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 for food.

like the latest suicide attack that killed half a dozen u.s. troops outside bagram air base, it is more evidence the taliban is back. kabul has been the focus of what the pentagon calls high profile attacks and it counts the deadly motorcycle suicide bombing as the 29th such 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 northern city. >> the taliban's advances in some parts of the country, even if only temporary, underscores it is a tough fight far from over. it is also a dynamic fight. >> reporter: ash carter was in afghanistan last week to meet with the top commander there who

admitted to reporters the afghan security sources are still struggling. >> we've got to be it in perspective. trying to build an aeroplane while in flight. >> reporter: a report from congress offered a harsh assessment of the lack of progress. it said being far better armed and trained by the u.s., afghan forces remained reluctant to pursue the taliban into their traditional safe havens. they included they cannot ensure security and stability without further improvement. >> right now they're very static. that's where they've taken casualties. >> 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 never should have been authorized. u.s. air power is supposed to be used only to protect the u.s. troops on the ground or afghan

troops in extreme distress. >> the u.s. forces are helping afghan forces from the air, not as much as in the past, but that's part of the plan which is to get the point where afghans are able to provide their own air support>> reporter: the u.s. support have been training them to fly an attack plane so that afghanistan can provide its own close air support. the first group of pilots has only just finished training the pentagon says despite the resilience of the taliban, most gains have been short-term. it also concedes the taliban has gotten better at exploiting soft spots and that has created a situation where there is a fragile stability in some areas and the pentagon says the risk of deterioration in others thank you. a policy analyst, she has

conducted extensive interviews of afghan national police and army, she is in washington tonight. a tragic incident, but what is the significance of what happened in afghanistan and does it tell you us more about what's going on in this country? >> yeah. i think looking at the tragic death today tew six u.s. service members and the wounding of two more and a u.s. military contractor, we're seeing something pretty unusual. you don't see this type of attack of this severity in this part of the country. the air base is in a typical safe province or a province where the u.s. has a lot of visibility. thinking of the prospect that that might be declining is definitely cause for concern it is cause for concern, but what do you think it says about the u.s. role in afghanistan in the past and what it should be in the future?

>> looking at the u.s. role in the past, we've had a more active role. we've been combatant. we're pulling back from that. i think in a sense that's appropriate, but we're going to have to decide what is more important to us, actually retaining afghanistan's territorial integrity or preserving the idea that we're just military advisers, that the u.s. is not actually there to fight the fight on behalf of the afghans if seems to be more complicated as in last week we heard from the pentagon that they're concerned about these nests is the way the defense secretary described it of i.s.i.l. in afghanistan as well. that makes this a complicated situation, and even more difficult for the u.s., doesn't it? >> absolutely. what we're seeing is that i.s.i.l. and the taliban are actually fighting each other in

some places and you might think, well, that's probably a good thing for us, right. you know, let them fight it out, but, in fact, it's a lot more complicated than that. we're starting to see a lot of blurring of lines, powerful regional actors in afghanistan who are fairly independent, a lot of - very arbitrary who is taliban, who is not, who is i.s.i.l. so, in fact, actually the presence of the sort of nests has some really problematic aspects within it the citizens were told that when in afghanistan one of the missions of the u.s. armed forces was to stop these breeding grounds for so-called terrorists in afghanistan. now the u.s. has pulled back, spent a lot of time in iraq and here we come more than 10 years

later with similar problems. you have to wonder whether there's actually an answer to this or whether the u.s. needs to back away. >> yeah. absolutely. what was it, just a few weeks ago the u.s. found and destroyed an al-qaeda training camp in helmand that was about 30 square miles. the fact that they're able to have something like that in that area when the u.s. still has troops in the country, it does, it makes you wonder, but ultimately it's not the u.s. that can deliver success or territorial integrity. it has to be a partnership of the afghans and international allies. so it's appropriate that at this point - we can still offer help, but it's not in our hands entirely to determine what way afghanistan goes. the international community can't really do that at this

point that's an important point. thank you very much. >> thank you afghan police say a suspect is under arrest tonight accused of killing an american woman. she was shot to death in kabul sunday night. the state department described her as a u.s. aid worker. she used to work for the u.s. army. police have not given a possible motive. president obama defending his strategy against i.s.i.l. in an interview with mpr the president called recent criticism legitimate, but he said more force in syria is not the answer. >> we have been at this for a long time, and afghanistan and iraq, and places like somalia and yemen where we have gone after terrorist targets. the key is to make sure we've got sound intelligence and i make no apologies for us wanting to do this appropriately and in a way that is consistent with

american values president obama said the so-called camped bombing called for by some, would kill thousands of syrians. canada is hoping to double the number of refugees it accepts by the end of next year. the minister of immigration met with refugee families in jordan today. the new liberal government in canada wants to resettle 25,000 by the end of february, hopes to take in another 25,000 over the rest of 2016. the u.s. has pledged to take at least 10,000. the man accused in connection with the massacre in san bernardino appeared in court today. he is accused of buying some of the weapons used in the deadly shooting. jennifer london is in l.a. with details. >> reporter: marquez, the friend and former neighbour of syed

farook appeared in court where he was ultimately denied bail and will remain in custody. prosecutors had argued that he poses a serious flight risk and although the judge did, in fact, deny bail, the judge said he wasn't doing so because he does believe march keys is a serious flight risk, he is he con speed to commit acts of the terrorism. he appeared in court but did not enter a plea. he was dressed in a white jump suit, handcuffed and shackled. he was flanked by his two public defenders on either side of him. it comes on the heels of him being arrested and formally charged last thursday. he faces three federal counts, one is accusations that he conspired to commit acts of terrorism in 2011/12, the second

charge is that marquez unlawfully purchased the two weapons that were used during the mass shooting and the third charge is that marquez defrauded immigration authorities by entering into what they intrepid as a sham marriage with a member of syed farook's family - described. if he is quited on all three, he could face up to 35 years in prison. his next court date is january 4 do we know anything more about what he knew about plans for the attack? i do not we know that he has been speaking at great length with investigators. he waived his right to remain silent and has been questioning to a number-- confessing to a number of things that, yes, he did purchase these weapons, but investigators say based on these lengthy conversations with him, they don't believe he had any prior knowledge that an attack was planned and they also say at

this time they don't believe that he was directly involved, meaning that he didn't directly participate in the mass shooting on december 2 thank you. threats directed at two high schools caused school closures. it was threats against students and staff. the f.b.i. are joining the investigation. schools are expected to reopen on tuesday. the recent mass shootings have americans on edge, but if you believe the latest polls it is not translating for support for tougher gun laws. a small group has been demonstrating outside the white house every week nor years now. we first met them two years ago and lisa stark went back to see where things stand. >> reporter: take a look at this protest against gun violence. now this one. what is the difference? nearly two years time, but virtually no change in federal gun laws u i came out here and saw you almost two years ago

>> yes. we did. we welcome you back. we wish we didn't have to be here. >> reporter: this small group of protesters set up in front of the white house happens every monday, ever since july 2012, after a mass shooting in a theatre that left 12 dead. why are you still here? >> for our children hand our grandchildren. >> reporter: the demonstrators call gun violence a public health emergency. they want what they call sensible gun laws, background comics for every diabetesing checks for every sale, 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

as entrenched as the gun culture ask in our country. it takes time. >> reporter: it is a constitutional right. why shouldn't people be allowed to have guns? >> they can. but i don't think anybody needs an a.k.47. >> reporter: if anything, public support for some of these tougher laws has slipped asmt recent new york times cbs news poll suggests 44% of the americans favor an assault weapons ban. 50% are opposed. 15 years ago 70% favoured such a ban. the national 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 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 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. i think we need to look at that. >> reporter: even some gun people enthusiasts says they're open. this girl says she understand the protesters point>> reporter: you use guns and comfortable in them? >> yes. i am. i started shooting a gun years back. i had to take the gun course and the safety course. >> reporter: president obama 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 demonstration is wrapping up, but the protesters here say they will be back as long as it takes. lisa stark. al jazeera, washington now to l.a. and charges for the woman who police say repeatedly rammed her car into a

crowd of people on sunday. one person was killed, dozens others injured. she faces one count of murder with a deadly weapon. police say it was no accident. they are still investigating a possible motive. she had her three-year-old daughter in the car at the time. in texas, the mother of a missing teenager is reported missing. he was convicted in 2013 for killing four people in a drunk driving crash. the case made headlines when his lawyer said he suffered from are affluenza, saying he was spoilt and that contributed to his irresponsibility. he has violated his parole. they suspect his mother is helping him hide. >> reporter: we have been notified by the juvenile department that they are searching for him and we need the public's help in locating this vehicle. we know that this vehicle which you see a picture of over here may be belonging to his mother

tonya couch authorities say they may have left the country. in china more than 80 people are missing after a land slide happened on sunday in a manufacturing center. a mountain of construction debris collapsed. it destroyed 33 buildings. residents they're worried for years about dumping at the site. it is the latest man made disaster. coming up, war of words. hillary clinton >> >> he is becoming i.s.i.s.'s best recruiter and donald trump. >> i will demand an apology from hillary clinton front runners fighting each other. suburban high. >> to be in this house, it could be in the parking lot of that restaurant. it's pretty much everywhere a surge in addiction and overdoses outside american

cities. how heroin became the drug of choice. plus saving the king. african lions, a target for trophy hunters now declared an endangered species.

when you're on hold, your business is on hold. that's why comcast business doesn't leave you there. when you call, a small business expert will answer you in about 30 seconds. no annoying hold music. just a real person, real fast. whenever you need them. so your business can get back to business. sounds like my ride's ready. don't get stuck on hold. reach an expert fast. comcast business. built for business.

to discover the best shows friends together and movies with xfinity's winter watchlist. later on, we'll conspire ♪ ♪ as we dream by the fire ♪ a beautiful sight, we're happy tonight ♪ ♪ watching in a winter watchlist land, ♪ ♪ watching in a winter watchlist land! ♪ xfinity's winter watchlist. watch now with xfinity on demand- your home for the best entertainment this holiday season. bernie sanders' campaign said he has set a new record. he has received more than 2.3 million campaign contributions so far. the average dough neighings is less than $30. the previous record was set by obama in 2012. he had about 2.2 million donations by this point. while sanders has more

contributions, hillary clinton has raised almost twice as much money. on the republican side lindsay graham dropped out of the presidential race. he issued an online video statement to formally suspend his campaign. he barely registered in the polls and was relegated to the under card of the debates. he leaves 12 main republican candidates with six weeks left until the caucases. a bitter fight brewing between hillary clinton and donald trump. the two are clashing over the u.s. strategy against i.s.i.l. around it is getting personal. hillary clinton is refusing to apologise. >> reporter: on monday it was an angrier than usual donald trump who called into n.b.c.'s today show and ripped hillary clinton. >> i will demand an apology from her. she should apologise. she lies about emails, she lies about white water, about everything, she will be a

disaster. >> reporter: his exasperation at hillary clinton was fuelled by the debate. she spoke about the threat of i.s.i.l. and accused donald trump of helping the group >> he is becoming i.s.i.s.'s best recruiter. they are going to people showing videos of donald trump insulting islam and muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists. >> reporter: such organizations say there is no proof such video exists. by sunday morning as clinton faced charges of lying about trump, her spokesperson was forced to back pedestrianal. >> reporter: you don't have a video >> she was not referring to any video but he is being used in social media by i.s.i.s.>> reporter: being used in social media, though, is different from what she stated as fact. over the weekend on top of giving donald trump the moral high ground, she also gave the entire g.o.p. field ammunition for the general election.

during the debate 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 a commitment to go after i.s.i.s. which is a danger to us as well as the region>> reporter: in new jersey governor chris christie. >> my gosh up with the dead bodies in paris and san bernardino, and with no plan from this administration, we have a deal where we need to be? mrs incline torn is mrs happy talk>> reporter: again, hillary clinton's spokesperson tried to clear up the mess >> she is referring to the fact that we are in a better position in terms of dealing with syria and the political transition that we hope too see there from the u.n. security council on friday. >> reporter: the clinton complain explanation was called nonsense >> somehow a u.n. resolution about syria puts us where we need to be, it is a reflection of hillary clinton's and obama's

belief that our foreign policy gets set by others. >> reporter: jab bush, a new ad >> america has had enough of empty words, declarations detached from reality, of an administration with no strategy or no intention to win>> reporter: playing defense is now how hillary clinton wanted to go into the holidays. especially given the strong debate performance by bernie sanders. >> i believe we stand together to address the real issues facing this country. not allow them to divide us by race or where we come from. let's kate an america that walks for all of us not the handful on top>> reporter: on monday a clinton staffer discussed: we all know it is going to tighten. a race that is tightening thanks in part to hillary clinton's own comments. now just six weeks before the first voting begins advertisement thank you all. >> reporter:

in his interview with npr today obama said trump's popularity is due in walmart to his exploiting american's fears over the economy. >> the fact that wages and incomes have been flat lining for some time and that particularly blue collar men have had a lot of trouble in this new economy where there are no longer getting the same bargain that they got when they were going to a factory and able to support their families on a single pay check. you can buy most things and it means that there is going to be potential anger, frustration, fear. some of it justified, but just misdirected, and i think somebody like mr trump has taken advantage of that. that's what he is exploiting during the cowering of his campaign the president also said he is confident a democrat will win

the white house in 2016. two soccer executive been suspended for eight years. f.i.f.a. president blatter and the head of the european soccer federation platini have been banned from all soccer activity and ethics investigation excused them both of taking millions in bribes. both men have been fined tens of thousands of dollars. both have denied any wrongdoing. coming up, minutes away from the launch of a spacex rocket. we will bring you live when it blasts off. death on the streets. advocates raise awareness of how homelessness can kill.

this is a live picture. we just heard t minus 30 seconds. this is the spacex rocket, the falcon 9, which is about to lift off. it's happening in cape canaveral tonight. let's just watch it talk off and we will talk about it in a secon second. >> we have lift off of falcon 9. falcon the has cleared the tunnel

what appears to be a successful launch of the spacex rocket, the falcon 9. the primary mission of this launch is to take 11 next generation communication satellites into orbit for orbcom each of them weighing about 400 pounds. the company has been waiting for months for this launch. you can hear the crowd cheering. this is really a new breed of companies that are driving innovation in space exploration and in space and as you can see

tonight, this team, this spacex team, is really pushing the envelope on space travel. >> a ship like no other. its place in history is secured. the space shuttle pulls into port for the last time>> reporter: when n.a.s.a. landed for the last time in 2011 its mission mission of delivering pay loads to space came to an historic close. left in its wake a race to space between traditional air and defense contractors and self-made billionaires. the result has been innovations never before imagined. like the development of reusable rockets which would trim costs and change completely how man dated approaches space flight with the space shuttle grounded, n.a.s.a. hired for 1.9 billion dollars to fly cargo missions to the international space station. the capsule arrived at i.s.s.

weeks ago delivering equipment on a rocket purchased. spacex has several launches under its belt using its own rockets. n.a.s.a. is reportedly paying 2.6 billion dollars for spacex to transport crews to the space station by 2017. in 2012 spacex drag an dean became the first space shift in deliver cargo. the reentry, three previous attempts to lands the rocket for future use have failed. including this one in april when the rocket blew into pieces moments after touching down on a floating bar, but unlike those attempts, blue origin's new sheepherd got it right first.

the rocket gently touched down on a landing pad in west texas >> this vehicle came close to 400,000000 feet. it went into space and came back down. >> reporter: the idea to make blue origin and the new shepherd capsule available to companies and individuals so that space travel becomes almost second nature. >> took a 737, an aeroplane or air bus, you only use them once and you had to build a whole new airplane to take a flight>> reporter: a proposition that will be spent on billions to perfect. to hope what comes up will come down live pictures of the falcon 9 rocket, the spacex rocket, which is climbing into the atmosphere above the atmosphere. derek pitts is al jazeera's space contributor. he is the director of the

planetarium. give me your reaction to seeing this. >> it looks really great. it looks like the first stage burn went well and the second stage burn is going well. the next step to try to get it to boost safely back in florida upright. we hope that will work well for a novice like me, the idea of getting up into space is a lot easier than it is coming down safely and landing a ship like that, right? >> it is. this is not the kind of thing that we've been striving to do, to launch the vehicle again back on ground. it requires new control technologies to be able to bring it back. before what we do is just expend all the fuel and either throw it away or allow it to slash down into the ocean and retrieve it

from there. this monthed of being able to land it back down on a launch pad or landing pad on the ground alleviates all the expense of fishing it out of the ocean and all the recovery work that has to be done to dry to it out, et cetera if this is able to land that road traffic act on the ground, then talk about the significance of that and what it means for spacex and for n.a.s.a. and the whole space program? >> what it means overall is that it opens the door for a new way of recovering launch vehicles and this new way of recovering launch vehicles will reduce the cost and amount of work that needs to go into retro-fitting this for use again. the idea is the goal of eau use. the whole idea behind reusing the space craft makes the cost of launch less expensive. then it becomes much more useable by a commercial

operation that wants to put satellites into orbit. that boosts the space economy and this helps agencies like n.a.s.a. because they can use the same kind of capability to launch supplies to space station at a much lower cost. the thing that has to be red here is that safety is the first aspect of any of this work that has to be done properly as we try to reload the launch and look at it again, this country has relied on n.a.s.a. to do the safest job that they saw possible. is it possible for americans to accept the fact that private industry will get into this and in a big way and successful way? >> there are two ways for us to look at this, actually. one is to look at how large corporations back in the early and mid-90s did something called

outsourcing. they outsourced some of the more mundane or easier jobs that they had to do and that allowed them to drive down costs of operation. so n.a.s.a. as a space agency can think about doing that also with missions that launch materials or supplies to up to international space station or put satellites into earth orbit. that kind of outsourcing can at the drive down the cost of that aspect and n.a.s.a. can concentrate on doing the big exploration work. the other way of thinking about is how the commercial air flight business began. it started out with the ways similar to how this aspect is being built up right now it is an exciting time for this country and for n.a.s.a. and for space exploration. good to see you. thank you very much. >> thank you the centers for dees control say there's an epidemic of drug

overdoses. deaths are up. it is the suburbs too. users are dying in numbers never seen before. john terrett has that>> reporter: sergeant marchron has been patrolling these streets for years. >> we're wedged between two much larger cities. >> reporter: that is a problem because heroin addicts in the suburbs can buy their fill in those two cities. >> i grew up here and never seen anything like this in my 40 years. >> reporter: a straight line of addiction, he says, from prescription pain-killers which can cost $80 a fill to heroin $10 or less a bag. >> we have been facing this problem for the last five years. we're seeing our addicts, and the victims are in their early 20s. if you bring that back five

years, they were here. >> reporter: at the high school >> yeah. >> reporter: among the million dollar homes, the heroin problem is hidden. no dealers on street corners, no-one slumped at the shop doorway. addiction often takes place behind closed doors in big family houses. kevin conroy, a successful restaurant owner knows this all too well. his son jack was hooked on heroin. >> he is a big guy. he is just about six five. >> reporter: he dwarfs you >> he does. >> reporter: he spent a small fortune on treatment for jack who was clean for months in california but then slipped back into addiction. the shock to his system too much and jack, who was 21 died >> i think back because at my age, of being at the city and crack houses and heroin, i don't think it being in the schools in the county in l.a., in different places, but it is. don't try to pretend it's not real because tasmania.

if you don't, you will-- because it is. if you don't, you won't win. >> reporter: down the road a different father with a similar story. garry mendell tells me about his be loved son brian who was also curt by heroin >> he was burdened by his adduction, by the cravings, the stham. >> reporter: brian, 25, killed himself over the shame he felt addiction brought to his family. his dad was so stunned he found shatter proof, an organization. >> if you would ask me how many fathers in my town who had a son who was addicted, i would have raised my hand and said i'm it. i figured there were two or three others, but i didn't know who they were because no-one spoke about it. everyone was ashamed>> reporter: it is a father's promise to his dearly missed eldest son. shatter proof is raising money and pushing for new state laws to help cut the number of over

dose deaths nationwide. back on the streets, sergeant marren says 80% of the crime in the area is directly related to narcotics. >> it could be in this house, it could be in the parking lot of that restaurant. it's pretty much everywhere. >> reporter: john terrett dr craig allen is the medical director of a medical center, member of the state advisory board for the department of mental health and addiction services. doctor, welcome. it's good to you have on the program >> thank you i'm sure we have this image in our head of someone who is adicked to heroin, but what sort of people do you sigh who have a heroin addiction problem? >> i see people of all shapes, colours and ages ages, and the surprising thing for people, people who are 40, 50 and 60 years old, those people addicted

to heroin are growing. that may not be something i used to see 10 years ago can you explain why? >> i think part of it is people are ageing and getting older and they've had this problem or different substance abuse problems through the years, but also because of the opioid analgesic issue, which is they can be often prescribed at dozes that are higher than should be prescribed and for longer periods of time and people become tolerant and can become - develop substitute disorders related to these analgesics. when they can't afford to get them any more, their doctor won't prescribe them, they're expensive on the street. they witch over to heroin. heroin is cheap, plentiful and potent do you have enough beds in the city to handle them all? >> the treatment for this, after trying to prevent the problem, is it could be outpatient treatment or intensive

outpatient or detox in residential. an important component is going to be medication-assisted treatment and that is using medications like methadone or soboxone, or what's called a blocker, like naltrexone and vivitrol. aan important component of the treatment and essential component, these medications don't solve any problems if there isn't a psychosocial component, group therapy, individual therapy and community supports and very important to get the family involved as well what you're suggesting is this stereotype that we might have a heroin addict is blown out of the water by the facts; yes? >> yes. your average heroin user these days is probably in their mid 20s, caucasian and living in the suburbs how do they - do they seek

treatment on their own, do others get involved? how does it normally happen? >> sometimes people seek treatment on their own. often times family gets involved or people that love them and care about them. sometimes it's legal reasons that they evidence to get involved. when people are being controlled by an addiction, they're not part of the definition of the order is that they're not making good decisions, they're not planning for their future, they're not thinking through things. the way that they normally would. so it takes a village to help someone with heroin dependency or communities across the u.s. are making what is known as homeless memorial day, remembering those who died this year while living on the streets. what is being done by it. >> reporter: advocates say they hope today serves as a reminder

that homelessness can kill. they say more needs to be done to tackle the issue and take people off the streets. >> reporter: over the past six years the number of homeless people across the u.s. has dropped by 10%. for the roughly 560,000 no remain on the streets and shelters, every day brings risks that could lead to death. this man who was homeless for five years and he remembers. >> i always kept mace in my pocket so that if anyone bothered me on the street, i would get them away from me>> reporter: he knows 19 people who have died over the years while they were homeless. most recently last christmas this friend died of a heart attack. >> it really hurt me to know that he was taken off this earth at an early age and of the situation that he was in. >> reporter: because it could have been prevented? >> yes. if he would have got the proper health care treatment he

needed>> reporter: that friend is one of toess of homeless-- dozens of homeless people dying in the city this year. their names are listed on the wall and remembered at the event on monday at the new york city rescue mission. every year across the country on december 21 people mark the national homeless persons memorial day >> it's a tragedy to die alone on the streets of our city. this is a day for us to remember. >> reporter: activists say the number of deaths of homeless people in the city is rising. just last week the mayor announced a plan to send more city staffers into the streets to check on the homeless and try to persuade them to go to the shelters. the federal government says about 75,000 people are now homeless here in new york city. at least 3,000 of them are living in the streets. even though this winter has so far been unseasonaly warm thrix

is a cause for hypothermia. >> some of them will choose to try to fight it and make it on the streets and they will freeze to death. >> reporter: what do you do about people like that? >> you continue to not give up hope that maybe some day they will turn the corner to come in>> reporter: the average age of people who die on the streets is in the 40s and 50s the report, a 30 year oban f giving blood by gay men has been opened. they can give blood only after a year of their last sexual encounter. up next, not dead bet, not dead

broke, fathers who want to pay child support but can't. what is being done to help them and their children.

billions of dollars in child support goes unpaid in the u.s. most of the owed is by those in poverty. the debt has led to an increase in the money collected. >> reporter: what did owing the state money for child support do to your life? >> it affected my credit score, i wasn't able to get a house or a car. it ruined my life. it totally ruined it>> reporter: when ed fell behind on his child support payments, there was little he could do to catch up to the soaring amount the state kept adding to his bill >> it was about $30,000. >> reporter: how old was your daughter then? >> she had to be four or five. >> reporter: what did you think

when you found out you owed $30,000 in child support? >> i was lost. >> reporter: it's not just the money that builds up. in the state of marilyn, punishments can include loss of any state issued licence from driving to pluming and even jail. if you were stopping me from driving, i can't pay you money that you say i owe you>> reporter: joe joans knew there was a better way. he is the founder and ceo of the center for urban families >> this is the upstairs training room where the fatherhood sessions are held>> reporter: a multi service to help men to become better fathers and providers. three decades ago jones could have been a client >> i owed child support for my first child. i was coming out of my own addiction, my own incarceration>> reporter: to help men and women become responsible parents, he challenges the key requirements

of the well tear system >> if you don't have income, they still require you to pay>> reporter: for decades jones has lobbied state and national officials for commence flexibility >> we have had to do a lot of education to help them make that distinction between dead beat and dead broke dads. deed beat >> these are individuals that are down on their luck>> reporter: the executive director of marilyn's child support services enforcement administration >> it's our responsibility to work with them in a cooperative way to help them find employment and then continue to work with them so that all of their income is not being pulled out of their check>> reporter: what do you say to critics, they had these kids, they have to pay. >> $400, garnishing 65%, there's

nothing for that person to live on. >> reporter: these people working together to develop a special program that enables programs to complete classes, to get a job and pay their negotiated child support consistently for one year. if they do that, they earn credit for their back child smart. >> the credit that is earned can be as high as 75% of earned arrears you will reduce the arrears by 75%? >> correct. >> reporter: it is said it doesn't make sense to saddle low income parents with bills they cannot pay >> i would rather get a support obligation for a kid that the parent will pay rather than a large number that they won't have the ability to pay and i just have a debt on the book>> reporter: collections went up by nearly 40 million dollars between 2011 and 2014. for all of the training and

support the center for urban families provides parents, the ability to pay child support comes down to one essential element. the parent has to have or be able to find a job. to help fill that need, the center for urban families has developed partnerships with businesses throughout baltimore. this man took advantage of the programs which helped him land a full-time position and marilyn's flexible policies wiped out his back child support. >> reporter: who takes yeah care of your daughter? >> i do. >> reporter: she is graduating? >> she is now in college. >> reporter: he sees a bright future for himself and his daughter coming up tonight, al-- alvery well she. >> reporter: the black sheep of syria.

his first cousin bashar al-assad is a brutal dictator. he believes he can play a role in syria's future, but his father was known as the butcher of hama. he has a lot of family bag age. i'm talking to him tonight coming up next on this broadcast, he was illegally killed by big game hunters, now the death of cecil the lion could help keep other african lions alive.

a quick update now on the spacex launch that we told you about earlier. the falcon 9 rocket blasted off from in regard da about 25 minutes ago. the-- florida. it successfully landed after take off. it is the first spacex flight since an accident back in june destroyed a cargo ship headed to

the international space station. in an effort to stop big game hunters from killing african lions, the u.s. has added the big cats to the endangered species list. >> reporter: he became an international hate figure, the internet abuse he was forced to close his dental practice for several weeks. while on a hunt he shot and killed a famous and locally loved lion called cecil. the killing was illegal, but the dentist said he had no idea he had broken the law. the case was raised in the white house. >> there was an advocate for trying to protect wildlife in africa. this is an issue that is a particularly important policy issue in africa and so this is

something we're obviously aware of. >> reporter: the u.s. government says lions in central and west africa will come under the protection of the endangered species act. the move has been under consideration for five years and will make it harder for trophy hunters to import heads paws and skin. >> cecil has had enormous impact that the u.s. is putting on trophy hunting and is relevant to this effort overall, but cecil's situations was to not unique. there are hundreds of lions being hunted every year, going back to 2011 when we submitted the petitions. >> reporter: the u.s. joins france in bringing in legislation after cecil the lion's death. the step introduced by the u.s. can't stop hunting abroad, it is

hoped the new measures prevents the number of lions-- reduces the number of lines being killed in the name of sport thanks for watching. i'm john seigenthaler. stay tuned. ali velshi "on target" is next. >> i'm ali velshi. "on target" tonight. assad family are drama. a cousin and opponent of syria's dictator, talks to me. plus rum wars on the streets of havana. you'll meet a cuban rum runner with a thirst for black market booze. the war in syria is approaching the five-year mark. and the international community is ramping up efforts to end it. over the