>> we gonna bring this city back one note at a time. >> proudest moment in my life. >> this is al jazeera america, i'm randall pinkston in new york with the look at the day's top story. iowans are about to pick their state's presidential candidates. the line has blurred over the past few years. world leaders are communicating with the syrian opposition about attending peace talks in. screen actors guild, just weeks

after the academy awards are accused of being too white. the preference polls are close. time is running out. and the candidates are out in full force. >> stick with me. stick with a plan. stick with the experience. stick with the ideas that will actually work for our country! >> it's not going to happen with trump, folks, we're going to win, we're going to win. >> there is nothing nothing nothing that we cannot accomplish. >> i will grow the conservative movement. we will defeat the democrats. we will turn this country around and address our issues and we will unite america, too. >> tonight from the heart of the hawkeye state, the count to the caucuses is on. at this time tomorrow we should know who won the iowa caucuses. after ayear of listening to

campaign slogans, attacks and debates, iowans are set to get yind their candidatebehind theif choice. duarte geraldino is in des moines. >> candidates are trying to convince iowans to side with them during the caucuses. but not all candidates will be here during the caucuses. hillary clinton, ted cruz, donald trump, candidates leading in the polls will be here. but we're talking about john kasich, jeb bush, and chris christie, who don't plan to be here. john kasich has already left, the other two will leave during the afternoon. it's a question of where resources are wert spent. they're headed to new hampshire. the latest national polls paint an interesting picture. on the democratic side we have

hillary clinton at number 1. second bernie sanders, next is martin o'malyip. the number one in polls is donald trump, followed by ted cruz and marco rubio. but the only thing that matters is what happens on caucus night. where they'll tell the state who is best for their caucus. caucuses. >> as the demographics of u.s. voters are changing, it's the lainlatino community. kimberly halkett reports. >> the message is one thing: that is voter turnout they all say will make the difference in the results in the iowa caucus and that is critical given the

threat of snow, the democrats the main rivals, hillary clinton and bernie sanders, urging their supporters to come out. and telling them they should not be a little frayed of a little snow and they need to show their support. but another group, a key demographic changing the outcome of this potentially in iowa is the growing demographic of hispanic voters. they are mobilizing saying that they are determined to put a stamp and their issues on the outcome of the iowa caucus. >> what i say, if you are a candidate and you want to talk to the latino community and knock on the door to have the person into your home, if you are outside, saying you are going to deport all your tea family members, guess what, the latino community will not open its doors for you. >> in 2012, barack obama came out strong, they are determined to do the same in the federal

election and the iowa caucus. there's a 230,000 turnout for the iowa caucus. showing of approximately 10,000 would put them at about 5% of the voter turnout here and they hope that that will be enough to elevate the issues they care about in a changing demographic and political u.s. landscape. >> stay with al jazeera for coverage of the iowa caucuses. we will have a team of generalists on the ground there and as they get underway, tomorrow night beginning at 7:00 p.m. eastern. and later this hour a regular look at the week ahead, religion and the 2016 campaign, how a presidential candidate's faith can influence voters. 11:00 p.m. eastern, 8:00. pacific. al jazeera april james bays has the latest from developments in geneva.

>> arriving for his first meeting with the syrian opposition, trying to prayed them to finally joipersuadethem. >> i will see them and tell the you. >> reporter: while he's meeting, a delegation of opposition representatives their spokesman was telling the reporters, how important the rules be implement. >> 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 their homes and their houses, away from the strikes of the russian. >> when mr. de mistura emerged, gave details other than saying he is optimistic.

>> are you optimistic? >> yes, and determined. >> a good meeting? >> a useful meeting indeed. >> there are things they want. do you think you can deal with those? >> we must deal with the needs of the syrian people, thank you. >> meanwhile, the syrian delegation that arrived on friday made its first statements to the media. jaffray al bashir said he hadn't been given a list of their members. >> we don't know yet who will be sitting with us. on the other side. neither us nor the special envoy are aware of the names of the opposition, of the other delegation with whom we have this dialogue. >> reporter: one of the reasons he doesn't have a final

list is because names are still being added to the opposition team. two of the most prominent figures in the opposition, mohammed aloush, the chief negotiator, is on his way to geneva, and i'm told to exct the head of the opposition committee, perhaps an indication, the opposition is getting ready to make their determines. james bays, al jazeera, geneva. >> devastating a neighborhood near the himmest shiite shrine. secretary of state john kerry cited the triple bombing as a reason why ongoing peace talks must succeed. >> while battlefield dynamics can affect negotiating leverage, in the end there is no military

solution to the conflict. without negotiations, the bloodshed will drag on, until the last city is reduced to rubble and virtually every home, every form of infrastructure and every semblance of civilization is destroyed. >> on the syrian peace talks we want to bring in juan cole, joining you from ann arbor, michigan tonight. thanks for joining us. do you think these peace talks have any chance of success? >> well, the chance he of these talks succeeding are between slim and none, randall. >> and why is that? >> well, the sides are just way too far apart. they still think they can make advance he on the battlefield. my experience, the sears the ses negotiations happen when both sides feel exhausted and blocked

from any further advances. you can see the delegation on the rebel side, mohammed aloush, the again there the army of islam group, the syrian say they won't talk to the army of islam. they are not going to be sitting together. >> secretary of state john kerry made a very strong statement about the necessity of peace talks. given russia's robust military intervention on the ground. >> yes, the united states is in a difficult position in syria because it hasn't really opposed russia coming in and russia is inflicting very serious damage on the rebel side. the united states is more

focused on defeating i.s.i.l. or daesh and that group is out in the eastern desert, it is kind of irrelevant to the main battlefields which are closer to the big cities in the west. >> the u.n. security council resolution organized these talks. syria's delegation says the opposition leaders haven't been named and even as you point out, are members that syria doesn't wand to talk to. did the united nations make the mistake of calling these talks even before the parties are identified? >> at this time in history there is to good time to have talks. i think it's better that they try. who knows, some relationships may be established, some positions may be laid out, that as time goes on, become important. you know? negotiating an end to a war is a long term process so i don't think there is anything wrong

with trying. >> i.s.i.l. claims responsibility as we said for those deadly bombings in damascus. does i.s.i.l. have a role in these talks? >> i.s.i.l. doesn't want the talks happening. i.s.i.l. trades on polarization, needs on war. were peace to be broken out in syria i.s.i.l.'s goose would be cooked. the shrine of the province granddaughter to pick up the talks and get talks going between sunni and shiite. make it more likely that not only will the russians insist that he remain in power but also perhaps other american allies will see that only assad can maintain some kind of order there? >> well, it seems likely that this is al-assad's strategy that is he trying to destroy the other rebels, the ones besides

i.s.i.l, and leave them the last men standing on the battlefield and go to the west and say look you've got a choice between me and the so-called caliph, abu bakr al-baghdadi.. stick with me. the u.s. is not sticking with this, insist being that bood stebasharal-assad resign or at t sharwidewide.

>> fume gating streets to help kill the mosquitos, also educating residents on how to eliminate breeding grounds. over 2100 pregnant women in colombia are known to be infected with the zika virus, which is known to be linked to babies born with unusually small brains. al jazeera's john holman reports. >> soon tog to be mothers in a hospital in el salvador, all 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 has yet to be approved but el salvador's government has taken the extraordinary step of

warning women not to get pregnant at least the next year. that came too soon for christa bell. she's since given birth to a healthy boy. >> i would have waited for the outbreak to have finished. >> the vice minister of health says this is the tip of the iceberg. >> starting to discussed this to look at what special resources the system needs to give support to these children. looking at other countries who have had the problem to strengthen our institutions. >> reporter: the emphasis is on prevention but while contraception is used, one alternative these women don't have is terminating their

pregnancy even if the fetus is brain damaged. el salvador's no tolerance abortion laws need to be discussed in light of the zika threat. >> it is a debate we should take more seriously. to open up the defense of life not just the baby's but the mother's the family and the damage that could be generated in society. >> reporter: for now, the government's concentrating ton root cause, the mosquitos carrying the virus. >> authorities are fume gating house he and public spaces all over the capital but already more than 6,000 suspected cases of the zika virus in el salvador. >> the biggest worry is not for now but what the future may bring. john holman, al jazeera, san salvador. >> outbreak ultimately killed

more than 11,000 people. our science editor tre tarek bay has the story. >> half of those who catch it die whereas the rashes and fever with zika is generally mild. in fact, 80% of patients with zika don't even know they have it. deaths are rare. the greatest threat for life appears to be its effect on unborn babies whose mothers catch the virus during pregnancy. zika is strongly felt to have

caused a brain abnormality. two and 12 cases of those for every 10,000 newborns. in brazil, doctors are reporting dramatically higher rates, 1 in 10 born with the defect. the potential link between zika and the birth defects haven't been noticed before because in areas where zika has been active for decades, central africa and asia, most are infected early in life. the risk is small. the population in the americas have not been exposed to the virus at least not until now. which is why so many women are being exposed during pregnancy, that's why the authorities are warning women not to become pregnant and get the virus.

>> the screen actors guild recognizes an array of actors in comparison to their film academy courcounterparts. and in the week ahead, religion aand the 2016 campaign, does it still play an important role in the candidate's electability?

>> boko haram carried out an attack in energize today involving gun fire fire bombs and suicide bombers. members of the group stormed a village and two refugee camps in maigmaiduguri. three of the attackers in nigeria today were women and that adds to concerns about a new line of clothing in muslim nations. it is more fashionable but also potentially dangerous. al jazeera's nicholas hak has

the story. >> after working for karl laggerfeld in pairs, customers no longer want short skirts and sleeveless tops but ask for longer dresses and even the full veil. >> women whether old or young feel more respected wearing the veil. it's a show of confidence. >> two designers are showing their collections in dacca. it's called palal fashion but some of the aspects could soon be banned. senegal's president says full face veils pose a security threat. they are outlawed by cameroon niger and chad.

where women detonated suicide bombs from under their ropes. but promoting fashion not violence. >> i think it's a debate that's stigmatizing the wrong people. i don't have to follow the global trends. actually, it's saying in a way let's create an alternative trend. let's show the people that i can be fashionable, smasht, smart, t bearing my body. >> last year alone it was estimated to be worth $230 billion globally. it's no, sir just local shops like this. making clothes for muslim women,

they too see an opportunity in hillel fashion. so despite the security threat, debate surrounding the veil, tuti and others here believe that the demand for clothing like this is only going to grow. nicholas haque, al jazeera, dacca. >> the success of minority actors drew a lot of attention last night. roxana saberi has the report. >> ladies and gentlemen welcome to diverse tv. >> with those words, idris al ba summebasummed up. queen latifa played bessie smith

in hbo's bessie. she says viewers want to see more diversity. >> growth is important and paramount change is inevitable. might as well wrap your mind around it and let's go. >> please don't be plaid at me. >> actress iza adubo, actress nora prepon praised the diversity of the cast. >> this is what we talk about when we talk about diversity. you know, it's every different race color creed sexual orientation. thank you so much. >> ofor performance of an actor in the leading role, the nominees are. >> the sag awards stand in stark contrast with the oscars. spark a debate in the industry, and hashtag on twitter.

oscars so white. >> you people might be surprised to know that basically in the last 15 years about 15% of the acting nominees have been people of color. that's not great given we have a country 35 to 40% people of color but not minuscule. >> responding with a hashtag, sag so black. another person wrote, sag so black and i love it! >> we have become a society of trending topics. diversity is not a trending topic. >> voila la davis, queen la stevlatifa,and 12 years a slaveg nominated in the past years. there is progress, i'm not saying it is great but it is

progress. >> more than two weeks after the debate erupted over the lack of diversity in the academy awards nominations. roxana saberi, al jazeera. >> the cloud over chipotle may be cleared tomorrow. no one has been able to pinpoint the cause of the trouble but it has been over two months since the last case of e cole coli was detected. we'll discuss the week ahead next.

next. >> welcome back to al jazeera america. here's a look at your top stories. peace talks to end the war in

syria. delegates have arrived in geneva but have not said they would take place in talks. three rescue ships, picking up migrants, coast guard transported to a port in sicily. whriens wil iowans will make their choices tomorrow. most of the candidates spent their final weekend campaigning across the state. well, it's sunday night and time for our regular look at the week ahead. tomorrow, iowans will make their final selection for the president of the united states, economy, and immigration, will

be a couple of the many topics discussed. despite recent pew research polls, found donald trump the least religious, on the democratic side, bernie sanders jewish religion has barely been mentioned. sanders says he is not involved in any organized religion, a remark few politicians would normally dare to make. being very public about one's religion has long been an unofficial requirement for anyone running for presidential campaign. but as courtney kealy reports, the role i of religion. >> two months before the

presidential election of 1960, john f. kennedy's campaign was targeted by anticatholic sentiment with always his affiliation would drive his policies. >> i believe in an america that is officially neither catholic, protestant nor jewish where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the pope, the national council of churches or any other ecclesiastical source. >> reporter: some historians believe the speech helped him become the first and so-called only catholic president. religion remains a factor in presidential elections. it wasn't until 2000 when al gore chose joema joe lieberman s running mate, down playing mitt

romney of his mosh mon beliefs. and even though he's a practicing christian, president obama had to defend himself against people who feel he was a muslim. 64% of republicans say it's important for a candidate to share his or her faith. only 41% of democrats feel that way. but the survey also says that just over half, 51% of those polled said they would not support an atheist for president, down from 64% ten years ago. that could help bernie sanders who was raised jewish but says he is not actively involved with any religion. >> i am motivated by a vision, which exists in all of the great

religions in chri christianity, buddhism and all great religions. >> just last he week, jerry fal fallwell's son endorsed donald trump. states like iowa where senator ted cruz has trumpeted his religion and running second to trump. >> i don't think there's a lot of wiggle room. >> pastor warren hunssberger. >> it's crazy with to say that we can be separated from our faith whether we enter the

political process. >> what happens on election day is what ultimately matters. when the new president is sworn in with his or her hand on the bible, the constitution bars any profession of religion. >> also director of the faith outreach initiative for democratic party, and from boise idaho, darren grinder, the author of presidents and their faith. thank you both for being with us. i'd like to get you first reverend harkins on this point. we've just heard that it's ridiculous to separate one's politics from faith and values, but on the other hand, the american constitution says there's supposed to be

separation from church and state. why is it important to talk about religion. >> it's become the cultural norm for that expectation to be the case. it's interesting because it is more profoundly grounded in the constitution to determine that the america becoming more broad, that there is no religious test, there is nothing that qualifies or disqualifies a person based on their profession of faith. >> professor grinder, your position sir? >> we've had every president acceptably religious, not too much not too little, not too overt in his faith but we look back to ulysses s. grant who had no proclaimed religion, he was marginally methodist, and he

said there would always be the strong separation of church and state. yet when we look the at the iowa caucuses, it seems as though some form of evangelicalism is becoming more important than in past caucuses. >> there is a shift in viewpoint about political candidates, what does that shift suggest for this year's election? >> well, certainly, evangelicals think that it's important that the president share his faith, or their candidate share his faith but a growing number of american electorate is none, having no religious background or at least not affiliated, and among democrats it's clear that the presidential candidate does not need to share their own particular faith. and i think that while we want

or certain groups want a presidential candidate to be like them, it's not so important that they believe every single thing, the same thee logically. and especially we see that with someone like trump where is he at the bottom of that list by pew that says the perception of how religious he is below bernie sanders even and yet evangelicals seem to be quite comfortable voting for him. >> just watching a picture there of donald trump showing the bible that his mother gave him. reverend harkins, often religion is equated with one's values and that same survey shows that some people would be less likely to vote for someone who has had an extra marital affair. is that so important to voters? >> obviously not, both sides of

the political ledger, has that part being part of their political biography. i would say the pew study notwithstanding, is that a many conservative evangelicals, this administration and everything it represents, overrides them being concerned about someone fulfilling a particular litmus test, by a way of political ideology. that donald trump would be able toker prayed evenings like he did in iowa, we'll see tomorrow how effective that is. my being oppositional to this president is in some respects more important than my being guided by my religious tenets. >> in the most recent political

debate marco rubio spoke about religion. >> it is something you want to see in your public figures and when i am president, my religion will not just influence what i am as president, but how i am in life. my determination so live an eternity with my creator. >> do you think marco rubio was appealing for votes or expressing his heart felt beliefs or maybe both? >> maybe both. i dare say my colleague mentioned ulysses s. grant, the term that john adams would be deemed a unitarian, or his religious framework would be seen as nonorthodox, but it's one thing to say you have a

moral guidepost in your faith and another to say it has to sit within a judeo-christian framework. >> a comment made by ted cruz, who talked about religion and expressing the question of his faith and his policy on the environment. >> god has blessed this country with enormous natural resources and we should pursue all of the above, we should be developing oil and gas and nuclear and ethanol and biofuels. >> is there any doubt that cruz is appealing for votes or expressing his religious beliefs? >> i would be hard pressed to say that hardly any evangelical circles that there would be an actual argument said that there was a connection between one's religious faith and the need to

produce more coal or the need to produce more carbon fuels. in fact there's been a growing movement among certain groups of evangelicals to have what's called creation care and recognition that one can't deny the science of climate change. so that seems almost like he inserted, well i don't want to question sincerity, inserted the christianity into an argument that was more political than nature than religious in nature. >> democrats seem to be doing a whole lot less talking about religion than republicans. is that traditional? >> i think that's somewhat normal in the democratic base. but you have to remember in the united states congress there are of course christians and jews and muslims and hindus. to talk about one's faith and the moral guidepost one has is

absolutely -- it's particularly wrong i think to try to pervert that perspective into one that allows for you to validate political policy. >> professor grinder in your book presidents and their faith you say that a president's faith doesn't necessarily indicate how good a person they will be governing the country. can you give us some examples please? >> well, i think most recent example, and look at some poll results, actually about a survey coming from the republican candidates and the democratic candidates, i think the reagan democrats, seem to do nothing towards his helping with the aids epidemic and compassion there which we would expect from someone who was guided by his or her faith. or even someone like harry

truman who was a christian, seemingly a legitimate or sincere christian and yet claimed that he was thankful to god for being able to drop the atomic bomb. so we can have someone who is a christian would want to think about healing the poor, lealg the sick and national divides but when it comes to war and national security, it seems like those things are ultimately more important than one's individual faith. nixon who was a quaker, grew up and went to a quaker college, was very much involved in the carpet-bombings in vietnam. >> reverend harkins, a question to you about the person you worked for, president obama, throughout his presidential tenure expressed his religious faith, he attends prayer breakfasts and yet some of his

harshest critics are conservative christians. how do you explain that? >> because i think their opposition to him is really not borne out of a sense of religious complicity of him. their opposition is born out of race, it's born out of political ideology, you talk about somebody, these examples of prior presidents. i'd be hard pressed to think of another president who in the context of a yooulg such a eulon charleston, south carolina, there would be interesting there would be people who a, the foolishness on your set beforehand, accused somebody of being of a faith he is not, not being a muslim, all of that die tribe is born out of the idea that conservative christians have a disagreement with barack obama based on their faith but they have had an intolerance of

whom barack obama is. >> derrick hawkins professor grinder, we thank you for being on al jazeera america, we'll see how religious faith connects to politics, tomorrow. and here are some other stories we'll be watching for the week ahead. myanmar, tomorrow, also on monday, belgium and france hold a counterterrorism summit, and attorneys for bill cosby will ask that sexual abuse charges against comee comedian be dropp.

taking down a law banning homosexuality. >> we are now watching our next winter storm in california, promising to bring heavy snow across parts of the southwest and blizzard conditions for many parts of the central plains, i'll bring you details of that when i return right after this.

>> the supreme leader of iran reportedly awarded hero's honest to navy commanders for capturing

sailors. the yolanda khamenei, awarded the freedom medals,. the indian government has changed its stance on homosexuality several times in the next decade and things may shift again on tuesday. lgbtq supporters held demonstrations today. phasfez jamil has the story. >> the supreme court struck down the law banning homosexuality. it was a step forward away from

discrimination, saying homosexuality is a western concept, despite the fact that homosexuality has been present in indian society for years. effectively brought the law back. now no one has officially in recent times gone to jail over this law but the gay community believes that changing social attitudes can't begin if a law like this is still in place in the country. that brings us to now where a bench of five judges on february 2nd will hear a batch of petitions asking it to reconsider its position and strike down the law. >> earlier we spoke with raj san pof, he explained how transjernded peopltransgenderede accepted in india even though

homosexuality still remains illegal. >> if you look at that particular ruling the court drew from the basically artifacts of indian culture, some of the epic myths from hinduism to advocate for the special status of this group and that they are deserving of all the basic civil and economic rights of any other citizen of the country. but if you compare that with the current ruling on the table, the question that the court argued in twrean when i.t 2013 when itd homosexuality. they are going after the act of sodomy as anathema to indian values, but when it comes to protecting identities they seem to have advocated to this notion that people's identities should

be protected even though the acts they engage in are criminal. >> and while it is legal to identify as transgendered in india, many who do still face persecution. residents of cuba will soon be able to surf the internet at broadband speeds from home. the cuban state telecommunications describes it as a pilot project. currently about 5% of the cuban population has internet access. the human suffering in the flint water crisis has moved some celebrities into action. rapper snoop dogg helped pass out water with the mayor on saturday. snoop says he would really like to see the governor take charge in solving the crisis. kevin corriveau now with a look at the weather. >> our next winter system has

made it on shore in california. you can see all the rain extending tall way down across the southern part of the state. we do have some snow as well across the sierra nevadas and wise we look at blizzard conditions as we go into parts of nevada. all of the warnings that are encompassing part of the southwest, winter storm warnings as well as those blizzard warns for part of california and nevada. also nebraska. i'll get othat in just one moment. where you see the blue we are talking about 18 inches of snow. pink is anywhere between 18 and 24 inches of snow. as we go towards tuesday and that storm system makes it way a little bit further east, we are looking at blizzard conditions as well, that storm system is going to be deepening and intensifying and getting more

deep, and kansas city and nebraska going to tuesday evening and where you see that area of green across parts of iowa that is now a blizzard watch. that is going to start tomorrow night late. so for the caucuses we thy the weather is going to be fairly good but as the evening progresses we are going to see those clouds come in as well as some snow flurries in that area. as we go through tuesday, the snow across iowa as well as heavy snow across the northern sections of michigan. randall, back to you. >> kevin, thanks. shifting cargo may have caused the moder express to list heavily last week, it's crew was evacuated by helicopter last week. so far, high winds around waves have hampered salvage efforts. calmer seas are forecast for monday. the carnival of venice

kicked into high gear today with a masquerade party. thousands of revelers, filed into st. mark's square. the square was jam packed for spectacle, the flight of the angel. continues through february 9th, one week before the start of lent. good night from new york. >> this is al jazeera america live from new york. >> at 7:00 - "news roundup". tony harris gives you a fast-paced recap of the day's events. >> this is the first line of defense. >> we have an exclusive story tonight. >> then at 8:00 - john seigenthaler brings you the top stories from across america. >> the question is, will these dams hold? >> and at 9:00 - >> i'm ali velshi, on target tonight... >> ali velshi on target. digging deeper into the issues that matter. >> i'm trying to get a sense for what iranians are feeling.

tonight - bernie sanders surging in polls. ben cardon who supported the hillary clinton campaign if her pragmatism can overcome the ideaism of bernie sanders. the group behind planned parenthood facing prison time. will their indictment discourage other activists. and thoughts on press freedom after a smear campaign against one of america's fines