>> from the best filmmakers of our time. >> it's not traditionally what broadcast journalism does. >> the new home for original documentaries. al jazeera america presents "motherhood on ice". next sunday, 10:00 eastern. only on al jazeera america >> this is al jazeera america. i'm thomas drayton in new york. let's get you cait up caught up on the top stories. venezuela talks about growing threat by the u.s. accused of shooting two police officers during last week's protest in ferguson. a disturbing photo display that the u.n. wants everyone to see. the horrors of syria as it

enters its fifth year of war. >> down to the wire for israeli elections, the prime minister benjamin netanyahu making a last ditch effort to hold onto power. >> venezuela's parliament voted sunday to give president nicholas maduro the authority to pass laws without consulting the national assembly. the rule will be in effect for six months. maduro says he needs expanded powers to check the u.s. influence in venezuela. second large scale military exercises day. president maduro says the massive drill is in response to u.s. threats. critics are accusing president maduro of using those threats as a power grab. they say it's not first time

he's done it. al jazeera's virginia lopez is in caracas. >> sweeping powers the right to pass laws without congressional approval. the fist pumping the air the cries of yankee go home. missing was a clear idea of what his new powers meant. >> translator: the american government has committed the most embarrassing repugnant and aggressive act that we can remember in our 200-year history. since venezuela was called venezuela, and since simon bolivar libertied us, that's why i went to the national assembly. >> reporter: sanctioned seven government officials. as the head of the country's

parliament hand delivered the law, thousands outside the miras flores palace, gathered. the mood here was festive. hardly the signs of a country under siege. >> i'm here that as venezuelans we need to support the president's policy wholeheartedly. >> reporter: rehearsing military maneuvers to fight for an invasion. president nicholas maduro has a little over 20% approval rate. presidential elections are looming ahead. they are more concerned about the elections than a possible air strike. >> i have been a victim of crime

three times. we need to focus on that and we need to focus on the issue everywhere. >> reporter: issue of sanctions has been a matter ever national priority. where had the support extends to his own backyard will be only proved out at the polls. >> we examine the growing concerns of venezuela, this week. they say this is the man who shot two officers outside the ferguson police department last thursday. the officers were shot during protests that followed the resignation of ferguson police chief thomas jackson. the county prosecutor says more arrests may come. richelle carey reports. >> at this point the stress is ongoing. an awful lot to be done. >> st. louis prosecuting

attorney robert mccullough announced the arrest of the person who shot the two police officers monday morning. >> it's possible he could have been shooting at someone else, the charge is class a felony. >> reporter: in addition to class a assault williams is accused of three counts of armed criminal action. still trying to determine how many people were involved or if they were even connected to the demonstrators involved. the shooting occurred just after midnight, as officers confronted protesters near the ferguson police department. >> oh boy. >> reporter: two officers were hit, one from the st. louis county police department and the other from nearby webster grove. they were treated and released from the hospital the same day.

came after the resignation of police chief thomas jackson following a week of high level resignations after a damning report from the department of justice regarding ferguson police and the court system. it's been seven months since missouri teenager michael brown was shot and killed by a ferguson police officer. >> hands up don't shoot. >> that launched ferguson into the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons. >> keep rolling, keep rolling. >> we hope that things will go back to normal and folks will stop associating ferguson with violence. >> williams is fromming an area outside of ferguson. a point many make. but many of the troublemakers come from outside their community. richelle carey, al jazeera. >> the clock is ticking tuesday

is election day in israel and with one day to come, the election is too close to call. the lect lehud party. labor leader would likely become the next prime minister. the road to becoming prime minister is certainly a complicated one. voters elect 100 members of the knesset. in the 67-year history of israel no party has ever won an

outright majority, 61 seats. but after the vote the country's president meets with party leaders, to determine which party has the most chance to serve. our dana lewis reports from jerusalem on who would gain the most from a big turnout on tuesday. >> thomas one of the groups that may play a very big role on these elections tuesday night are arab israelis, half live below the poverty line, they feel marginalized, despite the fact that they represent 20% of the population, a population of 8 million in israel, what they've done in this time is yufnt along one party list. if -- unify along one party list. they may play a very big role in

israeli politics after tuesday night. >> at hebrew university in jerusalem, are arab israelis are mobilizing like never before. omar is telling potential voters that make up 20% of israel's population, you've got to make your voices heard don't stay home he says. he explains four of the parties have unite. >> we are shooting for massive participation. >> reporter: what's different this time around, a lot using social media to get the vote out. expected that voter turnout could be higher than prior elections. student participation has been intense and in some cases ended up with confrontation with police. predicts more than a 60% arab-israeli turnout this

election. >> we decided to react to the demand in the street. unite, you should unite. >> and accomplish what? >> one voice strong and influential. we want the citizen in the street wants us to have much more influence on the decision-making process. >> reporter: not every student agrees with participating in election in which arab minor parts are never invited into jewish coalition governments. >> what are we talking about we have arabs who tear up the laws we make, in our own parliament, we have arabs that talk about the freedom of speech freedom of everything. what are you talking about? that's not real, that's just an illusion i for one cannot

contribute to that illusion. >> more and more seem willing to participate believing they will emerge with a more powerful voice. >> i think they can do something at last. because when they got united together all the arab parties together they can make a step forward much easier right now. >> reporter: what would be a step forward? >> to make the voice of the minority more -- to make it louder for people to hear it. >> reporter: to be clear the arab parties will not join any jewish coalition in a future government in israel. they won't be invited and they won't accept such an invitation. many of them actually identify themselves as arab-palestinians and they see themselves as part of the palestinian struggle but certainly they could have 13 to 15 seats on tuesday night. so they may play a role in toppling the government of the

prime minister benjamin netanyahu and they will have a future role in voting on the knesset. thomas. >> thank you director of middy center at northwestern university. he explains why netanyahu is facing the largettes challenge yet. challenge -- largest challenge. >> apology at 4 knesset seats than lekud. netanyahu is obviously very worried. failed to understand is the exorbitant cost of living in israel. particularly the lack of affordable housing. economic issues have been the issues of most concern to israelis and netanyahu on the other hand has focused on

security. even on the security arm which has been mr. netanyahu's trump card there has been a number of former generals and heads of israeli spy agency which has criticized netanyahu's handling of israel's security. >> the dangers of iran, do the various parties differ much on iran? >> they don't really differ on the threats of iran's nuclearization. but how they might handle this danger. in particular all the other parties have been very critical of netanyahu's handling of the relationship with the united states and his -- and the way in which he has brought his concerns to the united states about the alleged deal that might be happening with iran. so it's not really so much in terms of the way they perceive the threat from iran but much more in terms of how they would handle it diplomatically. >> our conversation on the upcoming israeli election.

a group of iraqis loyal to muqtada al sadr, have left to retake northern city of tikrit. the fight to reclaim tikrit, former leader saddam hussein's home town will has been undergoing since march 2nd. eastern city of lahor. angry mobs blocked streets in retaliation, setting fire to cars, and chanting antiterrorism slogans. both are believed to be involved in the attack on the churches. the pakistan taliban has claimed responsibility for the attacks. 14 people were killed and more than 70 injured. this is the latest attack on religious minorities in the country. still ahead, on the program

as the syrian war enters its fifth year, secretary of state john kerry says bold action must be taken for a solution. are a new photo exhibit at the united nations offers an all too real look at the death and destruction caused by the war. >> studying deadly viruses. >> these facilities are incredibly safe, incredibly secure. >> go inside the study of infectious diseases. >> ventilated footy pajamas. >> protecting those working to protect us. >> we always have to stay one step ahead of them because they're out there. >> techknow's team of experts show you how the miracles of science... >> this is my selfie, what can you tell me about my future? >> can affect and surprise us. >> don't try this at home. >> "techknow" where technology meets humanity. only on al jazeera america.

>> hundreds of thousands of protesters have been marching in cities across brazil calling for the impeachment of the president. thethe country is in a deeply engrained scandal over the government owned company petrobras. >> a sea of people, all squeezed on to the main afternoon at the heart of the financial sector. one of the demands the

impeachment of democratically elected president dilma rousseff only two months into her second term. worries about an economy that seems weaker every day. >> the feelings that the brazilian people have is that they are taking our money and we don't have anything -- we don't have anything back, uh, you, you know, they take taxes and taxes and taxes and we don't have anything back. >> poor people leaving everything else rising taxes not bring the same equal rights to everyone. >> reporter: tens of thousands marched in other cities too along rio de janeiro's copa cabana beach the calls were to have the president out. thousands of people have come out to march on sunday and

ironically its the 30th anniversary of return of democracy in brazil. people marching say they're drinking in democracy but their opponents think this is an attack on this very democracy. there were conservative strains visible. signs calling for military intervention and rejection of communism. opponents of rousseff often accuse her of following. justice minister that the president is listening to the anddemands and will act on them. a response many no longer wants to hear. adam rainey, al jazeera, sao paulo. >> comments made as syria enters its fifth year of civil war. john kerry arrived today he is

there for talks on iran's nuclear program. >> secretary of state john kerry in sharm el sheikh, he spoke in an interview with the u.s. tv network cbs. >> we are working very hard with other interested parties to see if we can reignite a diplomatic outcome. why, because everybody agrees there is no diplomatic solution, only a political solution. but to get assad to negotiate we're going to have to make it clear to him that there is a determination from everybody to change his calculus about negotiating. that is underway right now and i am convinced that with the efforts of our allies and others there will be increased pressure on assad. >> and you would be willing to negotiate with him? >> well, we have to to negotiate in

the end. >> the u.s. had a role when former negotiator lakdar brahimi brought the sides together for talks. the u.s. has not had direct negotiations with the syrian government before. dr. brahimi's successor diplomats say the plan is dead. from egypt secretary kerry traveled to lausanne. diplomats tell me if there's a new push to restart a syrian

process, all parties need to be involved. egypt remains syria's closest ally and has influence. european ministers among them will be the eu high representative for foreign affairs. james bays, lausanne, al jazeera. >> not just combating i.s.i.l. but the struggle for freedom in syria as well. zeina khodr reports. >> it's called the spirit of the revolution. this film is about the struggle for free freedom in syria. the man behind it is worried the u.s. led fight against the islamic state of iraq and the levant has overshadowed the uprising against the syrian

government. it's one of the reasons he wants to raise awareness. >> translator: the international community should remember there are syrians who oppose the regime and i.s.i.l. we must remind those inside syria they should reject any reconciliation with the regime. >> reporter: he's from the city of homs, home to some of the largest antigovernment demonstrations since the uprising began. protesters were killed and the uprising became a civil war. his city like so many other areas became an urban battle ground. years later homs is back under government control. it hasn't defeated the opposition but its opponents are increasingly worried that the global war against i.s.i.l. has shifted the focus of ousting

assad's government. dignity and an end to arbitrary detentions. they claimed of a corrupt system that didn't provide equal opportunities for all. el abdalla says the government has won now it's facing a new enemy. >> translator: it is no longer a people's revolt against a criminal regime. now the people are fighting an alliance that include iran and its militias. this doesn't mean our revolution is over. >> this is about the determination of many syrians counters the government's narrative that it's a war against terrorists. zeina khodr acknowledge al jazeera beirut. >> franchises of people apparently killed by the assad

regime. courtney kealy reports. the images are graphic. >> reporter: the exhibit begins with a stark warning. the the following images are disturbing. some turn away, others move in closer. carol padilla works at the u.n in the budget office. she avoids it. >> today i actually came across and looked at it and i'm glad i did. >> reporter: these 30 photographs are part of 55,000 images that were smuggled outside syria from a defector called caesar, his job was to photograph those dead bodies that had been in assad's prisons, 11,000 deaths of detainees mainly taken between 2011 and 2013 at syrian military hospitals, the victims include men, women children and the elderly.

all the signs show grizzly -- all the photographs show grizzly signs of starvation and torture. >> more than the balkans, more than rwanda, these tortures to senior members in the regime. >> he said more than 100 people in syria should be held responsible for crimes like these committed on a massive scale. >> we've got to build for day when it's possible have comprehensive justice for syria and we won't rest until that day arrives. >> brooke stone and her friends went to the exhibit. >> we were told to look away if we have to but it's important for them not to look away. >> think don't want people to look away but quite honestly how did you prepare yourself? >> i think human curiosity takes

over. where is this, what's going on? why does this go on? you read the bio and it's like mind-blowing. >> both russia an ally of assad and china vetoed bringing this situation to the icc. the u.n. estimates that 220,000 people have been killed in the conflict that began four years ago. courtney kealy, al jazeera. >> military drills are underway in venezuela. the president saying it's due to a threat posed by the u.s. we'll examine the relationship between washington d.c. and caracas.

>> welcome back to ladges. here are the top stories we're following right now. police in ferguson have arrested a superintendent suspect in the shooting of two police officers

in ferguson. jeffrey williams said he was not aiming at police. part of the protest. williams is not a ferguson resident. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is making a last ditch effort to hold onto his job. he addressed a job group on sunday. secretary of state john kerry is in switzerland at the moment. arethis morning parliament gave venezuelan president nicholas maduro decree powers for the

rest of the year. the latin american nation poses an extraordinary threat to the security of the united states. in return maduro shored up support, they will never kneel in front of our empire. courtney kealy has more. >> reporter: shouting long live chavez, nicholas maduro wants to defeat what he called there imperialist threat of the united states. maduro continues to ratchet up antiamerican sentiment like his predecessor hugo chavez. have. >> translator: maybe i'll show my face for my country tell the government in washington they are committing grave mistakes

with the world with latin america. >> reporter: escalated soon after president obama signed an executive order that declared venezuela a threat to national security. impose sanctions on seven venezuelan military and intelligence officials accused of human rights violations. maduro quickly appointed one to be his minister of interior and called them all heroes. then he ordered the armed forces to stars defensive military exercises. he showed venezuelan lawmakers,. >> translator: i congratulate you on your brilliant and courage oustous speech. >> calling the sanctions arbitrary and aggressive. carried out under a law passed

by congress late in 2014, the sanctions bar the seven venezuelan officials from doing business with american citizens, traveling to the united states, and permitting the seizure of any assets they have in the united states. use of deadly force jailed almost all the top opposition leaders. >> translator: this just shows they do what they want with public institutions and the national assembly is just window dressing for a regime that is a dictatorship, a military dictatorship a mafia that violates rights in a massive systematic way. >> ordered the u.s. embassy in caracas to cut it staff from roughly 100 to 17 employees limited remaining diplomats activities and after it cancelled visas visas 56 venezuelan

citizens. the stakes are high for maduro's government. courtney kealy, al jazeera. >> we do want to point out earlier this month the u.s. placed visa restrictions on venezuelan officials that it says are involved in human rights violations. and their families. also put in place new visa requirements for americans. in december maduro accused the u.s. of starting an oil war. venezuela is one of the top five exporters of oil to the united states. its oil revenues account for about 95% of its earnings. as we mentioned ten days of military drills were underway throughout venezuela. yesterday, nearly 100,000 armed forces took part with fighter planes and armored trucks. sailors performed drills in the

caribbean while soldiers defended the country's largest oil refinery in a simulated attack. what does this all mean going forward, chris tor christopher abatini and vice president of the americas, mr. sabatini. >> it's unclear why he would need these sanctions he already had a clear majority in the national assembly. clearly he is trying to drum up a lot of expectation and sphere so that he can consolidated consolidate power. and chavez his predecessor did also. >> what do you think this show of power? >> it's all show. let's face it, what he's

protesting is the yanking of seven visas of those involved in these human rights abuses. does this merit a military response? it's clearly all just bluster in an attempt to distract his citizens away from a very difficult economic situation. >> is mr. maduro a threat ou.s. security? >> i don't think maduro is going to send military forces against florida or anything like that. this is standard language that is necessary in order to sanction foreign government officials. at one level it is standard language, the type of thing had a would be used not just with venezuela but with other countries. it is perhaps unfortunate because in this context it has allowed president maduro and his government to dramatically overreact for their own purposes but this should be no surprise

as dr. sabatini said, is not very good. he faces parliamentary elections later this year. his popularity is in the 20% range. if he were to run in full and fair elections he would possibly lose it. threat of so-called invasion from the united states gives him the ability frankly to go into those elections much stronger and frankly take steps against opposition to rig the election. >> political propaganda, and political distraction? >> i don't think that anybody in the united states is considering innovating venezuela yet to hear about the leaders leader of stroans talk aboutvenezuela to talk about it, it's political motivation like it

worked for him for two years and his predecessor hugo chavez for 14 years. it should be no surprise. >> mr. sabatini do you agree with the assessment? >> there are national security risks in venezuela. we have become very much, embedded with narcotics trafficking, it's become a major bridge now narcotics trafficking going from west africa to europe. over the last 15 plus years they have been systematically taking apart the state risk of becoming a failed state. does it rise to a security threat to the united states? not that but it's a very sticky situation. what is very interesting according to public opinion surveys, most people are not buying it, be maduro's approval rate is over 70% and his approval rate is 20%.

that hasn't changed even in the face of all these alleged coup plots. >> what isn't working? >> i think the government is sort of knee jerk dna reaction to everything is confrontation. it cannot sort of moderate its discourse. with oil down by 60% the country facing a huge potential devaluation. inflation close to 70%. he is very much on the ropes politically. >> mr. farnsworth, has there been reaction from the rest of the world venezuelan relationship or lack of? >> there has been, it's been negative against united states. the unasor, has come out with a statement rejecting the claims of the united states. we're talking about seven

officials that can't come to the united states because their visas have been pulled and their assets been frozen. this is the most minimalist sanctions, the united states is buying billions of dollars of oil from venezuela every year. to suggest we are about to embargo the country or take some sort of action is just ludicrous. having said that, the rest of latin america, i should say south america has rejected action. it is an attack on democracy in venezuela itself and looking for ways to restore full democracy and democratic institutions. >> there's a little bit of hypocrisy. in 2009 the u.s. government yanked the visas ever a number ever citizens, none of those

same countries did the same when they did it to a right wing government. the pattern was there there's a fair amount of hypocrisy. >> gentlemen stand by. the people of venezuela certainly no doubt have been deeply affected by these development. they are met with weakening economy. virginia chavez has the story. >> any type of criticism or dissent. two other figures of the opposition have been in jail for more than a year without trial. president maduro has ignored numerous calls for the freedom or for freeing these opposition leaders and also political prisoners that have been uranium following last year's -- jailed

follow last year's protests. corruption when for close to $20 billion. just to give you an idea, $20 billion is close to what the country has in foreign reserves. life is becoming more and more of a struggle every day. not only are we faced with chronic shortages but also there's mounting mounting inflation and the imf has predicted the economy will contract close to 7% this year, all in face of parliamentary elections that should be taking place close to september or after. and maduro has a approval rate of 20%. >> venezuela ended 2014 at 68.5% up from the 56% inflation in

2013. and it's only expected to get worse this year after a major devaluation of the country's currency. consumer prices increased 5% just in the month of december. the international monetary fund projects that the country's gross domestic product is going to contract by 7% in 2015 because of the drop in oil prices. for context in 2009, the worst year of the great recession the u.s. economy contracted by 2.8%. mr. sabatini are we seeing any global investments in venezuela? >> what you have is a lot of capital locked in right there. because of the overvalue ever exchange rate a lot of investors are reluctant to pull out. proctor and gamble and others, you do not see any new fresh

investment going in. it is heading down an economic rabbit hole. >> how are people getting by? >> very difficult situation there is no easy fix because not only has as you mentioned there been overvaluation of the currency as well as inflation the nationalization of a number of key sectors of industry have created a lot of bottlenecks. >> mr. farnsworth do we need a third party to take action, perhaps brazil with a mutual interest in both countries? >> well, that's certainly what the united states has hoped for for a long time and for that reason has resisted taking action as they recently did. looking for brazil or other countries in the region to say this has gone too far we need

to have a solution. president dilma rousseff has her own problems right now and probably will not step into that role and other countries in latin america would either. sothe pope is argentine and he may have interests in doing this but the solutions are deep. serious and stairnd effort. who has the internet and the staying power? >> coming up, how will this affect the relationship with cuba? >> first of all this is going to be an interesting summit, one of the most interesting ever. we will have president obama and others there i think it's clear the reason the cubans were

willing to start negotiations with the united states, they realize venezuela is about to go belly up economically. 10% of their gdp depends on oil from venezuela. they have looked as a way to diversify their impacts. and quite tepid to what maduro said and what fidel would say ten years ago. >> your thoughts mr. farns worth. >> an farnsworth. >> broadly speaking is going to be underperforming this year 2015. but the overheated rhetoric coming out of venezuela and the supports venezuela has gotten from other cungs countries has changed the dynamic.

it's going to be an interesting time. >> and venezuela what's the internal political climate like? >> in venezuela very polarized. what this situation has done is basically fragmented. coming out under the union movement but it is because of the arrest of two opposition mayors, and then another mayor has become very fragmented. some don't want to go to elections, sort of believed they would get stolen, others want to stay true to the electoral route. we'll have to eight. there's a difficulty there too because they are so divided in forming a common front what to do with this government. >> do you see the economic situation, the overall situation improving? >> no not at all. >> where do we go from here mr. farnsworth? >> nobody has any easy answers. the problem has been the economic mismanagement of the

country that the government has undertaken. and when oil was higher they were trying to redistribute that income and buy political support which they did quite well. but now that oil is down to $43 a barrel, the latest figure, they have no ability to do that and yet the political rhetoric and the flexibility just isn't there. when president chavez was president, he had the flexibility to make changes where they needed to be. he could be more pragmatic one day, one ideologic the other day. president maduro doesn't have that mandate because he is the successor of chavez. he can't deviate from the strict ideologic line. there are some who would suggest the most likely in that movement, may be moving him aside and taking power in

themselves. there is a parliamentary election, is several years away acknowledge you don't have that escape and moderating role can hopefully get off the ground soon. >> you're going to be addressing congress, what will the key points be? >> these sanctions are not what the maduro government has described. the possibilities of any sort of reconciliation within the country given the lack of institutions given the levels of polarization, given the fact that this government as mr. farnsworth was saying, its inclinations would be, i think we need to recognize that this could very well get worse before it gets better and the regional community somehow some way needs to stand up.

>> great to have you with us on the week ahead. we go let's take a look at some other events coming up in the week ahead. on monday the eu and foreign minister will meet. the talks approach at the end of the month. on tuesday president barack obama will meet with ireland's prime minister on st. patrick's day. friday marks the deadline for greece to pay $1.5 billion of its loan to the international monetary fund. up next, why accidents at crossings in the u.s., what the government is doing to stop them

them. >> record breaking snow. more on that when we return.

>> al jazeera america international news. shining a light on the untold stories. >> believe in yourself and you'll get there. >> making the connections to the bigger picture. >> shouldn't you have been tougher? >> get the international news you need to know. al jazeera america. >> tuesday on "the stream". >> the annual south by southwest festival has been a breeding ground for some of the biggest tech innovations in the world. we'll take you there, giving you a glimpse into the future. >> "the stream". tuesday, 1:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. a. >> the heir to one of new york's largest empires has been arrested. robert durst has been questioned but not charged in the deaths of his wife and girlfriend. in 2001, the 70-year-old admitto

killingadmitted to killing someone. happened after the driver drove right through the signal. no one on the chicago-bound train was injured but the driver died at the scene. in another train collision yesterday in louisville, kentucky, look at this video here, it shows the vehicle driving straight past the red signal light it was struck by the train and two of the passengers in the car were dead at the scene the other two were taken to a nearby hospital. no one on the train was injured. these are a streak of crashes happening at railroad crossings. as al jazeera's lisa stark reports, some tbond enough is being done to keep those --

wonder if enough is being done to keep those crossings safe. >> reporter: outfitted with warning lights, flashing light and gates. a driver gets confused and tries to beat the train. this happened in michigan in 2009. the driver apparently tried to slip around the gate. an amtrak train plowed into the car killing all five on board. craid crossings locations where vehicles and trains can come together. safety improvements at the crossings and education campaigns have maid a huge difference. in 1978 there were more than 13,000 accidents at grade crossings, in 2013, that droment todroment -- dropped to just over 2,000. an 85% decrease. and the number of deaths has dropped from a high of 1115 in

1976 to about 251 in 2013. a 77% decline. still, about every three hours in the u.s., a person or a vehicle is hit by a train. here on this mta video you can see commuters testing their luck running across the rails trying to catch their train. operation life saver runs safety campaigns like this one targeting distracted drivers. >> near train tracks stay focused stay alive. >> drivers often misjudge the speed of the train and how long it as takes to stop. a train moving 55 miles an hour could take more than a mile to stop. the federal government spends

millions each year, and about 60% of the crossings in the u.s. have warning lights and gates. federal regulations require those lights to flip on and the bells to sound at least 20 seconds before a train comes by. but youtube is full of videos where drivers don't always heed the warnings. this driver got out in time but most office these accidents are deadly. lisa stark, al jazeera washington. >> it was a wet start and end to some parts of the country. kevin corriveau has a look at the forecast. >> we're looking at a better forecast but that doesn't marine the rain that fell isn't causing big problems in some parts of the country. radar satellite across much of the southern part of the country, we're actually see some warm temperatures. we're going to take you specifically across the ohio

river valley. over this weekend we saw warming temperatures and melting snow, we're seeing a major problem along the ohio river mississippi river valley, as well as iowa and illinois. the river is also 57 feet, five feet above flood stage. we do have a lot of levees on the river so that's holding back some. it's going to be a very long process as it makes its way down to parts of the mississippi and we do expect to see more rain later in the week. boston has broken a record because of this snow added on top of what we had before. now we're being looing at a record 108.6 inches of snow and

winter is not done yet thomas. we could see more snow -- they have seen that much in april right? >> that's going to do it for tonight pnl thanks for joining us. i'm thomas drayton stay tuned the news continues have a safe night.

the u.s. says it will have to negotiate with president assad to end the war in syria. hello. live from doha. also coming up in the next 30 minutes: >> we do not know if our families are safe or not. as a leader of the nation my whole heart is for the whole people of the nation. >> vanuatu says years have been -- of progress have been wiped out in the cyclone hit islands. >> in