♪ this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm richelle carey. tony harris has the night off. closing arguments, the presidential candidates make one last push for votes in new hampshire. north korea celebrates its rocket launch while much of the world is condemning it. a chicago police officer sues the estate of a teen he shot to death. and $1.8 billion, that's how much president obama wants to

fight the zika virus. ♪ on the eve of the new hampshire primary, the candidates vying for the presidency are out in force, despite snow and bitterly cold temperatures across the state. for most of them, the latest polls are even more dounting than the water. for more on who is up, and who is down, we're joined by mike viqueira live in new hampshire. it seems basically this is a race for second place among the republicans? >> good evening to you, richelle. of course donald trump was ahead in the polls heading into the iowa caucuses, his lead wasn't quite as great as it is here in new hampshire. but there are a number of voters, a significant percentage who have not made up their minds, and donald trump is taking no chances.

he has had several events today. and just behind me, he is expecting several hundred if not thousands at a final closing rally to try to bring out the vote here across the state of new hampshire, meanwhile all of this weather really causing havoc on the roads, but it didn't stop many of these candidates both republican and democrat from criss-crossing the state today. you think you have lost any momentum since saturday? marco rubio like many republican rivals needs new hampshire, and he seems to be on a rise here. then came saturday night, and a blistering attack at the latest republican debate. under fire, rubio repeatedly fell back on a standard talking point. >> this -- >> there it is. the memorized 25-second peach.

>> an opposition narrative was born. the junior senator is too canned. >> i haven't decided yet. >> reporter: but it was the man who lead the attack on rubio, chris christie who still finds himself trailing badly. on monday christie pleaded on bended knee. >> i have dirt all over my pants and everything now. i hope i got your vote. all right, good! >> reporter: the republican leading in the polls, donald trump was challenged at a townhall, a man asking trump if he could look a syrian refugees child in the face and tell him he could don't be to school in the u.s. >> i'll look him in the face. >> reporter: bernie sanders is pulling out all of the stops. >> our government belongs to all of us, not just the 1%.

thank you. [ cheers ] >> reporter: this as hillary clinton and her campaign lag behind sanders among two key democratic groups, younger voters, and perhaps surprisingly, women from all age groups. clinton rallied alongside husband bill. >> senator sanders look about $200,000 from wall street firms. you know? there was nothing wrong with that. it hasn't changed his view. it didn't change my view or my vote either! [ cheers ] >> reporter: rubio made his pitch. in the crowd the newnesses, both undecided until over the weekend. the husband having voted for democrats in the past. both now say they are going with rubio on tuesday. >> i decided yesterday. which went to the rubio event in manchester last night. the super bowl party. i listened to his speech and

that's when i made up my mind. >> and mike it is february in new hampshire. it is obviously cold. bitter, bitter cold. how concerned are the campaigns about this snow storm, the weather, how it's going to effect the turnout? >> it's a vital question, of course. and turnout is almost a cliche now. it really depends on the turnout, no one knows that better than donald trump looking at what happened in iowa, but after all this is new hampshire. it's not maryland where people feek -- freak out at the first sign of flakes, and many expect a record turnout tomorrow. richelle. >> i'm going to apologize to our viewers in maryland for that jab. [ laughter ] >> thanks, mike. >> all right. >> all right. in taiwan, an 8-year-old girl has been pulled from the rubble of a toppled apartment

building. she was buried there for three days after that earthquake hit. it has given hope to families of more than 100 people still missing. >> reporter: a short distance from the collapsed building, this temple is busier than usual. new year worshippers join some of the volunteers who have come to this part of taiwan to help in the rescue. >> translator: the earthquake made us very fearful, and we are still afraid. >> translator: we pray to the gods, for those who are still trapped inside. >> reporter: this tragedy has overshadowed the lunar new year for many, but it may also have stirred others to join the communal effort doing whatever they can, even offers up prayers in the hope that more lives can be saved. on the grounds of the temple,

some of the volunteer and charities have made their base. this man and his rescue team came from central taiwan, on his first mission he helped save a life. >> translator: although we can't be with our families, if we can save someone's life, then it's worthwhile. >> reporter: at the apartment complex that collapsed in saturday morning's quake, rescuers continue to find survivors, but time is rung out. rescuers have to decide whether to bring in heavy lifting gear to reach any body trapped below this mountain of rubble. the danger is causing further collapse that might endanger life. but for relatives of those still inside, it might be their only hope. rob mcbride, al jazeera, taiwan. the u.s. is preparing to upgrade its missile defense zone on the korean peninsula on the

wake of north korea's second successful launch of a long-rain nl -- range rocket. jamie mcintyre is at the pentagon with details. >> reporter: with north korea defying u.n. resolutions, and ignoring crippling sanctions, the u.s. is making prudent military moves to counter the threat that north korea may soon be able to threaten its enemies with nuclear-tipped missiles. pentagon sources say the satellite subbed lodestar is said to be tumbling out of control as it circles the earth. but as for north korea's rocket science the sunday launch was a clear success. the second time since 2012 pyongyang has demonstrated its has developed a missile that

could in theory reach the itself. the u.s. korean commander has asked for additional missile defenses for south korea. >> what we're also doing is consulting with the south koreans for the first time about more missile defense capabilities to prevent any possibility that north korea could reach u.s. facilities or u.s. populations. >> reporter: the system in question is called thad, missiles designed to shoot down short or intermediate range missiles. >> we have feel confident our posture right now is adequate to the challenge and the task, but we do thing adding to that would simply only improve that poster, and improve the reassurance level for our allies in the region and our own forces in the

region as well. -- >> reporter: sunday's launch passed near okinawa and east of manila, and posed no threat to the united states or its allies. had it been aimed towards the u.s. the u.s. would have decided whether to shoot it down from alaska and then in california, or could have targeted any missile in its boost phase with missiles from cruisers in the sea of japan. with last month's nuclear test, and this month's missile launch, the pentagon has to take north korea's claim seriously, that it can put a nuclear war head atop a long-range missile. talks will begin with days, the pentagon tishl officials say the system would in south korea

within weeks. richelle? >> our expect has travelled to north korea for talks on nuclear issues. jim, thank you for joining us tonight. critics say this is a front to launch a test to see if they could launch a nuclear war head. what do we really know about this rocket? >> well, it seems, as the data is early, it app -- the early data appears that, well, maybe this rocket carried a slightly larger war head, measured by weight. maybe it lot a little higher than the 2012 test, so i think what we're seeing is slow incremental improvements. i'm more skeptical of the pentagon's claim that they are ready to have a missile that can hit the united states. i don't think they are clear at it. but they are clearly beavering

away at it to add it to their arsenal. >> how does this need to change? >> you could play a tape from any nuclear missile test in the last five years, and what would you hear? you would hear we need to have more sanctions and pressure china. so those are two policies we have talked a lot about. i can't say they have shown spectacular results. jamie pointed out that now we're going to -- having discussions with our ally south korea about missile defenses, again, there, they have some advantages, are but it's a more complicated picture. if you build missile defenses that gives your adversary an incentive to respond to that, by building more missiles. back in the cold war, the u.s. and the soviet union in fact, as

strange as it sounds, signed a treaty not to have missile defenses because it -- these -- these defenses can again give incentives for the enemy to build lots of missiles. that's called arms racing, and it can be destabilizing. it can give one side incentive to strike first. but that's why the china are angry. they are angry that south korea might be doing this. >> exactly why would it concern china, but you just laid it out there, because they feel like it would be a destabilizing force for the region. but still how do you deal with north korea? what they do is unpredictable. >> yeah, and i'm sympathetic of that. the upside of defenses they tend to have a reassuring political

effect. there is some questions in the expert community, but they definitely make countries feel safer so they have terrific political advantages, if we can make the south korean population feel like they are being protected. for the chinese, they are going to say, hey, these missile defenses that are supposed to be for north korea, you can easily change the dial and aim them at china, and china doesn't have a lot of missiles, then will we get an arms race. but we're still some distance from that. they are going to talk about it, but that doesn't mean they are going to do it right away. so this will be an unfolding story. >> all right. thank you very much. united nations investigators are accusing syria's government of exterminating thousands of detainees.

investigators say prisoners have been executed and tortured while being held since the violence began nearly five years ago now. the report says the regime is guilty of a number of war crimes, including rape and murder. they are calling on the u.n.'s security council to impose targeted sanctions on high-ranking civilian and military officials responsible for the deaths. and the syrian army said they made significant advances today. al jazeera's zana hoda has more from syria's border near turkey >> reporter: there is a fuel shortage in syria, so the people living here have begun to ration. they are preparing for the possibility of a siege. already supply lines have been disrupted by the government's offensive. fuel is needed in a city without

electricity, and a city that relies on pumping wells for water. >> translator: there has been a rise in the price of basic goods because roads are cut. most supplies are now coming in from the western countryside. our supplies are low. we don't have enough. what we have is only enough for a few days. >> reporter: it is not known how many of the 300,000 in the east have left. but there are those who are too poor to even pay for a ride out. the syrian government and its allies have still not managed to lay siege to aleppo city. the only opposition-controlled road leading into those neighborhoods is doing under heavy air strike. russian air power has always allowed the government to advance towards the border with turkey. they have expanded control entering town after town, and

they try to reach a main rebel strong hold. the rebels have been fighting back, but on many fronths they have had to withdrawal because of heavy aerial bombardment. and people have started to leave the main place of refuge for those displaced by the recent offens offensive. it's a 10-minute drive to the border. but activists return to the streets to demand the creation of a united aleppo army. >> translator: we are calling on commanders in aleppo. or else we tell them, the people will remove you from power. >> reporter: they also had another message . . . the people of syria don't want bashar al-assad they chanted. it was a clear message from the heartland of the opposition, that winning on the battlefield won't lead to peace.

the canadian government announced today that it will end air strikes against isil in syria and iraq. they will be done within the next two weeks. the prime minister says canada is still committed to the fight. he is triple the number of forces training local ground troops. canada is also promising more than $800 million in humanitarian aid over the next three years. a chicago police officer is suing the estimate of a teenager he shot to death. the reason the officer says he was traumatized by the se seen -- teen's actions. and the president tries to get ahead of the rapidly expanding zika virus, asking congress for almost $2 billion to fight the illness.

it wasn'tn't long ago that web bush was the odds-on favorite to win the g.o.p. no, ma'am -- no, ma' ma'am -- nomination. michael shure is live where bush is holding a townhall. is jeb bush hoping his family can help him mount some sort of comeback? >> good evening, richelle, he is so hopeful and involved that jeb bush was just in the hall bringing chairs in for the

overflow crowd. he was carrying the chairs, putting them out. he has brought in his family. his mother was here before. he had his brother in an ad, and there was a college poll that showed donald trump with 31%. and jeb bush in second place. >> chris christie, john kasich, they are doing okay-ish in the polls. how important is this primary for these governors? >> reporter: john kasich has been in second place in many of the polls coming out of new hampshire. post iowa you saw marco rubio who had a very tough debate

night at the hands of chris christie. christie still hasn't been able to break through. it was at a couple of town halls with chris christie today. he is pleading for votes and sort of, you know, on the fumes of the other night, saturday night, trying to show it wasn't just about taking marco rubio down but lifting chris christie up. jeb bush is funded to make it as long as he wants. so it really is going to be up to bush or kasick or chris christie. >> let's hop over to the democratic side now. there is a report out today that hillary clinton is considering a staff shakeup after the primary tomorrow. what are you hearing about that? >> reporter: well, the reports i hear, and i'm going to have to speak lower here now. but the reports we have heard

about hillary clinton is that she is actually -- you know, that she is denying that that is the case. she spoke with rachel maddow saying that was not the case. they are bracing for it not to go well, but again, you had this situation with hillary clinton in 2008, it's revisiting again in 2016. not exactly where she wants to be, but they think this is maybe a question of people changing the focus of their campaign. >> all right. michael we don't want people to start shhh-ing you so we'll let you go. a chicago police officer is suing thee estate of a teenager he shot to death. he wants more than $10 million saying the incident caused him

emotional trauma. diane eastabrook joining us now from chicago with this really bizarre twist in this story, diane. tell us more. >> reporter: this is a counter suit to a wrongful death suit that the victim's family is bringing against the city of chicago. the officer fatally shot the 19-year-old and a neighborhood, a 55 year old, following a domestic disturbance back in december. the officer claims when he arrived on scene, theteen -- the teen came at him swinging a bat. >> this is an emotional trauma this officer is going to have to carry with him for the rest of his life. >> an attorney to representing the family said in a statement:

now this comes at a very difficult time in the city of chicago because tensions are running high between the police department and the african american following a number of police-involved shootings involving young black men and in fact right now, the department of justice is investigating the chicago police department over some of its practices. >> has the city in any way responded to this -- this counter suit? >> the mayor said that the city is not involved in this suit, and does not support this suit in any way. >> what is the status of the officer now? >> the officer is right now on paid desk duty. >> all right. diane thank you. the department of justice today charged the wife of a top isil leader for her role in the death of an american hostage. kayla mueller was reportedly killed by the group in syria a year ago.

a criminal complaint accused the woman and her husband of holding the woman hostage while she was raped repeededly by the leader of the group. up any, the president's plan to fight the rapidly spreading zika virus. and two winter storms play in parts of the country, how it could impact primary voters in new hampshire. ♪

in just a few hours the first primary of the 2016 presidential race will get underway in gnash shiel. tomorrow's contest appears to be hoping up a as the race for second place, particularly on the republican side. the latest poll shows donald trump holding a 21-point lead. but they are followed by governor's kasick and bush. in that same poll gives vermont senator bern a 16-point lead over hillary clinton. well, hillary clinton took a detour from new hampshire yesterday for a visit to flint, michigan. the water crisis has become a major issue in the democratic race for president. a debate will be held there next month. bisi onile-ere joins us live now from flint with more on this. bisi. >> reporter: richelle, bernie sanders and hillary clinton have both addressed flint's water crisis on the campaign trial, but for the most part, the

republican hopefuls have not been quite as outspoken, and political analysts tell me that's because the state's republican governor has been at the target of criticism. flint's water crisis is taking center stage in the race for the white house. >> but i want you to know, that this has to be a national priority, not just for today or tomorrow. >> reporter: in a move to pressure the republican-controlled senate to approve billion dollarses of dollars in aid, sunday hillary clinton became the first candidate to make a campaign stop in michigan. >> clean water is not an option my friends. >> reporter: in a few weeks both clinton and bernie sanders will

faceoff in a debate in the 'em battled city. >> i don't go around every other day calling for governors to design, i don't think i have ever. >> reporter: while both democratic presidential candidates have condemned michigan's slow response to the lead poisoning of tens of thousands of people, the republican candidatesn't have been as vocal. >> i don't know all of the details of what rick snyder has done. >> reporter: this was john kasich's response to a question during the debate last week. >> i know there have been people who have been fired, people who have been held accountable but every engine of government has to move when you see a crisis like this. >> reporter: marco rubio declined to comment on the water problem, saying, quote:

flint resident michael thomas believes that comment demonstrates a lack of interest. >> because there's no sense of urgency from governor snyder, and the republicans have proven like katrina, like before, we are always on the back burner. >> reporter: after months of complaints, thousands in flint continue to wait on a fix. >> they need to do something about it, really, really soon. because this is ridiculous. you know, a whole town? >> reporter: governor snyder has again declined an invitation to testify in washington, while the fbi investigates who went wrong, and who is responsible. and a spokesperson for the government's office says that he will not be able to testify before lawmakers because he is presenting the budget here on wednesday. u.s. rep says he is very disappointed in the governor's

refusal to attend. >> bisi and the lawsuits continue to pile up, there is another federal lawsuit filed today against state and city officials. who is behind this one? >> reporter: yes, we just learned this afternoon that a couple here out of flint, their two-year-old daughter they claim became ill after ingesting that water. this is one of many lawsuits, and i'm told there will be many more to come. richelle? >> bisi onile-ere live in flint. thank you. voters in new hampshire are getting hit by a snow storm. there are two separate storms pummelling the east coast and the west right now. the storm dumped so much snow on new england. kevin corriveau has the latest. >> that's right. we had it so well in december that a lot of people think this is a big deal. this is really a normal winter snow storm. it is dumping almost a foot in

some locations here. i want to show you the two we are talking about. this one in the atlantic, pushing up towards the northeast, as well as the one coming across -- what was it the northern plains into the ho river valley. this system started in florida. here in new york, new york city saw about a trace. on long island we saw six to eight inches there. we had blizzard conditions on the cape cod area, those have been dropped, but we're still seeing quite a bit of snow making its way up towards new hampshire. more snow will be down here towards the southeast where we have winter storm warnings that will be lift tomorrow morning. the snow will be on the ground, but i don't think we'll see a

lot of snow flying tomorrow. boston feels more like 2 degrees. portland, maine feels more like zero. here is the other storm. it originated up here towards canada. and we have been seeing quite a bit of wind associated with this as well. the winds right now, take a look at this. far go, minneapolis, these are the gusts. yesterday we were looking at wind gusts in this region, how about over 60 miles per hour. want i to show you images out of minnesota. this is what a classic blizzard looks like. we get the snow and winds and lose visibility in this area. of course this is very dangerous on the roads, and we normally see a lot of power outages across the region. the blizzard warnings have been dropped across this area, but

we're still dealing with random winter weather advisories. but we're still going to be watching what happens tomorrow. >> kevin thank you very much. a data breach could impact about 30,000 federal employees. a hacker posted details of nearly 10,000 department of homeland security employees employees on twitter. today that hacker threatened to release even more information this time on 20,000 fbi employees. the doj says it is investigating. the cdc is activating its emergency situation to combat the zika virus. it is on eleven 1 now, the highest level. john this has only been done three times before. so how concerned should bepublic be in >> well, yes, they should be

concerned, and no, not terribly concerned. we know that this zika virus which is running rampage around south america at the moment is a very serious virus, and the problem is, any possible link between zika and birth defects is not fully understood. on the other hand, the cdc is expecting a limited outbreak here in mainland united states, once our own mosquito season gets underway. so i think the cdc just wants to be prepared, richelle. >> okay. speaking of being prepared, earlier today, the president stressed the need for more research on the virus, because of specifically the type of thing you said, that we don't know what the connection is between the birth defects and the zika virus, so he asked congress to pick up a sizable chunk of the tab. tell us about that. >> very sizable. i mean this is a lot of money.

the president did this during the ebola outbreak two years as well, he is asking the congress to stump up a lot of cash to research this zika virus here at home a abroad. president obama is asking congress for $1.8 billion in federal funding to help stop the zika virus telling americans at home on cbs this morning not to panic. >> the good news is, this is not like ebola, people don't die of zika, a lot of people that get it don't even know they have it. >> reporter: but it is sweeping south america, especially brazil. women who are pregnant or considering getting pregnant are most after risk. but they do not know yet if the virus actually causes birth defects or not. the emergency federal cash will be used for u.s. lab-based

research. >> we have already started to develop a vaccine in the early stages, and we likely need a phase i trial just to determine if it is safe probably by the end of the summer, and get that going by the end of this year. >> reporter: as with the ebola outbreak in west africa, in 2013, of the $1.8 billion, $300 million will be used to help tackle zika where it is most prevalent, where trash on the streets a breeding ground for the mosquitos. experts are cautiously optimistic about stopping a massive outbrake -- outbrake

here. >> reporter: experts say the best way to control the virus is on the ground, where zika -- mosquitos are thriving. >> reporter: this call for money is completely separate than the budget he'll present to the congress tomorrow. and the majority leader, mitch mcconnell will be presented with the white house ideas for combatting zika going forward, along with other seen i don't know members of the senate also tomorrow, richelle. >> john thank you so much. another cost to the zika virus could come in olympic m medals. a committee issued its warning during a january conference call

to tell the teams not to go if they don't feel comfortable. lucia newman has more on the celebrations in brazil. >> reporter: carnivale in brazil. not everyone is forgetting their problems. like this person who came dressed as a box of basic goods. >> buying the basics has become so expensive. inflation is high, and so is corruption, so the poor are suffering. >> reporter: indeed this street party is labeled what a mess. the good times are over. >> translator: the wife of the

president of congress is accused of hiring a tennis champion for $59,000 for private lessons, with our money. so we're dressed up as her. >> reporter: at another street parade, we run into the president, and the former president, both being mercilessly mocked. >> translator: i am a billionaire but i have no idea where i got the money. >> reporter: brazil is facing a steep recession, and the president is fighting to avoid an impeachment process, this as brazilians are seeing their standard of living dropped. >> they are now going back to where they were ten years ago, because of rising unemployment, and rise of inflation, and so that is what is happening. brazil is going to -- be where it was ten years ago.

>> reporter: even carnivale is being down sided. here as you can see no expense is being spared for carnivale, but in other areas many traditional parades are having to be canceled because for the first time they can't afford it. brazilians say the year doesn't begin until after carnivale, but regardless it's a year that doesn't bode well for their economy. chipotle stores across the count think are open again. they were closed during the lunch hours today for nationwide meetings about more stringent food safety measures. a public health crisis in new orleans. as the city prepares for mardi gras, a new concern over a

deadlier form of heroin. and a california prison that is so dangerous, it may be causing the guards to commit suicide.

the usual sense of revelry surrounding mardi gras is subdued this year, because of the recent spike in heroin overdozes. jonathan martin reports. ♪ >> reporter: as massive crowds take over new orleans for mardi

gras, city leaders are working to spread the word about what they are calling a public health crisis. doctors and first responders are saying they are seeing a staggering increase in heroin overdoses. within a two week period, seven people have died. >> any time your city is a designation for a large number of visitors, you want to make sure that those people are aware that anything on the street could be life threatening to them. >> dr. peter is the chief medical officer at university medical center. he says the spike in overdosing is likely tied to heroin being mixed with a synthetic drug. >> it is three to four times more powerful than heroin, so if you are thinking you are injecting heroin alone, and it is mixed or laced it will have a more powerful effect. and the side effects are

cessation or breathing. >> reporter: heroin abuse has increasingly become an epidemic nationwide. the number of users as increased among both and women, and across most age groups, among those 18 to 25, the number as doubled. in neerms health officials are encouraging those with loved ones who use heroin, to purchase narcan the drug used to treat overdoses. >> without a doctor seeing the patient themselves, people can walk in and get this life-saving medication, and have it available and on hand in case they encounter a family member or somebody who may be having an overdoze. >> reporter: louisiana also had a good samaritan law that allows people to report a suspected overdose without the fear of

being arrested. health officials say taking these steps is about saving lives. jonathan martin, al jazeera, new orleans. brutality and violence are a daily part of prison life. but the situation in one northern california facility is so bad it may have lead five correctional officers to commit suicide. it is located in a remote town in northeast, california. >> reporter: in the past seven years, there have been five staff suicides here at high desert prison. scott jones was number three. why did scott take his own life? >> the job, his job. >> reporter: in 2002, jones left a job at a grocery store and become a correctional officer, or co, by 2012, the excessive violence and stress overwhelmed him, one morning he dropped his 10-year-old son off at school,

drove to a secluded area and shot himself in the head. >> janelle love you. the job made me do it. >> reporter: a year before his suicide, scott and a new coworkers tried to get the word out. they sent this letter to the state's whistleblower tip line asking for protection. they never heard back. his fellow guards found out and re retalia retaliated. >> you believe some of his fellow officers were fabricating things about scott, telling it to the inmates to the inmates would retaliate against scott. >> yes. >> what did he say to you? >> i remember one of the things he said is that -- janelle i thought going to do this job was the best thing for our family, and i think this is the biggest

mistake i ever made. he was tired of looking over his shoulder. he was trying to understand what the heck they are wanting them to do. he hated it. he hated life. >> reporter: there are 32 other prisons in california, and yet they didn't have all of these suicides. i mean it seems there is definitely something going on. >> i do believe there is something going on with high desert. i think it has a lot to do with the town. >> susanville, is tiny. prisoners make up nearly half of the 17,000 residents. now nearly everyone is connected to the prison. in a town this small, speaking up in a tall order. >> you can come home, and they are right next door. >> the prison is the biggest employer in the county, in one way they are just as trapped as

the inmates. and you can see more of michael's report on "america tonight" at 9:30 eastern, 6:30 pacific. a muted new year's celebration in china this year. [ explosion ] >> reporter: and fireworks are partially to blame. plus -- >> happy monkey baby. >> yep, super bowl ads cost $5 million for 30 seconds. some were worth it. others, it's questionable.

chinese new year is known for his fireworks, but the changes economy could change the way people celebrate. >> reporter: beijing's annual, explosive, illumination. still a dazzling spectacle, but perhaps not quite what it was. fireworks sales are down by half this year. the reasons, pollution concerns? or possibly fading interest in a country that prides itself on having invented gun powder. >> translator: the economy isn't good. only business people can spend money buying bigger fireworks. ordinary people can only afford small fire crackers. >> reporter: other new year

traditions are also changing, like the giving on redden vel opens filled with cash. an age chent ritual that technology is transforming. smartphone apps allow users to send each other virtual money. money deposited into their mobile phone payment accounts. this is also a time to spend, at least the government hopes so. but where there's an air of desperation to the sales pitch. people are spending, but very carefully. >> translator: of course i'm more cautious now. i have to look around and compare the price to get the best value for money. >> reporter: retailers say turnover remains strong, but that is mainly down to discounting. retail sales up until now have

been the one bright spot, and economists say that consumption has to be sustained to prevent the downturn worsening. superstitious chinese are flocking to the temple to pray for good luck. but the predictions are for more of the same in the year ahead. don't despair, though, depending on your zodiac sign the year of the monkey is a good year to give birth or look for love. more than 100 million people watched the super bowl, and many of those millions tune in for the commercials. a 30-second spot during the game cost $5 million. so did we get our money's worth? ♪ >> oh, my, so we have got dogs, buns, and condiments to boot.

you can't have hot dogs without ketchup. but this was kind of weird, kind of funky. >> puppy, monkey, baby. >> i still have not recovered. audiences were not pumped about this critter here. and if you thought miss colombia could forget -- >> listen, folks, i have to apologize again. look, those were last year's numbers. it says right here on the card. t-mobile doubled their l -- >> you knew somebody was going to do it, right? steve harvey returned just months after the miss universe name mix up. and last year we were

introduced to super bowl baby. looks like denver is about to have a surge in tiny hats and boots. >> and finally take a look at these wedding photos out of syria. two newlyweds, 18-year-old and 27-year-old were photographed shortly after their wedding last friday with the ravaged city of homs as the backdrop. the groom is the soldier in the assad army and wore his army fatigues. i'm richelle carey thank you very much for watching. john siegenthaler is up next with more of the day's news. >> hi, richelle, coming up, we begin with tomorrow's new hampshire primary. as with iowa we know the polls can be wrong, and this contest could be the last chance for a few of the contenders. mike viqir