>> good evening i'm antonio mora. this is lo al jazeera america. doubts concerning nort north kos hydrogen bomb tests. in california a look at the storm damage from el nino flooding. >> also. >> we would like to see the hammonds released from federal prison as soon as possible. >> are opposition if federal property. >> i was raped while at st. george's in 1978. >> shocking always by students

of staff at a prestigious prep school. we begin with doubts about north korea's claim that its successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. the u.s. believes north korea did carry out a nuclear test just over 24 hours ago. but officials say that explosion was not strong enough to be a hydrogen bomb which is significantly more powerful than an atomic bomb. north korea's fourth test in less than a decade has sparked international condemnation. jamie mcintire is at the pentagon. >> officially, the u.s. is gathering evidence before rendering any judgment on exactly what north korea detonated in that underground explosion. but unofficially the verdict is in. while the blast was registered as an erkd it is way to earthquo

small to be an h bomb. a successful test of not just a nuclear device, but a thermonuclear device. a miniaturized hydrogen bomb potentially an order of magnitude more powerful than any of north korea's three previous nuclear tests. it didn't take long for official scoffing from washington to begin. >> the initial analysis that's been conducted of events reported overnight is not consistent with north korean claims of a successful hydrogen bomb test. there's nothing that's occurred in the last 24 hours that's caused the united states government to change our assessment of north korea's technical and military capabilities. >> while seismic sensors picked up an explosion that registered as a 5.1 magnitude earthquake, the size of the blast was estimated at only about 6

kilotons 6,000 tons of tnt a tiny fraction of the yield of even a small h bomb. >> in less than a minute you will see the most powerful explosion ever witnessed by human eyes. >> by contrast, when the united states debt inflateits first hydrogen bomb, the yield was 10 megatons, 10,000 times greater than the north korea's latest test. >> the violence of the bomb is comparable with the energy released 50 sun itself. >> but there was another part of the north korean claim, which could not be so quickly disproved, meaning it was miniaturized, small enough to be put on top of a land based or submarine based missile. a threat he has to take seerld.

>> iseriously. >> it is a threat we cannot ignore. >> north korea released imagery reportedly showing its leader kim jong-un watching the launch of a ballistic missile from a sub. a hoax, noting the missile appeared to travel only a relatively short distance. whether north korea has taken its nuclear might to the next level or just another exercise of bellicose bluster, it doesn't change much. ing a nuclear bomb can still keep a superpower at bay. >> even a few nuclear weapon, the threat of you using a nuclear weapon an opponent's soil is enough to deter a foe. you don't need thousands to do

so. >> roughly the size of the previous test in 2006 just not the far more powerful and technically complex hydrogen bomb. what did flea accomplish with its seemingly overblown claim, universal condemn inflation, talk of further sanction he and lots of anger. antonio mora. >> north korea's nuclear program i asked him if he's concerned that north korea is getting closer to being able to put a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile? >> just because they apparently have not been successful this time doesn't mean that they're not going to try, try again. you know tests, the whole purpose of a test is to see what your systems are, awhere the vucialts, you try correct those and then you try it again. so i would not assume that the test is, by definition, unsuccessful. they might have find out a lot of information that will make it a success next time.

so i for one am very concerned about this. if north korea is successful, with a hydrogen weapon which as we all know is by exponentially more powerful than any kind of nuclear weapon, i think we have a big problem. and i think we're going to be right back in the soup here in trying to figure out what to do and especially given the fact that north korea has a pretty robust missile program. so they may be getting to that fateful moment where three can put a warhead on a missile. >> china is north korea's closest ally but it is also upset that it was given no advance warning of the test. ambassador hill said china could retaliate by implementing new sanctions. u.s. is committed to a strong response to north korea. in china where it's already

thursday, trading was halted, stocks plunged in early trading for the second time in a week after the central bank devalued the yuen. chinese markets are closed for rest of the day. concerns about the strength of china's economy led to a record drop of oil price, u.s. crude fell to lower than $34 a barrel, lowest price since 2004. now prices are averaging loafer than $2 a gallon. drought stricken california needs rain but seems to be getting it all at once. el nino fueled storms are pounding the state. al jazeera's meteorologist kevin corriveau joins us now with what's going on in california. very unusual to see that highway closed. >> absolutely. this is their second wave of rain. first yesterday, one more coming

in the next couple of days. take a look at the big picture, storm number one, storm nom 2 in california and storm number 3 is going to be a problem end of thursday as well as into friday. they will have a little bit of a break in between so things will be able to recede, low lying areas will be able to get the water down just a little bit. but very active day today, down torts is south and san benito, that was an ef zero tornado, a very weak tornado and as well as in orange county. two tornadoes for the month of january is very, very rare but because we're in an el nino situation we're going to see a lot more storms pushing through which bring those type of activities. down towards the south we're still looking at flood warnings, the flash flood warnings we previous had have been dropped, what we are dealing with now is that snow up here towards parts

of the sierra nevadas, that's going to stay in effect for the next couple of days. thursday, friday that we start to get a little bit of a break in that rain. >> good for the sierras because that will help the drought in the future. kevin corriveau, thank you. the texas state trooper who arrested sandra bland is is under indictment and out of a job. dash cam video says the traffic stop quickly became confrontational and him quickly saying i will light you up with a stun gun. her death was ruled a suicide. the text county fired insinia. the sheriff of harn harney coun, dave ward, said the protestors

will expect to face criminal charges. allen schauffler is in hines, oregon. what was the message that came out of today's meeting? >> to boil it down antonio, thank you, go home. freezing cold night in southeastern oregon but there were some heated emotions at the harney county building this morning, i estimate 500 or so, the basic take away is many people saying they would like to see an end to the takeover of the federal facility south of town and also many people saying they appreciate the fact that that armed takeover has sparked interest and discussion about land use measures, land use issues, around the west and around this country. so that was basically it. thank you for what you've done. now it's time to go. now the issues that are at the core of this case and the core of this protest are very important to the people who live

in the wide open spaces of the western u.s. they may not be familiar to people in other parts of the country. but they are very important here. and here is a look at some of those issues through the eyes of a burns area rancher. oregon's harney county is a big place. bigger than maryland and eight other states and the biggest property owner is the federal government. >> this is a very large geographic county. >> tom sharp runs a relatively small cattle herd on a thousand acre ranch here. all on private land which makes it easier than most. >> to support one cow you better have about 30 acres per cow to support the forage requirements for that animal there. so it takes a lot of land. >> reporter: to make the math work many ranchers have to lease federal land and face government restrictions on water access, where livestock can graze, how finances and gates are built,

how fire suppression and prevents are taken care of and more. >> it sometimes feels as though we are being squeezed out, because of the issues and new regulatory measures that are imposed upon us. >> to survive, ranchers and farmers have to learn to deal with all of that and sharp says most do. but those restrictions are at the core of the case being made by the armed group occupying federal property. and have been a source of friction between the government and the hammond company, friction that led to dwight and steven hammond being sent back to prison under terrorism laws for arson charges which sparked the latest protest. >> we would very much like to see the hammonds released from federal prison as soon as possible, i think that would go a long way in appeasing the concerns of this community and

ranchers nationwide. >> reporter: it's a particularly western type of friction. the fight over water and grazing and grasslands. east of the mississippi the federal government owns about 4% of all land. but in the 11 western states, it's 47%. and in harney county it's 73%. >> the land mass on this planet is limited. we have what we have. we're not making more land. but the population is growing. and the multiple uses of our lands whether they be private or public, continue to expand also. >> many issues, many stakeholders and certainly more conflict and compromise ahead. >> sometimes we forget that food just doesn't come off of the -- off the shelves of the convenience store, but is actually being produced upon the land. >> reporter: complicated issues to be sure and they have been complicated issues for hundreds of years now in the

western u.s. antonio. >> allen schauffler in hines, oregon, thanks. president obama is vowing to repeal a house measure that repeals obamacare. to eliminate the president's signature health care law, sending it to the president's desk at the same time. it also vowed to defund mladenov. it did not sustain enough votes to overturn the proposed veto. now a few victims came forward, now dod dozens are resurfacing. and after the u.s. supreme court made same sex marriage the law of the land, a state law is trying the block same sex marriages.

>> a sex abuse scandal at a press contingentous rhode island prep school is growing. lawyers say more than 40 students have come forward with credible stories of sexual abuse and some cases rape by staff and pupils. some of the ceuftion is accusato back to the 1970s.

st. george's. john terret is here with the story john. >> good evening to you. rhode island police are investigating cases of abuse at st. georges, it failed to tell authorities about on several occasions. >> i was publicly raped at st. georges in 1978, by a fellow student with at least five witnesses. >> hidden for almost 25 years but on the rhode island campus of the press timingous prep school, the scandal was well-known and joked about in the school yearbook. >> my sole reason ofor coming out in public is to provide a forum for the victims many who were male and don't have the comfort level to talk about this. >> groom says that in 2002 he contacted st. george's current

head master and outlined the graphic details of his rape but nothing was done. groom is among 40 former students dating back to the 1970s who now say they were sexually abused. >> i was threatened not to tell, if i told anyone he would come after me and i would be in trouble. i said nothing to anyone. >> ann scott said she was in 10th grade when the school's athletic trainer reapped her inn 1977. she said she remained silent. >> they are clever sneaky and good at covering their tracks. >> president george h.w. bush's father prescott are an alumni. 26 students the 100-year-old institution did fire some of the accused it admits it never reported any suspects to the authorities. attorneys for the alleged victims have criticized the

school's report which did not say whether those who were fired ever revealed sexual misconduct to their future employers. >> we want to know whether this is like the conflict church. whether the bad apples got farmed out to other place is where they would feast on other victims. >> ann scott and others say they want the truth, but they don't want to hurt the school. >> we want the school to do the right thing and come out stronger. and part of that means being ever vigilant because they have a duty of care to children. >> there is no statute of limitations for rape in rhode island, as we said the police are investigating, meanwhile the alleged victims want the school's head master who you saw in that film to step down. antonio. >> terrible story john, thank you. the chief justice of alabama's supreme court has

ordered county authorities not to issue same sex marriage licenses, the supreme court ruled six months al ago that same sex couples could not be denied the right to marry. fighting animal cruelty, a federal database will track offenders and protect people. also, ken griffey was a shoe in but still came as a bit of a surprise.

>> the men accused of buying rifles used in the san bernardino attack pleaded not guilty to conspiracy. fleerenrique marquez. syed farook and tashfeen malik. >> all cases of animal abuse to the fbi. the agency has established a new

animal cruelty database, the information will be used to prevent abuse. joining me from washington, d.c, is john goodwin. how important is this, how can a database help prevent animal cruelty? >> well, it's very important but the value of the database is going to be determined by how many local law enforcement agencies actually submit the data to the fbi. so we're calling on all of the sheriffs departments and police departments to make sure that they submit the information. because with a complete collection of the data, we can determine exactly what types of animal cruelty are most prevalent, where is the problem the greatest and from there build strategies to combat this problem. >> but it doesn't include any new penalties. is that also needed? >> well, yes, as a matter of fact, the congress is considering a bill called the preventing animal cruelty and torture act right now.

at the federal level we do have strong penalties for animal fighting. and for certain other types of animal cruelty such as the distribution of these crush videos which are pornographic videos where people would crush animals with high heels. but the actual act of animal cruelty while a crime in all 50 states, close that gap. >> and until now animal abuse cases were lumped into an other category. thrown in with all sorts of other crimes. so there was no way of really measuring how bad the problem is nationally, and even whether it's a growing problem or a 39ing problem. -- or a declining problem. >> exactly right. another benefit for animal cruelty having its own category in the fbi's uniform crime reporting database is it sends a message to law enforcement at

all levels that animal cruelty crimes are important and they need to be investigated and prosecuted. animal cruelty crimes harm beet the animals but also communities as well. the people that are likely to torture an animal are the ones most likely to also hurt human beings engage in domestic violence and other -- >> it is beyond the animal welfare component, it could be useful in preventing crime in general, the statistics are stunning. two thirds of those who exercise animal cruelty did that when they were young. >> i know of so many homicides that have occurred at dog fights or cock fights. we have seen the drug enforcement agency finding major narcotics operations running drugs through those sorts of operations. so cracking down on animal cruelty in all of its forms is also a one for the animals and

for the the community as well. >> another movement is to have a registry for animal abusers. tennessee is the first one this month. is that a good idea? >> i think what we really have to focus on is having strong penalties for animal cruelty, take for example animal fighting. dogfighting's a felony in all 50 states. cock fighting is illegal in all 50 states but some of the areas have weak penalties and in those areas the problem is more prolific. and we also have to look at ways to help make sure when we catch people early that we can help make sure that they get on a better path and don't get into committing these cruel activities. >> john goodman of the humane society, thank you for coming np tonight. >> thank you for having me. >> three leaders of the bandidos motorcycle club are accused of selling amphetamines and waging

a war against cossacks. a gup fight broke out in waco texas, nine people died in that firefight and referred to police. the chipotle restaurant chain, being has been indicted. federal investigators are investigating the outbreak, in simi valley, california. hundreds got sick after eating at chipotle restaurants an the country. ken griffey and mike piazza were elected to the national baseball hall of fame. it was griffey's first time on

the ballot. piazza was elected after his fourth time on the ballot. would like to know what those who didn't vote for gratifiy were thinking. next is "inside story." house, the president brought it up. gun rights advocates, keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill. and what is less clear is how you do that, in a way that comports with privacy laws, and the second amendment. is all of the talk about mental illness and deadly firepower attractive because it tries to supply easy answers to really difficult questions?