this is al jazeera america, live from new york city. i'm erica pitzi, here are the top stories. making a last-ditch effort. presidential candidates looking to persuade voters before the iowa caucuses. fighting to live their lives. india's supreme court looks at the controversial antigay war weeks after the oscar nominations are accused of being two rights, the sag awards.

and struggles many african-americans say they are facing because of lawmakers in washington we begin in iowa, the 2016 presidential candidates are making a push to gather support a day before the state caucuses. most of the contenders spent the week meeting locals to discuss the economy, health care and foreign policy, hoping to prove they are the most qualified of the united states. the whole country is waiting to see the results in iowa, watching up with polls where on the republican side donald trump is leading by 26 points according to real clear politics. senator ted cruz is behind him, and you have marco rubio in third place. let's go to the other side of

the aisle. former secretary of state hillary clinton is in first place with 50% of the vote. and bernie sanders follows her with 38%, while former governor tashfeen malik is a distant third. al jazeera's correspondent is live on the ground in demoyne with more on the final day of campaigning before the caucus. you are there, what are the candidates doing, where are they focussing attention today? >> good evening, where they focus energy today was a function of how good they believe the chances are here in iowa. the top tier candidates, bernie sanders, donald trump and ted cruz was on the ground at schools, getting the caucus goers to see their side of the campaign. some were not doing well. by that we are talking about john kassig, jed bush and chris

christie. kassig left. jed bush and chris christie will leave early in the afternoon, and this reflects the chances in the state. and where they want to spend resources. next up for them is new hampshire. >> what are voters saying there. are their minds made up? are more folks undecided? >> there's a lot of folks that say they are undecided. on the top of their minds are national security and the economy. i spent a lot of time with millennials, and they say continuously that they are young enough to have hopes for good jobs and a middle class life, but do not feel that the odds are in their favour. >> i hold two jobs. i go to school full-time, and i still can't make it. i've been fortunate. i was born white, in a middle upper class family. i was private schooled and even

i feel the affects of this, let alone the minority population, people born into poverty who feel if worse. >> she is the type of voter that the candidates are after. folks that want change, but who are so concerned about the future, that they'll be compelled to go out and caucus tomorrow. these are the issues that are strong here in iowa. >> we are hearing that there are changes to this year's caucus to include potential voters, right? >> that's right. in fact, you remember when i said that national security is an issue in iowa. the changes during the caucuses that we see have to do with the military men and women, they'll be absentee ballots for those not here to caucus, and they'll be tele-caucusing. if you are not here, the views of the men and women on the first line of the defense are taken into consideration during

the caucuses. >> live for us in demoyne iowa, thank you. stay with al jazeera for coverage of the iowa caucuses. there's a team of journalists on the ground and we'll giving live coverage, tomorrow beginning at 8:00p.m. eastern. >> well, in the middle of campaigning, hillary clinton had though address her email controversy. appearing on a.b.c. this week, she dismissed concerns over 22 emails held by the state department. including top secret information. >> this is very much like benghazi, george. the republicans will continue to use it, beat up on me, i understand that, that's the way they are. after 11 hours of testimony, answering every question in public, which i requested for many months, i think it's clear they are grasping at draws. >> clinton reiterated that the emails were not marked classified when they were sent. >> an arraignment for the prison

teacher accused of helping three inmates break out of a facility. she is accused of giving the group information, including pictures from google maps. all three inmates are behind bars after a week on the run. the orange county sheriff's top question is why the escape as unnoticed for 16 hours. a colorado motorcycle expo was cancelled in the wake of deadly violence. one was killed and seven others wounded on saturday when fighting broke out on a complex in denver. police believe the people involved were members of rival gangs that shot and stabbed each other. no arrests, it appears the bikers responsible for the bloodshed got away. >> it seems chaotic, everyone started to take off. everyone was running, a couple of guys went out the south side. one out the north. >> the emergency room where the wounded were taken had to be put

on lock down to avoid further violence. >> two virginia tech students were charged in the murder of a 13-year-old girl. the victim lived near the campus and vanished. a freshman that knew the girl was accused of the murder, a sophomore accused of getting rid of the body. the teen found dump by the side of the road nearly 100 miles away a columbian city assist fighting mosquitos that is spreading the zika virus. they are getting educated on how to eliminate breeding ground. 2,000 pregnant women in columbia are known to be infected with the zika virus, which has been liked to babies born with small brains, mostly in neighbouring brazil. health officials in el salvador are so worried about the zika

virus they are discouraging women on getting pregnant. >> reporter: soon to be mothers in a hospital in el salvador, worrying about the same thing - the zika virus. it's spreading fast here, transmitted by mosquitos. scientists think if the mother is infected, it could cause brain damage to the unborn child. the link is yet to be proved and the el salvador government took the step to warn women not to get pregnant for at least of the next year. that is too late for this woman, who is suffering from fever and rash coming with zika. eight months into the pregnancy the risk is lower. she is still sick with worry. >> i wouldn't have got pregnant, i would have waited for the outbreak to have finished. >> reporter: the vice minister of health says it's the tip of the iceberg. tloorties only recently detected the virus here, but they are getting ready for the brain damaged children that

could be born in around 7 months time. >> we started to discuss this to look at the special resources the system needs to give support to the children, looking at other countries that have the problem, to strengthen our institutions. >> reporter: the emphasis is on prevention, but while contraception is widely used, but one option the women in this extremely catholic country don't have is terminating pregnancy, even if the foetus is brain damaged. this congressman for the capital city believes el salvador's no tolerance abortion laws need to be discussed in light of the zika threat. >> translation: it's a debate we should take more seriously without the subjectivity of the myths that can be generated in our country. to open up the defensive life not just to babies, but to families, and mothers, and

damage that can be generated in society. the government is concentrating on the root cause, the mosquitos carrying the virus. authorities have fumigated houses in the capital. there's 6,000 cases in el salvador. the biggest worry is not now, but what the future may bring turning to the war in syria now. suicide bombings in damascus threaten to derail tentative peace talks. a car bomb and two suicide bombers devastated a neighbourhood near the holy shia shrine. at least 50 people died. the islamic state claimed responsibility for the blast. the secretary of state claims the triple bombing is another reason why ongoing peace talks must succeed. >> while battlefield dine am icts can fact -- kind ammics can affect leverage, there's no military solution. without negotiations the

bloodshed will drag on until the last city is reduced to rubble, and every home, every form of infrastructure is destroyed. >> syrian peace negotiations are off to a shaky start. >> arriving for his first meeting with the syrian opposition, trying to persuade them to join negotiation, the u.n. special envoy. >> reporter: what are you hoping to hear from the opposition. >> i will see them and then i will tell you. >> reporter: thank you, sir. >> while he was meeting a delegation of opposition representatives, their spokesman asked reporters why it was important all the provisions of the security council resolution that set up the talks process be now implemented. >> it's important for us to see that food goes to our children who are starved to death. to see syrian families, syrian

women are safe sitting in there homes and their houses, away from the sights of the russians. >> when mr de mistura emerged at the end of his meeting with the opposition, he gave few details, other than saying he remained optimistic. >> are you optimistic? >> yes, and determined. >> a good meeting. >> yes. >> do you think you can deal with the concerns. there are certain things they want, do you think you can deal with those. >> we must deal with the concerns of the syrian people. >> reporter: can you deliver? >> we must first address that, thank you. >> reporter: the syrian government delegation that arrived on friday made its first statements to the media. chief negotiator claimed the opposition were amateurs, not professionals, and he said he had not been given a list of their delegation members. >> we have not yet started.

the talks. we don't know yet who would be sitting with us on the other side. neither of us, nor the special envoy are aware of the names of the composition of the other delegations with whom we have this dialogue. >> reporter: one of the reasons he does not have a final list is because names are still added to the opposition team. two of the most prominent figures in the opposition. mohammed, a chief negotiator, on his way to geneva from saudi arabia, and i'm told on monday, to expect the arrival of riyadh, the head of the high negotiating committee, an indication that the opposition is getting close to making a final decision. two italian coast guard ships rescued migrants off of

libya. coast guard transported them to a port in sicily. >> in the last nine months, more than 230 people fled the african nation of burundi. now, african leaders decided not to deploy 5,000 peacekeeping troops to the country. catherine wambua-soi has more from the african union summit in ethiopia. >> reporter: a plan to deploy troops to burundi was the biggest matter to come out. leaders decided to push for a political solution. >> the heads of state expressed satisfaction at mediation efforts by the president in uganda, who will continue with the dialogue, which we want to be an inclusive dialogue. >> this follows days of discussion on what to do with the violence in burundi, which

killed more than 400 people. it was triggered by president pierre nkurunziza's decision to seek and win a third term. previous attempts at such political dialogue have not been successful. the foreign affairs minister said the government is committed, but will not negotiate with coup plotters and criminals. >> how do you ask a member state, which agreed to those instruments, to move away and. talk to the coup makers. >> a high level au delegation will be sent to burundi, and too to have authorities accept the deployment of troops. some are critical of the failure to deploy peacekeepers. a lot hinges on leaders. 54 leaders, a lot have issues around their own leadership and power. they would not want to see a decision putting them in a bind as well.

>> reporter: apart from burundi, african state compelled leaders to form a deadline as soon as possible. new estimation has been in conflict for three years, over a dispute between the president and his former vice president. and made a resolution to increase support for troops in somali, and deal with increasing threat of attacks with better strategy. the end of another african union summit. the theme this year is human rights, with a focus on women's rights. some have been accused of violating the people's rights. the question is whether there'll be enough political will to advance that and start making changes fighting for equality, people in india are calling on the country's supreme court to take down a colonial law banning

homosexuality why some canadians think their government is making gang activity worse.

in at least eight cities across india today l.g.b.t. supporters held vigils ahead of a pivotal supreme court hearing this week on a law that makes homosexuality illegal.

activists want the courts to reverse an archaic law, two years ago members of parliament voted against decriminalizing homosexuality. the government changed its stance on homosexuality several times in the last decade. and it may shift again. the legal ramifications of being gay in india is being reported on. >> reporter: this issue began in 2009, when the delhi high court struck down a law banning sexuality, there was in place since early times. it was celebrated by supporters, saying it was a step forward away. it was condemned by some groups who said homosexuality was a western matter. in 2013 india's supreme court reversed the decision, saying that this kind of thing was a job of parliament, and not the

courts, which effectively brought the law back. no one has officially in recent files gone to gaol over the law. the gay community believes that changing social attitudes can't begin if a law like this is in place in the country. that brings us to now when a bench of five judges will hear a batch of petitions asking it to reconsider its decision and strike down the law. >> joining me now is raj, the associate professor at the heller school for social policy and management. thank you so much for joining us. so what do you think is going to happen on tuesday? is there hope for the l.g.b.t. community in india? >> well, certainly one could hope in the future that the reversal of the 2013 condition in light of several factors, global international pressure, a landmark ruling in the united

states which received a lot of attention, and the hard work of advocacy groups. the presumption of constitutionally, which is that all the laws born and carried over, with the birth of the constitution should not be subject or immune to changing times. there is hope that many people are seeking. let's talk about the transgender community, it is interesting. they live on the fringes of society and poverty, not socially accepted, but we see that here in the united states. in india, it's the opposite. why? >> well, it's interesting if you look at the 2014 ruling that legalized a transgender as a third category, if you look at the ruling, the court drew from the - basically from the artefacts of the culture, some of the hinduism to advocate for

the special status of the group, and they are deserving of all the basic political matters, and economic rights of other decisions in the country. but if you compare that with the current ruling on the table. the question is that the court argued in 2013 when it recriminalized homosexuality that they are not discriminating based on a glass of individuals, but are protecting identities, so, in fact, they are going after the fact of sodomy, which carries over from the british statute, as culture, values, nature, and science, but when it comes to protecting identities, they seem to advocate the notion that people's identities should be protected even though the acts they may engage in are criminal. >> interesting, it seems ironic. what you are saying is they don't view homosexuality as an identity. >> well, if you look at the

statute and the read are of section 377 in the penal code. the direct quote that earn phrases is carnal acts or intercourse, so that can be interpreted obviously in different ways. it's inokay u louse, but easy to isolate acts that can be criminalized basted on an set of assumptions. some say the law against gays is a weapon for police abuse. harassing people into payment of hush money, do you agree? >> well, those are the allegations on the one hand. saying that the statute should remain, there's no serious cases brought forward in different times. the response is after the decriminalization act of

religious groups, they came forward and said that, in fact, the database will be set up to engage in aggressive constitution. at lot rides on the hear og on tuesday. if the suit remains, perhaps the activities, it will drive the life of gay people underground indefinitely. but subject to precarious public life going forward. >> if the court dismiss it is, what is the next step in the fight? if you look, it's going back on a previous decision. so here is a chance for the court to reflect on the consequences of what they decided in 2013. if you go with the argument that, in fact, which is what

they used in 2013, that this is not a matter for the courts to decide, and it's part of the national legislature of the nerment which government to decide, it's a hrp for the people's will. india has a hindu majority, and if the majority is heterosexual, they are not affected by other side that can ensue, then it's really sort of uncertain as to what the next step could be, short of what we have been seeing in western countries, which is a step a long time ago to decriminalization to positive decriminalisation of marriage equality. >> you reerntly said that the -- recently said that the west can learn something that is happening in india. what is that. >> what is interesting is we had the inverse, we are celebrating the landmark ruling that legalized gay marriage and afforded the gay right that heterosexual couples had in the

united states. we relied on the 14th amendment, which set the respect for privacy and autonomy. we took it a step further saying there's equal matters under the law. if classes of citizens can enjoy the basic gambit of rights that should be afforded to all. the infers of that is because of the lack of recognition of transgender as a third category, that means a lot of transgender people are not free from discrimination, do not have the same rights that others had, and so, you know, there's an inverse relationship here that certain rights that we take for granted in terms of a marriage are not taken for granted in the indian context. we don't have access to. in that sense we have a lot to learn from each other's cultures, and how we make and interpret our own laws.

>> absolutely. thank you for sharing your insight. >> diversity wins saying at the saing award. the screen actors gild recognises an array of actors in comparison to their film academy counterparts. >> and a struggle many african-americans say they are facing because of washington.

welcome back to al jazeera

america, i'm erica pitzi, here is a look at the top stories. iowans will make a choice for president when the state holds its republican and democratic caucuses. it's the first contest of the primary seen. most of the candidates have spent the weekend campaigning across the state. shock on the campus of virginia tech where a freshman is charged with murdering a 13-year-old girl. the victim is near the school. she vanished on wednesday. the spec new the victim, a second student accused of helping to dump her body. peace talks to end the war on shaky grounds. dellations opposed and arrived in geneva. >> the united nations sponsored in direct negotiations officially started on friday. >> amid controversy over oscar

nominations. the journalism drama spotlight won the main prize, the success of minority actors drew a lot of attention. roxana sabary is here with more. spotlight - it's important to point out. >> over the last couple of weeks, we heard a lot about the hashtag. a new hashtag is trending, sags, so black. >> welcome to diverse tv. >> reporter: with those words, actor summed up the sag awards. winning two trophies two weeks after oscar voters decided not to nominate him. queen latifah won best actress in a tv mini series for playing bessey smith in hvo's "bessey", and says viewers want to see diversity.

>> movie reel: please, don't be mad at me. >> uza took home two trophy yours for her work in "orange is the new black." others praised the diversity of the cast. >> look at these faces. this is what we talk about when we talk about diversity. >> different ways, colour, creed, sexual orientation. >> thank you so much. >> for performance by an actor. >> the result of the awards stand in contrast to the oscars. they nominated no actors of colour. sparking a debate across the industry and on twitter, with the hashtag oscars so white. during the ceremony, observers responded with the hashtag sag so black. one person tweeted, i'm glad i wasn't the only one. it's the academy that is outdated and lacks diversity. another wrote sag so black, and i love it.

>> we have become a society of trending topics. diversity is not a trending topic. it's not. >> actress viola davis, an oscar winner that wan a sag for her roll in "how to get away with murder", said diversity should be a focus even after award season is open. >> all the actors of colour i know don't place limitations on themselves either. regardless of what is going on with the academy, regardless of what is going on in hollywood, they will find a way to be excellent it is interesting to note voting for the sag awards ended friday, two weeks after the debate over the lack of diversity in the academy awards erupted. sag has 160,000, the academy has fewer than 6,000 members. big difference there.

thank you. let's bring in bill wyman. al jazeera's art and culture contributor, and he joins us from phoenix tonight. hi, good evening to you. timing that roxana was talking about. saing voting ended friday. two weeks after the controversy erupted. with that in find, and not to take away from a win. do you think the actors won, based on merits, or because of the controversy. >> well, that's actually an interesting point and it's possible. at the same time we are talking about the acting communities, they are pretty, there's not as many people in the academy as in sag, but there is a lot of overlap. and to some extent i think the academy is getting something of a bad wrap. it's sort of diversity in the industry is important. among the awards is not quite as timeless a topic. that said, this is an industry that is very aware of its image.

definitely the answer is yes. >> in your article you wrote, and i quote you, that the academy awards impressed their recognition of minority actors calling the minorities respectable. please explain yourself. a lot of people in hollywood would disagree. >> they are welcome. >> this is an article i did, if not. i don't think the fight as far as minority representation, but i care about accurate reporting, and people may be surprised to know in the last 15 years, 15% of acting nominees have been people of colour. that is not great seeing we have a country split. that is not miniscule. it's been a good achievement. the last two years there has not been minority nominees, which is wrong.

taking into account the years, you have - it's not - it's not a travesty that you sometimes hear. the industry as a whole, the people that work there - that's is the matter however. >> there's a difference in the voters versus the academy, beyond how much are in each entity, that played a big role in these votes. talk to us about that? >> exactly. the screen actors gild merged with acta, the second biggest acting union. it is a very, very large thing. as roxanne said, it's 160,000 people. not that many people work in hollywood, so the vast major city of those people are people that are doing commercials and stuff like that. let's case it the academy is an elite group, and a liberal group. they are making big strides. villa david won an oscar.

queen latifah, movies like beasts of the southern wild. selma. it's not quite fair just to act like the academy is so white. there has been almost as many nonwhite nm -- nominations as in the previousies 50 or 70 -- previous 50 or 70 years. >> it's interesting that elba wins two sag awards, but was not even nominated by the academy. >> that's true. and he will be nominated to win an academy award, he's an extraordinary actor and people in the industry like him. in the sag awards, in the movie category, he was the only nominee that was a person of colour. the others were from tv. think about the oscars, it's run

a tight ship. it's a respectful organization, it's possible that he came in 6th, one vote behind wherever was number 5. so, you know, we have to remember sometimes don't get nominated. people complain that will smith has not been nominated. it's not like there's an apartheid in the academy voting to keep black voters out. >> you mentioned this. let's bring it up again. some critics pointed to the make-up of the industry as the culprit. there's not enough opportunities for minorities in hollywood. do you agree with that? >> absolutely. you hear about this because it's the media industry as a whole. you want to look at the pundits. they are working in lily white mus rooms, siliconvilly is a

whit operation. there's terrible lingering racist and sexist barkers out there. that is - that is something that hollywood answer for. >> have you changed that. where do you begin, do you begin with these awards? >> well the rewards are after the fact. you have to get the people making the movies, people in front of the camera, behind the camera, hiding the other people, the finance ears, the directors and producers, that is where you have a colour line that is extraordinary. we have seen the guy who directed 12 years a splaif. selma was nominated. that was made by a female african-american film-maker. you are getting to see in. kathryn bigelow wan director, the first female nominee for

"the hurt nominee", and recommended for a picture later. >> you see them take hold. it's nowhere near enough. >> do you think the sag nominations and wins send a powerful message to influence future academy awards? >> absolutely. again, this is an image and will boy is someone falling down to have let this happen. i'm surprised the industry did not respond more in defense of itself. obviously the head of the academy is trent merrin american. she is embarrassed about this. chris rock is a black om-eidian. definitely there'll be a lot of outreach. and they are changing the mick up of the academy. it's an old organization. most of the people in it are in their '60s, and above. they are white men, and the

diversity will be changing as tame goes on. time to modernize things. >> bill wyman from phoenix, thank you so much unlike the united states, most organized crime in canada is run by native people. first nations gangs have been trafficking drugs and guns for decades through the prayerry city of winnipeg. the government tried to be tough on crime. police and activists say that it's simply throwing people in prison made the problem worse. al jazeera's melissa chan reports on a community's efforts to clean up the streets. >> reporter: it's 6:00 pm on a thursday and the bear clan patrol heads to the streets of the north end. the roughst neighbourhood in one of canada's roughest cities. they call winnipeg the murder capital of the country. ryan nash volunteers on the patrols. >> there's a couple of nanses where there's going to be

altercations, and we are able to intervene on the altercations between people. >> we have florists. we'll go down. >> the patrol runs for a few hours, a few evenings a week, serving as a neighbourhood watch in this community. crime rates are down across the board. i find there's more gun play and stabbings and that type of violence. much of the violence is gang related. indigenous gangs with names like indian posse, manitoba war yas. >> we have rationized neighbourhoods. on the prayers, it is - what stand out starkly is the indigenous operation. >> winnipeg has the largest concentration of indigenous people in canada. the group makes up 5% of the population, a carter of those

murdered and in prison are indigenous. >> the perception of canada is that it's a human rights country for the people that are inside the indigenous community, it's not necessarily the same thing. >> leonard is a former gang member, walking me through parts of the u.n. a lot of people here are considered second and third generation. >> second-third generation gang members? >> yes. >> wow. >> people born into gangs by being born into poverty. history plays a big part. like with native americans, in canada, early populations colonized that situation. they have struggled with that history since. >> i have two brothers this did gaol time.

poverty, homelessness, vulnerability. it's the sense of belonging. we don't feel love that much because of what we have done. and what we witnessed in the streets and everything like that. we don't feel that. that was a huge part of my life that changed. i needed to see community. >> reporter: sometimes redemption comes too late. two years ago ian mckinney was shot and paralyzed for life. his gang involvement started early. >> i stole five pieces off my brother at the time. i went and flipped 10 pieces, put it to half pounds, ounce, to half a brick. it went on and on and on. >> how much do you think being indigenous played a part in getting involved in a crew? >> people don't have much. they have family, right.

it's hard on everybody. look at this, kids starving these days. >> reporter: so it's friday night in winnipeg, every week at this time in the north end there's a get together at the bell tower. we are headed there now. the meeting's goal is to stop the violence. >> thank you for being part... >> they come together to talk. to build a stronger and more positive community. there's more hope threes face with the national government and the questions based more on education and other programs. despite the winter cold, despite the night, the bells toll. . [ bells ring ] >> reporter: a sound a reminder to everyone in the north end the fight against crime and poverty and for indigenous dignity continues in utah, a native american church is suing the u.s. post

alt service for seizing its marijuana. according to court documents leaders for the church say the sacramental cannabis was sent to a member in ohio for religious use and claims the government violated religious freedom and they want the drug returned. there's a prohibition on sending controlled substances through the mail for years government institutions promised to help the indigenous, sara hoy looks at problems that many are dealing with. [ singing ] >> after i became president, i said given the painful chapters and broken promises and shared history, i made sure the country kept its promises to you. >> reporter: political promises are easy to make, hard to keep.

take the treaty of fort lar abby. it promised native americans housing, education and health care. today they have a life expectancy more than four years less than the everything american. almost half of american indian students are not offered courses that prepare them for childrening. one in -- college. one in four is in poverty. >> pov ert yi is a huge problem. we don't have jobs available, we don't have economic development that we should have. there's no casinos here. >> sinthya was born and raised on the walker river reservation in nevada. she remembers the days when there was home instead of hopeless innocence, and the time when -- hopelessness, and the times the land provided, instead of poison. our land here means fish eaters, and we do not have fish...

>> fish and - they swim in the water. i wouldn't think about doing that now. >> marines used to dispose of munitions in the lake. >> this is basically polluted. >> yes, it's polluted. although the government began a clean up of the walker lake in 1974, it remains sadly polluted. >> it's not the only site that sinthya is fighting the government to clean up. 25 miles west of the walker river reservation, the abandoned copper mine has been contaminating the environment for decades. >> the weem in the community need to have clean water, a safe environment for our kids, for us. our wealth. in mid-january, 15 years after federal officials tested and

confirmed contamination in the area, the e.p.a. designated the area a superfound site. requiring of clean up of hazardous substances and pollutants. it was a long drawn out battle. a rare victory, one that reinforces believe in the political process. >> i continue to have faith in the process. we have to believe that we'll be heard, no matter what. >> the walker river payuts are determined to be heard. despite the skepticism, they have one of the highest voter turn out rates among the tribes. tribal elders are not sitting back waiting for the government to right many of the wrongs. >> these are issues that, you know, we find that some - if it doesn't affect them, they don't care. >> reporter: out of sight out of

mind. >> out of sight out of mind. >> that's why we need people like myself and others, that are not afraid to have rah voice. history on the tennis courts. the legendary day novak djokovic had at the australian open. that's next.

history repeated itself today as novak djokovic crushed andy murray to win the

australian open. take a look ot that. this time novak djokovic seals the deal with an ace to win the tournament in straight sets. it was the fourth time he beat andy murray in the finals, and the sixth time he leaves melbourne with a large trophy in his luggage. sealing the deal with an ace, randall. that is a big deal. >> quite a big deal. i am sure people in iowa are trying to seal the deal. >> you bet they are. >> candidates making the rounds on sunday before the caucuses. the sanders campaign claiming a milestone. poll numbers are out. and in the sunday segment, the week ahead, as the u.s. becomes a sickular nation, we talk about the role of religion. and syrian peace talks. will the opposition be at the table. some of the stories ahead in the north-east electric companies say billions spent on

infrastructure after superstorm sandy paid off big during the blizzard. sandy forced them to install heavier power polls and stronger wiring. substations vulnerable to flooding were raised. officials put the matters into perspective. instead of having 300 people. this time he was more like 50 to 70. that's a much better average there. and we don't want to hear anything more about blizzards. tell us we are not going to have another lizard soon. >> we here in new york, no, not second. in other parts of the country, we talked about blizzard warnings existing in parts of california and nevada. we have the next winter storm that we watched. making its way through california here. you can see the snow towards the sierra leone. that is where the blizzard warnings are in place. that will continue through the night. look at the rest of the

south-west. we are looking at effi single state has a blizzard - excuse me, winter storm watch or warning in effect now. the area of low pressure will be moving quickly. tomorrow, from california, here to new mexico we'll see a bit of snow across much of the rockies, up to 2 feet in colorado. could be the issue. the next place we'll watch is here across the central plains, because that is where that area of low pressure is going. i want to take you and share two areas. the area of red is a blizzard warning, kicking into effect noon time tomorrow. through midnight on tuesday, and then in iowa, that is where the caucuses are. we are not looking for a problem until we get towards monday evening, that is when the blizzard warnings will be in place there. that is because the area of

pressure in new mexico on monday will make its way to missouri. quick moving. that is where we expect to see winds, 40 miles per hour winds or higher. that will bring the visibility down. for all the people leaving iowa on tuesday, we expect to see significant problems with travel, and that will extend all the way up to ryan macinnis as well. also one more thing. on tuesday, we expect to see severe weather - that means thunder storms, tornados, hail, anywhere from kentucky to mississippi. still too soon to see if the weather will affect the iowa caucuses. >> i don't think it will. i think it will be a little too soon. >> thank you, thank you for watching al jazeera america erica pitzi will have more news in a moment.

[ ♪ ] [ ♪ ] this is al jazeera america, i'm randall pinkston in new york. with a look at the top stories. a day away. iowans are about to pick their presidential candidates in the state's caucuses. in the week ahead. the role religion plays in politics. the line blurred over the last knew years. world leaders are communicating with syrian opposition about attending peace talks. and india's supreme court set to