7 8 am 7 8 am this is al jazeera america. a look at today's top stories. syrian rebels are blaming russia for the death of a top rebel commander. the leader of major syrian opposition group talks to al jazeera about what happens next for the peace process in syria. large areas of lands lost, tens of thousands of soldiers killed.

reproductive rights like same sex couples fighting their insurance companies to fight for fertility agreement. a look back at some of our discussions during the year. a deeper look ahead for the next year we begin in syria where rebel groups are blaming russia for friday's air strike that killed a top rebel leader. they say russia is trying to disrupt the peace process. they say they will attend peace talks in geneva. it is also putting in jeopardy a plan to evacuate i.s.i.l. fighters and their families from the refugee camp near damascus. more from al jazeera's correspondent. >> reporter: he has a new-- serb

has a new commander-- jaysh al-islam has a new leader. issam al-buwidani will take over are the leader was killed. they vowed revenge. the syrian opposition has condemned the killing of zahran alloush. the nominated prime minister in an interim government announced by the syrian opposition in exile in 2013. he says that zahran alloush could have been key to the success of the peace talks to solve the syrian crisis. >> translation: they killed the man who was going to play a crucial role in syria. the death of zahran alloush could be the start of more targeted killings of commanders and politicians. >> reporter: the rebel commander was killed the same day that the syrian government announced a deal with i.s.i.l. and al-nusra front and al-qaeda affiliate. the deal was to allow fighters

of the two groups and their families a safe passage out of the damn as was in-- damascus in exchange of their pulling out of the camp on the outskirts of the city and the near by neighborhood. the deal was seen by the opposition as an indication the syrian government colonel eweding with i.s.i.l. >> translation: the regime has deflected attention from the fact that has happened with political rights to fight a secure regime against i.s.i.l. for the international community, the fight against i.s.i.l. comes first. >> reporter: these are delicate times for the opposition. over the last two years it has lost significant ground in southern aleppo, homs and other areas. many of its commandsers have been killed and is coming under mounting pressure to join talks with bashar al-assad.

>> reporter: toying talks with anywhere arch enemies-- joining talks is seen as to see bashar al-assad out of power militarily. those are no longer insisting on the immediate departure of the president an iraq government forces say they're making efforts in taking the city of ramadi. the process has been slowed. they're attempting to liberate the last remaining i.s.i.l. held stronghold in ramadi. the offensive began on tuesday in a u.s. led air strike. online audio message claiming to be from i.s.i.l.'s leader admits that the group has lost territory in syria and iraq. a man purporting to the leader says that despite the losses, air strikes by the u.s. led

coalition in russia have weakened the group. it said the group is getting closer to fighting israel. america's national security contributor, former director at the security council. joining us from washington dc. thank you for being with us during the holidays. you have more kids than me so i know it's not easy. i want to talk about the death of the rebel commander in syria. there are so many players in the war there. can you layout for our viewers who jaysh al-islam is, vis-a-vis i.s.i.l. and the u.s.? >> sure. zahran alloush was the leader of jaysh al-islam which is a group that is what we would normally call part of the moderate opposition. of course, others would contest how moderate they are. nonetheless, they're not an

al-qaeda affiliate, they're not i.s.i.l. and yet they are fighting against the bashar al-assad regime for its over flow moderate, does that mean it's a connection to the u.s. or funded by the c.i.a.? >> unclear if they're funded by the c.i.a. but certainly backed by saudi and gulf states what do you know about issam al-buwidani? >> very little. he say prominent field commander, but he doesn't carry of cache, of the idea logical heft and won't be the presence at the peace talks that zahran alloush would have been is this significant and if so, why is it significant? >> it's too early to tell if it's significant with respect to the peace talks, but it's certainly insignificant in that a major commander from a group that many were counting on to play a significant role in these

talks is no longer in the picture and even if as the group says they're going to move forward and carry on with the peace talks and their position hasn't changed, not having this prominent leader will change the character of the talks i just heard you say and i just want to confirm, they do plan to continue with the peace talks and jaysh al-islam will be there? >> that's what i've heard. that's my understanding, that's correct > they're getting closer to fighting i.s.i.l. is that true? >> i think it is close to the rhetoric that they were going to burn and sack the leader. that is good rhetoric for stoking the groups and saying the grand battles are coming. it doesn't bear much reality to

what - it doesn't correlate with the real abilities on the ground does he need to stoke the troops. we know that they have suffered setbacks in the last year >> clearly they have. were it not for their capture of ramadi last spring, last may or june, we would be talking about nothing but setbacks for i.s.i.l. this year. they did capture ramadi. it looks like the iraqi army is about to get it back. so when that is taken back, they will have nothing but losses to show for the last year. obama has said that they have lost about 40% of the territory on the iraq side of the border. in syria it's less than that but still significant we're looking at the end of 2015. the battle for ramadi is about to happen. can we expect the battle for mosul in 2016? >> that's what bashar al-assad is saying. once they take ramadi the next

move is to move to mosul. that is the iraqi's plan thank you for that. i will see you back in dc. >> my pleasure police in serbia have arrested more than 100 people. our correspondent has more. >> reporter: this was one of the largest police operations in serbia in decades. the investigation in this case has been ongoing since 2004 up to the present day. police are talking to 20 cases related to the corruption, talking of abuse of power, money laundering, bribing. one of the arrests is businessman suspected of fraud with large bank loans. he took some ten million you're yos from-- euros from state owned banks and never returned. another road accidents arrested is suss spected of irregularities of lands

purchases on her obtain. former minister of agriculture is high member which was in ruling party. he is charged with abuse of office during his term. police say the preparation of the investigation the karateistsing of evidence was long and thorough so that it would stand in any potential future court cases. these arrests come two weeks after serbia had succession talks with european union and it needs to demonstrate process against corruption and organized crime china is expelling a french journalist for a critical article she wrote about the government. she is a writer for a french magazine. in the article she disagreed with the government's comparison of violence among china's community to the attacks in paris. china foreign minister says her words could embolden terrorists. she says that is absurd. she is the first journalist to

be expelled from china since one in 2012. protesters have stormed a muslim prayer hall on corsica. >> reporter: a christmas day crowd but no spirit of goodwill. instead, violence and desecration in the capital. a crowd shouting anti muslim slogans ransacked the prayer hall of this mosque chanting "arabs, get out". they attempted to burn copies of the qaran. >> translation: some installations were broken. they broke through the barriers. broke two doors and the entrance. the window, the piece of furniture where we leave shoes, the air conditioning, paintings, the closet. >> reporter: the latest violence

appears to be in retaliation in an incident on thursday night when firefighters responded to an emergency call were attacked in a housing property in found. the authorities say it is not clear what prompted that incident. the french government condemned the latest attack and sent police reinforcements to other religious centers. this follows the paris attacks in november which has seen heightened security services. france's muslims are also facing backlash in the wake of the attacks. in cores ca - corsica did well in the recent elections. in this climate of suspicion, a feeling of fellowship may prove difficult for some communities to find a christmas fire at houston

has been claimed as suspicious. the fire would join a string of at least four our criminal acts against american islamic centers this month. tornadoes, ice and flooding with more extreme weather hitting the u.s. they are hitting in my home. >> reporter: as we speak we are having tornado warnings in dallas. you can see the area of red around here. that is where they are. these are the counties that are being affected until 7 o'clock central time as well as others. that goes until 7.30, central time as well, but what we're going to be seeing is these thunder storms are continuing. here is the video that has come out of the dallas area right now. two tornadoes here.

the problem is, of course, now it is getting dark it is getting harder to see them across the region. so you have to pay attention to your weather radio, your local stations in that particular area because this is going to continue through the evening. copping back to the wall. i want to show you these storms as they are progressing. what you will notice is here is dallas but we are picking up more thunder storms down here towards the south and are getting bigger across the region. dallas may not be out of the woods once these pass. we may be seeing others this evening. we have seen damage in terms of wind as well as hail across that area. where you see the blue that is hail and the yellow is wind damage as well. showing you the big picture in how this is all taking place. we have a lot of warm air down here. the jet stream is really diving down. that is providing the energy for the storms. the other part of this is the winter part of the storm. i want to show you what to

expect. over the next couple of days, because this is fairly unprecedented. where you see this dark red this is bliss arid warnings that are going into effect all the way through monday morning. that means we will see visibility less than a quarter of a mile. up to two feet of smei across that region as well as 60 mile per hour winds. that will go through sunday. have as well as monday morning. so a big problem there. the severe weather, we are still going to be seeing that severe weather tomorrow across the eastern parts of texas coming up we take a deeper look at some of the big stories of 2015 that had everyone talking around the globe. later, they're fighting for a family. a loophole that is keeping lesbians from having children.

it's that time on saturday night when we take a deeper look. tonight we will revisit some of the best discussions we've had on saturday nights during our deeper look and on sundays in the week ahead. we start our look back at 2015 with cuba. this year we watched as the u.s. and coop i can't normalized diplomatic relatives for the first time in five decades. melissa chann found many sceptical of the policy change and some who even felt betrayed. >> reporter: two angry men. the only protesters in little havana's little café after obama's announcement on the opening of reciprocal embassies. at one time it would have brought a gaggle of protesters.

it was business as usual though, here. many of the regulars expressed anger. >> the cuban people have been betrayed. it's a long story. they've been betrayed since 1898 when the americans sunk the main with the excuse of invading cuba. >> i don't know what obama is thinking. the cuban people is going to benefit? right. give me a break. if you want that, nada. >> reporter: feelings have changed. even here with some cautiously optimistic about normalization. >> it is a mixed sentiment. 56 years of dictatorship and the government of the united states approaches its traditional enemy. of course it's going to bring a negative sentiment. what we're saying is we have to find new ways >> reporter: a new cuban-american attitude supporting diplomatic relations would have been unthinkable just a decade ago. now it is driven by the

community's younger generation. rick runs cuba now, an advocacy group that has pushed for engagement with the island >> i am a second generation cuban-american myself. 37 years old. many my age and those younger we have lived our entire life under this policy and have seen it yelled no results whatsoever >> reporter: he says second generation chi ban americans are not naive about the castro leadership >> we are very much aware of the human rights record of the cuban government, of the ongoing repression that occurs in that country. we don't think by us continuing this policy of confrontation we're going to in any way believe that. >> reporter: for the longest time those who wanted to see a change from the status quo has kept silent. the establishment voices in the community have long held sway. obama's bold move has helped to change all that. melissa chan

in july another correspondent spoke to the u.s. cuba trade and economic council. he spoke about the implications of diplomacy for business. he explained why good news it was. >> the u.s. government will look at the embassy as an issue for democracy. the government will look at the embassy as bait. so presently there is no question that the cuban government short-term, medium term is benefitting far more than the united states, but over the long long-term the united states will benefit as well as cuba. cuba benefits now because it is able to say that the risk of doing business with cuba is last because the u.s. government isn't perceived as an enemy and that is important. >> reporter: a number of u.s. businesses, hotels, telecoms, all of them are lining up to set

up shop in cuba. doesn't a rising tied float all ships? >> potentially, but the reality-- tide - that the united states continues to have several laws and regulations that prohibit the type of business activity that most businesses want to do. so we're limited in what we can do. we're also limited by what the cuban government wants u.s. businesses to do. the cuban government loves the fact that there is a lot of energy, that there is a lot of talk about issues, a lot of press coverage about what companies want to do. for the short-term, that benefits cuba because they're able to say the companies in europe and in asia and in the americas "hey, look, the americans are ready to come in. you better get here before they do". somewhat that is what is happening. u.s. is being used as bait right now because they can't do everything they want to do, the u.s. companies, and that is

unlikely to change within the president obama's term in office. however, he is probably going to continue to expand commercially, economically and politically what he can do from a regularity standpoint and a licencing standpoint unless there are any issues that come between the governments it has been just aover a year that obama and castro announced that they will reestablish ties. diplomats meet recently. reestablishing trade will happen more slowly. only congress can lift the u.s. economic embargo on cuba and cuba has not accepted most of the business deals offered by american companies. race relations were a freak topic of both of our weekend segments. last february thomas drayton was joined by a newspaperedor add

owned on talks about attitudes >> i think the election of president obama stirred up this notion of infiltration in america. the 25% that are understand the impression that racism doesn't exists falls under the methodology that was there with a black president. it doesn't allow people to have deep conversations with race because of the response that we have a black president do you think we thank we were talking about race now more than 10 years ago? >> space has always existed but it is a bigger space now. folks talk about the birds and the bees first with the young people and in african-american communities we talk about how to deal with police and interactions with the criminal justice system. the conversations have existed. they are more critical now because of platforms like social

media, because of more avenues for the gathering of young people. what is happening in the dark is not coming to light. what is happening is not more conversations, but conversations within those communities are more visible to the rest of the nation do you think president obama has made it more challenging for african-americans >> i think the ability for people to point to piss presidency doesn't exist because he is in the highest office has made things more challenging. his presence in the white house has emboldened a certain type of racism. people who are so concerned that this one person, the 44th president after all these white guys has somehow represented such a sea change in the country that their station is now threatened as if, obviously, this means that white slavery is going to begin. now there is going to be a complete total shift of pour and

he-- power and they're threatened. it is completely devoid of sense, logic, reason, but we've seen that grown the notion that one must give their voice and their civil rights for the sake of being treated better, is part of the narrative of forcing or causing dysfunction within the communities as long as i can remember. this isn't a new narrative at all. it is always that sort of blame the person who has been subjocated. the swam conversation about maybe-- same conversation about maybe if you listen is not the case. then also i think it's also important to note that this is also a response to police officers or those who think they are part of the criminal justice system. the a case was not a police officer and was a person who thought he was a police officer. the narrative is not - it is not outside of the police killings.

essentially it is not about the police officers per se. it is about folks who have that sort of police officer mentality which includes teachers, school principals. it clues anyone who comes in contact why young african-american people who believe they are the lowest form of humanity and feel they have power just because they're interacting with them the government does not keep a registry of police shootings in the u.s. so it is difficult to say how many. a report of fatal police shootings nationwide found 965 in haul. half of those killed were white and hassle with minorities. research found in cases where the victim was unarmed, two-thirds of those killed were black or latino. rising tensions between russia and the west has been a major theme in global affairs all year impacting everything from the war against i.s.i.l. to the u.s. presidential campaign. in september a deeper look

focused on russia's recent intervention invoked the syrian civil war in the fight against i.s.i.l. our correspondent offered some background. >> reporter: russia's decision to deploy fighter jets like these to syria is moscow's latest military move, putting washington on edge. >> clearly, the presence of aircraft with air to air combat capacity as well as air to service - service to air missile re isle-- missiles raise concerns. >> reporter: the u.s. and russia agreed on friday to look to ways to avoid accidentally attacking each other. the two formers cold war adverse res say they share a common group, i.s.i.l. bipod is the driving farce they see as the countries's

devastating civil war. vladimir putin has said moscow's military support for bashar al-assad will continue. >> translation: we have supported the syrian government. i would like to say that. as a confronted terrorist aggression we have provided and will provide all the necessary military and neck support and we call on other countries to join us. >> reporter: russia's build up in syria comes months after moscow announced its new military doctrine, naming nato as a top threat to russia. western officials say russia has been beefing up its presence in eastern ukraine. while still in a stand off with nato after annexing crimea last year. moscow held military drills on its arctic islands revived air fields and opened new bases. new doctrine calls for more relations in india and china. military moves are seen aspro woktive and potentially

destabilizing. >> we have seen russia is investing more in defense in general, but in nuclear capillatus in particular-- capabilities in particular. >> reporter: even with the threat that this build up could stretch russia's budgets thin, the kremlin is making clear it won't cut corners on defense joining us now to take a deeper look. a retired army nation and military contributor, an a fellow at the washington institute focusing on russia's policy towards the middle east. we need both of you tonight. my first question is for you. i don't know that anyone knows this for certain, but what could vladimir putin's motivation be right now for getting more involved in syria and getting more involved with president bashar al-assad? >> it's all about keeping a toe hold in the middle east. it's something that the u.s. has tried to keep russia out of

since the second world war. he is now going to be successful to extend his influence and presence there. russia has been a long time ally. they have always bought equipment from them. this is a what for him to get legitimacy there. it is likely that this massacre aiding for extending the civil war as to shorten it what do you see as his motivations? what value does the bashar al-assad regime have for vladimir putin? >> i certainly agree with mike's earlier comments. of course this is about increasing russia's influence in the middle east and keeping the u.s. out of the region. it is about bolstering bashar al-assad and so forth. i would also add to that. this is about deflecting from the ukraine crisis of vladimir putin's own making. at the end of the month he is

expected to make a speech in which he is expected to focus on terrorism. he is expected to talk about assembling some sort of coalition to fight i.s.i.s. and other forms of global terror. however what this does for putin is it gains him international legitimacy. essentially he is trying to say we have have our differences over ukraine. we need to fight i.s.i.s. and other terror groups who are a threat no all of us. forget what i did in ukraine and focus on these issues when it comes to i.s.i.s. or i.s.i.l., whichever you choose to call it, is he all talk or could he possibly have a valid point? could he possibly be interested in joining the coalition to join i.s.i.l. but, of course, the united states happens to be part of it >> i certainly think russia has a real interest in fighting global terror. russia and citizens have joined i.s.i.s. or i.s.i.l. to go and

fight in syria and iraq. however, the problem is russia's actions also show that they're not really interested in fighting this. that there was some gain that putin likes to play with the west is important more important the speech to the u.n. referred to took place about two weeks later and caused quite a stir. making his first visit to u.n. ai decade, president putin lashed out at the west >> translation: we think it is an enormous mistake to refuse to cooperate with the syrian government and its armed forces who are fighting terrorism face-to-face. we should acknowledge that no-one but president bashar al-assad's armed forces and militia are truly fighting the islamic state and other terrorist organizations in syria russia has been able to work with the west on some issues, such at the iran nuclear talks, but it is a sign of how poor relations have become that the

last republican presidential debate some candidates threatened russia while others said that if elected they would refuse to even talk to putin. conflicts in the middle east and south asia was a frequent focus of our discussions and that focus will likely continue into the new year. fighting rages on in varies companies. in march obama announced plans to keep troops in afghanistan until 2016. new afghan leader was concerned about signs of i.s.i.l. activity in the country. he visited the u.s. in march to discuss the issue. on the eve of that visit thomas dratean spoke with mike lyonns and another security reporter at the new york times. >> violence is on the rides there and i think that's why you've got indian hemp campbell saying we've got to slow down this redeployment back to the u.s. he went to afghanistan early last year. it took over that job, was the chief of staff of army. took over that job with some

foresight knowing that trying to pull out by 2016 would nota good idea. i think we're setting that stage right now to possibly see u.s. forces there beyond 2016 and beyond this term it could very well happen >> a lot has to do with what the p wants. if he wants u.s. forces there, our president can say this is what this president wants to do. by taking half the troops out, for example, from a planned perspective, you're receiving half the infrastructure, the capability. the president is concerned about the situation deteriorating the talks between presidents obama and ganhi ended. through the end of 2016 to continue training and advising afghan soldiers. president obama has repeated his commitment to avoiding an scootendless war', but the decision to stay hasn't opinion without consequences. this past year 6 soldiers were

killed in bagram. still ahead, a top opposition leader is killed. i.s.i.l.'s gains and significant setbacks in the past year. we take a look at what impact the group has had and what may be in store for the next year.

>> "inside story" takes you beyond the headlines, beyond the quick cuts, beyond the soundbites. we're giving you a deeper dive into the stories that are making our world what it is. the top syrian rebel group is blaming russia for the death

of its leader. zahran alloush was killed in an air strike. russia fired at least 10 missiles at its secret headquarters. earlier we spoke with al jazeera digital producer about what may have motivated this attack. >> the russians and the syrians together killed zahran alloush presumably because they don't want this kind of powerful credible leader who is willing to engage diplomatically. they don't want that syrian based opposition group to gain ground. by killing the leader they think they can knock out the whole group. again that remains to be seen the rebel leader's death has also delayed the evacuation of i.s.i.l. fighters near damascus. nearly two thousand fighters were to be taken from the refugee camp to raqqa.

a watchdog group are saying there is no secure route for them to travel on. 2015 has been a run of setbacks for the group. our correspondent looks back at the fight against i.s.i.l. in 2015 in what might lie ahead in the next year. >> reporter: 2015 ends with a significant victory in the methodical u.s. led campaign to push i.s.i.l. out of the large expanses of northern syria and iraq since last year. in ramadi by all accounts u.s. trained security forces held themself-s well. it is just the latest i.s.i.l. defeat in a year that saw the group lose 40% of the territory it once controlled in iraq and about 5% of what it held in syria. even where it still holds sway, president obama argues it can't advance or reposition.

>> they know if they mask their forces, we will wipe them out. in fact, since this summer i.s.i.l. has not in a single successful major offensive operation on the ground in either syria or iraq. >> reporter: here are some of the key pentagon numbers in the fight against i.s.i.l. that began in august of 2014. almost 9,000 air strikes have destroyed 16,000 targets and killed an estimated 23 thousand i.s.i.l. fighters. >> we're killing terrorists, every single day by the hundreds. so that's reducing the threat. that's the base that we're in-- business that we're in here. >> reporter: heading a long lift of i.s.i.l. leaders. >> i.s.i.l. leaders cannot hide and our next message to them is simple. you are next. >> reporter: the cost has been considerable. so far a total of over five and a third billion dollars, an

average of 11 million dollars daily since 2014. a leader killed in iraq that freed 70 prisoners held by i.s.i.l. if you want to know what to expect in 2016, look for more raids like koweega in a direct combat ground. >> we won't hold back from supporting capable partners in opportunistic attacks against i.s.i.l. or conducting such missions directly, whether by strikes from the air or direct action on the ground. >> reporter: despite the progress, 2015 was also marked by an increasing frustration in congress that i.s.i.l. isn't being defeated more quickly >> they are not giants. >> reporter: the most are end critic was this one.

>> more than one year into the campaign against i.s.i.l. it is impossible to assert that i.s.i.l. is losing and that we are winning. if you're not winning in this kind of warfare, you are losing. stale mate is not success relatives of 43 missing students are marring in mexican city. they're protesting on the 26th day of every month since the students went missing in september 2014. they dispute the mexican's act that the men were killed and incinerated. an international panel to discuss the case. six months ago the u.s. supreme court legalized same sex marijuana, but as lesbian couples try to start families, they run into road blocks. many insurance providers will not cover fertility treatment for these couples because of how the industry defines infer

tillity. >> reporter: first comes love and marriage and then baby carriage. >> reporter: that was the dream for this couple. they never could have guessed on theiring day-- wedding day it would cost them more than $22,000 to have a child. >> it put a burden on a relationship. >> reporter: jill and sarah tried to get pregnant using a sperm non--or and-- donor and sperm treatmented typically covered by health care. >> we had the procedure done and a week later we got a letter from the insurance company saying it wasn't going to be covered >> reporter: their insurance company denied them because jill could not prove she could not get pregnant by unprotected sexual intercourse for six months. >> i was flabber gasted. >> we just wanted to start a family. i feel to have someone dictate your future in that way is completely unfair. their definition for infer

fility doesn't meet our criteria, us being lesbians, of course >> reporter: the policy is not unique. other insurance companies had similar requirements. the company say they go by the clinical definition of "infer tileity". according to the american society of reproductive medicine, it is: insurance companies need to expand that definition this lawyer said. >> you have onopposite sex couple where a man potentially has zero sperm count or low sperm count. they will never be able to conceive without assistance and without certain procedures. then you have a same-sex couple rbis two women want to conceive a child and can't do that without assistance or procedures. those two couples should be

treated in a what that ages that they're in the same position. >> reporter: the resolve group across the u.s., 15 statesman date some form of infer tility coverage. only two have passed laws to ensure same sex couples and single women are also covered. they want to see that expanded nationwide. the petition on change.org has gathered over 16,000 signatures. >> it is awful that anyone has to go through this. we had to, but i would hate to see anybody else have to do it. so we kind of want to make a change. >> reporter: after 18 months of treatments, jill is now pregnant. >> i cried. you just cry and sink on the ground. it's bad news again. it's terrible and then she was like, no, it was all happy tears >> reporter: a baby carriage is on the way but with a costly burden still ahead northern england

is under water as officials issue 400 letters and warnings for the area. -- alerts and warnings for the area. >> hard earned pride. hard earned respect. hard earned future. a real look at the american dream. "hard earned". tomorrow, 10:00 eastern. only on al jazeera america.

there was a water logged boxing day in northern england. soldiers were deployed to help with relief efforts. the rain is expected to ease up over the next coming days.

more down pours are in the forecast for next week. bushfires in the australian state of victoria had destroyed more than 100 homes. more than a thousand people were evacuated from the tourist town on friday. they were allowed to return saturday. the fires were reportedly caused by a lightning strike last week. no injuries have been reported. many of those new cosy winter jackets understand the christmas tree are harming the environment. fish from california have been found filled with the fillings. the high cost of human comfort. >> reporter: charles more has sailed the open ocean his entire life >> electronic navigation charts, we have radar. >> reporter: lately the open view at sea has been interrupted >> we never saw plastic trash

in the ocean in 1961. but by 1997 it had become something that you couldn't come out on deck without seeing a piece float by. there's cups like this, there's lids of trash cans like this. >> reporter: more was one of the first to study the huge swirling patches of plastic trash found at sea >> the weight of the entire population is made in plastic every year but only 5% is recovered. >> reporter: these fibres are drained. if we pull a net through the ocean, they get this much of the plank tonne that forms the bottom of the food chain, this much visible plastic and this

much of the micro fibre plastic. we put it here and you can see it in close-up here. this stuff is so small and so durable that it hangs out forever. the trouble is that this stuff, the bottom of the food chain, absorbs are randomly. the filter feeders that come along and depend on the plankton for the food display, it eats that and it moves up the food chain. researchers show that while fish shows a great deal of plastic, sea food caught on the pacific coast has tiny plastic fibres shed by our text tiles. this isn't just a southern californian problem. they have been found in waterways in other states. the problem is also that we barely understand what is inside of plastics, much less what they could be doing to a marine

environment. in fact, these tiny plastic fibres have been found in the bay, the great lakes, the pacific north-west and up and down the california coast. the problem is so harmful that padegonia, one of the biggest manufacturers of clothes is studying and citing: they declined to speak to us on camera until after releasing their findings >> plastic is very persistent. that's part of the robe we use it and it's so useful. unfortunately that means that once it is out there in the environment if realistics around. we're also talking about a double hit when you're talking about a plastic that can absorb other toxic things like pcbs and then pass them on to organisms. >> reporter: more says plastics have ruined the ocean for him. >> in a way it has alienated me

from my habitat. i'm someone who has grown up in and on the ocean and has seen the ocean as part of my life of being a gardener and a sea farer, a fisherman and diver add as-- providing some of my food. now i have to think twice about that. >> reporter: plastics makes our detergents, makes our tooth paste sparkle, but it is turning out to add more than we ever bended to the oceans. -- intended finally this hour, new york's metropolitan opera has hosted some of the world's most famous opera singers, but niece days it is attracting a different kind of crowd. kids. a unique program is teaching inner city school children no appreciate the-- to prernt the opera. >> reporter: these school children may be more familiar

with other songs than the opera. a trip to the open in new york never fails to impress. >> we were just like watching on television and in gasp but in real play. >> reporter: for many city kids it's their first formal explosion to a classic art form. attending a dress-rehearsal is one part of a comprehensive opera-based arts program sponsored by the metropolitan opera gild. the gild represents artists like caroline blackwell who in addition to being a world class performer has herself spent time teaching children. >> i made them realise how opera was already in their lives. so i said to them bugs bun jeep cartoons. i said "you hear figaro, right?

"they said, "oh, yes". they understood that. >> row, row, row your boat generalitiesly down the stream-- gently down the stream. >> reporter: in the classroom the children learn to tell a story with music and lots of drama. >> this is opera, so it has to be something like epic. they're escarefuling from the police station >> reporter: necessity even write their own story line. the class may be all about opera. an a four year study found that students students that participated in the program did better in maths, science and english than those who didn't. at a time when many schools are focused on improving test scores, teachers say the class is a fun implement to their-- compliment for their lesson plans >> third grade is to have a story and find all parts. we do

a lot of work with reading and writing but it is nils to have them see that show up in drama. >> reporter: with more than 15,000 students already taking part in the program, it is no wonder schools are singing its praises that sounded ground. i loved that. thanks for joining us. i will be back with another hour with news at 11. america tonight is next. stay tuned. tuned. >> this is it. >> oscar winner alex gibney's "edge of eighteen" marathon. >> if i said that i'm perfectly fine, i would be lying. >> i feel so utterly alone.

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brought to the surface? >> is that the most valuable? >> there is one tiny distinction that makes it more valuable, was it stained with moon dust. >> moon swag. what would it cost on the moon? >> this is highly affordable. anybody should be able to make that. >> without doubt. >> ame