aljazeera.com. aljazeera.com. this is al jazeera america, live from new york city. i am erica pit air chasm fellows remember the man they sata long side on the nation's highest court. pope francis heads to one of the most dangerous cities in mexico and warns mexicans of the country's drug cartels which he calls dealers of death. mayo stepping up its efforts to assist? the refugee crisis stemming from the war in syria and put an end

to human trafficking. and the effort to wipeout boko haram in africa may be a losing battle. how political corruption is working against the fight. ♪ ♪ political leaders are preparing for a battle in washington. take on the task of choosing an successor to the late court discuss antonin scalia. the request he is when that person would be confirmed. justice scalia died of a heart attack at the age of 79. mike viqueira joins us live now from washington, d.c. good evening to you, mike, how soon will the president nominate someone you think? >> reporter: i think it's going to happen relatively quickly. one of his spokes people, eric schultz, traveling with the president in california, as he prepares for a summit with asian

leaders later this week. has said it's unlikely to happen this week, a president has a lot on his plate. senate incidentally is in recess with this presidents' day week. he will consider it. i don't think it will be much longer after that, erica, that the president puts forward a nominee and, of course, a respected jurist, although perhaps the most polarizing figure on the supreme court, was antonin scalia. and no sooner has the news broken about his shocking death. a bunser bolt that nobody saw coming at the west texas hunting ranch on saturday morning. the red recipients and vitt recipients on that we have seen back and forth now. republicans are saying president obama should honor their will when they go to the polls and vote for a the next president and they hope it will be a republican to nominate at successor to antonin scalia who was placed on the bench by

ronald reagan way back in 1986. democrats say that's nonsense, the president is the duly elected leader of the executive branch, the president himself has said he will move forward and perform that function. meanwhile, republicans on the campaign trail president obama needs told it up and he will not give any kind of confirmation to the balance of this year. >> i don't trust barack obama on the point of supreme court justices. we cannot afford to have scalia replaced by someone like the nominees he's put there in the past. we will have an he lexer there will be a new president i believe it will be me and we will look for someone that most resembles scalia to replace him. >> reporter: abortion, immigration rights, affirmative action, hot button issues in the culture wars all on the docket for the balance of this year. you can expect this to be a political football from here on out, erica. >> absolutely. mike. how are democrats responding to scalia's death. and when did they want to replace him. >> as soon as possible.

they want president obama to step forward. there is a lot going on aside from the vital issues i just mention odd the bench. there is obviously politics this being an election year, not only for the white house, but for a third of the senate and the entire house of representatives. these are visceral issues for voters on the right and left. they want the president to put forward someone that stands for democratic values not only because it's consistent with what they believe ideologically and philosophically, but because that's is what the base believes, they want to energize it, both the voting base and, don or base and great roots base to get out over the course of the year. bernie sanders had this to say on the pending nomination. >> it is the job. president of the united states to appoint nominate members of the supreme court and the senate confirms. >> reporter: and so it's likely again, that the president is going to act in the next couple of weeks, there are all kind of names floating around at this point, erica, it doesn't do much

good to start ba want want wante them about. the last step or the waiting room for a nomination to the supreme your, erica. >> let's take a look at the white house, you can see the flag is flying at half staff in memory of justice scalia there. do we have any details on the funeral for him? >> reporter: the prison praising justice scalia who is respects for the opinions he's given over the years, not necessarily the more high profile or controversial ones including the scathing rhetoric he's used. what we understand is that antonin scalia in a motorcade that picked up his remains at the west texas hunting ranch has made its way to el paso. we understand or given to understand that he will be returned home to virginia. he is a roman catholic and we

can expect a full catholic roman right and ceremony and internment. >> mike, thank you so much. pope francis continued his first trip to mexico as pontiff today. he talked about the rampant corruption and testimony stepses to wealth. to a quiet of million people in a poor suburb the mexico city. the pontiff called mexico a land of opportunity and said that people do not have to immigrate to dream or in his wards, quote, end up destroyed in the hands of death traffickers. more on his message in mexico from al jazeera's adam raney. >> reporter: hundreds of that's of people came out to celebrate mass with pope francis on sunday in his community on the edge of mexico city. many sleeping here, camping out in freezing temperatures they said they didn't care because they wanted to share with him his messaging of peace and love when he spoke during mass he spoke of a mexico of

opportunities, a mexico that people don't need to immigrate to other countries to find work, where they don't get exploited or fear being destroyed by dealers of death. words his, of course, in reference to drug gangs and violent cartels. this resonates with the people we have been speaking to who come from some of these violent communities. >> translator: i hope the pope through gods words can guide the mexican government, especially in my home state of veracruz, which is totally corrupt and violent. >> translator: whether we are neighbors, friends, or relatives, violence affects us all. we are expecting the pope to bring hope to all mexicans with his message. >> reporter: by celebrating mass here in this violent community on the edge of mexico city, pope francis is standing in solidarity people feel with them because he's showing that he understands the problems they are going through. and he will continue he says to spread the message as he travels from the south of mexico all the way to the north where he will

end his trip here on wednesday and when he will say a prayer for migrants, so many of whom have died trying to make it to the united states. the munich security conference ended today with a stern warning about syria. senator john mccain addressed the crowd telling them not to trust russia's actions in the war-torn country. mccain pulled no punches as he accuse vladimir putin of using the turmoil to his own advantage. >> mr. putin is not interested in being our partner. he wants to shore up the assad regime, he wants to reestablish russia as a major power in the middle east. he wants to exacerbate the refugee crisis. and use it as a weapon. >> mccain also predicted that a syria ceasefire brokered bisect of state john kersey likely to fail. meanwhile, president obama has been talking with vladimir putin with the ceasefire lan and the bigger picture in syria. the two leaders spoke by phone this weekend about their involvement in the country. the white house says obama urged

putin to focus attacks on extremists instead of moderates with the intent on it topping bashar al-assad. he asked that blockades be removed to clear the way for humanitarian aid. thousands of syrians have fled their homes and gone toward turkey. many are left stranded and surrounded by intense fighting. zeina khodr reports on the conflict at the border. >> reporter: the battle for syria's northern corridor. opposition groups are still holding out as it's being torque ted by the russian jets. the government's forces are just a ways away and the y.p.g. is approaching from the east. turkey stepped in. for a second day it she would positions of the y.p.g. and it's a allies causing casualties. the artillery bombardment is not the message to a group turkey calls a terrorist organization, it's an attempt to force it to

retreat from recently captured territories close to the border. >> translator: the y.p.g. will immediately withdraw from the surrounding area and will not go close to it again. it will not attempt to shut that corridor ever again. it will not have delusioned of using the base to attack the opposition. >> reporter: over recent days the y.p.g. and its allies captured ground from syrian armed groups backed by an car arc the kurdish group is taking advantage of the syrian government's push backed up by russian jets against those same opposition groups across aleppo province. the u.s. which is allied to the y.p.g. in the fight against isil has called on the kurds to stop taking ground but the group says it doesn't plan to retreat. >> translator: we recently captured the air base and we are close to capturing others. our aim is to reach icing-controlled territories, we want to fight this terrorist group. turkey wants us to return, this won't happen. we are advancing and will not

retreat. >> reporter: the advances by both the government and the y.p.g. are puttings pressure on the opposition. many observers believe the y.p.g. which is drawn from syrian kurds is linked to the p.k.k., the kurdistan workers party in turkey. syrian opposition fighters know that alliances could be shifting. >> translator: we are being stab ed in the back in the northern countryside by the p.k.k. and its ally. they took advantage of the fact we were fight to go two front against the regime and isil. >> reporter: a new front has been open ed in an already complicated war. turkey's policy in syria has been clear from the beginning it wants regime change in syria and wants to prevent a kurdish state from being created along its border. it wants a safe zone. along the syrian side of the border. to serve as a buffer to protect its interests. but so far the international community has not accepted that demand. turkey's latest actions serve as a message that it will stand by its red line. for the government, one of those

lines is a rebel-controlled town a few kilometers from the border. turkish officials have promise today protect it it's home to 10s of thousands of displaced syrians. for now apart from shelling y.p.g. positions ankara has few options because russia controls the skies, zeina khodr, al jazeera, turn turk 124eu request them en now. five people are dead following airstrikes in yemen. the state news agency reports that rescue workers are still trying to reach people bury ed in the debris. saudi arabia leads a military coalition in support of yemen's officially recognized government. they are targeting houthi rebel position buzz have been criticize today bombing civilian areas. iraqi soldiers are keeping a close watch on i'll fields in the north of the country as they move towards mosul. isil attacks are a constant threat in oil-rich regions like at that creed where bombings are common. imran kahn reports from baghdad.

>> reporter: in april to much fanfare, predominantly shia in litsch as announced they had retaken tikrit in the country's north from isil. today just outside the city, this is the scene. isil which still controls the countryside mounts attacks on the oil fields there. the battle over tikrit is crucial for iraqi forces in their advance towards mosul. iraq's second largest city which is controlled by isil. tikrit is an important hub because it's on the main highway leading to baghdad. the oil fields can produce up to 25,000 b25,000-barrels a day wie iraq's he come m he con my plumt money is crucial. >> translator: every day we have an attack by ice immaterial you can see them over there. they are using suicide car bombers and motorcycles. yesterday we had a suicide mota cross the canyon. but we managed to repel the attack. >> reporter: further north from ca crete over in kirkuk

province, isil is firmly in control of the town. some residents have managed to flee. but others remain trapped. the escape for those that got out wasn't easy. >> translator: we left in a hurry. with total fear. we had to walk through farms to avoid discovery by isil. we then managed to escape from them and thank god we left. >> reporter: the civilians have pled and are now in another village just outside the tikrit. but with isil mounting attacks on oil fields, how long they will be safe there is not clear. there is no doubt that isil fighters are taking advantage of the fact that the iraqi army is stretched and fighting on multiple front. but the iraqi army says that these remnants are fighters mounting attacks in the countryside are simply isil's last stands which they will be dealt with too. imran kahn, al jazeera, baghdad. there are indications tonight that joe biden is bound for israel. prime minister benjamin netanyahu has told his cabinet

the vice president's staff is visiting the country ahead of a possible trip by biden shipment the visit would likely be part of larger efforts to ease israel's concerns over the iran nuclear deal. so far the white house is not commenting. one day after the death of supreme your justice antonin scalia. the debate over who should replace him is already brewing in the washington. and it started with last night's g.o.p. debate. plus more on nato's plan to slow down the flow of refugees trying to gain access to europe. and in our sunday segment, the week ahead, th the u.s. summit begins on everything from chace to tryna's influence in regional security. that's coming up on 8:30 eastern, 5:30 spa civic. stay with us.

♪ ♪ nato is stepping in to help europe's refugee cries for it's first time. the multi-national agency is working to stop smugglers from bringing people from turk any to greece. europe's plans to cope with the influx of refugees is a major topic of discussion at the munich security conference going other right now. al jazeera's dominic kane reports from munich. >> reporter: the crisis in syria both militarily and in terms of the humanitarian catastrophe that it has provoked over the past five years have been dominant themes here at the munich conference. i spoke to the second general of amnesty international who told me he felt there was an absence of leadership by world powers

and many of the regional players in the middle east regarding syria, both in terms of the fighting and in terms of the humanitarian issue. the fact that nato is providing vessels in the mediterranean sea he felt was a good thing, but the fact also the greek vessels and turkish vessels can only patrol their own without percent potentially a problem. there is the fact that the turkish press under juan has said the turks are able to turn back some refugees, but there will come a point at which they will no longer be able do that and will have to say please carry on your journey is another perplexing moment in terms of the man tear crane crisis is concerned, certainly here although some welcomed the agreement that had been reached by the i.s.s.g. on thursday night, others felt they were mess mystic about it. senator john mccain, said he was very pessimistic indeed and e that the russian position was

untenable. >> that was domination kane reported. the finish government has announced that thousands of refugee who his arrived last year will be deported. the scanned may have vinnie country took in more than double the expected amount of refugees last summer many say they now feel unkempt. jonah hull reports from northern finland. >> reporter: named after a in accordance god of war, the soldiers of owe don odin take tr mission seriously keeping women and children safe from refugees. >> translator: about 80% of the refugees are men of fighting age. to me, it doesn't look like they need help. >> reporter: back in their clubhouse in the woods, they insist they are just concerned citizens, although the nazi-type paraphernalia suggests otherwise. >> translator: we only use violence to defend ourselves. if somebody attacks, of course a person has the right to defend

himself. and if we see a crime taking place, then we intervene. >> reporter: finland is in economic trouble and the soup kitchens are busy. a cautious welcome in the summer has turned frosty. it's now far more likely than not that asylum seekers will be turned down. >> the main thing is to make good picture for refugees. we are good and helping and we are good people. >> reporter: he helped hundreds of refugees who crowd ed in to to this concert hall before formal reception centers were stabled. he regrets the change in mood. >> translator: i have heard hundreds of stories of why they come. some are true, some are lies. but who has the right to decide? that makes me sad, especially as a christian. we could help all people. >> reporter: well, as the public mood seems to be hard inning

here in finland towards the refugees, it seems that the prime minister himself has been forced in to his own about turn having said that refugees were weapon come to come and stay here in his country house in the north of the country, he's now said they can't. ostensibly for security reasons. the house is said to be too public. at a refugee center the tightening controls are sinking in. >> every society have some good people and bad people. and even refugee there is good people and there is a bad people. >> reporter: will you respect if it comes to a decision to sends you home? >> if they sends us back, i will respect that. but, you know, we will face death there. yeah. >> reporter: you have to wonder why they would want to live in the freezing cold anyway. such is the desire for safety. jonah hull, al jazeera, finland.

and joining us from washington is former u.s. ambassador to at that nato, now executive director of the mccain institute for international leadership at arizona state. ambassador, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> okay, so let's start talking about nato stepping in here. is this proof that the european union has essentially failed in its effort to stem the flow of refugees or is it just that this humanitarian cries sis so out of control? >> i think it's a combination of that and more. first off, the european union doesn't know what to do. they don't know what to do about the crisis in syria that's producing all the refugees or the lack of governance in libya. they don't have a policy of picking up refugees and turning them around, perhaps they won't ever do that. as a way of saying that they are doing some yo you had nary defee

ministers meeting and germany and turkey at least asked to monitor the flow of refugees and to the extent that any are in peril at sea they could be picked up and returned to turkey so that much was done but that will not stop the flow. nato doesn't have a policy to change the fundamentals about what's causing the refugee crisis. >> let's talk about the operations here. nato leaders have said the ships will be conducting, quote, reconnaissance and surveillance operations. what exactly does that mean? >> exactly. that means that they will be having some warships in the aegean between greece ask turkey monitoring the movement of refugees across the waters, surveillance, using intelligence assets, using their ship-based assets to the extent that ships are in peril, they may be picked up and returned to turkey. but otherwise, they have been very clear from nato, including secretary general, there is not an operation to inter secretary

the boats coming across and push them back. that's not something nato is has agreed to do at this point. >> they are supposed to step in if they are in peril. how will this halt human traffickers smuggling refugees across the sea? >> i am not sure it will. if anything i suppose it would create an incentive for human traffickers to make sure their boats of sea waorgt i. that has been an issue where we have had boats capsize with refugees on them. and if that happens, in fact, they would be picked up and if the traffickers are picked up, they could potentially be arrested by turkish or greek authorities, but short of that, if the boats are see worthy, they will be able to make the crosser i. the other thing nato can do is report to the authorities where they are coming from and where they are going to. but that depends on the national authorities do something more about it. frankly, the national authorities are overwhelmed

already. >> so there are critics of this operation in terms of nato's involve. they say a naval presence encourages more migration that, refugees have a greater chance of rescue if their boats sink, is there credence do that? >> there ther ising ising there. we is you that in haiti. the first efforts were in fact to pick up refugees if their boats were in peril. that only calls more to come. it was only when we had a firm policy then of repatrioting all of them back to haiti that the effort to come from haiti eventually stopped. here it's going to be something similar, those that are in peril will be returned to turkey. but not to syria. and so there is just an incentive to keep trying and see whether you can get on a boat that's sea worth and i make it all the way. >> the u.s. has not pledged its own participation in the operation what, do you make of that? >> that itself is a little curious.

for decades nato was led by the united states, whether it was in kosovo, bosnia, afghanistan and so on. nato really only works best when the u.s. in the lead. when it's not it's a token effort at best. frankly the united states has a great interest in handling this refugee crisis. whether it is the impact on a british exit vote of the e.u., the imposition of internal borders the rise of far right and left parties, potential political implications for chancellor merkel. a lot is riding on how this refugee crisis plays out and i think it's in direct u.s. interest to help manage it. >> all right, a thank you so muh for joining us. >> my pleasure, thank you. still to come. the president's promise to no, ma'am nay a replacement for the late supreme court justice an toe nine scalia and a look at the shock waves being felt through washington. the fight irradicate boca hal ram what is making that battle

nearly impossible. as we continues to cover the pope's visit to mexico you are looking at a live picture as the pontiff makes his way to his next stop. of course via a fee at there. he's going it a children's hospital in mexico city. we'll be right back.

welcome back to al jazeera america. here say look at your top stories. pope francis continued his first visit to mexico as pontiff today with a mass to hundreds of

thousands of people. during his home lee he warned president neito and the mexican government against the temptations of wealth and corruption. and you are looking at a live picture as the pontiff makes his way of course traveling in a fiat there to his next stop. a children's hospital in mexico city. also authorities say supreme court justice antonin scalia died i've heart attack on saturday morning. the death of the long-serving member of the country's high court has led to a debate over who will replace justice scalia and when will successor will be chosen. and joining me now is jeannie, professor of campaign management at new york university. jeannie, thank you so much for joining us. so as we well well know this will will be somewhat of a political football here in washington and along the campaign trail as well. many g.o.p. leaders are saying it's actually not right for president obama, who they are calling a lame duck, to make this lifetime point.

but would they really be saying that if it were a republican president in the white house? >> probably not. and probably in that case you would hear the democrats making the same case and that's politics. you know, i think you are absolutely right. many people are saying we will be bracing for a political fight that we haven't -- the likes of which we haven't seen before. his death has really shaken up not only the supreme court and the judiciary, but also, of course, the election that's going on right now. and the question is really when president obama, because he said he will name somebody, when no, nominates a candidate is the senate, the senate judiciary committee and leadership, will they allow the vote to go forward? of course democrats have absolutely no procedural right to move anything along there, so it's really going to be up to the republicans. and we heard during the debate last night, many of the candidates are saying, he should wait need to stall it until we get what they hope is going to be a republican president. >> but the president is going to nominate someone, right? we heard from him just last

night. let's listen again. >> i plan for fulfill my constitutional responsibility to his no, ma'am made a successor in due time. there will be plenty of time for me to do so and for the senate to fulfill its responsibility to give that person a fair hearing and a timely vote. these are responsibility says that a take seriously as should everyone. >> you know, senate republicans are insisting they will block his nomination, quote, no matter who it is. but what if president obama nominates someone more middle of the road. not so liberal. someone who maybe has already been accepted by republican senators in the past, like -- >> i think that's where they will run in to some real political trouble. procedurally, they can block the vote. but politically they are then going to have to stand up and say that somebody that in 2013, they unanimously approved his

nomination to the d.c. circuit, they are now going to have to say is not qualified to be on the supreme court. of course they'll try to height behind the fact it's not his qualifications but the president should wait to appoint. the other problem they face is that historically, we have seen presidents appoint during election years, nothing in the constitution says the president has to wait. penn let's not forget? office for 10 more months. if he doesn't get the point through now, we could look at a 4-4 court, a split court. not only for the rest of this term, but well in to next term because the new president it would take him or her some time to get, you know, get moving and get that nomination through and we would be looking at a nuisance at. so it would be a long time if they don't allow at least a vote on president obama's nomination. >> and as we well know, if it is 4-4, then it just reverts back to, you know, the appeals court

ruling and that could be pretty significant when we are looking at critical cases like affirmative action, unions, abortion that are facing the high court this year. let's talk about the campaign trail. how much of a pivot point is this for the entire presidential race? both on the democrat side and the republican side. >> you know, in an odd way, this really puts the supreme court at the front and certainty of this election. and you know, somebody like me who spends a lot of time studying the court, i am thrilled that voters when they go in to the voting booth will not only be thinking about who they want to be president, but who they want to be on the supreme court. because if you think about it, not only do we have scalia's seat up now, but we have next year three justices over the age of 79. it is very possible that the next president could make three or four appointments to the court. and so that is a big deal. and so this really does throw the election in a way that i don't think anybody expected. >> you know, you bring up

something interesting. really, how much does this kind of thing matter to the average voter? it's a huge deal for politicians and for those of us that are in to this, right? >> that love it. >> right. >> but what about the average associate do they really going in to that -- go in to that voting booth and think about what you just said, which is do i vote for a president based on who they could potentially nominate to the bench? >> i don't think often enough. that's not to take away from the voters. you know, as much as i stud this stuff what we go in to the voting booth we think about job, economy, healthcare. >> social issues. >> social issues, foreign policy. issues that are front and certainty too often we don't recognize the fact that the court makes these, these nine individuals make descension that his change our life thousands they are responsible for interpreting the constitution which is the stream law of the land and what justice scalia did was changed wait in which many of those decisions came out. you look at his decision in the gun case for the first time in history the supreme court said

individuals have a right to own firearms that was because justice scalia led that charge and wrote that decision. so it's a monumental decision and yet i think all too often we go in the voting booth and so many other things on our mind we don't take it in to account. in an odd way his passing makes us reflect on that more as we go in to 2016. >> okay, play strategist really quickly for me here, if you are president obama, what do you do in this intense and important election year? do you nominee someone particularly liberal, right, to take advantage of this situation that you know is going to be blocked? or do you try to go more middle of the road, what do you do? >> i think he has to number one get somebody who is eminently qualified. so the vetting process has to be above the board. he then also has to get somebody who he can get through the senate judiciary committee and to the floor for a vote. so i know i have been discussing this with people and some people are saying go the liberal route. go the liberal route.

challenge the central republicans. i wouldn't take at that shot. he should get somebody moderate enough that the senate republicans will have a difficult time to say no to that person. >> there are political ramifications, he could potentially help this election in that sense. >> absolutely. and for presidents, let's not forget and somebody who is a as lame duck as he is, it's all about legacy and there is no way in which the president makes his mark on the country and the world exempt in the way they can i should say through the supreme court appointments, he has had two very strong appointments, both sonya sotomayor and elena saying inning pointed and through, this is a third for him. not all presidents gets that. so if he can make his mark on the court, that's a wonderful legacy moment for him as well. >> all right, gina, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> great to talk to you. haiti lawmakers selected an interrupt president today after the outgoing president left office without a successor. the interim government greed to organize new elections by late

april. >> reporter: we are here at the national palace where the president was just sworn in as the interim president of haiti. you can see that the celebration is happening right behind me. he said that what has happens here were sessional circumstances, that the haitian people have to learn from it in order to reinforce democracy in this country. we were just talking to members of the opposition that until now were oppose this is whole process they were saying that parliament should not pick this next country's interim president. they were behind many of the protests happening here in haiti and said that now it is time to support this new president and he will launch an investigation not fraud allegations during the election in 2015 that have springed this country from having a president at least if a week. we also spoke to the united states ambassador who told us that they are very optimistic about this whole process and saying that they trust the president will respect this

schedule. and call for election in the near future, many here are saying that this whole process is probably going to calm the situation near haiti. but at the same time, there are so many people in need in this country, around 80% of the population thousands that are still recovering from the earthquake, the situation is still very, very volatile. >> reporter: that things could change very easily here. and that was teresa bo reporting. now, people in the west african nation of niger will vote in the president elections a week from today. curfews put in place a year ago have been lifted so candidates can spend time campaign being in regions tied to boko haram. as ahmed is rid reports from neighboring nigh sphere nigeriap still poses a threat and some in cases regional politics has been to blame. >> reporter: boko haram has been chased out from areas it previously occupied thanks to new leadership in place, but especially the cooperation

between nigeria and its neighbors like khmer rouge, chad, niner and to some extent the republic who together they have managed to degrade the capabilities of boko haram to take territory. but the group is still a very potent force carrying out suicide attacks on soft targets like places of warship, schools, markets and motor parks. many have wondered why has it taken them sewing to defeat this group especially with their excellent record in liberia and sierra leone. part of it has been trace today corruption. now an inquire is a underway with several military and political leaders either arrested or being questioned over billions of dollars meant for the purchase of weapons to fight boko haram in nigeria. >> ambassador robin sanders is the former u.s. ambassador from nigeria joining us tonight. thank you so much, ambassador. >> my pleasure. >> all right. so you just heard from our correspond e there talking about

the impact of elects like in niger on the fight for boko haram. what do you think? >> that he's absolutely right. niger really is at a nexus in terms of the fight for boko haram because it also borders on mali, it has a board we are liberia. not only do you have the boko haram threat but the potential of fighters coming in from libya and also of course a.q.i.m., coming in from mali. it is very important who winds there because they are going to have to be on the national security footing. >> the new government is saying it's been successfu success sucn boko haram. but just last week a suicide bomber killed 60 people. where do you make of this claim and where do we stand in nigeria's' fight against the group. >> the new government has done a good job in changing how the nigerian military operates in its fight against boko haram.

they have done very well in the last couple of months in terms of search and seizure, but you really have to understand that boko haram, just like all another terrorist groups change constantly and now you see a change from a sim metrical warfare to gorilla like tacticses with the bombings we saw this week and also in the north east and west of the country. what the military has to do is have really long range planning. better equipment to move faster and respond quicker. last week it took almost a day and a half for that incident to even reach the command and control center centers. and it was not that far away. they have to look at long-term planning, better equipment, better intelligence sharing and better cooperation among the neighbors involved in this fight. >> how strong is the coalition of neighboring country to his combat the group?

>> well, i think the biggest weakness right now is the multi-national force that was agreed upon back in july of last year has not stood up yet. it's supposed to be a force of about 8,000 to 9,000 soldiers from all of the neighboring countries that are in the fight against boko haram. that force has not been stood up yet. once that does get operational, then you have to work together in terms of your training, commands and control, and your tactics. and so we are a long way from that if the force still hasn't been stood up yet. they've got to share intel but they have also have to trust each other in sharing intel and that still remains a bit of a problem. you have a drone base that's in niger, that's in niger rather that has special forces from the u.s. as well as france, you have the ability for the partners, the five countries that are involved in the fight against boko haram to work together better but they have to be able to have the ability amongst

their soldiers, intelligence, they have to trust each other's intelligence and they have to have better mobile equipment and be able to change with the changing tactics of boko haram. >> all right, let's talk about the role of the united states now. i mean, of course we know boko haram has been named the deadliest terror group at the end of 2015, surpassing isil in murders by more than 500 people. and with isil moving in to take root in after car, how important, ambassador, is u.s. intervention at this point? >> i think the u.s., france, u.k., and any of the partners that are friends of niger have a role to play, this is a hege knowledge fight. it's no longer a localized fight and with the connection between boko haram and isil, and also as i mentioned at the top of the program, you have this threat coming in also from al qaeda or aqim, so all of those things provide a nexus for a very difficult and dangerous

environment for all of those countries. it's important to the united states, it's important to france, it's important to the u.k. and others to do as much as possible to help train, to help equipment, provide the right equipment, and also help with the intelligence that they might have on operations that these groups might have in any of those neighboring countries. >> all right, ambassador robin sanders, thank you so much for joining us. coming up, a look at this challenges facing deported parents forced to leave their u.s.-born children behind. >> meteorologist: cold air may be over, but we did break records, but that is not all we are watching. a new storm is coming. and this one proves to bring a lot of messy weather at the beginning of the week, more details on that when i return.

an arctic blast in the north east, let's bring this kevin with the details, i have family and boston and you said they are going to get hit hard. >> meteorologist: they have been hit hard and it will be cold again tonight. but it will not be as bad as last night through this morning, that's some relief. let me show you what you did have across the region, where you see these black boxes they were all-time record lows that were sit this morning. it was boston, new york, and albany. these are only some of them. we have also had dozens of others that i can't put on the map. but you can see what we were looping at and the wind chills associated with this, we were

looking at wind chills of minus 35. to minus 45 particularly up here towards the north. now we have seen some improvement with those temperatures right now with boston being about 10 degrees, new york being about 15 and we will be seeing that as a difference from yesterday. actually a warm up from yesterday 24 hours ago. we are about five to eight degrees warmer than in time yesterday. now we are going to exchange all those cold temperatures for winter weather advisories or warnings that are in place right now, with our next storm system that is making its way and what you see these areas of pink, particularly across the ohio river valley as well as up here towards west virginia, that means the next 24 to 48 hours we are going to be seeing five to eight more inches of snow all because of this next weather system coming up and that promises to be a very messy weather sometimes as we go towards the beginning of the week. anywhere from the gulf of mexico it's going to be liquid as we go

towards the north and the northeast, as we go from monday to tuesday, it is going to turn to snow. and what we will be seeing here, particularly across those major cities for washington, philadelphia, new york, you are going to see a little bit of snow on monday evening but that will switch over towards rain, most of the snow, though, will be up here towards the north. but out here towards the west, a completely different scenario, temperatures are well above average for this time of year, look at this, los angeles, is going to be reaching 88 degrees, that is about 15 to 18 degrees higher than normal. >> i think we could make a trip. >> meteorologist: i association. >> okay, thank you, kevin. the deportation policy of the u.s. has divided families. many parents have been sent back to their home countries while their children who are u.s. citizens stay behind. al jazeera's jennifer london reports from tijuana, mexico would where some deported mothers are fighting for the chance to visit their children in the united states. >> dear samantha, i hope you are doing good. >> reporter: for years sophia wrote letters to her daughter.

>> and it really hurts me to see that you are there. >> reporter: this was the only way she could keep in touch with her. >> i would give my life for you, i would do whatever it takes so that you can be okay. >> reporter: after living in the u.s. for 25 years, sophia was deport today tijuana, her only daughter, is man tax a u.s. citizen, was forced to stay behind because of a custody battle. both sophia and samantha asked that we not use their real names or show their faces. fighting for custody across an international border has taken its toll. >> it was like a bad dream. it didn't set in my mind that i was actually in mexico, i jut knew that i couldn't cross and i knew that i couldn't get ahold of nobody. and i just cried all the time. i cried and i couldn't believe that i was there. >> reporter: neither could patricia. these old photographs from when her daughter was a baby are all she has to remind her of when they were a family. like sophia, patricia also not

her real name, was departed without her american-born child. >> i got up like any day, and got ready, got my daughter ready for school. took her to the bus stop, and she went on the bus to school, i went back home, going ready, i had court, i went to court and i never again seen my daughter. i was taken from court. >> reporter: you didn't have a chance to a goodbye. >> i didn't have a chance to say goodbye to my daughter torque my mother, to nobody. and never seen them again. >> reporter: what happened to patricia and sophia is happening to thousands of single parents who have been separated from their children by removal orders. specific numbers are hard to come by. immigration and customs enforcement tells al jazeera, they don't track how many families are ultimately separated.

so they wait, living in limbo

along the board but knowing their children are somewhere just beyond the fence. and this is what life after deportation looks like for many single moms. tijuana's main shelter to women migrants was originally founded to help mothers and their children traveling north. today there are fewer and fewer children here. as the shelter helps more and more deported mothers. >> translator: they arrive in shock. and don't really know what to do. right? because they don't know where to to turn, what are going to be able do to reunite with their children? >> reporter: at any one time more than 60% of the 45 available beds are filled with deported moms. >> translator: they are constantly crying. we have had a woman who we had to pass along to psychiatric consult because they were so depressed. we even had a woman who tried to take her own life because she wasn't with her children. >> reporter: for sophia and samantha, it took eight long

years before they were reunited in mexico. >> ow, my hair. >> reporter: moments like this are making up for lost time. >> it's actually good to be able to hug my mom and tell her that i love her once again after so many years, you know, it's a new year, i got to spends new year's with her, christmas, and now get to spend my bigger day with her for the first time after a long time. >> reporter: still mother and child reunions are the exception not the norm. many immigration advocates worry more mothers will lose their children. but pa fish a and thousands more are still holding out hope as they hang onto old memories. jennifer london, al jazeera, tijuana, mexico. and lori jane gliha joins us now with a look at what's ahead this hour. >> we are talking the fault from the death of justin antonin klee actual the republican candidate are blasting president obama for

nominating a successor. southeast asia headers prepare to a key summit to discuss key economic and security issues the one country they will be talking about is china. we'll also introduce to you a mississippi journalist who has risks his life solving cold cases from the civil rights era. those are just some of the stories address in our next our. >> all right, we'll see you soon that. and it that di does it for me. the news continues at 8:00 with lori jane after the break. have a good notice. >> our american story is written everyday. it's not always pretty, but it's real... and we show you like no-one else can. this is our american story. this is america tonight.

this is al jazeera america. i am lori jane gliha in new york. randle pinkston is on assignment. here a look at today's top stories think president obama plan to nominate a replacement for the late justice scalia unleashes a barrage of attacks from republican presidential candidates. >> this is critical to promoting security, prosperity and human dignity around the world. >> continuing his pivot to asia, president obama prepares to welcome asian leaders to the un