theresa, there were sections of indian society that did raise concerns about the religious undertones of her work, a particularly sensitive issue here in india. but lots of anticipation if in fact it is september next year that she is declared officially a saint. ♪ the senate voting on whether to approve a $1.1 trillion spending plan that will keep the government up and running. world powers closing in on that road map to end the war this syria. cutting off isil's finances, a strategy taking aim at their bottom line. and it appears the force is awakening profits at the box

office. it is now poised to break every record in its opening weekend. ♪ this is al jazeera america, live in new york city. i'm del walters. it is now on to the senate for that $1.1 trillion tax and spending bill. the house overwhelmingly passing that measure just a short while ago. the tax portion extends billions of dollars in tax breaks to average americans and corporations as well. president obama has said he will sign that bill. mike viqueira is live for us in the nation's capitol. mike who are some of the winners? and who are some of the losers? >> reporter: well, del, first of all it appears that a new day may have dawned here in washington. is this a change in the political gridlock and partisanship that has

characterized the last ten to 20 years in washington, or is this just a one-off. $1.1 trillion, and the remark nlable, del, it passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. 95 voting against, those were mostly fiscal hawks, conservatives, those with tea party roots in the republican party. 166 democrats, which is almost as much of a surprise, because a lot of them were against some of the provisions, notably lifting that 40-year ban on exports of crude oil. many democrats were eager to see aid or debt assistance to the island of puerto rico, of course struggling and teetering on the edge of bankruptcy for so long. but passing overwhelmingly. at this moment being voted on in the senate, where it is expected

to pass overwhelmingly, and on to the president's desk. he has a press conference coming up here in washington, and then everyone involved is going to be getting out of town. congress coming back about january 12th. and the president embarking on his annual two-week vacation in hawaii. >> what do you think he will say? >> i think you will hear him crow over successes in the past year. they will talk about the affordable care act, a permanent fixture on the american landscape. they will be talking about the iran deal, the deal that was struck over the objections of many hawks in congress. the environmental deal instruct

recently in paris, and cuba, the normalization of relations, and the trade agreement that is now pending in congress. the president and negotiators nevertheless reaching a deal there. so i think you'll hear him talk about his achievements and then talk about the agenda for next years, which can be characterized as guns, gitmo, and trade. >> mike viqueira for us in washington thank you very much. a reminder when the president does speak, we will bring that to you live. >> world powers hoping to hammer out details trying to end the syrian war. they plan to try to reach consensus on a timetable for a ceasefire. courtney keeley is live outside of that hotel. courtney according to the u.n.

ambassador, there is momentum towards a political solution in syria. what has to happen today to make that happen? >> reporter: well, del, a lot has to happen. and this morning there was about an hour-long meeting -- one on one between secretary of state john kerry and the russian foreign minister? . they were going over specific language in this draft resolution. one british ambassador said it was like dancing on the head of a pin, this kind of diplomacy. but there has been momentum in recent weeks. they met twice before in vienna. they are here now in new york. they are trying to move forward to later this afternoon bring this draft resolution to the u.n. security council to be chaired by secretary of state john kerry, and then get that passed. now if you remember, in the past, many times before, russia has often been the blocker, has often vetoed these resolutions.

we'll see what happens in the coming hours, del. >>courtny you have rivals, putting it politely, coming together at the same able to. what are the sticking points? >> reporter: well, the first sticking point and has been in the last four years, nearly five years into this conflict, is will assad go or stay? before the negotiations the u.s. said he must go, russia says he stays. now they are talking about a transition government with executive power. there is even talk among some of these world powers that president assad could even be part of an election process. sow you vu iran at the table, saudi arabia at the table, russia and the u.s. at the table just for starters. >> who is part of the ceasefire, and what could that's fire look

like? >> reporter: well, of course, as you know -- it's a horrendous bloody civil war that has left over 250,000 dead, half of the population displaced. you have isil on the ground. clearly not going to be part of this. jordan has been compiling a list since the last talk in vienna, and they are coming up with a so-called terrorist list. clearly isil, and algn algnus -- al-nusra. all of that has to be worked out, a summit took place in riyadh to work that out, so there is a lot of work going on in a lot of countries. even the iranian foreign minister said they are still not in agreement on what this opposition will look like, and what this so-called terrorism list will look like, del. >> thank you.

some syrian refugeeses are being resettled in this south carolina over the governor's objection. the governor said the federal government had not informed them beforehand. more than 4 million people fleeing syria, one arriving in michigan on thursday along where what is left of his family. the -- he was a scientist fighting brain cancer. he lost his wife and one of his daughters during a missile attack on his home in syria. he said he hopes he and his two kids can begin a new life here. >> translator: i plan to be a good citizen, working with other syrian communities here. we don't want to be looked at as a refugee only. we want to be looked at as a

good citizen of michigan. >> hundreds of people have now offered to help him out online, including the actor who helped raise more than 400,000 dollars for i he and his family. we talked to one of the many people who offered to help. >> it was just very meaningful to me, because my father had cancer a few years ago. and my -- some of my friends when i lived in switzerland growing up were refugees coming from you go -- yugoslavia. if i were in the position of a refugee i would want people to open their hearts. >> that is just one story.

a record number of people forced from their homes this year. more than 60 million people have been displaced in 2015. 20.2 million are refugees. 34 million, displaced inside their own countries. bernie sanders campaign suspended from accessing its voter database after a data breach. a software error allowed him to have access to hillary clinton's private campaign data. history has been made in new orleans, as the city took action to break with its confederate past. voting to take down more confederate monuments from public grounds. >> we can do better. we deserve better, and we must do it now. >> i'm not prejudice in any way, i just believe that we can't

rewrite history. >> but there are other people in this room who look at the same monuments and only see their ancestors, hanging in trees, shackled in chains, and being whipped to death. >> the statutes are going to be loved to less conspicuous locations. the manhunt still underway for the wealthy texas teen. missing a meeting with his probation officer on thursday. police searched the home he shared with his mother. he killed four people in a drunk driving accident back in 2013. he had been sentenced to ten years probation. mother theresa's miracle, the beloved nun now one step closer to sainthood.

>> these images coming out of chicago. a handful of protesters once again blocking the city streets there. they have been on the streets for several days now. they are upset after the release of the video of the shooting of laquan mcdonald. the officer that shot him is now under arrest. for the first time in more than six -- decades more people are dying from guns than car

deaths. a bail hearing is planned for monday for the friend of the san bernardino shooters. investigators say he is the person who bought those weapons used to kill the 14 people. he is also charged with plotting other attacks with his long-time friend, syed farook. >> reporter: he becomes the first person charge in the san bernardino shootings. he was arrested and charged with three criminal counts. one count says he and farook conspired to commit an act of terrorism in 2011 and 2012. a second charge is the unlawful

purchase of two assault weapons that were used during the deadly attack. the third charm claims that marquez defrauded immigration authorities by engaging in the so-called sham marriage. four days after the attack, marquez began speaking with investigators, and has been cooperating fully. we understand he waved his miranda rights, and marquez has reportedly admitted that, yes, he did in fact buy those two rifles that were used during the shooting. that being said he has not been charged with direct participation in the attacks, and authorities say at this time they don't believe he has prior knowledge that an attack was going to take place. investigators are also taking a closer look at a 911

call that marquez made saying quote: a new york man facing more than 20 years in jail after admitting he helped recruit isil fighters. the 31 year old pled guilty on thursday. he used 23 different facebook accounts to convince people to travel to syria to fight with isil. sentencing is now scheduled for march. last night the u.n. security council voted overwhelmingly to pass a resolution aimed at cutting off isil's finances. as patricia sabga reports, air strikes are starting to take their toll. >> reporter: u.s. air strikes targeting isil oil fields.

a strategy aimed at a pillar of isil's economy in which analysts say is starting to bite. >> in the last few weeks we have seen the price of oil in raqqa doubling. we are seeing new agricultural taxes imposed a couple of days ago. and other creative measures of raising revenue from the population. >> reporter: analysts estimates isil brings in $83 million a month, 43 from oil, and the rest from taxes. >> that's a very large number for a terrorist organization, but pretty small for a state. >> reporter: budget pressures that help explain why isil's oil

revenues have been squeezed, the population has been squeezed even harder. >> they are started to charge people a fixed rate for leaving the caliphate. >> reporter: an exit tax designed to degrade the group from the bottom up. >> the regional leaders live like barons, and the local military commanders and their forces live a whole lot better and are paid better than the average citizen. >> reporter: in the long run that structure could bring down isil from within. in the short-term, the group has plenty of muscle by financially pummelling the civilians it controls. a world famous missionary

about to become a saint. our correspondent has the reaction from new delhi. >> reporter: news of mother theresa's imminent saint hood has been widely welcomed here. the organization itself has said it has heard the news and it is excited the possibility of september being the month of canonization has been reported widely. it's the actual date is unclear, though. in terms of wider context of this news here in india, there are 24 million christians in indian, 20 million according to government figures are catholic. more widely speaking pope francis had a personal connection to mother theresa. they met in the 1990s, and

followed each other's work closely. he described her as a woman of great courage. mother theresa won the nobel peace prize for her work back in 1979. and the have breaking news the senate just passing that tax and spending bill. it extends billions of dollars of tax breaks in avenue single americans and corporations. in bethlehem, the occupied west bank palestinian protesters there, dressed as santa, clashing with the israeli army. israeli officials saying about 50 protesters throwing rocks and bombs at the troops. israeli forcing responding in tear gas. the wait now over for millions of fans. [ cheers ]

>> "star wars: the force awakens" already paying off big. and a court side collision ends one fan's night in cleveland.

>> one person to stop climate change is the son of jock cousteau. >> when people think about cousteau, by grandfather was president of the rio conference, which laid out the mandate and was the first step in developing a plan on climate change. i like to think about his first and foremost as a problem-solver, and that is really the legacy that inheri d inherited. climate change is arguably the greatest threat to our planet in the 21st century, but ocean asidfying is also a great threat. if we keep global warming below

2 degrees centigrade, that is a goal. water is the greatest crisis we face. when my grandfather was born, there were 1.6 billion people living in this planet, and in 100 years, we have grown to about 7.5 billion. we are facing a crisis of every proportion unlike anything the human race has had to face. the oceans have become so acidic that if you -- our human bodies have ph balance, if our bodies had become as acidic, we would be in the hospital. i always looked for the opportunities and the ways, and the levers that are the most

effective. that's why we started earth echo international, as really the youth strategy for the environmental movement. young people are the best tool and mechanism that exists to change society and the behavior of adults, and i see kids that don't know the meaning of no. and say i'm going to do this. i'm going to work here. i'm going to do this. it really gives me the hope to believe that the human spirit and will, will triumph over the challenges that we face. >> he also says that people are a big part of the problem. fan dang go reporting that "star wars: the force awakens" star already breaking records just in presales. john henry smith has more. >> reporter: fans filled theaters to watch old "star wars" movies. they are buying old "star wars" toys and a new one. >> this is what every

entrepreneur waits for. >> reporter: jet die aerobics anyone? a lot of people were cashing in. >> we struck more than gold here, frankly. >> reporter: disney spent $4 billion to buy star war's creator. >> this movie alone just in theaters has the potential to earn over $2 billion worldwide. you then add to that the potential for merchandising, down the road, the -- you know, on-demand component, the home video component, some people were saying it would be over $10 billion in revenue based on that $4 billion to buy it. >> reporter: no film has ever made $100 million in a single

day, but the force awakens broke that bare -- barrier on presales alone. >> this is potential i will the biggest box office opening ever. >> reporter: the new "star wars" film is great holiday season gift. >> collective goose bumps will translate to big dollars and just a love of going to the movie theater to see great films who are like minded. courtside at an nba can be dangerous. this woman was crushed by lebron james diving for a loose ball. after all was said and done, lebron james told her he was story. she was taken to the hospital,

but was okay. that's it for us. the news continues live from london next. ♪ talks to end the war in syria are underway in new york with major obstacles to overcome. despite a supposed ceasefire in yemen, pro-government forces seized two towns from houthi rebels in 24 hours. charities are having to help more and more people in spain. and making music, the hub bringing world-class r