this is al jazeera america. a look at today's stop stories. tonight, democrats put aside their differences just before the last presidential debate of the year. >> we're not going to let hateful rhetoric be our mantra. we want to make a difference both hillary clinton and bernie sanders research out to the muslim community trying to offset inflammatory remarks made by donald trump. a warning tonight by the cdc,

drug overdoses are on the rise. heroin use part of the blame. more law enforcement officers charged with homicide in 2015 than in any year than in the past decade. who is policing the police. democratic candidates for president are facing off tonight for their third debate. hillary clinton and bernie sanders and martin o'malley. joining us live our correspondent. how much will the recent data breach detract from other issues in tonight's debate? >> this story got legs yesterday

when the democratic national committee excused the sanders campaign of accessing information. a staffer has been fired. it has put some fight in a primary campaign season. we will watch to see how the candidates handle it tonight. will bernie sanders apologise for what happened or will he go on the offence? his camp has accused the dnc of favoring hillary clinton. for her part, will clinton go after sanders as her campaign has been doing behind the scene or will she be perceived of taking the high road? they may not try to dwell on it too much, but they will get questions on it. the nature of tonight's debate is focused on national security and foreign policy. it is the first time these three candidates have come together since the attack in san

bernardino. gun controls, it is thought is important. on national security, hillary clinton will be talking about her credentials as former secretary of state. we will hear foreign matters. martin o'malley just wants to get attention, some air time here, but really the focus tonight will be on hillary clinton and bernie sanders we know that the major newspaper there has endorsed a republican candidate. what about the democrats, the new hampshire being important. how are the primaries doing there? >> reporter: it's very key to the sanders success. he is polling up here lately. he is ahead 48 to clinton's 44 and martin o'malley down in the single digit.

hillary clinton is really leading nationally. she is at 55 to sanders 30. that includes crucial states which will weigh in pretty soon after new hampshire. clinton has been visiting the state. she has a strong ground game here. this is a crucial location for both candidates to show they have what it takes to be president it looks like martin o'malley is hanging on by his fingernails. we will check back in later earlier we spoke with political analyst bill zchneider about how important this is. >> we're waiting to hear what bernie sanders has to say about terrorism,isise. it is a subject he hasn't dealt with much. he has talked about it, but people aren't sure what he has to say about it.

whenever hillary clinton defends her foreign policy record, he immediately says she voted to authorize the war in iraq, which is poisonous among democrats. we are waiting to here what bernie sanders has to say about his counter terrorism strategy. hillary clinton claims her experience as secretary of state, her husband is experienced as president of the united states. this gives her knowledge, expertise and familiarity with the world stage and with world leaders that qualify her to be president. with sanders and o'malley, we haven't heard those qualifications yet the democratics are taking the stage since donald trump announced his ban on muslims into the u.s. which is expected to be a key issue in tonight's debat

debate. >> we have food that gets sent out. >> reporter: three years that woman has supported those in syria, collecting clothing and medical supplies from that warehouse until it is time to ship >> we're not going to allow hateful rhetoric be our mantra. we want to make a difference. we have seen a spike in people wanting to connect with us. >> reporter: she is talking about comments from donald trump, the republican candidate who has suggested banning muslims from the united states is necessary for its security. >> a total and complete shut down of muslims entering the united states until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. >> reporter: democratic presidential candidates have been working to distance themselves from the rhetoric. bernie sanders running behind hillary clinton in the polls even participated in an

interface round table with week in washington to speak directly with muslim leaders. the controversy is expected to be a key issue as candidates take to the stage for the third democratic debate. >> all of the democratic candidates will criticise donald trump for his comments about security and religion and i think that that will give an opportunity for the democratic candidates to show that they are not donald trump and present a more nuanced picture >> reporter: voters of all faiths are watching, especially in light of reports from muslim add crow occasion groups showing incidents of destruction and vandalism on mosques this year have risen. >> the democrats have not spoken out and made clear that all muslims are our fellow american says and we have to honor that and make sure that they feel safe and that we also build bridges and get to know each other. >> reporter: she is leading by example, collecting more than a

million dollars in goods for victims in syria, determined to demonstrate a spirit of unity and generosity. she expects from the next u.s. president one of the campaign key dates to keep in mind. the iowacaucus february 1 and february 9. february 20 the south california line assaying day. the republican cauc aurics s day later and the primary february 27. more than on the campaign later this hour. we will look at how wall street bankers are influencing the candidates. voters in spain head to the polls on sunday in the contest likely to bring an end to the traditional two-party system there. al jazeera's correspondent took to the streets of madrid to talk

to voters but found many people are interested in another big contest, the annual christmas lottery. >> reporter: this queue is some 300 metres or so and it has nothing to do with sunday's election. all these people have come here to buy lottey tickets for christmas. they have come to a kiosk in the center of town which has a good track record of welling winning numbers. this tells me that the spanish people do have an enormous amount of faith, but what about the people in this queue and their feelings about sunday's crucial elections? let's speak to them to find out what they are hoping for in the vote. >> we are now in the 6th year of the crisis. i think that the resolution of conservative parties in europe

doesn't work, so i think that we need to change to the left. >> translation: i don't think anyone is happy with the state of the country. just near here you will see people living on the streets. bravo to any political party that can solve this poverty, whether it is the right or left. i don't care. >> reporter: this election will be unlike any we've seen in spain over the past 40 years. all the expectation is that the old two-party system is over, that new parties on the left and on the right will get into parliament and that after the vote we may have to have a coalition or some sort of partnership between different parties. in other words, predictions are hazardous, but i will confidently make one. i do not expect to see a queue of voters in madrid on sunday that is remotely as slang as

this-- long as this one. all these people have come out to try and win the famous christmas lottery, el gordo syria's religious leader is expressing concerns about the unity government in syria and the civil war there. he says an end to the conflict would make syrians as well as westerners safe, but he is cautioning that the agreement needs action and that the country's citizens must ultimately decide on the way forward. >> translation: i wish that what has been said yesterday is converted into action and not only words on paper, that we see its results on the ground because if we do not help the syrian people now, this will move not only to arab countries but also to europe. we have seen the traces of this fire in france and we are sad about what happened that france, but the american and european world is open to receive attacks from those who were in syria

although the u.s. security council reached aanonymous agreement on a peace process, bashar al-assad has not been determined. western leaders want him removed from power while russia remains one of bashar al-assad's close allies. beijing has issued the highest alert, and this is the second time this has happened ever. the emergency response plan forces many cars off the road and restricts factory production. coal burning power stations are the key cause of the dangerous pollution. demand for electricity and heating is high in the winter months. protesters marred on the streets informed today today. they are calling for the release of a video.

witnesses claims clerk was handcuffed at the time of his death. the police union says clerk was not wearing handcuffs and, in fact, grabbed for an officer's gun. protesters are calling for the prosecution of the police officers involved. they say they plan to doesn't holiday shopping as part of their demonstration. there have been more police officers charged with homicide in 2015 than in any year in the past decade. >> we have not received an apology from the police department or the city of cleveland in regards to the killing of my son up next a deeper look at who is policing the police. later, basketball diplomacy in an american game making a difference on the streets of cuba. also problems with the hover

board. why some online companies are removing it from their websites.

police vice handled by them. larger issues of accountability. there were protests after the trial of officer william porter ended in a mistrial. freddie grey suffered a spinal injury. he is one of the dozens of police officers who have been charged in similar cases this

year, more than in any other year in the past decade. while charges have become more common, convictions remain rare. >> reporter: the first legal battle against one of the six baltimore police officers charged in the death of freddie grey resulted in a deadlocked jury and mistrial this week-- and a. he died of a spinal cord injury and sparked protests this year. it is one of a number of high-profile cases of controversial police killings that have raised serious questions about what it takes for criminal charges to be filed against a police officer. in stat onisland new york, the choking death of one. the fatal shooting of an unarmed person set the stage for policing in america.

in cleveland 12-year-old tam ir rice is shot dead by an officer just two seconds into their encounter. more than a year after the shooting no charges. a grand jury is reviewing the evidence. >> i have not received an apology from the police department or the city of cleveland in regards to the killing of my son. and it hurts. >> reporter: the supreme court ruling gives police officers a great deal of leeway on the use of force saying it must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene rather than the 20/20 vision of hindsight. according to the washington post, so far this year 994 people have been shot dead by police, but in less than 2% of those cases were insertion charged with murder or manslaughter. that means an estimate of 98% of the shootings were found to be

legally justified. what is different now says a professor is that cell phones and other recording devices are allowing the nation to judge for themselves what happens in the encounters beyond official accounts arid reports >> we say we have officers who suggest they respect the people that they stop, but footage say it doesn't. >> reporter: a balance must be struck joining me in the studio now for a deeper look, a committal justice professor at pace university and a retired new york city police department lieutenant, and defense attorney and former district attorney from statton island, new york. we first acknowledge that police have a difficult job.

you have to make split life and death decisions. sometimes it requires the taking of a life, but with that having been said, the question is in those cases such as eric garner where people saw the taking of a life while the perp was in police custody, how do you explain no charges? >> there are political reasons. the local district attorney on the island was elected with the support of all local law enforcement unions. for those political reasons he did not want to go against those unions. there are also the human reasons that the district attorney works hand-in-hand with police officers every day. that brotherhood that they develop stands in the way of them acting objectively in the course of the prosecution couldn't the prosecutor have at least brought minimal charges

with respect to, say, negligent homicide or some lesser charge. i mean something. >> well, certainly we believe that there are charges in the penal code of new york that would apply to officer panteleo in his actions. we still hope the federal government will step in and bring charges the state charges it is gone. >> yes you've seen the video. i don't know if you knew any of the officers who were involved in that case, but you certainly have familiarity with police department training. what are officers told about the property use of deadly force in a situation where a person isn't armed? >> well, i can give it to you from two perspectives. i was a lieutenant in the internal bureau for a number of years. i was a sergeant training recruits. it is consistent in that officers are trained to use the

minimal amount of force necessary. into that's the training. >> that is correct. however, dependent upon what my assessment of minimal force can be, i can perceive something differently than jason would for that matter. therefore, when these cases come into the courts, it is in the hands of a jury. going back toeric gardner, i understand the public outcry and i understand what jason is saying. especially when we have the sensationalism of video, which goes viral. years ago you had interactions between police officers and defendants and it was the officer's words against the person that was arrested. now we have these videos and that's what sensationalises things the sensationalisation, isn't it also true that these videos provide the public with an insight into what happens in the moment because not only did

we see, we heard garner saying i can't breathe 11 times. that's not sensationalism, is it? >> i hear where you're coming from. i think video is necessary and in prioritizing an element of transparency in policing. when we look at body cameras and also dash cams i think they're necessary in our society. the average person videotapes between 100 and 200 times a day in a place like new york city. police should be held to a certain standard and i agree that the videotaping is necessary. however, we also have to take into consideration that's only one component when things move forward into a criminal case back to the prosecutor, you were in the da's office. >> yes so, perhaps, if you would, imagine that you were there while the case is being investigated, and the question is asked, well, wasn't the choke

hold against police policy. >> it was. it was against police policy wasn't that something that you could charge the officer with? >> yes, absolutely. the problem is these decisions are made at the highest levels of the da's office, whether they want to go forward with a truly objective prosecution or they want to put in the witnesses in a manner in which they want to them in to lead them to the grand jury, who was it, the chief justice of the new york supreme court many years ago said you can get an indictment of a ham sandwich if the prosecutor wants it to happen? >> that's the famous quote no charges are brought there, but then here is the other question. when charges are brought, it is difficult to get a conviction. walk us through that. we just saw the freddie grey case, not a good example, but we will take that one.

>> i've had many cases that traditionally whenever an officer is, there is an allegation of misconduct that's criminal, the first thing that the internal affairs bureau will do is it will reach out to the county's district corner who will make a decision if necessity want to prosecutor and move further or they would rather kick it back to the police department and have them handle it as an administrative proceeding. i saw something early in that we had these high number of shootings this year. there has only been 2% of officers that have engaged in instances of physical force 944 shootings and less few than 20 officers charged. we should also say that it could be more than 944 because a lot of police departments don't report it and we understand that some of those shootings had to do with reasonable use of deadly

force. when an officer using deadly physical force, that's a last resort. it may appear to be a large number of shootings, we live in a country with 365 million people. that's a lot of people. so when we think in terms of these street encounters between police and individuals in the street, the numbers are low i saw you nodded in agreement there. >> i think i was thinking along the lines of why is it so difficult to convict police officers when they bring prosecutions, and along those lines officers are given an enormous level of benefit of the doubt. they should get that. it's a difficult job. they're protectors of the community. we don't want them second guessing. we want them protecting the community and themselves. that being said, when the evidence is there, when the videos are there, when the witnesses are there, we want prosecutors to keep our communities safe by prosecuting

pad police officers do police officers actually get more more of a break, if you will, for committing homicide than the average citizen would? >> i've never experienced preferential treatment. jason states that he has, which may be accurate. i've never had that experience. one thing that i will say are moving forward in a state like new york, marion como future father that he wants special prosecutor to investigate these police-involved shootings. it provides an additional layer of transparency are you saying that there is, by some police officers, a sense of impunity that they know based on past experience that if they shoot somebody in the line of duty that they're likely to be able to walk away from it

without being charged because that has been the case here. >> i've never experienced it. however, i'm sure there are instances like this that do exist. when we think about an officer that shoots someone, this is an aberration, this is not the - the average police officer that works 20 years, i worked in new york city for 20 years. i never shot someone did you have the option? >> numerous times i've been in instances where my gun has left my holster, and individual had a weapon and i said police, don't move you could have shot him >> yes. however, i was fortunate enough whereas that was something that never took place. you do have a small percentage of officers that do engage in instances where they fire anywhere weapon we've talked about-- their weapon we've talked about the cases of officers who have not seen charges brought, but we also have this past year a couple of examples of i would say swift justice. the case of shooting of walter scott, the man oning away in

south carolina. charges were placed next day. ichlts it's all about the-- >> it's all about the video. for years these shooting been swept under the rugs because the evidence hasn't been there. agencies will rely strictly on the word of the police officer and say we don't have concrete evidence, we can't prove that the officer did anything wrong. when looking at walter scott, that officer falsified records, lied about what happened. the video contradicted everything, the prosecutor brought a prosecution. videos are changing the way we're looking at this since you were in internal affairs ntas you were familiar with-- and you were familiar with practices, what do you say where the video was kept out of public view for a long time and when it appeared, the police officer was charged some 14/two

years later. >> we spoke about this offset the laquan mcdonald. >> yeah. i believe that this was something that whas done by - te mayor was running for re-election. he in his re-election campaign felt that this would have been a slight towards his election. therefore, he kind of put this to the back-burner you're blaming the mayor. >> absolutely not the prosecutor? >> no not alvarez. >> i'm blaming the mayor because the city settled for $5 million. the corporation council would have had to present this to the mayor. look, we had a police shooting worth a $5 million pay out. this is one of the highest in the city. for him to come across now and say, i can't believe that the superintendent did nothing, is a crack or miss. he knew about this. however he was running for

re-election. he knew he could get a year in keeping this video couched. after he was elected then the stuff comes out. i blame the mayor. i don't blame the prosecutor nor do i blame the superintendent of police because ultimately it is the elected fish that drives-- official that drives the machine closing, if you could assign some three-step process or one one-step process to make this better, what would you do? >> i think it starts with leadership, supervision training, but ultimately had it has to come down to discipline and accountability. we need to have a system in place where bad officers are rooted out, good officers are encouraged and treated as heros when they call out bad officers. they don't have that now. bad officers are getting away with what they're doing the blue wall of silence. >> it surrounds the misconduct of police officers. we need an independent agency,

prosecutors and investigators, who don't work with local police officers, and who are charged with finding justice, pursuing justice against police misconduct thank you to all my guests for joining us and sharing your insight >> thanks for having us how much does it cost to become the next president of the united states? an inside look at the big money behind the presidential election.

just five weeks away before the presidential election process begins in earnest when iowa caucus donald trump is widening his lead on the republican side. the real estate mo debrox ul is hitting a high of 39% nationwide, ted cruz as follows. fisted place shared among jab bush, chris christie. donald trump welcomed closer ties with russia after receiving words of praise from putin who called him brilliant yount. >> isn't it nice to get along

and let them do, right he has been chided for embracing putin's comments about him. john kasich characterised it as a bromance. an investigation into planned parenthood on his first day in office. marco rubio crisscrossed south carolina and he once accused ted cruz from changing on immigration and vice versa. the campaign is a costly affair. candidates raise money in a variety of ways, but as our correspondent reports, they are not always eyeinger to publicly associate with some of their donors. >> reporter: they're running to be president of the united states but also in a race for the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to pay for it. the start and finish line of the money race is wall street.

big banks and their employees, the largest contributors to campaigns. in a six month period here is what banker have contributed. 626,000 to hillary clinton, 606,000 to republican jab bush. the most an individual can contribute to one candidate in the u.s. is $2700. here on wall street wealthy banker types often get around this by collecting individual campaign contributions from their equally wealthy associates and co-workers and then bundle all those contributions together to deliver to their candidate of choice. >> they are hoping to support somebody who would be amenable to their interests or somebody who would have an open door or an open ear to what they have to say, policies they might support. >> reporter: others are getting

in the act, marco rubio, pushes rival on the republican side, was in new york. he has already received from bankers more than $150,000 in contributions, but taking money from an industry responsible for the economic meltdown of 2007 is not something the candidate $go out of their way to-- candidates go out of their what to publicise. that was evident in a new york hotel where some paid more than a thousand dollars to have breakfast with jeb bush. the event was off limits to the press. it did attract the attention of a small but vocal group of protesters outside who said they're being left out. >> this is the local system, it is being flooded with money which drowns out the voices of a lot of poor people. >> reporter: there are two

leading bernie sanders wants to break up the baying banks, donald trump doesn't need their money. it's likely the only thing the pair have in common. they're the exception and rule with the politics awash in money from the wealthiest presidential campaign is also the topic of this week's evidence of third rail. ali velshi debate whether donald trump is good for american politics. here is a preview of tomorrow night's episode. >> i don't necessarily believe that he has improved things, for a number of things. one, he hasn't changed the way politicians do things. his lack of political correctness has not all of a sudden make jab bush being less politically corrected. he hasn't changed the landscape of how to run for office. the thing that scares me more is i'm not sure he has necessarily started a conversation or gotten

people to pay attention. i fear that he has awakened a mentality that has been there but always lied dormant. the kkk has increased interest in their membership as a result of donald trump and some of the things he has said sort of making it okay, making it cool to be islam aphobic, to be zen owe phobic-- xenophobic this is interesting. when you say - i hear and like a lot of what you're saying, you're saying is hasn't changed other people. i would argue that ted cruz was not seen by mainstream america as a credible candidate, but now he seems not as outlandish as donald trump, he is getting ground thanks to donald trump. >> i think donald trump has moved the goal post because this white house moved that incredibly far to the lavement.

when obama gave his speech that made him famous in 204 saying there are no red or blue states, i thought that was an amazing state. i didn't vote for him, but hopeful that he actually believed that. in reality, that is not the case. he has told the country so-- has pulled the country so far last you can watch 5.30 eastern and 2.30 pacific here. a warning from the center for disease control. u.s. is experiencing an epidemic of deaths from drug overdoses. >> reporter: >> i lost my daughter aung san suu kyi to heroin on-- sue. >> reporter: nearly half a million people in the united states have died from drug overdoses. in 2014 the cdc says more people died from drug overdoses than during any previous year on record. there was a significant increase

in drug-related deaths from 2013 to 2014. in 2014 about 47,000 people died from drug overdoses compared with just under 44,000 in 2013. it is an increase of 6.5%. in both years significantly more men than women died from drug overdoses. drug over doses increased in most age groups. the greatest was among 24 to 25-year-old. next 35 pa 44 up 8.7%. perhaps most interesting, drug deaths among people aged 65 and older increased by 7.7%. in 2014 west virginia had the country's highest rate of drug over dose deaths with just over 35 per 100,000 people. far head of second place new mexico. new hemp sheer led the nation in

the rate of increase of over dose death. a whooping 73.5%. compare that to second place mayne where it rose by 27.3%. still a huge number but far lower. the other states in the top ten are new mexico, as here. op yes, i dos pain relevers and heroin are the main drugs of associated with over dose deaths. the cdc says efforts to encourage safer prescribing of opioid pain relevers should be strekthened. it restricts to narcan. it can bring an over dose victim back to consciousness authorities have received more than 600 complaints about unmanned aircrafts this year.

that's more than double the number in 2014. with recreational drone flying growing in popularity, regulators are cracking down, forcing most drone operators to register their aircrafts. lisa stark reports. >> reporter: with drones flying off the shelves this holiday season, the fa moved with lightning speed to require drone registration. the online process will be up and running monday. owners of recreational drones that way from half a pound to 55 pounds will need to register. previous owners have until february 19. new owners must sign up before their first outdoor flight. there's a $5 fee, but free if you act fast, within the first 30 days. ownerss will get a unique identification number that must be marked on the zone so it can be traced back if it ends up where it shouldn't be. that has been the problem. er rant drones have turned up on

the white house lawn, on the stands of the open. they have come dangerously close to airplanes. a new study finds that in the last two years there were 327 close calls in the air. 90 involving commercial jets, 38 with helicopters. in 28 cases pilots had to maneuver to avoid a collision. >> it's a nationwide issue that a lot of airports are experiencing and certainly this is not just - we're not just talking about commercial airliners necessary. we're also talking about even crop dusters, medical air lifts, helicopters. pilots of all scale and every level of the aviation scale have experienced some kind of interference with a drone of the >> reporter: there's also resistance from a hobbyist group. it calls the move an unnecessary burden for drone owners.

it says educational campaigns like this one are key to keeping the skies scuff. >> do you know how-- safe. >> do you know how far? you have to be able to still see it. also known 400 feet above ground level. >> reporter: the fa also says education is critical, but with so many alarming incidents, it wants accountability from owners who can now face stiff fines for failing to register their drone it is officially the number one movie in the universe. incredible box office receipts from star wars next. >> it exploded like boom. >> reporter: hover boards being pulled from some online sites just before christmas.

>> reporter: just before christmas we're dealing with travelling problems in the highways. what has been happening here across the west where some of these roads, highway 90, in particular, is closed in some places. more details of that when i return right after this. after this.

>>. dark side. a jedi

the new star wars film hit theatres on friday. it is already breaking box office records. the studio estimates opening day numbers will reach 125 million dollars, predictions for the weekend total 225 million. that number would break the current record held by jurassic world. the force awakens is getting rave reviews online by critics and fans alike. hover boards not getting reviews. they're hard to find because two major online retailers are no longer spelling them. john henry smith explains why. >> it is on fire >> reporter: he paid $500 for his hover board but it started burning up three days after he had got it >> i only rode it 75/100 feet. it exploded. >> reporter: according to the

consumer product safety commission there are ten active fire investigations in nine states involving firy hover boards, including ones that badly burnt houses in new york and louisiana. >> it sounded like a lit fire. >> reporter: amazon appears to have joined others pulling boards from its site. swagway says amazon notified all hoverboard that want to sell these, they have to say they meet federal safety measures. >> the hover boards are not toys. >> reporter: consumers say safety advocate says it's what's powering them that makes it dangerous. >> the problem comes from the charging and the lithium ion batteries. >> reporter: they are the same batteries in smart phones and lap tops but bigger and powerful. the fed rail aviation

administration ran that test showing what it happen to-- to the bottle trees on flights das t-- batteries on flight. while the fire danger hasn't turned off this man from getting another one. >> i'm hoping they work out the kinks. >> reporter: it makes others to check their crimea list. >>-- christmas list. >> i don't want it any more so much for the hover board on the christmas lift. >> reporter: i wouldn't wouldn't want one either. we have snow to put that out. the west is dealing with a lot of snow. over 60 inch of snow in certain locations. i want to take you up to the north-west dealing with the real snowy stuff right here. i'm going to take you towards the north part of washington state. this is a pass that takes you on

highway 90 towards parts of the seattle. in some locations of that highway they had to close it down because the snow was so thick and so fast moving at the time. still dealing with a lot of problems across there. over the next couple of days, take a look at the forecasts. we are going to be seeing more heavy snow across this area, not just gnome but actually on monday as well. we are dealing with snow here. we don't expect to see it on the ground long. it will melt. these low temperatures through sunday morning are going to go back up. take a look the awhat we expect to see here as we go towards sundays. new york is going to be 4 #, al brngs any 40, the temperatures increasing to rise, but looking at the five-day forecast, our normal high is 42 degrees, that

is on sun, 51, 55, 59, 68 is the expected high that we're going to be seeing as we go towards christmas day. washington is going to be hotter than that. we are going to be watching those carefully. 72 degrees is expected in washington dc and then i want to take you over here towards chicago where cooler, but for this time of year they are still higher than average. they would just be above freezing with overnight lows going down below freezing, but wednesday, some rainy conditions. on thursday, about 48 degrees which is still 14 degrees above average that's unusual weather for december. >> reporter: it is, el nino. it is what it is thank you. athletes in cuba take themselves to the court with basketball.

>> reporter: it began with a group of friends on the street corne corner. our level is very good. which is why the authorities have been questioning our existence. we're now as good as them. that caused us some problems, but our ideas to join with the organized basketball, with them incorporating some of our ideas. >> reporter: the street league has received support from full court peace. one of the growing number of organizations rekindling ties. >> we are americans, they are cubans, but on the court we can be friends. >> reporter: the league helps keep young officers out of trouble and for many cubans basketball is how they express themselves. >> translation: when i play

basketball, i'm in tune with myself and how my body works. it forces me to develop my mind since basketball is the most creative of sports. >> reporter: they use that creative to establish courts where there is adequate space. and to dept the rules to a more tougher and aggressive game. this is street basketball, roar basketball. free of the constraints that some deal can be imposed by-- feel can be imposed. the state is beginning to notice the street scene. this again with young players from the national basketball score. >> translation: this league is very well organized. this is street basic ball. while ours is state run and organized, my kids study basketball and play with more techniques. >> reporter: they're all learning from one another with the passion and power of cuba street basketball scene

difficult to contain thank you for joining us. i will be back with another hour of news at 11 p.m. eastern and 8 p.m. pacific. now we leave you with scenes of what could be the most popular movie in american history. star wars. >> the dark side.

on america tonight the stunning truth. flint michigan's water so toxic it has led to a state of emergency. >> to know that this is something that could have been prevented, that wasn't, because people lied and didn't do their jobs. it makes me sick america tonight's correspondent investigates