"inside story". >> this is aljazeera america, live from new york city, i'm tony harris. mistrial, the jury in the freddie gray case could not reach a verdict. going up, the fed raises interest rates for the first time in nine years. under pressure, a call for rahm emanuel to resign as mayor of chicago. and new orleans is removing part of its history.

in baltimore, it is a mistrial for officer william porter. one of six police officers charged in the connection of the death of freddie gray. porter was charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office, but after three days of deliberation, a jury failed to reach a verdict. john, what happened in court today? >> reporter: tony, good evening, and it was this afternoon that the word came through, baltimore's trial of the century, the first of six individual trials of six individual police officers in, e jury had a mistrial. they couldn't come to a verdict against officer porter, the most serious which was

manslaughter. and the judge set the jury home. and what happened, it's a very small protest going on for most of the day outside of the courthouse, but almost immediately, that got much bigger to the point that the traffic was blocked, and then the sheriffs from the courthouse were wrestling with a very loud protestor. they were wrestling with him and dragged him off. and the whole thing looked quite nasty for a while and then calmed down. the group of protesters were around the courthouse and city hall. which is where i am. and you can see in the dark behind me, 150 people behind me protesting from time to time. and they have been up close behind me screaming their displeasure in the fact that a mistrial happened. as they see it, freddie gray did not see justice today. >> was there of reaction from city officials today, john? >> well, the protest was the

most immediate reaction, and you see the protesters here now. we heard from a couple of key players, including the interim commissioner of police, the friends of the baltimore police, and we heard from blake, the mayor of baltimore. in her comments around 5:00 this afternoon, she made it clear that the community really needs to come together over this. this was not a guilty verdict, or a not guilty verdict. it was a mistrial. and the process goes on. take a listen to stephanie robins blake, mayor of baltimore. >> reporter: 12 baltimore city residents answered that solemn call to serve, hear this case and make a decision. they did that, and you have to respect that. if we think that the process will be able to continue in baltimore city. we have to respect the process.

jusjustice is not a verdict, but it's a process that we have to protect. >> and the lawyer representing the gray family wished it to be known that the family are grateful for the jury for doing all they could in the trial of officer porter, though it has become a mistrial. and billy murphy told supporters they should look at what's happening next. >> i'm not going to second against the prosecution, and not second guess the defense. they're all competent, hard working lawyers, who did the very best that they could, and i'm sure that they're all disappointed. but i don't buy the nonsense that this is not a victory for either side. it's not, it's a bump on the road to justice, and the road to justice has lots of bumps. >> reporter: i think that those words have been heard by

the people of baltimore tonight. and limited protests. >> where does this go from here, john? >> well, there's a meeting tomorrow. and the judge is calling together all of the attorneys, and they're going to meet to discuss the second trial of officer porter, and we do not know where that will be. the second trial of the sequence is january 5th. [ audio difficulties ] we will have to wait to see what happens tomorrow. >> all right, john terrett. and thank you, and we'll have much more on the mistrial at the bottom of the hour on why the jury couldn't reach a verdict and what happens next. president obama will visit san bernardino, california on friday. he's going to pay his respects to the 14 people killed on december 2nd, and he will meet privately with the victim's families. and afterwards, he will head to

hawaii to spend the holidays with his family. the fbi is trying to keep the record straight about the online activity of the san bernardino shooters. the borough said that temporary to reports, neither syed farook nor tashfeen malik publicly expressed extremist views. >> those communications are direct private messages. so far in this investigation, we have found no evidence of posting on social media by either of them at that period of time and there after, reflecting their commitment to jihad or to martyrdom. >> well, he added that the couple had discussed jihad and martyrdom online before their face-to-face meeting. lisa stark has more in the wake of the san bernardino attack. lisa >> reporter: well, tony, the fbi director was in new york today when he made those comments, and he indicated that vets have found no evidence that the couple behind the attacks in san bernardino were part of any

terrorist cell. here in washington, meat, the department of homeland security announced a change, a tweak if you will, to its terror alert system. they are adding bulletins that they will release to the public, and in fact, the first one was issued today. it warns americans that we are "in a new phase in the global threat environment. it says that terrorist groups are using the internet to recruit and inspire, and it talks about self radicalized individuals, and as always, it tells the public to report anything suspicious. here's homeland security secretary, jay johnson. >> this is general information to the public about the current threat environment. what we see, additional details and what your government is doing about it, and how the public can help. >> reporter: now, the current threat advisory system has been in place since 2011, but it has never been used, because it

required a specific threat or imminent threat for the government to issue an alert. secretary johnson said that he wanted something a little bit less, that they could issue a bulletin that talked about a generalized threat. and that's why the it's announced today. and a long list of things that the government is doing to try to keep america safe. and he also hinted that he may be announcing some new aviation security measures, and his staff would not be announcing any timetable for that today. >> reporter: stoday.>> so lisak to this tweet, gem information, warns of self radicalized actors who could strike with little or no notice, and what are we supposed to do with that? >> i spoke with a former cia operative today, it's just a pr

move, the government is trying to let us know that they're doing something. it doesn't give the public any specific information, because the government doesn't have it, but it goes back to people who are being radicalized. and it's very generalized. >> lisa stark for us, and meantime, secretary ashe carter spent the day in baghdad, and he was there to urge iraqi leaders to step up against isil, but any new commitments. jamie mcintyre has the story now. >> reporter: here's the phrase that kept coming up in secretary carter's visit to iraq, we want to escalate with iraq's permission, we want to do more to help, and the iraqi response was, we'll get back to you. ashe carter's helicopter had to skirt bad weather around baghdad, but when he eventually met with his iraqi counterpart, the u.s. secretary launch food

his pitch that the u.s. wants to see faster progress on the ground. >> the united states is eager to do more to accelerate the move to mosul and victory in iraq that will be your victory, and it's your advance. but we look forward to opportunities, increased opportunities at your request, with your permission to assist you. >> reporter: carter has been pressing iraq to accept more help from above, in the form of u.s. apache helicopters to compliment iraqi ground troops, especially as they begin to close in on isil in ramadi. he described the meeting as very productive. but afterwards, flanked by his anti-isil commander, he admitted that he is rebuffing the u.s.' request. >> the prime minister did not

make any specific requests in connection with helicopters that you mentioned, in connection with ramadi. but however, we did discuss the possibility that circumstances in the future might cause our commanders to advice and his commanders to advise us doing more things. >> reporter: fighting in the key iraqi city west of baghdad has intensified as thousands of u.s. and iraqi forces are slowly closing in an estimated 700 isil fighters still holding the city center. the u.s. frustration with the offensive is tempered by what the top u.s. commander says is incremental. >> they have their way of doing things, and it is our way, and it is in the end becoming increasingly effective as they push the enemy out of that very important city of ramadi. >> reporter: while many in

congress continue to call for more boots on the ground in the fight against isil, iraq remains resistent to a larger you said footprint. secretary carter's plan to have an expanded role for u.s. operation forces also got pushed back from iraq. and secretary carter offered to embed more u.s. commandos with units to give on the spot advice, and it will likely be declined for now. >> jamie mcintyre, thank you, and the federal reserve has raised interest rates for the first time in a decade. wall street rallied after the announcement. the dow closed up 240 points. patricia, what that means for the united states and the world. >> reporter: home mortgages, car loans, credit cards, business loans, rates on all of them are set to rise after the federal reserve voted unanimously to increase the cost of borrowing. >> this action marks the end of

an extraordinary seven-year period, during which the federal funds rate was held near zero to support the recovery of the economy from the worst financial crisis and recession since the great depression. >> reporter: by hiking it's short-term interest rate a quarter of a point, the fed has deemed the economy strong enough to kick away the zero rate put in place since 2008. since then, the unemployment rate has fallen to 5%, half of it in 2010, and while the economy has haded 13 million jobs, but many americans have yet to feel the effect of that recover, like the 6 million americans working part-time, who want full-time jobs. >> i think that the federal reserve needs to wait until the american labor markets become tighter and we actually see some wage increases before they

ask to choke off economic growth and job creation. >> reporter: but fed chair, janet yellen, waiting too long could force the fed to raise rates abruptly. >> such an abrupt tightening could push the economy into recession. >> it could make the dollar more valuable against other currencies, bad news for american exporters, because it makes their goods more expensive to buy abroad. and emerging markets will get hit because the cost of servicing that debt in currency will go up. after seven years of easy money, it may feel dramatic, but yellen cautioned not to overbelow the significance of a hike, and the fed will raise the rates gradually overtime. >> for more on this, let's bring in pedro ac off the a. a fellow with the institute for

economics x. with all due respects to the fed chairman, let me go back to the line from patty's piece. by hiking it's benchmark rate, the fed has deemed the economy strong enough, strong enough for whom? big business? big banks, or main street, or both? >> that's a good question. i think in the fed's view, and the fed is fairly committed to the dual mandate, which is low inflation, and sustainable and meaningful employment, not so strong that it causes undue inflation, so i think that it's committed to these main street goals. it's not raising rates because of market pressures, but the question remains, and if you talk to average americans, is the economy strong enough to withstand this? it's not so clear. the inflation rate is very low,

and it has been below the fed's target for almost three years, and the fed foresees it remaining that way for another three years, and that's another sign of weakness in the economy, that wages aren't growing fast. >> that's where you're driving me, and that's where i'm going to go next. maximum sustainable unemployment. and the wages are creeping along, they don't pay as much as they lost. and there are millions on the sidelines, and yet the banks are as big as ever. so who again is this rate hike, this economy good for right now? >> well, i think, you know, if anything, if the fed can be accused of a bias, it's look, the fed operates within a world of bankers and economists and people who generally are well employed. and they tend to hear somewhat less from the unemployed.

and those people on the sidelines, right? so i think that the feds' world view, if you will, the world view of fed officials, is a little bit clouded by their social circle. so in that sense, you could say that they're skewed. but really, their argument is that look, unemployment as the report indicated, has fallen to half of the rate where it stood at the peak of the crisis, and it's near the historic rate of unemployment has fared in the economy, but particularly with the risk from overseas. >> so pedro, how long before we see in the states, how long before we see a rise in the rates for people with adjustable rate mortgages the and student loans and so forth? >> that will happen fairly quickly.

and it depends on how much the markets react to the initial move, right? because although yellen emphasized in her press conference that this is just a quarter point, and we're going to wait and see, the market's tendency is to try to price in the future. so if, as the fed laid out in its forecast, it expects continuous rate hikes in the coming years, there's a chance that the fed might price it more quickly. and if there's an abrupt spike in the interest rates, it could affect it more immediately. we didn't see that in the immediate reaction, but we'll have to wait for days and weeks. >> pedro ac of acosta, a fellowr the peterson institute. >> next on the program, republican showdown, fall out from the gop debate of 2015, and where it leads the candidates weeks before the

iowa caucuses. plus -- >> we have to discuss the problem. >> what donald trump told aljazeera about his comments on muslims in america.

>> so donald trump is once again threatening to sit out the next republican debate. really? and at least for now, he's threatening to run as an independent. david schuster has more on that. >> . >> tony, the latest data indicates that 18 million people watched the debate last

night, making it the third most-watched debate in the campaign. and strategists said that nobody had a breakout exchange, but the debate did produce some news. >> i am totally committed to the republican party. >> it was the moment that many republicans had been hoping for. by ruling out an independent presidential campaign, donald trump closed the door on playing spoiler next fall if he is not the gop nominee. republican strategists say that they will bolster his support. and they're calling it the highest impact development of the night. next on the list, trump's change in tone with ted cruz. three days ago with polls suggesting that the texas senator was gaining ground, trump called him unqualified. >> the way that he has dealt with the senate, where he goes in there frankly like a little bit of a maniac, you're never going to get things done that way. >> reporter: influential

radio hosts were not that happy. >> i think that he's best when he's going after the establishment candidates. >> in the debate, trump heeded the advice, he praised the senate outsider. >> he has a wonderful temperament. just fine, don't worry about it. >> and trump fought with jeb bush. >> you're never going to be the president of the united states by insulting your way to the presidency. >> i'm 42 and our 43 --. >> republican strategists say that the most important clashes of the night were between ted cruz and marco rubio. both are 43 years old and have merged as the top gop trump alternatives. >> you can't rule out people in the country now. >> i have never supported legalization, and i do not intend to support legalization, and let me tell you ho how you o

this. >> new jersey governor, chris christie, whose numbers have also been rising, tried to promote his foreign policy toughness. >> i would talk to vladimir putin a lot. and i would say, listen mr. president, there's a no-fly zone in syria, and yes, we would shoot down russian pilots if they were stupid enough to think that this president is the same fecless weakling as there is now. >> it prompted ridicule from rand paul, made more dramatic by their physical proximity. >> well, i think that if you're in favor of world series 3, you have your candidate. here's the thing, my goodness, what we want in a leader is someone with judgment. not someone so reckless as to stand on the stage and say, yes, i'm jumping up and down, and i'm going to shoot down russian planes. >> world war iii.

if that charge hurt governor christie, it doesn't seem to matter yet. all of them are expressing satisfaction with last night's debate. donald trump's campaign seems gleeful, getting widespread praise, seven weeks from the iowa caucuses. >> trump and cruz, they appeal to a lot of the same republican voters, am i right in saying that? >> yeah, they're both outsiders. so in some ways, someone has to disqualify the other. is that how competitions work? >> yes, the key is at some point. because right now, both trump and cruz leave the rest of the herd cold. winnowed down a little bit, and supporters point out that he ted cruz was perhaps the most hated man in washington, not just for democrats, but also for his he senate republican colleagues. some of them hated him more than they hated president

obama. cruz is having his moment. and he's getting a lot of the scrutiny and a lot of the strategists are thinking, let's wait and see if the stuff that made cruz so unlikeable to his colleagues will come out. on if not, he has to engage a little bit more. but trump is betting that he has more time. >> after the debate, donald trump defended his plan. even prominent muslims are glad that he started a discussion. >> friends of mine, muslim friends of mine, who are phenomenal people, and these are really successful people by the way, they said that you've done a tremendous service. i love the muslims, and i have so many unbelievable relationships. i watched you the other night on television, and they said you did a good job.

>> some were not so happy, but some were really happy because i'm bringing out something we can discuss, and we have to discuss the problem. >> do you think that there's a way of getting the problem? >> we have to figure out where it comes from. >> one prominent muslim, nobel peace winner, is condemning trump's plan. >> it's important, whatever the media says, they should be very very careful about it. if the intention is to stop terrorism, do not try to blame the whole population of muslim for it. it can not stop terrorism. it will create more terrorists. >> the 18-year-old is speaking since the taliban attack killed many children. up next, the politics of chicago, pressure over the use of police force. our special report, five days in chicago, and sweeping changes on how they use

solitary confinement in prison.

>> justice department officials are in chicago meeting with the police. it's the first step in a federal investigation. this started last month with the video of a white officer shooting a black teenager to death. and now the officer is being charged with first-degree murder. the officials are trying to

figure out if that was more than an isolated incident. in they have a systemic problem violating the rights of people and using force. tomorrow, rahm emanuel will meet with federal it agents, with protesters calling for his resignation. this week, we're spending five days in chicago, investigating what's going wrong in the windy city. in part three of our series, we look into the politics at play. >> who do you want when? some of the questions that linger in the handling of the laquan mcdonald. >> i don't understand why for the life of me why it took 13 months before an indictment came down, and the indictment of course came hours before the release of the videotape that was ordered by the cook county judge. >> rahm emanuel went along with the policies to protect

from criminal investigations, but calling for his resignation shattered public trust. and the mayor admitted last week in front of the city council that he was wrong. >> i take responsibility for what happened, because it happened on my watch. >> emanuel dismissed his superintendent, gary mccarthy. >> in chicago, the mayor runs the police department and the superintendent serves at his pleasure, and he better not embarrass him. >> she has covered it for decades, and the judicial system is made up of many police officers. >> there's a presumption in illinois that it's a pro police kind of operation, and when you look at the independent police authority, 600 cases, and they never find a police officer responsible or accountable for the shooting of a civilian. >> reporter: emails released by the mayor's office indicate that emanuel knew before the

election that the police video of emanuel existed. but yet questions remain about what the video was suppressed so it would not put it at risk. he's already on shaky ground with voters. his approval has slipped and he was forced into an unprecedented runoff. they suggest that if the mcdonald video had been released before the runoff, only 28% of chicagoans would have voted for emanuel. they have conducted an investigation into the use of force. and others are calling for an independent investigation of the mayor's office and the state's attorney. >> the only way that we will be certain as taxpayers of cook county and the city of chicago that there was no coverup is if the mayor submits himself and

alvarez, to an outside investigation. so they lost the moral authority that their office is respected w. >> state attorney, alvarez, said that it took 13 months to file charges in the case because of lengthy criminal procedures, and she said that she's not going anywhere. >> there's no way that i would consider resigning >> reporter: other police involved shootings across the country have not taken as long. walter scott, shot dead in charleston, south carolina, it took three days for the officer to be charged with murder. freddie gray died april 19th in baltimore. the state's attorney filed charges 12 days later. the handling of the video release has become the single most politically charged issue in chicago. one that could lead to more fallout and resignations. aljazeera, chicago.

>> and coming up tomorrow in our special series, five days in chicago, what the police department is doing to regain credibility. back to baltimore, setting a new date for one of the officers charged in the death of freddie gray. a jury failed to reach a verdict after three days of deliberation. he was charged with assault endangerment and misconduct in office. the other five officers will stand trial separately. warren brown joins me, and it has been a long time. good to see you on the program sir. >> we are all proud of our home boy, and you're doing good. doing good. >> you can't say that loudly enough, so warren, let me start with you, is this a bad case? look, the prosecution couldn't get a jury to convict on a charge of misconduct in office.

never mind the more serious charges. is this just a bad case? >> yes, it is a bad case, and i anticipate that they will never get a conviction in the case. the next time around, i understand that they will be retrying it. the defense only needs one jur this time to hang it up again, because the state is not going to try the case a third time. so they really need one juror the next time around, but the problem for the state is that it has been the attempt to fit a square peg in a round hole. and officer porter is not the one that you go after. he exhibited some concern for freddie gray, and remember the theory on the state's part is that his callous indifference, and his disregard for freddie gray led to freddie gray's death. but porter is the one inquiring do you need a medic?

he lifts him up off of the floor and tells the sergeant, the man who is asking for medicalling attention, he tells the van driver and tells the lieutenant. that doesn't reflect a callous indifference, but what they have in porter is his statement to that effect. no other officer on trial of the other five gave a statement. and none of them indicated that freddie gray said anything to them about needing medical care, so they kind of need porter, but the problem is in the next case, if they use porter, they have called him a liar in his own case, so i don't know how they can vouch for be credibility against the other officers. >> here's the reason to go forward with the retrial, or the trials for the other defendants. you can make a case as the naacp does, in its statement today, about the mistrial of officer porter and his fellow officers, failed in their fundamental responsibility,

right? but with time tadpole consider this case, warren, is there criminal culpability here? >> not on porter's behalf, because understand, this is not porter's collar, it is not his arrest. porter explains to the van driver, who has the soul custody of pred fred, that freddie gray needs medical attention, and then porter is called to assist another officer, and coincidentally, the van is called to that location to take the additional arrestee into custody, and at that point, porter is saying the same thing, that freddie is asking for medical attention. now, the officer should have overrhode the lack of action on the part of his superiors, and he himself taken freddie to the hospital. and that's absurd. >> let me get one more in before i lose you, i don't know

why i can't have more time with you, you're warren brown for heaven sakes. this is bad for the prosecutor's office, it ends badly for mosley, and it ends badly for the officers, for all officers in the country, whether they're justified or not in what they're doing, and the freddie gray family, this is tough to say, will have to find some closure in the $6.4 million settlement. where am i wrong on this? >> well, the settlement was ridiculous in and of itself. the lawsuit had been filed, no discovery, and that's for another day. but what we're talking about, porter, giving porter a fair trial, and holding the state to its burden of convincing a jury

that he acted callously and with reckless disregard beyond the reef, and when he acts in a compassionate way when he tried to get help for freddie gray, when he tells his superiors that freddie gray is asking for help, and when he tells the van driver who has soul and exclusive control over freddie gray who needs help, what else can you do? that certainly doesn't reflect beyond the reef, wanton disregard for human life. doesn't rise to that level. the problem is that the state decided that anybody who had anything to do with freddie gray officer wise was going to be charged. and that's where you come back to my original theme of them trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. >> warren brown, he's a baltimore defense attorney, joining me from downtown baltimore, and warren, as always, good to talk to you, thank you. >> good to talk to you too. >> my pleasure, man.

and be officials in ferguson, missouri, have agreed on an outline for the justice department plan to reform the city's police. it calls for several new checks and balances, including a federal monitoring body. they have been negotiating for months now, but signing a deal is still aways off. federal officials said that they found systemic corruption in ferguson's justice system, includingbutions of power. a major announcement today for plans to reform solitary confinement in new york state. it's the culmination of aclu. >> tony, officers in new york have been placed in solitary confinement for things like tosage stamps. performing conditions of those

who remain. it's a reality for thousands. living in a box, a 6 by 10 cell for 23 hours a day, and almost no human contact. burr now through a court settlement, new york has agreed to a sweeping overhaul in the way that it uses solitary confinement. this settlement brings to an end a class action lawsuit by the civil liberties union. the conditions there were unfor constitutional. isolation for small infractions, basic denial of things like food, $62 million to a five year plan. measures like a monthly phonecall and reading materials. participating in group recreation, and a three-month cap on most solitary sentences. scott is part of a non-profit

advocacy group, and calls for an outright ban. >> people spend months and years and even decades at a time in new york, and even years. studies show that sending somebody to solitary for even a short length of time can have devastating psychological effects on people, and in turn impact their behavior as well. >> reporter: new york governor, andrew cuomo said that the agreement was groundbreaking. in a response to engage in misconduct. and he said that it will impact their communities on the outside. >> vast majority of people who go to prison are going to come home. so the way we treat them inside and prepare them for people that come home have an impact on all of us. the union representing prison guards were not involved in the talks. it's clear that the union will

go along with the agreement. >> roxanne with us, good to see you. confederate monuments could be a thing of the past. the movement to have them removed from the big easy.

new orleans city council will vote tomorrow on whether the city should remove a series of monuments honoring confederate

leaders. >> they have been talking about this for years, but with the national call, they will decide on how much the symbols really matter. perched 60 feet high in downtown new orleans, this bronze statue of general robert e lee has become a lightning rod. >> he was a white supremacist. >> people can see anything is a symbol of raceiful. >> now, more than 100 years after it went up, there's a controversial plan to remove the monument, along with three others in the city, all tied to civil war. the mayor is leading the charge, calling them reminders of residential oppression and slavery. >> we pay taxes, we're the majority. and you're not going to have a

city of majority jewish with a statue of hitler. >> but opposition has been opposed, with 30,000 people opting to keep them up. she has been here for all of her lives, and she said that removing them won't hurt the city. >> those statues don't hurt anybody, but they create revenue for the city from people who come from other countries to learn about history. >> people who want to bring the statues down, new orleans is not a racist city. those who want to keep it up say that's good and fine, but don't take my heritage away. >> a professor at tulane university, where the original documents are held in arc chives. there has been particular outcry over the city's liberty place monument, which honors members of the white league that tried to overthrow new orleans' integrative government. >> it shows the part for the

ex-con fed rats to take back the state of louisiana by force. >> some argue that the statues should stay up, as they were men who acted at a time when slavery was accepted. just as it divides the city, it seems to have split the city council, which is set to vote on thursday, but not before a public hearing. >> they say that considering the city's crumbling instructor and crime rate, those things should be first, and the vote will be on thursday. and we'll be in the meeting. >> can't wait to sea that, and thank you. john seigenthaler is here. >> coming up at 8:00, multiple

fronts. homeland security unveils a new terror alert system. the fbi with new details on san bernardino, and the pentagon goes after two in iraq, fighting overseas and at home. punches and miss, the issues connected to it voters, and where do the republicans go from here? vote of confidence, the fed raises interest rates, citing a strong u.s. economy for the first time since the great recession. is the economy really ready, and what does it mean for consumers? and plus, force of nature. the big payoff won't be at the box office. a look at "star wars" merchandising and how it got that way. those stories and more coming up in a few minutes. >> much of the west is cleaning up after a major snowstorm. 30 inches in some places. look at what residents in

duluth, minnesota woke up to this morning, there you go. and how many inches are we talking about? >> way out west, we're dealing with over 30 inches of snow, and the snow is not done yet in parts of minnesota, and they're going to get more there. but what i want to show you we're looking at, this is the current snow depth in the country. and out to the west, in some of the darker blue areas, we're talking about 2-3 feet of snow, and the snow added more on top of that. wait until you see what's over here in the cascades, we're talking 60 to over 100 inches in place. the snowstorm that we're talking about, that came onshore on the california coast last sunday. and we're talking about here in minnesota as well as wisconsin. i want to go closer because we're seeing the snow. but we have video out of fargo,

north dakota, where they had power outages, and we have that available. parts of fargo, north dakota, snowing there, and power outages in place as well. and then over towards colorado. i want to show you in dove valley, this is called snow parasail,, and they're really enjoying it there. the temperatures across the area aren't coming down for chicago. you've already come down 10° because of the cold front that has come through but over the next ten days, a warmup across the eastern seaboard. you're going to see it cooling down, but as we go toward next week, tony, we're going to be seeing the temperatures 10-25° above average for christmas. >> in the 60s? woah, kevin, thank you, and still to come in the program, art for human rights. the exhibits calling attendance to injustice around the world.

>> 12 cases, 12 artists, and 12 mules exploring inactivism. it's part of a campaign to bring awareness to people suffering human rights abuses. >> brando brandon is spray pag for a purpose.

every year people around the world send a message to people they have never met. it's part of an annual letter writing campaign. this year, odems and the human rights organization are changing things up. a free art event, held in new orleans. according to the southern poverty louisiana has one of the highest incarceration rate in the world, with one out of 86 people in prison. >> it tells you that the people that the people elect in the state don't care about the people that live in the state, and it's time for a change. >> reporter: martin is the national director of art for amnesty. he wanted to call attention to the rate. the exhibits feature 12 artists, highlighting the story of 12 people that are in human rights abuses, from solitary confinement to torture. >> people getting involved in

politics or social justice, and it's not working, but art has always worked. we want to force the artist's hands. >> the difference between art and activism is where i think art is supposed to be. >> reporter: new orleans artist, brandon, designed a mural of albert foodfox. he has been held in solitary confinement. with more than four years in the louisiana penitentiary. as far as the angola three, woodfox and other inmates were convicted. >> i feel like we need to galvanize the population and get them to understand that the cases like albert should not exist. >> he spent 29 years in solitary confinement. he was released in 2001, after his conviction was overturned. king attended the exhibit to

lend his support. >> things like this matter, because there are cases that are exceptional. and this is an exceptional case. >> reporter: philadelphia-based artist, jesse, knows the depth of solitary confinement. in 2009, he was arrested for possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute. unwilling to turn in his suppliers, he was in turned. >> the first year, i was in solitary, and i know a little bit about the direct and psychological toll that takes on you. >> reporter: while in federal prison, krines mainly kept to himself, drawing in his cell. he has representicated that cell, with a bunk and a prison-issued toilet. >> so it controlled the way that i thought, behaved, moved

and act. and now i'm the one that is controlling all of those things. >> reporter: though the exhibit lasted for one day only, the fight for rights will carry o. >> history has shown us that when people care, things change. and when people decide that they're valuable and their life is worth something, that's when the tables begin to turn. >> sarah hoye joins us now. terrific work and terrific piece. tell us why these artists were chosen to participate. >> these guys and girls are larger than life. they speak to social justice issues, and they're in this movement as black lives matter come to the surface, they're all in it, and they chose these 12 because this is what they do and do best. >> so i get locals joining this, and going out and supporting this, but we're talking about grammy award-winning artists, and usher actually showed up and is connected to the cause, huh?

>> absolutely, and as we're saying with black lives matter, they're moved by all of this. and he threw the >> the second largest school system in america. lisa stark's in washington with that. lisa. >> well, john the department of homeland security issued its first terror bulletin. meantime, the head of the fbi said the couple behind the