responsibility, so that companies that package with these materials are required to take them back. you can find all of the stories we are covering on our website. the address is aljazeera.com. aljazeera.com. ♪ the senate gets ready to vote on whether to let syrian refugees come to the u.s. another brutal day for the markets around the world as business leaders gather in switzerland. we will not stop working for the people of flint until every single person has clean water, every single day, no matter what. >> reporter: michigan's governor trying to make amends after that disastrous handling of the flint

water crisis. and sarah palin backing donald trump in his bid for the white house. ♪ this is al jazeera america live in new york city. i'm del walters. this afternoon the senate is expected to vote on whether to end that debate and move forward on that refugee bill. the measure effectively would halt a program that brings syrian and iraqi refugees to the united states. this crucial vote today has some presidential candidates leaving the campaign trail to be in washington for that vote. lisa stark is there. what does this bill entail? >> reporter: this bill was introduced in the house first right after the paris attacks when it was believed that one of the attackers in paris had come in through the refugee process. so the bill would tighten up how

syrian and iraqi refugees are vetted before they are allowed into the united states. mitch mcconnell said look, the u.s. is compassionate, we want to let people in, but we want to do it in a safe way. some democrats say this requires three cabinet secretaries, or three national security folks, the fbi, the head of homeland security, the director of national intelligence so certify that each individual is safe. in that is unworkable. here is harry reid. >> we believe they should go through a robust screening process, this bill, though, is stressing bureaucracy and paperwork. each refugee that comes to this country, and there is about a hundred a day, would have to be signed off by three cabinet

secretaries, that's 300 personal signatures a day. we don't want that. >> reporter: so again, many democrats arguing that the process is already vigorous enough. as you said, del, it has already passed in the house by a veto-proof majority. this is a procedural vote scheduled for today on whether to even move forward with the bill as you say. as you saw there, harry reid saying we could support that if we have a couple of amendments. harry reid wants an amendment where the senate would denounce donald trump and his reprehensible proposal, his words not mine. and they want to close the loophole on the gun laws to make

sure those who are on the no-fly list can also not purchase weapons. so these are probably non-starters. >> before i let you go, what about the changes that some of the presidential candidates on the campaign trail are making so they can be there to vote. >> ted cruz has cancelled two events in new hampshire, he will be here today. of course, the whole topic of immigration, who to let into this country, a very, very contentious topic on the campaign trail, and ted cruz will be here to cast his vote in the senate. by the way, the refugee crisis is far from over, below freezing temps in europe have not stemmed the tide of desperate syrians. as many as 2,000 migrants continue to cross into serbia each and every day. some have pneumonia, others are

just sick. ash carter is making a new push today in the fight against isil. they are talking about how to intensify the campaign against the group. >> by the power of a global coalition, wielding a mighty suite of capabilities, ranging from air strikes, special forces, advice, assistance, equipment and training to local, motivated forces, cyber tools, intelligence, mobility, and logistics. >> carter emphasizing the need for arab coalition members to join the fight. michigan's governor saying he will hand over all emails today connected with the flint water crisis. last night the governor admitting his government failed. the state epa also admitting it has not responded quickly

enough. >> no system of this great state should endure this kind of catastrophe. government failed you, federal, state, and local leaders, by breaking the trust you placed in us. i'm sorry, most of all, that i let you down. you deserve better. you deserve accountability. you deserve to know that the buck stops here with me. >> andy roesgen picks up the story in lancing, michigan. >> reporter: in his state of the state address last night, the governor asked though state legislature for $28 million to help fix the water system. the apologized for the crisis. he promised that he would fix this. he calls this a crisis in leadership on his part. and the health and human services department on a federal level is sending a coordinator to flint today to help

coordinate the efforts to fix the water problems. still protesters here and critics alike protested outside of the state of the state address last night. they are calling on the governor to resign, or maybe even face criminal charges for his role in the flint water crisis. >> reporter: that is andy roesgen for us. emma lives in detroit's neighborhood that is considered to be the most polluted zip code in all of michigan. she says the crisis showing that black lives just don't matter. >> we have had -- just a culture of dismissal in terms of black people saying you know what, we're hurting, we're dying or possibly dying, and there's been nothing done. an apology is not good enough. actually i think the governor should resign, and i think they need to completely rework our environmental department, because it's not working.

i am shocked by what is happening in flint, but not surprised, and that is kind of a pathetic situation. >> and she says residents of flint deserve evidence that there was no crime perpetrated on the people there. there is another pretrial hearing in the freddie gray case going on. porter was first tried on manslaughter and other charges in connection with gray's death, but his case ended in a mistrial. the prosecution wants porter to testify in the next trial, the defense does not. the city announced that they have chosen taser international to provide cameras for about 3,000 officers. details and prices still have to be worked out. the baltimore police have been under investigation since the death of freddie gray last year. 88 out of 100 schools now

shut down in detroit. in that is the largest in a string of recent sick-outs. teachers are trying to call attention to the large class sizes, run down school buildings, and other problems in the district. as for the president, he is heading to detroit right now to visit the auto show there. his goal is to celebrate the administration's role in reviving the american auto industry. 2015 marking one of the best years ever in terms of sales. bisi onile-ere reports from detroit. >> reporter: president obama is expected to highlight the tens of thousands of jobs that have been created since the federal bailout, seven years ago. the city of detroit has made great strides in the last couple of years, but it is dealing with a struggling school system and unemployment. in 2009, general motors and chrysler were on the brink of bankruptcy, ford was also losing

financial footing. ronda mauer recalls the days of uncertainty. >> we didn't know what was going to happen with all of our jobs, you know? it was a very scary time in my life personally. >> reporter: today the auto makers are thrivering, sales are up, and there is job growth. last year a record 17 million vehicles were sold. and they have generated more than 640,000 more jobs since the bailout. >> i think the obama administration realized if gm and chrysler would have gone under, ford would have gone under as well, and the industry would have been decimated. >> reporter: the government shelled out some $85 billion to bailout gm and chrysler. >> it has been estimated if the

auto industry had gone under completely, you would have lost close to 3 million jobs, probably more than that. that's a huge impact. >> reporter: all three auto makers reorganized, and the uaw agreed to what mauer described as painful cuts. >> we all came together and did that as a union with the company jointly did that. it wasn't a good time for any of us. but we did what we had to do. >> reporter: on wednesday obama will become the third president to visit the north american international auto show in detroit, the last being bill clinton back in 1999. the president is expected to taught the industry's turn around. >> president obama realizes that detroit is the future of america; that if we cannot make detroit right, we can't make america right. >> i'm glad he took a chance with us, i'm glad obama took the

chance. >> reporter: but the deal with the auto makers may have fallen short. the sales of suvs have driven the industry's comeback. and while business is booming for the big three, work is still hard to come by in the city for many detroiters, according to a new study out tuesday, with a population around 680,000, the industry of detroit has just about 258,000 jobs within its borders. simply put, there are not enough jobs in detroit. and this will be president obama's 18th visit to michigan, his visit will be a short one. he'll arrive just afternoon, and wrap up around 5:00. bisi onile-ere, al jazeera, detroit. and as for that bailout, it cost taxpayers less than many expected. georgia loaning gm and chrysler as much as $80 million back in 2009. five years later most of that

was paid back. taxpayers left on the hook for about $9 billion in unpaid debt. it saved more than 4 million jobs by keeping gm and chrysler afloat. donald trump welcomes the support of sarah palin in the final push before iowa. and -- armed attackers storm a university in pakistan.

in politics, donald trump is in iowa after receiving his biggest endorsement yet. former vice presidential candidate, sarah palin. the former governor of alaska making that announcement at a racous speech in iowa. >> only one candidate's success

proves he is the master of the art of the deal. he is beholden to no one but we the people. how refreshing. he is perfectly positioned to let you make america great again. are you ready for that iowa? [ cheers and applause ] >> no more pussy footing around, our troops deserve the best, you deserve the best. >> palin is popular among evangelicals. ben carson is suspending his campaign at least for now. one of his volunteers died in a car crash. he was killed, carson calling him a bright young man, and said the death left him profoundly sad. there are new questions about hillary clinton's emails

when she was secretary of state. some of the memes were more sensitive than top secret. they were described as classified emails that contained information from special access campaigns. the clinton campaign said they were not classified at the time they were sent or received. and a new poll showing bernie sanders surging ahead in the primary. the poll giving sanders a 27-point lead. also more than half of the new hampshire primary voters say they have already decided who they will vote for. this morning a top afghan security official is calling for desperately needed assistance in fighting the taliban. jamie mcintyre has our details. >> reporter: a spokesman for the u.s. train, advise and assist

mission, says the u.s. is not doing any of the fighting against the taliban. brigadier general, a spokesman for operation resolute support, the u.s. name for the afghanistan mission gave afghan forces a mixed report card, saying they performed fairly well when it came to preplanned missions but not so well in a crisis. some of the toughest fighting has been in one province. and the pointed to a number of problems with the 215 corps, including short staffing, bad leadership, and widespread corruption. >> there are three things that have to happen. soldiers have got to be paid on time, fed on time, and be given lee when they deserve leave, and

if one of those things or a combination of those things doesn't happen, then the solders will leave. sometimes they will come back, but that obviously is no way to run an organization. >> reporter: a big problem is afghan soldiers are paid in cash. and records kept by hand, that means it is easy to siphon off money or pretend to pay people who don't exist. the u.s. believes that to help set up a computer database and then district deposit for the troops will ensure that soldiers are motivated to stay in the army. the u.s. insists there are signs that afghan fighting forces are improving. the general said recently afghanistan conducted two nighttime raids entirely on its own with afghan forces backed by afghan aircraft. the operations were flawless with no loss of life or

equipment. and he says while the taliban has made temporary gains, he insists they have not been able to hold ground or to govern. at least 19 people are dead following an attack at a university in pakistan. it happened about 80 miles away from the capitol city. our correspondent has the latest. >> reporter: security forces now patrol the fields alongside this university. gunmen had earlier taken advantage of thick fog to scale the walls, storm buildings, and open fire on students and teachers. >> translator: we heard firing from the back of the campus. then the gunfire increased. we said stay in the rooms, don't go out. then the security forces came. >> reporter: classes had begun for the day. 3,000 students study here. and there were hundreds of others at the university too.

600 special guests were there to mark the death of the man whom the university is named after. universities in [ inaudible ] province, the same region where fighters attacked a school in december 2014, killing 134 children. that attack was linked to the pakistan taliban. reaction spurred government officials to crack down on the taliban and other fighters. hundreds of suspects were killed or arrested. and this latest attack, security forces combed the campus for hours, looking for gunmen. they say they are now confident they have killed them all, and an investigation is underway, leaving families and thousands of students to mourn the dead. police saying it was an electrical problem that caused that new year's eve fire that

engulfed a five-star hotel in dubai. they said they did see several exposed and unconnected fires on the 14th floor where the fire started. at least one person had a heart attack, but no one died. up next, picture this, customs officials using facial recognition technology in new york.

doctors in illinois are keeping a close eye on two pregnant women after that tested positive for the zika virus. the cdc urging any pregnant women who have travel to that region to be tested. we're following a storm system that threatens to dump as much as two feet of snow up and down the eastern seaboard. >> one of the big players is the fact that the temperatures have gotten colder since last week, so it supports more snow than rain. we have had a little bit of

moderation versus the deep freeze. but still, cold enough to support the snow versus the western side of the country, where the northwest with the next system coming in tomorrow, temperatures in the 50s will make that more of a rain storm. so what we're already dealing with today has been a few inches of snow south of the great lakes, and watch for freezing in places like tennessee and kentucky. as this moves towards the coastline, mostly light snow once they get to the coast. but it's what is coming out of the rockies that we are watching so closely. by tomorrow, that starts to interact with gulf moisture, more rain and then snow into the midwest with all of this, strong enough system that it could produce severe weather tomorrow, and then it really cranks up into the day on friday, and then this pull off of the coast gets even stronger, more wind

associated with it, and moves the snow northward. so the forecast over the next couple of days a new storm coming into the west coast, but the one we're watching, already producing that chance for strong storms, wind, hail, maybe even isolated tornado possible, and then as it moves the next couple of days, heavy snow on friday, some places could get easily over a foot, and then moves northward on saturday. back to you. there is a disturbing warning today involving the world's oceans they are filling up with plastic, and soon there will be more plastic than fish. ines ferre has our story. >> reporter: researchers working for the world economic forum say about 8 million tons of plastic end up in the oceans every year, about one garbage truckload of waste every minute, and by 2050 there may be more plastic in the ocean than fish.

>> from whales being entangled, dolphins, turtles et cetera being choked and drowned. >> reporter: he has long warned about the effects of plastic pollution. >> reporter: we have to stop the mess, because beach cleanups are essential, but until we stop creating the mess in the first place, we are just going to be picking up other people's garbage. >> reporter: organizations have been talking about the problem for years, and studying debris collected from the water, some like microplastics are difficult to clean up. >> i had a handful of micro plastics in the end of a five-minute search. >> reporter: but even more plastics are being made and dumped every year, and production is expected to double over the next two decades. the concern is added stress to the oceans and plastics ending up in the food supply. >> cut down on single-use

plastics, cut down on the bags that we use, and recognize that marine debris is a problem that we are all part of and can all take responsibility for. >> reporter: the report agrees and suggests creating ways to recycle and reuse plastics so they didn't end up in the ocean. jfk airport unveiling a new type of technology, facial recognition equipment. one of the airports in washington and baltimore will be the next to get that technology. and we want to take a quick look at the markets, because they are going down. all in the red. quickly wiping away any of yesterday's gains. right now the european and asian markets closing lower today as well. thanks for joining us. i'm del walters in new york. the news continues next live from london. ♪

defense ministers of seven countries in the coalition against isil meet to discuss new ways of stepping up the night. that is the u.s. secretary of state meets his russian counterpart to try to work out differences over the syrian peace talks. ♪ hello there, i'm felicity barr and this is al jazeera live from london, also coming up, the pakistani taliban condemns a university attack where 20 people were killed and dozens wounded. he is the master at the art of the deal. he is -- >> and sarah palin, d