>> keep up with all the top stories on aljazeera.com. you can talk to us through email, facebook and twitter. tweet me, i will tweet you back. i am @ajdobbs. >> the fallout from fear, why donald trumps anti muslim rhetoric may be a threat to international security. >> even a small number of individuals can do us great harm. >> the house approving new rules for foreigners trying to come to the u.s. record rains with storms from the pacific u.s. triggered landslides, evacuations and overflowing sewers.

>> this is al jazeera live from new york city, i'm del walters. the backlash is growing around the world against donald trump. take a look at this. it is the front cover of today's independent in the u.k. saying ban him from britain. now parliament will have to debate that issue because an on line petition demanding just that passed 100,000 signatures. trump insisting he is no bigot for calling on the government to stop muslims from coming into the u.s. the bam map administration says that type of talk could put the u.s. at a national security risk. al jazeera has more. >> they can never, ever, ever come back. it's over. >> at the white house, donald trump's anti muslim rhetoric was

portrayed as tantamount to aiding and abetting the enemy. at the pentagon, a spokesman said it would make it harder to recruit muslim allies to battle isil on the ground in syria. >> anything that creates tensions and the notion that the united states is at odds with the muslim faith and islam would be counterproductive to our efforts right now, and totally contrary to our values. >> in iraq, trumps call for a total and complete ban on muslims entering the united states has this baghdad shopkeeper shaking his head. >> i think that such an idea and remarks are wrong, as it increases hatred and rancor versus the west and america and will cause a wrist between muslims and christians there. >> they have no respect for human life. >> while trump's latest remarks drew fire from all sides, president obama said last month, the talk of imposing a religious

test on refugees entering the u.s. is giving isil a tactical position. >> i cannot think of a more potent recruitment tool for isil than some of the rhetoric coming out of here during the course of this debate. >> prominent muslim groups are outraged. >> he and others are playing into the hands of isis. this is exactly what isis wants from americans, to turn against each other. and for that, donald trump and other candidates who are targeting american muslims are doing great service to isis. the ones that we're all find as common enemy. >> homeland security secretary jay johnson appearing with a local imam the same time trump was addressing his supporters in south carolina says trumps vilification of muslims is all the more damaging, because it

comes not from a fringe candidate but from a front runner. >> when a leading candidate for office proposes something that is irresponsible, probably illegal, unconstitutional and contrary to international law, unamerican and will actually hurt our efforts at homeland security and national security, we have to speak out. >> jami macintyre, al jazeera, new york. a senate committee will talk about new restrictions on foreign errs trying to come into the country, the house overwhelmingly passing changes to the visa waiver program on thursday. 38 countries allow citizens to come into the u.s. without a visa. a new bill would force people who have been to iran, iraq, syria or sudan to go through the normal visa process. a fight is playing out in two states with conservative governs both saying they will not accept syrian refugees but now a charity has resettled families in both states anyway. we have more.

>> the governors of texas and indiana were among dozens of state leaders who vowed their states would refuse any new syrian refugees after the september 13 paris attacks. >> i have no higher priority than the safety and security of the people of the state of indiana and i'm going to continue to use the authority that we have to take that stand. >> catholic charities has taken its own stand. tuesday, the group helped settle a syrian family of six in houston, another family of six in the dallas area, and a family of four in indiana. indianapolis archbishop joseph tobin declined al jazeera's request for an interview but said in a statement: >> i'm disappointed with the decision by catholic charities. >> indiana governor mike pence

had asked the archbishop not to resettle any syrian refugees in his state but now says he will allow the family to take advantage of state services, despite his order barring state agencies from helping. family or about catholic charities. this is about an administration and a congress that should take decisive action to pause this program and review it to ensure that we can go forward. >> in texas, a lawsuit challenging the resettlement is making its way through the courts, but that state dropped its demand for an immediate injunction barring any syrians from being brought there. john henry smith, al jazeera. defense secretary ash carter getting ready to testify before the senate armed services committee, the chairman of that

committee john mccain from arizona is on the screen. we're learning more about the couple who carried out the mass shooting in san bernardino. tashfeen malik and sayed farook received funding from an on site site. investigators believe it may have helped them pay for weapons they used to kill 14 people. we're expecting to hear today from chicago mayor rahm emanuel in the next hour about the jersies surrounding his city's police department. he will talk about police accountability one day after officials there released this new video showing a man being tasered inside a jail cell. 38-year-old phillip coleman later died at the hospital from an allergic reaction. the officers involved have been cleared by the independent police review authority. that authority now has a new leader following the death of

two people at the hands of police. an investigators little he was fired because he spoke up. >> when lorenzo davis joined chicago's independent police review authority, the work it seemed was pretty straightforward. >> we go to the scene of the shooting. we begin to investigate. we get what's known as a walk through by the officer in charge. >> later, they conduct interviews with the officers and witnesses. he said it was independent until january of 2014 when scott ando took over at chief administrator. he and other new hires had backgrounds in the d.e.a. >> when they came in, then the culture changed into one where there was a distinct bias toward police officers. it became not independent at

all. this was like an arm of the chicago police department. >> davis says on about a half dozen police involved shootings, he felt the officers did use excessive force. >> i was told to change the findings of my cases, and i refused. i steadfastly refused. >> in july, davis was fired from his $92,000 a year job and says he was told it was because of a marginal performance rating. davis didn't buy it and is now suing both. on: pra and the city. ipra was born in 2007 in the fallout from this video showing an off duty cop beating a female bartender. it cost the officer and the police superintendent their jobs and cost the city nearly $900,000 in a settlement. a federal judge criticized what he called a code of silence among cops. the city's office of professional standards, which at

the time was the city's investigating body was heavily criticized for its handling of the case, so it was replaced by. on: pra. ipra has been on fire. they never interviewed an officer who did the shooting. the chief who fired davis abruptly resigned. on monday, mayor rahm emanuel named sharon fairer as ando's replacement. >> i promise you i bring new agenda other than the pursuit of integrity and transparency in the work that ipra does. >> davis agrees with the first murder charge in the shootingful mcdonald but thinks there was a cover up and disagrees with the

decision not to charge the officer who shot ronald johnson. davis said there is no rule a chicago police officer can't shoot an armed suspect in the back if he is running away if the officer feels he is an imminent threat. >> if it is not absolutely necessary to kill a person, why would you? >> al jazeera, chicago. this morning, washington state and oregon getting pounded with even more rain, portland getting so much water, some of the sewers overflowing. in western washington state, officials say the major rivers are close to spilling over their banks. the rain started over the weekend. it is expected to continue throughout the week and they are already saying no more in the pacific northwest. >> what's been interesting to me, record rain and record temperatures, all at the same time. i guess if you're going to get wet, i'd much rather take the warm rain than brutal cold stuff. part is because we've had the influence of the pine apple

express, moisture going all the way back to nearly hawaii, pine apple, tropical and just funneling in. you can see in the earlier frames, and behind that, another system forming up. we've had a lot of different systems coming through for about a week, even brief breaks haven't been enough to kind of unsaturate the ground. more of this today is going to spread into northern california, as well, and by tomorrow night into friday, some of this could get as far south at southern california where we need the rain, but not this much. northern california within the next hours isolated could get six inches or more and we've had that over the course of the last week, a lot of places that have reached a half foot for more because we totaled everything up. we're very sad rated now. flooding is a concern but then you get interior, the one system pulling into the rockies, parts of montana, some high wind

warnings could go over 80 miles an hour. that's higher than hurricane force. two feet could be in isolated spots in the sierras. the temperature have been record setting in the northwest, look at the midsection of the country, billings in montana december, 60 degrees, denver at 66. these are temperatures that are running about 20 degrees above average and in most of the country, maybe not 20 degrees above average, but you're at least a little above average. not a lot of places are on the cold side, which is also very unusual for december. >> nicole, thank you very much. >> time magazine announcing its pursuit of the year. she is the first woman that get that title in 26 years. >> affirmative action in college, this i guess a report looking at whether race should be a factor in deciding who is in and who is out.

>> the u.s. and cuba wrapped up their first round of attacks overcompensating americans who lost property during the cuban revolution, u.s. saying cuba $08 billion for confiscated property, but cuba says it is owed $121 billion for damages caused by the 50 year economic embargo. another round of talks is expected next year. this morning, affirmative action on the docket at the supreme court. the justice will hear the case

of a white student who claimed she was denied admission to the university of texas because of her race. al jazeera has this report. issues of race have been front and center on campus this fall from the ivy league to the heartland. now, before the u.s. supreme court, a key question in the debate over college diversity. >> whether taxpayer funded universities can consider race as one among many factors in putting together an incoming class. >> the case was brought by abigail fisher who applied to university of texas in 2008. she claimed the pro diversity admissions policy cost her a spot and violated her constitutional right to equal treatment. >> i was taught that any kind of discrimination was wrong and for an institution of higher learning to act this way makes no sense to me. >> u.t. automatically admits

texas high school grads in the top 10% or so of their class. fisher fell just below that bar. some 25% of admissions are set aside for holistic review where everything from talents to family circumstances are considered alongside academics. one of those criteria is race. >> there aren't any quotas or targets, so it's not really affirmative action in the sense most people think about it. it's a much more holistic approach to admissions to make sure that you get a class that's reflective of the community that you're trying to serve. >> the u.t. student government calls that diversity a central part of higher learning. >> that's not to say anyone is smarter than another, people come from all back grounds, but as a university, it's important to have people from across the spectrum to build a better view of the world.

>> the case went to court in 2013 after the fifth circuit court of appeals ruled against fisher. the high court didn't settle the issue. instead, it sent the case back to the circuit for a second look. that court against ruled against fisher, who again has asked the supreme court to step in. >> should you treat people differently because of their race? >> this professor has taught at the u.t. law school for five decades. he said any consideration of race in admissions is both unconstitutional and counterproductive. >> so you say they have different experiences. so what? do you really think that admitting a few blacks with lower scores than the whites that you don't admit with higher scores is educationally beneficial for anyone? i personally don't know how anyone could think that. >> voices on the other side of the argument are no less passionate. >> you are looking at a historically segregated university. >> the director of the texas

civil rights project is in favor of affirmative action to level the educational field spoke to us. >> we need to acknowledge that the way we have structured the education system has this baggage, just to focus on that one moment of walking in the door of the college isn't true to the whole history that comes before that. the supreme court considering another case, the principle of one person, one vote. tuesday, the justice hearing arguments that a voting rights case also out of texas, the state's current system draws up districts based on population, but the lawsuit challenges that, saying only eligible voters should be counted. >> texas did not engage in discrimination. what it did was provided fair representation by ensuring that an equal number of residents were in each district. >> opponents argue that if the plaintiffs win, power will shift to rural areas where voters tend

to be older white and republican. members of the hispanic caucus saying that could reduce the influence of the growing latino population. steve sarkisian losing his job in october while on his way to alcoholism treatment said the school owes him more than $12 million, u.f.c. saying: the controversial new pediatric guidelines that call for testing children for adult diseases. the man who dedicated the

first museum for slavery.

president obama and other lawmakers will hold a special ceremony on capitol hill marking 150 years since the abolition of slavery. in louisiana, there is an unusual museum opening up at a place that was once a plantation. al jazeera takes you inside.

>> it was never in my education, ever. s-l-a-v-e, the word was there, but the story was not. >> a self described rich white guy and trial lawyer, john cummings said he didn't learn about slavery until he bought a sugar plantation and came across some old documents. >> mama sent for us in the fields and told us to come to the quarters, to the slave quarters because we're going to texas. that's when mama told us that papa couldn't come, because he belonged to another plantation. >> cummings spent 16 years and $8 million of his own money transforming the 250-acre former plantation into the countries first museum dedicated to slavery. >> people here will say i can't apologize for something i didn't do. i said first of all, nobody's asking you to apologize for anything. we just want you to understand what happened. >> this historian serves as the academic director. >> here the emphasis is on slavery. it is our philosophy to focus on

the people whose blood, sweat and tears made all the wealth possible and made these masters very comfortable. >> statues of slave children help connect visitors to slave life on the plantation. in the plantation house, guides talk about house slaves, women separated from their children. you won't find memorials to the family who owned the property. the wall of honor pays homage to the 354 slaves they owned. elsewhere on the property, the names and stories of 107,000 slaves brought to louisiana between 1719 and 1820. >> this country was built on the sweat and tears of african slaves and their descendents. we have to know it, own it, not to be ashamed about it.

>> cummings does own it, along with the criticism that his exhibits are too provocative. >> i have no pride of authorship and i don't have the sensitivity of an african-american. >> for cummings, the dialogue is the important part, the education, understanding history as a means to move past it and fix the problems the country faces today. jonathan martin, al jazeera, wallace, louisiana. infant mortality rates in the u.s. hitting record lows, the number of infant deaths falling 2%. it's dropped 13% in the last 10 years. they say there's room for improvement. rates are still 50% higher than other developed countries, including finland and sweden. the american academy of pediatrics has new guide lines for children's checkups, calling for screenings that you more often see in duties. bisi onile-ere has more. >> the recommendations appear in the journal pediatrics, all children, even if they are not considered at risk should be

tested for high cholesterol, depression, and h.i.v. the findings are based on years of studies, showing that many deputy's health issues can start early in life. due in part to the high rate of owe bess city in young children, a leading group of u.s. pediatricians recommends that children be screened for high cholesterol and it is young as nine, for depression, the academy suggests doctor screen children at age 11. this is an attempt to deal with suicide, which has become one of the leading causes of death among adolescents. regards to h.i.v., it is suggested teenagers be screened between 16-18 years old. the group finding is based on research showing that one in four new h.i.v. infections are in young people age 12-24. the updated guidelines call for testing for congenital heart

disease, dental health and meme i can't, although some screenings may not sit well with parents, doctors say preventative testings could catch major health problems before it's too late. bisi onile-ere, al jazeera, new york. time magazine out with its person of the year, german chancellor angela merkel. time calling merkel the chancellor of the free world and europe's most powerful leader. it cites her work on refugees, the russia ukraine conflict and europe debt crisis. a new york train conductor taking his title seriously when he found to the gail glee club was riding inside train. ♪ >> this video has gone viral, despite the success, the conductor says that's it for his music veer. that's it for us right now in

new york. we're live from london, next. >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ >> hello, and welcome. you are watching the al jazeera news hour. this hour, hundreds of rebel fighters and their families are allowed to leave the city of homs after a brutal siege. plus, more than 70 people are killed in a taliban attack on kandahar