that the u.s. as a whole will back off half a century of marijuana prohibition. thanks for joining us on "inside story". see you next time, i'm ray mariano rajthis is al jaze live from new york city. a grim day for the u.s. as six american soldiers are killed. tragedy on the l.a. strip. officials identify the woman suspected of intentionally mowing down a crowd of people killing one and injuring dozens. f.i.f.a. ban blatter and

plantini. six american troops have been killed in a taliban attack in afghanistan. it happened near bagram airport. live for us our correspondent. what can you tell bus what happened? >> reporter: the u.s. military is not supposed to be in a military combat mission in afghanistan. so it is not clear what they were doing outside the air base. the group was outside the base, perhaps on patrol, some suggestion they might have been meet withing the local fish when they were hit with a bomber. six u.s. killed, two wounded.

it makes it the deadliest day in afghanistan for u.s. troops since the fish end of combat operations a year ago. it also comes as the pentagons own report to congress suggests that the overall security situation in afghanistan is deteriorating and that the taliban are becoming more frequent and more effective in their attacks. >> reporter: in afghanistan southern helmand province fighting is intense as the taliban claims success in claiming the police force office and government buildings. the the latest suicide attack that killed half a dozen u.s. troops outside bagram air base, it is more evidence that taliban is back. kabul has been the focus of high profile attacks and it counts the deadly motorcycle suicide bombing as the 29th taliban

attack since the beginning of the year. a 27% increase over the same period last year. at the same time the taliban has shown it can also take key terrain outside of its traditional stronghold as it did back in late september and early october when it briefly held the north city. >> the taliban's advances in some parts of the country, even if temporary, underscore that this is a tough fight and a dynamic face. >> reporter: ash keralyt arer was there last week to meet and saying the forces are still struggling. >> are trying to build a plan. >> reporter: a report to congress offered a harsh assessment of the afghan army's lack of progress.

it is said that despite being far better armed and trained by the u.s. afghan forces remained reluctant to pursue the taliban into their traditional safe havens and concluded that they cannot ensure security and stability without further improvement. >> right now they're very static. that's where they're taking casualties on check points>> reporter: one big factor, the u.s. is no longer providing air strikes for offensive operations. one of the findings of the investigation into the mistaken bombing of the doctors without borders hospital is that the mission should never have been authorized. the power is to protect u.s. troops on the ground or afghan troops in extreme distress >> u.s. forces are the pentagon says despite the ability and the resilience of the taliban to take territory most of the gains have been short-term and that the afghan military generally speaking has been able to retake what was lost. they also concede the taliban

has gotten better at exploiting weak spots and that is presenting a risk of instability throughout the country it is clear they're still posing a serious threat to government forces, but what about i.s.i.l.? is it this - is there a presence there in afghanistan? >> the pentagon says that i.s.i.l. appears to be setting up what they call nests of you activities. it's not clear whether they're new groups or rebanded themselves. one interesting point by the general is that they've seen some instances where i.s.i.l. has actually been fighting the taliban and the afghan military has been looking on. i.s.i.l. is also considered a threat in afghanistan basically the u.s. said all of the groups that are opposing government present an equal threat and they all need to be dealt with pretty much with the same sort of

strategy thank you. later in the program we will speak with a retired u.s. army colonel about whether the force may need to shift. the man charged with providing the san bernardino killers with weapon was in court today. he was arrested last week. al jazeera's jennifer london. >> reporter: the headline from the court appearance today, he will remain in custody without bail. federal prosecutors are argued that he poses a series flight risk. while the judge did deny bail, he said he wasn't do so because marquez is that he is a daerpg for the community. he conspired to commit an act of terrorism. he was present in court but did not enter a plea.

he was wearing a white jump suit, was wearing huffs and his - handcuffs and his legs were shackled. this court appearance comes after march keys was arrested-- marquez was arrested last week. one act was con spying to commit acts of terrorism. he was conspiring with syed farook to commit two acts of terrorism. he is also facing charges of purchasing two assault weapons, unlawfully purchasing, these are the eau automatic rifles used in the mass shooting in san bernardino. the third charge he faces is allegation that he defrauded immigration authorities by entering into a sham marriage with a member of syed farook's family. if he is convicted on all three charges, he faces up to 35 years in prison. his next counter appearance will be after the first of the year

thank you for that. a new trial date has been set for baltimore police officer william porter charged in the death of freddie grey. the judge says porter is's retrial will start on june 13. a mistrial was announced last week when the trial was deadlocked. good son is charged with second degree murder. a woman intentionally crashing her car into crowds on the l.a. strip on sunday. the suspect has been identified. she is believed to be from portland oregon. her 3-year-old daughter was in car but was not hurt. one woman was killed and 30 injured.

>> reporter: she ran over pedestrians. police say she drove to a casino and told a parking attendant to call 911 because she ran over people. the investigation is in its early stages, but it is not believed it involved terrorism. the attacks in california and paris have left many americans on edge but that concern has not translated into support for tougher gun laws. a small band of protesters against gun violence have been demonstrating outside the white house for a number of years now. two years ago our correspondent went there and she was back again. >> reporter: take a look at these? what's the difference? two years time but no change in federal gun laws. i saw you almost two years ago. >> yes. we welcome you back. we wish we didn't have to be here>> reporter: this small

group of protesters set up nearly every monday ever since july 2012. after the mass shooting of a movie theatre that left 12 dead. >> reporter: why are you still here? >> for our children and our grand children>> reporter: the demonstrators call gun ounce violence a public health emergency. they want sensible gun laws, background checks for every sale, including those at gun shows. an assault weapons ban and mandatory gun safety training. there has been no movement on any of this in congress. just one day after this month's attack in san bernardino california, the senate voted down two gun control bills, including one to stop those on the terrorist watch list from buying a weapon. >> change takes time and particularly when something is entrench ted as the gun culture is in our country. it takes time>> reporter: it's a

constitutional right. why shouldn't people have guns? >> they can. i don't think anybody needs an a.k.47. >> reporter: if anything, public support for some of these tougher laws has slipped. a recent new york times cbs news poll suggests that 44% of americans favor an assault weapons ban. 50% are opposed. 15 years ago, 70% favoured such a ban. politically powerful nation rifle association says americans have rejected tougher laws telling al jazeera america "gun control laws don't work because criminals ignore them. americans know the world is a dangerous place and they want the ability to defend themselves and their families". some who pass by here debate gun rights. others shake their heads. at the time line of tragedies spread out on the pavement. >> it seems harder to get a driver's licence than it does to get a gun. so we need to look at that>>

reporter: even some gun enthusiasts says they are they're open to issues. this woman understands the protesters point. you use guns and are comfortable with them? >> yes. i am. that is only because years back i had to take the gun course, the gun safety course>> reporter: the president has talked passionately about tougher gun laws. his administration says he is looking at ways to act on his own, but without congress there may be little the president can do. so it's another monday and once again this democrat concentration is wrapping up, but the protesters here say they will be back as long as it take. lisa stark in china more than a thousand rescue workers are on the scene helping in the search for more than 90 missing people after a mud slide buried in one

of the biggest cities. adrian brown has more. >> reporter: at times like this man power is not a problem in china. 1 # 500 rescue workers are searching for life. if people are alive, they're in damaged buildings trapped under mounds of mud. it is hazardous work. the ground is wet after heavy rain. more than 24 hours after the land slide there was, though, still hope. >> translation: since 2am on monday we have rescued seven trapped people and relocated over 900 residents. at the am we have had machinery and we have used 78 excavators to carry out digging. >> reporter: some buildings were destroyed and some simply compacted. the mud spill is covering a vast area, equal in size to 14

football fields. >> translation: an area of around 380,000 square metres has been covered by the mud slide disaster. the thickness of the mud and debris ranges from between a few metres and tens of metres>> reporter: many people here know where that mud came from. a vast tip in a disused quarry above the industrial zone. local residents say waste from construction sites had been dumped here for years. according to chinese media reports, it was at least a hundred metres high and apparently legal. this was china's latest man made disaster. it is only four months since a huge explosion at a storage area for dangerous chemicals in the north-eastern city. they were kept in a warehouse just a few hundred metres from a residential area. now investigators must find if any laws were broken here as well. adrian brown still ahead on the program, red card, the head of soccer's

govj body suspended. >> reporter: the temperatures this weekend were cooler, but they're on their way back up as well as some very nasty weather as we make our way towards christmas. all the details of that when i return right after this. bring your family and friends together

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f.i.f.a., the corn body for world soccer has banned the president blatter and platini were suspended. blatter said if f.i.f.a. was awarded the 2020 to the u.s., there would be no investigation. al jazeera's paul reece has now now from zurich. >> reporter: blatter again the center of attention. he fights for his very future in football. on monday the suspended f.i.f.a. president and the chief platini were given eight years bans over a two million dollar payment made by blatter to the french man in 2011. his association seemingly

tarnished forever. the swiss isn't going quietly. >> i am tired for me and f.i.f.a. spended eight years for what? >> reporter: for years the two big figures had a plan. the president would pass the job to his friend platini. but blatter reneged and the friendship fell out. me carried out work for blatter a decade ago and no contract. the ethics committee set up delivered the ban. the chamber of the ethics committee has banned president of f.i.f.a. for eight years and mr platini vice president and president of uafa for eight years from all football related

activities. plato refused to attend the hearing. his lawyer suggested that the investigation had decided he was guilty and was seeking a long ban. f.i.f.a. president for 17 years he clung on despite over half of his executive committee being exposed as corrupt. days after an f.b.i. swoop in may he finally resigned. he wanted to hand over on his own terms. the u.s. and swiss attorney-generals and his allies decided otherwise. if he has any chance to run for the f.i.f.a. presidency, he needs to clear his name on january 26. that will involve going through both the f.i.f.a. appeals committee and the court of arbitration for sport before me can begin that process, he needs a full written statement of the decision from the ethics committee, a process that in itself could take weeks. one is a footballing ledger and

f.i.f.a.'s survivor, brought down by the football's biggest ever scandal a sports attorney and managing partner. good to have you back on the program. blatter says he will fight for himself and f.i.f.a. if fighting f.i.f.a., isn't he preparing for a much larger fight, the fight to stay out of prison? >> he certainly is. i believe among all of his sound bites he said he wasn't a punching ball. we've heard the phrase every journey starts with a single step. if this is f.i.f.a.'s step back on the track to credibility, it is more symbolic than significant. as it relates to bhatter, it is remembered that this decision came from their ethics committee and it has nothing to do with the ongoing department of justice and swiss investigation into criminal and civil

malfeasance he is a 79-year-old man. effectively, his career is over in football. is it the story at this point bigger than blatter. does f.i.f.a. need to be destroyed and rebuilt? i'm talking about flushed out, scrubbed down and rebuilt? >> that's a great question. i think that's the same question that so many are asking around the world. you would say isn't his chapter effectively over, but many thought it was last year when he had four on con secretary tuwave-- 40 years at f.i.f.a.. as of last year four terms when he surprisingly announced that he would be running for a fifth. when it comes to an infection, if we can really call it this, you have two choices. treat the infected area, but when it comes to a certain point, you have to make a decision. cut off the arm to save the

body. in the context of f.i.f.a. i think that was the first step in that direction, in the court of public opinion internationally they've been absolutely destroyed. we're talking about the governing body for the largest sport in the world. when the head after that snake is tainted by all accounts, you have no choice but to chop it off i'm going to challenge that. there was a raid, as you know, on the f.i.f.a. offices in zurich months ago. i forget exactly when. where apparently there was a treasure trove of documents seized. remember following the money and the documents led to chuck blazer's downfall. where do you think this treasure trove of documents leads this investigation? where does it go from here, do you think? >> you have to remember it wasn't the tip of the iceberg that stuck out above the water

that sunk the tie tannic. it was the mountain of ice below the surface. the documentation and the raids in zurich that we discussed back in may, we always said the prinfs on the begun is going to come from paperwork. -- on the gun. it was the lack of paperwork because the commission found that this two million swiss franc payment for services rendered, albeit nine years after the fact had no contract to go along with it. there was no paper trail. ironically to substantiate that. blatter indicated it was two-fold. a handshake agreement, an administrative error on the part of the f.i.f.a. the problem is it was not mr blatter cutting a czech saying, i would like your eyes on this. i will pay you out of my salary. be my personal assistant. these were f.i.f.a. funds that he signed off in the course of his presidency which come right

before the election for his running for president. there's a lot of smoking guns who leads f.i.f.a. back and does it need to be someone who is in the mix, but is trusted to fix the problem or does it need to be someone who cares about the game but is free of the f.i.f.a. taint at this point? >> i think the rephrase of that question is not necessarily who is the person, but what is the method by which you're going to find that person. what i mean is the whole process was f.i.f.a. from top-down. if you were to look at it as an organizational chart, universal corruption or some dirty hands. one thing f.i.f.a. has resisted is third party auditing and counselling. they wanted to correct all of their problems from within.

many, the sponsors, all of which signed nine figure czechs, say we welcome the presence and perspective of the neutral third party evaluation. i think the answer is i'm not sure who the person is because all all that are there or who in line have been disqualified, the better answer is what is the method by which we select the successive candidates as always, good stuff. dug the first day of winter tomorrow but east of the mississipi. we have a record warmth coming in this week>> reporter: that's right. we thought we had some warmth earlier this month. we will see temperatures break those records as we go into the week. the it temperatures are warping up. i want to show you the image. look at the snow out west.

if you are going to go out west skiing, you will have plenty of snow. east, because of the temperatures, some of the skiers are having a difficult time. look at the video here out of the ski resort, completely bare in that area. some ski areas are opening up one trail, if they can. that can be difficult as temperatures pop up. the next few days, look at the forecast map. you can see new york at 60 degrees, but all of the rain down here along the eastern see borrowed, that will-- seaboard, that will continue towards wednesday. towards thursday, 72 degrees for new york, but it is going to be a big problem if you are travelling anywhere here across the eastern seaboard. that's what we're going to be watching. temperatures anywhere between 10 and 30 degrees above average all week long.

records are going to be broken. high temperature records will be broken el nino>> reporter: absolutely a deadly day for u.s. troops in afghanistan. the humanitarian crisis in syria. why red cross says the situation is more dire than ever.

>> our american story is written everyday. it's not always pretty, but it's real... and we show you like no-one else can. this is our american story. this is america tonight. six american soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in

afghanistan informed. the pentagon say a bomber on a motorcycle targeted a foot patrol near bagram airfield. it is another sign of the taliban's resurgence. the group is now on the verge of capturing afghanistan's largest province. >> reporter: it isn't easy to fix your aim on a moving target especially when it's the taliban. afghan soldiers and police are outgunned. >> translation: we need help. the area is controlled by taliban. >> reporter: this is helmand province, once controlled by the taliban. it's also the place where most of the world's opium is produced. on sundays the province's deputy mayor used facebook to plead with the afghan president po

posting: we are standing on the primping and there is a series need for you to come. since last night the district is almost completely under taliban control. >> although billions of dollars or hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent to develop an afghan national army, but that national army seemed to lack strategic leadership and this is why you see the taliban taking advantage of this. >> reporter: the taliban appears to be chris-crossing the country, seizing large areas. two months ago its fighters took conduse in the north for two weeks crippling the city. they've now moved south in helmand province. the deputy governor says the whole province will fall into their hands unless help arrives soon a retired u.s. army colonel and director of the global initiative on civil society and conflict in the university of

south florida. good to you have you on the program. i'm wondering if afghanistan has been forgotten by this administration, by this president, by the american people. >> well, i call it the forgotten war at this point because we've been fighting there for almost 14 years and with american casualties being so low, less than 25 this year, most of them by accident or indirect fire, it has not been in the news. the president does not want afghanistan in the news. the american public are tired and frustrated about what they've seen there over the 14 years. so it's understandable that there is some neglect. it's not part of the current debate. it has been over shadowed by much more difficult problems in the broader middle east with the threat of i.s.i.s. in syria and

iraq, in 12 million refugees, but we're about to see some of the same thing come to afghanistan if we're not careful could it come back to negligence to bite the united states? >> i think we need to pay attention to history and learn some lessons. a premature withdrawal, an accelerated withdrawal from iraq opened the door for the crisis that we have there today. i'm afraid that we're heading down the same path where we're going to squander the gains that we've had, with a little bit more commitment and financing, and the commitment saying we're going to be there to support the afghan moderates for the next 10 years would make a difference. i would like to say it's hard to negotiate an end to this outcome if we're saying we're leaving and no-one thinks we're going to

have any real influence after a year. the taliban are just going to continue and fight because they see that this is a short game yet 14 years. if after all these years and all the resources poured into afghanistan by the united states, if the afghans can't ultimately take care of themselves, there's ultimately not much the u.s. or coalition partners are going to be able to do. >> well, the afghans are fighting hard and they're taking tremendous casualties, many more than what we've taken at any point in time. they have a good president there that is committed to reform. this is exactly the kind of administration, the international community had called upon for so many years, but your honour fortunately what we had was the president who did not play well in the sand box

with everyone else. just remember the taliban would not exist today without pakistan's maligneked support. we never addressed that and that's the problem general campbell says that - i get that you're saying that the afghan forces are fighting hard, but general campbell says that the afghan farces are still struggling with aviation, logistics, intelligence issues. do we have any real idea on how the training mission is going and at what point the armed forces there, the afghan armed forces are going to be able to stands up? at the moment they seem outmanned and outgunned. >> let's remember that the training program, the train, build and assist program has all long said it was going to take many years to build logistics,

intelligence and fixed aviation. this has been part of the long-term plan all along. to build those capabilities much later in the game. so what we have are battalions, companies, on the ground fighting. they're taking casualties and they're well led, but they need some assistance. they have to defend everywhere. the taliban picked c averages nduse two weeks, in hell mends, difficult terrain. they're taking advantage of their mobility and being able to choose time and place derek harvey, thank you. good talking to you. >> thank you u.s. army sergeant beau burgdoll will face court

marshall. he will be tried on charges of desertion. he walked away from his base in afghanistan in june of 2009. taliban captured him and hemmed him as a prisoner for five years. he was released in 2014. russian investigators say they were unable to retrieve any information from the black box of a war plane shot down by turkey. the jet was shot down on january 24. the plane's black box was opened last week. they were hoping it would confirm russia's contention that it was not in turkey's airspace when it was shot down. over the weekend the united nations security council approved a resolution out lining a road map for peace in syria. it calls for a ceasefire between government backed troops and syrian rebel groups. alley very well she interviewed a relative of-- ali velshi.

>> reporter: he is the leader of the organization for democracy and freedom in syria. it is a group that opposes the current syrian government, but he is not actually in syria. it is an exile group. he is bashar al-assad's first cousin. before bashar al-assad ruled the country, as you know, his father was president. his brother is my guest's father. he was a leader in the syrian army. he led a bloody military campaign against an uprising back in the 1980s in which thousands of civilians was killed. he earned the nickname the butcher of hama. i asked his son about that. >> reporter: some people refer to him as the butcher, accusing him of killing 10 thousand people in 1982.

putting down a revolt. when they say syria was work okay until arab string. >> the only fish report that came out-- official report that came out, it was the dia report, which came out two years ago. it was declassified recently. in that report you would see a lot of names but not one time the name of my father, not the mention of his units being there. the actual number that comes in this report is around two thousand people who died and 400 of them were members of the armed brotherhood group shortly after the bloody fighting, there was a falling out. he tried to over throw his brother's government. in 1982, he and his son were exiled from syria. he has been living outside syria since he was 9 years old. he hopes to return. he says the democratic party is the best hope for the country

why does he oppose his cousin's government now? >> reporter: he wants to have a democratic society. he has grown up in the west. he would like democracy in syria. he kept telling me about the mosaic of syrian people. most people from syria tell me that there is a time in syria where people lived amongst each other and that's what syria should look like. the problem, of course, is that he wants that but there are a lot of opposition groups in syria, including some backed by the u.s. who has no interest in democracy thank you. you can watch that later. to the crisis in syria, the red cross warns the situation could get worse with winter approaching. >> reporter: her name is un

ahmed. this young mother of six begins each day scouring the alleys of aleppo when there are no jets dropping bombs she looks for things to burn. she gathers twigs, leaves. >> translation: even garbage, anything to burn to make a fire so i can heat water to feed my children, clean them with at least warm water, even wood we can't tied and oil is too expensive. everything is expensive>> reporter: her husband abandoned her and their kids without an income, without any means. she strugglings to find milk for her infant. every day she worries about putting food on the table. these are desperate times for millions of syrians like her. in another neighborhood devastated by bombs dropped by government forces and other bomfire. >> translation: we were at home so we came down here to warm up with the fire behind us. on the way we found nylon bags,

paper, just to keep the fire burning. at home we have no blankets or anything to warm us up, so we come here until the fire goes out. >> reporter: aleppo is one of the longest continuously inhabited cities in the world. the fires of this city haven't gone out for 5,000 years. the 5-year-old civil war has turned brother against brother. it is permanently destroyed and changed millions of lives like this man's. an air strike just destroyed the home he has lived in for more than 40 years. >> translation: i came back to my home four days ago and found it destroyed by strikes. i just picked myself up and i'm now roaming. >> reporter: before the fighting, more than two million people lived in aleppo. many are now hopeless, some lost, most looking for a helping hand. >> translation: it's the regular people who feel sorry for me and who are helping me to

survi survive. i get some months and i yell and scream from time to time, realising my situation is so dire. >> reporter: drones flying over what was once a favorite tourist designation show the destruction. the urban warfare in this once cultural and financial capital of syria threatens its future and its past. those who have been able to leave have left. those who have had no stay behind don't know how they will survive up next a front runner face off. hillary clinton and donald trump in a world of wars. political uncertain in spain in an election that left the old scratching their heads and the new comers celebrating.

the pool of candidates videoing for the g.o.p. nomination got smaller today. >> today i'm suspending my campaign for president. i want to thank everyone who has taken this journey with me. you have honoured me with your support. i believe we have run a campaign you can be proud of. we have put forward bold and practical solution to big problems lindsay graham say he has hit a wall. he has been polling at the bottom of the list for months. u.s. policy over i.s.i.l. and claims hillary clinton has made about donald trump, he is

demanding she apologise for comments and today her campaign issued this response to that question saying "hell no". david schuster has more on how the war of words started. >> reporter: on monday it was an angrier than usual donald trump who called into n.b.c.'s today shows and ripped into donald trump. >> i will demand an apology from her. she should apologise. she lies about emails, about white water, about everything. she will be a disaster. >> reporter: his exasperation at clinton was stoked by the evening debate. she spoke about the threat of i.s.i.l. and accused trump of helping the group >> he is will being i.s.i.s.'s best recruiters. they are going to people showing videos of donald trump insulting islam and muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadist. >> reporter: such organizations say there is no proof such video

exists. by sunday morning as she faced charges of lying about trump, her campaign spokesperson was forced to back pedestrian al. >> reporter: you don't have a viteae. >> he is being used in social media by i.s.i.s. >> reporter: being used in social media, though, is different from what hillary clinton stated. over the weekend on top of giving donald trump of all people the moral high ground, clinton gave the g.o.p. fee field ammunition for the general election. she detailed her approach to i.s.i.l. and highlighted a united nations security council resolution. >> we now finally are where we need to be. we have a strategy and commitment to go after i.s.i.s. which is a danger to us as well as the region. >> reporter: the governor chris christie. >> my gosh, up with the dead bodies in paris, with dead boats in san bernardino, and with no plan from this administration

that we are where we need to be? she is mrs happy talk>> reporter: again, clinton's spokesperson tried to clean up the mess >> she was referring to the fact that we're in a better position in terms of dealing with syria in political transition that we hope to see there from the u.n. security council voting on friday>> reporter: republican carley called the clinton explanation nonsense. >> somehow a u.n. resolution about syria puts us where we need to be, i think it is a reflection of her and obama's belief that our foreign policy gets set by others>> reporter: jab bush featured her claim in a new ad. >> america has had enough of empty words, explanations detached from reality, an administration with no strategy or no intention to win>> reporter: playing defense is not how hillary clinton wanted to go into the holidays. especially given the strong debate performance by democratic rival bernie sanders. >> i believe we stand together

to address the real issues facing this country, not allow them to divide us by race where we come from. let's create an america that works for all of us, not just the handful on top. >> reporter: a staffer discussed "abouts we all know iowa is going to tighten. a rise that is tightening thanks in part to hillary clinton's own comments now just six weeks before the first voting begins. >> thank you all spain is beginning a new political era. no party won a clear majority in national elections. the new party and a liberal party won enough votes to end decade of two-party domination. they are now forced to talk to a coalition to run the country. >> reporter: here is the man of the moment, the leader of podemos, champion of a new kind of politics that is no longer

cosy with big business, free of corruption touchlite make that happen he says he is ready to talk to anyone, but the old parties must recognise the changes that have taken place in spain. >> so today is an historical day for spain. we are very happy for the fact that in the spain the two-party system is ended and we are happy because we are starting a new political era in our country. >> reporter: but awkwardly for those who want change, it's the incumbent people's party that came first and mariano rajoy wants to remain as prime minister. >> translation: the popular pop considered that they have a responsibility and a mandate to have discussions in order to explore the ability to five the necessary certainty both in and outside spain. >> reporter: parliament will sit

on january 13. that's when the king should nominate a candidate for prime minister, but if parliament can't reach an agreement on that choice by the middle of february, then spain will have to hold new elections. barnaby phillips for a look at what's coming up. john seigenthaler is here. >> reporter: hi. the taliban is claiming responsibility for killing six american troops in afghanistan. they were taking part in a nato mission when they were attacked by a suicide bomber. we will explore highway the taliban has been able to regroup and what the u.s. role now is in afghanistan. also the future of space travel. tonight a spacex rocket will lift off from florida. we will show it to you live and look at the companies competing for space business and what role the government will play. plus the dramatic rise in depth from heroin overdoses. what is now in the suburbs. the parents of some young

victims share their stories. fathers who want to pay their child support but can't. they are not dead beats. they're dead broke. what is being done to help those parents and their children. coming in about seven minutes thank you. up next cold war fall. we look at the monumental changes 2015 brought to the relationship between the u.s. and cuba.

what a difference a year makes. 2015 has been an eventful one for the united states and cuba. melissa chann looks at the historic fall between the two

nations. >> today the united states of america is changing its relationship with the people of cuba. the most significant changes in our policy in more than 50 years>> reporter: so over the course of a year a relationship that looked like it would never change, did. one of the legacies of the cold war was dismantled. with careful coordination from both countries. castro took the opportunity to speak to his people at that same historic moment. >> translation: today despite the difficulties, we have embarked on the task of updating our economic model in order to build a prosperous and sustainable socialism. >> reporter: critics in the u.s. condemned the change in monthly, but in cuba most people welcomed the news. over the past year there has been an energy not felt in havana for years. with more tourists visiting the

island and more cubans scrambling for their business. the process to normalize relations has moved rapidly. one month after the historic announcement obama administration ease restrictions to travel to cuba. even important people to bring back-- for people to bring back cubans g acres gars into the country. embassies opened in washington dc and havana for the first time in 54 years. the opening was celebrated with the hope of more visas for travel to the u.s. to visit relatives. shortly after yet another mile stone. who could have imagined a u.s. secretary of state walking the streets of old havana. normalization will likely have a bigger impact on tiny cuba than the other way around. with many new cuban

entrepreneurs. for the government the hope is that resumed relations will mean increased cash flow to the country. >> they passed a new foreign law last year. it will be interesting to see whether those changes have been enough to really begin to attract the kind of investment that the cubans are interested in. >> reporter: as far as transformative years go, cubans haven't seen such change in decades, with the companies resuming direct postal service, also baseball ambitions. 2016 will likely see more breakthroughs in a brave new world of u.s.-cuban relations

that is all the time for this news hour. i'm tony harris. john seigenthaler is back now thank you. we begin with one of the deadliest attacks against american forces in afghanistan this year. a suicide bomber killed six soldiers today. taliban claimed responsibility. a report from the pentagon. >> reporter: in has been the deadliest day for u.s. troops in afghanistan since the official end of combat operations last year. it comes as the pentagon report says the overall security situation in afghanistan is deteriorating and the taliban attacks have become more frequent and more effective. in afghanistan southern helmand province, fighting is intense. the governor says it has left afghan soldiers and local citizens begging