown over the department of homeland security. we're back in a moment.

this evening we are finding out new details about what may be one of the biggest bank robberies ever. a russia cyber security firm said the hackers stole up to a billion dollars from banks around the world over the last two years. >> yeah and tony these cyber criminals may still be at work stealing money. it is a staggering theft, again, exposing how vulnerable so many are. it's one of the biggest bank heists ever carried out with keyboards instead of guns. a sophisticated gang of cyber criminals managed to hack into banks all over the world, and steal up to a billion dollars from all over the world. >> what we see typically is a bunch of technologist. >> reporter: banks in up to 30

countries were hit. the thieves apparently took their time hacking into bank's computer systems, and spending months learning how they worked. then they took millions by inflating balances transferring money out on line and ordering bank atm's to start dispensing cash. >> the reality is if someone wants to get in they likely will. >> reporter: the criminals allegedly stole no more than $10 million in each raid. authorities in several countries are investigating. but the banks hit haven't come forward. last week president obama urged companies to be more open about attacks and share what they learned with one another about the government to better fight off future hacks. >> these attacks are getting more and more sophisticated every day, so we have to be as fast and flexible and nimble in

evolving our defenses. >> reporter: the security firm thinks this is a group of criminals from russia ukraine, and china, tony that are likely still working together. >> that's scary. joining me now from san francisco is the chief information security office at dock usign, and served for jpmorgan chase. how the heck did this happen? did they break into servers? was it a virus? what is this malware? >> yeah so tony thanks again for having me. this is a very sophisticated attack. basically what happened was -- and i'm going to speak mostly about -- i'm very familiar with what happened to the ukrainian and russia banks, and have seen the report. probably last summer a lot of what we call spear fishing

attacks, emailed directed at employees of the bank were coming in and had attachment saying urgent federal mandate. so the employees opened the emails and they were word documents with known vulnerabilities, and had the malware installed. and it executed and let it move throughout the system and it's a remote access malware that allowed them to go in and learn about the environment. so these fraud servers -- i do believe you are right. this seems to be financial gain here. they basically were able to look another the entire architecture of these banks, and learn about where their atm's were where their swift networks were and looking at the video feeds. they sat on this data for about six months really figuring out how to do this. and turn on atm's at times that

they knew they weren't monitored. and transferred money out. and they were very sophisticated attacks, $10 million per bank it was looking like kind of keeping under the radar. and once they had access they brought in other tool that the bank would use, which was white listed trusted, and took over accounts of existing employees, so you were getting access and doing legitimate work as an employee, so it is very difficult to find out what was legitimate and what wasn't. >> the banks don't like to talk about this. and the president wants companies to be required to provide notice to consumers when this happens. why have banks been reluctant to

report these crimes? >> well this report just came and they are k looking at and trying to find out what exactly happened. and as i said it's a very sophisticated attack and in some ways they don't know what is legitimate and what is not. so they are working with law enforce trying to determine what happened. were you a victim? what happened? and what can you do right now to make it so the customers know this is coming? >> we had someone in the piece just before this conversation who said if you are determined to get in you likely will get in. that -- that's disconcerting. that doesn't feel acceptable. >> well i think at this time -- this is exactly why president obama was out here in stanford california, having a co summit because it's a unprecedented sign. i think in this case you need to understand it's holistic and

educate all of your stake holders. so say hey when something looks suspicious it probably is. if you taught your employees about spear fishing, and it is probably not something that you should be opening. and i think what obama is saying too, it's time to elevate the information security office firms. basically they should be owning everything. they should have the physical security, the risk and the it security, because they need to wholistically look at this and report it. and the stuff that president obama is doing is great, but it's new and just coming out now, so i think the banks are talking much better to each other, and we're going to see improvement, but you are right, this is a very intense time right now, where it seems like there is a warfare going on. and it's hard to win this. >> tom thank you very much.

joining us from san francisco, tom, good to see you again. thanks. talks to extend greece's bailout plan have collapsed. greece rejected an extension of its $270 billion rescue deal. the finance minister says he is unable to accept more budget cuts. without a deal the economy could literally collapse. . in west africa the number of ebola cases is rising again. it's a different picture in liberia, once the center of the crisis as dominic kane reports now. >> reporter: this is the william tubman high school in the liberian capitol. for many months it was closed during the ebola outbreak, but as of monday it is now opened. many health precautions have been put in place, but some students remain wary. >> it is not same because

[ inaudible ]. >> reporter: the number of new ebola infections in liberia has slowed markedly. just last week president obama told a u.s. audience he believed the fight against ebola had moved into a different phase. >> we're here to mark a transition. not to declare mission accomplished, but to mark a transition. thanks to the hard work of our nearly 3,000 troops who deployed to west africa. logistics have been set up treatment units have been built. over 1500 african health workers have been trained. >> reporter: but the world health organization says the number of new cases has risen for the second week running. in guinea the number grew from 39 to 65. transmission of the virus is also still widespread in sierra

leone which has 75 new cases. health officials say many people are still not taking the proper precautions. >> unsafe burials are one of a number of practices that are probably still driving the -- the problem. that is -- that is probably the most difficult one to address without a doubt. >> reporter: the west africa ebola outbreak has now killed more than 9,000 people and infected nearly 23,000. and while things have improved in some places the outbreak is far from over. dominic kane al jazeera. people who couldn't sign up for health insurance before yesterday's deadline have a little bit more time the healthcare.gov website saw more problems on saturday. people now have at least another week to finish their paperwork. a budget battle in

washington could put homeland security on ice. that's in today's power politics. michael shure is with us. tell us more about this please. >> here is what is going on this dhs funding, the republicans thought hey, we're going to be able to get president obama to back off on his executive actions because we're going to tight dhs. the house wants to do that. the senate not able to do that. what this is setting up is a battle between mitch mcconnell and john bainer. not exactly what the republicans wanted after winning the midterm elections. >> it looks like rand paul is hedging his bets he wants to run for president and his senate seat at the same time. what is the problem here? >> the problem is it's against kentucky law. it's one of the great political

stories going on right now. rand paul is trying to get them to change from a primary to a caucus. the problem with that though is let's say it gets to november he is eventually going to have to be on the ballot twice as either a senator of presidential candidate. one option that is really cool is he could skip kentucky all together. campaigning in 49 states for the nomination except his own. >> gotcha so the republican field for 2016 is literally wide open. >> yeah. it is. >> according to the nbc news mike huckabee holds a slight lead lindsey graham holds the lead in his home state. could this be a long primary season for the g.o.p.?

>> we're sitting here president's day 2015 and it is already a long primary season. what it shows is how open the presidency is for the republicans. that no, ma'am inflation. mike huckabee one in 2008, the iowa caucus with 34% of the vote. so that's pretty big. not surprising with lindsey graham. jeb bush is the kind of typical republican that new hampshire would go for. this on top of boehner and mcconnell quibbling, the democrats just sitting by on the sidelines now. hillary clinton just delaying and delaying. probably well to let them fight this out. >> michael as always good to talk to you. thank you, sir. a grand injury has indicted the man accused of shooting three muslim shootings last week. he faces three counts of first

degree murder as well as a firearms charge. police have said it appears the shooting was motivated over a dispute over parking. peace talks in senegal has stalled. the use of land mines is turning out to be a major sticking point. the government and rebels accuse each other of planting them. and neither side wants to remove them. >> reporter: too afraid to step on to his own land. charles was farming his fields when he stepped on the land mine and lost his leg. ten years after it happened he is still in shock. >> translator: i feel inferior i'm less of a man. i can't support my family. i'm useless to others and we're hungry. >> reporter: he no longer tends to these fields nor does anyone else because there might be more mines. they are the result of a 30-year conflict. neither side will admit to using

land mines so nobody knows how many there are. a group called handicap international was working to clear them. but since the peace negotiations stopped, they lost their funding. >> translator: international donors have turned their back on this problem. and stopped funding demining. >> reporter: almost a thousand people mostly farmers have either died or been injured because of these mines. >> translator: the fighting between the rebels and the military may have stopped but this means nothing to us there is no real peace until we can safely access and work on our land. >> reporter: the senegal go says a thousand square kilometers is mined, much of it is agricultural land. people grow vegetables peanuts and rice, it's a precious

fertile land in a country that has so little of it and struggles to feed its people. last year the president announced plans to grow enough rice to end imports by 2017. >> translator: the region around the river is crucial for us to meet our goal to be self-sufficient in rice because we have the potential to double our production. >> reporter: that's given people like this man hope. he now sees in this mine field, rice paddies waiting to be sewn. a horrifying moment for an american running with the bulls in spain. the 20-year-old benjamin miller was tossed and gored. doctors say he suffered 16-inch wound to his thigh and puncture wounds elsewhere. russia's eastern forest is home to some of the rarest

predators on earth. they are big cats tigers and leopards and the big problem is poachers. >> reporter: it's early morning in the far east of russia. the temperatures are freezing minus 30 degrees celsius. wouldn't think a far rest like this would sustain triggers but it does. >> these tracks are wild bores rooting for food. and this is what they are after. this is the base of the tiger food chain. the korean pine is protected too, a kind of conservation ripple affect. but while the siberian tiger number have decreased, there are still problems. over the course of 20 years,

they have assisted in the confiscation of more than 100 tiger pelts. >> translator: here one man was responsible for eight tiger skins. this one was a cub clubbed to death. just terrible >> operator: it's been a big problem for police and it's not just tiger skins. these are the paws of bears killed in russia forests, all heading to markets in southeast asia particularly china. and then in another part the far eastern leopard, the world's rarest big cat. there are just 50 in the wild and that is an improvement. a park has now been designated for them. the so-called land of the leopard. they share their range with about ten or more tigers.

but every reported death has to be investigated. in this case it seems the death was caused by a tiger. >> translator: unfortunately these tragedies do happen. it's not the first case. of course it is a problem, because the leopard is such a rare animal but you can't influence nature. >> reporter: the funny thing is that people living in the city look out at the hills of this park every single day. what is extraordinary to think is that what they actually looking at is the habitat of two of the rarest animals in the world pretty much on their doorstep. and coming up next on the program -- ♪ it's my party, aisle cry if i want cry if i want to ♪ >> the singer who made this

famous.

♪ it's my party, and i'll cry if i want to ♪ >> what a song right? the singer leslie gore has died. her follow ups, also topped the charts. gore was nominated for an oscar for from the movie "fame." new york has a stunning turn around for an area once considered seedy and dangerous. but not everyone is cheering. >> reporter: it's known as the cross-roads of the world, and it's not hard to understand why. on a busy day, almost half a

million people pass through time square. >> oh it's iconic. i love it here. >> i want to come experience what new york is all about. what better place than to see where the city never sleeps. >> reporter: all of this foot traffic is great for retailers who spend top dollar to have billboards and stores in the area but not so much for those who live and work here. one in four were dissatisfied with the overcrowding and the presence of costume characters. >> a lot of people don't know how to walk. don't know that walking is a mode of transportation for all of us here in new york. >> reporter: some streets have been closed to traffic, but the move designed to make more room for pedestrians only seems to have attracted more of them. >> oh definitely. ever since they finished construction and making it more

pedestrian friendly it has gotten more crowded and more costume characters. >> reporter: the city now wants to regulate people that dress up as cartoon characters and pose for pictures with touristst, but time square is still more family friendly than it was back in the '70s and '80s. it took tax incentives with a concerted area to clean up the area and fill new skyscrapers with den-- tenants. the challenge now is to hold on to them. >> we have some real challenges that grow out of our success, which is that it gets very crowded. we have got to make sure we stay fresh, and we keep taking care of the customer. >> reporter: it looks like the tourists are here to stay and as long as they don't block the

sidewalk sidewalk, it is hoped the businesses will remain too. tourists as you might imagine are flocking to the sunshine state. more than 97 million people visited florida last year and that's a record. david shuster is here. there are central abuse allegations against a leading muslim cleric in illinois. we'll hear from a member of that mosque who tells how she was violated. and the court in texas will rule on whether to block president obama's executive actions. it could impact close to 9 million immigrants. and we continue our series looking at this year's oscar

nominated documentaries. our film tonight, "citizen 4." >> i think one of the most important parts of the film is it lets the viewer see edward snowden in action in order to make up their own minds. so much as been said about edward snowden, but this really lets the viewer see for themselves and decide what it is that they think about his actions. >> we will have those stories and more in just a few minutes. >> david thank you. nasa has a clearer view of a far away moon that could have the potential to support life. this is titan. the old image is hard to make out, but thanks to a new despeckling tool nasa was able to map the surface more

accurately. that's all of our time. i'm tony harris. thanks for watching. david shuster is up next. ♪

hello, everybody, this is al jazeera america. i'm david shuster in new york. just ahead . . . targeting isil egypt is conducting air strikes in libya, after 21 egyptian christians there were beheaded. divided in chicago, a leading muslim cleric is under investigation after allegations of sex abuse. river on fire. in west virginia an oil train derailed today setting off explosions a